My Story Sect. 02

Well ok, I got a few good reviews so I decided to post more of what I have written. This picks up where the last section left off and is about one quarter of the way through the entire story. Please continue to read and vote and send feedback. Also negative feed back is welcome because I would like to know what I can fix or change(beyond typos that is). So once more, enjoy...

He walked towards the enclosures and flipped what must have been the only light switch in his home. This switch was no light switch she realized. When he flipped it down it opened the circuit that had been supplying electricity to the opaque tan windows. With electricity removed the substance in the glass began to clear up turning them crystal clear. The clarity was because the windows were not glass but actually two panes of clear acrylic with a liquid crystalline fluid between them. Gillian became breathless and nearly fainted when she realized what she was seeing on the other side of the various glass rooms.

Beyond the glass she saw numerous animal enclosures. All were designed to perfectly match each creature’s native environment to a level she had never even seen in any zoo. Some were jungles other matched the African plains while a few were desert-like. She stood there in amazement completely bewildered by what she saw. There had to be at least 30 different enclosures in front of her and she had not even begun to count the ones upstairs which also became clear to view by the flipping of the one switch. “As you can see each cage perfectly matches each of my charges’ natural habitats. I imported all natural plants and researched soil compositions from every area to make it perfect. Most even have a small insect population along with other locality specific bacteria and fungi to keep a perfect balance in every cage. The only thing that needs any outside help is some of the larger water holes that I filter with not only chemical and biological filters but are run through a UV filter to get smaller biotics that can’t be filtered by other means. Come on if you would like a tour.”

“My God, how could you have this here and no one knows? Mr. Rowan, these cages are incredible.”

“No please call me Nico.”

“Who maintains these animals and does their veterinary work? What does…” her comments were cut short when she looked at one of the animals in the second cage she passed.

“Well all the work on these cages and the ones at all my other facilities are done by different contractors and then are assembled at their final location by another group and I help out when I can. Every one is paid generously for their time effort and most of all their discretion. As far as veterinary work, in the rare event it becomes necessary I do it myself. Ahh I see u got a look at ole’ Bloke the VI”

“It is not possible how can it be?” The cage was one of the forest types subtropical to be exact. In it was a strange dog like animal. It was lean and had a thick tail but this was no dog. The latter half of its body was striped like a tiger. ”Is that a..I mean do you really have a…”

“Yes that is a thylacine.”

“It can’t be. I mean they became extinct in 1927. Did you have one cloned?”

“My dear it is and he is not a clone. Every thing here is 100% natural born and bred. That is why these enclosures are so immaculate and accurate. He is the eighth generation to be born here as a matter of fact. Come on a little further I have more to show you including the primary reason for you visit. I promise I will let you look at every thing for as long as you like and after tonight you may come back when ever it suites you.” As they walked she saw many animals that should not be there. There were dodo birds scurrying around a simulated rock wall and cliff. She saw what must have been the long extinct Carolina parakeets in a small aviary. Two large cat cages came next. Inside on cage was an odd looking tiger about the size of a Sumatran tiger but its striping was different. As a cat lover she was quick to realize it was another “extinct “ species, it was a Javan tiger. The other elongated cage contained three cheetahs. They were the very rare king cheetahs from South Africa. Only a handful of specimens had ever been seen and none could ever be captured so they have never been properly cataloged and classified. Mr. Rowan explained how the cats had learned to use the disguised heavy-duty treadmill as a form of exercise and recreation. After they turned a corner they passed several snake cages with species she did not even recognize and came to a group of tortoise enclosures. “Ms. Kimber…”

“Mr., I mean Nico,” she quickly corrected herself, “if I am to call you by your first name than please call me Gillian or Gill if you prefer.”

“Very good than Gillian, as you can see there are a variety of tortoise species in these enclosures all from the Galapagos Islands. I have seven of the sixteen subspecies here and I have a small colony of each subspecies like you see before you of the other nine at some of my other homes. See these fellas over here,” He pointed to a group mixed in sizes from six inches to some that were fully grown, ”because of them in the near future lonely George will no longer be so lonely.”

“O.K., I realize it is pointless to figure out how you have so many species thought to be extinct or nearly extinct but I was under the impression that there were only ever thirteen subspecies of Galapagos tortoises. So my logical question is why did you say of the sixteen?”

“Well Gill, something you will find on no modern map is a now missing island in the Galapagos chain. As you know the Galapagos Islands are plagued by seismic and very volcanic activity . In 1578 this island suffered a dual volcanic eruption and a massive earthquake the two being obviously related. As a result the island I speak of fell into the ocean from whence it came killing ever animal that inhabited it. Fortunately in 1538 on one of the early expeditions to this island long before Darwin’s a good number of the native wildlife was collected for food ad preservation. I noticed the difference in the types of tortoises and kept about 35 hatchlings for myself.”

“What did you say? Did you just say you?” she laughed a little thinking he had made a mistake or was joking.

“Ah yes I am sorry I meant my great, great grandfather” he quickly saved himself by saying, “did the collecting. I have heard the story so many times and they have been with me for so long that I sometime feel as if I were the one who collected them. “He” was also able to get a few of the lizard and bird species off the island prior to it’s demise that I still have alive.”

“Oh I know what you mean I had a pet dog as a child that was the same way. I hope I get this right, now basically these tortoises’ ancestors came from an uncharted isle in the archipelago that was destroyed before any decent maps were made. So every animal and plant on the island was never known. I guess since no one ever knew they existed only thirteen different subspecies were eve classified.”

“Very good Ms. Kimber. As I have known your intelligence and problem solving are impeccable. I shall give you an “A” minus”

“An “A” minus?!?” she said in a jokingly mad tone.

“Yes you said their ancestors; those four larger specimens are actually a few of the living hatchlings.”

“That would make them 466 years old!” she said astonished.

“Well correct give or take a year. With the proper care I have noticed many of these reptiles attaining ages that most zoologists would never imagine possible. I have a Chinese alligator that is over 200 years old and still as virile as one only 110 years old.” He said with a humorous tone. “to be perfectly honest all of my animals live well beyond twice their known and accepted age limits even the mammals.” He said showing extreme pride in his beasts. He than challenged her, ”Would you care to take a stab at why that is?”

“Certainly,” she said not wanting to back down from a challenge. She never settled for an “A” minus through out school and she would not begin now. “O.K. most animals survive longer in captivity than they would or could in the wild because there are no predators,” she began, ”Unlike many zoos you have been able to create completely natural homes for them so there is not the added stress caused by captivity. With out this stress and on a diet enriched with vitamins as any good zookeeper would use they achieve respectively ancient ages.” Her tone was very sure of itself and indeed her ego was rewarded with an “A” plus by Nicodaemus.

“Very good Gillian, back to your reason for coming to my humble abode,” they both snickered at his sarcasm. “You have in your possession at the zoo a single male tortoise of unknown origin that has been incorrectly classified for quite some time now. Do you see that lone female tortoise over there? I will give you a sample of her DNA and I am sure it will match that of the tortoise at your zoo of whom I speak. If I am correct than you have one of the descendants if not one of the original hatchlings representing the third species from the vanished island. You see despite the beauty and relative safety of my various sites they are not completely invulnerable. About thirty years ago one of my similar enclosure sites was broken into. The thieves vandalized the main halls, stole a large number of my animals and set a fire to cover their tracks. This site was the home to all of my specimens of that particular subspecies except for two females I had at a different site. Both were gravid at that time and I was trying to establish a new colony but as luck would have it none of the eggs were viable. I attribute this to the stress of moving them shortly after mating. As you know females can store sperm so I had been hoping to get another clutch. Two months ago my other female succumbed to a simple cold can you believe it. Well as you can guess, I have no time to spare. At 200 years old this lass is nearing the end of her prime reproductive years. Basically I need a sperm sample from your male but I cannot ask the zoo to lone him to me because they have no idea my collection exists and there is no other way to “borrow” him. That is where you fit in. Regardless of your decision to help me or not I am donating an additional 2.5 million to the zoo this year. That will be the cover story for our meeting tonight. I need you to get me that sample. Moving the animal here even if you could find a way to get permission would be too stressful and it would take quite some time to acclimate him before he ever mated not to mention possible pathogens he may carry. I need you to bring me a sample extracted from your fellow. I have the facilities here to check the viability of the sample and to implant it into the female. Of course it is not always 100% guaranteed to work so I may need future samples. If you would like you may even assist me if you can find the time. Well what do you think can you help me?”

“Well, Nico, I would love to help you. I can’t wait to get a look at everything you have here. Wow wait until I tell…”

“No!” his tone quickly changed. “In exchange for the privilege of visiting my animals and helping me if you would like I must insist on your complete silence on the matter. Now I plan on generously reimbursing you for you time, effort, and companionship in the procedures, but I can not stress the utmost importance of the secrecy. Less than a handful of people have ever had a look into any of my sites and no one has ever told any one of all they saw.” What she did not know was Nicodaemus has used his mental abilities to aid in everyone’s silence. It then dawned on him with out being able to enter her mind how could he ensure she would keep his secret treasures safe? Although unable to read or control her mind his was slightly put at ease by a feeling he got from her. A deep part of him knew she could be trusted whether she was paid to do so or not.

“It is a deal. The earliest I can get you that sample though will be next Thursday when I am doing some routine health check ups on the tortoise groups.”

“I know that Gillian which is why I decided to have this dinner with you tonight. I figured six days would be more than enough time to allow you to ponder everything and make your decision. I didn’t count on you agreeing so quickly. So in the interest of science would you accompany me to another dinner here in my home next Thursday afternoon?”

“In the interest of science it would be my pleasure.”

“Great it is a date mark you calendar so you don’t forget. Now however, I am famished lets eat tonight’s meal before thinking to heavily about next week’s shall we?”

Over dinner he told her of how is “family” realized along time ago the plight of animals and understood the concept of extinction long before Darwin or Lineaus and decided to try to do something about it. His love and passion for the animal world was a trait he said that was passed onto him. Gillian asked about his remarkable resemblance to all of the people in the pictures and he told her his family had very dominant genes apparently. She tried to dig deeper because with the exception of a little facial hair here or there and differences in hairstyle he could be any one of the portraits twins. Even his unique skin tone and hair colour was present throughout the gallery of photos and paintings. She questioned him about this in a manner so as to not offend him. He told her that his family suffered from and odd mutation in their skin pigment leading to its current tone. All of these were complete plausible although a part of her still questioned the truth in his statement. Logically what other explanation was there. He told her how his family had been wealthy since probably the 1300’s and his forefathers were financial inclined explorers. She was amazed at how much he knew about his heraldry. It almost seemed once again as if he was there when telling a few humorous tales. His story telling, body language and soothing voice for the most part put her at ease. One thing that bothered her however, was the fact she could not hear any of his thoughts.

Since her accident just over ten years along with gaining a second chance at life so it would seem, she also found that she her mind became sharper. All of her senses seemed heightened as well. Her thinking was much faster and she was able to hear people’s thoughts. Along with people she could also hear animals almost. She always had the ability to read her pets like no one else but now it was much greater. She secretly thought of herself as the lady Dr. Doolittle. If she concentrated enough sometimes she could move small objects. When she first met Mr. Rowan eight years ago her abilities were just budding so she thought nothing of the fact she could not read him. But as time went on he became the only person she could not get anything from. Aside, that is, from a warm smile and a gentlemanly laugh every now and again.

After dinner he gave her a tour of his flat and showed her many more specimens unknown to the rest of the world to exist. From an unknown species of pigmy rattlesnake to a large web footed aquatic marsupial Diprotodon australis known as the bunyip by the aborigines. He also had a trio of the “extinct” tree boa species Corralus coprani. Only three have ever been found and preserved from the Sao Paulo region of Brazil. One enormous red tinted rattlesnake housed next to the unknown pigmy looked like an overgrown eastern diamond back. “Oh yes this is a known species. It is Crotalus adamanteus pleistofloridensis, the ancestor of the eastern diamond back.” He continued to explain,” When my family discovered a few of these creatures they were nearly extinct and as far as herpetologist and paleontologist knew from fossils they became extinct around eight thousand years ago as humans first began to settle in the Americas.” He never did tell her when his “family” collected the original specimens. Over here in this large cage is what I call the Congolese python. The cage measured an easy 30x20ft if not little more and inside it was a snake he claimed to be just over forty feet.

“Nico, to the best of my knowledge no evidence of that snake even exists in the fossil record.”

“You are very correct my dear and this snake did not come into my or this collection until the 1960’s and I have only found this one female. In 1962 a photo of a large snake taken by a German military reconnaissance team was circulated in the papers and later passed off as a phony. The snake in the picture taken in 1959 measured over fifty feet based on the objects around it. The snake in my collection was a mere twenty three feet upon it’s initial capture. So somewhere over there is his mommy or daddy and next year I am planning a trip to Africa to try and find a mate for Madame Bertha as I call her. And I have heard rumors of a few other animals I want to investigate. You see I operate in secret for two reasons. One, if I were to announce my trips and there goals before I left I would be laughed at. Two, once my expeditions were known successes you would have every over ambitious hunter in the world trying to kill or exploit what I have found. I am fortunate to have a large supply of money to privately fund my self and to make donations to various organizations to keep every one disinterested in me and happy.” He excused himself as they returned downstairs.

She sat there trying to allow her mind to believe all she had seen and trying to memorize every thing she had seen so she could imagine it over and over once she left. As she watched him make a somewhat discreet phone call she tried once again to read him but to no avail. They had a few after dinner wines and exchanged some stories about their pasts. She eventually got up the nerve to ask him his age. “Well, how old do you think I am?”

“When I first met you I swore you were no older than 25 and the odd thing is you still look almost exactly the same but you no longer have the goatee and your hair is a little shorter now. If you were 25 as I guessed then that would put you at 35 or 36 now?” she questioned.

“Well if you would like to believe that than I am more than happy to be thought of as 35.” She tried to keep it going but he changed the subject of conversation. Her mind however was stuck on his age. “You know you don’t look very different from the day when I first met you well except you hair is longer and has a curl to it now.” She was flattered at his ability to remember such details about her and blushed as she replied.

“I think I get that from my mother. She is 50 and does not look a day over 35.” A little more light conversation was exchanged and she decided it was getting late and asked to use his phone to call a cab.

“I will not hear of you taking a cab after the stimulating night you have given me.” In his sweetest most gentlemanly voice he told her,” I have already called my car and driver and he will take you home.” She thanked him and walked to the door. He opened it for her and as she was leaving with the precious DNA sample she came to the realization she had left her keys somewhere. He was able to find them immediately on his breakfast bar and tossed them to her. As she exited his home he used his mind to close the door behind her. She noticed the door close despite his distance from it but again like everything else about this odd being rationalized it out to be the wine or his home’s automation.

All though the night went very well and there was surely chemistry between the two, neither had really learned much about the other. The meat of their conversation had been about his extraordinary menagerie of beasts then some light banter about mutual acquaintances. For the first time in many, many years Nicodaemus was actually excited about a future event. His excitement stemmed partially because he was going to be able to breed one of his most unique animals but more so because of this woman. He was however careful to get his hopes up because every single time to present they had been swiftly struck down. Many times he had to settle and vowed never to settle again. He also did not want to endure another heartbreak. Something told him this might be worth it though.