The discovery of a lifetime

The bath had finally filled. Reaching a paw over to the facet, Chris turned the water off and tested it with his other paw.

“Just right”, he said. Wearing little bathrobes, his son Riley and Daughter walked into the room, almost ready for their baths.

Their development had been very interesting. Jennifer carried them for 50% longer then what the normal gestation for a raccoon was. It had been very beneficial to the babies. While only having 2 babies wasn’t uncommon for a coon, having babies that were born fully furred and with their eyes open and the size of much more developed babies was. It seemed that in addition to giving their species greater intelligence, immunity and much longer life expectancies, it also had a secondary effect of altering the reproductive cycle for females such that the babies would develop longer inside of their mother, and would be born much bigger and more developed. Jennifer was also very happy another secondary effect, the process of birthing the babies was nearly painless.

Chris and Jennifer had reared 2 babies, a girl with gray fur they named Annika and a boy with red fur they named Riley. Jennifer had commented that Riley must have gotten his fur color from Chris’ red. The babies had inherited Chris and Jennifer’s enhanced intelligence and immunity and life span. It seemed that they were developing at rate that was a cross between human and raccoon. At 6 months they were similar in development and mentality to 6-year-old humans.

Walking over to the water, Annika and Riley tested the temperature with their paws.

“Feels just right” they both said.

“Okay then, take of your bath robes and hop on in” Chris said. Both of them took of their bathrobes and gently slipped into the tub.

In the past year the group had developed considerably. They had developed clothes and had even developed a sort of plane that they could use to travel great distances. Chris and Jennifer weren’t the only two to have had young ones of their own. They had a boy and girl as well. The boy had grayish brown fur and they had named him Don and the girl had gorgeous blonde fur and they had named her Ibuki.

Josh walked into the room with Ibuki and Don holding his paws.

“Is there room in there any for two more?” he asked. Looking at the two kits, Chris giggled.

“Where are Timothy and Tabitha?” he asked.

“They wanted to take a swim in the lake, so I agreed to baby sit. They asked me to give them a bath.” Josh answered. Looking at the bath where Riley and Annika were busy splashing Chris looked back at the 2 other kits.

“We build this thing for space, I’d say there’s room for 2 more” he said. Hurriedly taking their clothes off, Ibuki and Don rushed over to the Bath and Jumped in, splashing water all over the place. Josh laughed when he saw that Chris’ face was quite wet. Chris couldn’t help but laugh as well. Tossing the kids discarded clothing to Josh, Chris asked is we could wash them while he bathed the kids.

“Sure you can handle 4 at once,” Josh asked. Looking at the group who was splashing happily, Chris nodded his head.

“Okay, Ill be back in a bit then” Josh said as he walked out of the bathroom and closed the door. Looking back at the 4 kits, Chris rolled up his sleeves and got the shampoo ready.

“Okay, lets gets this show on the road” he said.

***

Underground, under the house, Jennifer walked with Connie and Sonya towards the recently completed underground hangar.

“So this hangar is fully functional, including the 2 aircraft inside of it?” Jennifer asked.

“Yes, ever since Benjamin joined our family we have been able to make advances in leaps and bounds” Sonya said.

“I hear he is a scientist who has invented many things,” Jennifer said.

“Yes. He was the one who invented the serum, and build us our home and everything, if it wasn’t for him, none of this would have been possible” Connie responded. The three of them approached the hangar, which was dark. Connie pulled lever by the entrance, which activated the lights in the hangar, lighting it up and revealing the 2 futuristic looking aircraft in the bay. Benjamin walked up from behind them and told them about the craft.

“Vertical takeoff and landing, able to fly around the world twice before refueling, stealth mode, able to disguise themselves on the ground as just about anything, each capable of comfortably holding a pilot, co-pilot and up to 8 passengers and of course they look cool” he said.

“Sounds very impressive, but where did you get them from?” Jennifer asked.

“Before joining the group I was working on a human sized version of these for years. When I had planned to join, I worked on reducing the size so we could make use of them and succeeded” he said.

“Can we take one of them out for a test drive?” Jennifer asked.

“Of course Jen, that’s why we came down here. You are going to love it” Sonya said. As the 4 of them walked towards the first of the two vehicles, she smiled and said.

“I can’t wait”.

***

Alice combed Kyle and Tommy’s fur both of them protested loudly.

“Now common guys, part of having fur means you need to keep it clean and brushed”, Alice said.

“But brushing’s annoying!” Tommy protested.

“If you brushed more then it wouldn’t be so hard!” Alice said. Kyle sighed,

“she’s right bro, we do have to brush more”, he said.

“Okay” Tommy said.

“So where is dad?” Kyle asked.

“Your father is working with David” she responded.

“What are they doing?” Tommy asked.

“Apparently, their trying to locate a friend of Chris’ that he went to college with. Chris wants to add him to our family” Alice responded.

“How come?” Kyle asked.

“Apparently, this friend of his really likes out species and woodland type animals in general, Chris that allowing him to become one of us will be a gift for him” Alice responded.

“Cool!” Kyle responded.

“But if he’s far away how’s he gonna get there?” Tommy asked.

“Their going to use one of our new ships” Alice responded.

***

Timothy and Tabitha swam and played in the lake close to the house. As Tabitha resurfaced from another dive, she walked over to Timothy.

“So what’s this about going on a mission that you mentioned?” she asked.

“Chris wants to change a friend of his who lives in another city and he said he could take one of the ships. He feels that it would be educational for the kids if we took them along” Timothy responded.

“We?” Tabitha asked.

“I said I’d go with him.” Timothy said.

“Well, just take good care of Ibuki and Don” Tabitha said. Kissing Tabitha on the side of her muzzle, Timothy grinned and said

“don’t worry, they’ll be fine”. Hugging her mate, Tabitha prepared to dive under yet again. After she went under, Timothy giggled before diving under after her.

***

In the computer room Tony scanned the information of the whereabouts of Chris’s friend. John walked into the room just as Tony cheered.

“I take it the news is good?” John asked. Tony folded his paws in his lap and smiled.

“I have located his friend if that’s what you mean,” Tony said.

“How come he didn’t search himself?” John asked.

“Tommy and Kyle seem to enjoy him, he’s seems a natural with them. He’s taken them on walks and entertained them a lot recently, even with 2 of his own. I figured it’s time I returned the favor” Tony replied.

“So where is his friend located?” John asked.

“In a city 200 kilometers from here. He moved there after graduating.” Tony replied.

“Was that when Chris lost contact with him?” John asked.

“Apparently for 18 months they stayed in regular contact, but then he stopped responded to his e-mails and eventually his address stopped working. Chris was never able to find out his new one” Tony replied. John rubbed his furry chin before continuing.

“I wonder why the guy never tried to e-mail Chris again,” he asked.

“Chris’s ISP ‘went under’, since they no longer knew eachother e-mail’s they were unable to contact eachother again, until now” Tony replied.

“And now he can finally find out what happened” John said. Tony nodded his head.

***

In the bathroom, Chris was busy drying the 4 kids off when Josh came running in. Seemingly shocked by his sudden appearance Chris gasped.

“Sorry didn’t mean to scare you” Josh said.

“It’s okay, so what’s the rush?” Chris asked.

“They’ve been able to locate Mark” Josh said.

“Whose mark?” Annika asked.

“A friend of mine from College, were going to add him to our family” Chris responded.

“Where did they find him?” Chris asked.

“200 km here” Josh answered. Kneeling down, Chris looked at the kids,

“looks like were going to get to try out our new plane” he said. All 4 kids cheered happily.

“Can I come?” Josh asked.

“Well, I already said I would take Timothy and the kids with me, it might get a bit crowded” Chris said.

“That’s okay, I can watch the ship while you change him!” he said.

“Works for me” Chris said.

“Okay then, I’ll go get Timothy, get the ship and kids ready.” Chris said. Josh nodded and told the kids to follow him as Chris left the room.

***

Tabitha surfaced just before Timothy and they shared a long kiss before hearing someone walking up to the lake. Turning his head towards the sound, Timothy saw Chris standing there.

“Little privacy?” he said.

“Sorry about intruding. We’ve located my friend and we are getting ready to go see him” Chris said.

“Cool, so I still get to fly right?” Timothy asked.

“Yes. Josh has decided to come as well, he’s going to watch the ship while we visit Mark.” Chris said.

“Are the kids ready?” Timothy asked.

“Josh is getting them ready as we speak” Chris said. Tabitha and Timothy both walked out of the water and Chris handed each of them one of the large towels he was carrying.

“Thanks” they both said. Timothy and Tabitha got into their raccoon sized hovercraft and Chris back into his and they began to make their way back to their home.

***

In the second plane, Josh made sure that Riley, Annika, Don and Ibuki were secured in their seats and wearing their seatbelts.

“Are we going to visit dad’s friend?” Annika asked.

“We gonna make em one of us?” Riley asked.

“Were going to do both” Josh said.

“Is daddy coming too?” Ibuki asked. Josh petted her head.

“He’s going to fly this baby” he replied.

“This is gonna be cool!” Don joyfully said. Checking to make sure everyone was secure, Josh sat down as Chris and Timothy walked into the ship.

“Welcome Aboard”, Josh said.

“Everyone’s ready?” Timothy asked. All the kids joyfully said

“yes!”

“Okay then, we’ll be up front if you need anything,” Timothy said as he and Chris walked up to the front of the ship and into the cockpit.

Timothy took his seat in the Pilots chair and Chris the co-pilots chair.

“What will out ETA be to the city where Mark lives?” Timothy asked.

“We’ll go at a comfortable 200 km/h and be there in an hour. Preparing to engage silent running and stealth mode. No need to worry about us being tracked” Chris said. Pressing the buttons to engage the startup sequence, Timothy signaled the passenger area.

“Everyone ready back there?” he asked. After a few seconds delay, Josh replied that everyone was indeed ready.

“All right then, lets see what this baby can do!” Timothy said. The air ship dubbed by the kids as the

“Coonwings” signaled for the hangar roof to open and it took off silently. As they were in the process of taking off, the ship carrying Connie and Sonya, Jennifer and Benjamin came in for a landing, with Jennifer waving and winking at Chris. A few seconds later, having cleared the perimeter, Chris gave the call.

“We have cleared the bay, engaging stealing and silent running modes, laying course heading 128 degree’s, prepare to engage” Chris said as the air ship hovered in mid air. As Timothy pressed the buttons to engage the various modes, the ship engines went silent and it turned around and headed for the sky and towards the city.

***

The air ship carrying Jennifer, Connie, Benjamin and Sonya soared high over the city.

“This view is incredible”, Sonya said.

“Like nothing I’ve ever seen” Connie agreed.

“You sure the light bending technology makes us completely invisible to the naked eye?” Jennifer asked.

“That, infrared and several other parts of the spectrum.” Benjamin said. Benjamin brought the ship to a lower altitude, flying over a main expressway. Suddenly hearing what sounded like a crash and commotion from behind the ship, Benjamin slowed the ship down.

“What was that?” Sonya asked. As the ship slowed down, they could see what looked like an armored bank truck being pursued by several police cars speeding down the highway. It had already hit several cars. Reaching over, Ben hit a short series of buttons, which activated a radio.

“This will activate the police scanner so we can get more information on what’s going on” Ben said. The 4 of them listened to the scanner, which gave them a good summary of what was going on. 3 suspects had hijacked the armored bank truck at gunpoint and the police were in pursuit of them, unfortunately they were getting away.

“Is there anything we can do?” Sonya asked.

“Maybe there is” Benjamin said. Pressing several buttons, he deactivated the ships light bending technology rendering it visible!

“Ben! What are you doing?” Jennifer asked.

“We have to do something! We have to stop them,” Benjamin said.

“How?” Sonya asked.

“You’ll see. Jennifer, take the controls!” Benjamin said. Benjamin got up and Jennifer sat down and manned the control station. Benjamin sat at an unoccupied station in the cockpit.

“Bring us just behind and above them, I’m preparing to fire” Ben said.

“Fire what? This isn’t the Starship Enterprise!” Jennifer said.

“No, but it does have some experimental equipment” Ben said. Connie put a concerned paw on Ben’s shoulder.

“Were not going to hurt anyone are we?” she asked.

“Don’t worry Con, they’ll be taking prisoners” Ben responded. Jennifer took the ship down and just behind and over the armored truck. It’s been just as long as the truck but was much wider. The group could hear a police helicopter hover over them.

“We have company,” Sonya said. The ship radio sounded.

“Unidentified air craft please identify yourself!” a voice said.

“What are we supposed to do? They’ll never understand us!” Jennifer said.

“What if they see us through the windows? I think the site of 4…” Sonya said as the ship rocking suddenly cut her off.

“What was that?” she said. Benjamin pressed a few buttons and gave his report.

“One of the escaping hijackers has opened fire on us!” he reported.

“Can this ship survive that?” Sonya asked.

“A few, but few enough that we’d better take care of this now!” Benjamin said.

“We are in position!” Jennifer reported.

“Then here we go!” Benjamin said. On one of the wings of the large craft, (whose size was similar to a small passenger plane but wider and a bit shorter) a small turret opened up from a compartment and fired a short particle burst right at one of the armored vehicles rear tires. The tire immediately blew out and the truck started to spin out of control.

“They’re going to crash!” Jennifer said.

“They’ll be fine,” Benjamin said as he pressed yet another button, which shot out a grapple hook from the nose of the plane, which latched onto the vehicles back.

“Reverse engines!” Benjamin said. Jennifer pressed the appropriate controls and the ship slowed down, slowing down the vehicle with it and eventually brining it to a stop. Pressing another button, the ship released the grapple and it continued to hover over the now stopped vehicle as police cars surrounded it.

“They got them!” Jennifer said as the suspects exited out of the car and surrendered to the police. Benjamin got up and kissed Jennifer on the head,

“excellent flying Jen” he said.

“Thanks” she said.

“The cops are all looking at us! They can see us!” Sonya said.

“What should we do?” Connie asked.

“It seems we can’t escape, that shot damaged the stealth system, they’d be able to track us” Benjamin said.

“Then maybe we should land, they have a right to know who stopped those hijackers” Jennifer.

“Agreed, land the plane, they seem to be clearing a spot for us.” Benjamin said.

“This is going to be interesting” Sonya said.

***

“Were arriving at our destination” Timothy said.

“Okay, his house is right down there. I’m not sure how I’m going to talk to him, but I’ll find a way,” Chris said.

“How are we going to change him?” Josh asked.

“I’m not entirely sure. Land in his backyard, there’s enough space. I will wait by his front door and keep him busy. You guys go into his house and find ways to change him, but don’t upset anything.” Chris said.

“How will we get in?” Timothy asked.

“We could try the back door, perhaps use one of the laser tools to cut a hole in it” Josh suggested.

“That would work, but if we can get in that way then after we change him others will be able to, it will look like foul play” Chris said. Josh scratched his chin in thought.

“Your right. We could try the chimney but that would be very messy. Maybe we should wait until you’ve talked to him, maybe you could introduce him to us.” Josh said.

“It would be a different way of doing things. Ask him if we wants to be changed and if we says yes then we take it from there” Timothy said.

“Good idea” Chris said.

“We’ll wait by the back door then,” Timothy said.

“Agreed” Chris, said as Timothy landed the ship in the backyard. Chris got out and walked over to the front to wait for Mark to get home.

***

Sonya, Connie, Jennifer and Benjamin walked out of the ship and stood in front of the police as reporters looked on. All of the humans present looked in befuddlement, trying to figure out how a quartette of raccoons had managed to build a ship like that but also why they were wearing clothes. One of the reporters kneeled down in front of Benjamin.

“So how is it that you managed to build a plane like that and why are you warning clothes?” the reporter asked. Ben realized that the reporter wouldn’t be able to understand him if he talked, so he motioned for a pad and pencil. The reporter seemed to understand his request and fetched a pad and pen for him. When he handed him the pad and pen, Ben turned to the others.

“I guess it is time we went public,” he said as he began to write down the story of the group, making sure not to state exactly where they lived.

***

Chris’s ears perked up as he heard Marks car pull into the driveway. Standing on his hind legs, he got ready for his arrival. He watched as Mark got out of the car and walked towards the front of the house. When Mark saw him, he gasped for a second.

“Hello little guy. You waiting for me?” he asked. Chris nodded his head.

“Well, I’m here. What do you want?” Mark asked. Chris remembered that he couldn’t speak not human language at least so he had to find another way to communicate. Looking at Mark’s face, he chittered and then motioned for him to follow him. Mark did so and Chris ran into the garden.

“This is weird, it’s as if he’s knows me” Mark said to himself. Chris stood in the garden and pointed towards the soil.

“What?” Mark asked. With his paws, Chris wrote his name in the soil.

“Chris? Wait a second. The Chris? But that’s impossible! How can you be an animal?” Mark asked. Chris walked up to him and pawed at his legs.

“Okay, I’ll take you inside, then you can explain this.” Mark said. Chris nodded his head and Mark picked him up and carried him into the house.

***

The last reporter finished reading the information that Benjamin had written down.

“So your telling me that there are more of you and that with the exception of two of you, you all used to be human” A reported asked.

“But what about if they wanted to be human again? Did you force this existence on them?” another reporter asked. Ben shook his head and wrote some more on the paper saying that they could have gone back to being human if they had wanted to, but so far all had chosen to stay.

“Where is it that you live exactly?” another reporter asked. Again Ben wrote down on the pad, this time saying that they wanted that to remain a secret for their privacy and protection. The reporters agreed and asked if they planned on changing anyone else or if anyone who wanted to be changed could. The group pondered and talked amongst themselves and then Ben wrote that they would need time to think about that and would contact them when they had an answer. The reporters agreed, saying that they couldn’t wait for the answers. Ben, Jennifer, Sonya and Connie then got back into the plane and prepared to take off.

“I wonder how the group is going to react to this?” Sonya asked.

“Well, they still don’t know where we live. During our interview I was able to think up a way to get the stealth system working so they won’t be able to track us” Ben said.

“What if a lot of other humans want to become like us?” Jennifer asked.

“We’ll cross that bridge when we come to it” Ben said. All of the humans stood back at a safe distance and the ship took off and speed away into the distance.

***

Chris sat on Marks kitchen table with a laptop computer system in order to communicate. He had since convinced Mark to let the others in and they were in the living room watching TV while Chris was talking to Mark. Mark looked Chris right in the eye.

“So you’re telling me that there are over a dozen of you now? And you live in a home in a forest with running water, TV’s, computers planes and hovercraft. If you were weren’t standing here right now I’d say you were crazy!” Mark said. Chris typed away at the laptop, typing,

“Well we didn’t get all of that right away. A lot of it we got when Benjamin joined us. He used to be a scientist and had developed a lot of this stuff before joining. He even developed the serum”.

“What serum is that?” mark asked. Chris reached into his pocked and pulled out a vial of it and handed it to Mark. Mark examined the vial before putting it down on the table.

“So this is it eh? All I have to do is drink or even touch that liquid,” Mark asked. Chris nodded his head.

“I need time to think about this. The truth is that it couldn’t have come at a better time. I just lost my job today; they laid over a hundred of us off. But I’m not sure if I’m ready to give up humanity. Would you be willing to stay here for a few days so we could catch up more? We haven’t seen eachother in years and that way we could spend time with eachother” Mark said. Chris typed that he would talk it over with the others and to give him a few minutes.

Chris walked into the living room where the others were watching TV. Looking at him intently, Timothy asked

“well?”

“He said that he needs to think about and wanted to know if I could stay with him for a few days” Chris said.

“I suppose that would be okay, but we do need to return home, if someone were to see the ship, it could cause problems” Josh said.

“Don’t worry, I know Mark, I’ll be fine. Come back in a few days and I’ll give you his decision” Chris said.

“Should Riley and Annika stay with you?” Timothy asked.

“I think they’d be happier at home.” Chris answered.

“Can I stay?” Josh asked.

“I’ll ask him, but I’m sure he’ll say it’s okay” Chris answered.

“Let’s ask him,” Josh said. The two of the walked into the kitchen where Mark was waiting and Chris typed the question into the laptop.

“Sure, I don’t see why not” he answered. Josh and Chris then went back into the living room and informed the rest of the group of the decision.

“Okay, we’ll be back in 3 days then” Timothy said.

“We’ll see you then” Josh and Chris said before the rest of them left the house walked into the backyard and boarded the ship. As Josh and Chris went back into the kitchen to talk to Mark, they heard the ship take off and fly away.

“So how is it what you two know each other so well?” Mark asked.

“Well, it’s a long story” Chris said.

“I helped to change Chris” Mark typed.

“Really? I’d like to hear the story, I’d like to hear it for both of you” Mark said.

“It’s a long story, but an interesting one” Chris typed.

“Maybe we should find a more comfortable place to tell the story?” Josh typed.

“Okay, we’ll go sit in the den” Mark said.

***

The ship carrying Jennifer, Ben, Sonya and Connie had docked in the hangar and the 4 of them disembarked to find John and David waiting for them.

“Okay guys, we saw the news report, lets hear it” John said.

“Well John, we were flying over the city and decided to take her down a bit and saw a police chase going on” Jennifer said.

“There had been a robbery, hijackers had stolen a armored bank truck at gunpoint and were on the run and it looked like they were going to get away. We had the option of stopping them so we did” Ben said.

“Did anyone get hurt?” John asked.

“No, they were all fine and have been taken into custody” Jennifer said.

“Why did you let them interview you, why not get out of there once the bad guys have been caught? It worked for Batman!” David said.

“Unfortunately it wasn’t going to work for us. The stealth device was damaged and they could have tracked us” Benjamin said.

“Did you fix it?” John asked.

“Yes, while they interviewed us, we thought of a way to fix it” Jennifer said.

“So they don’t know about our location?” John asked.

“No” Ben responded.

“Good” John said.

“They are expecting a communiqué from us in a few days. They want to know if we plan on changing anyone else or if anyone who wants to be changed can.” Jennifer said.

“We will need to think about how we are going to answer that,” John said.

As they were walking away from the hangar the ship carrying Timothy and the kids landed and became visible. A few minutes later, the hatch opened and the 6 of them exited the plane.

“So how did it go and where are Josh and Chris?” John asked. Riley and Annika immediately saw Jennifer and ran over to her, giving her a hug.

“Josh and Chris have decided to stay at Mark’s house for a few days to spend some time with him and to help him decide if he wants to join us or not” Timothy said.

“Any idea what his response will be?” David asked.

“I think it will be yes, but we’ve given him some time to decide and so he can spend some time with Mark, they haven’t seen eachother in years” Timothy said.

“Okay” John said.

“We also have some other news, common lets go to the meeting room to discuss it” Jennifer said.

***

It was late out and Mark had finished watching TV for the evening so he shut it off.

“So where do you guys want to sleep tonight?” he asked. Chris turned to Josh.

“I’m not used to sleeping alone, I wonder if he’d let me stay with him, you know kind of like cats do. But where would you stay?” Chris asked Josh.

“Well, I can sleep by myself, although it may get lonely, maybe we can both stay with him?” Josh said.

“I’ll ask him.” Chris said.

“What are you guys saying?” Mark asked. Chris typed away at the laptop to ask Mark the question.

“Well, my bed is big enough, so I guess it would be okay. But don’t you think it might be socially acquired?” Mark said. Chris and Josh looked at each other and shrugged their shoulders. Typing away, Chris typed

“NA, that’s a human concern. We don’t worry as much about that kind of stuff anymore and besides it will be plenty warm”. Mark thought about for a few minutes before deciding.

“Okay guys you can stay with me, just don’t wake me up in the middle of the night with howling or something” he said. Chris and Josh giggled and followed Mark as he got up and walked upstairs.

As Mark brushed his teeth, Chris and Josh sat in his large bed.

“So any idea what he’s going to say yet?” Josh asked.

“Not, not yet. But I do think that in the end he will agree to become one of us” Chris responded. Josh looked at Mark’s pillow and an idea cross his mind.

“You know, we could always put the serum on his pillow so he’s changed while he sleeps” he said.

“That might be fun. But I think we should let him decide rather then just changing him” Chris said.

“Okay” Josh said as he lay back and relaxed. Mark had finished brushing his teeth and walked into the room and got into the large bed.

“Good night guys, I’ll see you tomorrow,” he said as he turned off the light and closed his eyes. Chris walked up beside him and above Josh, curled up in a little ball and closed his eyes.

***

The meeting room was a very comfortable room. It had an artificial fireplace and several very comfortable chairs in front of it. Jennifer, John, David, Benjamin, Timothy and Tabitha each sat in a chair discussing the situation.

“What should we do? After Chris’ friend we don’t have plans to change anyone else.” Josh said.

“We could tell them that. But what if others want to be changed?” Jennifer asked. John took a sip from his tea.

“Then we will give them that option. But I feel we should set up another location for others to live. I don’t think we should go revealing our location. At least not yet” John said. Benjamin folded his paws as if in deep thought.

“I think I can make up plans to create other locations. And instructions for building our various tools” Benjamin said.

“Perhaps that would be acceptable. But what about the possible abusive applications of such knowledge” David asked. The group each thought about those questions for several minutes before Timothy spoke up.

“There are always negative applications of any knowledge. The question remains, is humanity civilized enough to use this power for good?”

“A good question. And could the serum be used to create other creatures? What if they found a way to create super soldiers? By giving them this knowledge we could be opening a Pandora’s box we will never be able to close” Tabitha said.

“I think we need to take it slowly, you know start off by telling them we aren’t going to change anyone else and take it from there. If people in this area would like to be changed, we will have to think about it,” Josh said. Everyone nodded his or her heads in agreement.

“Anyway, it’s late and I think it’s time to be calling it a night” John said.

***

The news chopper circles the forest that they believed the group to be located in.

“How do we know there in that particular forest?” The pilot asked.

“It’s one of the few forested areas around here and is the biggest. Their home would probably have to be pretty big to hold all of them. It’s probably well camouflaged so we’ll have to look very closely,” the reporter said.

“Their not going to be too happy about us finding them if we do” the pilot said.

“Well, I think the public has a right to know” the reporter said.

“But what if the military or some extremist faction or something gets this info? What if they decide to hurt them?” the pilot asked. The reporter stopped for a second and considered what they could be causing.

“You’re right, take us away” she said. Suddenly the copter rocked and several alarms sounded.

“What’s going on?” the report asked. The helicopter shook violently.

“Engine failure! We have to make an emergency landing!” The pilot yelled.

“You don’t think they caused this?” the reporter asked.

“No! It seems to be mechanical failure, caused by fatigue or over use.” The pilot yelled.

“Then we have no choice, make an emergency landing in that clearing down there!” The reporter yelled.

“Were losing altitude too fast!” the pilot said. Grabbing the radio he radioed for help.

In the communications center David an alarm beeped and David pressed a button to listen to the transmission.

“This is channel 12 news-copter 3 (static) failure of primary (static) going down… Need immediate (static)” the frantic voice said. Quickly David looked at the radar screen.

“That’s only a few kilometers from here, they must have been looking for us or something,” he said as he quickly stood up, knowing what he had to do.

The helicopter shaking was so violent that both the pilot and reporter had to hold on for dear life. The ground was getting closer and closer.

“We have to slow down somehow, we’ll never survive a landing at this speed!” The reporter yelled.

“I can’t stabilize her! We have to bail. We have 2 low altitude parachutes just behind you!” the pilot said. As the reporter reached for the chutes the copter suddenly stabilized and stopped it’s decent. Both pilot and reporter were a bit shaken, but were okay and quickly recovered. When they looked up they saw the groups plane had latched onto them with a grapple hook. Over the radio they heard a computer voice say,

“Don’t worry, you’ll be fine, we have you”. Slowly, they lowered the helicopter to the ground safely. When they were safely on the ground, both pilot and Reporter got out of the copter and watched as the ship landed in front of them and 3 raccoons got of it.

“You guys saved us, thank you” The report and Pilot said. They both kneeled down and petted the 3 of them.

“Were sorry for trying to find you, we were trying to leave when” the reporter said. David wrote something down on a pad and handed it to the reporter.

“It’s okay we understand your curiosity, we really don’t mean anyone any harm, we just want to exist like this and be happy. We are willing to allow annoying to become like this that wants to. We can even provide a place to live or provide specs to make other places to live. But we will need to be careful about this.” The note said. The reporter could help herself and picked David up and petted him gently. After watching her pet David for several seconds, the pilot turned to the other two and asked them what he meant about being careful. John handed him a pad he had been writing on.

“Like with any discovery there is always the possibility of it being used for evil purposes. If others do want to become like us, then the distribution of the serum used to initiate the change will have to be controlled to make sure it doesn’t fall into the hands of terrorists for example. But we are willing to work with the proper agencies in order to make it happen.” The note said. The pilot shows the reporter the note and she agreed with it.

“What’s the next step?” The reporter asked.

“Maybe we could see your facility or maybe you could make a recording of life in it so we can see what you’ve build for yourselves” the pilot suggested.

“After it’s done, we could work together to translate what you say on it” the reporter said as she gently put David on the ground. The 3 animals discussed the situation among themselves for several minutes before they came to their decision. Again writing down on the pad, David handed them what he had written.

“We accept for proposal, we will deliver the tape to your office tomorrow”. The reporter accepted that and watched as the 3 coons got into their ship, slowly took off and as disappeared over the horizon. Looking at the pilot, she smiled in wonderment.

“Amazing absolutely amazing.” She said.

***

Chris and Josh finished off their supper. Later that evening the rest of the group would be returning and they would have to give them Marks decision. As Mark washed off the dishes, Chris climbed onto the kitchen counter and looked at him.

“Their coming back in a couple of hours and their going to want to know my decision” Mark said. Chris nodded his head.

“Before I wasn’t sure, but after seeing that bit on the news about your friends saving that news chopper and that tour of your home, I can certainly see the appeal of it. Chris smiled in anticipation of his decision.

“And it has been fun being able to spend more time for you, and Josh is a nice guy. Considering that I’ve lost my job and it won’t be long until I have to figure out how I am going to pay my bills, you came at the perfect time.” Mark said. Josh joined Chris on the counter and smiled at Mark.

“So, I have made my decision.” Mark said. Both Chris and Josh started at him, waiting for him to give them the news, good or bad.

“I want to go with you guys and to become one of you.” He said. Chris and Mark jumped for joy and gave each other a high five.

“I’m glad to see you’re happy. So what do we need to do?” Mark asked. Chris motioned for him to stay there and jumped off the counter then ran upstairs and came back down holding the vial of the serum.

“So I just drink it?” Mark asked. Chris shook his head and reached over and got a glass out of the cabinet and filled it with water. As he was about to pour the serum into it, Mark stopped him.

“Okay, so all I have to do is to drink the water with the serum in it? I have a question can you make it so it makes me a young raccoon, like a kid instead of an adult?” he asked. Chris turned to Josh and they discussed before Chris turned to Mark smiled and nodded his head.

“Cool! Do that then!” Mark said in excitement. Chris smiled and nodded before uncorking the serum and pouring almost it’s entire contents into the drink, first allowing it to mix properly before handing to it Mark.

“Thanks. Um should I strip for this?” he asked. Chris nodded his head.

“Okay, lets do this in the living room. I want to get it on tape.” Mark said.

Josh and Chris sat on the couch and with his video camera set up and recording, Mark then placed the glass of water on a table and spoke into the camera.

“To my friends and family. As you’ve probably heard on the news, there are some raccoons that used to be humans out there. They have a serum that can turn a person into a raccoon. As it turns out one of them is a friend of my from College.” He said as he motioned for Chris to walk in front of the camera. Chris did so and happily waved. Mark continued.

“He’s spent the last few days here with his friend Josh and they’ve been great. This is why I’ve decided to join them. Don’t worry I’ll be fine. I’m recording this so you can see my change and see how I looked as one of them.” He then motioned for Chris to hand him the glass. He took it and drank the entire contents down in one large gulp. Quickly removing his clothes, he looked towards the camera.

“It should begin any second now,” he said.

And begin it did. Mark’s chest started to feel itchy. Looking down, he saw a patch of gray fur had sprouted in the center of it. Petting the fur, he could feel it spreading under his hands. It had quickly spread across much of his chest. As he petted it in fascination and amazement of how soft it was, it began to spread down his arms and legs and he started to shrink. The fur that had grown and was continuing to grow on his chest was quickly becoming a pelt, as was the fur that was growing down his arms and legs. The fur started to grow up his neck and onto his face and started to reshape it. His mouth began to length, forming into a muzzle with his nose reforming itself into a small cold black nose at the base of it. When he reached up to feel it, he saw that his hands were all ready well into the process of reforming. Black fur was growing on them, and his thumbs was reshaped and altered their positions as to line up with the rest of his fingers and short but sharp claws has grown at tips of each finger. His feet were undergoing similar changes as black fur covered them and claws grew from his toes. As he began to shrink faster and felt his ears changing position, he felt a tingling at the base of his spine. He could hear Chris and Josh cheering as he sprouted a long furry tail with several gray rings on it. Holding the tail with his new paws, he realized how much stronger his of sense of touch was. He sniffed the air and could smell things he had never been able to smell before which made him realize how much stronger his sense of smell had become. He felt his center of gravity readjusting itself such that four-footed movement was normal, but 2 footed was also comfortable. Instinctively he leaned forward onto all fours, as he seemed to finish shrinking. Standing on the floor, where Mark the human had been standing, a young gray raccoon now stood.

Instinctively he called out for Chris and Josh. They ran over to his size, which allowed him to see how much smaller he, was then they were. Grabbing at Chris, he chittered. Chris smiled and chittered back at him. Mark was happy when he realized he could now understand him. Nuzzling up to the reddish brown raccoon, he said

“thank you”.

***

The airship dubbed the ‘Coonwing’ by Riley and Annika landed in Mark’s backyard and Timothy, Riley and Annika disembarked. They walked up to the back door and saw Chris, Josh and a young looking gray raccoon standing in front of Chris. While Annika and Riley ran up to Chris and hugged him, Mark walked over to Timothy and introduced himself.

“Hi, I’m Mark” he said.

“Hello Mark, how come you’re so young?” he asked.

“I wanted to be young like this so asked Chris and Josh to make me so” he said. Hearing the conversation, while Riley and Annika each holding one of his paws, he walked over to Timothy.

“He wanted to be a kit”, he said.

“No problem with that” Timothy said.

“Who’s going to take care him?” he asked. Mark immediately ran over to Chris and held into him. Josh giggled.

“Looks like he’s volunteering you bro” he said.

“I guess so,” Chris said. Riley examined Mark for a few seconds before hugging him and saying

“cool a brother to play with!”

“Well, Mark its time we got you to your new home. Is everyone ready?” Timothy asked. Everyone said yes and Mark climbed onto Chris back as he walked on all fours with every towards the coon wing.

Later that night in the meeting room, Chris sat talking with John.

“Not only is your friend Mark embarking on a new adventure on life, but the events of the past few days have been the beginning of a new adventure for our group. Now that the public is aware of us and our abilities, this are very likely going to change forever,” John said the light from the fire illuminating his face.

“I think it will be exciting for everyone. Our family may very well be increasing in size, and the birth of a whole bunch of new families could very well be about to occur” Chris said.

“We’ll just have to wait and see what the future holds,” John said. Chris got up and walked toward the window at look out at the night sky and forest.

“Whatever it holds, I know that all of this will be worth it.” Chris said.