Adamonde. Benjamin Vance

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СКАЧАТЬ the phone with a chirp and a chortle. When he rounded the corner of the hall she was standing there nude, with a small towel between her legs and a sleepy smile on her face. He overheard someone on the phone saying, “Adamonde, Adamonde, is that you?” She stuck out her arm with the phone, he took it and kissed her; she hugged him warmly around the middle.

      “Hi Linda, it’s me. What can I do for you? Did you get blood work back already?”

      “Yeah, Jonathan, and I got a lot of questions about it from one of the pathologists. I haven’t returned his call yet, and won’t ‘til we talk. Can I come over to your place to show you what I have so far?”

      Adamonde chirped and hopped once. He said, “Yeah, sure Linda. Come over after work or whenever. But, can I ask you a favor? Will you stop and pick up a bag of marshmallows and three or four cherry-filled doughnuts?”

      “Oooo … kay, I guess they’re for Adamonde, huh?”

      “Yeah, she’s clapping her hands behind my back already. Okay, see you sometime after 5:30. Be careful.”

      Linda arrived about 6:15 p.m. with a dozen doughnuts and two bags of marshmallows. Adamonde practically attacked her at the door. She hugged Linda and grabbed a bag of white. She took them to the sofa squatted with her legs under her and tore open the bag. She crammed the first one in her mouth, growling. Amazed, Linda looked at her and asked, “Why does she keep her finger in front of her face when she eats?”

      Jonathan said, “Don’t ask. Where’s the blood work. What’s the problem with it Linda?”

      There’s no problem with it, per se. It’s just strange; the combinations and all. I really don’t know which animal to compare it to, and it certainly isn’t human. It looks like a cross between reptile and maybe … marsupial? Her red blood cells are definitely nucleated. And they seem to me to be constructed like our leukocytes or rather neutrophils … to be more specific I guess. In other words they’re disease killers. All her other cells are constructed the same way, except they’re bigger and ovoid or oblong or even kind of square sometimes. It looks like a circus in there. I’d hate to be a bacterial cell in her system.”

      He looked at Adamonde who was smiling and stuffing another marshmallow into her mouth, “Soooo, I take it the pathologist can be placated with a bull shit scenario?”

      Oh, yeah, he’s my bee-och anyway. First time I met him at his lab he tried to get me to go to lunch with him. He’s not my type in any case, but I get pathology comments from him for free whenever I want ‘em. I just make up some story about the blood getting mixed. What I really wanted to show you are the radiographs; just wait. Do you have a computer with DVD drive?”

      “Of course, come on into the office. Do you have the disk with you?”

      “Oh yeah, wait ‘till you see it. Here, Adamonde’s radiographs are the only ones on it, so you can keep it if you want. I’d keep it in a safe place, like a safety deposit box or something.”

      He loaded up the disk and soon a strange being with 16 ribs came into focus along with a strong spine and loads of internal stuff he had no clue about. Adamonde chortled as if it were a common site.

      Dr. Linda started pointing and explaining, “These bones here are what we call collar bones, or clavicles, but hers are savagely strong and set into deep sockets in her scapulae, see. Her neck has a large nuchal ligament which connects her skull with her spine. It seems too strong for someone as small as she, but you say she is very strong, so it’s probably a vestige of a past requirement. Her pubic bones, such as they are, don’t connect with other bones or her spine, but are actually separated by a type of cartilage I guess. They look like they’re just hanging in there.

      “It looks like she could have a relatively gi-normous baby. Ours … the human female pelvis, is connected, but during childbirth it gets stretchy or loose in order to give birth. Her pelvis seems to be just hanging in between her leg bones and spine. She also has a greater muscle to bone weight I think. Her bones look like they’re made from aluminum or some other metallic substance, see how dense they look, but she probably has almost no bone weight. Also, they look solid, in other words no medullary canal to produce red blood cells. I don’t know where all the different cells are produced, but they look formidable.” She paused a moment and reflected, “I don’t know why I came over with this shit, but here’s the thing that stumps me the most.”

      Dr. Donaldson explained as best she could, she could visualize Adamonde’s reproductive system on the radiographs and she looked pregnant with two fetuses. Jonathan just smiled, and Adamonde, who joined them at the computer, chirped and tinkled her pleasure.

      Jonathan said, “She told me this morning. She knew it because her vaginal peristalsis stopped. Apparently it’s just for reproduction; strange, huh? I guess we’re having twin babies, Baby. Linda, I don’t think her pelvic bones are connected because she can twirl like a top to kill an enemy. A stray cat came around while we were outside and she warned it on her left side then spun to her right and hit it with her left spike like she was shooting a bow. It ran about 50 feet and died. I agree, somewhere in her history she’s had a biological need to kill fast and efficiently. That’s the reason I warned you about loose animals in the clinic.”

      Linda distractedly responded, “I’m not a geneticist, but it seems every living thing eats, or is eaten; kills or is killed. It would be nice if we could be like plants and get our sustenance from the Earth directly, but then I haven’t seen any sentient plants lately. I rather like being aware of our beautiful world, you know?”

      Adamonde, who’d been staring at the computer screen too, tinkled and chimed, and gently touched two small portions of the screen with two index fingers. Linda took note and asked, “Sweetie is that where you think your babies are?”

      “Jon … tathan baahbeees.”

      She was quiet and Linda kept looking over her X-ray attempting to visualize the particular organ or structure she’d been pointing to. Adamonde finally whispered, “Squeak, click, THRUMB!” Her intensity, conviction and maternal empathy forced tears from both humans. Jonathan leaned over and kissed the pink nape of Adamonde’s neck and there immediately appeared an undulating crest, but light pink rather than red; pronounced all the same, and slowly undulating like a fish’s stabilizing dorsal fin; almost emanating tranquility itself. It intrigued them both; no end.

      She stayed there for some time, chirping and peeping to herself as if talking to the babies. Linda blew her nose and accidentally broke the silence enough so Adamonde turned to smile at them. She had pink tracks down her face; her lips were crimson, her eyes almost impossible to look at without squinting. Jonathan said, “My God girl, I didn’t think you could be more beautiful. Linda turned away, then back to the computer screen to allay her mounting sense of irrelevance.

      Adamonde caught the sense of Linda’s growing terror, sought to stop it, turned slightly and seamlessly tore into the front of Linda’s blouse. Her large braless breasts swung free and Adamonde placed the side of her face on them and her arms around her waist, comforting Linda the best she knew how. Startled but still, Linda welcomed the affection, and reassurance, but was out a blouse. Jonathan averted his eyes unsuccessfully, due to Adamonde’s mental feedback; actually feeling the warmth of Linda’s body and sensed it affect his groin.

      Not placated but accepting, Linda turned to the computer and asked Adamonde if she knew if those structures were where her babies were. Adamonde said, Hiii khnoo haall Aahhdde … hemonntt.”

      Linda asked Jonathan, “What … did she just say exactly? I didn’t …” Jonathan cut in with, “She said, ‘I СКАЧАТЬ