Living Proof (Tyler G Book 2) (12 page)

"Nifty. I'm on it. Let me
see who I can find?"

It was probably a lot easier, if
you weren't all that picky about it being a Mage in particular which he wasn't.
He had to wonder though, why it was so hard for them to get anyone to work
there. Lisa
clearly
wasn't a bitch all the time. If anything she made
you feel like you should run off and protect her innocent personhood. So it
wasn't that one.

After they hung up, he
re-pocketed the device, and looked up to see they were stopping at a dock, by
the edge of an expanse of water that he hadn't really been ready for.

Feeling cheesy, and like a moron,
he gasped.

"Okay,
that's
impressive. I've never seen the ocean before." He really hadn't, but
expected people to call him on it. It was just that he'd never really traveled
anywhere before. He'd only ever been on one plane flight, for instance. If he
hadn't seen a lot of television in his time he would have thought that those
always came with a free beating. So this was kind of a big deal for him.

There was just a general shuffle
as people got out of the vehicle, instead of going on about how sheltered he'd
been all his life. Calley started looking around, but fixed on an older looking
man in front of her. He was grizzled, with about a week's worth of white beard
growth. Also dingy white slacks, a sturdy blue shirt to keep the chill off, and
a dorky looking, old style, captain's hat.

The Bat girl waved to him happily
and with a lot of energy.

"Yo, Tom! You ready? We have
people with us, so be on your best manners.
Important
ones." She
had to fight a giggle while she said it, and pushed her thick glasses up to
cover her face.

The man spat, or pretended to,
since nothing seemed to come out.

"I hate it when you bring
important people. How the fuck can I carry on a conversation with them? Censoring
myself never worked too good for me. Anyway, which of these bitches is the
important one? The Bear?" He said it like that was really probably right.

For one of the first times that
day Ang cracked a smile.

"That too. The blonde lady
is the local node Ambassador for the Alede. The gentleman here is the head of
the Coalition of Nations. This is the
big
time, Tom. Rupert
is
Vivian's brother, so good call there, for the day. Shall we get loaded? We have
some gear. Food and clothing."

The sea Captain, if that's what
he was bowed toward first Val, then Ty. Awkwardly enough that it felt put on.

"Your majesties. Yeah then,
get your asses on board. We have about ten minutes to get out, or we'll miss
the tide on the island side. That's the trick. So hurry."

Ty jumped out, running to the
back, and grabbing the three remaining food boxes, as well as the bags that
Valerie had brought, then jogged to the gangplank of the tiny boat. It wasn't
really little, but seemed to be the kind used for catching fish, not pleasure
cruises. It even smelled like fish to him.

Which was more pleasant than he
would have figured.

Seeing him do that the others all
scurried too, and were on the deck not a minute later, with Tom removing the
lines, along with a guy that was a lot younger than he was. He had the same
hard and grizzled look though, but with black hair on his face and head, and no
silly cap. Lines were drawn in and untied efficiently, and the Captain jogged
into a little room on the deck. They could see him still, since there was a lot
of windows.

The other man got life jackets
for them all. Bright orange things that were old and didn't seem all that
trustworthy. Still, he put the food and clothing down on a green chest that
seemed to be connected to the wooden deck, and put his on immediately, since
they were moving out.

The deckhand waved at the others.
Calley had hers going into place, as did Kyle.

"Get those on please. If you
go overboard they'll help, even if you can swim. I take it that you can all
shift into fish?" It was a joke, but Calley actually covered it for him.
Like he needed to know the score, just in case.

"Three Succubi. The hot ones
there." She grimaced a bit, when she looked at Tyler, but it was just the
truth. They were the attractive people. Always. "Dragon. Land, not water,
Bear, Bat and um..." She waved at him, not having a clue what he was
supposed to be called.

There probably wasn't a real name
for it.

He didn't know what to say
either, so smiled at the guy.

"Dead man. I don't know if I
float or not." That was an interesting thing, since he'd never learned to
swim really. Even when he'd been in school and they had classes, he'd missed
them for some reason. It was a thing he couldn't remember. Not
why
it
had happened, at any rate. The other kids in fourth grade had simply loaded
onto busses for an hour a day for several weeks, and he didn't go with them. No
one had said why really. He was going to take that as his mother not wanting
him to be in the water like that. What it really meant, he just didn't know.

He was lean though, and that
probably meant he'd just sink to the bottom, if he wasn't careful.

The guy just nodded.

"So, no one will argue about
wearing the life preservers? I mean,
I
can change into a dolphin in a
pinch, but the rest of you..."

It was a good thought, so they
all agreed, even if they weren't the sexiest pieces of clothing in the world.
The food was stowed away, along with the clothing to keep it dry. The rest of
them just stood there as they got underway, watching the waves. It would be a
while but there weren't a lot of places to sit down.

As it turned out, he didn't get
sea sick at all, though Robert did. Rupert too, but he just tossed his cookies
over the side and didn't moan about it. The Alede man turned a color near to
true green, if a pale shade, and sounded like he was dying. Quietly. Kyle went
to him and patted his back the whole time.

When they got to the island they
had a bit of a time limit it seemed. He knew that because the Captain came out
of his little house, and waved him and Calley over. It was a bit odd, but for
some reason he seemed to think
they
were the ones to talk to.

"We don't have long. The
dock here won't let us approach much longer, and it will be a good eight hours,
or longer, before we can get back in. Prisoner pick-ups can be hard that way.
If she gets difficult, or needs to transform, this won't work. I can give you
twenty minutes, then we'll need to pull back and try again later."

It was nature working there,
which meant they had to just go along with it, and do their best, so he just
nodded.

"It won't be a big deal.
I'll go with Rupert to get her. The rest of you stay here, with no weapons
showing? We should get the food and clothing ready." That would give the
others something to do while he and the large Bear fellow tried to coax Vivian
onto the boat.

It turned out that they still had
to dock, which took a few minutes, and the boat was really low in the water
already, next to the wooden structure. They had to use a ladder to get up, to
it. The thing was slippery, even though made of wood too, and strong. On the
good side the island really wasn't that large, so Vivian came out to meet them
from the tree line about two hundred feet back. Armed with a long stick.

She didn't rush them though, so
he waved both hands in the air.

"Vivian! Over here! We're
here to get you home. We brought food and clothes for you." He made
himself sound happy, worried that the woman would be scared or upset. That, or
dead, like Calley had mentioned.

She just walked over, buck naked.
That was a normal thing though, since when they were dropped off, they weren't
left with clothing for some reason.

"Rupert? Is it safe?"
She sounded a bit hesitant, but her brother nodded when she got close enough.

"Yep. Tyler came to make
sure you knew you were loved. So did some Alede..."

The woman winced, but Tyler just
made a silly face at her.

"
They
just came to
cuddle you. For real. To them this was a hell sentence. Two weeks alone would
probably take one of them out. They were all crying about it earlier. Calley
and Ang decided that it wasn't enough of a punishment, so you have to put out
for Val whenever she wants. Oh, I also got you a new job. It's cleared with
your people. It pays okay and everything. Working with the Mages? Just doing
shop stuff probably, but whatever they need that way. Light paperwork or
whatever."

The woman froze, but didn't cover
herself. That was both nice
and
kind of a shame. The nice part was that
she was cute without clothing. A bit muscular, showing abs, but only a hint of
them with a layer of flesh over that. Her nipples were dark, and her skin a bit
pale. She had nice breasts too, that were bigger than he would have assumed
from when he'd seen her last. Her hips were nicely curvy to round the whole
thing out.

The bad part was that he was
getting aroused, and her brother was right there. Her face was a bit plain, but
not that bad, so he stared at that, trying not to be a
total
pervert.

"Anyway, hurry, the boat
can't get out if we stay too long. We have clothes for you. Valerie brought
them."

The woman came then, a bit
downcast, but not violent. Her lank hair was shoulder length, and a medium to
dark brown. So was her pubic hair, which he tried not to stare at. It was
interesting though, since she clearly shaved it all off most of the time. She
had two weeks of growth, but it wasn't that bad.

Also not meant as a show for him,
so he tried not to look at her too much, as she got into place.

She was rushed as soon as they
were on the deck, with Val hugging her closely, and kissing her like a lover.
It didn't seem to hurt her feelings at least. Then she was hugged by the guys.
Even Ang took a turn. So did the Dolphin deck hand. In fact he took the
longest, and came away with an erection in his pants. No one commented on it.

Calley noticed. That was pretty
clear from her lingering look at the man's pants and her wistful expression.

Then, so had he, so it wasn't
exactly some kind of dating crime. She'd
told
him that her kind weren't
really into monogamy. Also that she didn't expect that from him, either. So
they could
both
hit the Dolphin guy up for sex.

Not that they were going to have
time for that sort of thing just then.

Vivian looked around, and shook
her head.

"I'd sort of expected a
death squad. I mean, only two weeks..."

Calley moved in and passed her
the bag of clothing.

"Well, everyone is being
really
understanding. It will be harder than it seems, working with Lisa. I mean, Jahn
Samson signed off on that, so it's official, which is a big deal. That isn't
punishment. Really, you're getting off easy, so don't fuck it up, you
understand? I don't want to be that mean person, hitting you with reality
before you even get off the boat, but instead of kicking your ass like they
should, everyone is pretty much kissing it. Including the President. You
won't
get that kind of treatment again. No one can afford to let that happen. In
fact, if anyone asks, you were tortured for two weeks. Got it? I
mean
that. We had you on a rack and beat you constantly. Electroshock up the hoo-ha
and all that good stuff."

The larger woman nodded, and
started to unpack the clothing. She didn't seem self-conscious about the
nudity, but it was kind of chilly it seemed. Not that he was feeling it,
himself.

She glanced at the fashions in
the bag and then started to dress.

"These are really nice. From
your place at the mall? Pretty Plus: Passions. I'd always thought it was a sex
shop. Lingerie and all that?"

Valerie lit up a little at the
praise.

"That too. I have a great
bustier for you in here. Let me see..."

They dressed her up on the deck,
in front of everyone, and then capped the whole thing with a life jacket,
ruining the effect. She did look nice though at the end. In the middle too,
since the underclothing was kind of hot on her. That was the point, though
Tyler didn't think real women dressed like that most days. It would be kind of
uncomfortable to lounge in he bet. Especially the thong panties that had been
put on the Bear woman.

Trying to ignore all that, he
made sure she got to eat. She'd been mainly fishing for her food, as it turned
out.

"Which worked, but it's been
a little light on sweets. This is really, really good. Thanks." Her look
went to her brother, who pointed at him.

"Mr. Gartner brought the
food. Given that you beat him up too, I think that means he's claiming you as
his new girl. That will make mom happy anyway. She was never that keen on the
whole lesbian thing." He looked at the others and then down at his hands.
"She wants grandkids."

Tyler nodded then, and looked at
Vivian who was blushing at him pretty hard, embarrassed by the whole thing.