This is by Susan, by forwarded by Lisa McDavid because Susan is unable to subscribe to Fkfic-l while working on her book. From: "Susan M. Garrett" Subject: Preservation of the Species (1/1) __________________________________________________ This is what happens when you have a conversation about relative vampire populations and then have fifteen minutes to spare while under medication-- **** The Preservation of the Species (1/1) by Susan M. Garrett (susang@vitinc.com) The dust-covers over the piano and furniture, the bare walls, the piled boxes, they could only mean one thing-- Nick was leaving. He hadn't said word one about it. There hadn't even been a hint. Letting the elevator door slam behind her, Natalie stormed into the loft. She was getting tired of this, tired enough to wonder whether this time she really wanted to bother talking him out of it. Nick was standing at one of the windows at the far end of the room, just past the fireplace, staring out into the night. He hadn't moved, didn't even react to the slamming of the door. When he turned, he seemed surprised to see her, almost . . . afraid. "Nat--no--!" he cried. Natalie was drawn up short as someone grabbed her arm. "What the--!" She stopped long enough to kick out, but her arm was grabbed from the other side. She didn't recognize the men holding her--they were wearing charcoal gray suits, dark glasses, and had tiny plugs inset in their ears. Nick hurried toward her, but another man stepped between them, dressed just as the others. "I'm sorry, ma'am, but we're going to have to ask you to leave." "Leave? What's going on? Who are you? Nick--?" Nick tried to approach again, but the man held up a hand to caution him back. Turning to her, he reached into his suit coat and produced a leather ID case, which he flipped open. "Agent Smith, CESPA." "CESPA?" Natalie stared at the badge for a moment, up at Agent Smith--although any of the three men could have been the man in the picture--then back down at the badge again. "Canadian--? "Canadian Endangered Species Protection Agency," said Smith smartly. Flipping the badge closed, he tucked it back into his jacket with military precision. "We've taken ex-Detective Knight into protective custody." "Protective custody?" Now that she'd stopped struggling, the two men to either side of her released their hold. Natalie straightened and ran a hand down her skirt unconsciously--it had inched up in her struggles. "Why?" "Vampires were just added to the Canadian National Endangered Species list." "Vampires?" Natalie managed a hoarse and what she hoped was a disbelieving laugh. "Nick's not a " The agent's expression remained blank. "Whatever you say, ma'am. But I'm afraid we're going to have to ask you to leave--" "No," said Nick. When the agent turned toward him, he backed up a step, then gestured toward Natalie. "Look, let me talk to her. I promise not to give you any trouble. Just give us a minute . . . alone." The agent glanced at the other two men flanking Natalie, then he looked back at Nick. Pursing his lips, he nodded, then moved away, as did the other men. Natalie ran directly into Nick's arms and he drew her into the corner formed by the edge of the fireplace and the window. "They know?" she asked, in a frantic whisper. Nick cupped her face with his hands, his thumb tracing a light pattern across her cheek. "Yeah. They know." She followed his glance out across the room, but the agents all had their backs turned, studiously ignoring them. "That's why they're here. They're rounding up all the vampires they can find. We're going to be taken to some sort of preserve." Natalie shook her head, unable to believe any of this was happening. "I haven't seen anything on the news. Didn't your people--?" "Not a klew," said Nick sadly. "There was no warning. The bill went through on a nine AM first call, they piggy-backed it with some sort of animal protection legislation. It was passed and went into effect as of three o'clock this afternoon. They started showing up at sunset." "They got you here?" "I was on my way into work. They nailed me in the parking lot. I didn't know what it was about, so I went along with it. That's when they brought me back here." He sighed, then released her and leaned back against the window. "They know all about us, Nat. They know what to do and when to do it." He nodded toward Agent Smith. "I heard him on a cell-phone call--they hit the Raven. They captured all the ones they could. Some got away, I think." "LaCroix?" "They put a stake through him." Stunned, Natalie stared at him, wondering how he could take this so calmly. "Nick--I--I don't know what to say." "About LaCroix?" Nick waved his hand, as if dismissing the matter. "He'll be fine. He's far too old and powerful . . . and all that other nonsense. He'll be back, sooner or later. He always is." Natalie placed her arms around him, holding him tightly. "Nick--run," she whispered. "I'll stop them. You can make it out the window--" He brushed his lips against her hair, then drew back slightly. "I can't. I told you--they were prepared. They hit me with some sort of dart. I don't know what it is, a tranquilizer? I can't fly . . . I can barely move. If I stay still, conserve my resources, about what I'm doing, I can kind of keep it together, but that's about it. From what I heard, most of the vampires they hit with this thing haven't even been able to stay conscious." "Oh. Maybe it's the fact that you've been drinking cow . . . ." Taking a long breath, Natalie brushed away that train of thought. Now was a time for action, hypothesis. "We can fight this. Legally--" Nick shook his head. "They've been smart. They managed to do this without letting the general populace know about the existence of vampires. As far as the police force is concerned, I've been reassigned to secret government duty, incommunicado from here on out. If you walk into court and start talking about vampires, they're going to lock you up. Even the regulations they passed--they're so generic they could be talking about poodles instead of vampires." Natalie placed herself beneath his arm to help support him when he started sinking downward. After a moment, Nick took a deep breath. "Sorry. Like I said--I've gotta concentrate to stay awake." He ran his fingers along her chin. "If it's any consolation, I'm not hungry. Whatever this stuff it, it knocks the hell out of the blood lust." "Too bad I didn't find one a year ago," said Natalie sadly. She glanced across the room again; the agents looked like they were getting restless. One even shifted his weight. "What can we do?" "From here--not much. LaCroix's free, maybe Miklos, probably Janette--I'll let them handle it from the outside. Once this drug wears off, maybe I can work my way out." Reaching past her to the fireplace mantle, he handed her a color brochure. "This is where they're taking us." Natalie stared at it before taking the brochure. It looked like a combination health-spa and game preserve. "Library facilities, internet connections, hunting--???" "Animals," promised Nick, his eyes closed. He looked like he was about to nod off. "Non-endangered, warm-blooded, mostly predators. And for those who prefer to kick back with a good book and some music, all the human blood you can drink. Although they said they'd make sure there was cow available, if I wanted it." Flipping over the brochure, Natalie's eyes widened further at the indoor tennis courts, theatre, sports arena. "They've to be kidding." "They're not." Opening his eyes, Nick pulled the folder from her hands and folded over part of it. "Read that." It was the traditional stuff about the research to be carried out, studying abilities, habits, and-- "A program?" she asked, barely gasping out the words. "That's why we're being protected--they think we're dying out." Natalie might have been more concerned if Nick didn't have a stupid grin on his face, but she put that down to the effects of the drug. He was starting to slide down the wall and it took most of her strength to hold him upright. "Nick?" "Just . . . get out of here. Maybe LaCroix can help. Look for him. Look for--" The agents were suddenly there, pushing her aside, grabbing Nick under each arm before he could fall on her. Natalie stayed nearby as they draped Nick onto the sheet covered couch, but before she could move closer, Agent Smith had taken her arm. "I'm sorry, ma'am, but I'm going to have to insist that you leave--" Still crushing the brochure in her hand, Natalie dug her heels into the rug. "If you're going to start a program like this, you're going to need people with experience. In the past four years I've had a of experience with vampires. I've sewed them up, I cured a plague that nearly wiped them out. I've been a one-woman vampire environmental protection agency!" Agent Smith maintained that blank but authoritative expression as he started to drag her toward the elevator door. "I'm sorry ma'am, but--" "You have to let me go with him. You don't know what kind of trouble he can get into on his own." "We have a pretty good idea, ma'am." Having reached the elevator, Agent Smith punched the button with his elbow, both hands on Natalie's arms to keep her from running back to Nick. "If you leave now, ma'am, we won't have to fill out any paperwork." One of the agents fell backwards as Nick rolled from the couch and onto the floor. Groggily, he raised himself up on an elbow and reached his hand toward the elevator. "Nat--?" "Snap out of it!" she yelled at Nick. "Come on--wake up!" The elevator door opened and Agent Smith pushed her backwards into the car. "Have a nice day, ma'am." Grabbing hold of the door before he could slam it, Natalie called, "I'll findyou, okay? Just hang on! I'll gather up what's left of LaCroix and I'll find you!" The door slammed shut in her face just as she heard Nick call, "Natalie!" And then, as she pounded on the inside of the elevator door, it opened again. Agent Smith lowered his sunglasses and blinked. "Ma'am--did he just call you 'Natalie'?" "Yes." She tried to move past him, but his arm shot out, trapping her in the elevator. "That's 'Natalie ?" "Um-hmm." Ducking under his arm didn't work and a hip check got her nothing but a bruised hip--she was still trapped on the wrong side of the elevator and the Nick was out cold on the floor. The agents were wrapping him in the sheet from the couch, rolling him along the carpet. "That wouldn't be ' Natalie Lambert,' would it?" "That's what it says on my diploma--look, could you get them to stop that?" She pointed past him. "Nick's gonna get rug-burn." The arm blocking her way disappeared. Before she could dart away, his left hand hauled her forward out of the elevator and his right was lifted to his lips, two fingers of which helped him emit an ear-splitting whistle. Stunned by the noise and her ears still ringing, Natalie stared at him, then realized that the other agents had looked up as well. Agent Smith pointed to her. "Gentlemen, is Dr. Natalie Lambert. Of the Toronto County Coroner's Officer?" he asked her. Whether it was his tone of voice or those three sets of unreadable dark glasses staring at her that made her wary, Natalie took a step backward--into the closed elevator door. "Um . . . yeah?" She held her hands behind her back, her fingers sneaking toward the grip of the door handle. "Were you aware, Dr. Lambert, that female coroners having knowledge of vampires in general and having specific knowledge about any one vampire in particular are an extremely endangered species?" He wasn't expecting the elevator door to fly open, which it did, Natalie having shoved at it with all of her might. Agent Smith lost his balance and Natalie kicked him out of the way, but another agent knocked her to the back of the elevator with a flying tackle. "Dear ! Watch it!" shouted Smith. "She's , remember?" A sheet was thrown over her head as she struggled. Hemmed back into the corner of the elevator by one of the agents and forced to the floor, Natalie found herself in a completely indefensible position. "You can't this!" she protested. "Afraid we can, ma'am. You're not going to be harmed. If you cooperate, you get to take most of your personal belongings. Any pets?" Hesitating, Natalie lifted the edge of the sheet and peered out. "I have a cat. Sydney." "Then we'll make sure Sydney goes with you, ma'am. We're not here to destroy your life; we're here to save it." Natalie stared up at him. "You've gotta be kidding." But Agent Smith hadn't cracked a smile. He withdrew a bright orange brochure from his coat pocket and handed it to her. "We really think you'll like this place, ma'am--it's custom built. The others seem very comfortable." "Others?" squeaked Natalie. "What do you mean 'others'?" "Male--and female--coroners having knowledge of vampires in general and having specific knowledge about any one vampire in particular," repeated Agent Smith. "I'm afraid they're mostly male--as I said, females of the species are rare. I think you'll find you're in good company. Young, educated, dedicated professionals, all wasting away because they could never tell anyone what they knew . . . until now." Slowly, Natalie unfolded the brochure, which wasn't unlike Nick's although the language was a bit more complex--they used words over three syllables. There was no hunting preserve, but there was fully equipped laboratory, with vampire sample privileges. "Hey, does this mean I can still stick Nick?" "Ma'am?" The baffled agent stared down at her. "Get blood samples for testing? So I can carry on my work?" "Under supervision, ma'am--we don't want to create a hostage situation--but, yes, there is some interaction between the two compounds." Agent Smith actually smiled. "Whatever you need, ma'am, whenever you need it." Natalie glanced down at the brochure again. She knew they always made it look better than it was, but if any of the endangered male coroners looked even as good as the ones in the pictures . . . . Oddly enough, there was a breeding program there, as well. *** The End As usual, comments and small, unadulterated hedgehogs may be sent to susang@vitinc.com. Donations of Nyquil and Dristan are also appreciated. Win a script! http://www.fkfanfic.com/fkmisc/covers susang@vitinc.com -- http://www.vitinc.com/~susang EVER Faithful Ravenette. "Friends help you move. Real friends help you move bodies."