A Good Day By: Fox Cutter 03/12/99: "No offense Fox," N'taki told me as he watered the small tree that took up the corner of his office, "But I'm not sure what you're asking for is even legal." "It's in a gray area of the law," I answered the lemur, shifting slightly in my chair. "It's not exactly illegal, but it's also not exactly legal. Don't worry, it's just strange enough that we can get it declared classified research." He laughed, turning his chair back to face me. "You might, but I'm accountable for everything done in this Lab, and this would have to be done here. No one else has the technology to do even what we do. As for strange enough, I'm not even sure we can do a mix clone like that." I nodded. "I understand, but you've looked at the DNA samples I gave you?" He sighed, opening a file on his desk. "I have, many times. The genetics of the base sample don't qualify the proper brain size you need." He flip a few more pages, "I've pulled your records from Dr. Videa and compared them to the extrapolations. I can gather this is some how caused by your curse, nothing more." Reaching into his desk, he removed more folders. "I've run the other three samples as well. It might be possible to pull the necessary DNA from numbers two and three, but I'm not sure it can be done. I mean, it's never been done before." I gave him a wide smile, "As you said, you're the only one who does anything like this. And your wife has the proper telepathic skills to pull this off." He chuckled. "Yes H'Naala does, and she's noncommittal about if she can do it. She wants to look you over first, both as human and full-lioness, before she will give any kind of definite answer." "No problem, I'm going to be Rhea again in a week anyway. Can we schedule some time around then?" He sighed, shaking his head. "To be honest, I don't know if I'm even willing to do this. Even if we can create the clone, playing with your mind like this could kill you." "I know," I told him, "If your wife thinks it can be done safely, then we will do it, not before. She'll have the final say in this." "If I can produce the clone like you need it, and H'Naala thinks she can do this, then we will proceed. I'll also have the final say about if this even takes place, and my word on that is gold. If either she or I say no, this project ends. Understood?" I nodded. "Perfectly. Is there anything I can do in return for this?" He chuckled. "Keep my funding going for a couple more years, and classify this project. I don't want anyone knowing about it who doesn't need to. Also, I assume your shadow here can keep his mouth shut?" I glanced over my shoulder. Ravindar was standing in the corner of the room, still enough to almost be a statue, his arms crossed over his chest. "Don't worry," I said, turning back to face N'taki, "He's quite good at keeping secrets." "Fine, then," he told me as he rubbed his paws over his muzzle. "I'll start running simulations, and I'll have H'Naala call when she needs you. You said it was going to be in a week?" "Yes," I answered, standing up in the process, "but call sooner than that; the scheduling is tight concerning the time I'm Rhea. Our meeting will have to be either at the start or the end of that week, when I do the change." "Right," he said, his attention already half drifting to the folders laid out on his desk. I left his office, and the labs, going out into the Marble Hall itself. Ravindar stayed a few feet behind me. The Hall felt strange now. It was no longer a major place in my life. I used to spend a lot of time in and around it, but now everything I did was outside of it. My home, the shipyards, the IMF, they were all away from the Hall. Soon there would be even less here. The motion to move the Capital to Grathe 4 had been passed the previous week, almost unanimously. Construction was only a few weeks away from beginning. The out-cry on Prid had been almost deafening, but there was nothing else to do. The capital would be moved. I thought about this as I walked down the hallway. I had work to do still, but wasn't looking forward to going back to the office just yet. I was constantly getting calls and visits from people wanting to know what I thought about the move. Really, if I wanted to get any work done I had to get out of there. Which left me with a simple option; back to my usual way of getting away from it all. At least my usual way recently. I started looking for a fold as I continued to walk. It took only a minute more to find one. "You might as well head back to the house," I told Ravindar as I reached out in the alcove, the empty air tingling around my arm as I touched the unopened fold. The potential of it gave me goosebumps up and down my arm. He snorted softly, "I can not adequately protect you if you keep ordering me away." "I'm going to be taking the flitter out for a while," I told him as I opened the fold. "I'll be perfectly safe there, anyway, it only fits one person, and there isn't a second ship." "Then perhaps you shouldn't be gallivanting off around some unknown solar-system with no protection," he snapped, in a surprising change of tone for him. I chuckled softy, "It's my solar-system, to everyone else it's unknown, but it is _mine_. I'll be safe there. Anyway, I have friends in the area who can help if I run into any trouble." He snorted again, louder this time. "You said your world is primitive, how can anyone you know there help you?" I sighed. "Look, this isn't an argument I want to get into right now. I need to get out, relax, and perhaps get some work done. Now if you don't mind, I'm going to go to my base, and take off for a while." Glaring down at me, he pulled himself up as tall as he could. "Yes sir," he spat out, before turning around, his back to me, his tail flipping back and forth, showing just how agitated he was. I shook my head, and stepped through the fold, closing it behind me. Sometimes it was better to just not argue with him. He was assigned to protect me, and preventing him from doing so was rubbing him the wrong way. I would have to do something to make it up to him, it was nice having him around me. He was a better fighter than I was by an order of magnitude. I was safer with him by me, but sometimes I needed to be alone. Well, as alone as I could be while sharing my head with Rhea. Even though she didn't come far enough forward to intrude on me, unless she wanted to talk, I still couldn't help thinking that it might be nice to be totally alone. Then of course, I also like talking to Rhea as often as I do. It's kind of strange how the anger that was once between us has become friendship, or perhaps a bit more now that she is married to Oria and me. I don't know how to really describe the relationship we have. I mean, Oria and I are closer than any other couple I've known, partly from being in each other bodies for a month. Rhea and I though, we have the same body and the same mind. This is past being family, maybe joined by our souls, I would have to ask Sora, and see if her belief about me being soul-bound, as she put it, covers something like this. Perhaps, if I'm going to be asking for opinions based on faith, I should be asking Oria, or perhaps the High Priest. He was the closest thing I had to any kind of spiritual advisor. Not that I actually needed one, at least I didn't think so, but who really could know? I shrugged that off as I picked up some PADDs, paperwork for the shipyard, which had been waiting for me to take this trip for close to a month now. I started walking through the docking bay of the base, past the stolen shuttle (what was I ever going to do with that anyway?) towards the flitter. Could I use a spiritual advisor though? I knew Oria was going to assure all the kids would have a proper education in her religion, but I was uncomfortable about it. A decision had to be made on my part. Oria wanted my approval for this, and I have yet to give it to her. Pulling myself into the flitter, I tried to think my way around the problem. I started by wondering if it was even a problem? It was my personal feelings and experiences that were causing the problem. I've had a lot of bad experiences with other religions, both on Earth, and in my time in the multi-verse. But did that give me any right to prevent my wife from teaching her belief to our kids? Or more so, would it keep me from participating in the rituals where my presence was necessary? I started the launch cycle for the flitter, still deep in thought. The idea of being involved like that made me uncomfortable, down deep in the pit of my stomach. It was the kind of feeling I get when something seems inherently wrong. Maybe Oria and I could come to some sort of compromise. She knows my feelings about this, just as I know hers. But I wasn't going to prevent her from providing what she thinks of as the proper religious education. I may provide other ideas if I feel the need, but there I can not, and in fact, should not try and stop her. I guess I would be willing to give her my approval for this. Even participate at times, but I wouldn't be going to anything like a church service or such. Well, within reason. Damn, so many choices, and none feel right! Maybe that was the point, none are right, but nor are they wrong. I needed to pick the one I think would be best for the family as a whole, my family. Oria's and my family. It was hardly an epiphany, but it was still a bit of a shock. I guess there were new ways I had to think, past how I felt, to figure out what was best for the whole of the family. I never really understood that until just now. No, this problem wasn't going to go away. I suspected it would be a bitter point between Oria and me for a long time, but I could accommodate her beliefs, and wish for the kids to have some experience with them. I might not share them, but I could support them. Couldn't I? I smiled to myself, glancing out the window, surprised to find that I was already in space. I had been so deep in thought, I hadn't even noticed the launch. Silly me, but I do believe I have an answer to this problem. Setting the course to automatic, programming it to go out past Mars, I relaxed in the artificial gravity, and started on some of my work. * * * My attention was drawn by the beeping of the flitter's computer. Strange enough as it was. I was making sure to stay out of anyone's way, or line of sight back to Earth, so that couldn't be it. I did a quick, and mostly automatic, check on the systems of the small ship. Everything checked out: I still had the majority of my fuel, power was fine, engine was running a few degrees cooler than normal. Nothing was obviously wrong. Time to ask the computer. I tapped a few commands in, and it started to tell me why it wanted to get my attention. The communication systems had gone hot. I was getting hit by a narrow beam of radio, with a lot of data coming on most every channel. Pulling on my headset, I punched up one at random, and listened to what was going on. I was surprised to find that it was in English, and was a song. I flipped to another channel, and with no interruption, it continued. I started rolling through the spectrum. On every channel was the same song, over and over again. Just as I was starting to expect. "Just sit right back, and you'll hear a tale, a tale of a fateful trip..." I turned it off before it got stuck in my head. I already had an idea who was calling. There was only one man on Earth (or rather, off) who would be calling me with the Gilligan's Island theme. Mostly because I did it to him a couple years back. I turned the radio to the center channel of this endless encore, expecting to get a two hour delayed message. Instead I was told I had a hyper-wave carrier signal. Well, well, well... Locking on the carrier, I opened the channel. "Hello, Brian," I said into the microphone mounted on the headset. "I see you believe in turnabout being fair play." "Of course," came the familiar voice from the other end of the line, "It's a good way to get your attention." I chuckled. "This is true, so to what do I owe this call?" "We picked up some movement out by Mars that didn't match anything Earth has sent up. Thought it was worth checking out." "Ah, annoyance by boredom, right?" I suggested with a smirk, pulling out a new PADD, checking to see what kind of work was on it. It was one I had already done, so I started back through the stack for another one. Brian laughed over the link, "By opportunity, not boredom. Lately, bored is something that I haven't been." "Oh really?" I asked, coming to the realization that I had finished all my work. A strange sensation after being swamped for months. "What have you been up to?" "Well, I finally got to sleep in a real bed last night for the first time in a couple of weeks. That cot in the middle of the Terraformed area at Tycho was getting a bit old," he said with a chuckle. "Now that the environment is stable, I gated home and spent the night snuggled up to something besides my suit helmet." "Does Kalindra appreciate you thinking she's more cuddly than a suit helmet?" I asked, knowing he probably hadn't gotten a lot of sleep last night. Knowing that in the same position, I wouldn't have, either. "She does now," replied Brian with a laugh. "She and Lan-Louis came back with me to the base this morning now that it's reasonably safe and she'll be helping me get the WorldGate up and running. As soon as that's done, the real construction crews arrive." "Sounds like you've been living in interesting times," I commented, loading a course back to the base into the computer. He chuckled, "I wouldn't go as far as that. Speaking of interesting though, I just got a message for you." I blinked, a bit surprised. "A message? For me? That can't be good, not at all." I swear I could almost hear him smile over the link. "If I'm reading this right, I suspect it's very good." Now he was just having fun with me. I was starting to suspect it was good news. "Well, aren't you going to tell me?" He laughed again, "It simply says 'Oriana is in labor.' I suspect congratulations are in order." I let out a whoop, setting the flitter for a full burn back to the base, to hell with being noticed!! "I assume that is a yes," Brian said, his voice a bit fainter. I suspected that if he was wearing a headset, it was now held away from his ear. "A very enthusiastic yes!" I answered, watching as the flitter worked out the course. "I'm going to be putting this to a full burn. My communication system here is to small too keep the link open during that. Perhaps I'll talk to you later?" "Perhaps," he answered, "and once more, congratulations." "Thanks," I responded, kicking the flitter to the full burn. I was forced backwards into a standing position. The thrust produced was greater than the ships' gravity systems were made to take. The burn lasted for two minutes, leaving me a half an hour before I was back to the base. That was the only problem with being this far out from a fold, it took forever to get back. So I sat, sat and waited as the base got closer and closer. Once I was in range the computer took over. The flitter started a long slow down cycle as I was guided in, finally touching down on the bay a couple minutes sooner than scheduled. I waited impatiently as the bay was refilled with air, finally breaking the flitter's seal when it was only half done. The air was thin and cold, but breathable. I ran to the exit of the bay, opening the pressure door long enough to get inside of the base. After that it was down the hallway and through the fold, coming out as close to our hospital as I could. Forcing myself to relax, or at least look like I was relaxed, I walked into the reception area. I asked the receptionist for the room Oria was in, got it, and quickly started for the room. Once I hit the stairwell, I was back into a run, up to the eighth floor. As I walked through the door, I was acting calm again. I started down the hallway towards the room. The door was open, and voices we're coming from inside. I stepped in, and peeked around the curtain that was drawn across the doorway. Oria was lying in bed, strapped to a few machines, and looking slightly pained. Kalie was with her, sitting in a chair in the corner of the room. "Hi," I said, stepping inside. Oria smiled as she saw me. "I was worried you wouldn't get here in time. Ravindar said you were off in the flitter, and I wasn't sure your friend could get a message to you in time." I returned the smile. "I wouldn't miss this for the world. How long do the doctors think this will be?" "A few more hours," she said quietly, winced a bit. "They've already given me something for the pain, but it doesn't quite work as well as I would want." I nodded, sitting down next to the bed, taking her paw in mine. "Sora is watching Beca?" I asked. "Yes," Kalie responded. "I took care of as much as I could before we left. Didn't think about getting her any clothing though." I chuckled. "You did a good job, Kalie, thanks." She smiled, so wide it almost came off her muzzle. She was quite proud of my thanking her. That seemed strange for her, but then, she had changed a lot recently. I stayed with Oria for the next few hours, others came and went, even Rachel managed to stop by once. Ravindar came in and congratulated us. Then he took up a position just inside the door. Vigilant to the end was that tiger. But, at eleven thirty-three that night, Romana Ellie Cutter was born, two minutes later, Adric Rathal Cutter followed her. Two little wet messes of fur and skin. My kids! It was a great feeling. ----- This story is (c) 1999 by Fox Cutter, hardcopy reprints limited to one per person, all other rights reserved. This story may not be distributed for a fee except by permission of the author, and this copyright notice may not be removed. Brian Antoine is (c) 1999 by himself. His stories can be found at .