Chapter 2

Lifting off from the plateau, I rose up higher and higher under the power of my own beating wings. Soon I was high above the Antarctic ice. My eyesight was so much sharper now that I could see a lot farther than I would have thought possible. As I flew high up in the cold frigid air, I saw I was over the northern Antarctic Peninsula and I could just make out the contours of Cape Horn, somewhere near 600 miles north. So I knew where to go.

Conserving my strength, I dropped down in altitude to a more acceptable flying level, but still I flew quite high in the cold frigid air above the Weddell Sea. It didn't take long for me to reach the Scotia Sea. The winds became quite strong there as the weather worsened. Soon I was being buffeted around every way possible including up and down. I've never been prone to sea or air sickness, but this extreme rollercoaster almost was too much for me. I nearly lost my stomach contents a couple of times while focusing all my attention on keeping enough altitude and direction. As I reached the first islands, I was nearing exhaustion. I had dropped in altitude continuously till I was only a few feet above the water. I was getting close to a coastline when the rough water surface below me broke and a giant shark rose up to grab me.

My quick reaction barely allowed me to elude the bite, and apparently I cut the shark's skin with one of my feathers. In eluding him, however I dipped a wing and fell straight into the frigid water. The shark tried to bite me again, but started twitching and then died. My toxin had done its work. But I wasn't safe yet. My abnormal skin did protect me from most of the cold, but still, I was losing a lot of warmth quickly. I tried to rise up from the water, but because of the cold and with the difficulty of flying out of water I just couldn't do it.

I swam awkwardly towards the shore, till I got the bright idea of using the auxiliary wings on my feet as flippers. Then my speed increased dramatically and I reached the shore moments later, and not a moment too soon too. I was shivering from the cold and needed something to warm up soon, or I could very well end up dead before I could even begin to get even for what had been done to me.

I looked around, seeing nothing to start a fire or to use for shelter and I screamed out my frustration. Of course there was no one around to hear me ... or was there? I saw a small something on the water, and focusing my distance vision, it became clearer. I could see an islander's canoe with one occupant heading towards my position, but I doubted that he could see me already. Then he halted his paddling and tried to fish something up from the water. 'The shark I killed with my toxin, ' I realized.

I yelled at him, and he did hear me but still, waited to pull the dead fish partially out of the water and affix it to his boat. Then he started paddling again towards me. He tied his boat to the shore and approached me cautiously. I could just imagine his wonder at seeing a young woman dressed only in feathers and a teddy.

I shivered and though we couldn't talk to each other, he understood that I was cold. He went back to his boat and took out a clay pot with some smoke rising from it. He also brought some wood chips and other wood and started a fire near me. Soon I warmed myself over the flames and began to feel a little better again.

The man in the meantime pulled the shark up the shore and towards the fire. Before he could cut into the shark I yelled, "No". He stopped and looked at me with his head tilted. I showed him my feathers and pointed specifically at the coating. Then I made a motion like cutting my throat. I think he got the message. He pointed at the shark and then at my feathers. I nodded. He looked disappointed. I motioned again and with great difficulty I managed to make him understand that he should avoid eating any meat that was discolored or near the cut I made.

I remembered something I overheard at the base I escaped from.

A scientist said, "The toxin starts to break down almost immediately, but not fast enough to keep it from being extremely deadly."

Another scientist asked, "How fast?"

"It appears that it totally breaks down within the system in minutes, even after it has done its deadly work. But I wouldn't eat anything that is discolored around the wound, because in high dosages, some of the breakdown toxins are pretty nasty in their own right. At the very least, they could make you pretty sick."

The native man produced some meat for himself to eat and offered me some as well. I declined and with his knife I cut a piece of the shark for myself. I didn't care if the flesh was still toxic or not. I was immune to any toxin anyway. I had overheard that at the base as well. I cooked my piece of meat over the fire and we silently enjoyed our meal, though I did accept the water that he offered me.

I felt so much better after the meal and the warmth from the fire I decided to sleep a little. When I woke up, the canoe, the man and the shark were gone, though he had cut out some good sized steaks for me. I was alone again with the dying fire. The man had left some branches and I put them on to keep the fire from dying out totally.

While I waited for the sun to come up I was thinking about myself. I hadn't thought of it before, but I would probably need a new name. I mean, Orrin isn't exactly a girl's name. As I watched the first rays of the sun start to shoot across the sky, I thought of something my Latin teacher had once said. I remembered that the name Oriana meant 'Golden' or 'Sunrise' in Latin. It had a nice ring to it and was still quite close to my old name. So now I had a new name for myself. I would be Oriana Pratt from now on.

As the sun rose higher I felt confident enough to continue on my journey. I was rested, warmed up and had a goal in mind. My first stop would be an embassy. I was going to notify my Mom that I was still alive and coming to her. I packed the left over meat and a bottle of water in the sling bag that the man had left for me. I wished he was still around so I could thank him for all the things he did for me.

Thought the winds were still powerful, I managed easily to reach altitude and speed. The weather had cleared so I was able to make good speed now. Soon I was speeding my way towards Buenos Aires in Argentina. I had met the ambassador assigned to Argentina once, and knew some details about the building and the city. I flew quite fast, but still it took me almost two days to reach the city. Even though I had rested a couple of times and ate my remaining provisions, I was quite hungry and tired at that moment, so I rested on a hilltop for a moment to catch my breath and look for something to eat.

It was already getting dark and I still hadn't seen anything that I could eat. I was starving now I guess the flying makes me hungry. Either that or I have a real quick metabolism. Well maybe it is both. Anyway, I was really hungry and I couldn't go into the city to buy dinner. For one, I didn't have any money on me. And I was illegal in the country. Just as I was about to take off into the air, I heard a sound. Just below me an old man was walking, pulling a cart with creaking wheels along a dirt road.

Quietly I jumped into the air and glided down to the road. As I flew down, I didn't make any sound and landed quite silently in front of the man. He was startled and said something unintelligible. He quickly ran back down the road, leaving me with the cart. I debated for a moment, wondering if I should follow him, but then my eye fell on the contents of the cart. Food! There were fruits and some loaves of bread and other things on that cart. Now I'm not a thief, but necessity makes me break the rules. I took some of the bread, some cooked meat and some fruit before retreating back up the hill. There I ate all the food and waited till it got really dark.

I already managed to identify the embassy, and at night the lights were quite distinctive, so I would have no problem finding my way. As the nightlife of the city started, I glided silently above the streets mostly in darkness. Occasionally I was momentarily illuminated by the lights from the city, but as I'm mostly black, it wasn't very noticeable. I was nearing the embassy building when my sharp eyes made out the computer room with the flickering lights of the servers. Though the room was mostly dark, there was some movement, indicating there was at least one person there. That diminished my chances of entering unnoticed. I didn't know if that was even possible anyway.

So I just approached at high speed and crashed through the security window. 'Damn, that security glass is tough. I almost didn't get through.' It cost me some lacerations, a busted wing and very sore arms and shoulders.

My rapid entry did surprise the occupants of the room. It turned out to be the Ambassador himself with a very young woman that most certainly wasn't his wife, and they weren't doing anything I would call embassy business. 'So the ambassador is having an affair?' Well I could use this to let him keep quiet about me, though the noise of my breaking in would soon attract the guards. I scrambled to my feet, and before the ambassador or the woman could react, I cut them off and slid a cabinet in front of the door, barricading it. The ambassador, I think his name was Gill Warlton, tried to act dignified, though with his pants down and his shirt almost off, he looked ridiculous.

He said, "What is the meaning of this? Who are you and what do you think you can steal here?"

I glared at him, "Keep your shirt on. And I do mean literally. Put your pants back on, too and then sit quietly in that corner, Mr. Warlton." I pointed to the corner away from the computer console and the door.

Gill Warlton paled at the words. I had guessed his name right. He put his clothes back in order and went to the indicated corner with the woman, who had already put her dress on again. In the meantime I sat down at the computer console logging in with my old username and password. To my surprise, it still worked. They hadn't even erased my login and password. As I logged in, someone tried to open to blocked door. Moments later a loud banging sounded, followed by a voice, "Whoever is in there, we're coming in using force. So surrender now and you will not be harmed."

Coldly, I whispered to the Ambassador, "Tell them that you are here as my hostage, and that I want to speak to a negotiator."

When he didn't respond, but only looked at me disdainfully, I pulled a loose feather out of my good wing and threw it into the wall next to his head. That got his attention real quick, especially when I added, "Do be careful, that feather knife is poisonous."

Ambassador Warlton quickly and loudly exclaimed, "Hold your attack. This is the Ambassador, Gill Warlton with Miss Swanson in here. We are being held hostage by an unknown woman with wings. She's threatening to kill us with poisoned knives if you try to enter. She wants to talk to a negotiator."

I nodded to him. "That's good enough. Now keep quiet again, and let me do what I came here to do."

As I started typing my message, he responded, "And what is it that you came here to do, Miss ... eh?"

I didn't answer him directly, first I finished the message, which I sent using the internal diplomatic secured transmission protocols. The message read, "I'm still alive, and I'm coming home." I had addressed to Mom, and it would be sent with my personal username as the sender. I fully intended it to be sarcastic, as I believed that Mom had signed my death warrant.

Only then did I look at the Ambassador, "It's none of your business what I did, Mr. Warlton. You can call me Oriana by the way. Now if you tell anyone that I sat down at this computer terminal, I'll give all the juicy details of you and Miss Swanson here to the press."

Gill Warlton screwed his eyes, "Who are you that you know my name? Have we met before? You seem so familiar in a sense."

I thought by myself, 'Should I tell him the truth? Can I trust him? He was a nice and good man when I talked to him last year. But then again, he didn't tell anyone that he was going to have an affair.' "We have met before, but that was before I got MORFS. I look quite different now. I'm not going to tell you who I was. Maybe I'll do that later, if we ever meet again."

With that I gave a kick to the computer console causing it to spark and die in a rain of sparks. That should make tracking what I did more difficult. My wing seemed to have healed quite nicely while I was on the computer, so I flexed it a bit to see if I was already back to flying status. My muscles and tendons were still sore, but I would be able to fly again. And just in time as well. The guards were back, banging on the door, "We've got the negotiator that you asked for here."

Another voice said, "Hello, I'm John Nimbitt. Would you please identify yourself, or tell me what you want to be called? I'd like to know who I'm talking to."

I didn't answer, but started towards the open hole that used to be a window to get the hell out of here. But as I moved towards it, I passed Gill and Miss Swanson. She had put on her shoes again. They were a nice pair of high heeled open sandals. All black and tied with strings. A thought came up, 'I do need some high heels for my feet. My tendons will hurt more if I go longer without any.' I motioned to Miss Swanson. "Take your shoes off, please."

She looked at me with surprise and wonder. "What ever for?"

"Take them off,! NOW!" I made it clear that it wasn't a request anymore.

She did as I asked and gave them to me. I tried one on for size and it surprisingly fit me quite well, almost like if it was made for me. I quickly tied it on and put on the other one in a hurry. But by the time I finished doing that, the guards and the negotiator beginning to sound impatient, as I hadn't talked to them. They started banging on the door again as if they were trying to break it down. I took the few steps to the hole and jumped out the window, falling for a little while before spreading my wings, and soon I was soaring upwards above the city.

President Iris Janice Pratt was busy in her office. She still felt awfully sad that she lost her second son to the new affliction called MORFS, and that she hadn't been home while it happened. She cursed the day that the virus had been released on the world, and herself for taking on the job as President. She missed her sons so much. At Orrin's funeral she had made a speech about the horrors of the infliction called MORFS. It was televised nationally and even foreign stations ran it. Both the 'Pures' and the pro MORFS lobby took it as a sign that the President would support them. But all Iris wanted was an end to suffering from the infliction. She hadn't even had a chance to see Orrin again. Ellis had their son put into a closed casket, because of the disfigurements, just like those of her first born son, Scott.

She tried to focus on the bill lying n the desk in front of her, but her thoughts kept wandering back to her children and their fate. Suddenly her attention was drawn to a beeping sound indicating a message on the secure network connecting her office to the embassies. Sighing she went over to the work station. Iris logged on to the station and a message appeared. It read "I'm still alive, and I'm coming home." Iris was stunned. She remembered the time that she had given Orrin a login and a password for the network.

'Is this a prank? Who would try such a sick joke?' She checked the name of the sender. It was from Orrin, there was no doubt about that. She had given him the username herself. Iris began to feel angry and wanted some answers. She pressed the intercom button on her headset COM gear. "Patch me through to my husband, immediately!"

Her secretary's voice came back directly, "Yes, Madam President."

Moments later Ellis's voice sounded in her ear. "Yes dear, what is it?"

Iris barely contained the anger in her voice, "Get into my office now, Ellis! And I do mean now!"

Ellis wasn't happy with the tone of his wife's voice, but she was the president. So he went over to her office. "Yes Honey, what is it you want?"

"You told me that our son Orrin died of MORFS, and that he was so disfigured that he had to be buried in a closed casket?"

Ellis screwed his eyes, 'Was there a breach of security on the base? I haven't heard from Dr. Balmond or any of the scientists on the secret Antarctic base for a few weeks.' "Yes, my dear. He started changing rapidly, and his whole physiology went haywire. I have pictures if you don't believe me."

Iris cut him off with a steel undertone, "Save it, Ellis. Pictures can be faked. How do you explain this message I just received on the diplomatic network?" She showed him the message on the computer screen.

Ellis felt his insides had turned to ice water, though he didn't show anything to his wife.

"Someone must be playing a sick joke on you, Iris. I will look into this myself."

"No Ellis, I want the Secret Service to do it. You stay away from this investigation. Because this message seems authentic, and if it is," Iris glared at her husband, "than you've been lying to me."

Ellis looked innocently at his wife. "But I haven't been..." A very cross glare from Iris cut him off. Inside he was fuming, though, 'Did those idiots let Orrin get lose? Or does one of the scientists think he can extort money from me?'