Savage Impulses - Story: A New Life

Savage Impulses

Story: A New Life - Chapter 6
Saturday, 15-Apr-2000 01:44:27
207.193.123.219 writes:

And so it went. Over the next three months, Sarah (or Khara, which she discovered to be her true Gammonian name) would spend her days inside the crashed escape pod, listening to the computerized projection of her late brother recount the histoy of the planet of her birth. More importantly, Xris told of her own history, and the place and importance of her family within Gammon's society. She asked him many, many questions; this was all new to her ears - - but her mind was starting to recount bits and pieces of Xris' recitations. As time wore on, Sarah began to feel more comfortable with the whole affair; of her not being human, as she had previously thought herself as being; and of her possessing special abilities that living within Earth's atmosphere gave her.

Although it had been quite a shock the first time she had underwent her body's inversion to its actual form (and several times afterwards, too, she admitted to herself), Sarah was becoming more comfortable with the transformation. She was also learning how to control it; Xris' memory banks contained a little data regarding computer-generated simulations of this effect, placed there by her true father before his death. The data postulated that the additional content of nitrogen in Earth's atmosphere would allow her to alter her appearance at will, although it took some concentration on her part. The data also hypothesized that severe emotinal trauma would also have an affect - because of how her particular nervous system operated - triggering her metamorphosis into the form she was not presently occupying. It was somewhat painful - her muscular and skeletal structures were going through rather substantial size, shape, and mass variations with each change. But it was manageable if she knew that it was immanent and did a little mental preperation. She also found that she was actually beginning to like how she looked during those times. The green skin was very hard to get used to, but otherwise her body looked and felt wonderful! The one bad thing she discovered was that when she transformed, her clothing was unable to keep up with her growth; she had left almost an entire closet-full of shirts, jeans, underwear, shoes, and other clothing types in shreds. So she didn't change if she didn't have to, preferring to stay in her human form for most everything.

However, she did perform experiments (on Xris' insistence - and her own curiosity) to find out what all abilities she did possess while inhabiting her natural body. Xris had said that Gammon had much higher gravity, plus Sola-3 (Earth)'s contained many elements that were completely foreign to her home planet and would have some effect on Sarah's body. For this, she needed to grow into her Gammonian form. Since she didn't want to destroy any more clothing, she had Elizabeth create some makeshift underwear-style coverings from an extra set of curtains that had been sitting in the linen closet. When she grew, the fabric would expand around her green curves and muscles, keeping her modesty, which she deeply appreciated. But she had nothing to wear on her feet; she had tried one of Donald's pair of cowboy boots, but they had proven inadequate - she would still apologize to him for their destruction. That was something else she had to get used to.

She had aleady discovered that she had superhuman strength - lifting Donald's pickup had proven that beyond a doubt. But to what extent did her strength go? She had tested this in the simplest way she could think of - - she attempted to lift the pod. Xris had calculated that it massed very close to sixty tons, also stating that there was some margin for error, as the pod had been partially crushed and melded in with the earth around it. Sarah had gripped it as best she could...and lifted. Donald and Elizabeth had watched on in total amazement as she had hefted the small ship from the ground. For her part, it didn't feel all that heavy; it was like lifting an object that weighed twenty pounds. Xris had said that the upper limits of her strength were unkown, given all the variables he had to work with. But Sarah had been satisfied with that.

Her heavily enhanced physique also provided her with great speed. She had started running down a small access road not far from the Carters' farmhouse, Donald pacing her in his Mustang. He had reached almost seventy-five miles-an-hour before he began to overtake his adopted daughter. And when they returned to the pod, she had commented that she hadn't even felt winded.

That had led to another test - one that Elizabeth had brought up. "Well, if you can run that fast, dear, how high do you think those green legs of yours can take you if you jump?", she had said. Finding somewhere to test this out had proved to be a little more challanging than the previous two tests. Finally they had found an unused water tower near an abandoned, dilapitated barn. Donald had gueesed that it was at least forty feet in height. Sarah had stood right next to it, bending her awesomly shaped legs in anticipation of the jump. When she leapt upwards, the power behind that leap had easily carried her to the top of the tower. In fact, she had almost completely overshoi it. From there she had jumped back down; when she landed, Sarah handled the force of her impact by bending her legs, as if she had just jumped down from a small ledge. But the force was much greater, and she had found that her feet and punched through the relatively soft ground, sinking a couple of inches above her thick green ankles.

The elder couple had been amazed and happy for Sarah's discoveries of what she could do. They were also glad that she was rediscovering information about her past and her real family. But they also shared in her sadness that she would never be able to meet them. Xris was as close to that family that she had from her planet. They did their best to help Sarah in her learning, growing even more close-knit than they had been before. Now she was faced with a big question: what was she going to do now? After questioning Xris, the computer had informed her that she was truly alone; no one from Gammon knew that she had landed here. That left out leaving Earth. Besides, she didn't want to leave. But that didn't tell her what to do with her life. She wanted to integrate herself completely here on Earth, and that meant finding an occupation that interested her. She dearly loved the Carters, but there were no real prospects for education or employment in this part of Wyoming.

Fate was about to help Sarah's decision - - but not in a way she would have wished.

Sarah was having one of her discussions with Xris when the computer informed her that a car had just quickly pulled up to right outside the pod's door. When she opened it up she saw Elizabeth. The elderly woman was in a state of shock and distress; it took the young woman critical seconds to calm her down enough to find out what was going on.

"Donald - - He's sick!", Elizabeth panted, slightly hysterical. "I - I think he's having a heart attack!"

'Oh, no! Dad!!', Sarah's mind shouted. She told Elizabeth to drive back to the house - that she would get there by her own means. She then began running in the direction of their farmhouse while her surrogate mother quickly climbed back into the pickup she had arrived in. As she ran, feeling her heart racing with fear in regards to what Donald could be going through, Sarah concentrated on changing into her stronger form. The fear helped facilitate her efforts, and within seconds of commencing she felt the inner warmth rapidly building and spreading out from the center of her chest. She didn't have time to look down at herslef, keeping her eyes on the ground to watch out for objects that might trip her up. But she did see her tennis shoes flashing in and out of her vision as her feet pounded against the ground. They were feeling more and more tight - as was the rest of her outfit - as her transformation gained momentum. Suddenly she felt them starting to give; now whenever her shoes were in sight, she caught slivers of pale green along with the white leather. Those slices of light emarlad skin rapidly grew larger as her expanding feet tore their way out of the constricting material. She beagn to feel her spee increasing with every second, the super-strength flowing through her growing legs. Her calves elongated with muscle, both their growth and flexing creating expanding tears in the bottom of her jeans. As her arms pumped back and forth with her running action, her sleeves began to rip apart, displaying longer, more muscular and graceful arms. Then the rest of her shirt rapidly began to split apart, her chest and back becoming too large for it to envelop. She felt her growing breasts rupture her brasierre, easily showing through her ripping shirt. But she didn't care at all about her growing state of dishabille; her adopted father could be in real trouble, and she had to get there as fast as possible. Her rapidly pumping legs easily and quickly tore through most of her light-blue jeans as her much stronger (and greener) calves and thighs propelled Sarah closer and closer to their house.

She felt the change stop; she was really moving now, running even faster that she had been during the test. She reasoned that the stress of the situation was prodding her to push herself harder. Her large, strong bare feet flashed in rich green streaks as she continued running, the house coming into view. The torn strips of her clothes streamed behind her with the wind generated by her swiftly moving form. She quickly slowed down as she reached the house's grounds. "Dad?! Dad, where are you?!", she called out with a rich, husky voice. She was jogging towards the house when she spotted him. He was lying next to his beloved Mustang, tools strewn about the area. Sarah ran over to him; she knelt and cradled his frail head and neck in her strong, supple green hands. "Dad....", she whispered.

His breathing was very ragged, his skin extremely pale. "Uhhhh....S - Sarah - ? That...you?"

She could barely hear him, but she nodded, feeling tears welling up in eyes. "Yeah, it's me, Dad. Please be still. Mom's on her way. She's already called for the ambulance."

He weakly shook his head. "N - nah, honey. It's too - late for me. Tell your mother - that I love her." His eyes fluttered, and Sarah could feel his breathing becoming even shallower. He sucked in one more breath; "And....I - love - youuuuuu...." His eyes closed, and his chest fell. It didn't rise again. Sarah rested her head against Donald's, feeling the tears flowing freely down her emerald cheeks. Her mind barely registered the sound of a truck pulling up close by. She heard the door open, and then a shriek of sadness and loss.

The funeral was held a week later. Just over a month later Sarah gave Elizabeth the news that she had decided to attend the University of Colorado. She wanted to go into journalism and discover as much as she could about the planet that was now her home, and the people who lived on it. Elizabeth was happy for her choice, and told her that she would pay for her schooling. Sarah then left for the nearest airport the catch her plane for Denver.....and her new life.

College was a whole other adventure for the young, extra-terrestrial woman. She had various friendships - even a relationship or two with guys (another new experience). But Sarah never transformed into her green self. She wanted to keep that part of her an absolute secret; she never even told her closest friend about it. During the second semester of her third year, Sarah received a note from home, informing her of Elizabeth's death. She cried after reading it; now both of the very kind and loving people who had saved her life were gone. She felt somewhat disconnected from the world around her. She wanted to remember them forever; she wanted to live a life that they would approve and be proud of.

She graduated from UCO as salutatorian of her class. She was immediately offered a job with the Denver Post newspaper. She moved into a nice apartment in one of Denver's fashionable suburbs, settling into her new career. She put herself totally into her job, trying to forget about her alien heritage and her abilities. She thought of herself as human, and that's the way she wanted it to stay.

But that was not in the cards for the 29-year-old journalist. Sarah Carter's past would again come into play - and a city would gain a heroine......

To be continued

Terry