index


Message-ID: <62048asstr$1334344203@assm.asstr-mirror.org>
From: TBD <tbd@hushmail.me>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit
Cancel-Lock: sha1:6mNAOHUjfhtKetWEUe31qYPRqOA=
Subject: {ASSM} The Challenge Universe 1/4: Terra One (zoo/best, asst codes, alternate reality) TBD
Lines: 5550
Date: Fri, 13 Apr 2012 15:10:03 -0400
Path: assm.asstr-mirror.org!not-for-mail
Approved: <assm@asstr-mirror.org>
Newsgroups: alt.sex.stories.moderated,alt.sex.stories
Followup-To: alt.sex.stories.d

The Challenge Universe 1/4: Terra One (zoo, best, asst codes,
alternate reality)
---

This is the short-short that eventually became 'The Challenge'.

It was written as a response to the feelings I felt after seeing a
drawing of a beckoning horse. Within a couple of days, I was still so
deeply affected that I wrote 'The Challenge'.

So, It stands alone. Still, in its way, it leads to the final result.

Looking back, it has me shaking my head in wonder at where things have
gone since. As a historical note, this story was written before Equine
sent me his first Equine's World story. I sometimes wonder what I
would have written had that not happened.
----

Beckon
---

'Yesterday, I met *The Horse*...'

Those words were written ten years ago.

As I sit gazing out the study window, he stands out there in that
classic pose.

Exactly the one he used when we first met.

Still proud.

Still challenging.

Still that look that says 'you are the one'.

No doubt in those eyes. A look that still says, 'I know you. To the
depths of your soul, I know you. We are meant to be together.'

As I rise to return to my soulmate, my body moves automatically as I
allow my mind to remember...

I walk again along that pleasant country road.

It's spring and there is a vibrancy in the air that reaches into me
and demands that I be outside.

City, country, in-between, I've lived many places.

My first memories are of mountains and the sense of peace that they
bring.

When I have the choice, I live in country surroundings such as these.

Farms, ranches.

Horses, dogs and other animals tended with love and allowed to be
themselves.

As I walk I am greeted by dogs and horses who have come to know me and
my daily passage through their lives. Many of the dogs bark at me to
let me know that I mustn't trespass.

A friendly bark for all its seriousness.

If I pause, many come to the road for quick attention on neutral
ground.

Others join me for a ways during my walk.

I love animals but I've always had a special bond with dogs.

Especially country dogs.

Country dogs are so unlike city dogs.

They haven't lost that joy in life that seems lacking in dogs raised
in the city.

It's a feeling of 'come join me for a bit' that says they view me as
an equal rather than a necessity.

Horses come to the fences and greet me as well.

I know them all out here and they know me. I've made a point in the
time I've been here to get to know most of them by name.

As well as meet their owners and get permission to bring tidbits for
them. Carrots, apples, whatever the owners will allow me to hand them.

Suddenly, I feel watched.

No.

More than that.

Studied.

Measured.

Judged.

I look around me.

Open fields.

No houses.

Nobody in sight.

Suddenly, movement.

Slow.

Majestic.

Movement filled with power and knowledge.

Out of the shadows of the trees strides a horse.

No.

More than that.

THE HORSE.

I've never seen him before.

Where did he come from?

Our eyes meet.

I've never had the slightest interest in owning a horse before.

Yet, I will own this one.

There is no doubt of that.

We both know that the ownership is mutual.

No way can I NOT be with him.

Slowly, that elegant leg raises.

Eyes locked, his beckoning, mine filled with wonder, I go to join my
soulmate.

Ten years, now.

I now own the field where we first met.

And still, that summons, that challenge will draw me.

Visible or not, somehow I've always sensed where he is and that I must
go to him.

And every time he is standing there.

Proud.

Wise.

Challenging.

Beckoning.
======

This and the short-short story 'Beckon' eventually led to the story
called 'Discovery.

The rest, as some would say, is history.
---

Challenge
The Poem
---

You stand between two worlds
Choices will be made here.
Life-defining choices.
I challenge you.

See the wind in my mane.
I can teach you
To feel that wind.
I challenge you

You stand in the shadows
I can help you
Find your way to the light.
I challenge you

There are new worlds
I can show you
Discover them with me.
I challenge you

There are new feelings
Of love, of trust
We can explore them together
I challenge you

Come
Learn with me
Join with me
I challenge you
======

A style convention in all these stories is the use of normal quotes
for normal speech and doubled quotes for telepathic speech.

This is a work of fiction. There is no sex or other commonly offensive
material. All it does is describe the first meeting between the 2 main
characters in a longer work I am developing.  This also the first
story I've dedicated to someone on the net. That person knows who they
are and why.
---

Dedicated to one of my net neighbors: You know who you are and why.

Enjoy.
---

Discovery
The Challenge - Chapter 1
---

"Allister. Allister Cassidy. Will you accept the challenge?"

It is a whisper in my mind. I've been having this intrusion for days
now. Am I finally losing my sanity? It is the gentlest of thoughts. I
don't know if it is mine or not. What challenge? I'm a scientist. Not
some gladiator. My life is settled. I have a place. I know what I plan
to do. The only challenge I see is to get people to understand how
fragile our world is. A scientist with a conscience. One of the 'new'
breed they call me. Stupid media mongers. I was concerned long before
some of them were born. Long before it was 'correct' to show concern
about how one's studies would affect our planet.

I've spent a lifetime studying how plants and animals cope with humans
and our products. And our wastes. Something has got to change. And
soon. The cost of how we do things is too high now. A throwaway
lifestyle. Where convenience is so cheap that instead of attempting to
reuse something, we dispose of it and buy something new. Where having
the 'newest' is more important than having something that works. 20
years ago I was called old fashioned. Now suddenly, I find myself
unwillingly and unofficially the spokesman for a new cult. It's made
me rich. The media calls people like me 'The recyclers' or 'the
non-wasters'. All of a sudden fixing things and reusing things is the
correct thing to do. My ranch and home have been invaded by people who
want to see how a person can live on others' discards (quite well
thank-you-very-much).

Thankfully, my neighbors are merely amused by all of this. After all,
I'm one of them. Our lifestyles are the same. We all reuse things. We
all raise animals of various types. We help others when they need it.
Conservation is a way of life here. One that has been handed down for
generations. No one spurns technology or convenience. On the contrary,
we embrace it wholeheartedly. But, we don't let it control our lives.
We adapt things to us. Not the other way around. I just happen to have
a piece of paper. And a job that is suddenly spot lighted. It will
pass. I'm not the first person here to suddenly become famous.

My daily solitary walks have become pilgrimages. To be filmed with me
has become a way to find instant stardom for some. I'm no messiah.
Some prophet to pronounce great things. Nor do I feel I'm a doomsayer.
I'm not even religious. For problems I see, I also see solutions. And
say so.

So how come I have this feeling of unanswered challenges? I don't
believe in destiny. Yet, my solitary walks have started having this
overtone of unanswered challenges. That I will do something that will
forever change things.

As I walk past the houses, the open fields, the bands of trees and the
fellow beings I share this world with, I ponder this feeling.

---

Finally, I reach the part of my path that takes me through the untamed
portion of our valley. There are trees and glades here that have
remained untouched for centuries. As I come up to a band of trees and
prepare to rest in the shade, I feel like I am being watched. No,
somehow it is different than that. There a feeling of being examined,
of someone looking at me and studying my life. There is also a
definite tinge of implacable purpose, and judgment. Odd. There is
nobody here. No creatures either. I see nothing to cause these
feelings. As I pause, bewildered by this, the feeling of challenge
grows even stronger.

Suddenly, under one of the trees is movement. A magnificent stallion
steps out. I've never seen him before. I know that for certain. I know
every horse and dog and cat and other animal in this valley. It's part
of my studies to know them. So where could he have come from? There is
power here. His bearing speaks of a knowledge far beyond my own. There
is also a subtle challenge to his movements. And pride. Strangely, I
also get this feeling that he has been waiting for me alone. And yes,
here is the source of the feeling I had of being judged. As we stand
facing each other in the sunlight, he slowly raises one front leg in a
beckoning gesture.

I do not know why I remained calm when a voice spoke in my head. I am
familiar with the idea of telepathy. To have my first experience of it
with a horse should have generated more than a feeling of calm
acceptance and completion.

Yet that is all I felt as he spoke.

""Greetings, Allister Cassidy. I have been waiting for you.

""Will you accept my challenge?""

"What challenge?" I replied.

"Are you why I've been feeling this way?" Strangely, I felt no need to
explain how I felt.

He stood there. Frozen in that beckoning gesture. Strangely, for all
the feeling of wisdom and serenity he radiated, I could feel a
hesitancy. Also a feeling that he was vulnerable and could be hurt
deeply. And that somehow, I could be one who could do that hurting.
And he would accept that without question. As he had judged me, he was
asking me to judge him.

""Listen Allister. I give you this challenge.""

""You stand between two worlds
""Choices will be made here.
""Life-defining choices.
""I challenge you.

""See the wind in my mane.
""I can teach you
""To feel that wind.
""I challenge you

""You stand in the shadows
""I can help you
""Find your way to the light.
""I challenge you.

""There are new worlds
""I can show you
""Discover them with me.
""I challenge you.

""There are new feelings
""Of love, of trust
""We can explore them together
""I challenge you.

""Come
""Learn with me
""Join with me
""I challenge you.""

For some reason, this sounded like some long established ritual.
Something done regularly. I felt as though I was being initiated into
something so ancient that it spoke to the very core of my being.

From somewhere deep inside me I found a response to this.

"I have always known
"There are choices to be made.
"I see the wind in your mane.

"I know there are shadows
"Though mine are not yours
"And I do seek the light.

"I know there are other worlds
"I am a seeker of them
"I will seek them with you.

"Of love, of trust
"These are powerful things
"And much that you ask.

"To learn
"To join
"I accept your challenge"

* * *

Thus, several hundred years ago, it began.

""What, 2-legs? Rewriting history again?"" There's a soft, knowing
chuckle in my mind.

""Of course I am you old 4-legged meddler. At least I got the ritual
right. And the survivors get to choose how they remember the past
anyway. We don't have the 'mind-libraries' you do.""

""That you did old friend. Be sure that I would have mentioned
otherwise if you hadn't""

""Thank you Wind-Rider."" That's not his real name. His real name
translates loosely as 'He who's mind flows like the wind. Touching
everywhere and belonging to none.' It has to do with what he was then
and is now. One of the greatest philosophers / scientists / mind
masters of his kind. His people gave me one as well. 'Guardian of two
worlds, protector of all, leader in The Way.' I only use it during
ceremonies on his world. I prefer Allister. Or friend. Especially
friend. Especially when spoken by Wind-Rider. Even after all these
years.

Softly, ""You are welcome Allister, friend.""

I'm used to this now.

No secrets between us. It is a rare enough occurrence on his world
among his kind. To have it happen between two different species, from
two different world lines... Well, it is happening more often now.
We're not the only mind pair as we were in those early years.

---

""Allow me to introduce myself. Loosely translated, my name in your
language is 'He who's mind flows like the wind. Touching everywhere
and belonging to none.' It has to do with my life's work. Our
life-names are given after we choose our life's calling.""

"Hmm..." I responded.

" Would you be offended if I shorten that to 'Wind-Rider'? For me it
seems to capture the essence of what you just said."

""I would be honored to be called that. I see that your people have
managed to do quite well at expressing things. Even though you are
limited to speech to do so. I had not thought to express myself
thusly""

"I think I should be offended at your words, but your emotions tell me
otherwise. Nice this mind talk. I can think of times it would have
been useful."

""Come Allister, walk with me. I must tell you of other worlds. Those
worlds formed throughout history by decisions or happenstance. I come
from such a world. As things go, the branch is not that old. As best
we can determine, the branching was after humans domesticated horses
on this world. Something happened to you humans. We don't know what.
Anyway, we have always been communal. Some of you have felt this group
mind. By taming us, forcing us to your wishes, you split off parts of
that mind. We hold no animosity for that. On your world, the great
'horse mind' is a shattered remnant of what it once was. My brethren
here only have dim memories of what was. On our world, after humans
vanished, those broken off parts were re absorbed into the main mind.
They still retained their individuality and thus brought a newness and
growth. The 'overmind' as we now call it, pondered these independent
yet joined parts. Finally after many centuries, it was decided that
while we would retain the capability of this joining, a conscious
effort would be made to split the entire mind into individuals. So,
the result is what you now see. We are individuals, but we retain the
capability of reforming that group bond as needed. So, we are not the
lonely walled in beings humans are on your world. Therein lies one of
our problems. There are others.

""Like it or not, our worlds are linked. You are the roots that give
us life. Should something happen to this world, ours will be affected
as well. There are still links between them. They are few, but they
are there. And beings who know may use them. Need I say that I am one
such being? And that you are another?

""There are many world lines. Your people have been discussing the
possibilities for quite a while now. However, they are not as many of
you think. Each branching produces a new path that may remain
independent. Many of the branches, ones that arise from day to day
decisions loop away for a short time and then merge again with the
original. Others continue on and die off as continuing poor decisions
lead to their becoming unviable. A rare few reach stability. Or at
least they have been stable as long as we have observed them. Others,
well, we had hoped, but...

(Here I had the impression of a deep and lingering sadness. Muted by
time, but still capable of causing anguish to this person. At the time
neither of us had realized how deep our bond already was. It was only
later that I discovered that I should not have felt his sadness.)

""Anyway, your world lies at a turning point. There are repercussions
amongst the worlds when a species dies or there is a major
catastrophe. When it is one of the 'dominant' species, the
readjustments are even greater. If the world is the 'parent world' of
a line, the problems increase further. These things have happened
before. to both of our worlds. Someday I will tell you of some of
them. With this in mind, begin to imagine when a parent world dies.
All worlds will die eventually. So-called natural dyings happen
frequently. However, no world has committed suicide. Yet."" Here he
paused.

We walked together for a ways. Apparently a man and a horse. I
considered his words. I didn't like my thoughts. Somehow, though
bizarre, I believed him. That he was certain of his statements. I'd
lived too long not see the evidence all around me. After all, it was
my job to see it. That he chose to come to me said he knew me. Had
observed me for a long time. 'Yet', he had said 'yet'.

"How long have you studied me? This is not just some random meeting. I
can feel that much. Your feelings burn with a purpose even I can see
and feel. And you said 'yet'. This implies we may survive. Do you then
see the future? And somehow you see me doing something in that
future?"

Softly, "Wind-Rider, what do you see that I don't?" Suddenly, I was
reminded of my school years. Many times I had asked my instructors
that same question. Many times I had been told to wait, that I would
soon see what they saw. I realized that I had indeed accepted that my
future would include this horse. At this realization I laughed aloud
and turned to face him.

"Wind-Rider, friend, fellow creature, brother. I don't know where you
are headed with all of this, but I will be there. For as long as I am
able. Your purposes have become mine. I gave my word on it."

Now he stood frozen. In shock. Even through my joy I could feel it.

""You know my feelings??? But that shouldn't be! Never has anyone read
me so well, not since..."" Suddenly I felt wonderment replacing his
shock.

""This is something nobody anticipated. It is rare enough on our world
between two of us. To have it happen a second time for the same horse
is unknown. Add that you are from another world, another species, and
it was inconceivable. Yet, it has happened. Even the grandest of
theories must bow to observed facts.

""Allister, we have become what on my world is called a 'mind-pair'.
No one knows why or how it happens. Sex doesn't matter. In all of our
knowledge there are mentions of it only happening between horses. We
suspect it happens in other communal species, but we cannot be sure.
Never did we suspect it could happen across species!

"" Forgive me. To answer your questions then. No, I don't see the
future. What I had hoped was for us to join together and try to find
solutions to both of our worlds' problems. I have been observing you
most of your adult life. I am not the only one observing your world.
There are many of us. You were chosen for first contact because of
those we know, your are best placed to act as fulcrum to attempt to
save your world. And in the process save ours. Oh, ours would survive
the death of yours. We know that. But, there would be a missing
element in that survival. Call it an 'aura' or sense of completeness
that would be missing. Some of your people have called it 'zeitgeist'
We don't know how your planetary suicide would affect that. And affect
our world's will to survive.

""When I first came to your world, I could feel a gentle tugging that
kept me here. Eventually, I found that it led to you. There was
something in you that seemed to call to me. None of my companions ever
reported such vague feelings and we finally shrugged it off as you
having some potential we couldn't identify yet. Deeply in touch with
ourselves, we have learned not to ignore such things. Not even I (here
there was a definite tinge of embarrassment) considered that you would
have the ability to form a mind-pair bond. After all, you were only a
human! (now a mental grin)

""Forgive me Allister, but there is much I must discuss with my people
about this. I'll return eventually""

He vanished..

Somehow, as I stood there bemused, I knew he would return. And, too,
there was now a corner of my mind from which radiated a little bit of
mental warmth. A sense of completeness that I had never known before.

For a long time thereafter, during my daily walks I would stop by
those trees and simply relive that first meeting. And let the peace
and serenity flow into me. And always would come a return feeling that
told me that someone else was sharing those moments with me.

---

""As always mind-brother, you take forever to say something. We met,
we talked, you agreed to help if you could and I left."" Ghostly
mental laughter.

""Do you deny then 'oh 4-legged master of all knowledge' the bond
formed at that meeting?"" I tried to sound severe.

""Hardly. Did I ever tell you that my people thought they were dealing
with someone who had been made insane by interworld passages? That
until we held a group merge and verified it I was held apart from my
people? Just in case I was suffering from one of our other problems I
failed to tell you as I should have?""

""No, only that your people doubted you. Not that you were isolated. I
could feel that you were glad of the peace I was feeling and that you
were in some way uncomfortable where you were. Yes, and I could feel
you sending reassurance. But no more. I never asked how your people
were convinced. And once you returned to my world and we formalized
the bond, I never needed to ask. I knew from sharing that experience
in your memories. As well you know old friend.""

""Come Allister. Let us go out into the world and try to relive some
of those memories. Before you get back to your books and relive what
came later. Will you join me? Mind brother?

Both of us were laughing as he struck again that pose he first
challenged me with.

As I climbed to the back of my brother I said only...

""Certainly mind-brother, I accept your challenge.""

And the two of us galloped away with the wind in our hair.
======

Neighbors, for over a decade, I've wanted to go back and revise,
extend, and sometimes replace many of the works I've done for 'The
Challenge Universe'.

'Discovery', also called 'The Challenge', was the first story placed
in that universe, which also makes it one of the first stories I wrote
and posted.

I still enjoy it, but there is no denying that the story it tells
would benefit greatly if it were retold using my current skills as a
writer.

According to my internal documentation, on June 14, 2008, I took the
time to start working on a revised version.  I did about 2,000 words,
then set it aside in favor of other stories that claimed my attention.

It was not forgotten.

After taking a brief break to recover from writing the second half of
'Crucible', I browsed my hopper in search of something I could work on
that was fairly short, and with luck, would remain that way.

Call it a search for something  to do as relaxation.

Part of that search had me looking at the partly finished version of
'Discovery', and I decided to work on it again.

One of the first things I realized was that since I had already set up
the time it was being written as at least a couple of thousand years
after the first version, I didn't have to slavishly try to cover the
same subjects, in the same or nearly the same order.

Allister, the narrator, is much older now, aware of that, and his
memories of that past have changed.  Plus, the memories he considers
important enough to jot down now, are different than what he
considered important the first time he described his first meeting
with Wind Rider.

I have also added some new material, that helps explain some of the
things already mentioned in other chapters.

The most important of these events, is finally answering the question:
'Where did the telepathic horses come from, and when?'

After fifteen years and approximately 40 chapters written about this
universe, we have the answer, and the surprising price Allister paid
for them.

More so than in most of my work, I have almost always taken the time
to carefully consider the names of my characters.

The name of the filly I introduced is deliberately Muslim, because I
wanted a certain feel to her name, as well as making it descriptive of
her.  'Baraka' means white, or white one.

Once I had her name, I wanted the casual name of her sire, Wind Rider,
to come from the same language family, and have a similar feel to it.
'Borak'  comes from the Arabic name  'The Lightning', 'Al Borak', who
was the legendary magical horse that bore Muhammad from earth to the
seventh heaven.

Allister's neighbor, Wicasa, is Native American and his name is from
the Dakota, and means 'Sage'.

Thus, we see the beginning of The Scouts, and the telepathic horses
they ride.

We also see, for the first time, the events that led to the culture of
choice that places the choosing of partners firmly in the animal's
control, when Baraka allows Allister to first, put a halter on her,
and then, she allows him to ride her bareback, even though she has
never felt the touch of anything on her back, until then.

And I have saved the most important point I wished to make in this
story, for last.

The following bit of 'throwaway', is anything but that.
--

We, the two who founded, then led an organization of...  I search my
memories, and when the term does not surface, I find myself
embarrassed when I use the archives to rediscover the archaic term.

Zoosexuals.
--

I wished to emphasize that cultures can, over time, change their
overall attitudes about the various sexualities.

Just as many of us in the USA are old enough to have watched 'blacks',
become nothing more, or less than 'people',  and gays and lesbians go
from needing to be in the closet to being able to openly be who they
are, most places, (not without cost, and we have a long way to go for
full acceptance), I have always had a dream that someday, there may
come a time when the labels for the various sexualities will be
irrelevant when describing sexual relationships, and...

Abandoned in the vernacular, then seen as 'archaic, of interest only
to scholars'.
--

Thank you, neighbor, for taking the time to read this, and I hope you
find something that interests you in 'Discovery:  Chapter One (revised
and expanded)'.
---

Discovery - Chapter One 
(revised and expanded)
------

How old are we?

I no longer know, or care.

We are.

* * *

My name then, was the same one I use now, Allister Cassidy.  I was a
famous scientist.  Or, more correctly, what passed for a famous
scientist in that time.

I lived in an ordinary house, on a small farm, in a larger valley.
There was a small first growth forest nearby, where I did my studies.

Anywhere else I would have been called eccentric, and shunned, but my
neighbors in the valley, being the people they were, considered me
normal, and ignored my fame in favor of trying to always convince me I
should marry one of their daughters, or at least take the time to find
a 'real job', in case I lost my grants.

I always smiled, thanked them for their concern, went out with their
daughters when asked, and when it was time, I'd wander the forest and
continue my observations.

It was a quiet life, most of the time, but once a week the bus loads
of my self appointed 'disciples' would descend on my farm to pester me
for my most recent bits of wisdom.

They never believed me when I tried to tell them my philosophy was
ancient in my grandfather's day, so I soon learned to speak my words,
perform the role expected of me, and wave cheerfully when they left.

All in all, while it lasted, I was mostly content with my life.

What did I study?

I studied the effects of mankind's throwaway culture on the
environment, and wildlife.  I also recycled everything I could.  So
did everyone else in our valley.  The practice was a way of life
there, generations before it became a required way of life, all over
the world.

The modern people who adopted the old ways of reusing and repair,
called themselves 'The Recyclers' and saw me, because of my studies,
as their god.

I wasn't one, of course.  Not then.

I'm still no god, just a man who may be immortal, with a few unusual
skills thrown in, to make me appear to be much more than I am.

That possible immortality, and the skills that make me who I am, were
the gift of a stallion.

I feel him in my mind, now, and he stands outside this window while I
write down my thoughts.  He stands there, with one leg raised,
beckoning to me, just as he did so long ago, in another place.

* * *

For weeks I'd felt a slight uneasiness, as if I was going to have to
make an important decision, soon.

The only problem was, I knew all my decisions had been made.  There
was no conceivable reason that I should feel that way, but there it
was.

The daily walks through the forest to make my observations didn't
help, either.  Instead, the feeling of someone watching me kept
getting stronger each time I took one of those walks.

More and more, I couldn't stop myself from stopping suddenly and
quickly looking around, to see if I could catch that unseen observer.

He was never there, of course.  It was just my imagination working
overtime.  I knew it, but that knowledge never seemed to affect my
compulsion to check.  I still felt as if a decision was looming in my
future and now, today, the feeling of being watched was the strongest
it had ever been.

I was being judged.  Someone was weighing me, studying me as I studied
the animals who lived in the forest, and that someone was wondering if
he should confront me with his challenge...

I sighed.  It was all nonsense.  I was alone, and there was no reason
for the tension I felt.  Hopefully I'd soon figure out what was
causing my stress, deal with it--and get on with my life.

I wrote my last notes of the day in the spiral bound notebook I
carried, and decided to head home via a slightly different route than
usual.  It would be nice to see Max again.  I hadn't let him escort me
along the edge of his property for several weeks, and I missed his
joyful romping while he also kept me away from his flock.

I was smiling with anticipation when I exited the forest...

And froze in shock when I realized I was facing a stallion I'd never
seen before.

He stood there calmly, with one foreleg raised and bent in a gesture
known as 'beckoning'.

He was magnificent.  Proud.  Powerful...

And yet something in his posture said he was fearful.  For some
reason, I had the impression I could hurt him deeply, yet he would
accept that pain, if I chose to inflict it.

I shook my head to clear it.  'What could I possibly do that would
harm him?'

I had no reason to hurt him and more importantly, no desire to treat
any animal as less than they were, our companions through life, and as
worthy or our love and care as anyone of our own species.

We were equals and the only differences we had were ones of shape and
our abilities to communicate with others.  And...  Even then, as young
as I was, in the terms I saw life, I was beginning to suspect that non
humans lived lives as rich, or richer, than our own.

When I reached that point in my thinking I 'heard' a basso voice in my
head.

""Allister.  Allister Cassidy.  Will you hear my challenge and
decide?""

"What challenge?" I replied.  "Are you the reason I've been feeling
this way?" 

Strangely, I felt no need to explain how I felt.

I knew that he knew what I was talking about, and he also knew how I
felt.

Waves of serenity flowed from him as he stood there, frozen in that
beckoning posture.  The tones of his voice, and I accepted the voice
in my head had been his, had been colored by a wisdom far more
complete than any I had previously known.

There was also something in his voice that told me he was hesitant. It
reaffirmed my impression that he was vulnerable, and could be hurt as
deeply as he loved.

He feared me.  I *could* hurt him.

This was my day of judgment, and he had judged me worthy.

Now, it was my turn to judge him.

As soon as I reached that point in my thinking, he spoke in my mind
again:

""Listen, Allister. I give you this challenge.

""You stand between two worlds
Choices will be made here.
Life-defining choices.
I challenge you.

""See the wind in my mane.
I can teach you
To feel that wind.
I challenge you

""You stand in the shadows
I can help you
Find your way to the light.
I challenge you.

""There are new worlds
I can show you.
Discover them with me.
I challenge you.

""There are new feelings
Of love, of trust
We can explore them together
I challenge you.

""Come
Learn with me
Join with me
I challenge you.""

His stylized way of speaking told me his words were part of a
ritual--and one of the most important challenges he could give.  I
felt as if I was being initiated into something so ancient that it
spoke to the very core of my being.

A part of me I'd never known existed, woke and responded to his
challenge.  It gathered my feelings and my ethos into itself, then
wrapped it all in its own formality.

"I have always known
There are choices to be made.
I see the wind in your mane.

"I know there are shadows
Though mine are not yours
And I do seek the light.

"I know there are other worlds
I am a seeker of them
I will seek them with you.

"Of love, of trust
These are powerful things
And much that you ask.

"To learn
To join
I accept your challenge"

* * *

I felt our link strengthen and Wind Rider's voice rolled through my
awareness.  ""Rewriting history, again?""

I let him feel my smile, and laughter.  ""Of course, oh meddling one.
It's what the survivors get to do.""

I felt his equine snort of amusement.  ""True.  At least, this time,
you remembered The Challenge Ritual correctly.""

I turned serious.  ""I used both of our memories for that.""

""Ah.  I wondered what you were rummaging through my memories for.
What other gems did you find?""

""That would be telling, my oldest love--and my dearest friend.""

If horses could blush, he would have.  I felt his head dip in a bow.
"It was an unknown honor we bestowed on each other, wasn't it, my
friend?""

I felt him withdraw slightly, returning to his usual place in my mind.
Then, from the glow that had warmed my soul for thousands of years...

""I love you, Allister Cassidy.""

I briefly shifted my primary awareness to his mind and wrapped his
awareness in a mental hug.  ""I love you too, Wind Rider.""

We watched the sunset through his eyes, then, regretfully, I returned
to my own body and continued recording my memories for those who might
wish to read them.

* * *

I chuckled when he relaxed and let his hoof touch the ground.  "Does
that pose ever get tiring?"

""Eventually.  But not in the time it takes for The Challenge.""

I nodded.  Then, resolutely, I faced what had just happened.  "What
did I just agree to?  Who are you?  I thought I'd met every horse in
the valley, but I've never seen you before."

I gestured at the dirt path.  "Will you join me while I walk home? The
stables are clean, and while I have no hay or other feed, the fields
are lush and in need of grazing."

He shook himself and his mane flew from side to side.  When he lowered
his head slowly, then lifted it again, I had the strange feeling I was
being given a benediction.

""Thank you.  I will join you, and explain the situation.  There is
much I can share, now.""

I started walking and he moved to my side.  For awhile we walked in
companionable silence, then he paused and looked around.  I had the
feeling he was enjoying things and was reluctant to break the mood.  I
decided to help.

"Something is bothering you, isn't it?   I know little of horses, but
I do know the signs when someone is reluctant to interrupt a
contemplative mood with mundane business matters."

""The Homeworld is beautiful, and that is part of why I am here.""

He sighed.  ""To business.  My people have no names as you know them.
We use thought patterns that describe our internal essence.  My
pattern, loosely translated, means 'His mind flows like the wind,
touching everywhere, yet it belongs to none.'  In your terms I am a
Mind Master.  I am a philosopher, and knowledgable in what little
science we have developed.

""I am not the senior member of our herd council, but I have a rare
ability that made it inevitable that I would be chosen to travel
here.""

He was silent while we walked, and I waited patiently.  Finally I
reached and placed a hand on his shoulder.  "Do you mind if I call you
'Wind Rider'?"

""I would be honored.  I know little of your languages.  My
explorations have been few, while I sought the pivot upon which the
fate of our world turns, and there have been few that I can link with
to gather the information I needed.  The mental images you create when
you speak that name are quite pleasing, and appropriate.""

I nearly missed the implications of his calm words.  When I *did*
realize what he was saying, I froze in mid stride and then, once the
shock passed through me, I slowly lowered my foot to the ground and
turned to face him.  "Wind Rider?  Are you saying I'm this 'pivot
person' who will decide if your world lives or dies?"

That great head turned to face me and waves of sorrow flowed over me.
"Yes."

"How?..."  I shuddered and tried again.  "How can what happens here,
affect your world?  You called this 'The Homeworld'.  If your people
came from here, that means your world is somewhere else.  There's no
connection."

He was sad, and suddenly I knew he was incredibly weary and very, very
frightened.  

""Allister, there are many world lines, realities created when
decisions were made.  Any time a choice must be made, another reality
is created.  Most of those world lines are loops that take on a brief
reality of their own, before another decision reabsorbs them into
their parent reality.   If a parent reality is destroyed, so are its
foals.

""There is only one 'Homeworld', the reality that is the great Mare
that gave birth to all other realities.""

I shivered and found the words to finish the logic tree.  "My reality
is the one your reality split from, isn't it?  And..."  I took a deep
breath before I spoke bitterly.  "We're killing it."

He nodded.  ""Help us, Allister.  Save your own world so that all
other realities, including my own, may live, too""

I'd thought I was done being shocked, until the sense of Wind Rider's
plea penetrated.  "All of them?"

""All.""

* * *

Ahhh...  The memories.  Some so sharp they cut me, even now.  Others
so vague I wonder if they are true memories.  Still other memories
seem so...  Ordinary, compared to later memories I think I have.

Wind and I are two, but we have lived so long as mind linked partners
that I wonder that I do not attempt to go to all fours and run like
the wind.

The gift of true body swapping is not mine to share with my partner.

We may share, but always, we are passengers, and subject to the
desires of the one we ride within.

Wind and I, even now, do not share the pleasures of the flesh with
each other.

My words mock me with their delicacy.

Thousands of years of life, and still, I weasel my way past saying the
truth.

Wind and I are true mates.  We have been life-partners since shortly
after he challenged me, and we set in motion the chain of events that
saved all realities.  We love each other with a depth and clarity we
never, at that time, could have dreamed was possible.

Yet, we have never been sexually active with each other.

We, the two who founded, then led an organization of...  I search my
memories, and when the term does not surface, I find myself
embarrassed when I use the archives to rediscover the archaic term.

Zoosexuals.

Yes.  More memories are returning.

We, who are not zoosexual, built an organization of Guardians, that
was eventually composed of human and animal teams who were emotionally
and sexually bonded with each other.

That came later.

* * *

"Wind Rider?  You are here, and talking to me, but...  I wonder if
this is all a delusion, triggered by my frustration, and ego."

""Then use that 'delusion', to find within yourself, the means by
which you can save your own world.  It matters not, how you save it,
only that you *do*.""

"That much, I can agree with.  Very well, then.  I will, for the sake
of easing my own mind into whatever it is that must be done, table my
questions about your reality, and my sanity, in favor of finding a way
to prevent the inevitable death of *this* world."

Wind Rider bobbed his head and snorted.  ""This would be much easier,
were I at home.  We have a group mind, and we are...  Aware of the
feelings of many animals other than ourselves.""

"People have dreamed of such an ability for humans.  Some have claimed
to have it, but...  We humans have an arrogance to us, that insists we
are the most superior life form.  When that is combined with our long
history of expansion into new areas, the result is a mindset that
insists our resources are limitless."

""I have been here long enough to know that many of you know they are
not, Allister.""

"True, but I can tell that you feel, strongly, that while many of us
do accept that concept, it is not enough.  We will not be enough, to
save everything."

""You will not, if something doesn't change about the way you humans,
as a collective, treat The Homeworld.""

I remember shivering, and thinking that if this was my subconscious
speaking, through this animal, it was far, far bleaker a future ahead
of us, than I'd let myself become consciously aware of.  But...

Was I becoming a split personality?  Where had the...  Maturity and
calm certitude of this manifestation come from?

"Tell me, Wind Rider.  I can understand you searching for the reality
that gave birth to yours.  That search tells me that you and your
people have some hope, that something can be done.  Even if you are a
manifestation of my own mind, I know we have to do something, soon. Do
you have any suggestions?"

""I have...  A concept that is so vague, I will not dignify it by
calling it a suggestion.""

I chuckled sourly.  "I can tell you are extremely reluctant to share
this.  Well, then, manifestation of my own fears, or not, I call
myself a scientist, and that means I am supposed to have the fortitude
to listen to...  The unusual, and not dismiss it without due
consideration for how it might fit into the framework I call
'scientific fact'."

Wind Rider laughed in my head.  ""A long winded way of saying 'If I am
crazy, I might as well listen to myself and discover just how crazy I
am.""

"You are perceptive.  Well?"

""In my world line, and several others, of course, equines are the
dominant species.  When the split happened, is subject to debate, but
that is mostly irrelevant to the current topic.

""Perhaps, the herd mind has always been there.  At the least, it had
its beginnings, here, before the split.""

"You sound sure of that."

""I can feel its potential, when I am near the equines that live here,
but they have no awareness of it, and what I do get is localized and
happens only when there are enough equines to take the potential past
a...  Threshold of awareness.  What is here, is not the global
consciousness I am used to being a part of.""

"You said 'mostly irrelevant'."

""Yes.  My concept is simple to state:  'Find a way to deliberately
create such a group mind here, and make it multi species, so the
potential will be there, for it to form when there are other splits
that change the dominant species'.

"Our greatest thinkers believe that there can only be one 'overmind'
for each reality.  I mostly agree.""

"I hear a 'but'.  A big one."

""Indeed so.  Based on my observations, I do not think it is humans
who will be able to create the conditions for this overmind to form,
and it is...  A distinct probability that there is already an
overmind.  What I propose, is that you find a way for humans to tap
into this greater awareness, so it can be made aware of what is
happening, and...  Perhaps it will take steps to encourage the
conditions that will lead to all of us having a future.""

"If not humans, who?"

""The canids.""

"Couldn't some of your people act as seeds, to create another overmind
similar to the one you are used to?"

""Perhaps.  However, there are several reasons for avoiding that.  The
major one is that there isn't time to experiment.  There are too few
of us who can wander the alternate realities and...  I am sorry,
Allister.  Whatever mind is formed, it must, ultimately, be able to
clearly communicate with humans, because your species is the only one
developed enough to be effective agents of change, in time.""

"I can ...  Feel your fear, Wind Rider.  There is something more.""

""Yes.  In spite of this...  Rapport we share, the basic truth is that
Humans are predators, and Equines are prey.  An Equine overmind would
do everything it could, to prevent the sharing of knowledge, no matter
how important it is for both of our species' survival.""

"I begin to see.  Whichever species we attempt to link with, it must
be another top level predator, it must be globally distributed in
enough numbers so that its species' 'threshold' for an overmind can be
easily reached, and it must be one that humans feel comfortable enough
around to seek a true communion of the minds."

""Yes.  It must also be somewhat territorial, enough so that its
territoriality might be  expanded to see the world as its territory.""

I thought about it, and he remained silent while he let my wandering
dictate his own.

Eventually I came out of my introspection and sighed.  "There are
social implications to what we must seek, Wind Rider.  They are major
ones for many humans, far less so for any animal species involved in
the partnership.  I begin to suspect that many of the canids have a
much broader view than we humans do.

"Tell me, if you know the answer.  What made you select the canids
over all others?"

""No matter where they live, the canids share a common language. Plus,
they have been a part of your existence so long, you and they share a
very similar body language, and an 'awareness' of the basic signals
is, as far as I can determine, innate to both of your species. To me,
that indicates a strong possibility they already have an overmind of
some sort, and if they do, all of our knowledge says it will be the
only one to ever form, unless all canids were to disappear.""

I sighed, then looked at him sadly before I took the time to slowly
turn in place while I studied what I could see of my home.

"To be most effective, we will need the help of at least one species
who is aquatic.  Best of course, would be at least two species in each
medium.

"Three of the four species are ones we are already attempting to
develop better ways of communicating with."

His head bobbed.  ""Go on.""

"Dogs and Wolves, on land.  Dolphins and Orcas, in the oceans."

""What of yourself, Allister?  You are, after all, the pivot.""

I touched his neck lightly, then stroked it.  "I?  I must become the
person I was never meant to be, and hope that someday, there will be
someone who believes the danger to us all, is as real as *I* believe
it to be, and who will be able to see where I cannot, as they work
towards a future that allows us to keep living.

"The potential for me to be a public figure has been in place for
years, but I have deliberately ignored it, in favor of...  Nurturing
my selfishness and willful blindness.

"When the next bus loads of my 'disciples' appear, I will embrace them
and go forth, as they have insisted I should do."

""You mentioned major social implications.""

"Yes.  I am...  Going to be too visible, for me to embrace one of the
requirements.  In fact, I suspect that the people I recruit for my
inner circle will have to keep that aspect of their lives hidden.
Effective communication involves knowing a language in its entirety.
We can no longer deny the fact that for most of us, we have willfully
ignored the most important part of effective communication, when we
deal with the animals who share this world with us.

"We must include sexual signalling, and the consequences of that
signalling, in our attempt to develop a mutual understanding.  To put
it most simply, humans and animals must embrace their mutual
sexuality, and share it with each other."

I turned slightly whimsical.  "It is an accepted truth, that for
humans, the best way to learn a new language, is from a 'horizontal
dictionary'.  It is time we expend the effort required to learn if
that is species specific, or a universal truth."

""The image you send, is an amusing one...  No!  The communication
between our species should not be this clear!  Words, yes.  But images
and feelings are only shared amongst...  Stallions and Mares who are
truly mated.  Forgive me Allister.  I expected to spend more time with
you, before I needed to return to my own reality.  I  must seek the
shared wisdom of the council.

""I will return as soon as I know enough to contribute constructively,
to your project.""

I nearly overbalanced and fell when he vanished.

I recovered, looked at where he had been standing, noted that his hoof
prints were clearly visible, and led to the point where he'd been
standing, then vanished.  I made a mental note to call my neighbor
over, to find out if he saw them, too.

I also kept my resolve that I now had a purpose that was worth giving
up my solitude for.

No matter the 'reality' of how I had settled on the decision, I was,
based on my own observations, convinced that 'let someone else do it'
was not an option that would ensure Earth's long term survival, with a
viable ecology that included humans, and many other species.

A 'great dying', mostly triggered by humans, was already in progress,
and I had a duty to slow its progress, halt it, and if possible,
reverse it.

If I could.

* * *

I was still wrapped up in my visions of possible futures when I heard
a forlorn nicker, and a man's gentle voice. "Go, Baraka.  Allister
won't mind."

I looked up in time to see a pure white filly take a halter from my
neighbor's hands.  They seemed to commune briefly, then she turned
away and her head hung dejectedly while she came over to offer me what
she carried.

After I took it from her, she bent her head and inhaled deeply from
one of Wind Rider's hoof prints in the grass, then she raised her head
so her eyes were level with mine.

In those brown eyes was a question, and something more, that spoke to
me without words.

"He promised he'd be back as soon as he could, Baraka."

Her head bobbed slightly, then she sighed and nudged the hand that
held the halter, before she pressed her head into my chest and held it
there while I gently rubbed her forehead.

Her whole body shouted her dejection, and I, as inexperienced as I
was, knew without words, that Wind Rider's disappearance was the
ultimate source of her pain.

Our wordless communion gave Wicasa time to join us, and he knelt and
placed a hand above one of the hoof prints before he looked up and met
my eyes.  "So, Allister, Borak has gifted you with his presence,
hasn't he?"

"I should have known that somehow, you'd be aware of him."

I held my hand out for Baraka to nuzzle, and she snuffled it eagerly,
then seemed to relax slightly.

I held my hand so I could show Wicasa the hairs that lingered.  "I
wondered if I was insane, and was going to call you so you could come
over and tell me that what I met was not an illusion."

He shook his head.  "I would be wondering that, myself, except that he
sired Baraka on my best breeding mare, the last time she was in
estrus."

I smiled when he stood, then I chided him gently.  "Considering your
heritage, Wicasa, and the fact you study many cultures, when searching
for the right names, this time you ranged much further than usual."

"When something within guides my mind, I listen, and go where I am
led."

He gestured at the halter I held.  "Baraka is gentle, but firm, in
keeping her freedom.  She has always seemed to know where Borak is.  I
knew he was nearby, because of her intent focus.  Then...  I have seen
many strange things in my life, Allister, but watching the filly I
cannot halter, open her stall, then come to me and...  I do not
understand how she did it, but it was clear she wanted access to the
tack room.  She picked out that halter, herself, then offered it to
me.  I took it, and before I could attempt to put it on her, she
spurned me, then turned away before she looked back and...  She
beckoned for me to follow her."

I held up the halter and spoke directly to Baraka.  "I think I
understand.  You are your father's gift to this world, and you and I
are to be together while we wait for his return."

She moved her head until the halter was resting on it.

I gently positioned things until I could fasten it, then I touched her
head lightly.  "I'm sure you know where things are, and how to get to
them.  Make yourself at home, Baraka, while Wicasa and I take care of
the details that are part of the human formalities, when an animal
decides to pick a new...  Companion."

Her head came up, we exchanged breath, then her tail went up slightly
before she studied her new home.  

Eventually she looked at me again, and snorted, before she launched
into a gallop that clearly spoke of her acceptance of her new living
conditions.

I was still smiling when I refocused on Wicasa and waited for him to
return from wherever his mind had taken him.

Finally he shook himself and studied me thoughtfully.  "For a
scientist, you have...  A gift that I did not expect to see, in one as
pragmatic as you are."

I sighed.  "It is not my gift, really.  It is...  His true name more
or less translates into English as 'Wind Rider'."

"I have seen him run.  It fits.  You have the look of a man who has
found his purpose, Allister.  Baraka has never felt the touch of a
halter, or any other form of restraint.  She would not allow it."

"I'm not surprised.  She is true to her heritage, which is not of this
world.  Wind Rider is from an alternate reality, one that branched
from ours in the distant past.  Horses are dominant there, and... From
what he did not say, I think there are no humans there."

"He travels the different realities?  There are legends of such.  He
would not be here, if he did not have a reason."

"He and his people fear for all worlds, including ours.  If ours dies,
they all die."

I focused on Wicasa's face.  "Wicasa, my friend, Wind Rider says I am
the pivot.  If anything is to be done in time, *I* am the only one who
has a chance of finding a solution, and getting the people of our
world to do what must be done.  We think there is a possible
solution."

He eyed me, then nodded his head.  "Baraka is his gift, that ties us
all together.  I see it now.  She has given herself to you, with a
trust I had hoped to earn someday."

He held out his hand.  "It is silly, that one such as she must be
treated like property, but, since that is what the rest of the world
will expect, I make her a gift to you, and will see that you have the
papers that say it is so."

I shook his hand, then studied Baraka.  "There is a lesson here,
Wicasa.  We must become partners with our animal companions, and...  I
think the core of our new relationships will be letting them choose
who amongst us, they partner with."

"A return to the old ways?  My people will be pleased."

I smiled at a new vision.  "The old ways, and new ones.  Wind Rider's
people speak from mind to mind.  Do it discreetly, and find out how
many of your people would like the chance to become one with their
horses, in a way that until Baraka, was only a dream."

His head jerked up and he stared at Baraka hungrily.  She raised her
head, studied him, then bobbed her head once, before she went back to
pulling out clumps of grass and eating them.

He spun to stare at me.  "She knew!"

I chuckled.  "Yes, she did, and that gives me hope that someday, there
will be other species we can share our dreams with, as easily as you
and I share ours."

He studied her for a few more minutes, then sighed.  "She is going to
be a very busy mare, once she is old enough."

"True.  I think it would be wise if we let her pick her mates."

Then I glanced at him thoughtfully.  "Someday, if one of her children,
or Baraka, herself, offers you the joys of the flesh, my friend, will
you accept them?"

His smile was faint.  "When one's totem speaks, it is a fool who does
not pay attention.  We live amongst your people, Allister, but we know
the old ways.  Most of us would find it an honor to be spoken to,
thusly.  I am one of them."

"Good, because if we are to understand ALL that they tell us, we must
be certain we speak each other's languages, completely."

"A great vision."

"I know.  I only wish...  Circumstances force me to stand to one
side."

I gazed at Baraka and spoke softly.  "I'm sorry, Baraka.  The world is
not ready for the love I suddenly feel in your presence.  We cannot
risk the loss of all worlds, just so we may share ALL the joys a man
and wife may share."

Her head came up, she ambled over, pressed her head into my chest and
I felt a sadness that was filled with understanding, as if she knew
what was at stake, and had accepted the price before she offered
herself to me.

I kissed her forehead, then rubbed between her ears and chuckled while
I thought about the two of us, together, with me on her back, and
racing the wind across a field.

"I can still ride you, Love, just not in the way you will sometimes
need from a stallion."

Her tail came up suddenly, then she turned sideways to me and planted
herself.

The invitation was clear, and I managed to get myself settled on her
back.

I leaned forward, wrapped my arms around her neck, and spoke only in
my mind.

""Go!""

She moved carefully, at first, and once we were used to each other,
she slowly increased her speed until she and I were racing across my
field...

And into our shared future.
---

End: 'Discovery: Chapter One'
======

zoo-(coming of age) slow best-(mteen/wolfess) 1st 

note: I use doubled quotes to indicate telepathic conversations.
---

Dawn Greeter
A Challenge Universe Story - Ward's early years
---

The man and woman share a resigned look before they quietly get up and
leave the room. Their ten year old son never notices the look--or the
worried frown on his father's face.

The woman breaks the silence first. "What will we tell him if he
asks?"

He chokes off a slightly hysterical laugh before he smiles faintly.
"He doesn't need to ask. Last week's show gave the initial contact
info."

"Oh." She faces the window and looks out. "If he doesn't get diverted
by some other obsession, they'll probably take him as soon as he's old
enough."

It's his turn to gaze out the window. "You sound pretty certain."

"He's an empath."

"Does he know?"

"Not yet."

"Wolves. I'm not looking forward to his puberty." The man gestures
vaguely, as if to indicate something more than the valley their home
overlooks. "I've heard them howl, out there." His shoulders sag and
his wife moves to massage his back. "He's my son but... I wish he were
a normal ten year old!"

She stiffens and then hugs her husband. "We could move back to the
city."

"No." He straightens as his decision is made. "If it must happen, he
needs every advantage he can get. I hope he changes his mind..."

She calmly speaks the words he left unspoken. "But if he's like his
father was at that age, he won't." She moves so she is at his side
again. "I'll make sure the Institute keeps one of their packs in the
valley--just in case."

His lips reluctantly form a smile as he gazes out the window and
remembers the decisions he'd made when he was ten. "The diversions
didn't work on me but I have to try them--just in case."

* * *

"Trina. We haven't seen much of you and Lee since the two of you
retired."

"Hello, Mark. We've missed being here but there has been plenty to
keep us busy. However, as much as I'd like to visit, this is a
business trip."

"Institute business?" When she sighed and nodded, he gestured at the
hallway. "My office?"

"Please."

Mark's office was as seemingly jumbled as it had been when she and Lee
retired. She knew Mark was far more organized than his office seemed
to indicate. When he gestured at one of the chairs she settled in it
and waited.

"Tea? I can have some sent in."

"Thanks, no."

He paused as if waiting for an explanation. When none was made he
sighed and settled behind his desk. "Trina, it's been years since we
last talked to each other. I don't remember you as being the nervous
type of person."

"Mark, are you still in charge of pack assignments?"

"Yes."

"We need a favor. A big one. Lee and I would appreciate it if you made
sure a pack is in our valley until after Ward goes through puberty."

He sat up. "Ward? But..." He took a deep breath. "Ward can't be over
what? Ten years old or so?" When she nodded he went on. "Is he that
certain?"

She laughed at his shock. "No, Ward is only certain he wants to work
at the Institute, with Allister. Lee and I aren't certain either, but
we want Ward to have the best possible opportunities to learn from. If
one of the Institute packs is living in the valley, we'd be a lot
happier with the situation."

"I see. Let me check something... Yes, here it is... Greyshadow's pack
was assigned to your area when we were doing long term rotations ten
years ago. My notes say Allister wanted to have them living in a place
where people wouldn't be upset if they were discovered. Since you and
Lee had just retired in that area, we decided your valley would be
ideal for them."

"Grey's pack? Aren't they wolflings?"

"Most of them. Ordinary wolves have wandered in over the years."

She nodded again. "We've heard them but figured they were just ones
that were wandering through since they never made contact with Lee."
She frowned slightly as she remembered something from her work. "Isn't
Julie a wolfling? Where's she working right now?"

He sighed deeply. "Julie's here at headquarters. Allister took her off
roving duty a couple of years ago. My guess is that he was hoping
she'd find a partner."

"What about her mutation?"

"They still haven't figured it out. She's given birth to a few talkers
since you left but they've been as random as the original mutation.
They had hopes for her most recent litter but none of them are showing
signs of having the mutation. She's still unpartnered--and very
lonely."

"Lonely?"

"Lonely. We worked together for six months but it didn't go past
friendship. That was when I found out she knows how to cry."

"That's terrible. Still, knowing she's here makes me feel a little
better."

"Oh?"

"A mother's worries. At least I don't have to worry about her trying
to seduce Ward."

"That's unkind of you, Trina."

"No, it's silly and I know it. But, when I left, she was part of
Greyshadow's pack. When you told me his pack had been moved to our
valley after Ward was born, I had this weird idea that Allister must
have known something. The wolflings don't usually get long term field
duty as a pack."

He laughed. "When you put it that way, it does look a bit odd. Ten
years ago we spent two years rearranging almost all of our packs.
Putting Grey's pack in your area *was* special, but that was because
we needed a place where they wouldn't be forced to move again if
people found out they are wolflings. They've all reported that with
you and Lee there, they've felt an 'aura' that makes them feel
welcome."

"So, you have your pack and they will be there until we do the next
batch of long term rotations. That means Greyshadow's pack will be
there for at least another fifteen years."

Trina nodded. "I never expected to get the wolflings. I don't know if
I'm happy about that or not." She looked at Mark and held up her hand.
"Relax, Mark. Since I'm being honest, I was halfway hoping that you
couldn't spare more than a few wolves to wander nearby. Lee's told me
about the problems he had when he went through puberty and realized
what he was."

Mark waited until he was sure she was finished. "And I'm certain he
told you of all the joy he found when he went to work here and found
his lupine mate--then you. Don't begrudge Ward that chance. If his
path turns that way, we'll find a place for him here. Count on it."

* * *

Dawn. Another dawn greeted by the howls of the members of the local
pack as they began their day. Those howls had become as familiar to
him as his parent's voices. His most cherished dream was to see the
wolves who sang so beautifully--and get to know them as more than
voices in the distance.

Today that desire to meet the pack was tinged with a bit of something
more. He suddenly realized he wanted to howl along with them.

Once he realized what he wanted to do, he gave in to the impulse. He
gathered his courage--and howled his own greeting to the sun. It was
hesitant, quavery--and didn't sound a bit like the howls he'd just
heard.

He didn't know what he was saying with it, but it was--unmistakably--a
howl. 

It must have had something special in it--because it was answered. The
first howl was distant. As it ended, another wolf howled. Slowly, to
his amazement, every member of the local pack greeted him with a howl
that echoed his. The echoes of the last howl were still fading when a
huge male wolf stepped out of the trees and settled on his haunches to
study the boy.

"Me? That was for me?"

As if he understood, the wolf nodded, stood and started to return to
the forest. Just before he vanished into the shadows he turned his
head back to the boy, nodded again, and something filled him with the
feeling of acceptance. When he thought about it later that day he
decided that the closest he could get to expressing the feeling in
words was: 'We heard you--and you are now one of us.'

* * *

Lee was staring out the window. "They answered him. He howled and the
entire pack answered him. No, it was more than that. They accepted him
into the pack as one of their own."

Trina was seated at the breakfast table. Her face was pale from shock.
"Are you sure?"

He turned and she saw his bittersweet look. "I'm certain. I took part
in the ritual many times after I was accepted into *her* pack. Each of
them echoed Ward's howl and added their own 'signature' to it. It's
the pack's way of saying 'We hear you and accept you as one of us.'
Proper form starts with the lowest wolf and works its way to the alpha
pair. Once *they* answer, the new wolf is a full pack member."

She wrung her hands as she thought about what he'd just told her. "Our
son belongs to them."

He moved to stand behind her chair, then reached down and pulled her
into a hug. "He's still our son in so many ways but, for the rest of
his life, he'll have a place with the wolves--just as I do."

* * *

""Ward's been accepted into Greyshadow's pack. Two days later he
submitted the preliminary paperwork to the Institute.""

""So, 'mind-mate', the vague paths of the future have become
certain?""

""Wind-Rider, my friend, they have. Ward will be the one for Julie, as
well as for the Institute.""

""Dare we tell her that two hundred years of loneliness will soon be
over?""

""No.""

""Allister, I have felt her pain for all of those years. Are you
certain?"

""Trust me, my closest friend.""

* * *

Lee went out the door to greet the wolfess who stood there
expectantly. "Hello. Forgive me if I do not say things well. I haven't
needed to speak the shared language in many years."

She nodded and then nosed the device at her feet. "We know. This is
for him. Will you give it to him?"

"So soon?" He sighed as he bent down to pick it up. With unconscious
skill he turned it on and kept it oriented on the wolfess. He had been
expecting this, but not so soon. "I was hoping to have more time
before this step was taken."

A female voice issued from the translator. "He has been accepted. We
delayed only long enough to see if *your* translator was available. It
was." The wolfess stood and gazed at him. "I am Tip, beta female to
Greyshadow. Will you honor our desires and see that he learns how to
use it?"

Lee studied her as he fought his own desires. He sighed again and
nodded. "I will. My word as a wolf-brother."

"Thank you, Runs-in-the-Forest."

* * *

"Ward. Greyshadow's pack wants you to have this."

"What is it?"

"A translator."

"Translator?"

"For wolf. Keep it pointed at the wolf you want to understand and it
will render their speech to ours. It also has a teaching mode. When
it's hooked to a larger computer it can interactively help you learn
the shared language."

"Will it help me learn wolf?"

There was a long silence before Lee answered his son's eager question.
"It will." He placed it in his son's outstretched hand. 

"It looks old. It's not the same as the ones they use on the shows. I
can't figure out how to turn it on." 

Lee closed his eyes and searched his memories until he could
consciously remember the motions he had performed automatically for so
many years. "Hold it in either one of your hands with the lens pointed
away from you. Rotate it until all of your fingers fit comfortably in
one of the sets of small depressions. Start with your little finger
and apply pressure to each point until you hear a beep. After the
fifth beep, sustained pressure from your thumb will turn the
translation mode on or off. Reversing the on sequence shuts off main
power." He opened his eyes and watched with mixed emotions as Ward
experimented.

When Ward finally realized his father was still in the room and
waiting for him to say something, he stopped his experimenting. "Dad?"

Lee held out a small datapack. "The instructions." He turned and left
the room after Ward took the datapack and turned to his computer. It
was painfully obvious that in his son's world--his father had ceased
to exist.

* * *

The evening silence is shattered by the howl of a nearby wolf. The man
and woman flinch but their thirteen year old son does not. When he
raises his head, howls--and is answered--they shiver.

He looks at them and there is something in his eyes that says he has
seen their movement. With a wisdom that unnerves them--he tilts his
head to one side and studies them.

'How like a wolf,' His mother thinks to herself. 'Quiet. Watchful.
Cautious.'

"Dad? Mom? That was Tip. She's ready and I just told her yes." He
stands and they notice a bulge at his crotch. He doesn't try to hide
the eagerness, or the nervousness, he's feeling. 

Suddenly his father stands and reaches out with one of his hands.
"Son, first times are special, and awkward even when humans are
involved. I've always hoped that..." He shrugs slightly. "Not many
walk the path you've chosen, even now. I know love when I see it, even
if it's got a large dose of infatuation mixed in." He pulls his son
into a hug and then gently pushes him away. "Go. Stop dreaming about
it--and go live it."

"You won't try to stop me?" His voice is filled with wonder.

"No. We've had three years to get used to the idea. And..." Lee hugs
his son again before pushing him gently away. A deep breath... And he
speaks words he never thought he'd say so soon. "Tell them
'Runs-in-the-Forest' will no longer attempt to deny his eldest son his
heritage."

"Dad? Heritage? 'Runs-in-the-Forest'?"

Lee turns away to look at the mountains. Ward barely hears his next
words. "I had hoped that my son..." He shrugs without turning. "As did
my father, I too, failed to force my own decisions into reality.
Better you learn to face such from the beginning rather than later.
The path is not an easy one to follow, even now."

The boy, soon to be a man, waits patiently to see if there will be
more. When his father remains silent he nods politely to his mother,
picks up his backpack and without a backward glance strides into the
darkness.

Trina and Lee resettle and watch each other. Finally she tilts her
head back to study the stars. "We lost control three years ago. I
wonder if he'll ever realize that he's made his own decisions ever
since the day the wolflings adopted him?"

Lee's answer is reluctant, but filled with pride. "He's a strong young
wolf. It will take a stronger one to help him reach his potential. I
hope we're around to see it."

* * *

Tip studied Ward as he finished removing his clothing. "Ward. Have you
decided on your pack-name?"

He turned to face her and then settled on the grass. "I..." He took a
deep breath. "I had one picked out but my dad said something tonight
that made me change my mind."

"He did?"

He frowned as he struggled to remember the words his dad had spoken.
"He said 'Tell them Runs-in-the-forest' will no longer attempt to deny
his eldest son his heritage'. Tip? What did he mean?"

She settled on her haunches with a grunt of surprise. "We have waited
years for his message. Your father was a wolf-brother. It means he has
finally accepted Moon-Stalker's death. Allister will be pleased that
Runs-in-the-forest and Trina will be returning to active duty."

Ward was silent for a long time as he thought about his father and his
message to the wolves. He looked up when the gentle breeze shifted and
brought a musky odor to his nose. That reminded him of his reasons for
being with the pack--and Tip's original question. "Dawn-Greeter."

She stood, turned so she was facing away from him and then slowly
raised her tail in invitation. Without turning her head she called him
to her: "Dawn-Greeter. The time for words is over. Your childhood is
over. Become a man--and a Wolf-Brother."

The puppy play he and the wolves had done together for the last three
years had prepared him for this moment. He squatted behind her and
rubbed the tip of his penis back and forth so it was covered with her
fluids. Her scent surrounded him and took his mind to the place he'd
wanted to enter for so many years. His lust overwhelmed him as he
pushed himself into her.

She was hot. She was slippery in a way that all of his dreams had
never prepared him for.

Thinking stopped.

There was no love in his actions. He was a lust driven penis with only
one need.

The end came quickly. He felt his orgasm begin and his needs made his
hands jerk Tip back against his crotch.

He froze as his orgasm blanked his mind.

Tip howled.

The pack howled.

Dawn-Greeter became a man--and a Wolf-Brother.

* * *

"Challenge Institute. Recruiting section." The man who answered
sounded slightly bored with it all. 

Ward jerked upright in shock. After weeks of working his way through
the automated message system he expected to get yet another list of
choices and instructions. "Are you the person I talk to about getting
a job with the Challenge Institute?" He activated his camera and
waited.

He was about to lean forward and disconnect from what he thought was a
dead line when his screen lit up and displayed the image of a
middle-aged man. "Son, aren't you a little young to be job hunting?"

He reached within and calmed his resentment at the man's condescending
tones. "I'm young but I know where I want to work. I've been sending
you monthly updates ever since I was ten, just as your instructions
require."

The man's eyes widened and his face moved closer. Ward squirmed during
that inspection but refused to look away. 'A wolf's pride,' he thought
to himself.

"Since you were ten, eh? How old are you now?" Ward's empathic sense
let him 'taste' the man's interest and slight amusement.

"Two months past my thirteenth birthday, sir."

The man nodded. "So you decided that it was time to call us? We don't
hire anyone until they have finished their regular schooling. You're a
few years early."

"I know that. That's part of why I called now." He blushed and looked
away. "There's another reason I called." He turned back and whispered,
"Please, I need to talk to you in secure mode."

The man's eyes widened. "I'm sorry, young man. I can't switch to
secure mode." He held up his hand to stop Ward's protest. "I *think* I
know what you need it for. This console can't be switched and," there
was a wry tone to his next words, "I'm not the person you need to talk
to. Will you wait while I make arrangements to transfer you to the man
who handles special cases?"

Ward sighed. "I'm not special but if you think I should wait, I will."

"Thank you." The man became very serious. "Young man, I'm looking
forward to working with you. My name is Tom."

"Ward Fulton." Before he could think of more to say the man nodded and
put him on hold.

While he waited he thought about Tom's sudden assumption that he and
Ward would be working together. Finally he sighed and settled back in
his chair. 'Tom must be an optimist', he finally decided. 'It will
take me at least nine years just to finish my regular classes. I'll
probably need to take other classes too. I doubt if he'll remember me
by the time I apply for a job.'

Forgetting that he had his camera on, he shook his head and sighed
wearily. "I bet he says that to all the kids he talks to."

"Hello, Mr. Fulton. Tom told me you had something you wanted to
discuss privately. I apologise for taking so long to answer. I took
the time to scan your file and view the recording of your
conversation. I hope you don't mind."

Ward stiffened in surprise. Even in his reverie he recognized *that*
voice. "Sir!" Habit jerked the title of respect from him. "I. No.
Yes..."

He stopped as the man held up a hand and smiled. "Relax. Call me
Allister. I don't mind. May I call you Ward?" A huge nose worked its
way over Allister's shoulder. Ward noticed that Allister's hand
shifted and pushed the nose out of his way. Allister was laughing when
his face reappeared. "Wind, get your nose out of the way." He paused.
"Yes, I know you were saying hello to Mr. Fulton. I was hoping you'd
let him recover from finding out we handle the special cases, before
you put your hoof in." He refocussed on Ward. "It's been decades since
the last special case. Now, take all the time you need and say what
you need to say any way you want to. The line is secure."

"Mr. Cassidy I've wanted to work for you ever since I was ten and I've
started puberty and a month ago I had my first sex and I used to
masturbate while thinking about wolves but the real thing was scary
and exciting and it felt so good and Tip says even though I was clumsy
and fast I'll get better and she and some of her sisters will help me
and that was when I was sure I was a zoosexual and I knew that I
needed to tell someone there so it would get put in my file right away
and..." Ward finally paused for breath and to think about what he
wanted to say next. "Sir, I know there's nothing in the regular
recruiting packages about it but I've watched all of your shows and
it's obvious that if I want to work for *you*, I'd have to be a
zoosexual. I wasn't sure if I was until Tip told me that I am and the
local pack adopted me when I was ten and she and I finally mated and
it felt so *right*..." He slowed to a stop when he realized Allister
was studying him thoughtfully. He 'reached' and was surprised when his
empathic sense told him nothing about Allister's mood. He couldn't
completely suppress his sigh of frustration as his empathy failed him
just when he needed it because he was scared and so nervous.

Allister lost his smile but stayed relaxed and thoughtful. "Don't look
so dejected, Mr. Fulton. Wind and I are always shielded." His eyebrows
raised slightly and there was a hint of questioning in his tones. "So,
based on one act of sex with a wolfess the two of you are convinced
you're a zoosexual?"

Ward blushed again. "Not one... Allister. Both of us were pretty
horny. So were Tip's sisters. We've done everything but the sex for
nearly two years. Tip said it was important that I wait until puberty
before we tried regular sex. She said something about giving humans a
chance first." He took a deep breath. "We're sure. Tip can't lie to me
about that."

Allister nodded slowly. "Can't?"

Ward paused as he realized his mistake. He hadn't been sure he was
partly empathic until recently. The sense was frustratingly unreliable
most of the time so he had never mentioned the possibility in his
reports. "I'm partly empathic. But, I wasn't sure until recently. I
didn't think it was that important so I didn't want to mention it
until I was certain."

Allister held up his hand to stop any more comments. "Tip. Is that the
'Tip' who belongs to Greyshadow's pack?"

Ward gaped. Why would Allister know who Tip was? He closed his mouth
and nodded. "Yes."

"Ahhh... Now I see..." The nose returned, followed by the rest of the
head. Large eyes seemed to study Ward for an endless amount of time
before the head pulled back and Ward could see Allister again.

"Sir?"

Allister smiled faintly. "Tip and and the pack she belongs to are
special. Since you know so much about us already, care to try and
figure out why?"

"Tip? Special? She said she grew up in this valley." Ward waited.
Allister just sat there, also waiting. Was this some sort of test? It
felt like one. "Are you testing me?"

Allister nodded.

Ward sighed. Tip. Special. What did he know about special wolves? The
institute didn't have many wolves that were 'special' unless you
counted the wolfling project--and that had been going on for
centuries. He thought back to what he'd learned. The wolfling project
had something to do with helping wolves and humans talk to each other.
He didn't think that could be it but... He'd always been able to talk
to Tip and most of the rest of the pack once he'd spent a few months
learning their language. There'd been a few of the pack he'd had
trouble communicating with at first but he'd always assumed that he
hadn't been able to speak 'wolf' clearly enough to make himself
understood. Still... He and most of the pack could talk to each other
fairly easily. Was that really what made them special? But all of
*those* wolves were at the institute. Weren't they?

Still, it was the only thing he could think of. He hazarded his
answer. "Wolflings?"

Allister laughed. "Exactly. She and the pack are taking a break from
their duties. Next time you see them tell her I said hello."

Before Ward could answer Allister glanced to one side. "I see we've
been at this for quite some time. I'm sure you need a break. Here's my
connect code." He gave it and made sure Ward had it right. "You'll be
receiving some special files over the next few days. They may be
confusing at first since they haven't been updated in almost a
century. It's not often that we help someone your age plan for a
career with us. Any more questions?"

"I can't afford to take a tour. Are there areas I can see remotely
that you haven't used in your shows?" Ward failed to keep the yearning
out of his voice.

"You won't be allowed to see any of the private areas--but you already
know what happens there." The words were bland and it took Ward a few
seconds to realize he was being teased. He blushed yet again.

Allister was gentle. "Wait until you've studied the files I'm sending
you. Talk things over with Tip and the pack. If you still want some
sort of tour, something will be arranged. OK?"

"Yes, Sir."

"Allister. In a few days, then." The screen blanked.

* * *

""Allister, I felt him reach for us.""

""Yes. I didn't know he'd be an empath. Tip only said he was easy to
talk to and that he learned 'wolf' very quickly.""

""Do you think he's figured out he might become telepathic with the
wolflings?""

""Wind, I don't know. We've never mentioned the possibility in any of
the shows. As far as the world knows, the links are one way, with the
wolflings doing all the work. Even the ones who've formed the fuller
link can't tell us exactly how it's triggered, only that when it
happens, it's sudden and deeper, as if two become one.""

""He'll be a good partner for Julie, mind-mate.""

""Yes. When he asks for a special tour, she's going to be his tour
guide.""

""And nature will do the rest of our work for us. My always friend, I
could kick him with a hind hoof and be more subtle than you have
chosen to be.""

Allister shared Wind-Rider's gentle laughter.
======

Youthful Encounter
---

"Challenge Institute.  How may I help you?"

"I...  Well, you see..."  I hesitated and then blurted out my next
words.  "I don't know.  I expected to get another answering service."

The obviously female voice on the other end of the com-link spoke
slowly, carefully.  "You were going to decide what you wanted after a
machine gave you a list of choices?"

"Yes. Allister said I should call this number when I was ready to take
a guided tour of the Institute.  I thought I'd get another list of
options..."  I broke off my stumbling explanation as a strange noise
tried to destroy my hearing before the level adjuster cut in.  Had she
howled?  I shook my head in disbelief.  Couldn't have.  This woman had
the strangest way of laughing that I'd *ever* heard.

"Don't cut the link.  I'm sorry.  Let's start over, OK?"  

I stiffened in anger and then sighed and tried to relax.  Somehow I'd
done something stupid again and I didn't have any idea what it had
been. "OK."

"Good."  She became all business.  "Hello, you've reached the
Challenge Institute's main offices.  I'm Julie and I'm here to help
you in any way I can."  The screen cleared and I found myself looking
at a wolfess.  Her mouth was moving in time to the words I was
hearing.  "How may I help you today?"

"You're a wolfess!  Was it you who howled?  What did I do to make you
laugh?"

"Yes, I am a wolfess.  'Wolfling', actually.  Yes, I howled.
*Normally*, anyone who calls this number knows enough about us that
they aren't surprised when a person answers."

I enabled my camera.  "Hello, Julie.  I'm Ward Fulton.  I know this is
going to sound crazy, but ever since I was 10 and I read a story about
Allister's Valley..." I blushed and turned away before I whispered
without looking at her, "Every time I think about his Institute and
me, I can't think of working anywhere else.  Every picture I've seen
makes me feel like I'm away from my real home."

I forced myself to face those golden eyes.  "Julie, I'm sorry I
embarrassed you like that."

Her ears, which had been twitching as she obviously tracked what going
on around her, jerked upright and faced me.  Her posture didn't change
but I could see her muscles tense as she became totally focused.
"Feel, Ward?"

I nodded miserably.  "Feel, Julie.  I'm slightly empathic.  Not much,
I can't reliably call it at will, but under stress it usually tells me
*after* I've done something stupid--that I've made a mistake."  

Suddenly, her ears perked again and she tilted her head slightly.  I
blushed, then sighed.  Tip used the same gestures to tell me she was
surprised, very interested in what I was doing--and thinking about
something with enough intensity that I shouldn't disturb her.  So, I
waited.

After a few minutes Julie came out of her trance.  "Dawn Greeter.  My
Pack knows you.  As Zeta, I greet you."

I froze in shock.  'Zeta'?  I'd never heard of the title.  Still, it
was obvious she was a pack member since she knew my pack name.  Then
Tip's lessons kicked in.  "Forgive me, please.  I thought I knew all
of the pack members.  I greet you, pack sister."

Then, ritual past, I blurted my question.  "What is a Zeta?"

She laughed and suddenly I felt her gentle welcome.  "Forgiven, since
I haven't lived with the pack for decades.  'Zeta' is a wolvish joke.
Greyshadow's pack members are my brothers, sisters, and children.
However, I am also the senior wolf at the Institute.  That means I am
the one who has to decide overall policy for all wolves.  I am the one
at the end of the chain of responsibility, answerable only to
Allister, Wind-Rider and my own conscience.  Many years ago,
Greyshadow used to tease me by calling us the 'Alpha and Zeta'
wolves."

Her posture shifted and I felt her reaching out to me.  Too surprised
to do anything, I sat while I felt something slowly work its way
inside my mind.

Julie's eyes became my world. 

"Dawn Greeter..."

I jerked back to an awareness of where I was.  Julie and I stared at
each other as I slowly refocused on her entire body.  Then, my mind
caught up with my emotions and I blushed again.

"Julie.  I..."

She tilted her head again and to my amazement, I saw tears flowing
from her eyes.  "Truth between us.  Always."  She smiled.  "Not yet,
but someday, we will be together."

One of her front feet came up and she held it there, as if she was
trying to reach and touch me.  Dazed, I lifted my hand and duplicated
her action.  My empathy wouldn't let me hide.  I *knew*.  It never
entered my thoughts that I was supposed to be too young to know what I
was feeling.

"Someday, Julie.  I love you."

She nodded.  "Though it might take years before we meet, I will be
waiting.  My love."  Her foot fell away and she shifted to a posture
of alert attention.  "Ward.  My time is yours, of course.  I believe
you called for something other than..."  She laughed.  "Finding your
pack-mate?"

I lowered my hand.  "Yes.  Allister told me to call this number when I
was ready to tour the institute and see places that you don't tell
about on your shows."

Her lips curled briefly, as if she wanted to snarl, but she held it in
and the next words she spoke were empty of emotional tones.  "I see."

I was puzzled.  "Julie?  What's wrong?"

She hesitated and I watched her ears resume their restless scanning.
Finally she tilted her head thoughtfully and focused on me again.
"Nothing that you need to worry about, Ward.  Institute politics,
which is something I've had time to get used to."

I grimaced.  "I hate politics.  All it ever does is get my mom and dad
yelling at each other."

She laughed.  "We don't play that kind, here.  I said politics but
it's not, really."

I frowned at her.  I already knew an evasion when I heard it, even
when my empathy decided to go away.  Whatever it was that had angered
her, it was probably something I didn't want to get involved in.  It
must be adult stuff.

I changed the subject, since she obviously didn't want to say anything
more.  "So, Julie.  What can I see that hasn't been shown on any of
the shows?"

She thought about it briefly.  "What if I show you the public areas,
and then if you see something interesting, if it's allowed, I'll show
it to you?"

I nodded.  "I guess that will work."

She smiled.  "Good.  Let me set up a dedicated port and then we'll get
started.  I need to mute the audio but I'll leave the video on."

"Uhh...  Julie?  I've been able to understand wolf, and the shared
language, without a translator, for two years, if you're worried about
security.  It's in my records, I thought."

Her ears perked and focused on me.  "You do?  It is?!"   She dipped
her nose and snarled and yipped briefly.  She paused, snapped at
something in a display of her frustrated anger, and then started in on
whoever she was arguing with.  My ears hurt until the leveler cut in
and got rid of the peaks that had been bothering me.

Part of me knew I should at least cut the audio, but most of me was
fascinated by how expressive Julie was being.  She said things with
the shared language and pure wolvish that I'd never seen mentioned in
the guide, or spoken in the pack.

I was also glad I wasn't the person she was angry with.  She was in
full stride and accelerating when I heard my name and the words
'manipulative bastard' and 'damned unfair to both of us'.

My thoughts of not eavesdropping vanished.

I lost track of time until she sneezed disgustedly and jabbed her nose
at something out of the range of her camera.

She pulled back and the first thing I noticed was that she looked
smugly self satisfied.  "He won't pull that trick on us again!"

"Uhhh...  Julie?" 

Her ears came forward and there was none of her previous anger in her
posture and tones.  "What?"

I blinked in surprise and forgot my original question.  "How can you
be so calm?!"

She laughed.  "I was never angry."

"But...  You sure sounded angry!"

"Good!  If I fooled you, I certainly fooled Allister.  He needed to be
reminded of a few things, and the angrier he thinks I am, the longer
it will be before he tries again."

I gulped.  She had just been cussing out Allister?

That reminded me of something else.  "How did you learn to cuss in the
shared language, like that?  I never found any of that in the teaching
guides."

Her head tilted as far as it could go and then she laughed.  "You
didn't read all of the guide, did you?  Just the language sections?"

I ducked my head.  "Yeah.  I wanted to be able to talk to the wolves
right away and wasn't interested in all that other junk."

Her head came back up and she was smiling.  "It's OK.  Most people
don't read much other than the vocabulary sections, anyway."

She sighed.   "Ward, the guide was written to help humans learn to
talk to us as quickly and reliably as possible, through a shared
language.  But, it's also important that you someday read all that
other 'junk'.  Don't worry about it.  Besides..."  She laughed.  "The
idioms I used aren't in any of the guides."

"Idioms?"

She grinned.  "Phrases that on the surface have one meaning, but when
used under the right conditions, they mean something else."

"Oh."

"Anyway, if you'd read the part that talks about the history of the
shared language, you would have known that I invented it.  Of course I
can do things with it that aren't mentioned in the guide."

Oops.  "Sorry, Julie.  I'll read the rest of it as soon as I can."

She nodded.  "There's no hurry.  You already know the shared language
and wolvish better than most humans do, if you could translate what I
was saying in them."

"OK."

She shook herself and then resettled.  "Let me set up that port and
we'll start your tour.  I'll give you the public cams and once you've
picked out an area, I'll turn my duties over and grab one of our duty
harnesses."

"Wow!  You'd do that for me?"

Julie's giggle surprised me.  I'd never heard a wolf giggle before and
it sounded strange at first, but nice, once I realized what it was.

She sobered a little and smiled.  "Of course.  Someone always mentors
a new employee until they've decided what they are going to do while
they are here."

"Employee?  But Allister said it would be years before I could go to
work there."

She pounced on my words.  "He said that?"

I thought back.  "Maybe.  He called me a special case and sent me some
special files and said something about helping me plan for a job
there."

Her ears went straight up.  "That conniving meddler!"

"Huh?"

"Never mind.  I thought he caved in to my demands too quickly.  Now
I'm sure of it.  He wanted us to meet, so he set this up without
telling anyone.  If I'd been there in person when he put me on
training and security duty, years ago, I would have caught him at it."

Her expression changed to let me know she was stalking something and
then she grinned.  "I'll let him think he's won, this time.  But we'll
pay him back, someday."

'We?'  All I wanted was a tour of the grounds!  And now she was
talking about some sort of revenge on Allister and she was including
me in her plans and I didn't know what was going on!

She must have felt my frustration because she jerked and laid her ears
back in an apology.  "Sorry."

She did things off screen and eventually looked up again and gave me
the address and port to access.  "You can save the information because
it's permanently assigned for our use, now.  it will only be active
after I turn it on though, so you'll have to contact me each time you
want to take a visual tour.  What I've done is tie us into the
security system and you'll be able to see almost everything I see
while I make my rounds, except for some areas I have to lock out."

I nodded.  "I understand, Julie.  Allister said I wouldn't need to see
the private areas  because I already knew what happens in them.  I
think he was teasing me though because someday I'd like to at least
see what they look like inside."

Then I remembered my dad's words he wanted me to tell the pack.
"Julie?  Was my dad really a Wolf-Brother?  He never mentioned it
until I went to fuck Tip the first time.  She said he was but why
would he never mention it  to me?  He tried to stop me from joining
the pack."

She ducked my question.  "Let's get this set and then, once you've
figured out the first place you want to see, I'll take you somewhere
special to all of us and tell you what I can, for now."

"OK."

We were looking at a long distance image of Allister's House when I
remembered something I'd always wanted to do.  "Julie?  I know I can't
tour Allister's home, but can I see where he met Wind Rider for the
first time?"

Her image in the small window in the corner of my screen nodded.  "It
doesn't look the same as it did then, but since you're an employee,
you can see it.  It's one of the special places in the Valley that we
keep the general publlic away from so it isn't destroyed by being used
too often."

She paged for help, then, after she had her security harness setlled
on her, she let her replacement take over her station, and she headed
for the place I wanted to see.

She'd given me a live feed so I could see whatever she was looking at,
and she took paths that were public ones, until she entered an area
that was posted as restricted access.

"Over the centuries, The Institute has bought out most of the families
that lived in the valley.  This area used to be a large ranch and farm
that was next to Allister's ranch."

"Is that an old road you're following?"

"Yes.  At the time Allister and Wind Rider met, it was a well
maintained access road for their fields and it had a rail fence on
Allister's side.  It hadn't been maintained very well, though, so
there were lots of gaps in it.  Many of the older trees were saplings
back then, and they've been allowed to reform a forest.  We use most
of it for training, but there's a small area, about a mile on a side,
that we use for relaxation and meditation."

She stopped moving, and her viewpoint shifted to the left and stopped
when we were looking at a small meadow that was surrounded by a lot of
large trees.

"If you look carefully, you can still see the row of older trees that
formed a wind break.  The older one behind those smaller ones in the
center of what you're seeing is the tree that Wind Rider had hidden
behind.  I'm standing where Allister was when it happened."

"Wow.  So all those other trees have grown up since?"

"Yes.  The area used to be the pasture where his neighbor grew alfalfa
and let his horses run free."

"Julie?  Is Allister really over three hundred years old, and not a
clone?"

"Yes."

"That's weird.  Everything I've ever read says humans can only live
about one hundred and fifty years."

"That's true, for everyone except Allister.  We think his mind link
with Wind Rider has something to do with it.   Some scientists think
it's the telepathy that makes his extended lifespan possible, but so
far he's the only human that's been changed."

"What about you?  Sometimes you sound like you'r pretty old, and you
must be, if you're the senior wolf, right?"

I heard her sigh.  "I was engineered over two hundred years ago, Ward,
and I'm also a mutant.  I was the first wolf who could use human
speech.   We still don't know what happened to cause that."

"Do you know how much longer you'll live?"

"My body seems frozen, as if I matured, then stopped changing.  The
records say I haven't changed physically since I was about fifteen.
I've always assumed I'll die when I want to, or in an accident that
does more damage than my body can deal with."

"That's weird.  I'm not scared when I think about how old you are.  I
think it would be awesome to live that long, or longer.  I bet a
person could learn almost everything, eventually, instead of needing
to decide to specialize."

She laughed.  "So you like to see new things and explore?"

"Yes!"

"You sound like one of the scouts.  They hate it when they need to
settle to have cubs or kids.  Your father loved to travel, until he
got married, then..."

She sighed.  "Moon-Stalker died in a freak accident, and he has always
blamed himself for what happened, because he'd made the decision to
travel during that storm.  They were less than one hundred yards from
the travel shelter when the storm uprooted the tree that fell and
killed her.  It also pinned him and crushed his left leg as it
shattered his left hip."

She sighed and spoke very softly.  "Moon-Stalker was one of my first
born.  She wasn't a mutant in the way I am, but she did show the same
lack of aging I do.  All of the wolflings descended from me seem to be
ageless."

The view shifted until she was looking at a narrow gap between the
trees.  "There's another reason this area is closed to the public.
Follow that path for about a mile, and at the end there's a graveyard
where most of the people and wolves from the institute are buried."

"Were they a good team?"

"Yes.  They worked well together, and got along with the people they
had to deal with when they were doing survey work."

"How did they meet?"

"In much the same way you met Tip.   She was a local pack member when
he went through puberty and realized he was a zoo.  The pack adopted
him, and she was the one he felt most comfortable around, so they
decided to become a mated pair.  It was years later, when they were on
a sabbatical at headquarters, that they met your mother.  She was a
secretary for the scouts at the time, and was the person they talked
to the most because she was tasked with interviewing them about what
they'd seen during their travels."

"What about you, Julie?  What happened to your partners?  Or do you
have one I'm going to replace?"

She sighed again.  "All of my partners have been temporary, Ward.  You
will be my first long term one.  When I need to, I find one and we
stay teamed for the job, then we split up."

"That sucks."

She laughed.  "I can't say it doesn't.  I've waited all my life, to
feel the special knowing that told me I'd met a human I could spend
more than a few months or years, with."

I had to stop and wipe the tears away fom my eyes, because I could
feel the deep loneliness she felt, and the sudden surge of joy that
had gone through her when she realized I was going to be the partner
she'd been looking for.

"Julie?   You're very sad, yet happy, too, aren't you?  Can any other
wolves cry like you did earlier?"

"I am.  When I stand here, and look towards the graveyard, I can't
stop thinking that while I'd partnered with many of the humans there,
none of them had been *my* Wolf-Brother or Wolf-Sister, before they
died."

"Uh huh.  Ok.  Does it make you want to cry sometimes?  I'm feeling
what you feel right now, and I can't stop.  Let me cry for you, ok?  I
do that sometimes for Tip and the others.  They say it helps a lot
when I do it, even though I'm not a true Wolf-Brother, yet."

"Thank you, Ward.  Sometimes, when I'm settled on my porch and looking
at the night sky, I think about what I haven't felt and cry for a long
time before I go to sleep."

I sighed.  "I wish I could be there right now, but I know it's going
to be a long time, yet.  Hey, Julie?  It's ok if you want to get it
out of your system.  I can feel your pain, but there's a lot of joy
hidden underneath it, now, so I kinda know you'll be ok pretty soon."

The scene tilted quite a bit before she stopped her head, and it was
weird how it changed the way it all looked and felt.

"You know I'll be ok?"

"Yeah.  It's weird, I know.  I guess being around Tip and the others
has made me more sensitive or something, because sometimes I know how
they are going to feel pretty soon, not just the way they feel right
then.  We talked it over and it's like I'm seeing the ripples of a
fish before it surfaces."

"It has to be more than that, if you can also tell what the emotion
will be."

"Yeah.  Greyshadow said it was like being able to tell what kind of
fish it was, before it was visible.  I can't do it all the time, but
when things are this intense, it seems to happen more often than at
other times."

"May I talk about this with Allister and Wind-Rider?  None of us have
heard of anyone having your ability.  Perhaps, if we knew what
questions to ask, we'd find others who can do it."

"Can't you search the Pack Mind?"

She laughed.  "I could, if I knew enough to ask the right questions."

"Oh.  Yeah.  I forgot about that problem."

"What about you?  Are you able to access the Pack Mind, yet?"

"Not very often, and all I can feel is that there are a lot of
thoughts in it."

I blushed, even though she couldn't see my embarrassment.  "Only
happens during the afterglow and all I get are memories of fucking and
being fucked, that I know aren't mine.  Usually it's whoever I've just
fucked, but a few times it has been someone else who is a pack member.
One time..."

I trailed off into silence, and I must have been silent too long.

"That one time.  Is it something you want to talk about?"

"Umm.  I guess.  It was real crazy.  At first I thought I was
remembering something I'd done, but I knew it wasn't me, because I was
the one getting fucked, and I was in heat, which is impossible.  Grey
thought I might have been tapping into Tip's memories but she could
feel what I was feeling and she couldn't remember ever feeling like
the wolfess I'd tapped."

"There was something else that was unusual?"

"Yeah.  Remember what I said about me being in heat?"

"Yes."

"Ok.  Well, I remember that I was the one being fucked.  When I
thought about it later, it might have been like I was wearing her
body, and she was wearing mine, as if we'd swapped bodies somehow, to
see what the other felt during sex.  One other thing, that I never
told anyone yet.  It wasn't any big deal, except for her body being in
heat.  

"It was like we'd done the swapping a lot before then, but this was
the first time we'd tried it while she was in heat."

"That was from the Pack Mind?"

"Have to be, wouldn't it?  I don't know of anywhere else it could have
come from.  Do you?"

She sighed.  "Sorry, Ward.  I know it had to come from the Pack Mind.
I also know who's memories within it, that you tapped, somehow."

"Oh?"

"Runs-in-the-Forest is the only human that's ever been able to
transfer his mind into a wolf's body, and use it as if he were the
wolf."

I blanked, briefly, once I realized who she was talking about.

"Are you saying I was reliving something my father and Moon-Stalker
did together?"

"Yes."

"That's scary."

"They never thought it was.  Nor has any other wolf who changed places
with him.  It gave them a way to fully communicate with each other,
once the wolf learned how to use his speech center."

"Are you saying he could do that with *any* wolf?"

"No.  Not any.  He was only able to do it with ones he felt deeply
for, and they were few."

"Were you one of them?"

"No."

"Oh.  Sorry."

"Don't be.  We talkers are few, and your father was never close to any
of us."

I knew she was hiding something, so I changed the subject.  "Uhh...  I
know we'll be partners, years from now.  Do you want me to stop
fucking other wolves?"

"No, Ward.  The ordinary wolves who work for the institute have kept
the traditional ways of the packs, but the wolflings are not as formal
about love and sex.  Few of the mated pairs are truly monogamous, or
confine themselves to mating with the opposite sex.  If there is a
connection of some type, it is honored when the need is felt."

I slumped with relief.  "I kinda knew that, within the pack, because
I've made love to all of the female wolves already.  I guess you could
call me and Tip mates, of sorts, since we spend a lot of our time
together.  I was worried about what would happen when I met the
wolfess I would consider my true mate.  Nobody ever talked about that
part."

She laughed.  "The young of both our species are forever feeling the
desire to mate, because it makes them feel so good.  We who are older
have the same needs, but we've learned to control them better, when
indulging them would be inappropriate."

Then she did that weird giggling thing.  "It will be nice to be with a
human I can relax my control around, at last."

"Are you saying you're always horny, even though you're so old?"

"My mind is old.  My body behaves as if it has just settled into my
full maturity."

She said it so strangely I had to think about it, then I realized she
was saying her body was like a human's who was about twenty to twenty
five.

"Oh.  Guess I'll know what thet feels like in about ten years, huh?"

"How old are you?"

"Almost fourteen.  I've been a full pack member since they adopted me
just after I turned ten."

"And you had your first sex at what age?"

"With Tip, as soon as she was in heat after I finished puberty.  It
was just after I turned thirteen.  It's all in my records."

"I'm sure it is, but I've had no reason to study them, until now.
Besides, I enjoy learning about you this way.  It is all we are likely
to have for quite a few years."

I sighed and she heard it.  "Relax, Ward.  Much of what we feel right
now is caused by our hormones, and not our reasoning.  Even if you
came to the Insitute immediately, you would still have to spend years
learning what you need to know, and during that time you would spend
time with many partners, even though we know we are mates.  Use the
coming years to learn more about yourself, wolves, and your place in
the world.  I will be here, waiting, and perhaps in a few years I will
be able to schedule a vacation with Grey's pack, or you will be able
to come here."

"Yeah.  Ok.  I haven't looked very close at all the special files
Allister unlocked for me, but maybe I can combine a lot of things and
finish my education early."

She laughed.  "Perhaps.  You have the incentive to be more driven than
the usual types of humans we get.  It is rare, for one as young as
you, to be so focused.and dedicated to his vision of the future."

"Uhhh...  Thanks.  Dad doesn't call it focused.  He always says I'm
obsessed with it."

"So was he, and when he finally got here, he was a pleasure to work
with, because he was never afraid of learning, no matter where his
search for knowledge took him."

She started walking again, and the view changed until I could tell she
was headed back the way she had come.

"Where are you going now?"

"To finish my patrol of this area.  Strangers seldom manage to get
this far into the valley, so usually all I have to do is note other
things that have to be taken care of."

"Other things?"

"I check on the families who live here and see if there is anything
they need.  I also check in with the wolves who have chosen to den
here while they raise their cubs.  It is all very routine, usually,
because they all have ways to let us know of their needs."

"Sounds like you don't really need to do it at all."

"I suppose I don't, but we've never forgotten the most important
lesson we learned a long time ago."

"Oh?  What's that?"

"We are all part of the world, and we should not isolate ourselves
from it for too long."

"Ah.  Yeah.  I remember reading that, now.  I remember thinking the
words in the guide were too emotionless, so I tried to write something
better."

"Oh?  Will you share them with me?"

"Ok.  They're sorta silly sounding.  I wrote it before I fucked Tip
and her sisters, so I hadn't felt the Pack Mind yet.  I'd write
something different now that I know what it really feels like, to be
linked into something like that."

"I understand."

I took the time to find what I'd written and saved, then I took a deep
breath and started reading.

"I know I'm part of the world.  I wish I could feel like I was part of
it.  I'm so alone, even though I know my family loves me, and that I
belong to Greyshadow's pack.

"But I don't feel like I'm part of the world.  Sometimes I know how
others feel, and it's nice when that happens.  Sometimes, late at
night when they are talking about me, I can tell Dad feels really
lonely, even though Mom's right there with him.  He's never said why,
but I know he's real afraid of something to do with me ever feeling
like I'm really a part of things.

"I'm so lonely.  Even when I do what she calls 'puppy play' with Tip,
to learn about sex, I still feel lonely, and when I tell her how I
feel, she just says that someday, I'll feel part of it all, and I'll
know.

"I hope so.

"Because I'm so lonely."

I sighed.  "That's all I wrote."

Julie was silent a long time while she kept walking and I could tell
she was thinking, so I left her alone.

Finally she turned her head and I could see a trail of some sort, then
she started running along it.  It was twisty and she had to do a lot
of dodging, until suddenly there was an opening and I could see the
glint of water.

I thought she'd stop, but she kept running until it was obvious she
jumped,. then there was the sound of a splash and when the water
drained off the lens, I could see she was in the water and not moving.

"It's a nice way to cool off after a run like that."

"Uh huh.  I guess."

"So, Ward.  Are you still feeling lonely?"

"Sometimes.  I think it's going to be worse, now that I know I love
you.  Going to be hard to wait, even though I'll still be spending a
lot of time with the pack.  Hope none of them get jealous when I tell
them about you."

She laughed and ducked her head into the water, I think, because all I
could see was blurry images until the lens cleared.  She was laughing
again, too.

"It feels so good to be in love, finally!"

I couldn't help laughing.  "I thought love would be serious, like it
is between my parents."

"Some people are like that, and your father wasn't so sober, until
Moon-Stalker died.  It was like he'd lost part of himself, the part
that always wanted to be a little silly, even when he had to be
serious."

Then she must have stood and shaken because the view went crazy before
it steadied and she started moving towards the shore.  "Your words
weren't silly. Only simple, because of your youth and lack of life
experience, of course."

"Yeah.  I sorta figured that out.  I tried to say how I was feeling,
but it didn't come out quite the way I wanted it to.  I didn't say
anything about how, ever since the first time I saw a show about the
institute, I've always felt like something there was calling to me.
Sometimes, late at night, just before I fall asleep, I start thinking
that once I'm there, I'll find what I'm looking for, even though all I
know is that I feel like part of me is missing and I don't know what
it is."

"What would you write, now?"

"I dunno.  I still feel lonely, sometimes, but not as often, and not
in the same way.  I guess some of that has gone away ever since I
started fucking, and feeling the Pack Mind, sometimes.  It's so vast,
though, that I can't really tell what it's feeling, except it has a
purpose that it's...  Obsessive about."

Suddenly the view went upside down and shifted crazily.  "What are you
doing now?"

"Rolling in the grass and scratching my back."

"Oh."

The view was still upside down when it steadied again.

"Have you written anything else?"

"Not really.  Sometimes I write stuff about how Tip and her pack
sisters make me feel, and how sometimes, just after I orgasm in one of
them, I feel connected to them, and feel their connection to
everything.  I've recited those, so I guess they are stored in the
Pack Mind, somewhere."

Before she could say anything I had a weird thought.  "Are there other
minds like the Pack Mind?  You know...  Like the Overmind that links
Wind-Rider's people?  Do the  minds ever talk to each other?"

"We don't know."

"Ok.  I think it would be something, if a person could tap into other
ones and see what they know and feel."

She laughed.  "A lot of people have had that dream.  So far, nobody
has found a way to make it come true.  Is the idea of other minds
something you reasoned out, or is it something you feel might be a
possibility?"

I had to think about it.  "A little of both, maybe.  We know about the
wolf one, and we know about the horse one, but it's in a different
reality.  You think maybe there can be only one per reality?  Kind of
sucks, if that's true.  But anyway, yeah, in a way I feel there should
be one for each species, even though nobody has said they've felt one
for humans."

"A lot of people have wondered about that, Ward.  You aren't the
first.  Don't let that stop you, ok?"

I nodded, even though she wasn't able to see me.  "Yeah.  I don't
think I can stop thinking about that, and other stuff.  I like to know
stuff like that."

"Good!  You said you are empathic.  Do you have any control at all?
How reliable is it?"

I sighed so she could hear me.  "It's frustrating.  I'm getting better
control, but it still goes away when I don't want it to.  I think it
changes suddenly, then I can't do anything except learn to depend on
the way it is.  Seems like it's changing again, because I've been able
to tell how you feel, ever since we first started talking.  I don't
think I'll be able to do that once we end the call, but I don't know.
Be nice if I could at least tell how you're feeling when I want to
check.  Wouldn't have to be about me, and I don't think I'll ever be
able to tell things like that, anyway.

"Anyway, I usually don't have any problems using the ability when I'm
with the pack.  I have to be able to see someone before I can use it.
We've tried using it to track hidden pack members, and I can't find
them no matter how hard I try."

"So once they leave your sight, you can't feel anything from them?"

"Yeah.  It was a surprise when I kept being able to follow your
emotions even though I can't see you."

"That's something that's been happening with many of the Wolflings.
Once they mate with a human, sometimes a link forms that lets them
know where their partner is.  I've never heard of it happening without
sex as the trigger."

"You said my dad and Moon-Stalker could swap bodies.  Maybe I
inherited something like that?"

"Possibly.  Don't worry about it, yet.  Anyone who goes to work here
becomes part of an ongoing research program that studies all of the
ways humans and animals interact with each other.  I'll add an entry
to my file in the next few days, and you should do the same."

"Do you think I should start logging when I try to use my empathic
sense?"

"No.  Don't change what you are doing, unless something major changes.
Let things happen naturally.  Trying to force mental powers seems to
make them harder to use, and they grow more slowly, if they grow at
all."

"Ok.  Do you mind if I call you sometimes?"

"I'd enjoy that, as long as you understand there will be times I will
have to refuse a personal call."

"Ok.  What if you called me?  The hours I go to school are in my
records.  I usually do my chores, then try to spend time each day with
the pack.  I always have my comm unit with me."

"That might be better, if you aren't calling about somthing to do with
your future job.  Let's see how it works out both ways, for now."

"Thanks, Julie."

"You're welcome, Ward."

Then she sighed.  "We might as well end this call.  I'm going to be
checking one of our security areas, next, and there is no remote
viewing allowed."

I sighed.  "Ok.  Can we could talk some more, later?"

"Will you still be up in about three hours?"

"Probably.  I do a lot of my studying when it's late and quiet."

"I'll call you after I go off shift and get back to my rooms, in about
four hours."

"Thanks, Julie.  I'll be waiting.  I...  I know I've said it already,
and maybe it sounds a little silly coming from someone my age, but I
can't hide from what I know.  I love you."

She laughed.  "I know.  I can feel you in the Pack Mind when I
deliberately search for your presence.  I love you, too.  Goodbye for
now, Ward."

"Yeah, I would be in there somewhere, wouldn't I?.  Bye for now,
Jullie."

The screen went blank and at the same time, I lost my empathic link to
Julie.  When I tried to find her again, I didn't feel anything, so I
gave up, then made a note in my diary about what we'd done together,
and what had happened.

I tried to study, but all I could think of was Julie, and the way she
and I had seemed to merge until we could feel what each other was
feeling.  That, and the way we'd known we were right for each other,
somehow.

Finally I decided I needed to talk to someone, but I couldn't bring
myself to tell my dad everything, so that left Tip, since she was the
wolf I felt closest to, except for Julie, now.

I grabbed my travel pack and was on the way out the door when my dad
stopped me.  "Son?  We need to talk.  I won't keep you long."

I sighed.  "Ok."

He glanced at mom, then shrugged and focused on me.  "Will it be ok if
we talk on the way to see the pack?  There are some things I need to
say to them, too."

"Uhh...  Yeah.  Ok.  I didn't think you were ever going to go see
them.  They keep bugging me and asking me when you'd do it."

"I know.  That's one of the things I want to talk to you about,
because I've known about that for a long time."  He gestured at the
path I usually used.  "Let's go."

We were out of hearing of the house when he sighed and spoke without
looking at me.  "I never lost my link to the Pack Mind after
Moon-Stalker's body died.  All I've done is deny it was there, and
block myself from using it."

"Dad?  That doesn't sound right.  Everything I've read says that once
the wolf dies, their human partner loses the link, unless they partner
again."

He sighed again.  "Moon-Stalker isn't dead.  Her body died, but her
mind, instead of dissipating, stayed intact when it joined the Pack
Mind.  She also... Anchored herself in my mind, somehow.  We think
that's the reason her mind is still intact."

I sighed.  "Dad? I talked to Julie today when I called the Institute
to see if I could get a private tour.  I told her about something that
happened to me, and found out I'd tapped your memory of the first time
you and Moon-Stalker swapped bodies while she was in heat."

"She told me about that, after she realized what had happened.  She
also told me that you and Julie love each other, and already see
yourselves as a mated pair."

"Yeah.  It was weird.  It was like part of her sorta flowed into my
head through the empathic link, and suddenly we knew.  You can't lie
to each other when you're in each other's heads, can you?"

"No.  You can't lie to each other when that happens.  And as far as I
know, once a link forms, you can't break it or block it for very
long."

He stopped suddenly and I stopped to watch him, because it almost
looked like he was having a convulsion.

It didn't last long, and when it was over, his head tilted slightly
and he studied me in a way I'd never seen, before he spoke softly.
"Hello, oldest cub of my Alpha, and Wolf-Brother of Julie, the one who
whelped me so long ago."

"Moon-Stalker?!"

"Yes.  Will you listen to my words?"

"I...  Does Julie know you're still alive?"

"Not yet.  She has never sought my knowledge in a way that would have
allowed for the possibility.  Now that your father has removed the
blocks he has kept in place for so long, all will know that I am still
alive, even though the body I live in is not my original one."

"Oh.  Uh...  Yeah.  I guess I'll listen to you."

She made my dad giggle, and it sorta freaked me because he seldom
laughed.  "Good!  Truly, I know little of what is in the Pack Mind.  I
could only access it when your father was sleeping, and his control
became weaker."

"Ok.  You sound just like he does, when he wants to tell me something
he thinks I should know for my own good."

She nodded.  "Of course.  Someday, if you and Julie discover the
ability, as we did, you will understand why that is so."

Then she hugged me.  "All I want to do is say 'Be patient with my
mother.  She is strong willed, and in spite of her age, enthusiastic
about life.  Be strong, and don't let her dreams overwhelm your own.
Do that, and the two of you will go far, together."

"I...  Uhhh...  Yeah.  Ok.  I'll try to remember that.  I got the
impression we're a lot alike, anyway."

"You are.  Even if you only live a normal life span, you will have
many decades during which you will be always learning new things,
about the world, and each other."

"Thanks.  Like dad always says, and you must know already, I'm
obsessed with knowing everything there is to find out."

She laughed again.  "True.  Now, I must go back into hiding and let
your father have his body back.  Thank you for hearing what I had to
say, young cub."

"You're welcome, Moon-Stalker."

Dad's body suddenly slumped slightly, and when it straightened I could
tell he was back.

"Dad?  That was weird.  Does mom know that Moon-Stalker didn't really
die?"

"I've told her, but she still thinks I'm doing it somehow, based on my
memories."

I sighed.  "I could tell it wasn't you.  Her mind felt real different
than yours does.  I *knew* I was talking to a wolf, and not a human."

He let out a gust of air.  "Good!  I've always had this nagging
feeling your mother was right, and I was some sort of multiple
personality, instead of it being Moon-Stalker."

"Uhhhh...  Dad?  Can I ask you a weird question about you and
Moon-Stalker?"

"I'm surprised you need to.  Can't you access the Pack Mind, yet?"

"Not completely.  I only get stuff that's sexual, right after fucking
one of the wolves, then it goes away."

"Have you deliberately tried, now that you're mated with Julie?"

"Didn't think about trying.  Got some stuff I wanted to talk to Tip
about, because I didn't think I should mention it to you."

He laughed.  "But now things have changed, and you think I won't avoid
talking about my time as a Wolf Brother?"

"Yeah, sorta."

"Ok.  Ask."

"Moon-Stalker's pretty serious most of the time, isn't she?   She
acted like she's a lot older than Julie.  She felt real serious, like
she's not able to just relax, like most of the other wolves I know.
Julie said when Moon-Stalker died, you lost the part of you that
always wanted to act silly when you were supposed to be serious.  Are
you so serious all the time because she's been in your head?"

"Yes and no.  Oh, I suppose I got to be more serious after she
anchored herself.  If I don't keep the blocks up, it's like having a
strong link to the Pack Mind, since she's not as isolated from it as
she used to be."

"There's something else, isn't there?"

"Your empathy telling you that?"

"Yeah.  Ever since I started fucking Tip and the others, it keeps
getting harder to turn it off.  I think it's changing again, ever
since Julie got in my head, because I think I'm able to tell more
details than I used to."

He sighed tiredly.  "That something else is something everyone takes
for granted, so it doesn't get mentioned.  Part of the link process
seems to be a matching of minds.  She and I were already pretty
similar in the way we thought and felt about things, so we were pretty
comfortable around each other from the beginning."

I sighed.  "Dad?  If you don't want to tell me, it's ok.  Maybe I'm
not ready to hear it."

He shook his head and I could tell he was sorta resigned.  "It's ok.
If you dig in the records, you'd find out anyway."

"Oh?"

"Yes.  Since Moon-Stalker was from Julie's first litter, her sire was
a pure wolf.  Moon-Stalker is mostly wolf, instead of being like the
wolflings you're familiar with.  True wolves play, but their play is
more serious in nature.  I suppose you could call it formalized,
because the play interactions are governed by the pack heirachy.  The
later wolflings are more relaxed and tend to ignore pack structure
when they play."

"What about Julie?"

He laughed.  "Julie...  Is Julie.  She was the early product of a
special research program, the one that was seeking ways to make it
easier for wolves and humans to communicate.  What they *wanted* was a
line of wolves able to interact with humans as easily as dogs do."

He sobered and turned his head so he could watch me while we walked
together.  "What they got, was sex linked telepathy, and in Julie,
true speech, along with a mind as fully capable as a human's.  She's a
true mutant, and as far as I know, while she's whelped a few cubs who
are speech capable, nobody has been able to find the genetic links
that would let her cubs have the same abilities, reliably.

"In a way, it's ironic, because another project with similar goals for
domestic dogs succeeded, and there are several bloodlines producing
speech capable dogs with the ability to have their telepathy with
humans triggered by sex with the partner of their choice."

"That's weird.  You're saying that if a human and animal team wants to
be able to really talk to each other without the translators, they
have to fuck each other?"

"Not fuck, son.  Make love.  If the emotional bond isn't there,
nothing happens no matter how much you want it."

"What about that body swapping stuff you used to do?"

"We never did figure out the reasons I can do it.  Guess I'm a mutant
of some sort.  All we ever confirmed was that I have to be the one to
initiate the switch, it has to be with a wolf I can feel something
for, and it has to be a descendent of Julie's, through the female
side.  I can swap with a male wolf, sometimes, if he's the son of a
wolfess I can swap with."

"Did...  Were you the one who initiated the swap when Moon-Stalker was
dying?"

"We don't remember."

"Oh.  Sorry.  I shouldn't have asked."

"It's...   Ok.  Mostly.  I think you'd better find Tip, and take off
for awhile.  Best you get far enough away you can't hear anything."

I knew an order when I heard it, so I sighed.  "Ok.  I was kinda
planning on being private with her, anyway.  Julie's going to be
calling me later, and I figured I might still be out here with Tip
when she does."

"I wish you could stay, son, but this is going to be hard enough for
me to do, as it is."

"Yeah.  I guess it would be. Anyway, they'll be glad you've come to
see them."

Before he could say anything I barked a few times, to see if Tip was
around, and when she answered, we made arangements for her to meet me
in one of our usual places.

When I was done my dad was smiling a little and I blushed.  "We've got
some places that we think of as ours."

I dug in my pocket and got the translator out.  "Here.  I haven't
needed it for over a year, but I carry it anyway."

He started to shake his head, then must have changed his mind, because
he took it and studied it for awhile before he put it in his pocket.
"Thanks, Son."

"You're welcome, Dad."

Then I ducked into the brush and headed for a small clearing that
wasn't too far away, so I could meet Tip, then we'd decide where we
wanted to go so we could be private.

* * *

"Hello, Tip."

"Hello, Dawn Greeter.  Your sire is very nervous."

I nodded.  "Pack Mind telling you that?"

"Of course.  Apparently he has forgotten that once the Pack Mind
knows, the pack knows.  His desire that you be elsewhere is...  A
gesture, nothing more."

She settled on her haunches and studied me for a few minutes.  "The
pack is joyous, that you have discovered your mate."

I winced.  "You won't be jealous?"

"Most of us have lived long, and had many Wolf Brothers and Wolf
Sisters.  To feel the bonding of mates is rare, and treasured by all.
It does not mean exsisting pairings must be given up.  Only altered,
when the time comes."

"Thanks, Tip."

"You're welcome.  Let's walk."

She stood, stretched, shook herself, then grinned at me.  "Someday
soon, it is likely that you will finally gain conscious control of
your link to the Pack Mind."

I froze.  "I'll have full access to *everything*?"

"Yes."

She nudged my leg.  "Let's go.  Your sire needs our distance from his
actions, even though it is symbolic."

We started following the path.

"Tip, am I truly part of the Pack Mind?  Does it really know
everything I experience?"

"Yes, and yes."

"What about Dad?  He said he's been blocking himself from it."

"All we could tell is that he is alive.  Moonstalker's presense in the
Pack Mind has been difuse enough that we never realized her
personality stayed intact when her body was killed."

"Weird, isn't it?  Are they with the pack, yet?"

"You worry too much.  Not yet.  Soon he will be with the elders."

"Oh.  Ok.  Julie said he was a good Wolf Brother.  Did you know him
when he was?"

Before she answered she lept and grabbed a low hanging branch, then
held it out of my way while I went past.  After she let go and
rejoined me, she sighed.  "I didn't know him as well as some did.  I
had my own partner, and duties.  Our paths seldom crossed."

"How'd he get his pack name?"

"It was inevitable.  He loved to run the forest trails, and he was
often joined by wolves.  He was being called 'Runs-in-the-Forest'
before he was officially welcomed into the pack."

"Oh.  Just like I always like to join the dawn chorus, huh?  So when
the time came, 'Dawn Greeter' was the obvious pack name for me.  Was
it the same way for dad?"

"Yes."

I sighed.  "Sorry, Tip.  I'll be glad when I'm able to tap the pack
mind whenever I want to."

"It will happen when it is time for it to happen."

"You think it will happen when I finally make love to Julie?"

"If it hasn't happened yet, yes."

Eventually we reached our clearing, and I got out the comb I always
carried, and started grooming her.  "You're beautiful, Tip.
Sometimes..."

I sighed, and she opened her eyes so she could watch me.  "Something
is wrong?"

"Don't know.  Ok, yeah.  Never thought I'd feel so...  I don't know. I
guess 'left out' is pretty close."

"Left out?"

"Yes.  Sometimes I need to be hugged by someone who has hands, that's
all."

"I thought you had companions at school."

"I do, but...  None of them are people I love, you know?"

"Could you love any of them?"

"Don't think so.  I've never met anyone my age, or close to it, who
wants to join the institute."

"Is that so important to you that it must be there?"

"You trying to tell me I shouldn't obsess about that?"

"Yes."

"Well, I try not to, but most of them seem...  Too childish.  They
don't really think about their future, and planning for anything.  It
would be nice, to feel their arms around me when we're done, and doing
that sharing our dreams stuff."

She sneezed delicately, then touched my hand with one of her paws. "We
do the best we can, Ward.  Someday, you'll meet a human you can love,
and you will get your hugs."

"You sound pretty certain of that."

"There are human females who wish to become Wolf-Sisters.  None live
nearby, but a few live close enough that when you change schools, it
is likely you'll meet them."

"Thanks, Tip. That stuff that happened with Julie really messed up my
thinking, because I thought I'd be out of school when it happened.  I
know it's less than a year before I switch schools, but...  I just
feel down right now, because I know I can't be with Julie."

She didn't say anything and I went back to grooming her and finally
managed to focus on her, instead of thinking about Julie.

We made love, and this time, while we relaxed and shared the
afterglow, I could feel a diffference in my link to the Pack Mind.  I
was exploring that when a strange voice spoke in my head.

""Dawn Greeter?""

""Who is this?""

""Tip.""

""Oh.  Wow.  So this is what telepathy feels like.  You sound a lot
different.""

""So do you.  Do you feel less lonely, now?""

""A little.  Thanks.""

We talked some more, then I hugged her and cried until I fell asleep.
======

Graduation
Ward and Julie
---

I was in my cap and gown, finally.  It had felt like it had taken
forever, but High School was over, and next year I'd be going to
college.  After the first year, I would be talking it over with Julie
and Allister so I could take the classes I needed, before I went to
work for The Institute, full time, instead of part time, to help me
repay the scholarship I'd been given.

When my part of the line got to the area next to the outdoor stage, I
took the time to find my parents, and the members of the pack who'd
taken the time to  take part in some 'human foolishness', that had
become a tradition for the modified wolves.

Mom and dad waved, and Tip, who was the wolvish spokesman, wagged her
tail briefly, then grinned at me.

I nodded, to let them know I'd seen them, and managed to keep my
expression serious, because I knew I'd get in trouble later, if I'd
grinned and howled my joy.

After I refocused on the moving line, and waited for my name to be
called, I sighed.

If only Julie could have been here, to share this with me.

Eventually I was next.

"Ward Fulton.  Magna Cum Laude, with a 4.0 average and a double major
of HIstory and Ecology.  Please step forward."

I felt like I was floating, but I kept myself to a dignified walk
until I shook the presenter's hand and took my diploma.

"Well done, Mr Fulton."

"Thank you, Sir."

I turned and faced the audience while I raised my diploma in the usual
victory salute, and was stunned when Tip and the other pack members
pointed their muzzles at the sky, then howled their salute to a pack
member who'd completed his first solo hunt.

Just after they got started, my jaw went slack when a new voice joined
in, with the human translation.

It couldn't be!

Julie stepped from behind my parents and settled on her haunches while
she kept singing the translation.  When it was over, she grinned at me
before she spoke in a voice that carried to the crowd.  "As Zeta, I
greet you, Dawn Greeter.  May all your hunts be as successful.  Well
done!"

"Julie!  You came!  Thank you!"

"Obviously.  We've delayed things long enough, Wolf-Brother.  Finish
what must be done, and I will be waiting."

"Whoo ho!  You bet!  See you soon!"

I managed to leave the stage at a dignified pace, but I knew everyone
could tell it was a pose, because I had a huge grin on my face.

Martha, my girlfriend and the only other person to have a 4.0 average,
wrapped me up in a hug as soon as I was off the steps.  "That was
incredible, Ward!"

 I hugged her back.  "Don't I know it!  She never told me she could
sing!  And to get the recognition here, while she was speaking as the
Zeta Wolf...  I don't think she's ever done that before.  She's always
so busy, she leaves stuff like that for the Regional Alphas."

"Never expected her, did you?"

"No.  Duty first, and you know it as well as I do.  It's worse for
her, and since she's in charge, even the tours she's given me over the
years have included stuff she had to do.  This..."

I sobered and turned my head so I could look at Julie.  "Ok.  I don't
know how she managed to get the time off, but I bet there's something
serious going on."

Martha let go of me and smiled.  "Goofball.  Of course she's serious
about it.  She's head over heels in love with you, and wants to be
here, so the two of you can share it all."

"You think so?"

"I know so, because I love you, too."

She kissed me, then pulled away and sighed.  "All of us have grins and
stuff, so you don't have to worry about that.  Just...  Oh, never
mind.  Try to pay attention and not mess up too badly.  I'll do my
best to help you keep track of what's going on."

"Hey, Martha.  Don't sweat it.  Just like we've done for the last four
years, right?  We're a team?"

"Yes, Ward, we are.  Will we still be a team after you spend some time
with Julile?"

"Of course.  That isn't going to change unless you make that decision.
You have my word, as a Wolf-Brother, Wolf-Sister."

She blushed, then laughed.  "Ok.  It was a silly worry, wasn't it?"

"No, because I know my head's going to be in the wrong place, once it
sinks in that Julie really is here."

"Don't worry about it, because I heard Growler's voice in their song,
and he added some stuff that was a private mesage to me.  He's pretty
happy, too."

"Got it.  Once Julie started singing, and I recognized her voice, I
didn't hear anything else until they finished."

"Same for me, when I heard Growler.  Let's go to the head of the line,
so we're ready for the processional."

"Sounds like a real good plan.  At least we didn't get elected
valedictorians."

"True.  Glad we were only write ins."

"And *that* almost didn't work!  People don't understand no,
sometimes, huh?"

"Seems like it.  Glad it's almost over.  Guess your plans changed, now
that Julie's here?"

"Don't know.  I thought I was going home with everyone, then spending
a few weeks with the pack, before I started thinking about next year.
I want to spend it all with Julie, now.  What about you?  Still going
to go on that long distance hike with Growler?"

"Hope you get that time.  Yes.  What I hope to do after that, is take
and pass the tests, so we can go into the training program.  I don't
have the big dreams you do, so I'll settle for basic field work until
I know what I need to know for something better."

"I haven't told anyone, but that's what I wanted to do, if they'd let
me.  Dad and Mom convinced me I should take a longer view and get at
least one degree, first."

"Then you linked with Julie?"

"Yeah.  That changed things quite a bit, because she's number three,
and I'm going to be in the middle with her, someday."

"Scared?"

"Lots!  You?"

"Some.  Next time I take the tests, it will be for real, and not
practice."

"You'll do fine, Martha.  Don't forget you're allowed to tap the Pack
Mind when you take it for real.  Lots of people can't do that when
they apply."

"I did forget about that.  Thanks.  Looks like they're done presenting
things, so let's listen to the speeches."

Movement in an unusual place grabbed my attention, and I groaned.  "I
told you something was serious about this.  I just saw Julie, and it
looked like she was talking to the principal."

"You worry too much.  She was probably apologizing for the earlier
delay."

"Yeah.  She's big on proper protocols.  I'll relax, a little."

Martha suddenly gasped, then sighed.  "I guess she was up to
something.  She and Growler are headed this way."

"Crud."

They flanked us, and Julie smiled up at me.  "Relax.  it's traditional
for the ranking wolves of those who are present, to escort the
graduating class so people are reminded that all of us share this
world, and are jointly responsible for its continued well being."

I sighed.  "And I know your double-speak, Love.  You dug until you had
a good excuse to keep me company, right?  By the way, meet my human
partner, Martha.  Martha, Julie.  Meet the only wolf I've known, who
can get in Allister's face, and make him back off when he and Wind
Rider have the bits in their teeth and are Hell bent on doing
something exceptionally stupid."

Martha giggled, and Julie nodded her head slightly.  "Pleased to meet
you at last, Martha.  You can deal with Growler's happy grin, later.
Ward's right about me looking for an excuse to be here, instead of
observing.  We've been keeping an eye on you and Growler, and we've
decided to give the two of you a second option for your futures."

"Second option?  I didn't know one was possible."

"Normally, you'd be right.  Growler can be persuasive, when he decides
he wants to get his way, and he had some good points, so...  I'm here,
and prepared to make you two a special offer, if you want to hear it."

Martha glared at Growler, who grinned back.

She sighed.  "Summarize it, so I can go back to graduating, before I
start thinking of ways to repay the meddlar for his thoughtfulness."

"An open grant, that you'll never have to repay, to attend any school
in the world, whenever you want to, as often as you want to, for the
rest of your lives."

She stiffened, then turned and stared at Julie.  "That sounded like
you just offered us a chance to be permanent students."

"I did. Before you try to tell me it's a silly thing to do, it isn't.
We need more people like that, so we can get as much of the world's
knowlege stored in the Pack Mind as we can, so it's available to all
of us, and not just a few."

"Ward did think you had a serious reason for being here.  I reassured
him that it was because you are madly in love with him.  I should have
guessed that you're mad, all right, and it's a practical madness that
lets you get your way, in more than one way.  I agree.  Let us take
that hike, and when we're done, we'll talk about where we should go
first."

"Thank you, Martha."

She focused on me again.  "My only reason for being here, was for you,
Ward.  Growler's suggestion caught up with me while I was in transit.
It was already approved by Allister, so I decided to get the official
business out of the way first, so we can spend the summer together, on
the only long vacation we're likely to get, for quite a few years.

I finally nodded.  "Thanks, Julie.  You're here, when I never thought
you'd be able to make it, so that's all that matters.  I'd love to
leave right now, with you, but...  I guess I'm my dad's son, after
all.  Duty first, then us."

"I expected no less. And...  Before we leave, he wants you to meet
someone very special."

"Yeah?  Ok.  Going to be meeting a lot of people like that.  One more
is no big deal."

Martha touched my arm.  "Time to get serious, you guys.  I'm being
waved at."

I looked up, spotted who she was talking about, then straightened my
cap and gown before I waved back and mouthed the word 'Ready.'

The music started, then we led everyone on the stage so we could be
congratulated by the important people, then we all tossed our caps in
the air, and the serious stuff was over.

Like I'd told Martha, my mind wasn't really paying attention, because
I was busy  watching Julie, and feeling her joy that we were together,
at last.

Martha wasn't any better, because I noticed that she'd managed to find
a quiet spot and wrap Growler up in a hug while she cried into his
fur.

They were happy tears, so I relaxed.

I was saying goodbye to some friends when dad startled me by tapping
my shoulder.  "Son?  Someone's here you should meet."

"Ok.  Just a sec."

I shook hands with my friends, and after they walked away I sighed a
litle, turned around, and stuck my hand out.  "Pleased to..."

Nobody was there.

I felt amusement that said it was coming from a wolf, so I looked
down, and realized a wolfess was standing next to my father.

I knelt, and studied her.  "Hello, Wolf-Sister.  I'm Ward Fulton.  I'm
sorry I don't recognize you.  Something about you feels familiar, so I
also greet you as a pack member."

She spoke in the shared language, which didn't surprise me.  "I,
Moon-Stalker, greet you, my Wolf-Brother, and true Son of your Sire.
No mistake was made, so there is nothing to forgive.  As my mother
spoke, so do I.  Well done."

The protocols let me work past my shock.  "I thank you for you kind
words, Moon-Stalker.  It is...  Good to meet you, at last."

She settled on her haunches and perked her ears at me before she
grinned.  "I am serious, but not always that way.  When joy, and play,
is appropriate, I allow myself to take part."

I stared, then lost it and laughed while I moved to hug her.  "Two
miracles in one day.  Dad hasn't said much, but I know he's missed
you."

"I know.  There is one more thing you need to know, before you and
Julie begin your true journey through life."

"There is?"

"Yes.  What was between us, is, again.  Your Sire, his mate who
whelped you, and I, have met all the requirements, and are going back
to work."

I'd thought I couldn't be shocked or surprised any more, but that
definitely did the job.

I raised my head, and when he knew I was focused on him, Dad nodded
slightly, and spoke in the shared language.  "With my first mate at my
side, the call of duty is strong, again, for all of us.  I am a
Wolf-Brother, and I must heed that call.  The institute has always
needed your mother's skills, so she will do what she has always done
so well, which is listen, and translate what we learn, into words that
humans will understand."

One hand moved and he settled it in on Moon-Stalker's head.  His other
arm went around Mom's waist.  "Moon-Stalker will be Moon-Stalker, of
course."

I stood up and studied them both while I let myself savor their shared
serenity.  I finally stuck my hand out.  "I'll close the house down,
before we head out."

Dad shook my hand.  "Thanks, Son."

He let go, then the three of them walked away without looking back.

I watched unti I lost them in the crowd, then I sighed and looked
around.  "Folks are starting to leave, so unless you want something to
eat, that's free, I'll say goodbye to Martha, and we can go home."

"It's free, if I catch it myself, Ward.  Say your goodbyes, and let's
go someplace where we can be ourselves at last."

"Caught, huh?"

"Very, since my eyes have been close to the visible evidence of
your...  Desire."

"Not your nose?"

"Too many other scents in the air, for me to be certain, without a
closer inspection."

I laughed softly.  "Thanks for linking Martha and I back then.  We've
helped each other get comfortable with being openly zoo.  I think some
of the people who were here, are going to reconsider their futures, in
the hopes they wind up teamed with someone as beautiful, and
intelligent as you are."

She sneezed her amusement, and gestured with her nose.  "Martha, and
Growler, then a long walk."

"Got it."  I checked my link to the pack mind, than shook my head.
"Coincidence, that you're just going into heat?"

"Yes.  It was another reason I was able to use some of my accumulated
vacation time."

"Wolves take vacations?"

"Some of us do.  Most, don't, unless you call the time they spend at
one of the regional centers before they go back in the field, a
vacation.  I don't."

We worked our way over to the line of people who were waiting to talk
to Martha, then  I tried something I'd always wanted to try, ever
since the first time I'd linked with Tip.

I opened myself to the pack mind, then sort of felt for the nearest
wolf.  "Is this Julie?"

""Yes!  Oh, Ward!  No one ever dreamed this could happen!""

Her emotions surged into my head, and I did what I could, to try and
send her mine.

""That sex linked stuff is all everyone expects to happen?""

""Yes.""

""Well, I thought doing this would be obvious, once a person is
connected to the pack mind, since it knows everything we do.  I just
felt around for the strongest impression of a wolf I could find, then
sort of focused on it and sent my thoughts at it.  Glad it was you.""

""We'll talk about this, and other stuff, later.  Right now, you'd
better pay attention, because Martha saw you, and has speeded up her
discussions.""

""Ok.""

I let myself become aware of what was around us, and the first thing I
realized was that Julie had been making me move when the line did, and
that there were only two people before I got my chance to talk to
Martha.  "Thanks, Julie.  Pretty dumb, to try that right now, wasn't
it?"

"Not dumb, just impulsive.  Now that we know how distracting it can
be, we can see if there are ways to use the ability safely."

As soon as I was in front of her, Martha wrapped me in a hug and gave
me the kind of kiss that had all the other guys nearby groaning
because she'd only pecked them on a cheek.

"Oh, Ward.  It's wonderful, isn't it?"

I took the time to kiss her as seriously as she'd kissed me, and she
blushed.  "In public?"

"Everyone knows we're a couple, when we get together."

"True, but you've never kissed me like that when people have been
around."

I grinned at her, then looked at Growler.  "Wanted to make sure you'd
be able to focus on Growler, later.  Figured you'd be so frustrated by
the time you get some privacy..."

"You!"

"Yep!  Hey, before I let go, I want to try something.  It worked with
Julie, and I can feel Growler in the pack mind, so..."

""Hey, Growler.  How ya doing, big guy?""

""Ward?!""

""Yes.  I can't feel Martha, so I guess this only works when I try to
talk to someone who's already linked to the pack mind.  You take
special care of her, ok?  And before I forget, just in case we don't
see each other before we go do our stuff next year, I wanted to tell
you that was a brilliant solution to you guys really wanting to stay
in school.  Once I decide where I'm going next year, I'll send you
guys a message, and try to let you know this way, if I can feel either
of you in the pack mind.""

""May I tell her that, the next time we link?""

""Sure, since it's in the pack mind anyway.""

""Thank you, Ward.""

""Welcome.  Ok.  I'd better quit this stuff.""

I grined at Martha.  "Just making sure you and Growler think of
yourselves, instead of worrying about me and Julie."

Her head tilted slightly.  "What did you just do?"

"Used my link to the pack mind, to say hi to Growler."

"What?!"

"Uh huh.  Don't ask me more, because the first time I tried it, was to
Julie while we were in line.  First thing I found out, is that I go
completely blank to everything else."

"Sounds pretty dangerous, unless you get it under control."

"Yes.  Next time you're linked, see if you can find my memories, and
try it yourself, when it's safe to do it..."

She blushed again.  "You're crazy!"

"Don't doubt it.  You guys enjoy yourselves on that hike, ok? You'll
probably be back before we are.  So, if you have to go someplace, do
it and don't wait for me."

She pecked me this time.  "Thanks, Ward.  See you when you get back.
Better get out of the way.  Looks like the line got longer again."

"Love you, Martha."

"Love you, too, Ward.  Take care."

"If I forget, Julie will make sure I do.  See ya."

We left, and worked our way through the dwindling crowd until we were
off campus and headed towards home.

* * *

Once we were near home, I glanced at Julie.  "You don't need to hunt
our dinner."

"Oh?"

"There's a bunch of venison we should eat, so it doesn't spoil.  More
than enough to satisfy a hungry wolf, and it hasn't all been frozen."

She thought about it, then nodded slightly.  "I know you had plans to
spend part of the sumer with the pack.  Would you get upset if we
spent some time at your home, now that we'd be the only ones there?"

"Julie, I tossed all my plans out, as soon as I realized you were
here.  As long as I spend the time with you, I don't care where we
are."

"Thank you, Ward.  That means a lot.  I'll confess I'm fairly spoiled,
and I like my meat cooked."

"Pit BBQ be ok?"

"Gas, charcoal, or wood?"

"Whatever you want."

"Wood.  I like to watch the flames."

I laughed.  "So do I.  Helps me meditate.  I'll install the screen, so
you don't have to worry about embers getting in your fur."

"Thank you."
======

M/wolfess zoo sex

This story takes place about 300 years after the events chronicled in
'The Challenge'

As always, if you can't handle interspecies relationships, then you
have no business reading this.

Note:  This story was written before I wrote 'Dawn Greeter', 'Youthful
Encounter', and 'Graduation'.  There are a few things that should be
changed, that I never got around to fixing.

TBD
---

First Contact
---

I look at the hills and valleys and marvel. The complex I approach is
quietly beautiful in the way it blends into the area. Here is where
legends have been born.

I've always been slightly empathic.

I can feel peace and serenity radiating from everyone in the area.

I have been quietly drawn to this place by something I'm not sure of.
Every time I studied about the people and projects here, I had a
feeling that I would wind up living and working here myself.

Allister Cassidy's Institute was built in the valley where he spent
his early life. For 300 years, this place has been home to many of the
people who are working to save our world from ecological destruction.

Many of the long term projects involve bioengineered animals. These
species have always been our companions throughout history. Now, they
are becoming something more. Our equals. People to share the road of
life with humankind. Also, their viewpoints are different than ours
and valued for that as well. Already, there are teams who, by
embracing their different viewpoints, are gaining deeper understanding
of how to restore the balance of life.

I had decided to become part of this work if I could. Two months ago I
learned I was accepted for work at the main headquarters. Today, I am
beginning a new life as one of Allister's chosen.

As I learned about the work being done to bioengineer various animals,
I had been drawn to the stories of the wolflings. One female wolfling
in particular captured my imagination.

Her golden eyes had captured me first. Then, when I could afford it, I
made arrangements for holographic tours of the institute. That's when
I first met Julie, the wolfling of my dreams.

As we had toured the facilities, I spent a lot of time watching her
rather than the grounds. She radiated a wildness that was awesome.
Tail twitching from side to side as she walked, her movements were
lithe and supple. She had an easy smile that I found myself constantly
wishing to see.

Finally, after years of electronic viewing, we are going to meet.

Julie has agreed to greet me as I begin my final studies here.

The soft chuckle of the guard brings me back to the present. After I
identify myself, she continues. "It happens to everyone the first time
they arrive here. If you didn't feel it, you wouldn't be here. Julie
will be here soon. We've all been waiting for you."

"Thanks."

Smiling ruefully, I start walking towards the buildings.

Then I see a wolf bounding in my direction.

Awestruck, I freeze and watch as she runs across the lawns to where I
stand. Graceful and powerful, every movement of that body makes me
frustrated and yes, horny. I can't help but imagine what sex with her
could be like. I let out a soft sigh. Forbidden pleasures as far as I
know. The dream is there though. Has been for years. I let out another
soft and regretful sigh.

I suddenly recall my first interview. The subtle probing about how I
felt about sex with animals. Had I ever had sex with my own animals?
The interviewer had seemed subtly pleased at my honesty in answering
yes.

Maybe not as forbidden as I thought.

I realize she is heading for me. I flinch slightly as she brushes me
at full speed. With a quick circle, she stops and stands in front of
me.

"Julie? Is it really you?" That's all I have time to say.

"Ward.

"Oh my handsome, loving Ward.

"You're here at last."

She suddenly stands on her hind legs and places her front legs on my
shoulders. Staggering under her weight, I wrap her in a fierce
embrace. Her warm fur is rubbing against me. As I savor the feel of
her body against mine, I suddenly feel my empathic link triggered into
something more.

Startled, I lean back and look at her.

"Julie? Mind-linked? Us?"

Her mind is a warm presence in mine. As we unwrap ourselves from each
other and start towards the resident's quarters, she explains.

"Yes Ward. Mind-linked. I've been waiting for it to happen with
someone. We don't talk about it much to outsiders. It's a requirement
for the teams that go out and work in the field.

"Soon after founding the institute, Allister decided that the insight
gained by linking two different species was essential to understanding
and restoring the ecological balance.

"Mind-linked partners have a better appreciation for things and a very
strong awareness of the consequences of their actions.

"Empathic people such as yourself generally form the link fairly
quickly. Other triggers exist as well. Another common trigger is sex.
Nobody is really certain how sex with another species can trigger
telepathy. The current theory is that the mutual care and love and
concern, combined with the shared purpose causes a resonance that
opens new paths.

"Shared purposes over extended time can also build a link."

I stopped and turned her towards me.

"Wait a minute.

"Sex?

"Between different species?

"You and I for example?" I had fantasized about it happening but never
expected it in reality.

Julie definitely grinned at me. "Of course there's sex between
different species here. Sometimes for fun. Mostly out of love. You of
all people should know by now that the package doesn't matter."

Shyly now. "You and I for example. I've wanted you for years. I've
wondered if you want me as much as I want you."

As I let myself get lost in those golden eyes, I murmured "Yes, I love
you. I've wanted you since I first saw your picture those many years
ago."

I sat cross-legged in front of her and our bodies melted together as
we finally shared the kiss that bonded us together. Mind-linked, we
knew that it was only the first of many.

---

"Ward?"

"Yes Julie?"

"I'm a mutant"

After hours of walking, we were relaxing under a tree. I was sitting
with my back against it and she had her head in my lap. Idly, I was
stroking and petting her.

I had seen some pretty strange sights in my life but some today had
really taken me by suprise. Several times while going from place to
place, we had come across lovers having sex together. Several times it
had been pairs consisting of a human and an animal. When we walked
past, their only reaction had been a casual hello and then they went
on with what they were doing. If they even noticed us.

"Hmmm?... Oh. Mutant? How? I thought you were engineered."

"I am engineered. The thing is, somehow, the tinkering also gave me
the capability to speak human speech. Very few of my children are
capable and none of my generation or earlier." A long pause. "In 200
years, they haven't been able to isolate what happened."

"She's right you know. It's our biggest failure so far." Startled, I
started to rise.

"Relax Ward. We're pretty casual around here. As you already noticed."
A man and a stallion had joined us and now the horse settled down and
the man sat and leaned against him.

"Julie has been waiting a long time for a partner. Looks like you are
the one for her. 'Bout time."

As I mulled that over, we shared a companionable silence.

"Well Julie, take care of him. Wind-Rider here says you'll be quite a
team." And without moving, they vanished.

Again startled, I leaned forward to look at the grass. Yes, they had
been there. I looked a question at Julie.

She burbled in my mind. ""Allister and Wind-Rider. They still enjoy
startling people like that. They knew you'd be here today and they
always check up on the new people."" I could feel her pensive sigh.
""Even now, there are so few people who are accepted.

She chuckled. ""You should see the file on yourself. It's already half
the size of mine. Allister has already been making 'suggestions' to me
about our coming assignments. I sure hope you like to travel.

""I hope you found a good home for Spirit.""

""Spirit? What's she got to... Oh. I see. I think."" Julie's comment
about the bitch I left behind until I figured out what to do with her
took me by surprise.

""How'd they do that? Vanish I mean. I've never heard of anyone,
especially a horse, being a teleport.""

""Remember your history? How Wind-Rider first talked to Allister?
Well, the two of them are mind-linked and what we have started calling
'World-Walkers'. Somehow, they can move between the alternate
realities. Not many can do it even now. Somehow those two managed to
figure out how to use that ability to move from place to place as
well. Everyone else can only return to where they started from. They
aren't telling either. Wind-Rider once told me they haven't revealed
the secret to anyone else because there hasn't been the right person
and time. I had the impression they have been waiting for something
before they teach others."" She shuddered. ""There was a bleakness in
his mind when he told me that. As if he knew when that time would be
and he didn't like something about it.""

"Oh."

"To answer your other question, yes, Spirit is with some close
friends. She's stayed with them before so I know she'll be OK. I was
figuring on bringing her here later. Now though, I am starting to
think that would be needlessly cruel. I haven't had her too long so I
think she'll make the adjustment to living without me OK."

I looked out at the surrounding area without really seeing it. "She
would have enjoyed it here too."

""She's not enhanced Ward. She wouldn't understand what we share. Only
the enhanced canines have been able to accept changing partnerships
here. Years ago, we tried to bring in ordinary dogs. It never worked.
Better a clean break now than to force her to be near you and in
emotional pain. She'd never fully understand."" Her mental 'voice' was
filled with images of remembered pain.

---

Later, we retired to Julie's quarters. The first thing I noticed was
how large they were. That was followed by the realization that they
were designed to be used by either a canid or a human.

Julie had taken me to the supply building and then calmly announced
that I would be moving in with her and would they cancel my original
request for quarters. I turned red as she and the clerk exchanged sly
grins and chuckled.

""Is that grass on the porch?"" I marveled at the glorious sunset.
Julie was attending to other things while I had wandered around my new
home.

""Of course it is. I like to relax and watch things from here. It's
comfortable to make love on and easy to keep clean too.""

I choked on my drink. This was going to take getting used to.
""Forthright aren't you?""

She joined me on the porch. Head cocked to one side, I felt her mental
shrug. ""Of course. I am, after all, a wolf. Now, pet me and tell me
again how you love me. This seems like a good time to prove it
physically too. The reports of your interview said you are a
zoosexual. Believe it or not, that is one of the private requirements
for being accepted here. You'll find everyone here is a zoo or has had
a zoosexual experience. If you hadn't been one or totally accepting of
the idea, you never would have been taken past the first interview.

""We don't broadcast that information because we don't want people
deliberately having sex with an animal just to improve their chances.
Non-zoos are taken to other complexes. They have their places but this
is our heart. Only zoos can fully appreciate what we do here.""

---

She was watching me as I stripped off my clothes. I felt like a little
kid again. Her soft chuckle made it even worse as I blushed all over.

""You're cute like that. We need to do something about that limp thing
between your legs. Want a transplant? Some men do get one you know.
I'm told they really enjoy the different sensations they get from not
having a normal penis. Some even go so far as to have bulbs
implanted.""

"Julie!!" Her comments were having the desired effect though. I had
often visualized what it would be like to be built like a dog.
Settling down on the grass, I invited her to me.

Softly, she nuzzled my crotch. As I spread my legs for her she lay
between them and started licking me.

""Relax and enjoy yourself. I can do just fine by reading your
emotions. Not another word out of you.""

So saying, she kept working me. I could see that telepathy had its
advantages. Something I hadn't considered.

Abandoning myself to her caresses, I willingly lay back and closed my
eyes. Totally focused on the sensations she produced in me, I savored
her unspoken thoughts of love and lust.

Gently, she worked her tongue along my thighs to my penis and balls.
Her mouth applied gentle pressure as she held my sack and squeezed.
Just as I felt the tightening of her front teeth, she relaxed and let
go. Only to slowly lick my now throbbing penis and engulf it in her
mouth. This process was gently repeated until I could contain myself
no longer.

Hips bucking wildly in my excitement, I thrust myself at her. Somehow,
she was able to hold me as I drove myself at her eager mouth. Finally
I lurched my ass off the grass and froze as I spurted inside her
waiting throat. Her warm, wet caressing tongue massaged me until I
could give no more.

Spent, I collapsed back and lay limp as she cleaned up what she had
not received directly.

""I hope you recover quickly"" Lust made her thoughts vivid in my
mind. I felt another thought directed elsewhere and the porch was
bathed in soft yellow light.

I raised my head to see her relaxed with her head on my belly. That
fantastic tongue slowly licked her lips. ""I'm spent. I haven't
orgasmed like that for a while. We'll have to wait a bit and see.""
Minds linked, I savored her thoughts in mine.

---

I woke to a nose touching my penis. ""Looks like you're ready again.""

""Julie? Do I have to move? Could you sit on top of me? I haven't had
a female in that position for many years.""

She laughed out loud at my plaintive request. "Fine. But first kiss me
and get me ready." So saying, she turned and presented herself to my
eager mouth. As she stood over me I could see her vulva twitch. I
gently held her as she relaxed enough to lower herself to my eagerly
awaiting lips.

My tongue lapped at her. I savored the taste of her juices. I used my
tongue to mix my saliva with them and spread her nether lips. As I
probed gently, I made sure that she was well lubricated. As my tongue
gently crossed her clitoris, my hands and mouth felt her muscles
spasm. Her mind was rapidly being overlain with primal thoughts of
lust.

Finally, she could take no more and pulled away from me. Carefully,
she sidestepped and turned herself so she would be in position. Both
of us were breathing heavily now. As she slowly lowered herself
towards me, I used both hands to position us. One hand held my
throbbing penis upright. With the other, I used a finger to probe her
and then guide her willing vulva to the tip of my penis. As I felt the
first warm contact, I focused on the feelings I now felt.

A sudden heat as I moved so she could slide down my penis. Once we
were sure I was well started, she suddenly relaxed her legs and I felt
her vulva slide to my pubic bone. I had pulled my hands out from
between us and now I used them to steady her as I began a slow,
steady, pumping.

She was hot. She was slippery. Her mind was a flame within mine now.
Somehow, I knew mine was equally bright within hers.

Suddenly, she howled. Startled into my own orgasm, I shouted my own
YES!!! at the stars. Not caring who heard us, we let our screams of
pleasure echo into the night. Only later did I learn that all quarters
had sound shields. At the time, I didn't care or even think about if
we may have been disturbing others.

As the two of us drifted off into sleep I was vaguely aware of a new
depth to our Mind-link.

---

Daylight brought new awareness.

Julie was still resting on my chest.

Her mind was a warn presence in mine. I could also feel a difference
in my thoughts.

Where before I had always been painfully aware of my youth, now I was
relaxed and the whole idea of measuring time seemed somehow wrong. I
now felt that things would happen in their own time.

""Julie? What happened?"" There was no need for me to say more.

""I don't know. We linked but this is different somehow. I've never
heard of anything like this. I do know one thing. Your thoughts feel
more like those of a wolf than a human.""

As we separated, we pondered what had happened.

Yesterday, Julie and I had Mind-Linked telepathically.

Last night, our sex together had triggered something else.

Julie, in her 200 years at the Institute had never heard of this
deeper link forming.

Was this something we should discuss openly or should we talk to
Allister and Wind-Rider first?

We decided to confront them as soon as possible.

If it hadn't been mentioned in 200 years, either it had never happened
or there were reasons for not talking about it to just anyone.
======

Brother to Wolves
---

As Julie and I finished our halting attempt to explain what had
happened and how we felt before and after the change, Allister and
Wind-Rider gazed at us without speaking.

We were outside, laying on the grass that surrounded the institute.

Finally, Allister sighed and then leaned back against WR.

"Ward, Julie." His voice was soft and filled with emotions I had
trouble believing possible in this situation. Relief and wonder.

"Yes, it has happened before.

"It's never been discussed because until now, nobody ever had the
words to use to discuss it.

"However halting *your* explanation is, it is the best that has been
done so far. Until now, *nobody* has been able to put it into *any*
kind of form they could tell others."

I looked at Julie. She answered for both of us.

"OK, that explains your feelings of relief.

"Now that I share Ward's empathic skills, I know you are feeling
wonder at what has happened." She fell silent and we waited.

He stayed silent far too long. Hours in fact.

Instead, he just lay there in that same relaxed posture. It became
obvious that he and WR were talking with each other about something.

Finally, we felt him refocus on us.

"WR and I were searching for the right words to express what I'm going
to try and tell you."

I heard a distinct note of apology in his voice.

"Right words?"

He nodded.

"Right words. Even so, what I'm trying to say will not be that clear
to you. I'm asking you to accept on faith what I'm about to tell you.
In time, you'll understand what I'm saying.

"Don't ask me how we know this but know it we do. We've had this
ability confirmed many times so he and I accept it and use it as a
tool now.

"As you know, he and I share some abilities that others don't have.

"What I'm about to reveal is something you and Julie must never tell
anyone else.

"He and I have an ability to 'feel' the future at times. We never know
the details, just that something will happen.

"In this case, we have long known there would be someone who would
join the Institute and become in time our greatest philosopher and
planner."

I gasped. He couldn't mean me? Could he?

"Yes Ward, you and Julie."

""Me? A philosopher?"" I was numb with shock.

Julie's silent answer was calm. ""I've long suspected this ability in
them. WR, especially, has mentioned things that hinted at it.

""I've learned that when they speak with this kind of emphasis, they
are never wrong.""

He was right. I couldn't quite believe what he was saying. To me a
philosopher was someone who sat and contemplated life and uttered
profound statements in simple words that everyone could understand.

They left layers in everything they did and said.

Me?

I wanted to explore the world around me. I wanted to help keep it
alive.

I was independent and I knew it. I was no leader for everyone to
follow.

Maybe Julie was. She was far older than I. A lifetime of experience
behind her. How much longer would she live anyway?

""As long as I need to love."" Her comment was quiet but it got my
attention. I had forgotten she was part of me now.

""What we have is *ours* now"". She was a bit amused.

""Wolves, when undisturbed, live until they are satisfied they have
done everything they need to do with their lives.

""I don't know if you will share that with me or not.""

I nodded. ""There is some hope though. Look at Allister. He's lived
double the normal span.""

Julie's calmness was already helping me.

""And how old is WR? Nobody seems to know."" I had to ask. I saw a
Stallion in his prime. He looked to be around 10 years old. He was at
least 300.

Her voice carried an unmistakable shrug. ""Ward, even WR doesn't know
in your terms. 'Animals' don't see time the same way you humans do.

""We *are* and live from day to day.

""Yes, we can plan for the future and understand we can 'not be' any
longer.

""But, we don't carry this sense of mortality you do.

""Look at Allister. Somehow, his link with WR gave him that same
attitude WR has.

""Maybe, Allister has lived as long as he has because he has lost that
sense of mortality and not used it to unconsciously think of having to
live for a set period of time.

""So, maybe he stills lives because he's never desired to die.

Allister had settled back and was watching us. They were patiently
waiting for our comments.

Finally, I nodded so they could see it. Then, I went to Julie and lay
beside her and started caressing her. I needed that touch to anchor
myself again.

""I can't accept all of this right now Julie. It's too much for me.

""Right now, I want to go back to before Allister spoke, but I know I
can't.

""Maybe in the future I'll be what he says. Now? I can't see myself
like that.

""I love to explore. See things. Travel and enjoy the outdoors. Ever
since I can remember thinking about my future, I've wanted to help
keep Earth alive. It's a beautiful place. If I ever have children, I
want them to have a chance to learn that.""

I couldn't help it. I was scared.

I could feel myself shaking as I wrapped my arms around Julie and
cried.

I never knew when the two of them left us. Julie and I made gentle
love with each other that night. For once, I needed it to anchor
myself.

Julie, and pleasing Julie, became the focus of my attentions.

After, rolled on my back and gazing at the stars - I finally accepted
my future.

'In time...'

Part of the goal was known. The path and how long it took to get there
would be my own choice. *Our* choice.

Wryly, both of us laughed as I realized that I was already a
'philosopher.'

What remained, was to walk the trails of our future.
======

This is written as a companion to the story 'First Contact'
---

Julie
---

Eyes golden
With the fires of our love.

Mind a banked fire
That keeps me warm on the coldest nights.

My lover
My life
My partner.

Life-mate.

You are the only one for me.
The one person I must never lose.
======

The Philosopher's Quest - Ward and Julie
---

"Hello, Linda. Welcome to the Institute. Julie and I will be your
advisors until you get settled, find a partner and begin advanced
training."

Thus, it began.  A formal and often repeated speech that introduced us
to the woman who would wind up sharing our lives for so many years.

"Ward and Julie?"

"Of course."  Julie laughed gently.  "Even *we* must take our turn at
welcoming newcomers."

"Oh?"

I nodded.  "Come.  We'll show you to your new home."

We stood at the entrance to the main hall.  In the centuries since the
founding of the Institute, the original, small guard shack, had been
replaced by a larger building that served the same purpose.  The
fences that originally defined the edges of the grounds had been
removed over one hundred years ago.  The guards too, were gone.  What
need was there for fences and guards to patrol them, when this area
was home to wolves and other animals who were telepathically linked to
their human partners?

Our security was more than unobtrusive.  There was and is - none in
the formal sense of the word.  This is our home and as in any home,
strangers are quickly spotted and gently reminded that they are on
private property.

Few people argue when the ones doing the reminding are accompanied by
wolves.

We were still the place with the strictest entry requirements.  Time
and circumstances had let the rest of the world know that many of the
original human team members were zoophiles or zoosexuals.  Our deepest
secret had survived all those years.  All of the human-animal teams
were made of humans and animals who were sexually involved with each
other or emotionaly mated.  Allister's early decision had withstood
the test of time and proven to be one of our greatest assets.

After Linda had seen her quarters, the three of us wandered the
grounds.  As we wandered, the conversation covered many subjects.

"Do you and Julie really have sex with each other?"  Linda had been
surprised to see some of the other teams relaxing.  Sometimes this
relaxation involved sexual activities.

"We do.  He has even fathered several of my litters."  Julie was
obviously amused.  "Do you wonder at my candid admission?  You
shouldn't.  We deal with life and the future here.  Children - of all
species - are a major part of our daily concerns."

Linda gestured at a shady area. "I need to stop.  There has been so
much.  Reading about it is one thing.  To be here.  To feel it...  Is
another."

We settled.  Julie settled with her head in my lap and then casually
nudged my crotch.  "Later, my love.  I think Linda has learned enough
to keep her mind busy for a few days."  I stroked Julie's head as I
studied Linda.

There was something different in the way Linda carried herself.  She
was tense but I felt it was excitement rather than surprise or shock.
She was also beginning to tire from the day's activities.  She sipped
at the container of liquid she carried and then turned to gaze at the
grounds.

"Ward.  Tell her now.  She needs to know.  She is part of the
permanent staff."

"Need to know what?"  Linda was still gazing off and not really paying
attention.

"That if you had not passed the unwritten test, you wouldn't be here.
Instead, you would have been gently guided to one of the other centers
and there would have been a good chance you would never been brought
to our headquarters.  We, and I mean the institute as a whole, are
large enough and diverse enough that for someone to spend their whole
career with us and not see this place, is unremarkable."

By now she had turned to face us.  "I fit here.  I can feel it.  I'm
not telepathic or anything else, but somehow, I already feel at home."

"Care to try and figure it out?"  Julie's words were gentle and softly
spoken.

"Is this some sort of initiation test?"  Something in Linda's eyes
made me think she was used to solving puzzles.

"No.  There are no more tests unless they are of your own devising.
Once you passed though the main gate you earned the right to have your
questions answered."  Julie was emphatic.

"All of them."  I confirmed what Julie had implied.

"All?  That's quite a sweeping statement, considering I'm new here."
She fell silent and we waited.

It was early twilight when Linda roused herself from her
contemplation.  As dusk fell, Julie had indicated she was in the mood
for sex and we had made gentle love to each other.  I was on my side
and we were still coupled and enjoying the afterglow when I realized
Linda was studying us.

"What's it like?"  Her question was tentatively whispered.  "I
couldn't help myself.  I watched."

""Julie?""  I spoke in her mind.  ""Which one of us should explain?""

""She's still human, for all her other knowledge.  You read the
report.  Her experience is somewhat limited and was never in
surroundings such as these.""

""You have a point.""

I turned my head so I could watch her.  "Normal.  Everyday.
Fulfilling.  An affirmation betwen two who love each other deeply."  I
smiled.  "Everything you told the interviewer it had been for you, at
one time."

She blushed.

"We read the reports on you.  That much is routine when someone
becomes an advisor.  To advise without knowing someone as best you can
is not good for the person needing the advice."

"Makes sense."  She started to speak and then stopped.  "Is that what
it is?  We're alike?"

She looked around as if seeing through the twilight.  As she did, her
body straightened.

"Home.  One place in the world where we can be ourselves without any
fear."  She turned back.

"How did you manage to do it.  For that manner, how do you keep people
from finding out?"

"We don't hide.  The world knows what goes on here." I let my voice
carry my amusement.  "This is, after all, Allister's original home.
Once the Institute became large enough, he had it build centers in
various parts of the world.  Then, once that was done, he and his main
staff made this the headquarters area.  People know of this as the
place where the elite teams live and train.  They even know that many
of us are zoosexual."

"What the world does not know, and it is something we carefully do not
tell, is that every human allowed to be here - is a zoosexual or
emotionally mated to an animal.  There are teams who live at other
locations.  It is no secret that many of those animal-human teams are
sex partners."

"The *reality* is that all of them are.  There is no human-animal team
working for the Institute that is not also mated and telepathic
between the partners.  Our very openness is what hides us."

I lowered my voice.  "If you hadn't admitted to being a zoosexual, you
would not be here.  Someday, you and one of the animals who lives here
will decide to form a team."

"We are a patient folk.  As you will learn to be.  Wait, study,
explore.  Someday, you'll know."

"Thank you, Ward, Julie."  Linda yawned.  "It's been a long day.  I
better go back and go to bed.  I have a lot to think about."

"Sleep well, Linda.  Someone will always know how to contact us.  Or,
you can talk to anyone else here.  You decide your course of study and
your duties from now on."  Julie's voice is tinged with her own
amusement.

""Julie!""  I let my tone speak for itself  I am more amused than
anything else.  In her years here, she has learned how - and more
importantly when - to shock humans.

I heard Linda gasp as she realized what Julie had said.

"That is the other part of what you needed to know but weren't
expected to know to ask.  I thought it was time for you to know. We'll
be here when you need us."  Julie's voice is filled with her centuries
of awareness and the love she has for the world she lives in.

           * * *

"Ward?"

"Yes?"  In what has become something of a routine, the three of us are
settled on the couch after dinner and are relaxing together.  Linda
has developed a habit of stopping in and asking us questions about
anything she happens to think of.

"What I've been able to dig out of the records hints that you and
Julie are tacitly considered philosphers instead of being  an action
team."

I nodded slowly.  "More or less.  I wasn't too happy the first time
Allister mentioned it but over the years, that's the way it turned
out.  He and Wind-Rider had the original ideas of course.  Until I
showed up and teamed with Julie, they had to do it all.  Then, when we
settled in, we did as so many other teams and just kept busy trying to
make sure earth survived.  We lost so much during those years.  Record
keeping was never a high priority in the rush to get things done.
Also, we were a smaller, more tightly knit group and we spent a lot of
time keeping each other informed.  Access to the pack-mind here and
the gestalt on WR's home helped a lot.  When the Plague hit and
started wiping out memories, it was all we could do, to find a way to
save what we had left."  I fell silent as I contemplated what had
happened.

""Julie?  Should we ask her to help, yet?""

""No.  I think she will come to it.  Her desire to know what happened,
combined with her frustration at the disorganized files will lead her
to it eventually, I think.""

"So," she mused.  "You and Julie are the ones who take the time to
consider more than the present?"  She paused again then went on very
slowly.  It was as if she was trying to find words to say something
difficult and wanted to be certain she said exactly what she meant.

"Since I've been here, I've started looking at many things I've taken
for granted.  This place seems to encourage the asking of open
questions."

I nodded.

"Have you ever wondered about our past?  I don't mean the Institute.
I'm talking about how there has always been a certain percentage of
people in every generation who are..."

"Like us?"  I finish for her.  "Bestialists?  Zoophiles?  People who,
in spite of all the pressure, pursue their sexual and/or emotional
happiness and completion with animals?"

She turned to look at me.  "Yes."  She went on.  "I'm not talking
about how individuals find their way down this path.  I'm wondering
about the fact the path is there at all."

I settled into the couch and gazed out the window.  "Wondered about
it?  Of course we have.  I think anyone who finds themselves most
comfortable as a zoosexual, eventually takes the time to wonder how
they got where they are.  Was it chance?  Some early incident?... Some
of each?  Something more, something less?"

I sighed and reached to pet Julie.  "My father was a team member who
worked here.  I didn't know until the evening I deliberately left home
to mate with a wolfess.  He understood the urges, the desires...  The
rightness I was feeling.  On that night he admitted his past, and when
I got home a few days later he told me about my future."  

I turned to look at Linda.  "How little we really know our parents and
the world around us when we are children.  He did everything he could
to keep me away from this path.  It was a gentle misdirection but it
did prepare me for all of the aspects I would discover, except for
one."

I felt Linda's hand on my arm.  "Except one?"

I looked down and saw Julie watching me.  "Functional immortality.
Who, except for Allister, ever anticipated that zoosexuality would
lead to that?  As far as we know, not one 'ordinary' human is able to
ignore time the way Julie and her descendents,  and Wind Rider's
people, do.  The way Allister and I do."

She gasped and her hand tightened on my arm.  I reached down and held
it.  "Of course I've wondered about the path we walk.  I've tried to
find a reason for it, something in our past that makes it so
inevitable for that small percentage of humans and animals who walk it
together."

I looked over again and saw her studying me.  "You have a hypothesis,
don't you?"

I sighed.  "Yes, I do.  And the beginnings are so far in our past that
we can't erase the possibility of bestiality without redefining what
it is that makes us humans."

She nodded slowly.  "I found your working notes.  There was no mention
of a hypothesis."

I chuckled.  "Most of my notes are open to casual browsing.  It helps
to have others comment and catch things before I get lost in blind
alleys.  We keep these keyed to Julie.  Without her help nobody can
read them.  We don't know when we'll make them public."

Julie snorted.  "Humans.  You have your blind spots.  You see the
damage and ignore the benefits.  I have always said we should have
been open about our guesswork."

Linda shook her head and smiled.  "You two are ducking.  If you're
willing to talk about it, I'd like to hear your 'guesswork'."

I chuckled.  "The groundwork has been gone over many times in the
past, and if you dig deep enough, in the right places, you'll find the
actual beginnings of the hypothesis Julie and I have developed."

"So you're saying that others have had the idea before you?"

"Yes.  Every couple of generations, it seems to show up, then get lost
again.  Well, lost to the general public.  Since we are a community of
zoosexuals, we tend to keep better track of those sorts of
speculations."

She sighed.  "Maybe you do, but you aren't very organized about it, as
a group."

"How could we be organized?  Allister stumbled into becoming the one
in charge of the efforts that saved Wind Rider's reality, by saving
our own.  Then there were the plague years.  Survival came first, for
all of us, even though we knew we were losing thousands of years of
knowledge and experience when the Pack Mind started dissipating,
because there were too few wolves to maintain it."

She nodded.  "I think you may have saved more than you realize, but
it's so...  Chaotic, you can't really know what you have."

"That could be true, I suppose, and it's something to think about,
someday, or when the right person comes along.   But I was telling you
about our roots as zoosexuals."

"Yes.  Go on."

"In its most basic form, we see evidence of it's beginnings in cave
paintings.  The people felt they were connected to everything, and to
appease the spirits of the animals they killed, they created rituals
that said they were apologetic about their actions, and if it weren't
for their need to survive, they would treat with their victims as if
they were equals."

"We have no way of knowing if that's true, of course.  We only know
that the paintings indicate that for some reason, there were humans
that mated with animals, or at least they were familiar enough with
the concept to record it."

She sighed.  "Maybe it was simpler.  Early man wasn't that much more
than an animal himself.  With the mental differences being so slight,
perhaps they didn't see the physical differences as significant."

Julie nodded.  "We think early man's world view was one that saw the
animals around him as having their own cultures, so they would be
equals in everything but shape.  Perhaps, in a few cases, an
especially evasive prey would be honored as being smarter than the
hunter."

Linda laughed.  "I can accept that.  I've met dogs who had me
convinced they were far smarter than the person who 'owned' them. I've
even known a few who were obvious about their indulgence of my whims."

Julie and I laughed at her drollness before I responded.  "It's worse,
when you're linked, or you can use the shared languages."

She sobered.  "I've been studying the canid version for years, ever
since I decided to see if I could work here.  And that reminds me of a
question I've always wanted to ask someone."

Julie perked her ears at Linda.  "Ask."

"When I passed my exams and signed the contract, I was given full
access to everything."

Julie flicked an ear.  "Nothing unusual about that."

"I know, now.  I was researching the early work on getting the canids
to be able to communicate with humans more clearly, and I discovered
that all of the existing bloodlines are speech capable.  But, they
never use the ability, as far as I can tell.  I certainly never knew
about it, even though I've spent time working with some of them."

I sighed.  "Mostly, because of all the translators, iconized keyboards
and other devices available, none of the dogs need the ability to
speak a human language.  What they have done, is use that ability to
enhance their understanding of what is spoken to them, then...  Kept
to their own language so they can stay 'dogs', instead of becoming a
mix of canine and human."

She finally nodded.  "And, of course, when they do partner, they wind
up being telepathic, with that person.  Maybe, somneday, I'll ask one
of them for their resasons."

I laughed.  "Expect to be double-talked into distraction, when you do.
They've been around humans for so many millenia, that they really are
'people with four feet', in a lot of the important ways."

"An interesting way to put it.  Get back to your hypothesis."
======

zoo/best humor
---

Dogs and Their Bitches
Carl, Sheila and Mark
---

As I slammed home and began to thrust, I felt Sheila's velvety walls
seize my penis and I knew that until she let go, we would be stuck
together in our lust...

""You're disgusting."" To prove her point, she pulled free and walked
off.

"Huh? What did I do?"

A flick of her tail and I was left there with my penis waving in the
air. ""You know what the fuck you did.""

I sighed and then brightened. Well, I'm bisexual. There's still the
dog. I enjoy the feel of his swollen head forcing its way past my
sphincter and...

""Get real you idiot."" I had a sense of him joining her as they took
off to go sleep under a tree somewhere.

I sighed and proceeded to jerk myself off. Mechanical - but it worked.

Later, as we wandered through the forest, Sheila and Mark (the bitch
and dog who told me to fuck myself), explained.

""Look, Carl. Of all people, you should take the time to tell it how
it really is during sex with a bitch or dog."" Sheila is watching me
carefully. ""To have you daydreaming like that is a total insult. I
have better things to do than help you perpetuate all the damn myths.
If you're going to fuck me, you not only have to do it right
physically, you damn well better forget about titillating your readers
and think about me.""

"Mark?" I look over at him.

""Me too. There's a limit to how much of this 'write for the unwashed
masses' crap I'll put up with from you. You reached that limit today.
You know how I'm built. Forget the damn fantasies that sell your
stories.""

"OK, I apologize. You know as well as I do that sometimes, when I'm
worried about a story, it takes over my life."

""Yeah, well, it's about time you injected some reality into things.
We're tolerant of your work but we think it's time you faced
reality."" Mark's tone is hard.

""Context. Add some context to things when you write."" I can feel her
contempt. ""Life isn't always fucking and getting fucked. Sure, we
like a good slamming as much as you do. On the other paw, a nice
leisurely seduction works pretty good. Ever think about saying the
hell with your current audience and seducing a better class of
readers?""

"Huh? What the fuck are you two talking about?" It seems I've been
using this phrase a lot lately.

""Carl, do you deliberately work at being stupid or have you been
writing bad sex stories too long?"" He rolls over on his back and
spreads his legs. ""What do you see? Am I hard? Am I built like one of
those oversized and useless-for-decent-sex stallions?""

Sheila starts nuzzling his crotch. He humps into her efforts until he
is fully revealed and swollen. As she backs away, I get a good look at
his massive bulbs and the pulsing stream that is spurting from the end
of his penis.

"Nope, I have to admit you aren't built like a stallion."

""I'm glad you finally noticed."" I guess I earned his sarcastic
comment after what I did this afternoon.

""As for me, I'm not a human."" She turns and flags me. ""I'm built so
a dog does the tie. I just don't have the muscle control and internal
equipment to lock a human in me."" She turns back and looks at me with
contempt. ""After ten years of fucking me and several of the human
females in this outpost, you should know.""

I sigh. Something must have really set these two off. In all the years
we've been teamed, they've never torn into me with such focussed
contempt.

"So what are the two of you saying?"

They look at each other and then turn back to me.

""Get the facts right."" That's Sheila.

""Write about reality."" That's Mark.

""From now on, seduce your audience the same way you take the time to
seduce us."" Sheila is smug. ""If you don't, don't expect to get laid
for a long, long time.""

"If ever again." A new male voice enters the conversation.

"Who the fuck are you?" I see a man and wolfess walking towards us.

After they get closer, they exchange looks with my partners. The
wolfess ignores me and speaks out loud to Mark and Sheila. "I gather
he didn't take it well?"

They exchange amused looks. It's Sheila who answers for both of them.
""No.""

What the hell is going on here? Who the hell are these two to suddenly
appear without warning and manage to get past all the other
Guardians...

My jaw drops. Man. Wolfess. Wolfess who speaks aloud. A team who
appears from nothingness...

Shit.

""About time you started using your mind."" Gentle laughter fills my
head. The wolfess is watching me.

"Ward and Julie." I'm stunned. The two of them settle. Mark and Sheila
settle next to Ward and he takes the time to pay proper attention to
them. Julie watches them without bothering to hide her amusement. She
turns back to me.

"Look, after all these centuries, we don't need some greedy fool
working to destroy everything the rest of us have worked for. All
these two are really asking is that you forget about feeding your ego
and get back to what you do best."

"You're a Guardian. A damn good one from what we've heard. Isn't it
time you included your writing in the same code of ethics?"

Double shit for good measure. I didn't stop to think about the fact
that some Guardians would take the time to read the stories written
about animal sex. How the hell did they figure out it was me anyway?

It started as a lark. A parody. I'd been bored and decided to see what
kind of stories were being written for public consumption. When I
realized that the details were generally wrong, I decided to see if I
could do any better. As time passed, I used the responses to tailor my
work so I'd get even more responses. Ignoring reality became my
'stock-in-trade'.

Now that I've been hit over my head I have to admit feeding my ego
played a large role in developing my current style.

"I guess I went too far didn't I?" Silence.

Finally, Mark and Sheila get up and then settle on their haunches. I
sense a fast interchange of thought amongst the four of them.

Ward and Julie rise. Ward smiles slightly. "I think getting laid only
when you write something that is closer to reality will provide all
the incentive you need to improve your writing." He and Julie vanish.

""Well?"" Mark is laughing at my astonishment.

"I don't have much choice do I?" I smile wryly.

""Nope."" Sheila walks over and nuzzles my crotch. ""Now, can we get
back to what we started this afternoon?""

I'm laughing as I let my fingers drift along her muscular flanks. "I
thought you'd never ask."
======

Subject:      Re: {ASSD} Stories from Writing Exercises
Newsgroups:   alt.sex.stories.d
---

> Write a paragraph or so describing a room in a way that reflects a
> character.  Again, appeal to the senses.
 
More than a bit rough in places.  Also, due to lack of functional
brain
cells, I decided to go for a very mundane room.
---

Claire settled into the rattan chair that faced the desk.  It creaked
slightly each time she shifted during her study of the office.  The
entire
room was, at first glance, a somewhat whimsical mix of the traditional
and
the practical.   The desk was normal.  The padded platform behind it
most
definitely was not.  When she looked down she noticed that there was
green
carpet on her side of the room and grass on the other side.  There
were
small trees in each corner, as if the occupant was trying to create
the
impression of a forest clearing.  When she looked closer she realized
they
were fruit trees.  'Elegant and practical' she thought to herself. She
felt gentle breezes touch her and when she followed them to their
sources
she realized that there were small fans cycling on and off.  In any
other
office she would have considered this somewhat whimsical.  Here, in
this
one, there was no doubt in her mind that there was a practical reason
for
the fans.

Claire finished her study and faced her boss.  "You did the
decorating?"

He nodded.

She smiled.  "Stealth, for a wolf who always tells people he's 'just a
cop
with a sensitive nose'...

"You could start a new career as an interior decorator."
======

The Meeting
---

The meeting hall is--somewhere.

The people gathered in it are from--everywhere.  Not all of them share
the humanoid form.

While they wait for the official start of the meeting, people have
formed groups of varying sizes to discuss the current issues or catch
up on what's been happening.

Many people take the time to study the group and try to put bodies to
names.  In many cases, it is a challenge.  In others, obvious.

Few people paid much attention when a man and a wolfess entered.  Of
those who noticed them, a few blinked and then chuckled softly when
they looked closer and realized that the two were deeply involved in
some sort of discussion.  The discussion ended, the wolfess turned her
head to study the room and then those within hearing distance heard a
distinct sneeze of amusement before she drifted away.

Those who heard her sneeze and recognized the emotions behind it, took
the time to briefly wonder why she was so amused, then shrugged and
went on with their other interests while they waited for the director
and his partner to appear.

At over 125 lbs, she was typical for her kind, but there was something
in her movements that said she was holding in the energy that lay in
her muscles.  Even though her movements were deliberate, she moved
through the shifting crowd with the relaxed air of someone who *knew*
she was where she should be.

The other wolves in the room recognized her of course, and without
being obvious about their recognition, shifted out of her way while
they tipped an ear in her direction to let her know she'd been
noticed.

Sometimes she'd pause to hold a brief conversation with a human or
another wolf, but mostly she drifted and let her ears wander while she
sampled the conversations.

The man she accompanied had been doing his own drifting, and
eventually their seemingly aimless wanderings allowed them to meet
near one of the sliding glass doors that allowed access to a balcony.

He slid it open, they exited, then he shut it and went to lean on the
railing.

"It's worse than we thought, Julie.  The non institute folks are
nervous, or terrified."

She settled on her haunches and seemed to study the scene before them.
"I agree, Ward.  The teams aren't terrified, but they are definitely
worried about the situation."

"Badly?"

"Not yet, but it's a definite possibility."

He sighed.  "Well, I guess Allister was right, even though we all
hoped he wouldn't be, this time.  You ready to go face the crowd?"

She sighed.  "I am.  We won't be doing anything have been doing for
centuries."

Ward laughed and knelt to hug her.  "It's only that after today, it
will be official as far as the rest of the world is concerned."

She sneezed her disgust for the circumstances.  "I feel like I've been
forced, even though we agreed to do this a long time ago, when the
time was right."

He sighed.  "We could ask Cory, Karen, Smoke and Greybeard to do this.
After all, before they turned Mind Home over to the people, they were
in charge."

"I'd like to, but it wouldn't be fair to our people, and they already
understand they will do the traveling we won't be able to allow
ourselves."

Ward matched her sigh.  "True, and the six of us agreed on our roles a
long time ago.  Call them."

He felt her attention shift, then 'heard' the call she sent.  ""Team
Two.  I need your presence.""

Without fanfare a rugged loking man, a woman who moved with
unconscious grace and power, and a pair of powerful looking wolves
appeared on the balcony.

The man held out his hand for Julie to nuzzle in greeting.  "Time,
Julie?"

After the greetings were over she studied each of them, then nodded.
"Time."

The six of them reentered the room, and made their way to the area
that was the focus of the chairs and padded benches.

Ward and Julie went to the center, while the other four flanked them.

Once they were all in position, Julie settled on her haunches and
tipped her head back so she could utter the howl that was the
traditional 'Alpha's Call to Gather'.

Some in the crowd quietly murmurred an explantion to those who hadn't
understood it, then all of the gathered people moved to settle in the
chairs while the wolves settled on the padded benches that were
provided for them.

Julie finished her call while people were still moving to seat
themselves, so she waited patiently, until everyone had focused on
her, before she spoke.

"The rumors so many of you have wondered about, are true.  Allister
and Wind Rider have decided to retire."

There was a collective gasp, then silence again.

Julie nodded at the crowd.  "Ward and I called this meeting to make
the announcement, and let you know that we are officially taking over
as co-directors of the institute, a job we have unofficially been
doing for centuries.  Because the transfer of power is cosmetic only,
there will be no changes in institute policies at this time, except
for the obvious one, that Ward and I will be openly accessible to all
of you, instead of acting as 'Liaisons to the Directors'."

She tipped her ears to indicate the four who flanked them.  "Many of
you already know Team Two.  They've agreed to become our primary field
team, and will handle the day to day field work while Ward and I
confine ourselves to the Institute unless we are attending the usual
functions that are an inevitable part of being the Directors of the
Institute."

She glanced at Ward, who nodded, then at the others, who also nodded
slightly, before she faced the audience again.

"The floor is open to questions and discussion."

There was a burst of noise while people started to talk things over
amongst themselves, then one of the non institute delegates signaled
for attention.

Julie pointed her muzzle at him.  "You have the floor."

"Tsien.  External Affairs coordinator for the Western Pacific
Alliance.  I have a question for Team Two.  Who are you, that you're
qualfied for such position?"

Julie nodded.  "A fair question, since they aren't well known outside
the Institute."

She turned her head slightly.  "Karen?"

Karen smiled.  "I'll answer Tsien's question, and any others about
us."

She faced Tsien calmly.  "We were the team who made the decision to
shut down all visible Guardian operations on Mind Home, and turn the
day to day responsibility for it's care over to the people."

"That happened centuries ago!  You couldn't be..."

He stopped his outburst, then bowed deeply.  "Forgive me.  My response
was unseemly.  That you are here, and that Julie and Ward vouch for
you, is enough for me, and my people.  I asked only to satisfy my
curiosity, and so I would be able to explain to my people."

Karen nodded her head slightly.  "Forgiven.  No offence taken.  We
prefer to remain in the background, but circumstances are such that we
must return to roles we had hoped we would never need to perform
again.  Now that there is no need for us to hide, all of our history
will be available to the public."

He nodded carefully.  "Since that is the case, to save time, I have
one more question, one a man doesn't usually ask a Lady."

She laughed.  "Cory and I were born about one hundred years after the
colony transport landed on Mind Home.  Greybeard was born about
seventy years before we were, and Smoke is his daughter, born about
the same time Cory and I were.  If you want the exact dates, they are
in our records.  We forgot them centuries ago, as unimportant."

He bowed again.  "Thank you, Karen.  I have no other questions at this
time."

"You're welcome, Tsien.  We'll be spending some time traveling the
world so we get to know everyone, and of course, if you have anything
you want us to know, or ask us before we get to your area, send them
through the usual channels."

She shifted her attention and spoke to the entire room.  "Any of you
may contact us, of course, about Institute business, or personal
interests."

Then she made a slight gesture with her hand and turned things over to
Julie.

Julei nodded, then faced the room again.  "Any further questions that
should be part of the meeting records?"

A man stood to get her attention, and Julie smiled at him.  "I was
wondering if you'd speak up, Mallory.  You usually do."

He laughed.  "Mallory Fontaine, Scout, Western Hemisphere.  Question
for anyone who wants to answer it.

"Most of us have heard rumors about Team Two's unusual abilities. Will
those abilities finally be confirmed or denied?"

Cory laughed, then vanished from where he was standing, to reappear in
front of Mallory.  He held out his hand.  "Will this help?"

Mallory and his partner had been so startled they'd shifted into
defensive stances before they could stop their reactions to his sudden
presence.

Mallory recovered and took Cory's hand.  "Good thing I have a strong
heart.  Last time we were that startled, it was by a timber rattler
that launched from a tree and just missed me because Hans had time to
hear it slithering, and warned me there was a snake somewhere above
us, so I had time to look up and see it just as it dropped."

Cory laughed.  "Snakes were something we had to get used to after we
decided to live here.  Mind home doesn't have any serious native
threats."

Mallory's eyebrows went up.  "Imported ones?"

"Yep.  Lots of those."

Then he looked around the room.  "To save time, I'll summaraze things.
The four of us are 'World Walkers'.  Karen is also a 'Mind-Healer',
which means she's capable of summoning a wolf back from madness and
helping them reintegrate their mind with their body, after they've
suffered extreme mental trauma.

"But, perhaps the most important ability we have is that we routinely
use each other's bodies as if they are our own.  It's a common skill
on Mind Home, and was when we first became Guardians.  The practical
application of that skill is that when you ask one of us question we
don't have an answer for, and one of the others does, we will make the
switch and let them answer.

"For those of you who aren't familiar with World Walking, it's travel
amongst the alternate realities.  What I did earlier is a different
skill, and the ability to travel between Terra One and Mind Home is a
third ability.

"They are related, but not the same, and we are the only people who
have them, other than Ward, Julie, Allister, and Wind Rider."

Mallory studied him intently, then nodded.  "And the long lifespans
you share with  Allister, Ward, Julie, and her descendents?"

Cory shrugged.  "Here, such long lives for humans are uncommon, but
not unknown.  For the Guardians of Mind Home, it is something that
happens as soon as a human links with a wolf, now.  In my case, we
think the potential was innate, because I am directly descended from
Ward.  Karen can trace her linage to both Ward and Allister, through
Ward's oldest daughter, who was mated to Allister when they traveled
to Mind Home."

Mallory shivered.  "You speak of ancient history so casually."

Cory smiled oddly.  "For us, it isn't history, it's personal memories.
We lived it, instead of studying it from a distance."

"Your minds must be extremely crowded, by now."

"Mind, Mallory.  The four of us have been a single intelligence with
four bodies, for centuries.  It is the natural progression of the
traditional one human, one wolf, link, when the partners lose the
mindset that imposed the unnaturalness of monogamy on the pack link."

Mallory straightened, then nodded stiffly.  "No more qeustions, Cory."

Cory vanished and reappeared in his original location.

Julie broke the silence by speaking warningly.  "They were asked to
come out of retirement because they are the most qualified for the
position they now hold, not because they are family."

Then she perked her ears forward again.  "Any more discussion or
questions?"

Silence was her answer, so she dipped her nose slightly.  "This
meeting is adjourned.  Relax, and enjoy yourselves."
---

End: 'The Meeting'
End:  Challenge Universe - Terra One

-- 
Pursuant to the Berne Convention, this work is copyright with all rights
reserved by its author unless explicitly indicated.
+---------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| alt.sex.stories.moderated ------ send stories to: <ckought69@hotmail.com>|
| FAQ: <http://assm.asstr-mirror.org/faq.html> Moderators: <story-ckought69@hotmail.com> |
+---------------------------------------------------------------------------+
|ASSM Archive at <http://assm.asstr-mirror.org>   Hosted by <http://www.asstr-mirror.org> |
|Discuss this story and others in alt.sex.stories.d; look for subject {ASSD}|
+---------------------------------------------------------------------------+