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THE GRYPHON COMPLEX. Chapter 7** : Through the looking glass...**

Why do ceiling lights always seem so bright when you first open your eyes on waking?

I squinted up at it, disorientated for a moment, as I tried to work out where I was.

The room seemed odd.

It was big, round, and had a really huge barred door.

Why did it have a barred door?

The bed I was in was pretty weird, too. Not so much a bed, as a soft pallet resting on the floor. Lots of bland, coloured cushions scattered onto a soft, dense base. Big, too! Damn, it was huge!

That made no sense to my addled brain, which was having difficulty forming anything resembling a coherent thought.

Big room. Big bed. Really big chamber pot looking thing on the floor, near a really big bowl of water.

It was all very, very big, my brain finally concluded with some satisfaction.

Umm, why was it so big again?

Rubbing my forehead briskly, I tried to sit up, only to fall back with a groan as nausea swept through me, accompanied by jagged lightning bolts of pain.

"Uuuuurrrrrggghhhh..." I said helpfully.

Not overly coherent, but descriptive of my circumstance.

Then a voice interrupted my nausea.

"Do not be alarmed. It is normal for your kind to suffer discomfort and disorientation during an uncoordinated transfer."

My kind? What did they mean by my kind?

I really should ask Pyre....

Sitting upright with a gasp, I looked around wildly, before my head swam and nausea racked me, sending me spinning to vomit heavily on the floor.

Dear Gods, this was a hangover from hell!

Eventually getting my stomach in some semblance of order, I cocked my head towards the ceiling, shouting "Don't be alarmed, my arse!! Where the hell am I?"

I looked around again wildly, brain threatening to burst, before screaming further "And where the fuck are K and Pyre?"

There was silence for a moment, before the voice was replaced by a second, deeper one.

"What do you know of Pyre, human?" it demanded, the voice echoing through the room commandingly.

I sat on the bed, stunned for a moment, trying to sort out what was happening.

"Wha..." I began hesitatingly, before it struck me. Everything flashed back into place.

I couldn't breathe for a moment, heart racing in my chest threatening to burst through my ribs. My hand leapt to my face, shock written across it plainly.

"Oh, Gods, Pyre. You didn't make it..."

My newly conscious brain couldn't take it anymore. I passed out, collapsing back into the cushions, the blackness enveloping me yet again.

The next time I woke, my environment had changed. Gone was the large empty room with the barred door, replaced with a large, brightly lit room with a window.

The huge bed on the floor remained, as did the pillows. They seemed a fixture of the place.

This time, my stomach decided to behave, with the vertigo having resolved to a tolerable level.

Yes, I felt sore, and I ached, and my brain felt like mush, but at least I didn't want to puke everywhere!

Thank God for life's simple pleasures.

Looking across at the window, something suddenly struck me as odd, and I studied the sky for a moment. It was never that shade of blue, surely?

What the hell was going on?

My desperate musings were cut short as the very large door swung inwards, and an even larger figure entered the room.

Pyre was right. As far as gryphons went, he was a runt. This one was huge!

Turning his eyes on me, I studied it in return, too stunned to offer any response. After a moment, he made his way across the room, to sit on his haunches near my bedside with a sigh. Taking the opportunity, I examined it closely, noting the silver grey tipping its fur on flank and tail, and the folded skin surrounding its eyes and nares. The sharp beak edge was chipped in places, giving the impression of hard use, and his feathers were duller than I remember on Pyre.

Imposing, surely, and clearly venerable. Especially when those eyes were staring at you as if you were a fox in a hen house.

"So, human" it began in an incredibly deep bass voice, "what do we do with you?"

I shook my head for a moment, before replying "That's not the concern, sir. What about my friends?"

It cocked an ear at me, clearly in surprise, before answering slowly.

"You're friends? The human and... the gryphon?"

I sat up suddenly, causing the huge creature to tense. With that, the door swiftly opened, with yet another gryphon making to enter. The first turned to it, shaking his head slowly, and it withdrew, as the first gryphon turned back to me.

"You'll have to forgive my security" it said, a small smile tugging at the corners of its beak. "They get a little tense when I take risks"

What risks, I thought wildly to myself?

realisation finally hit. Me? I was a risk? They thought I was the risk?

I couldn't help it. Blame the stress, or the crossing, or just the fact I was a mad bastard who thought stupid, idiotic things were funny, but I did it anyway.

I began laughing.

Falling back against the cushions, I laughed and laughed, and didn't even realise that tears began streaming from my eyes.

Gods, it was so funny. So very, very funny.

Why did it hurt so much if it was so funny?

Finally, as my hysteria began to subside, the gryphon passed me a large piece of cloth to wipe my eyes, which I took gratefully. He had a look of concern on his face I couldn't mistake.

I wiped my face on the cloth almost desperately, as if it would wipe out the memory of the situation for me. All I could think about were the last moments before he threw us through the portal. The gentle smile on his face, and his warm embrace...

Jesus, Pyre. Why?

The gryphon coughed, sending a deep bass note through the room. I made to return the cloth, but he waved it away with a forepaw, stating "I think you need it more than I". I nodded in thanks, before putting it in the pocket of the baggy coveralls I was wearing.

Sighing again, he continued "Forgive my rudeness. Your journey here has us all on edge. I am First Speaker K'marr. Your abrupt arrival has caused us all manner of concern, youngster. The place is buzzing like a Tarr nest. Especially after tracing your passage back to its unusual origin. We were surprised, to be sure. We were really expecting someone else"

I sighed sadly. "You mean you were expecting Pyre?"

He shot me a calculating glance, piercing eyes searching through me as his ears momentarily laid flat. "So you mentioned earlier. I was told that we needed to study you further before I approached you, but my many dealings with humans has made me aware of your idiosyncrasies. Not a species that likes to be lead astray, are you? instead, I decided to see for myself what you had to say about... this"

Reaching into his belt pouch, he carefully removed my cap, Pyre's feather still attached securely.

As I reached out for it with trembling hands, for a moment the Speaker hesitated before passing it to me, but finally laid it carefully in my waiting grasp. I ran my fingers along the quill gently, feeling the bristling of the feathers edge against my palm, before giving a deep sigh, tears welling again in my eyes.

He stared at me silently as I was absorbed in the feather, until he asked "Where did you get that, human?"

I paused, before almost defiantly placing the cap on my head, the feather dangling past my right ear. Looking at him directly in the eyes, I took a deep breath and said "My name is David. Not human. It was given to me by my mate. Pyre gave it to me"

His eyebrows shot upward, ears flattened, and he growled deeply, before raising himself to his feet and beginning a nervous pacing about the room.

Once he had regained his equilibrium, he returned to the bedside, looking down at me. His anxiety was clearly evident, his claws clenching on the floor leaving deep scratches in the soft material

"Where is he? Where is Pyre?" he said.

"Where is my son?"

_________

K's awakening was somewhat less disturbing.

At least to K, who was more than used to disturbing things on waking.

He was in a bed. A big bed, he thought, giggling slightly as the drugs he'd been given continued to shift his reality.

A stray thought crept into his conscious, and he pressed his hand to his bare stomach, gazing down at the long scar stretching across his midriff.

Cooooool, he thought dreamily. I was shot!

That's awesome!

Lying back with another giggle, he returned to staring at the wavering ceiling lights, barely acknowledging the gryphon which silently came into the room to check on him. Bending over his prone form, it measured his pulse, taking notes on an electronic tablet hanging around its neck, before resting a clawed hand against his cheek, testing for fever.

K grinned suddenly up at it. "Hey Pyre? You got a really cute arse, you know!" he said languidly, looking intently at the gryphon's rear, chuckling again at his own cleverness, before dropping back to sleep.

The female gryphon nurse gave him a nervous eye, which roamed quickly to her rump in confusion, before departing the room in haste to continue her rounds.

Bloody strange creatures, these humans, she thought to herself before letting the matter slip her mind as she continued on to tend her next patient.

__________

Later that day, I found myself accompanying the First Speaker from the apartment I'd awoken in, having had the opportunity to retrieve my clothes, which had been thoroughly washed (and fumigated) during my sleep. The ever present guards followed behind us, as we strolled slowly from the building entry and into the street, towards a waiting vehicle.

Looking up, I had my first look at my surroundings.

Oh wow, I thought numbly, staring at the amazing city. If Philip J. Fry had walked in on us, he'd have tripped out totally.

It wasn't simply that the buildings were huge. They were, silver spires shooting impossibly into the violet tinged sky.

Nor was it the streets filled with amazing vehicles, or the shops selling incredible goods from a dozen worlds.

No, what really blew my mind were the people.

Big people.

Small people.

Furry people.

Scaly people.

People of every colour and shape imaginable.

It was as if the zoo's inhabitants had all suddenly sprouted legs, and were running around the city, intent on their business. Certainly they ignored the gaping, slack jawed stare of a single strangely dressed human.

They strolled through the treed boulevards around us, chatting to each other companionably; avian with reptile, furred with feathered. Scattered through the menagerie were the odd human, seemingly out of place amidst the furred inhabitants around them.

As K would have said... Awesome!

The older gryphon cast me a glance, clearly reading my amazement, before nodding his head politely at the waiting car. Smiling back, I entered the huge door, and the gryphon's followed with hunched shoulders, squeezing to fit through the tight opening. I'd strapped myself into a low padded bench at the front of the ground car's passenger compartment, as First settled into the larger rear area with his escort.

Pulling my fascinated gaze from the incredible view beyond the glass, I turned back to the Speaker, asking almost desperately the question that had been plaguing me. While we had discussed the events occurring before our unfortunate transport in large detail, I had yet to receive any sort of response as to what the gryphon could do about the situation.

"Sir?" I began, meeting his eyes, "What about Pyre? How are we going to help him?"

He stared at me solemnly for a moment, before sighing again. "David, you have placed an immensely difficult situation in front of us. You're telling me my son is alive, yet go on to say he remained behind to guard your retreat, against warriors wielding death dealing weapons. He may not be my own flesh and blood, but for all intentions, we are family. I share your desire to return to your world to assist him, but there are much deeper issues involved. To return without notice may be overly provocative, tantamount to invasion! I doubt your leaders would take kindly to that now, would they?"

Staring at his eyes, I could only shake my head hopelessly, my fist clenching tightly in pain at his response.

Reaching across the cabin, he gave my shoulder a gentle squeeze. "However, as First Speaker, I have access to certain... leverage... that may make all the difference in recovering him."

He looked at me gravely, before his ears perked, and he gave me the ghost of a smile.

"Do not give up, young mate of my son" he said, eyes lighting for a brief moment. "This is far from over. I consider it one of the few advantages of my position. The next few days will determine our course of action, and I give you my word this will not be dealt with lightly"

I passed him a brief smile, returning my gaze to the amazing world passing outside, before the heavy claw squeezed my shoulder further, returning to grip the padding on the floor before him for support.

"I understand your fear. I also understand your love. It isn't often one of our kind chooses outside his species".

He sighed deeply, returning to his thoughts, before continuing almost absently.

"Pyre always was an unconventional child. He chose the path of science rather than the simpler road in the military. Against all odds, he excelled in his studies, where others of our species had failed. I have to say, he often puzzled me."

Turning back to me, he continued, a glint in his eyes.

"However, I was always proud of him. He may have been... unconventional in gryphon terms... but he always made me proud."

Sighing, his head dropped sadly. "I hope to have the opportunity shortly to tell him that in person", he whispered, and I nodded in sympathy.

The car continued through the city in silence.

­­­­­­­­­­­­­_____________

It was several days later before K was deemed healed enough to be released. While the medical facilities of these people were incredible, cutting down the recovery time for such a serious injury from weeks to days, nothing could deny the fact he'd nearly died from the wounding.

While I'd been able to speak with him briefly over the communications system the previous day, I kept the conversation brief, knowing full well our every word would be monitored and assessed. Simply ending with "I'll see you tomorrow then", I'd hung up the line to spend the rest of the evening alone, staring out the window of my apartment to contemplate the city beyond.

The next morning, when we reached the city's main hospital, we were escorted from the vehicle to the secure medical wing of the hospital, to be greeted by an exuberant K. He'd finally came down from his drug induced high, to the relief of both the nursing staff (who he'd been eyeing suggestively) and the medical team (who were having more difficulty trying to determine whether he was, in fact, normal or not).

Pounding my back enthusiastically, he beamed up at me from his hospital bed, blathering on at the treatment he'd received, and the staff around him.

"These are great people, D! They really give a shit about me. Even when I needed to go to the loo, someone helped me out!"

I grinned, rolling my eyes at his response, and he brought his lips to my ear conspiratorially "There's this one nurse. Dude! She's hot!!"

A muffled snort from the doorway brought our attention back to my escort/guard, who had been eyeing our reunion with an amused smile. He quickly composed himself, before pretending to turn his gaze elsewhere.

Damn gryphon hearing!

Sitting down on the bed pad next to him, I began filling him in on the events that had happened in his absence. The Speaker had been dropped off on the way at the governmental complex housing the "Quorum"; the body that managed their entire alliance of systems; to arranged accommodation for us at a large complex in the heart of the city, under "protective custody" of course. Thankfully, our guard, Mykos, was a bit of a hoot, willing to share his knowledge of the city and its inhabitants freely with me. While I had no delusions as to our custodial "relationship", I couldn't help but warm to his cheery disposition. There were enough fellow humans in the crowds to keep our identity a relative secret, known only to those needing the information. As far as most of the inhabitants knew, it was 'business as usual", and I was just one more human in a city of them.

Regardless of his enthusiasm, K had been going stir crazy waiting at the hospital, so it was with relief they were able to arrange his release into the protective care of the gryphon secret service.

As we left the hospital, he proudly showed off his new scar, oblivious to the shocked stares he received from several passersby. I nudged him firmly, and he dropped his shirt, covering his bare skin with a chuckle. Smiling briefly, my mood soon darkened, thoughts returning to Pyre.

K, sensing the change, put an arm around my shoulder, giving me a hug. "Hey, dude. We'll get him back. Don't stress".

I turned to him, shaking my head in denial. "If they would stop fucking around about what to do, and actually DO something, then I wouldn't be stressing!" I hissed.

Mykos, who had been following the conversation till now in apparent amusement, turned his head away guiltily, finding sudden preoccupation with the statue of a wolf person residing in the square opposite. I think the news of my involvement with the Speakers son had become something of a sensation in certain circles, although my care factor for the sudden dubious celebrity status had hit zero a long time before. Truth be told, I only cared about one thing; getting back to Earth, and rescuing Pyres furry arse!

K nodded, somber for a moment, before the overwhelming extravagance of the surroundings set him off on yet another excited tangent. Attention span of a three year old, I thought with a smirk, before returning to my depression.

Damn you, you furry bastard! Why did you have to play the hero? I mused with sudden determination.

You'd better still be alive, Pyre, or I'm going to fucking kill you!

Continued in Chapter 8: ...and what Alice found there.