Koradonda Chapter 2: City Hall: Part 1
Different government agencies try to figure out how a to deal with a nonhuman
A bailiff led Jones, Sara and their guards through the door prisoners went through, then turned to him. “What in the hell am I going to do with you? Can’t put you on the women’s floor; having your cat turn into a woman on the men’s would cause a riot.”
Sara made a small growl of protest.
“She does not like being called a cat. She is a cougar, puma or mountain lion, not a cat. I suggest you find a room that is secure from intrusion. There will undoubtedly be a dozen federal agencies claiming jurisdiction and fighting to see us.”
“You got that right, bub.”
Jones turned to the approaching two men. “And you are?”
“Vetter, FBI.”
“And I’m John Fred, Homeland Security. We got here first and for the moment, we’ve decided to share.”
It pleased Mr. Jones that he got his response so fast. Something pleased him almost as much: the bailiff apologized to Sara while the men were introducing themselves.
Vetter turned to the bailiff. “You, get the building superintendent on the phone. Tell him I want a room I can secure cleared out five minutes ago. I don’t care how high up the ladder he has to go.”
The bailiff never even hung up the phone. “When doing remodeling for the city planner’s office, one of the assistant planners ended up with one of the larger fifth-floor security filing rooms as an office. He’s now back in the city planner’s office across the hall. Except for his own files, they have not yet taken any of the furniture out. Superintendent says I’m to lead you there personally, but only after you sign a change of custody.”
While Vetter was filling out the form, Mr. Jones asked, “Would it be possible for you to have a young policewoman meet us there? Her name is Patrolman Ann Donaldson. She spent a lot of time taking care of Sara for me.”
Mr. Fred pulled out his phone and said, “Please have Patrolman Donaldson meet us upstairs,” as Vetter handed the bailiff the signed forms.
Patrolman Ann Donaldson hadn’t arrived when they got there, but the superintendent himself was there with the key. Fred and Vetter both reached to take the keys. It looked like an argument would ensue until Fred conceded them to Vetter. The office was set up so that fair-sized conferences could be held right there with space to spare.
Just as Mr. Jones took the chair at the head of the table and Sara laid down at his feet, Ann walked in.
“Sara, sleep.”
She was out instantly.
“Patrolman Ann Donaldson, you have my thanks for having looked after Sara. Her not getting hurt was the only thing I could not ensure happening. I hope that I am not still the monster you saw me as. Sara is asleep and will not react to anything you might say.”
“What in the hell are you, and more, what the hell is she? Could she have turned into a cougar while I was sitting in the room with her?”
“What I am is Koradonda, People of the Beast, in your language.”
He was quiet for a brief moment then, “Explaining what Sara is, is more complicated. It is my power that allows her to have her human form. Without that power, she takes the shape of a cougar. She is no more a real cougar than she is a real human. It isn’t even possible for her to become a real human, but under some circumstances, she could end up as a real cougar. However, she would be without the training cubs get and some instincts. Such cases, unless they are herd animals, usually die quickly in the wild.”
Looking down at the sleeping cougar, “With few exceptions, as long as she is in a certain range, I can keep her form human. Distance and the stress she is under require more power. If you had not stopped her and she had killed that man, when the officers then tried to subdue her, I may have been too far away to prevent her from changing back into a cougar. With bare claws in such a confined space, many would have died before you killed her.”
Looking up at Ann, “Patrolman Donaldson, your fear of Sara is one reason I put her to sleep. She would not understand. She is the same girl that you spent all of that time taking care of, watching out for, and from her view, having fun with. All that has changed is your perception of her. All she would understand is that you liked her, and she liked you, and now she is not good enough for you to like.”
Shifting his gaze, “It is only fair all of you hear the story of how Sara came to be what she now is. Sara shall remain asleep, since she does not want to know this story or she would not have chosen to forget it. Also, I do not wish anyone here to have to guard their reactions. Mr. Vetter, without a doubt, as I tell the story of Sara, other officials from various departments shall arrive. Would you instruct the men you have guarding the door to tell them to be quiet when they enter? They can get the complete story from the recording devices that you and Mr. Fred are wearing.”
Mr. Fred looked sheepish at trying to record Mr. Jones without him knowing.
Mr. Vetter simply went to the door and instructed the men.
“So you have my frame of mind when I came upon Sara, I shall start some time before that event. I am Koradonda, not human, and my emotions are not human ones. But I will use the closest human approximation to them. Please bear in mind that sometimes the words I am using, is not all that close to what I felt.
“When my last pet died, I swore I would never again make a Pet. I had never been able to install the fear of men that instinct should have provided her. With her reasoning ability and that instinct, she would no doubt still live.”
He paused quietly for a time. “I do not know exactly how she died, but I felt it when she did. I went into town that evening to find the circumstances of her death. When I saw her, most of her still on the butcher’s block, I lost all interest in finding out who had been hunting and where.”
Patrolman Ann Donaldson interrupted, “A cougar? On a butcher’s block?”
“I am unused to being interrupted. In times of hunger, even cougars can end up on a butcher’s block.”
He adjusted his voice and manner. “But the fault is mine for being unclear. Athena was a deer and had outlived many other Pets. Gabriella, a cougar, had only died two months before when she fell backwards into a bear trap, which killed her instantly. Gabriella had been with me less than a year. I took a patch of her fur from over her heart to remember her and her lost potential. This I carried with me.”
Vetter did not exactly interrupt, but let it be known he wished to say something.
“What is it Mr. Vetter?”
“If it will help to know, the FBI will offer their services in determining exactly what happened.”
Jones gave them a smile. “The FBI has very formidable investigative abilities. But even they would have trouble interviewing people that lived two hundred years ago in the Catskill Mountains. Now, may I get on with Sara’s story without any more interruptions?”
His claim of being over two hundred years old silenced the room, which had already added two more people.
“As I walked away from the man cutting up Athena, I swore I would never have a Pet or speak to any of the animals. Never again would I seek any of my people for social interaction. Thus, I came to wander the cities of man, instead of the forest yet again.
“It came about that I was in Nashville, getting yet another useless degree. Between one class and the next, I knew I needed to be in the park. At the time, I believed that my nature was finally taking a hand to bring me back to the land. It is still a possibility that it was, and is, using my weakness against me. At the park was a young woman lying in the clover, her nose only inches away from a bumblebee busily gathering pollen. So closely did death cling to her, she would be dead in hours. Yet she filled her heart with wonder and joy at watching the bee.
“Long had it been since I had sensed a human that felt that kind of pure joy in nature. When the bee flew off, she searched for something to take its place. I realized she knew she was dying, and she intended to fill herself with as much joy of nature as she could before she died. Several times I have lived among your kind, but never have I seen someone take as much joy from moment to moment as that dying girl. I wished to see this young woman filled completely with joy until she passed.
“Breaking the first of my vows, calling a robin down, I walked up to her with it on my hand. It fascinated her seeing, then touching the robin. Though I doubted that she would grow bored before she died, I used my gift again and a couple of squirrels tugging on her socks distracted her.
“Squirrels love to play games if you can understand their games. I told them she was safe to play with as long as they were nice and did not bite. We must have ended up with every squirrel in the park there playing with her, though I had only called two.
“With her time nearing its end, she stood and faced where I was watching and asked if I were an angel come so her dying would be a happy one. Calling to the birds, I told them to find the nearest Koradonda, and tell them that there was one here that would be a good Pet, breaking my second vow not to have concourse with my people.
“As I awaited an answer, I told her I was just a friend of the animals and saw that she liked them almost as much as me, so I decided to introduce them to her. At the time, I didn’t say more.
“No answer came. Some of that joy forever left this world as a stab of dying pain went through the girl. I did not want to see that joy in nature forever disappear. But there was no other option. I would break my third vow.
“I sent the animals away to ensure I had her complete attention. I told her, at the moment of her death, if she wanted it badly enough, I could bring her back as an animal, but only if she wanted it very, very badly. She believed me instantly and was overjoyed at the thought of being an animal. I could sense she truly wanted that.
“I tried to dissuade her by telling her unpleasant things about it. I told her that until she died, she would be as completely dependent on me as a baby on her mother; she would be a slave to me, little more than a pet, worse than any slave she had read about. Once done, there would be no way she could ever be free again. I made her understand she would not even be a real person anymore.
“Still, she wanted it.” Jones paused.
“Finally, I told her when she died, there would be a piece of fur on her breast. After she had died, grab the fur and refuse to let go.”
His eyes bore into them as he continued. “Her time was getting very short. It takes a ‘magically’ prepared piece of fur to perform the rite. There were two things in my favor; the fur of a Pet is already partially prepared, and I can enchant a piece of fur faster than any other of my race. As it was, two breaths after I tore her blouse open and placed Gabriella on her, she died. After the time it takes to take five breaths, Sara’s human body disappeared, and a cougar’s body lay there tangled in the clothes.” He looked down at the sleeping cougar, then back at them.
“Because of the nature of Pets, they can choose to forget things. Sara did not want to remember any of her pain. She is an extraordinarily smart Pet. She realized that with all the memories gone that would have to go for her not to remember the pain, what it left would greatly confuse her. Fortunately, before she went to sleep, she told me she would forget everything from before becoming my Pet.
“I told her not to forget English. I do not need a language to talk to her, but I planned on her eventually being able to interact with people. We left the park and lived in the Appalachian Mountains ever since. This is why she doesn’t remember anything from more than three years ago.”
“That, people, is the story of how Sara came to be.”
A dozen people now filled the room. Most tried to talk at once.
“Patrolman Ann Donaldson, I was wondering if I could impose on you further. Diplomacy can be a long and involved process. Sara needs someone to keep her out of trouble. She is not fond of cages. When I started this, I had assumed that I would have to keep Sara caged up often. Not in my wildest imagination did I expect to find someone that Sara would mind properly.”
“I am not sure that I can do that.”
“Think on it for a few days. I can keep Sara asleep for several days with no harm. If you will take care of her, I wish her to start that way. But if she will be caged from time to time, I wish to start that way. Keep this in mind. She will only dislike it during the time it takes to get certain of the negotiations done. A week after it is over, she will decide to forget ever being caged. She has the choice to forget most awful things. One thing that makes her such a joy to be around is she has no memories of any terrible experiences. To her, life is, and always has been, wonderful. There will be no lasting harm to her if you don’t want to watch her.”
Several of the officials started to speak, but Mr. Jones raised his hand and silenced them. “It must be your decision, and yours alone. One or more of these men present can fix it so you are on detached duty as long as you wish to remain with us.” He looked around the room, “None of them however will themselves, or have someone contact you to get you to decide one way or another.”
Her eyes shifted to the men seated there, and it was all men, she noted, then back to him. “How can you say what they will or won’t do?”
“Because I have something they desperately want.”
“What?”
The first genuine laughter from him came out, a harsh and alien sounding thing, painful to the ears. “They don’t know. They only know they want it, and I have it.”
Several people in the room laughed, knowing it for the literal truth.
“Gentlemen, while it is still morning, I have been exhausted by the past twelve hours. If someone would be good enough to arrange for a bed and two large meals to be brought in, you can go compare notes, fill out reports, then get your orders that we will all disregard in the first thirty seconds of tomorrow’s meetings.”
A comment from the middle of the room, “The guy knows bureaucracies.”
At Five AM, one of the eleven officials in the hall opened his door.
Jones held the door, so only a gap appeared. “Come back in two hours with my breakfast.” He pushed the door closed.
When two hours passed, they opened his door again.
Jones stood on the other side. Lifting the lid, he pronounced it unacceptable, told them to get something better, then shut the door in their faces.
This second time affronted several officials. Most were higher ranking than those that had come the day before. Two, off in a corner, snickered.
One man bellowed at them, “Who the blazes are you?”
“Harrison and Fords, State Department.”
“And just what do you think is so funny?”
“Basic diplomacy, you’ll get nothing from him until he is getting the respect he feels he is due.”
“I do not take being pushed around in my own damn state. I’m going in there and tell him he better straighten up if he wants any cooperation from the United States.”
“Before you do that, Senator, consider that he is making a point. In there, we are to act as if he were in charge of that room, more or less an embassy. Second, you did read about his strength. What do you think the United States will do if he picks you up and tosses you out on your ass?”
“We’d lock him and his cat in a real cell and see if we get better cooperation.”
“If he tossed you out, the United States would almost certainly make a full and formal apology to him for your actions. While getting impeached is unlikely, you can kiss any chance of a re-election goodbye.”
“Or you could give him to us.” A man in an army colonel’s uniform said.
“Can’t, or we would have already put him in your custody,” Harrison said. “There are more of his kind out there. We have no idea how they would react to that. His kind has unknown abilities, and an unknown number. We can’t insult or imprison him until we have more facts. Right now, it’s straight diplomacy. Until we lay the basics, we can’t even start politics or an interrogation. If I may be blunt without being insulting.”
“I’m listening,” said the senator.
“You can’t get in on the ground floor if you’re standing where we want to lay the foundation.”
“Ha, butt out and let the experts handle it. Fine, so long as you send me a full report.” With that, he and two others walked away.
Ford, who had stayed quiet, said so only Harrison could hear it, “He’s an ass.”
“Actually, he is a rather bright and cunning person. It’s a case where the type of diplomacy he learned getting to, and holding, the senate seat, is not the type called for. Rest assured, there will come a stage where the way we work is not what’s called for. Then the State Department will replace us, possibly even with that senator that just left. Part of the job at this stage is to see that no one does something we have to apologize for. The real bargaining won’t come for some time. We make sure that when it is time for the bargaining, we have the best position.”
After a pause, Harrison went on, “Sounds a whole lot different standing here than it did in the classroom, doesn’t it?”