It was January and Kate’s time at the base was quickly coming to an end. Ben wanted to take Kate snowboarding so he scheduled every Saturday for snowboarding lessons at Eaglecrest Ski Area and then they were going to take her to Peak 7601 so she could see what kinds of mountains they liked to board on. The Saturday before they went snowboarding Ben took Kate to Gravity Plan Snowboarding in Juneau and got her a snowsuit, helmet, wrist braces, boots and a sweet board. Kate found some gloves that looked like they belonged to Mickey Mouse. She loved them so much she bought a pair for herself.
Monday was the fifth week of Kate’s study of the effects of D-14. Ben was no longer taking D-14 so Kate was the only one testing. The others were testing each other as they saw their own personal improvements and began to feel better. Kate talked Zeb and Gad into making a device that they could hold that would give them the level of D-14 they had in their body and the strength of the X-antigen in their blood. Ben was still testing Kate for improvements, her speed improved by five percent, strength four percent, sight slight change, hearing no change, body fat down five percent, and scent detection no change. Then Naph injected Kate with a small amount of D-14 and took a sample of her blood she now had a weak X-antigen developing in her blood.
Saturday they were on their way to Eaglecrest. Casually, Kate turned on the radio to listen to some tunes. Everyone in the back started singing. They yelled at the top of their voices Blah, Blah, la, la, and once in a while they would say a word that was actually in the song. They bounced their heads to the music.
Ben looked painfully over at Kate. “Can I please turn off the radio?” he ask as though the music was torture to him.
Watching the guys in the back seat, Kate was enjoying their antics. She was laughing so hard it took her a minute to reply. “Really, why do you want to turn it off? I’m having such a good time watching everyone.”
“The music really hurts our ears. They are just doing that because they think you’ll get annoyed and turn it off,” Ben explained as he winced. Clearly he was not enjoying it. She turned the radio down and everyone in the back seat became quiet.
“Kate are you trying to make us deaf?” Ash asked sticking his finger into his ear and shaking it like he had an itch.
“I didn’t know,” she defended herself, “Is it okay now?”
“Yes,” Ben said. But now Kate couldn’t hear it so she just turned it off.
“That explains why you watch the TV so low I can hardly hear it and when I complain about it you put the subtitles on.”
“You got it Kate,” Simeon said.
“Well I need something to help me relax. I am really scared of these icy roads. Isn’t it dangerous to drive on roads like this?”
“They are slippery but we have four wheel drive and I’ve been driving in this for over ten years now.” Ben reached over to pat Kate on the shoulder to reassure her that the roads were safe.
“Don’t touch me while you’re driving. Keep both hands on the wheel,” She said holding onto her seat.
“If you think they are bad now just wait until we get on the mountain were still on the highway,” Ben laughed, but did as she asked him to. It was starting to snow just little flakes and then they got bigger to the point that the wipers were having a hard time keeping the snow off the wind shield. “It’s not going to last long Kate, so you can stop bracing yourself against the dash board. Do you see the sun light just ahead,” Ben said looking at her and smiling almost to the point of laughter. He had turned his head away from her so she couldn’t see him laughing.
“You should have brought one of your sleeping pins you could have pricked yourself and slept the whole way,” Izzy suggested.
“Remind of that next time.” Kate said through gritted teeth.
“Next time we’re taking the cricket because we’re going to board the big mountains,” Ben said smiling brightly in anticipation of it. “You’ve done a lot of things that were scarier than this and you had no problem.”
“I guess I’m just nervous,” she said quickly.
“You’re going to be with me. I’ll help you and watch out for you. You don’t need to be scared.” Sighing, she reached over and touched his neck. She calmly ran her fingers down his arm to his hand. He took one hand off of the steering wheel and held it. Gently, he lifted her hand to his face and kissed her palm. Kate smiled reluctantly and took her hand away. Smiling he put both hands on the steering wheel again.
“I have nothing to worry about with you I’m safe,” she spoke like she was saying a mantra whispering it several times softly. Without thinking, she moved her hand back to his neck and rubbed it.
“Ah, that feels good,” he said relaxing under her touch and closing his eyes for a second.
“Kate, ugh don’t do that to him while he’s driving,” Gad chided her.
“I’m just rubbing his neck,” she argued.
“He’ll lose his concentration. What happens when you pet a cat?”
“It purrs. Ah, I see your point.” Jerking her hand away, she put her hands in her lap. Ben reached over and took her hand again.
“We have a lot to learn about each other don’t we,” he said as he squeezed her hand.
“Yes.” She smiled and tried to relax by reading the operation manual for the jeep.
*.*.*
At the ski lodge there were lots of snowboarders and skiers. Carefully, Kate put everything on as Ben instructed her on why and how she was to wear her gear. Then he checked her after she was done to make sure she had everything on properly and that her boots were laced tight. Then he led her to a semi flat hill near the lodge.
“You’re going to love this sport,” he said smiling at her and then he kissed her on the lips as if to breathe some confidence into her by kissing her. Showing Kate what to do, he laid his board on the ground. She followed his lead. Kneeling at her feet he said, “Put your right boot into the binding.” Kate slid it into place and Ben clamped down the straps around her boot. “Leave your other boot out for now. The first thing you need to learn is how to slide. We can’t get on the chair lift until you’ve got it down good enough to get on.”
Overhead the others screamed out Kate’s name. They both turned and waved to them as they went up the mountain on the chairlifts.
“Push off with your free leg and slide forward. Then put your foot on that square. It keeps your foot from slipping out. Leave a little of your heel off the board so you can stop faster until you get used to it.” Ben said as quickly demonstrated. Awkwardly, she followed him and fell knocking a little girl and her mother over.
“Sorry,” Kate said as she attempted to help the little girl up.
“It’s okay the same thing happened to me when I first started,” the little girl said as she grabbed a hold of her mother’s hand. Ben scooted back to Kate smiling. She let out a big breath of air. “He’s going to tease me,” she whispered as she slowly stood again and started scooting. When Kate reached him, he took both of her hands in his and faced her.
“I guess I better keep you where I can see you all the time. If you’re going to crash into someone I’d like it to be me,” he chuckled. They practiced scooting until Ben felt she had it down good enough that they could ride the chair lift. They got in line and managed to get on the lift without any problems. As they neared the top of the lift Kate started to get nervous.
“How am I going to get off of this thing without falling and making a fool of myself,” Kate mumbled. Ben stuck out his fist and pointed his thumb down. The chair lift attendant nodded his head and slowed down the chair lift so Kate could get off. She tried to slide off gracefully but ended up tumbling off the ramp and into the snow. Afraid that she would be in the way of the people behind them, Kate crawled and rolled away from the chair lift as quickly as possible. Ben howled with laughter as he watched her. Kate sat at the top of the hill looking balefully up at Ben. “This is where it gets fun Kate.” He helped her strap in her boot and checked the other to make sure it was tight. Then he did his binding up on his boot. He flopped around on his board like a duck with big webbed feet. “Show off Kate,” muttered. “What do you call that move?”
“Buttering,” he said and dug his edge in to help her stand. “I already showed you how to fall so you won’t get hurt. Now slide forward. Keep in mind that the way you turn your body is the way the board will go. Keep your knees bent and try to stay on your toes.” He slid down the hill about ten feet. “See if you can make it to me.” Kate fell before she reached him. “I can’t get back up,” she called.
“Turn around and lay on your stomach. Dig in your board and push up with your hands,” Ben instructed. It took Kate a couple of tries to get flipped around onto her stomach. It was hard with both of her feet attached to the board. She bent her knees and lifted the board into the air and then dropped it hard into the snow digging in her board so it wouldn’t slide as she push herself up to a standing position. She pushed off of the ground and bent her knees and she started to slide still in a crouched position. The snow crunched as she slid down the hill towards Ben. The closer she got the more panicked she became and tried to stop by placing both hands into the snow and dragging them. It helped a little but she ran into Ben anyway. He laughed and kissed her snow covered face. “It’s fun! Isn’t it?”
“It would be funnier if I could get up by myself and I didn’t keep falling.”
“Well, at least I get to roll around with you in the snow.” He helped her to stand again and stood in front of her holding her hands. “Keep your shoulders in line with the board. Move your head to see don’t use the rest of your body. Keep your knees bent. Keep your balance by putting your weight on your heels or your toes if you’re going backwards,” Ben demonstrated as he explained. Kate turned the tip of her board towards the bottom of the hill. “I wouldn’t go that way down the hill just yet. You better take it nice and easy the first time. If you start going too fast, just fall down. By sliding sideways with both feet going down together you will go slower and you’ll have better control.”
With a small tug he got Kate moving. Ben went down backwards in front of her cutting back and forth as she slowly descended the hill. “Can I do what you’re doing?” she asked and then fell again.
“Sure,” he yelled. “As soon as you get control of your balance and learn to turn. Now get up and go again.” This time as Kate got herself turned around on her stomach and pushed herself up with no problem. She thought about how she could get turned around so she would be facing downhill instead of going backwards. She stood up and put her weight on her left leg. Slowly the board began to turn to the left until she was headed straight for Ben. She quickly turned her body to the left and balanced herself in the center of the board as she started going down the hill with both feet facing forward. Ben was impressed. “You just did your first turn. Good job,” he yelled. Kate fell several more time. One time she caught an edge and fell flat on her back. She laid there in the snow as her head pounded. “I’m glad I’m wearing a helmet,” she moaned and rolled over and pushed herself up into a standing position again. Ben was waiting for her near the chair lifts. Kate came toward him unable to stop. “Lean back on your heals and dig in to stop,” he said bracing himself as she barreled towards him. “I’m trying she yelled as she crashed into him, knocked him into the snow. Holding her in his strong arms he laughed. “How was that for a stop?” she laughed.
“You can stop like that anytime. You really are doing well. You’re learning faster than I thought.” He assured her.
“What is my reward for making it all the way to the bottom?” She looked at him expectantly.
“How about a kiss?” Without waiting for an answer he kissed her an embarrassingly long time. Kate had to take several deep breaths to clear her head before she could stand. He unclamped her left boot and they scooted to the chair lift. This time Kate was first and Ben followed behind her. At the top of the hill, he showed her how to go down backwards like him. They went down several times. Kate practiced a different move each time and fell more times than she could count. Ben loved it when she crash into him, anything to have Kate in his arms.
After several runs, Ben felt she had practiced enough to try going down tip first. At the top of the hill she stood looking down the front of her board pointing the direction she wanted to go. “Whoo who!” she cried out as she sped down the hill. Ben kept up with her easily. Exhilarated by the speed she could achieve at least in a small measure on the bunny hill Kate was eager to go again.
“Ben you’re right! I’m loving this!” she said out of breath after she crashed into him at the bottom again.
“Now all you need to do is starting working on your steering and we can go up the other chair lift,” Ben explained.
She fell several times trying to avoid other skiers and snow boarders. At the bottom of the hill she still had to fall to stop.
Kate rested while Ben went down the hill a couple of time without her. She watched how graceful and controlled he was. Each time he stopped next to her by turning his board sideways and digging in his edge. “You look really handsome on your snowboard. I hope no blondes show up and try to take you away from me,” she growled and grabbed a hold of the collar of his jacket and pulled him down to her for a kiss.
Naph cleared his throat and Tia smiled at them. “Don’t stop just because we’re here,” she teased. “I was wondering if you wanted to take a break and have a hot drink and some fries with me. The fries here are really good. Naph wants to board the West Bowl and he wants Ben to go with him.” Tia offered. Ben looked at Kate.
“Sure, I need a break too,” Kate said still holding onto Ben as he turned to leave. “Wait a minute. I was just about to get something before I was interrupted.” Willingly, Ben smiled and kissed Kate quickly.
“Thank you,” he whispered into Kate’s ear. He kissed her once more before he scooted off with Naph to the main chair lift. Then he yelled over his shoulder. “Don’t go up again until I get back.”
Kate and Tia stood by the ski rack as Kate tried to unclamped her boot. Clumsily, Kate started to slip. She grabbed hold of the rack causing the board to slide quickly out from under her. Smack, she fell hard on her face as she hit the stand with the bridge of her nose. From the impact, her head flipped backwards and she landed on her back. Blood ran from both of her nostrils and a cut on her nose. A young handsome ski patrol officer saw the whole accident and came running out of the lodge to help Tia take care of Kate. Swiftly, he had her boot unclamped and they both helped Kate into the first aid office inside the lodge.
When Ben and Naph returned Kate, Tia and Seth the patrol officer were still in the first aid room. Seth was just finishing taping up Kate’s nose when Ben and Naph walked by. Tia ran out of the room to catch them, leaving Kate alone with Seth. Immediately, Ben was fuming at Tia for leaving her and growled loudly at her. Protectively, Naph growled back at him. Kate could hear them in the hallway.
“That’s my boyfriend Ben,” Kate said. When Seth turned to see who was growling. “Seth would you ask him come in here, please. He gets upset when I get hurt,” Kate explained. Seth went out into the hallway. “Ben, your girlfriend wants you,” Seth said.
As Ben hurried to see Kate, he purposely bumped Seth’s shoulder as he walked by. When he saw Kate lying on the cot with ice and bandages on her face, he was very upset. Even her coat had blood all over it.
“I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have left you.”
“I heard you outside what did you do?” She asked in a nasal voice.
Embarrassed, he didn’t want to answer. Instead, he just looked down at that floor. “What did you do?” she asked again.
“I growled at Tia,” he quietly said knowing Kate would be upset with him for it. “I lost control when I found out you were in here alone with that male.”
“Seth is a medical student and you should be grateful he took care of me. Did you do anything to him?” she asked trying to sit up.
Frowning, he pursued his lips. “I bumped into him.”
“What am I going to do with you?” she sighed, “I suppose you would have beaten him up if you would have seen him carry me in here?”
“I’m doing the best I can Kate. It’s hard for me to control these urges when other males are involved. I should have stayed with you.”
“You wouldn’t have had any fun then.”
“I’m always happy when I’m with you.”
“I think you need to apologize to Seth and Tia. Naph will no doubt understand and then will you take me home?”
“Sure, can I carrying you?” Ben asked. It made him happy that she called the base home.
“Yes, if you want too,” she sighed. Gently, he scooped Kate into his arms. Then he carried her down the hallway to Naph and Tia’s table. They were sitting drinking hot coco and talking to Seth.
“I’m sorry for running into you in the hallway. When it comes to Kate I go crazy when ever anything happens to her,” he said sincerely to Seth.
“She’s a great girl. I would be jealous too if she was mine,” Seth said and Ben’s chest started to rumble.
Kate put her hand on his face. “Be nice,” she breathed barely moving her lips.
“Tia I’m sorry I snapped at you.” Then he turned to her husband. “Naph you know me I didn’t mean anything by it. I lost control,” he said repentantly. “I’m taking Kate home do you want to go too?”
“Yes,” Tia said, “I miss Toby.”
Ben carried Kate to the jeep. Naph opened the passenger side door for Ben and he placed Kate carefully into the seat. Naph lowered the back of Kate’s seat as far as it could go so she could rest all the way home. Then Ben went back to get their boards. Naph and Tia sat in the back seat next to each other after they loaded their boards in the back.
“I’ll look at your nose when we get back to base,” Naph said to Kate and kissed Tia on the forehead.
Ben called on the intercom. “Does anyone want to go home?” he asked, “Kate got hurt and I’m taking her back to base. Okay, then I’ll see you all later tonight.”
When they got back to base Naph ran a scan on Kate’s nose.
“There is nothing I can do except straighten it and fix the cut.” Skillfully, he glued it back together and placed a clear gel like tape on it.
At dinner everyone made fun of Kate. Both of her eyes were bruised as well as her nose. They called her beak for the rest of the week because her nose was so swollen.
The next weekend Kate’s nose was almost back to normal. However she didn’t want to go boarding and chance hurting it again. Instead Kate talked Tia into go shopping, insisting that Ben and Naph go with the others. What she really wanted was time alone to talk to Tia. There were some serious questions she wanted answers to and Tia was the only one she felt comfortable asking. They went to the Nugget Mall and sat in the food court eating lunch.
“Tia what’s it like being married to a Rage?” Kate asked out of the blue.
“Now I know why you wanted to go shopping with me instead of Ben. You wanted to have a girl talk,” Tia smiled.
“I have questions only you can answer and I don’t really fill comfortable talking to Naph about them. I don’t think Ben would know the answers to all of my questions so I wanted a chance to talk to you before I left. Ben as hinted that he wants to bond with me,” Kate said sipping on a drink.
“He won’t bond with you in less he’s married to you first. It is too risky for them to bond with a female if they are not legally tied together first. You know the bonding cannot be reversed once you have sex. He will feel everything you feel. He may not understand what it means at first put they learn very quickly. Naph pestered me the first few months we were married. For instance I was mad at Melo about something and he couldn’t tell who I was mad at only that I was mad. Anything the mind registers they will feel. They know if they have satisfied you sexually or not. You can’t fake it with them except the first time. They learn what you feel when you’re stressed, upset, tired, sick, mad, and self conscious. They share these feeling with you.”
“I understand it’s a mental thing.”
“The nice thing is they don’t growl anymore unless it’s necessary. You will be able to hug, talk to, and even be alone other males without them getting upset.”
“That’s defiantly nice. Are they the same as human males anatomically speaking?”
“They are the same,” she laughed, “No different than Toby.”
“Is the purring thing as powerful as it is now?” Kate asked looking at Tia. “Why are you laughing?”
“You’ll find out if you marry Ben otherwise I’m not telling you.”
“How did Naph change after he bonded with you?”
“He was calmer because the animal is at peace. That is what they call the other part of them that is the animal, it is what causes the uncontrollable growling and the urge to fight for their females. Once the bonding takes place they are fine. He still wants to please me so he still does pretty much whatever I ask him to do. All Rages are like that with their females. Don’t get me wrong, they will tell you ‘no’ if they think its best and they are very protective.”
“How do you feel about Toby having the same eyes as his father?”
“I’m not worried about it at all. We’ll home school him until he is in junior high and then he can wear contacts.” She paused for a moment. “If Ben asked you to marry him would you say yes?”
“I don’t know. I’ve thought about it, but my Dad would be the deciding factor. You see I am his only daughter and my mother died when I was twelve. He is very protective of me and I am sure he would consider Ben dangerous if not to me, to his grandchildren. He considers his grandchildren to be the most precious things in the world and he tells them that all the time. I’m not sure what he would think if they were half alien.”
“I’m positive that Ben will ask you to marry him if he has expressed a desire to bond with you. He will be a handful for the rest of us if you say no. I’m sure he will be very hurt. None of us have seen him so in love before.”
“Well he did have Sara,” Kate reminded her.
“That is true but it was a short relationship and his feelings are much deeper for you.”
Toby started to cry and Tia feed him a bottle as they talked. Tia carried Toby in a sling so no one could see him. Before they went back to the base, Kate wanted to go to an electronics store so they stopped in one on the way back home. At Sears she purchased a Sony digital camcorder to take pictures of their next snowboarding trip.
“Do you think Ben will take it away from me when I leave?”
“He might.”
“I’ll just leave it with him then and when I come back maybe he’ll give it back to me.”
The first picture Kate took was of Toby and Tia. They had fun playing with it until Ben got home from snowboarding. Unfortunately, he wasn’t happy about it and they ended up in a fight in the sparring room. After a few minutes of yelling with Ben, Kate pulled a needle from behind her ear and threatened him with it.
“Come here,” she said as she stood in the back corner where no one could see them. “I’m sick and tired of arguing with you when we could be kissing.” She bit her lip and looked up at him. “I missed your kisses all day,” she said sweetly. He planted both of his hands on the padded wall by her head and kissed her. Eagerly, she flew her arms around his neck and continued to kiss him until he started to purr. Then he backed off. “Can I keep the camcorder please?” she begged.
“No and even if I said yes Rueben would say no. It’s too dangerous.”
“What if I give it to you when I leave? When I come back here after I quit the military you could give it back to me.”
Wryly, he smiled at her. “I like the sound of that. Forget the camcorder all I care about is you coming back here, to me.” Smiling he hugged her and they put their faces together touching foreheads.
Monday was the sixth week of Kate’s test on D-14 on humans. Naph gave her another small injection of D-14. She checked her blood for the X-antigen and it now showed up strong in Kate’s blood. This week, she saw fifteen percent improvement in strength; reduced body fat, five percent, clearer vision and greater distance of sight a five percent increase; her hair and nails grew faster, five percent improvement in hearing, stamina and speed increased by twelve percent. No improvement in scent detection. There was no way of knowing if this would give her a longer life span, though Kate believed it would. Overall, Kate’s improvements were greater than Ben’s she could almost keep up with him in a fight. Her accuracy in needle throwing improved due to the improvement in her sight.
There was one thing that she was very excited about Kate had abdominal muscles. This was something she never had before no matter how hard she exercised. Excitedly, Kate showed them to Rueben and Ben growled at her for it.
“Look at them Ben. I’ve never had them before.” She said lifting up her shirt and slapping her stomach.
Gently he touched them and said, “There nice.” Then he pulled her shirt down and turned away from her. “Kate this is too enticing for me,” he complained. “I can feel them when I hug you. I don’t need to see them too,” he said. “I’m having a hard enough time keeping control of the animal without this.”
She frowned. “I was just so excited I wanted to show them to someone.”
“Have you showed Tia yet?”
“No, but that’s a good idea,” Kate said and she trotted off to see Tia.
After Kate’s study on the effects of D-14 on the Rage she wanted to see how long it would remain strong in the body. So every week they had to have their blood tested. Gad made a device that pricked your finger and registered the levels of D-14 in the blood. Naph and Zeb updated the scanners on the sleeping chambers on the ship and in the lab to include levels of D-14 in the blood. Kate believed that it would take a year before the X-antigen would start to fade. Naph would finish that part of the study.
Time went by too quickly and Kate’s last week at the base had finally arrived. She would be going back to Fort Hood Texas and Ben wanted her to see him snowboard Peak 7601. All round them were snow cover mountain peaks. They took the cricket up to one of the tallest peaks. Rueben perched the cricket on top of one of the mountains. There was barely enough room to land the helicopter let alone for everyone to stand on the top of it. It was a sheer drop straight down. Nervously, Kate sat beside Rueben in the cockpit with the window down ready to record their decent. It was difficult to remember to breathe as she watched Ben standing on his snowboard ready to go down. Below him was a sixty degree drop with cliffs and rocks. Without hesitation, he started down the peak. “Rueben he is literally flying down the mountain. He is moving so fast that he’s creating a snow cloud behind him.”
“I know Kate I can see.” Rueben couldn’t help but smile at Kate’s enthusiasm.
“Wow! Look now he’s zigzag across the mountain side. Oh, that’s awesome!” she chortled as she watched him jump over the cascading snow that was tumbling down the mountain after him. Rueben just chuckled. Through the camera’s lens Kate watched as she recorded Ben decent. She sighed with relief when he was at the bottom, waiting for the others. One by one she recorded all of them as they snowboarded down to the bottom. Some of them took easer routes, some followed Ben. After Rueben picked them up they took Kate to the Eaglecrest Ski Area so she could snowboard. The difference between what she had just witnessed made even the hardest run at Eaglecrest look ‘Mickey Mouse’.
“How can you snowboard on this wimpy hill after what you just did?”
“Easy you do the hardest first and the rest is just relaxing fun. Do you want to try the main chair lift today?” he asked.
“Yes! I fill the need for speed and that bunny hill just isn’t going to cut it!” she screamed excitedly. “I needed to get rid of some of the adrenaline rush I felt while I was watching you go down Peak 7601.”
Ben helped her get smoothly on and off the chair lift. Then he suggested that she try the easiest run first. It was not problem, she easily flew down it. With the X-antigen strong in her blood, her body seemed younger, stronger and it felt more natural to her on the board, several weeks of practice on the bunny hill helped too. By the end of the day she was able to slow down by turning her board and even slid to a stop at the bottom. It wasn’t graceful like Ben’s but she didn’t have to fall and that was the most important thing. He smiled at her.
“I’m disappointed you didn’t fall once and you even stopped without crashing. How am I going to get my arms around you if you don’t need my help anymore?”
Without undoing her boot’s Kate tried to reach him and fell into his arms. “Is that better,” she laughed after he caught her.
“Yes,” he said and kissed her. “Do you want to go again?”
“Yes, let’s try a harder run maybe I’ll fall.”