FSE

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Chapter 13: Shoulders

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After eighteen hours in a Qantas Airlines 787, three hours on a military plane and another three hours of driving their rental Lexus Doctor Karl and Officer Wright stepped unsteadily onto gravel. Their breath fogged in the chill midday air. Their destination was a low barn-style house with a steep, shingle roof which stood against a backdrop of ragged clouds threatening snow on the mountains. The building seemed a mix of old and new; solar panels covered most of one face of the roof while a large diesel generator crouched under the eaves. Smoke curled from the chimney next to two data-transceiver dishes while a heat-pump unit rattled next to the generator.

Five men and a young boy greeted them from the veranda. Benoit Morel was immediately recognizable as the man from the San Diego Zoo video. He was pale, bald and looked out of place in a thick puffy overcoat. Four men in worn blue jeans and flannel shirts had duskier skin and long straight brown hair. Doctor Karl guessed they were slightly older than himself – mid forties - and had American First Nations heritage. Unfazed by the chill air the boy was wearing short trousers and a cartoon tee-shirt over his dark ebony skin.

One of the men spread his arms in invitation and said, “Welcome to Ranch Makwa where bears come to rediscover life and spirit. My husband Daniel, my partners Ken and Petey and their boy Tino, Benoit whose spirit is mending, and my name is James.” He gestured his arms at each name.

“I’m Doctor Karl and this is Officer Wright,” said Doctor Karl.

“Do we have to call you that?” asked the boy, Tino.

“Sorry – I’m Leon and this is Rob. We’re a bit shattered from the trip here so forgive us for sounding crusty and smelling like unwashed socks.” He shook hands with the adults and crouched to shake the boy’s hand. “That’s a firm grip – so what are you, 16 years old?”

“Haha! Nope, I’m eight and dad lets me feed the bears sometimes!” Tino giggled, then ran to hide behind one of the men’s legs.

“Cute kid,” said Rob.

“He’s a handful,” said Ken. “Petey and me adopted him five years ago. When we got him he was a malnourished, neglected cub like the other bears we care for. Hey Tino! You old enough to send back to the wilds yet?”

“Daa-aad! I’m gonna live here forever like Koka!” Tino looked serious for a moment and said, “That’s daddy-James’ bear.”

“How many bears do you have?” Doctor Karl asked their host.

“Oh, just six now,” said James. “Koka is an old toothless brown. He’s been here ten years and probably won’t be here for many more. He’d never survive in the wild. We’ve got two adult black bears doing well – rescues from a farm that kills bears for parts trade. They’ll go back to their true homes in a few more months. There’s a black cub who is about three months old. His momma was shot by hunters. He’ll be here until spring but he’s on solid food so doesn’t need too much attention. Then there are the brown brother and sister who are overdue to go back to the wilds but Daniel has grown too attached.”

“Hey now… As soon as I replace the air filter on the truck they get a road-trip to the mountains. Gotta do it soon before the weather gets too icy,” Daniel assured his husband.

“You’ll cry when they go, though. You always do,” James fondly held his husband’s arm.

“Boys are allowed to cry,” Tino said sagey. “Daddy-Dan says he’s sad and happy to see the bears go home and they cry too.”

“Enough standing in the cold – you folks need a shower, coffee, and a comfortable couch that isn’t bouncing with turbulence!” said Daniel, ushering the troupe indoors.

“Dan, Ken and me are going to do the rounds,” said Petey. “We’ll see you guys in a couple of hours or so. Tino, you wanna come along and carry a bucket?”

“Can I feed the baby bear? Pleeeeeeease…” Tino begged.

“Of course!” said Ken. “But it’s a cub not a baby and you have to carry the bucket the whole way. And grab your coat – you’ll be complaining about the cold in ten minutes!”

“Yaaaay!” the boy rocketed past the adults, sprinting around the side of the house. Ken and Petey followed at a slower pace.

The interior of the house was as eclectic as the exterior. Bear paw-print stickers on the wooden floor traced their path toward the lounge. A gay pride flag hung on one hallway wall, while the other wall was covered in photographs of bears and other wildlife.

“Previous rescues,” said James when he noticed Rob looking at the photographs. “It’s our wall of family portraits.”

Bookcases with thousands of books covered walls – books in paperback and hardcover, history and fiction, fantasy and romance vied for space with Greek classical literature. Several religious books including The Flying Spaghetti Monster’s bible were next to manuals on C++ and Python software coding. Part of the lounge was taken up by racks of computer hardware humming and blinking a constellation of lights. A Wi-Fi router sat on a hand-stitched leather drum. In a tall cage an owl with a splint on one wing perched on its branch warily eyeing the new arrivals. Across the room a large wood-burner stove kept the house comfortably warm. The space was lived-in and inviting, not unkempt but not fastidiously clean.

“Your room is through here.” Dan indicated a doorway off the main room. A large white canine padded gracefully from the room. It paused and regarded the strangers with suspicion from intense amber eyes. Then it turned and trotted through the lounge, exiting through a giant dog-door fixed in the main door.

“Was that a wolf?” asked the young officer with amazement.

“Storm is three-quarters Arctic Wolf,” answered Daniel. “We don’t take in wolves for rehabilitation but Storm was rescued from some idiots who thought a wolf in the suburbs was a good idea. She’s been here for almost as long as Tino. Part of the family.”

“She’s magnificent! I’ve never been that close to a wolf before,” said Officer Wright.

“If she likes you she’ll let you lick her pussy,” said James. “Just don’t try anything penetrative with her or she’ll grump at you. I’ll leave you guys to shower and freshen up.” He left the room but Benoit stayed hovering around the doorway. Wood panelling gave the bedroom a warm feel and matched the dark bedspread on the large king-sized bed. A redwood dresser and night-stand enhanced the cozy feeling.

“You guys are military, right?” Benoit asked nervously. “How much trouble am I in? Please be honest.”

“None,” said Doctor Karl sitting wearily on the bed. “Zip. Nada. As far as the military are concerned you’ve done us a big favour – I guess Doctor Yondal has told you about the new gem suit?”

“Philip mentioned it, yeah,” said Benoit. “I don’t understand that at all.”

“We’ll explain everything after we’ve freshened up a bit,” said Officer Wright unpacking clothes from his suitcase. “The San Diego Zoo people are worried about you, Benoit. If you want it your job is available when you return.”

“Oh, really?” Benoit sounded immensely relieved but slightly disbelieving. “I thought, once they found out I… Well I thought they’d have me arrested.”

“You have a lot of friends there,” assured Doctor Karl. “Management are more sympathetic than you’d believe. You’ve been a reliable worker who has real empathy for the animals. We’ve taken all the video evidence – no-one else needs to see it.”

“Ummm… actually I think I’d like to see it,” said Benoit meekly. “And James and Dan probably would too. And Ken and Petey. Uh, not Tino though. I expect it’s not for young eyes.”

“I’ll get Doctor Chand to send you her cinematic masterpiece,” chuckled Doctor Karl. “Encrypted and secured of course or your hosts will probably skewer us. I hear they’re the information security gurus around here.”

“Thanks. I mean it,” said Benoit. “Now, you guys freshen up and I’ll make sure Daniel has the coffee on when you join us in the lounge.”

After showering and changing the two travellers returned to the warm main room. Daniel looked up from his keyboard at a desk near the computer racks. “Hey, they’re still alive. How do you like your coffee?” he asked.

“Oh, Flat White is fine,” replied Rob.

“Short Macchiato for me, ta,” answered Leon.

Daniel stated at them for a while. “Black or with creamer and would you like sugar?” he asked flatly. A filter coffee machine burbled from the kitchen.

“Ah, white with sugar, thanks,” answered Rob a little meekly.

“Same, thanks,” said Leon. “I thought you guys would have an espresso machine – you’ve got a decent setup here with everything else.”

“It’s always a work-in-progress,” said Daniel.

“I saw the transceivers on the roof. Are you on satellite here?” asked Leon.

Daniel went to the kitchen to pour the coffee. “Twenty years ago when we moved here we were. Got a roaring four-hundred kilobits of data via satellite. Ten years ago we upgraded to a point-to-point to a repeater on the hills and got one gigabit. Couple of years ago the military ran high capacity fibre down the road. Now the pipe is one terabit. We do some data security for them so they gave us a fibre connection.” He gestured to the racks of servers and storage. “We host a zoophile network app here and you wouldn’t believe the volume of traffic we serve. Same servers we use for military data so you can imagine how well protected it is.” He handed two cups of palid coffee to the travellers. “Most InfoSec people are perverts of one sort or another. If it weren’t for the dog-fuckers most of the software you use wouldn’t exist.” He gestured for the men to sit on the couch. “How was your flight? Quite a journey from Australia.” Daniel sat beside James and caressed his thigh.

Leon grimaced. “We spent eighteen hours in something called ‘Premium Economy’. It’s what normal economy class used to be twenty years ago before airlines decided all air travellers are four-foot-tall narrow waifs who can sleep with their knees around their ears. Our seats were almost big enough to sit comfortably but not quite. Almost enough space to recline to sleep, but not quite. Food is better than regular cattle-class but still a choice between white or brown sludge. The armrests seemed designed so I couldn’t quite give Rob a handjob under the blankets. All-in-all a horrible way to travel. The military flight was better. Driving was irking – has anyone told your drivers they’re all on the wrong side of the road?”

Daniel chuckled. “And you can look forward to doing it all again tomorrow.”

“Ugh. Don’t remind me.” Leon sipped his tepid coffee and grimaced slightly.

“Tell us about the suits – how did Benoit get involved?” asked James.

Rob gave them a brief history of the different gem suits and how they align to animals and people. He placed the two Amethyst Suit orbs on the low table between the couples. “These two are aligned to bears and guys who are attracted to bears. Benoit was wearing one of them when he mated Qinu and produced the second.”

“How does that happen? Did the bear give birth to this? Seems a bit large even for a polar bear,” said Benoit gesturing to one of the gems.

“Qinu produced a small egg-sized version and she’s perfectly fine,” explained the scientist. “Let me stress again, Benoit, you haven’t hurt or distressed Qinu.”

“And you want me and my husband to put on these suits and fuck, right?” asked James.

“Yeah. Hey, are you guys totally okay about that?” asked Leon. “You’re going to lose all your hair.”

“Of course we’re okay about it. Hair grows back,” said Daniel. “Look, whatever made these orbs understands love between people and bears… people and other animals too. Benoit, what was it like to have sex with Qinu?”

The bald man startled, then his eyes softened as he said, “She was wonderful. So big and warm. Like I was part of her and she was all around me. It was the best experience of my life.”

“See? These crystals come from a spirit of nature. You’ve said no animals were harmed, all the people were fulfilled. If these crystals were made by man they wouldn’t care so much about life and nature,” explained Daniel. “If your god came down and asked you to do something for him would you?”

“Ah, neither me nor Rob are religious,” said Leon.

“You should be. Those two crystals aren’t from man but they know and love humans and animals.”

“Anyway,” said Leon avoiding the topic of deities, “you should probably get done before the others get back.”

“Ah, Tino just goes to his room – he doesn’t care. He’s walked in on me and Dan fucking with Ken and Petey many times. He calls it daddy playtime and knows it’s for grownups,” said James.

“You all…” began Rob.

“Me and Dan are married. Ken and Petey are married so they could legally adopt Tino. It’s the best the country allows. No state recognizes a four-daddy family,” explained James. “Legal agreements for the property and inheritance make up some of the shortfall.”

“I see. You’ve got quite the idyllic setup here,” said Leon admirably.

“Yeah, we do,” agreed James and Daniel. “So… the crystals…” prompted James.

“Right…” instructed the scientist. “Get undressed completely first or they’ll shred anything you’re wearing. Socks, boots, rings, watches, ear-rings, everything. And when you activate the suit make sure you’re standing somewhere you can sweep up the hair. Everything goes – hair on your head, chest, arms, legs, pubic hair. Wait…” he said as the couple began undressing. “We can show you what to do with the gems and then leave the room – you don’t need to be naked in front of us!”

“Are you ashamed if we do?” asked James removing his shirt. His chest was well-muscled and hairless.

“Well, no. But if you’re self-conscious Rob and me can go to the bedroom,” said Leon.

“Bah. Honour the gift nature has given us. You and your boyfriend should make love together with us,” Daniel had removed his trousers. Like his husband his chest was dark-toned, well-muscled with a fine dusting of hair in a trail to a sparse thatch of light-brown fluff around his groin. Both men had matching tattooed bands in Celtic or tribal style around their left biceps. Daniel also sported a large stylized bear motif tattooed on his back. They placed identical gold rings inlaid with white gold together on the low table.

Rob shrugged and stood to begin removing his own clothing as well. He nodded to Leon who was still sitting on the couch. The scientist likewise shrugged and stood to undress. Warmth from the wood-burner made the room a comfortable temperature to be nude.

“Uh, guys? I’m going to head outside,” said Benoit, uncomfortable at the sudden room full of naked men. He left, unnoticed by the other men.

“Wow, you guys are really built!” said Rob admiringly to James and his husband.

“Wrestling bears is good exercise,” joked Dan. “I can see why Leon keeps you around” He pointedly looked at Rob’s semi-hard penis.

“Before this turns into an orgy…” interrupted the scientist, “Daniel and James, take one of the gems each. Go stand in the kitchen so I can sweep up after you.”

“Better than the kitchen – we’ll go to the games room,” suggested Daniel. “It has a tile floor too.” He opened the door to a large room off the lounge.