The sudden appearance of a three star general slightly threw the men from the Department of Defense and the FBI. All stood as Michael walked in.
“Ah, Colonel Benson, good to see you again. Has your son recovered from his motorcycle accident?” Michael said, shaking the stunned Colonel’s hand. I noted a subtle change to Michael’s accent. From being English with no discernible regional accent at all, it now had a Mid-Atlantis drawl.
“Uh, yeah, I guess, sir, yes, uh, thanks,” said a baffled colonel who would have sworn that he had never seen this General before in his life.
“I thought that I’d come in person, as telephones and the channels of messages amongst the Pentagon can be diabolical at times. It came to my department’s attention that you were interested in a man who has now been picked up to work for my department in counter-intelligence and national security. You can rest assured that you can leave this place now and never have to think of Ed Ryan or his pretty wife. Do I make myself clear?” he asked, looking directly at me.
I nodded and concentrated very hard.
Ten minutes later all the three men had gone, leaving us with Michael. They had yet to drink any coffee in our home.
“How?” Ed said.
“It helps being who I am and what I do,” Michael said. “I did a little fiddling with reports so that the report of your knee and the silly Wal-Mart incident never saw the light of day. In a land smitten by conspiracy theories and cover-ups, we can breathe easy again.”
“Isn’t that going to interfere with the free flow of time and upset the time/space continuum?” I asked.
“Goodness gracious me, you have been reading far too many science fiction movies, doctor. When it comes to our agent’s security and integrity, we are free to undertake whatever rearranging that is necessary.”
“But I’m not an agent,” I pointed out.
“Ed is.”
“I’m not,” I persisted.
“Raise your right hand,” he said.
I did so.
“Now say, ‘I do,’ in a clear voice.”
“I do, in a clear voice.”
Michael chuckled and shook his head.
“Okay, I can see how you and Ed get on so well. You have absolutely no regard for authority. Now you’re an agent.”
“What does that mean?”
“Well, for a start, you’ll be the only husband and wife team that we can assign together.”
“One condition,” I said.
“Yes?”
“We only work together.”
Michael arched an eyebrow and glanced at Ed.
“That’s right. The trip to the island managed to sort us both out in so many ways. We’ve become completely interdependent, and almost as one. So, think you can still use us?”
“My dear fellow, how wonderful. You never mentioned that to me on the phone. I’m so pleased, as we had a little jaunt planned for your alter-ego, but now your dear lady can go in that guise and you can trot along as backup. Or, perhaps you might both like to take opposing roles, just for fun?” he asked.
“Not this side of the babies, if that’s all right. I think we’ve both earned a rest.”
Michael smiled.
“Of course, as you know, we’ve all the time in the world.”
“Um, sorry to piss on your parade, but don’t I have to undergo training or something?” I said.
“Ah, indeed, you have been around this chap for too long already. Yes, my dear, but that can be done before we send you both. Talk it over with your husband, and I’m sure he’ll fill you in. Anyway, I have to go. I have a lot to do.”
“Won’t you join us for a meal?” I asked.
“Thank you, but no. I really am on a short fuse. Perhaps another time. All the best for the little ones when they arrive. Toodleoo.”
Ed and I were alone.
“Is he really a three star general?”
He shrugged as he took me in his arms.
“Who the hell knows? Probably, but in a different time. That’s an awesome power you have there, Mrs Ryan.”
“That’s Doctor Ryan, to you, Sergeant Major!”
He grinned and kissed me.
“Do you think we’ll gave the gift when we go through the time barrier?” I asked.
“As long as you’re with me, who cares?”
“It’d be fun, though, wouldn’t it?”
“I can certainly see many advantages.
Chapter Eleven
ED
I stood in front of the assembled recruits, as they stood in the hot sun. They were all looking at me, and I knew exactly what was going through their minds. I knew that my uniform was immaculate, and that my boots were gleaming. I knew that I looked the meanest son of a bitch they had ever seen!
They were lined up on the drill square, still in their civilian attire, and looking lost. I walked slowly up and down the lines, looking into the soul of each one of them. Not one would meet my gaze! I returned to the spot in front and to their centre, I turned and faced them.
“My name is Sergeant Major Ryan, US Marine Corps. You will call me ‘sir’. For the next few months, I am one-step down from God, as far as you are concerned. You will learn to hate me. You will learn to respect me, but above all you will learn to obey me, because what I teach you now will mean the difference between life and death later. Do you hear me?” I said.
“Sir! Yes Sir!” They shouted, in unison.
“I cannot hear you!”
“SIR! YES SIR!” They shouted louder.
“Platoon Sergeants, carry on!” I said, and smiled as I watched the latest batch start their first day as Marines.
It was a heck of a long time ago that I had stood where they stood - a lifetime. No, several lifetimes, I thought as I grinned at the memories. So many faces and so much had happened, and yet, I was eager to start a new adventure, this time with Gilly at my side.
I immediately thought of her, belly swollen and yet so cheerful and happy with her lot. We had met as two miserable souls lost within our own darkness, and that trip to the island had brought sunshine and freedom.
I was acutely aware that virtually all those transgender folk have to carry their burdens until they are surgically changed or die. For some, even the transition carries potential danger and does not fulfil their full anticipation. Many, however, don’t get the opportunity to transition, either through personal circumstances, lack of opportunities, lack of funds or simply fear.
For me, it would have been a combination of all the above, plus the fact I did not want to be a six foot Transwoman whose past would continually haunt me. Call me a coward, but that was where had been at.
The island changed it for me.
Gilly would claim similar pressures, and yet even now we both were haunted by our old feelings. Not that they returned, but that we almost didn’t believe they had gone. The impossibility of what we had experienced was just so unreal that it was hard to wallow in disbelief.
It was my knee that carried it for us. I had it sealed in a lump of clear silicone and mounted. We kept it on our mantle, just to remind us that I was walking and should be.
Every time doubt hit either of us, we’d go and take a look at the mangled thing that had been my knee. There were new X-rays of my knee, looking perfectly normal and healthy. That was the clincher, for I knew my original knee bones and patella were long gone, probably incinerated by the hospital.
The Navy doctors wanted to investigate further, but I refused. All the investigations in the world wouldn’t uncover what happened. I doubted that Russak could have told them, even if he wanted to. No, miracles were simply miracles, and defied explanations or investigations. As far as I was concerned, I was now walking, so I didn’t care how it happened.
That same drive that kept me pushing for combat assignments was now redundant. The reasons for pushing had gone completely. It is hard to quantify, but that drive was my reaction to the inner urges that I had to suppress for all those years. Somehow, my subconscious believed that as long as I was an active Marine and doing the more dangerous and challenging activities, then I would not be able to surrender to the urges.