Endangered Ch. 09

"Sorry," Hailey shrugged down at him and moved a hand to cover her overflowing breast. "They do that sometimes when I'm really full."

"Don't apologise, you... unnngaarrlllgg," Chris tried to come up for air and speak but got blasted across the nose and mouth by the tit he'd just abandoned. He ended up laughing, the arm hooked up to the dialysis machine aching slightly from the jostling. He quickly clamped her left nipple firmly between his thumb and forefinger, stemming the flow.

She whimpered, her body tensing, hips fidgeting. It was like her nipple had a direct line to her little runaway steam train of a pussy and any signal sent just shovelled more coal into the fire box. Stemming her milk like that was unreal, she almost screamed out in a combination of pleasure, frustration, and dull pain.

"Sorry," he spluttered, loosening his grip a little and brushing milk off his nose. "Am I hurting you?"

"No... Not really," she panted. "I'm just really sensitive and it's intense. It's sort of sore when I get backed up like that... unnngg... It's okay for now."

"Okay, well I was going to say that you shouldn't apologise. It's delicious and I only wish I had two mouths, so I could get all of it."

"Really?"

"Hailey Sibon, I could literally spend all afternoon suckling the most delightful milk I've ever tasted from your perfect boobs," he promised solemnly.

"Oh... um... if you really like it that much I suppose you could keep pinching this one until you've drained the other one a bit," she suggested softly, revealing her dripping and still softly squirting right breast. "They're sort of sympathetic like that. I usually use two pumps at the same time when I'm at home."

"I'd love to," he grinned.

"Okay, lie back then. It will be more comfortable for both of us."

She guided him back onto the bed. As she leaned in above him, her breasts hanging full and heavy in his face, Chris shook his head in astonishment.

"How could you not think this was hot?"

She smiled happily and silenced him with her fresh nipple. He growled in satisfaction, and she moaned relief and pleasure as her sumptuous milk began to flow freely again.

"What was your idea?" he asked an hour later as they lay snuggled together, dozing.

"What idea?"

"You hinted that you had a better idea for a way I could use my powers to help people."

"Oh... that," she giggled. "I'm all out of ideas. Sucked dry, you might say."

"Seriously?" he chuckled, squeezing her against his good side.

"I warn you, it's nerdy."

"Go on."

"Okay, think with me. What do you think are the biggest problems facing the world today, aside from the Revelation of course?" she yawned, coming more awake. "Think about human problems."

It was ever like Hailey to have him consider and puzzle out an answer, rather than just giving it to him. It's what made her such an excellent tutor.

"Pollution, overpopulation, dwindling resources, climate change, wealth disparity?"

"Good," she purred. "All good answers. I would have added the ocean, especially acidification, but I guess that's part of pollution. They all help paint the broader picture. Can you think of one thing which could go some way to helping all of these issues?"

Chris thought about it, determined to impress her but came up blank.

"I'm not sure. They all seem like quite complicated and somewhat separate issues. Short of me magically enforcing some sort of global socialist regime, I don't see how you would get everyone to agree on the correct course of action, let alone buckle down and make the sacrifices needed to combat the problems. It's not in human nature and I would make a terrible dictator."

"Ha, you're right," she laughed. "You're too soft hearted to be a global dictator. Sadly, humans don't seem to care about the writing on the wall, Beings too. No... I'm talking about cheap, abundant energy."

"Magical energy?" he asked, confused.

"No, conventional. Electrical mostly, but ready to be converted for use as needed."

"I thought we had enough to meet our demands, at least in the developed world. I can't remember any power outages or talk about a scarcity. Solar and renewables are finally becoming cheaper than fossil fuel power, aren't they?"

"Yes, they are and that's admirable but you're missing my point."

"Which is?"

"That if we could help jump an order of magnitude in electricity production and have it cheap to produce, it could be spent in ways that could benefit everyone globally."

"Explain, please?"

"Okay, there are a lot of things which we know how to do but don't because they're too energy expensive. Proper recycling and pulling carbon dioxide out of the ocean to make carbon-neutral jet fuel and other products are just a few that come to mind. We also know that access to electricity and the corresponding quality of life improvements it brings lowers birth rates. If electricity was cheap and very abundant, you could do really cool things like desalinate ocean water in Africa and try to stop the rampant desertification there. There are so many things that could potentially be possible, not to mention that it could be a huge advance in aerospace technology."

"There it is," Chris chuckled.

"I'm serious," she protested. "A lot of what's holding us back in space is how to generate electricity."

"Okay, how though?"

"Fusion... We could try advanced fission but there are already people doing clever work on that."

"Like, the sun fusion?" he asked incredulously. "Haven't all sorts of scientists been trying to make that work for the last half century too?"

"Yes, and they have made it work," she said a little testily. "They just can't keep it working for more than a few hundred milliseconds or harvest any power."

"What am I supposed to do about that?" he laughed.

"Well, I was thinking about how you said everything has a presence in the Ether. Tell me, Chris, have you heard of a muon?"

***

Chris was chafing at the bit to be released late one afternoon. It was the sixth day of his incarceration, as he'd come to joke about it. Hailey had recently left to pick up some groceries for her mother and he was alone. He was on and off his tablet, unsettled by the news Michelle had brought him after lunch.

The uproar and publicity around what the public perceived as a terrible act of violence at a popular if quirky nightclub had died down substantially after a week. However, people hadn't forgotten. They also hadn't forgotten the supposed hero of the hour, Chris Baryst. In his absence, people were wondering what had happened and if he was okay. Those who remembered him in his home town, Laramie, were quick to speak up that they knew him and surprisingly persistent in trying to track him down.

Annabel had been fending off inquiries about him, including a few from dogged reporters who latched onto that connection. She'd ignored those during the first few hectic days where everything was up in the air. Once he'd been brought home and hospitalised, she used that as an excuse as to why he couldn't be contacted and wasn't available for interview. Michelle had jumped on that bandwagon, no doubt spinning a tale of bravery, a quiet hero recovering from grievous wounds in a private hospital.

Michelle informed him that there was starting to be a little too much speculation for her liking. He was to have an exclusive interview with a 'reasonably tame' local reporter when he was fit to leave hospital. He would be on his own too, except perhaps an invisible vampire. No one was going to save him if he blundered and said the wrong thing though. He was nervous, and it put a huge dampener on his excitement to be cleared for release, possibly as early as tomorrow.

A kerfuffle outside broke into his worrying. He thought he recognised the gravely old voice.

"... know he's in there because I can smell him, the smarmy little lizard."

Chris got up and opened the door, peering into the hallway.

"Sir, I don't know you," Kat's voice was raised, her accent echoing up to him from the waiting room. "You step the fuck back or I swear to God I will drop you, old man or not."

"I'd like to see you try, missy," snarled the old werecat. "I drove all the way here to see my boy and I hate driving, makes me cranky. You'd best be out of my way before I take you over my knee for a spanking, you ain't too old."

Chris grinned wide and started quickly down the corridor to avert disaster. He was half tempted to wait a while and see how the situation unfolded, it might be funny. Jethry wasn't what he used to be, and Chris didn't want to chance him getting hurt. He burst into the reception to the comic sight of the two about to square off. By the lecherous grin on Jethry's face, Chris realised he was enjoying himself and probably did intend to give Kat the promised spanking if he could manage it.

"Kat," he warned humorously, "back away from the dirty old man."

"Chris!" Jethry exclaimed happily as they took the few steps between them and embraced. "Jesus boy, if you was a steer you'd be fit for slaughter. Look at the size of you."

"Thanks, I guess. It's great to see you, Jethry. Here, meet Kat, she ahh... I work with her."

"A pleasure to meet you, Miss," the werecat fixed his speech into something more proper, yet still mocking. "Jethry Dale at your service, for all your spanking needs of course."

Chris rolled his eyes at her over Jethry's shoulder and shrugged slightly in apology.

"I saw that," Jethry poked him firmly in the gut making Chris grunt and then laugh. "You ain't too old for a spanking either, though you might be a little too big."

"Sorry Kat, he's the dirtiest old man you'll probably ever meet, but I love him," Chris wrapped his arm around Jethry shoulder.

"Just keep him away from my ass or I'll whoop his, even if it is scrawny and old."

"You're not porking this one too, are ya?" Jethry complained as Chris turned them toward his room, still in clear earshot of Kat.

"No! Jesus, you're terrible," Chris' ears were burning now.

"Good, 'cos I like 'em feisty."

Chris led him away before he could be embarrassed further. Back in his room, they found seats and just looked at each other for a moment.

"How are you, boy?" the older man asked seriously, all trace of mischief gone.

"I'm ready to get out of here," Chris sighed. "Susan told you what happened?"

"Yep, can't say I understand it all. Some sort of poison?"

"Basically, yeah. The scientist who'd been experimenting on... and I suppose caring for those poor folks, was smart enough to realise the hammer was going to drop on them if they captured me. She's basically been holding me hostage, feeding me the antidote every day for the last week."

The werecat grunted in disgust, stroking his bristly chin thoughtfully.

"Saw your picture on the news, that was a hoot. All sorts of folks been dropping by unannounced to ask about ya."

"Yeah, sorry about that. It's only going to get worse though, they want me to be some sort of ambassador for the Revelation. I'm working with the agency they're setting up to try keep people honest when this all comes out. It feels good to do stuff like getting those kidnapped Beings back."

"That's good, son. Someone like you will make a big difference, maybe show some of the rest of us that working with the humans isn't so bad. I've heard... mutterings, Beings leaving the hubs, spreading out and going back to the wilderness if they can manage. I don't know if they're trying to hide away and live how they please or if they're just running away from the places where shit will hit the fan hardest."

"We'll see. It could definitely all blow up in our faces if we aren't careful," Chris admitted. "It doesn't bode well if there are already humans trying to experiment on us. Imagine if word of that got around."

"Just do your best, for you and your girls," Jethry clapped a hand companionably on his shoulder. "You've got little ones to think about, too. If you need to just run for a while and get them safe, there's no shame in that."

"I know. Any other advice?"

"Naw, not really. Just be true to each other and don't take yourself too seriously."

"Yeah, I feel like you might have taken a bit too much of your own advice on that last part," Chris laughed.

"Maybe," Jethry admitted. They sat silently for a while. It wasn't awkward, they'd spent that much time working together over the years. "Damn, I should have picked us up a pack of beer or something."

"Don't worry about it. Folks will be arriving for dinner soon. Will you stay? How's the farm?"

"I could stay. Funny you should ask about the farm," Jethry grinned. "I got a load of hay from the Johnsons, but the boys didn't want to stack it nice in the back of the barn. It's sitting outside under a tarpaulin, but it won't be long until it's snowed on."

"I'll see what I can do," Chris nodded. "I've gotten pretty good at lifting things with this house I'm helping to build. I'd take you around there right now but the doctor here is fierce, he'd probably lock me up an extra day or two if I tried to slip away."

"It can't be that bad, I smell all sorts of tail in here. Milk, too."

Chris blushed.

"Ha! You've found yourself a little heifer then, I thought I smelled one," he shook his head in mock regret. "Teach a boy to milk a cow, aye?"

"Jealous?" Chris teased back.

"Of course," he replied gruffly. "Good for you, boy. Plenty of worse things could happen to the world than you sowing your seed far and wide."

"It's not like th-" Chris protested.

"I know it's not. I'm just saying. You're different, Chris, I can feel it. I always had this instinct about you, call it a cat sense. The hairs on my scruff pick up whenever you're around. It ain't a bad thing, just a sort of 'careful with this one.' When I heard you knocked up that sweet piece of vampire... well, I just wanted to see for myself you were okay. People take note of that sort of thing. You're in unknown territory so be careful."

"Thanks. I really mean it, Jethry."

"Ah, pishaw," his old friend dismissed. "You'll do fine."

***

Two days later, when his urine and blood tests finally satisfied Dr. Chang, Chris was released.

The first thing he did was head down to the warehouse to visit the construction site. He was like a giddy child waiting to see what was inside his present. Hailey had hinted the day before that the progress was impressive.

She wasn't wrong. The bucket loader and pile of crushed rock were gone completely. There was also a half-used pallet of bagged plaster mix by the stairwell. He took the stairs three at a time, almost barrelling into Stephen at the bottom who was muttering and scratching his head over the complex installation manual for the security door system. There were brackets, packets of bolts, rivets, and all sorts of pre-built wiring scattered around him.

"Chris! Just who I wanted to see," the big werebison bellowed, wrapping him in a huge hug. Chris was a bit surprised at the contact and didn't commit to the embrace. "Don't A-frame me, dude. We hug like men in this family."

"Okay," Chris laughed, infected by his friend's obvious good mood. They embraced more firmly for a few seconds. It was sort of nice.

"I'm glad you're back on your feet," Stephen said as he abandoned his frustrating job and beckoned Chris to follow him inside. They had to step around the two thick slabs of steel, doors yet to be installed, that were resting up against the wall. "I've been holding off on a few of the spells until you got back, we're running a bit low on juice."

Chris' eyebrows rose in astonishment as they entered the foyer, even more so when he saw the kitchen and living room. Gone were the dark, bare walls, the dusty floors, and the featureless spaces. Surfaces which were to stay bare rock were polished and sealed, corners rounded down, and cracks filled. Ceilings and walls were mostly plastered where they required it. The kitchen floor had been tiled beautifully and the huge living-room was littered with thick rolls of underlay, ready to be installed. Light fittings hung from Stephen's high, fake rafters. They were bare wood, elegantly tapered toward the centre of the room to give the illusion of a peaked roof above them. Chris had to admit that touch helped make it seem like a real house. He was astounded they'd gotten all this done in little over a week.

"Come on, you haven't even seen your room yet," Stephen ran his hand along the bare rock walls, pausing briefly at each of the doorways to utility rooms or storage closets. With a craftsman's eye, he evaluated the rock for flaws, cracks, and moisture. "The terrible trio have been over the stonework with a fine-toothed comb. We've sucked the last of the ground moisture out with a spell and sealed it."

"This is amazing. You've done the plumbing, too?" Chris wondered as he looked into the main bathroom, seeing it tiled and multiple shower heads protruding from the wall and ceiling. The entire far third of the room was a sunken area with steps leading down into it, a hot pool fit for a small harem.

"Some," the werebison said. "There's still a lot to be done in the en-suites."

"Woah," Chris whispered when they finally got to his own room. The room itself wasn't anything special, a modest to large bedroom. The ceiling had been plastered and lights installed but the floor and walls were still bare and there was no furniture.

He knew that the plans had included an en-suite and a small walk-in wardrobe but what seized his attention as soon as he got in the room was the inlaid rock carving of three dragons guarding a yawning, low, silver archway. Whether entwined in battle or lust he wasn't sure, but the craftsmanship was astonishing.

He moved closer to run his hand over the incredibly intricate artwork of troughs and ridges. A bubbling joyous laugh rose in his throat as he realised there were tiny flecks of silver, red, and purple impregnated in the dark ochre stone. Taking a step back, he examined the work again. A red and silver dragon on either side of the archway, the purple twined around them from behind the portal, his wings partially covering them. To be honest he looked a bit handsy, a paw possessively on each female's hip. Their three graceful necks met at the top of the low archway, reaching upward together in a silent roar of triumph. It was stunning.

"Holy shit," Chris turned to Stephen, lost for words.

"I know, the boys stayed late for an entire week. They didn't let me in here until two days ago. Trust me, you haven't seen the half of it."

Chris reached forward curiously and touched the shimmering substance inside the arch. It parted, revealing a pitch-black corridor. It was low and narrow, but Chris was more interested in the hair-thin silver strands running through his fingers. It shimmered and bent easily, marvellously cool and incredibly attuned to his magical senses. There was an enchantment there. He brought his hand nearer, pulling the strands into the light for examination. He could barely see them, even with his excellent eyesight, but there were tiny chain links there.

"Mithril," he whispered in awe. "How did..."

"Don't look at me. Just go in there," Stephen smiled and produced a long, thin candle from the back pocket of his cargo pants. "Take this."

Chris concentrated for a moment with the wick between his finger and thumb. It was much harder for him to use fire magic, but he'd gotten a lot better under Arvil and Immi's tutelage. This was a relatively simple feat and a flame soon sprang into life, greedy for wax.

Holding the candle before him, he reverently parted the mithril screen and ducked to enter the passage way. Stephen gave him a few moments and quietly followed behind.