In Aqua (Chris) and Torrent (Christine)'s home, Torrent sat nervously on the toilet in the bathroom shi shared with Aqua. Shi was fully dressed and hir reason for being in the bathroom was at present not what one normally associated with going to the bathroom for. Shi had wanted very much to go with Aqua on the Antarctica mission, not only was it a new place, but Torrent knew that Bottlenose Dolphins didn't swim that far south. They simply weren't big enough to live there for the long term. In fact Aqua wore specialized scuba gear whenever they swam near either of Earth's poles. Torrent had one to, and shi also wore it in the same places. Torrent wanted to go because in hir heart, shi knew only shi could keep Aqua warm. After shi became a Sharkat, shi always swam with Aqua, in addition to acquiring a taste for sushi that Aqua shared, and like any Kat, being with Aqua often became an excuse to mate with hir. And some of them had their funny moments. One time, Aqua's bikini top came off and ended up getting carried away on a water current. Unfortunately neither of them noticed this until much later, and Torrent had to go ashore, buy a new bikini top for hir mate before hir mate could leave the water.
Their mating was primarily how many, if not most of the Dolphkats and Sharkats that had helped with outbreaks on the eastern seaboard of the US had come about. Shi and Aqua had mated, and their mating attracted regular sharks and/or dolphins and their vaccinated fluids transformed them into Kats, but like Ryles, Angel, and Demon before them, the new Kats learned quickly and on their last visit there was supposed talk about establishing what they called a "real Atlantis" as an undersea kingdom where they would also keep their own vaccinated fluids from transforming more animals. However, neither Aqua nor Torrent knew how far along they were.
But what Aqua had called "Shark Flu" had kept Torrent from going. But Torrent was privately certain that shi was not sick. Since coming to Janace with Chris more than six years ago now, becoming a Kat hirself and changing hir name, shi'd hardly seen any Kat have so much as a sniffle. Diseases that plagued humans didn't bother them, parasites died without ever affecting them, and even diseases that effected the animals their DNA was based didn't affect them. That left only one other reason, one that the taur based Kats didn't have due to their more complex digestive tracts that didn't come into contact with their reproductive organs. Right now though, Torrent really didn't know and was waiting patiently. After a few moments, a timer went off and shi quickly stood up and moved up toward the sink where a small plastic "stick" lay. Hesitantly reaching for it, Torrent picked up the stick in hir webbed fingers and as shi looked at it, a very happy smile formed on hir face.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
"So... you're an alien?" Charlie asked to Talia as shi and Sally sat with Talia and Midnight, having a sort of family moment. Ailat and the others were not there, but had been taken to the clinic by a very insistent Mina and Ronnie to make sure shi was okay.
"In a way," Talia said slowly, "Does... does that change your opinion of me?"
There was a somewhat awkward moment as the four sat for a few moment. It had been a few weeks since the team had left for Antarctica. In that time, due to a missile fired from Cuba some things had been interesting. Maurice told them about the call Midnight had made warning of another possible outbreak. Lia's family, who had been running the CI in Philadelphia ended up being dispatched to where the missile was supposed to come down, which ended up being just outside Toronto, Canada. They also reported back that the weapon was a dud. The virus was there and would have worked, had the missile not gone into the upper stratosphere after Midnight couldn't keep up with it anymore. In the cold thin air, the virus froze to death and had no lasting problems. While that prevented an all out war, Cuba had come under a massive air and sea based blockade and the US was mobilizing men, while diplomatically making demands that the Cubans hand over any and all scientists working with the Kat Virus. Charlie and Brent were ultimately both called in to make "donations" for the production of the Wise Vaccine, in case there was an invasion coming.
And on a personal level, Charlie and Sally could see the changes in both them and their soughter and soughter-in-law. When the Antarctic team left, Charlie, Sally, Midnight, and Talia were at the end of their first month of pregnancy and moving into their second month. Now, after a few weeks, they were now in the early weeks of their third month. In six months time, Charlie and Sally would be new mothers again and Talia and Midnight would become mothers for the first time. Their baby bulges were beginning to become apparent, and Sally was slightly larger than all of them, but then Sally was having triplets.
"No," Charlie spoke, "if I were still human and you just announced it... it might... as everyone has seen those movies where aliens come to conquer the Earth... but I haven't been a human for more than twelve years..."
"And we've known you personally for more than six years," Sally added.
Charlie nodded in agreement, "What you are doesn't matter. You're still a good person and Sally and I are both very proud that you and Midnight fell in love and became mates."
Talia then found hirself pulled into a hug as Charlie reared onto hir rear legs, wrapped hir forelegs around Talia's waist, and then wrapped hir arms around Talia's shoulders. Sally and Midnight were both quick to join the hug. Talia actually began to shed tears of joy as Midnight licked hir cheek.
"So what happened to your world?" Midnight asked a moment.
"I do not remember," Talia admitted, "but it must have been bad... as the pods for me, my sither, my friends, as well as DNA strains for animals that were native to our planet were put on the "Ark" that brought us hear... Though the landing was a bit of a blank spot in my memory... and many of the animals that were part of our world somehow got lose as well... but instead of destroying Earth's animals, they mated into them... it's why Matincores are a species of cat... Unicorns a type of horse..."
"Didn't Elise say though that dragons were relatives of dinosaurs in a way? Like birds were?" Sally asked.
"It is possible that the ship that brought me wasn't the first," Talia spoke, "after all... we had to have known about Earth from somewhere... and well... I wasn't sent to be an alien. None of us were, and people mistook us for beings in their mythology... or we inspired their mythology... and we went with it... so we could be what we were to be... teachers and friends..." Talia then managed to wrap hir own foreleg around Midnight, "and lovers... but while humans had found me beautiful, the respect I received was always more in line with the worship of a deity... it was never personal... as one does not mate with a perceived god. And after a while I grew into the role."
"And so in a way... you... and all of us aren't alien, different from humanity but not alien," Charlie commented, "If all these animals bred into the genetic lines of animals on Earth."
"Maybe," Talia admitted.
"But you said we'd all be leaving Earth?" Sally asked after a moment.
"Not necessarily all of us," Talia said softly, "but it will need to happen. We're all going to live for a very long time and for the most part, Kats breed prolifically. Both you and Charlie have gotten pregnant every six years. Once after Fee City and had Janice and Pinkie, again six years later before the Sydney outbreak and Sally became pregnant during the Cairo outbreak... and while that was rape, given that you gave birth during that outbreak... would the two of you switched over where Sally becomes pregnant on hir return?"
"Probably," Charlie and Sally admitted.
Talia then nodded, "and you're both pregnant again... Sally with triplets. Are you going to just not mate or procreate anymore in the future?"
Charlie and Sally looked to each other and then sighed. Having them NOT have sex in the future would be impossible, and their desire to care for children would probably mean that they would continue to have children until they were too old to have any more. And many Kats were like them, maybe not as much, but like them.
"That is why we'll need to find a planet that could support us better," Talia answered, "Given how many Kats there are on Earth now... and given that the human population is growing almost as fast as ours does, in time we will over populate Earth. We'll need to find new places to go. It won't be any time soon... since we're still hunting the guys trying to use the virus as a weapon... and in pure theory it won't be as if we can't come back and visit those that do stay on Earth... but it will be something that will have to happen at some time. Who knows... maybe we'll form "Starfleet" with all of this."
"Great-Auncle Janace has made a lot of comments about liking Captain Picard," Midnight commented.
Sally and Charlie looked at each other and sighed. They knew that Talia was right. And it brought some of the same thoughts and concerns that they had long had. Janace was supposed to be a small ranching settlement that would allow them to live in peace, but following the Paris outbreak and their official recruitment into the UN's service as a sort of security force, it grew into a small town and by the time of the Vatican Outbreak it had become a small city. The ranch land that Jess had originally bought up was consumed by Janace's growth and the animals that were part of the ranch were now much smaller than they were originally, just to make sure they didn't overgraze the land they had. Even if they weren't leaving tomorrow, things were changing rapidly. Luna and Lia weren't living in Janace anymore, and now with the likelihood of some going off into space... would the rest of their family leave?
+++++++++++++++++++++++++
In Washington DC, Marsha Cain nervously made her way through the White House. She had been among those evacuated from the US capital before she could have infected and she ultimately went to her home in Iowa to ride out outbreak until it was over. She knew that her husband had been in Dover as part of some infrastructure initiative but got little specific news out of the outbreak other than that it was stopped and Jake was fine. She wished she could have gotten more, and heard more from her family. She knew that her nieces had become Kats, due to the news coverage the Kats in Janace got, and she did talk with them on the phone from time to time, but she still wished she could have talked with them more. Jess and Sally had always been great kids, and she had enjoyed when Justin and Janace brought them to Iowa for Christmas when they were little. But then things changed. Janace had vanished into Antarctica, these Kat outbreaks happened and Justin became Kieen of a foreign country. She then wondered how many more members of her family had now become Kats. She hated the not knowing.
"Hello, Mrs. Cain, are things well?" a secretary asked.
"About as well as crazy things can be," Marsha replied, "Get rushed off home to escape becoming a Kat, lose contact with my husband, and watching the country getting ready to go to war with Cuba..."
"They could hand over the scientists and what they have," the secretary answered.
Marsha nodded, "and anyway, I'm here to meet with my husband... who hasn't talked to me in the past several weeks..."
"Things have rather busy, ma'am," the secretary answered again.
"I'm sure," Marsha answered as she walked along.
They continued along until they got to a door that lead to the White House's private library, where Marsha was told she would be able to talk with her husband. The secretary stopped at the door, put a hand on the door handle and then looked back to Marsha.
"Jake is inside, ma'am," the secretary spoke.
Marsha raised an eyebrow in confusion at the informal reference, but was more intent to see her husband made her overlook it. The secretary opened the door and let Marsha in. She entered the room to find a Kat waiting for hir. Hir clothing looked a bit uncomfortable on hir, as it wasn't the special shirts and vests that Kats seemed to wear. Shi was also based off of the Spotted Hyena, with a rather dog-like head, but with large erect half rounded ears, a body profile that made hir forelegs look longer than hir rear legs. Shi had dark brown, almost black, eyes. Shi was largely covered in sandy brown fur with a black muzzle and black spots visible on hir taur portion. The thing that made it clear that this was a Kat and not a Taur was that hir forelegs were wide enough apart that Marsha could see the sheath between the Kats rear legs.
"Excuse me, I'm sure you're busy, but I'm here to meet my husband and it will be a rather personal meeting... so..." Marsha began.
"And I'm here," the Kat said slowly, "I know I look different and probably sound a bit different... it's still me..."
Marsha stood there in stunned silence for a few moments. Her eyes practically as wide as dinner plates.
"Marsha?" Jake asked after a moment.
"Jake?!" Marsha shrieked, "What happened to you?"
"I got caught up in the outbreak in Dover," Jake said slowly, "I wanted to help the team the UN sent to deal with the outbreaks... and well... I suppose I wasn't entirely safe and..."
"You got yourself changed?!" Marsha accused.
"Yes," Jake looked down.
"Why didn't you tell me?" Marsha demanded.
"I was scared you wouldn't love me anymore," Jake said slowly, "as I didn't know how to the explain this... but getting to see Justin again and to talk with Sally and Jess did give me some eye openers...and I... I had to find some way to talk to you, be close to you..."
Marsha only scowled, "You really thought me that shallow? I'll have you know that I thought Joey Long was FAR sexier than you as a man and I still chose YOU over him. What you look like on the outside doesn't matter."
"No, I don't think you're shallow," Jake answered, "I just didn't know how to tell you what happened to me."
Marsha only scowled, was she trusted that little? Jake only got up and hugged her.
"I still love you, Marsha," Jake said softly with the same loving tone she'd always heard Jake say to her at various times, "I'm sorry if I did anything to hurt you."
Marsha then let it go, and moved to hug her husband as well. The rapid transforming of her family into Kats seemed to continue, but Jake had won her love with his personality long ago. What shi looked like didn't matter. She hugged Jake back.
"And I love you, too," Marsha answered, "a trust you have no more secrets you're hiding?"
"Well... I was thinking we'd move to Janace," Jake commented.
"The Kat capital of America? What's wrong with our farm?" Marsha asked.
"Our family isn't there," Jake answered, "We never had any children. Our only blood relatives are either the Kats ruling France at the moment or the Kats living in Janace. Besides, you like Jess and Sally right?"
"Yes..."
"Then you'll love all their little ones, grand-niphews," Jake told her.
"Okay," Marsha sighed, "and when are we doing this?"
"I'll be making my formal resignation once the present issues with Cuba is resolves, if something comes about with North Korea, that will be someone else's responsibility," Jake told her and stroked her hair with one hand.
At that point, they pulled apart for a moment. Marsha then nodded, slowly accepting Jake's idea.
"Well, let me get a good look at you," Marsha answered, "let me know what I'll be sleeping with now... I don't think our bed is big enough to fit both of us..."
Jake only shrugged and let Marsha circle hir. Marsha gave her transformed husband a close look and noticed the strong looking muscles underneath hir fur. Jake looked a little younger, but a part of her mind was okay with that. As she circled, Marsha's eyes caught something that made her pause. Normally it would be hidden by Jake's tail, but as shi wagged it slightly, Marsha noticed.
"Jake... wheat kind of Kat are you?" Marsha asked.
"A Hyenakat," Jake said slowly.
"Did you know that you grew a second penis?" Marsha asked.
Jake actually gave a nervous chuckle, "actually I did a little research on hyenas while I was in Janace... the female's reproductive organs are somewhat different from other mammals. They still work in a mammalian way, but look different from other mammals."
Marsha only blinked, and swore she saw Jake blush through hir fur.
"What you're looking at is actually my clitoris," Jake said nervously, and then tucked hir tail between hir rear legs, more for modesty than anything else.
At that point, Marsha, finally, fainted.