{\rtf1\ansi \deflang1033\deff0{\fonttbl {\f0\froman \fcharset0 \fprq2 Times New Roman;}{\f1\fdecor \fcharset0 \fprq2 Umbra BT;}}{\colortbl;\red0\green0\blue0;} {\stylesheet{\fs20 \snext0 Normal;} }\notabind\margl1440\margr1440\margt720\margb720\hyphhotz936\ftnbj\fet2\ftnrstpg\aftnnar\viewkind1\lytprtmet\subfontbysize \sectd \sbknone\pgndec\headery1440\footery1440\endnhere\endnhere\titlepg {\header { \posxo\nowrap \plain \fs24 \f1 Page {\field{\*\fldinst { PAGE }}}\par} \par} {\*\pnseclvl1\pndec\pnstart1{\pntxta .}} {\*\pnseclvl2\pnlcltr\pnstart1{\pntxta .}} {\*\pnseclvl3\pnlcrm\pnstart1{\pntxta .}} {\*\pnseclvl4\pndec\pnstart1{\pntxtb (}{\pntxta )}} {\*\pnseclvl5\pnlcltr\pnstart1{\pntxtb (}{\pntxta )}} {\*\pnseclvl6\pnlcrm\pnstart1{\pntxtb (}{\pntxta )}} {\*\pnseclvl7\pndec\pnstart1{\pntxta .}} {\*\pnseclvl8\pnlcltr\pnstart1{\pntxta .}} {\*\pnseclvl9\pnlcrm\pnstart1} {\field{\*\fldinst {\lang4105 SEQ CHAPTER \\h \\r 1}}{\fldrslt }}\pard \fs20\qc {\plain \fs20 \fs20 }{\plain \fs24 \b\ul Hey, dawg!}{\plain \fs20 \fs20 \par }\pard \fs20 {\plain \fs20 \fs20 \par }\pard \fs20\qj {\plain \fs20 \fs20 \tab L.Randall Charpentier, III and his wife, the former Marianne deLamade Matraille, were traveling unwontedly \softline by car. Their personal Lear Jet had developed severe engine trouble while on the ground at a small Tennessee airport \softline well to the southwest of Columbia and L. Randall was urgently wanted back at his New York Office. No plane was \softline available for rent or lease {\u8212\'97} not even for sale {\u8212\'97} nor would L. Randall trust any pilot but his own James Louis, who just \softline happened to be a native of Tennessee.\par }{\plain \fs20 \fs20 \tab Louis had found them a strangely incongruous Lincoln Town Car with a native Tennessee driver (no Tennessean \softline would be caught dead as a {\u8220\'93}chauffeur,{\u8221\'94} so Sanford Adams had informed Mrs Charpentier, III) who said he could get \softline them to Nashville in three or four hours, {\u8220\'93}dependin{\u8217\'92} on the weyther.{\u8221\'94}\par }{\plain \fs20 \fs20 \tab {\u8220\'93}And just what does he mean, {\u8216\'91}depending on the weather,{\u8217\'92} Ranny?{\u8221\'94} asked the exasperated Marianne.\par }{\plain \fs20 \fs20 \tab {\u8220\'93}Well, Louis?{\u8221\'94} asked her puzzled husband, passing on such questions, as usual, to his assistant and pilot.\par }{\plain \fs20 \fs20 \tab {\u8220\'93}It{\u8217\'92}s possible to have a {\u8216\'91}guster,{\u8221\'94} a real gully-washer, that{\u8217\'92}s to say, a real hard rain come up really quickly in \softline these hills, this time of year, ma{\u8217\'92}am.{\u8221\'94} \par }{\plain \fs20 \fs20 \tab Louis did not like Marianne and was certain that she had little use for him. For a {\u8220\'93}no{\u8217\'92}thener,{\u8221\'94} she was sure set \softline against people of color, he knew. Luckily her husband, perhaps disguising as ingrained a prejudice, was too smart a \softline businessman to forego the services of an ex-Air Force fighter pilot and recognized ace as his personal pilot. Occasionally, \softline James Louis recalled bitterly, L. Randall exhibited a bit of his wife{\u8217\'92}s far more obvious bias and his tones quite often were \softline more brusque than necessary when he addressed his pilot.\par }{\plain \fs20 \fs20 \tab James and Sanford exchanged surreptitious winks as thy loaded the baggage into the Lincoln. \par }{\plain \fs20 \fs20 \tab {\u8220\'93}He okay to wuhk foh?{\u8221\'94} murmured the driver, Sanford Adams, parodying a {\u8220\'93}slave{\u8221\'94} accent.\par }{\plain \fs20 \fs20 \tab {\u8220\'93}Surely. Say, you{\u8217\'92}re from down near Pulaski, aren{\u8217\'92}t you?{\u8221\'94}\par }{\plain \fs20 \fs20 \tab {\u8220\'93}Howdja know thet, suh?{\u8221\'94} smiled Sanford, continuing the joke.\par }{\plain \fs20 \fs20 \tab {\u8220\'93}I{\u8217\'92}m from near there, myself.{\u8221\'94}\par }{\plain \fs20 \fs20 \tab {\u8220\'93}Y{\u8217\'92}are?{\u8221\'94} Sanford{\u8217\'92}s face lit up in a great grin. {\u8220\'93}You{\u8217\'92}re Jamie Louis, aren{\u8217\'92}t you? Ohio U, fighter pilot. Man, I \softline read about... {\u8216\'91}\par }{\plain \fs20 \fs20 \tab {\u8220\'93}You two get a move on, We haven{\u8217\'92}t all day to conduct old home weeks.{\u8221\'94} That was Marianne, her face almost \softline pink under her make-up, a sign of anger..\par }{\plain \fs20 \fs20 \tab {\u8220\'93}Yes, Mrs Charpentier,{\u8221\'94} said James, looking her straight in the eyes as a distinguished ex-serviceman, albeit \softline a servant to her husband, should. {\u8220\'93}We were just remarking that we came from the same neck of the woods.{\u8221\'94}\par }{\plain \fs20 \fs20 \tab {\u8220\'93}Well, we need to be out of this damn{\u8217\'92} neck of the woods as soon as possible,{\u8221\'94} chimed in Randall, but he wore \softline a deprecating grin as he stood back of his angry wife.\par }{\plain \fs20 \fs20 \tab {\u8220\'93}Well, tell the {\u8216\'91}driver{\u8217\'92} to hurry it up, then, Ranny.{\u8221\'94} was Mrs Charpentier{\u8217\'92}s comment on that exchange. James \softline and Sanford could hear the {\u8220\'93}n{\u8221\'94} word in the way she emphasized {\u8220\'93}driver.{\u8221\'94} She obviously knew better than to cast any \softline slur at James, except by association.\par }{\plain \fs20 \fs20 \tab Sanford rolled his eyes at James in a parody of the {\u8220\'93}yes massa{\u8221\'94} slave answer and then walked in a dignified \softline manner around to the rear door of the car, which he opened and held as the beautiful but thoroughly spoiled Mrs L. \softline Randall Charpentier, III inserted herself.\par }{\plain \fs20 \fs20 \tab {\u8220\'93}James, would you please return to the airport and see what you can do to get the plane fixed? We{\u8217\'92}re going to \softline Nashville and get a plane there for New York. All right? Have enough money?{\u8221\'94}\par }{\plain \fs20 \fs20 \tab {\u8220\'93}Yes, Mr Charpentier, thank you. I{\u8217\'92}ll do my best to get the plane fixed and be in New York as soon as I can. \softline I{\u8217\'92}ll call you at your New York office, shall I?{\u8221\'94}\par }{\plain \fs20 \fs20 \tab {\u8220\'93}Yes. Thanks, James.{\u8221\'94} With the impatient Marianne fuming beside him in the back of the Lincoln, {\u8220\'93}Ranny{\u8221\'94} \softline murmured politely to Sanford,\par }{\plain \fs20 \fs20 \tab {\u8220\'93}If you please, Sanford. Let{\u8217\'92}s be on our way.{\u8221\'94}\par }{\plain \fs20 \fs20 \tab {\u8220\'93}Surely, suh.{\u8221\'94} Sanford, back in {\u8220\'93}po{\u8217\'92} sharecropper{\u8221\'94} mode, put the car in gear and drove carefully over the \softline slightly bumpy gravel of the airport road to the {\u8220\'93}highway{\u8221\'94} which wound in two-lane narrowness over the adjacent hills. \par }{\plain \fs20 \fs20 \tab About two hours later . . .\par }{\plain \fs20 \fs20 \tab {\u8220\'93}My God, Ranny, can{\u8217\'92}t this lousy nig. . . .driver get us to Nashville any faster?{\u8221\'94} This from Marianne after \softline agonizing swoops over steep and short hills, twisting roads and almost constant swaying side to side for those in the back. \softline Marianne was convinced that Sanford was trying his best to make their ride as uncomfortable as possible.\par }{\plain \fs20 \fs20 \tab {\u8220\'93}Marianne, Sanford is doing his best to get us to the highway. \par }{\plain \fs20 \fs20 \tab {\u8220\'93}Sanford, what seems to be the trouble. Shouldn{\u8217\'92}t we be on the Interstate by now?{\u8221\'94}\par }{\plain \fs20 \fs20 \tab {\u8220\'93}Why, yes sir. I thought I knew these hill roads an{\u8217\'92} I was gettin{\u8217\'92} you to the Interstate as fas{\u8217\'92} as I could, sir, but \softline I can{\u8217\'92}t seem to find the right turns.{\u8221\'94} \par }{\plain \fs20 \fs20 \tab {\u8220\'93}Damn, dumb ni. . . oaf,{\u8221\'94} muttered Marianne, once again barely concealing her distaste for dark skinned people.\par }{\plain \fs20 \fs20 \tab {\u8220\'93}Sir, Mr Charpentier, we got a storm comin{\u8217\'92} on, too. Look at those black clouds. That{\u8217\'92}s a cloudburst, for sure.{\u8221\'94}\par }{\plain \fs20 \fs20 \tab {\u8220\'93}Well, we can still drive through rain, can{\u8217\'92}t we, Sanford?{\u8221\'94}\par }{\plain \fs20 \fs20 \ul0 \tab {\u8220\'93}I hope so, sir, do my best.{\u8221\'94} Sanford was a good driver, careful on these roads, a demon on the Interstate. He{\u8217\'92}d \softline dearly have loved to reach that superhighway long ago, nor could he understand why the hill roads with which he was \softline familiar had suddenly gone all strange and twisty. His tanned face showed puzzlement and burgeoning anger, whether \softline the latter was directed at the roads or Mrs Charpentier was nor even clear in his own mind..\par }{\plain \fs20 \fs20 \tab As the Lincoln ascended yet another steep hill, the heavens burst above them and within four or five seconds \softline the visibility was hardly more than the length of the hood before the streaming windshield. Sanford slowed and carefully \softline navigated the next bend in the road, this one bringing the car, its driver and passengers under a sheer bluff of what looked \softline like rock to Randall in the short glimpse he had of it before there was a tearing roar and the bluff{\u8217\'92}s unstable conglomerate \softline of loam and medium-sized rocks descended upon the car.\par }{\plain \fs20 \fs20 \tab The weight of the bluff came down upon one side of the car and although Sanford managed at the very last \softline second to floor the accelerator, the car was swept sideways and forward, breasting the next slight rise and slowly, almost \softline reluctantly, leaving th road and sliding gracefully into the rapidly flooding stream at the bottom of the gully beside the \softline road.\par }{\plain \fs20 \fs20 \tab {\u8220\'93}Come out, folks,{\u8221\'94} yelled Sanford, his forehead bleeding where he had hit the mirror. He was pulling at the back \softline door of the Lincoln, now totaled as far as he could tell in the pouring rain. Luckily the rear doors worked, although \softline Sanford had had to crawl hastily out of the flooding front seat through the right side window. \par }{\plain \fs20 \fs20 \tab Randall was somehow stuck in the back seat, but he managed to hand Marianne over himself into Sanford{\u8217\'92}s \softline waiting grasp. Marianne was for once so shaken that she didn{\u8217\'92}t even think to resent Sanford{\u8217\'92}s hands on her body. The \softline car gave a lurch downward and Marianne screamed, barely heard over the pounding of the water descending in a real \softline gully-washer.\par }{\plain \fs20 \fs20 \tab Sanford quickly deposited the struggling woman on the bank well up from the stream and turned back to see \softline what was still holding Charpentier in the car. Randall was struggling with one leg, caught on or impaled by a piece of \softline steel which protruded from the floor of car.\par }{\plain \fs20 \fs20 \tab {\u8220\'93}What the hell is that?{\u8221\'94} muttered Sanford as he tried to lift Charpentier{\u8217\'92}s leg off the steel spur which seemed \softline to have barbs. \par }{\plain \fs20 \fs20 \tab {\u8220\'93}That{\u8217\'92}s impossible,{\u8221\'94} Sanford muttered as he finally got a heavily bleeding leg unhooked for what looked now \softline like a bloody fish-hook.\par }{\plain \fs20 \fs20 \tab {\u8220\'93}Oh, God, that hurts,{\u8221\'94} said Randall quietly, apparently trying not to upset his unseen wife, ten feet above him \softline but completely invisible in the pouring rain.\par }{\plain \fs20 \fs20 \tab {\u8220\'93}Randall,{\u8221\'94} screamed Marianne suddenly, making both men jump and hurting Randall sufficiently to make him \softline slump to the sopping ground, unconscious. \par }{\plain \fs20 \fs20 \tab {\u8220\'93}Please be easy, Mrs Charpentier, I{\u8217\'92}m tending to your husband, he{\u8217\'92}ll be all right.{\u8221\'94}\par }{\plain \fs20 \fs20 \tab {\u8220\'93}What the hell do you know about helping anyone?{\u8221\'94}\par }{\plain \fs20 \fs20 \tab {\u8220\'93}Ma{\u8217\'92}am, I was a corpsman in {\u8216\'91}Nam. Put together a lotta Marines, ma{\u8217\'92}am. I got the bleeding stopped, I think. \softline But we gotta get to higher ground, ma{\u8217\'92}am. Scooch on up the hill, if you can, an{\u8217\'92} I{\u8217\'92}ll bring Mr Charpentier.{\u8221\'94}\par }{\plain \fs20 \fs20 \tab Sanford could hear Marianne{\u8217\'92}s barely repressed mutter about {\u8220\'93}uppity blacks{\u8221\'94}, but he paid it no attention as he \softline lifted Randall and with extreme effort made it up the hill. He had gotten some purchase against the slippery turf and did \softline not {\u8212\'97} could not {\u8212\'97} stop to help Marianne as he plunged with her husband in his arms to the flat surface which he thought \softline was the road. Laying Randall down easily, he turned to help Marianne. Unfortunately, as he reached for her hand, his \softline foot slipped on the greasy grass and he slid into her, his feet knocking her down on top of him. He could feel her breasts \softline and her sopping dress molded itself to het body so closely that her outflung legs presented her mound to his crotch as \softline they slammed into each other.\par }{\plain \fs20 \fs20 \tab {\u8220\'93}Get away from me, you black bastard!{\u8221\'94} yelled Marianne, and Sanford tried his best to get out from under her, \softline his face as impassive as he could keep it, his mind raging in anger at her slur. What a bitch!\par }{\plain \fs20 \fs20 \tab Sanford managed to stand up and as Marianne struggled to regain her feet he raised a hand to help her, but her \softline mud-smeared, furious gaze deterred any further thought of help. The woman struggled to the flat road, or what was left \softline of the road, and lay down beside her husband.\par }{\plain \fs20 \fs20 \tab {\u8220\'93}Make it stop, make it stop,{\u8221\'94} she moaned, as though the man she had just insulted and whom she detested could, \softline or, had she thought a little, would, stop the storm.\par }{\plain \fs20 \fs20 \tab At that moment, although the rain slackened a bit, the scene seemed to darken even more. Through the darkness \softline came a gleam of light, a strong beam which played over the three soaked travelers.\par }{\plain \fs20 \fs20 \tab {\u8220\'93}Hoo, dawggie! Yo{\u8217\'92}re in raht bayad shape, ain{\u8217\'92}t ye? Car wrecked? Yep, gotta ton or so dirt an{\u8217\'92} awl on it. Kin \softline thet man walk? No? Aw right, gotta wheely heah. You, whut{\u8217\'92}s yore name? Sanford? Okay, Sanford, take {\u8216\'91}im by the \softline shoulders, real easy like, an{\u8217\'92} we{\u8217\'92}ll jus{\u8217\'92} poot {\u8216\'91}im soft like on the wheely. Thet{\u8217\'92}s raht. Tie {\u8216\'91}im down snug. Kin the woman \softline walk? Good, you hol{\u8217\'92} onta the side an{\u8217\'92} me {\u8216\'91}n{\u8217\'92} Sanford{\u8217\'92}ll wheel this thingy along. Easy does it, now, kinda rough. Thank \softline the Lord the rain{\u8217\'92}s lettin{\u8217\'92} up some.{\u8221\'94}\par }{\plain \fs20 \fs20 \tab {\u8220\'93}Mister, I don{\u8217\'92} know who you are, but I thank the Lord you found us. I think we mighta drowned from the \softline stream or the rain if you hadn{\u8217\'92} come along,{\u8221\'94} said Sanford, pushing easily on the kind of stretcher he recognized, a collapsible, wheeled stretcher like some of those he{\u8217\'92}d seen used in {\u8216\'91}Nam.\par }{\plain \fs20 \fs20 \tab {\u8220\'93}Oh, ah run these hyer hills, mos{\u8217\'92}ly. Had a feelin{\u8217\'92} there was trouble at the branch when ah heerd the suckin{\u8217\'92} \softline noise a landslide meks. Sound{\u8217\'92}s lahk a plumber{\u8217\'92}s helper, it does. Mah house is raht hyer.{\u8221\'94}\par }{\plain \fs20 \fs20 \tab The rain had slackened sufficiently that Sanford, Marianne and the now conscious Randall could appreciate the \softline extent of what looked to be a mansion, half-buried in the hillside. Sanford gulped a great breath of relief as he saw lights \softline come on and other figures hurrying to help.\par }{\plain \fs20 \fs20 \tab }{\plain \fs20 \i\fs20 What is this? Some kind of hospital . . . I never knew of a hospital in these hills?}{\plain \fs20 \fs20 Sanford was puzzled. Then \softline he thought }{\plain \fs20 \i\fs20 Well, hell, I{\u8217\'92}m not from here, anyway, but I sure thought I knew these hills.}{\plain \fs20 \fs20 \par }{\plain \fs20 \fs20 \tab Within minutes the three bedraggled travelers were warmer, dryer and thankfully ingesting a cup apiece of well-laced tea.\par }{\plain \fs20 \fs20 \tab {\u8220\'93}Thet hits the spot, eh?{\u8221\'94} queried their rescuer.\par }{\plain \fs20 \fs20 \tab {\u8220\'93}Sure does,{\u8221\'94} grinned Sanford. {\u8220\'93}Say, what hospital is this, anyway?{\u8221\'94}\par }{\plain \fs20 \fs20 \tab {\u8220\'93}Hospital? Oh, yeah, does look like one. It{\u8217\'92}s a research station,{\u8221\'94} commented a man who was dressed in a white \softline coat, had a stethoscope around his neck, and acted and looked like a doctor. He had just risen from inspecting Randall{\u8217\'92}s \softline leg. Marianne and Randall had remained speechless since the loud-spoken man with the {\u8220\'93}wheely{\u8221\'94} had arrived on the \softline scene of their smash-up.\par }{\plain \fs20 \fs20 \tab {\u8220\'93}You{\u8217\'92}re a doctor, then?{\u8221\'94} asked Randall, weakly; he had lost a quantity of blood.\par }{\plain \fs20 \fs20 \tab {\u8220\'93}Yes. Doctor Emile Charrette, at your service.{\u8221\'94}\par }{\plain \fs20 \fs20 \tab {\u8220\'93}And what do you research here, then, doctor?{\u8221\'94}\par }{\plain \fs20 \fs20 \tab {\u8220\'93}That is a long and involved story, but I think you will be staying with us for awhile, sir, and I can explain \softline better as you recover. I fear that leg will not be much better for some time {\u8212\'97} but then, we may have a way of facilitating \softline your ability to move, after all.{\u8221\'94}\par }{\plain \fs20 \fs20 \tab {\u8220\'93}I would be grateful for anything you can do, doctor. I am well able to recompense you for our services.{\u8221\'94}\par }{\plain \fs20 \fs20 \tab {\u8220\'93}Ah, sir. Your name?{\u8221\'94}\par }{\plain \fs20 \fs20 \tab {\u8220\'93}Randall Charpentier. I have offices in New York.{\u8221\'94}\par }{\plain \fs20 \fs20 \tab {\u8220\'93}Ah, hum. Charpentier Consortia, are you connected with that, by any chance?{\u8221\'94}\par }{\plain \fs20 \fs20 \tab {\u8220\'93}Yes, I am the CEO of the Consortia.{\u8221\'94}\par }{\plain \fs20 \fs20 \tab {\u8220\'93}And the lady . . .{\u8221\'94}\par }{\plain \fs20 \fs20 \tab {\u8220\'93}My wife, Marianne. Marianne, this is Doctor Charrette . . . at our service, so he has said.{\u8221\'94}\par }{\plain \fs20 \fs20 \tab {\u8220\'93}Ah, yes. I already know that this is Sanford Adams, he introduced himself after we got you inside.{\u8221\'94}\par }{\plain \fs20 \fs20 \tab Marianne grunted. She was really in shock, but she need not have been quite so unpleasant to everyone as she \softline continued to be in the days that followed. \par }{\plain \fs20 \fs20 \tab Several weeks of idleness ensued, Randall{\u8217\'92}s leg not seeming to benefit from the care which Doctor Charrette \softline appeared to lavish upon it. At the same time, Marianne noticed that Sanford had {\u8220\'93}faded{\u8221\'94} and was no longer at their meals \softline nor present during their idle times in the large lounge of this {\u8220\'93}research facility.{\u8221\'94} She made no mention of this to Randall, \softline who seemed not to notice Sanford{\u8217\'92}s absence. He, too, had begun to be grumpy. For various, more and more obviously \softline evasive, reasons, he was unable to contact his offices in New York. The telephone service, he was told, was very chancy \softline and there were no radios nor online computers available. Randall did ask, desultorily, where Sanford, his {\u8220\'93}chauffeur{\u8221\'94} \softline might be, but received no answer and subsequently put all thoughts of Sanford our of his mind. \par }{\plain \fs20 \fs20 \tab Sanford Adams had been a little too nosy. He discovered that the man who had rescued them from the gully was \softline a {\u8216\'91}Nam veteran, too, and by coincidence had been an Army medic. It came to Sanford as a flash of inspiration that two \softline medics should have something enough in common that Sanford could discover just what this place actually was doing.\par }{\plain \fs20 \fs20 \tab {\u8220\'93}We-yull, naow, I kin see thet you{\u8217\'92}re the silent type, eh? {\u8216\'91}F{\u8217\'92}you{\u8217\'92}ll come along o{\u8217\'92} me, ah{\u8217\'92}ll show you some o{\u8217\'92} \softline what we do hyer.{\u8221\'94}\par }{\plain \fs20 \fs20 \tab The large man led Sanford down a dark corridor and as they entered a dark room, he whirled and slammed a \softline short, stout needle into Sanford{\u8217\'92}s arm, so shocking the recipient that he could make no sound for the crucial several \softline seconds it took the injection to work. Then he slumped to the floor.\par }{\plain \fs20 \fs20 \tab When Sanford awoke, he was lying supine on an inclined plane, a padded table which was tilted at about thirty \softline degrees. He felt no desire to move, only his eyes following the movements of the man he had come to know as Charrette\par }{\plain \fs20 \fs20 \tab Charrette turned and grinned at him. {\u8220\'93}Awake and s-o-o limp, eh? That{\u8217\'92}s all right, you will not need to worry \softline too long. . ,\par }{\plain \fs20 \fs20 \tab {\u8220\'93}You ask Brandy Turner what we do here, eh? Not wise, but I will tell you, anyway, as you will not be able to \softline tell anyone else.\par }{\plain \fs20 \fs20 \tab {\u8220\'93}Have you ever heard, read maybe, a fairy story?{\u8221\'94}\par }{\plain \fs20 \fs20 \tab Sanford found he could move his head, but nothing else. He nodded.\par }{\plain \fs20 \fs20 \tab {\u8220\'93}So. Have you perhaps read about what is called {\u8216\'91}transference?{\u8217\'92} Some stories call it {\u8216\'91}borrowing,{\u8217\'92} but we do \softline more than borrow, yes indeed.\par }{\plain \fs20 \fs20 \tab {\u8220\'93}There are two things we have discovered here at this lab. We can place the mind of a man, considerably modified it is true, in a larger animal; moreover, we can make the mind of a person who remains in a human body, almost \softline that of an animal. Your arrival with your companions was fortuitous, the storm was fortuitous, it was luck that Brandy \softline found you, that he could remove you from the scene of your unfortunate deaths and that we can now hold you here \softline incommunicado. No, don{\u8217\'92}t try to move, you cannot. Shortly you will be far more obedient. As a matter of fact, you may \softline enjoy your new life a great deal more than your present one.{\u8221\'94}\par }{\plain \fs20 \fs20 \tab Charrette placed an air injector against Sanford{\u8217\'92}s arm and Sanford passed quietly into a dream. There were \softline many adventures in the dream, many suggestions, which if he followed made him feel very good. Some suggestions \softline brought him to rigid attention and his subsequent obedience to commands relieved his pent-up manhood {\u8212\'97} or, as his \softline mind migrated to another state, his malehood {\u8212\'97} and he was grateful and more fully obedient as the commands became \softline easier to obey. His mind did come to realise that he must obey certain natural instincts as well as his master.\par }{\plain \fs20 \fs20 \tab When he awoke finally, he was a but groggy, but he accepted that he walked now on four legs, had a tail that \softline he could wag enthusiastically at his master{\u8217\'92}s voice, was a very large dog, like a very shaggy Great Dane, with long, silky \softline hair save for under his belly around and forward of his penis and testicles, which was covered with even softer, silkier \softline and shorter hair.. He had vague memories of being human, but they did not bother him, for all he cared for was the man \softline who had inhabited most of those wonderful dreams and who had promised him so much fulfillment and joy in this new \softline life. He believed that implicitly and discovered that he could understand anything spoken. The few commands he \softline received he obeyed at once, joyfully. \par }{\plain \fs20 \fs20 \tab Meanwhile, Randall had been finally convinced that his leg would never heal and that he would never walk \softline without crutches. This upset him greatly, for the doctor told him he could never ride horseback again and Randall had \softline been a keen horseman.\par }{\plain \fs20 \fs20 \tab {\u8220\'93}However,{\u8221\'94}smiled Doctor Charrette. {\u8220\'93}there is a way I can assure you of being able to walk normally again, \softline using that leg as well as you could use that leg before the accident. Would you like to try it?{\u8221\'94}\par }{\plain \fs20 \fs20 \tab Of course, Randall was ecstatic that he might be able to walk normally again, he willingly submitted as Charrette \softline injected him and sank peacefully into a dream similar to that which Sanford had dreamt.\par }{\plain \fs20 \fs20 \tab His dram was full of obedience, joy at fulfilling commands, relief that he had no longer to worry about certain \softline things, promises of the better life and an induced devotion to Charrette, which Randall though muzzily was perfectly \softline natural. \par }{\plain \fs20 \fs20 \tab When he awoke, he had little though but devotion to the doctor who had made him all but whole again. He did \softline not miss the bag between his hind legs which a complete dog would have. Ran, as his name now was, was perfectly \softline happy, having no idea that he had once been a male. Charrette had taken from him that portion of his memory.\par }{\plain \fs20 \fs20 \tab While the men had been changed, or actually, their modified minds introduced to a dog{\u8217\'92}s life, Marianne, initially \softline so nasty-tempered and resentful, was slowly brought to a better temper by her diet and surreptitious introduction of {\u8220\'93}diet \softline pills{\u8221\'94} into her routine.\par }{\plain \fs20 \fs20 \tab Some time after Ran was happily occupying his kennel alongside Sanford, the by now incurious Marianne was \softline asked to accompany the doctor to his lab. The {\u8220\'93}diet pills{\u8221\'94} had worked sufficiently on her mind that she found nothing \softline outlandish about walking, quite nude, after the doctor to his {\u8220\'93}examining room.{\u8221\'94}\par }{\plain \fs20 \fs20 \tab {\u8220\'93}Now, Marianne, how do you feel?{\u8221\'94} asked Charrette pleasantly.\par }{\plain \fs20 \fs20 \tab {\u8220\'93}Quite . . . well, I . . . think, doctor. I seem. . . to be . . . sleepy a good . . . deal of . . . the time.{\u8221\'94}\par }{\plain \fs20 \fs20 \tab {\u8220\'93}Yes, Marianne. You know, from what we have learned about you, that you are, to put it nastily but succinctly, \softline a {\u8216\'91}bitch?{\u8217\'92} Yes? I think you are becoming one on fact as well as in temperament, Marianne. By the way, I will call you \softline Mari from now on, Marianne is too affected a name for a bitch {\u8212\'97} don{\u8217\'92}t you agree?{\u8221\'94}\par }{\plain \fs20 \fs20 \tab Mari{\u8217\'92}s sluggish thoughts slowly sifted through this long statement. She felt that she was, yes, she was a bitch, \softline that was what she was, all right, but where was a dog? She felt heat and wetness between her legs, her tongue began to \softline protrude from her mouth and she felt the need to pant. Her strangled {\u8220\'93}yes{\u8221\'94} to Charrette{\u8217\'92}s last question was hardly heard.\par }{\plain \fs20 \fs20 She panted, feeling the heat, the wetness and a new scent as her body slowly writhed.\par }{\plain \fs20 \fs20 \tab {\u8220\'93}You are slightly altered, Mari, so you can be serviced properly by a friend you once knew. You have no need \softline to be superior to this friend, whom you will see in a new shape, a shape pertaining to your desperate need, eh, Mari?{\u8221\'94}\par }{\plain \fs20 \fs20 \tab Yes, oh, yes, she had a need. She had need of a dog, a big dog with a nice, long member to scratch the itch \softline which had sprung into being between her legs with the heat and the wetness.\par }{\plain \fs20 \fs20 \tab {\u8220\'93}D{\u8217\'92}you remember someone named {\u8216\'91}Sanford,{\u8217\'92} Mari? A black man, you called him {\u8216\'91}nigger,{\u8217\'92} didn{\u8217\'92}t you, yet he{\u8217\'92}s \softline {\u8212\'97} he }{\plain \fs20 \i\fs20 was}{\plain \fs20 \fs20 {\u8212\'97} hardly more tanned of skin than you after your Florida sojourns. We-ell, Mari, I think you{\u8217\'92}ll want, you{\u8217\'92}ll \softline need and }{\plain \fs20 \i\fs20 like}{\plain \fs20 \fs20 Sanny very much in a little while.{\u8221\'94}\par }{\plain \fs20 \fs20 \tab {\u8220\'93}Wazz matter my husban{\u8221\'94}, doc{\u8217\'92}or?{\u8221\'94} Mari retained some slight thought, although she was now not certain what \softline she meant by {\u8220\'93}husband.{\u8221\'94}\par }{\plain \fs20 \fs20 \tab {\u8220\'93}Husband? Ah, yes . . . Randall. Your {\u8216\'91}Ranny{\u8217\'92} met with a loss of parts on his way to dogdom, Mari. I fear he \softline would not want you, nor could he be of any service to you. Sorry, bitch, but Sanny will have to do.{\u8221\'94}\par }{\plain \fs20 \fs20 \tab Mari lay against the inclined surface where she had wakened, still panting and trying not to think about her \softline streaming vagina and the heat and itch there. Try as she might, she could not touch herself to relieve some of the desire, but it kept building until she was almost ready to scream in anguish. Her legs flailed against the smooth surface of the \softline tilted table, her arms moving in aimless sweeps across the same surfaces.\par }{\plain \fs20 \fs20 \tab A scrabbling near the floor brought her full attention to a dog, a large, tail-wagging dog, which had been led \softline into the room by Charrette.\par }{\plain \fs20 \fs20 \tab {\u8220\'93}You two can become acquainted, Mari, Good luck.{\u8221\'94} \par }{\plain \fs20 \fs20 \tab The dog, }{\plain \fs20 \i\fs20 Must be Sanny}{\plain \fs20 \fs20 she thought desperately, nosed at her crotch and she spread her legs wider as she tuned \softline so that her back was to the tilted table.\par }{\plain \fs20 \fs20 \tab }{\plain \fs20 \i\fs20 That{\u8217\'92}s not right, }{\plain \fs20 \fs20 she realised.\par }{\plain \fs20 \fs20 \tab Again the dog nuzzled her labia and she moaned. Slowly, still holding onto the table as she slipped downward,\par }{\plain \fs20 \fs20 she saw that the dog had a long, pink penis protruding a long way out of its sheath and she instantly knew that she wanted \softline that thing buried inside her, scratching the itch and filling her with dog seed. She must satisfy the dog, tough, before she \softline satisfied herself.\par }{\plain \fs20 \fs20 \tab She turned as her knees hit the floor and moved slightly away from the tilted table so that she could spread her \softline legs widely and lay her chest on the warm floor, opening herself to the dog{\u8217\'92}s sniffs and his tongue as he began to taste \softline her heated exudations. Each lick sent a chill through her, making her belly contract and curving her backbone first up \softline then down to open herself even more.\par }{\plain \fs20 \fs20 \tab Sanny{\u8217\'92}s ind was aware of what he was doing, but slightly puzzled that he was doing this in a strange way. He \softline could feel his long penis throbbing with the desire for this bitch, her heat making his chops drool, but at the same time \softline Sanny vaguely recognized that this was a human, but she smelled like a bitch {\u8212\'97} his dog-mind knew that the way she \softline presented was different, but what remained of his Sanford mind knew that as a dog he should mount her hard from the \softline way she was spread and waiting.\par }{\plain \fs20 \fs20 \tab He humped his chest over her ass and wrapped his front legs around her waist, then slid back to her hips as he \softline bent his back to slide his penis into the hot, slippery and anxious opening under him. To Mari his member felt like a \softline burning brand as the dog entered her, but it was certainly scratching her itch, as the dog began pounding at her rear.\par }{\plain \fs20 \fs20 \tab Somewhere in Sanny{\u8217\'92}s mind there surfaced }{\plain \fs20 \i\fs20 Why am I fucking this bitch so hard? I{\u8217\'92}m not a rabbit!}{\plain \fs20 \fs20 But his \softline canine instincts required him to tickle and irritate his plunging penis sufficiently quickly to raise the knots at its base so \softline that he could climax. His penis tip rubbed repeatedly against Mari{\u8217\'92}s cervix, providing just enough stimulus to enlarge \softline those knots.\par }{\plain \fs20 \fs20 \tab Mari could feel them as they grew and she duly registered the need, through the exciting and very stimulating \softline feelings inside her, that she must enfold and hold that bulging knot within her while she and her dog spasmed in a great \softline climax. Her clit was just sufficiently engaged to make her belly contract in ecstasy, her back bend into a curve that made \softline Sanny elongate as she pulled at him while, as she straightened her back and pushed out her belly after a particularly \softline ecstatic stretch, his now huge knots slid inside the muscles of her vagina, locking them together as they climaxed. \par }{\plain \fs20 \fs20 \tab Mari yowled like a hound as she felt Sanny{\u8217\'92}s seed spurt, spurt again and flood her vagina, so much ejaculated \softline that it flowed in tickling streams down her inner thighs. Sanny wanted very much to decouple, he was beginning to hurt, \softline but her muscles, still over-excited by her climax, would not relax. The thinking part of Sanny{\u8217\'92}s mind finally took over \softline and he allowed his own muscles, which had been straining to project his penis to its fullest length, to slacken. After \softline several minutes, Mari tried to loosen her vaginal muscles, but the decoupling process was continually interrupted by their \softline mutual and sudden spastic reactions to a stray tickle or a muscle spasm, so that it was another ten minutes before Sanny{\u8217\'92}s \softline penis left Mari{\u8217\'92}s vagina with a small {\u8220\'93}pop.{\u8221\'94} \par }{\plain \fs20 \fs20 \tab Mari found herself petting the head of a handsome, large dog with silky hair. She badly needed to do something \softline more for the dog, and, seeing his still visible penis, now somewhat withdrawn from its full length, but still hard, she \softline licked at it, cleaning it of the seed and vaginal juices with which it was festooned. Mari felt complete; Sanny felt tired, \softline but there was no recognition by either of their former relationship. Sanny licked Mari{\u8217\'92}s nose and raised himself to his \softline four feet as Mari went to sleep on the floor..\par }{\plain \fs20 \fs20 \tab Doctor Charrette had looked on with glee, tempered by his scientific interest in the results of his experiment \softline in human-animal mental transfer and induced animalistic behavior. Would it be possible, he mused . . . ?}}