4   IVAN

Helena watched Ivan while Gábor spoke. This was a long speech for her husband and Ivan was a good listener.  He was tall, perhaps sixty-five years old, but it was hard to tell since the way he moved was fluid, more like a young man, like a dancer, and he was quick and flexible. With vivid, bright, blue eyes, and his weathered face, he could have been a man of the sea or the mountains. High cheekbones, gray, almost white, long hair receding on top and combed back out of his face fell on the collar of his shirt and made him look more an aristocrat than a hermit. His salt and pepper beard and moustache suited him. His face expressed strength and was that of an observant man, with a big nose that may have been broken, a furrowed high forehead, and full lips that were seemingly set in an amused smile.

People would feel that smile even when he was about to get aggressive.

His upper body was sinuous with well-defined muscles, but not bulky, and his chest was strong. During the summer months he worked bare-chested, and she noted his strong stomach muscles. The ‘six-pack' was visible when he exerted himself. The knuckles on his fists were big, his handshake was firm and warm, and the veins were thick. Aesthetically, his body was equal to Gábor's in spite of his age.

Even after many years in Canada, he had an indefinable accent and his deep voice had a singing quality to it. He exuded a presence of confidence some may have thought arrogant if they didn't know him better. He swallowed Gábor's disclosure about Leo as if he had already heard this before and it was old news.

"So that would explain Leo's elusive presence, or non-presence, as it is. As parents, you must have gone through some hard times, I imagine. Why don't you tell me what the issue is, and what you have in mind to solve it? Is the problem his looks or your confusion about him? How can I help?"

Helena and Gábor were surprised at how easily Ivan digested their news. His eyebrow raised in interest, not a shock. They also could not help but see the sharp analytical mind and observation of their friend. It really was more about their conflicting emotions regarding Leo's condition than about Leo. Leo was whatever Leo was. Helena suddenly realized the problem was not their son's condition, but their inability to accept it. It had nothing to do with Leo. The problem was in their expectations of what Leo should be. Changing Leo would not solve a thing. They themselves had to change. This insight broke through her already receptive mind like a sprout in springtime through the frozen ground.

"You know he will have to go to school in the fall," Gábor continued, not as ready to perceive the subtle implication, although he was no dullard.

"This cannot happen. Hell, we don't even know if he is a human at all and I don't think they would allow it. After all, you would not take your lion to school unless it's ‘show and tell time' and definitely not to teach it history, math, reading, and writing skills. I doubt Leo could understand any of that or has the capacity. I doubt he'd survive it. Helena and I thought of a plan to take him away from here and make him disappear from scrutiny and from the records," he continued, "but we need help. We can't do it alone. You are the only person we feel we can trust, and that is the hardest thing I can ask of you. To understand what you are faced with, you must see Leo first, and if you think you can't help us, we understand. But we also must ask you not to talk about this to anyone."

Exhausted he stopped and wiped the corners of his eyes with both hands. "We don't know what the right thing is to do, only that we must do something."

Ivan had never seen a man as helpless and in anguish as this, even during his service with the Russian Special Forces and he made a decision right then. He would do whatever it took to help these people. It couldn't be as bad as his friend made it out to be.

"Okay. Let's meet Leo," he said.

Helena got up and went to the patio. Before she could open the door, there was Leo. His amber eyes shone like that of a cat in the descending darkness, his ever-present cape casting a shadow on his face and some ill-fitting clothing covered the rest of his body.

Standing up he was as tall as his mother, but when Helena opened the door, Leo dropped to his paw-like hands and came inside a few steps, appearing very natural like a cat would, using all four limbs. Then his front leg or arm lifted and he removed the head cover slowly. Ivan stood up and held his breath. He faced a lion.

A shock of rusty-color hair framed Leo's extremely feline features. Fine hair covered his face and the muzzle-like snout made him look like a mix between a mountain lion, an African Savannah lion, and a human. The broad flat nose and cleft lip enforced his cat-like appearance to an extent that nobody would doubt he was a lion or a cougar at first sight. It took Ivan a second to recover from his initial shock and in an instant, he understood the Fabien's. Their lives must have been very difficult. The child Leo underwent a dramatic transformation, more than Ivan could have imagined. Gábor didn't exaggerate. But instantly, Ivan recognized the opportunity Leo's transmutation could initiate. His parents had the chance to grow on another level as well, on a cosmic level that would embrace any life forms regardless of what they looked like, but it would not be easy. He had to be careful how to formulate and approach the subject of the idea that sprung up in his mind, and it wouldn't be easy to sway his friends. He would have to take his time to think about it as well. His respect for life included animals and plants and he thought them to be aware of life too.

His eyes scanned over Leo. The pants he wore were baggy like those of some young Hip-Hop dancers. They did not suit him. A shirt of some kind with the image of a wolf silk-screened on it was visible under the parka. Ivan had a hard time not bursting out laughing at the ridiculousness of a lion dressed in human attire, but he managed to keep a straight face.

Leo looked at Ivan and Ivan returned his look, swallowed his amusement, and focused instead on Leo's stature. He had not expected Leo, a six-year-old, to be that big.

"I can see what you mean," he said quietly to Gábor. "Someone would want to have him mounted on a wall amongst other trophies."

"Over my dead body," said Helena from the door and with a look in her eyes that would have scared an army of soul-less robots and she moved closer to Leo, laying a hand protectively on his shoulder.

"And mine," said Gábor, just as protective, which surprised his wife.

"Come in, Leo," Ivan gestured invitingly to an armchair not seriously thinking to get a response from Leo. "Let me look at you."

They all had congregated in the living room with the comfortable large sofa, two pieces of a couch, and a table with some flowers, magazines, nuts, and fruits in a bowl to snack on, which created a homey atmosphere. Ivan stood in front of the couch with Gábor, his glass in hand, from which he now took another gulp.

Even for him, Leo was a bit more than he had expected. Leo padded toward the seat on all four limbs and like water, for lack of a better word to describe his movement, flowed into the couch. He moved without a doubt like a large feline on the balls of his feet. Ivan stepped closer to Leo, and then reached his hand out to him as for a handshake, ready to pull it back if the lion decided to bite. Leo's canine teeth weren't very reassuring in spite of his peaceful appearance.

"You know me, I think. I don't really know you, but I want to know you better. I'm pleased to see you after all this time, Leo. You certainly have grown a lot. I'm happy to see you close up now. How are you?"

Leo looked at Ivan's outstretched hand for a long time and then, like a cat, extended his forearm towards him. Ivan took his paw carefully into his hands. And then like a bomb someone dropped unexpectedly, they all heard a throaty sound that sounded like okay with an ‘R'.

"Rogay," Leo purred. It came out as if he growled.

Ivan was not sure if the sound he heard was ‘Okay' or just some purring of a cat sounding like ‘Okay' and he squinted, his mind racing. Leo certainly appeared to be intelligent. His eyes looked alert and attentive. Ivan took a closer look at Leo's eyes and then realized; this was not a wild beast he faced.

To Gábor, it sounded like the purring or the growl of a large cat. Leo's voice had lost its kitten quality long ago and sounded like a grown lion and perhaps what might have sounded like ‘okay' was only an accidental response. If it was a response, it was difficult to understand, but one could get used to it. The extended paw/hand could have been accidental too. Ivan made a note to himself to focus on the sounds Leo made. Leo's paws or hands as they were, were that of a cat, but with dexterous fingers, longer and furry, with retractable claws, and soft pads.

Ivan looked at Leo's feet; very similar to that of a cat, long foot with short toes and the same retractable claws as on his paw-hands and heavy thighs above the knees, probably all covered with fur. The hands and feet would match the tracks he had seen near the house in the past and that solved the puzzle of what kind of animal could make them. Then he noticed Leo's tail sticking out through one of the pant legs. It looked thick, strong, and furry, like that of a cougar or a lion.

"Wow, I wish I had one like that," he said and pointed at it.

A nervous short laugh from Gábor and a rolling of Helena's eyes was the answer. Leo just looked at Ivan; his tail did a small, lazy sweep inside the wide pant leg.

"I think I saw him once in the woods but was not sure if I saw it right," Ivan said over his shoulder to Gábor. "I think he may have been hunting. He was like a shadow and fast."

Looking back at Leo he continued. "Now I see you, and I'm interested in getting to know you. Do you understand me? You should visit me sometimes. I could take you to my place if your parents allow, and we could go hunting together, hang out and get to know each other." Nobody expected a reply, the least Ivan.

"Know whirr you live," Leo replied. "You’re good hinderer."

That definitely sounded like a response and jolted them all. Leo's lips seemed to be frozen and didn't move much and his canine teeth seem to hinder his words, but with some effort Ivan understood them.

"Oh. You do talk. That’s great. I would feel honoured if you'd be my hunting companion and friend. Would you like that?" voiced Ivan just as surprised as Helena and Gábor, but appeared to understand Leo’s articulation.

"Deal," grumbled Leo.

"I knew it,” cried Helena. “You can talk. Since when? How do you know where Mr. Cherenkov lives?" her face aflame with excitement.

"See gong horn. Afters fishing. Feeding."

Helena's outburst made Ivan wonder whether this the first time she's heard Leo speaking. Didn’t she suspect Leo could be a sentient being?

"It's Ivan to you all if you please," he cut in.

It was the first time Leo ever ‘talked' to someone. Leo's parents were more than surprised that Ivan understood him, or they thought he did.

Baffled, Gábor heard only strangely familiar guttural sounds instead of ‘words,' while Helena wondered how Leo would know where Ivan lived, and if that really was what Leo had said. It was more than ten miles towards Gibson's Landing, and there was only one road leading there. She knew Leo wouldn’t use that. And when was he out alone long enough to go that far? Without thinking, she addressed Leo as she would a normal child, shocked at his reply at Ivan.

"How do you know where Ivan lives?" Helena corrected herself, not really expecting an intelligent answer from either one of them. Is Ivan inviting Leo to hang out together? Hunting? Leo couldn't possibly answer. He never did to anyone. Ridiculous. But he answered. She heard it with her own ears.

Gábor and Helena listened, shocked and with rapt interest to Ivan and Leo ‘talking.' Gábor still didn't get it. Helena paled and felt dizzy.

Helena stood corrected, her eyes wide open, in vivid contrast to Gábor's squinting. For a moment she was speechless. Gábor shook his head. What was going on? Leo's voice was a mix of rumbling, purring, and growling, and Ivan had to listen with great effort to understand and make sense of the sounds. It seemed easier for Helena, but he was lost.

"You can talk. Since when? Where and when did you learn to talk?  How?" Helena found her voice.

Leo answered his mother, "TV."

That blew Gábor's generalization about ‘TVidiots’ clear out of the water. Obviously, some things were useful if one applied common sense.

Excited Helena whirled to her husband, red blotches on her face.

"Gábor, he speaks. He answers. He is intelligent! I knew it," she wept. The new revelation left her breathless and she turned back to Leo.

"You saw Ivan? That is not possible. You were never away from the house more than three hours. It would have taken at least six or more getting there and back. And watching him cooking and taking the forest route? No way. And do you understand me? Why did you not speak to me before? Why now?"

She knew she was blabbering, but could not help it. It was too much. Helena covered her mouth and looked with trepidation at Leo. A flood of emotions choked her. Leo could communicate. Although she had always suspected that Leo was intelligent, she was astonished, and now she felt she had proof. This would change a lot between her husband, her child, and her. She was not aware of her tears. Leo's answer resembled a deep meowing growl.

"No need. You, Gávorrr, dink ni aninal. Dettrrr di-ing vet."

"What? Better a pet? Why? Why would you want us to believe you're not human?"

"No hunen," growled Leo. "Gat. Differrent."

Ivan observed the pronunciations of certain letters like ‘m', ‘b' and ‘p' Leo didn't or couldn't use, so he substituted with ‘d', ‘g', ‘v, or dropped a consonant altogether. Perhaps his mandibles and lips were unaccustomed to move in a way people could move their lips.

Helena stood in front of Leo, towering over him, shaking feverishly. She really believed Leo was conversing and told Gábor what she heard. Gábor shook his head again and said what he thought.

"I still can't make out a word of what he says, if those really are words, but I see you want to believe it."

In his view, his wife and his friend were losing their rational minds. Gábor wasn't convinced the rumbling sounds were words, but Helena wanted to believe that they were and that she understood them. She spent every day with Leo while he was at work and had time to be with him. Was it possible the purring, growls and rumblings actually were words? Dogs bark and make some variety of sounds; parakeets mimic human speech with great talent, but only if one really loves their pet or is off their rocker would they call it independent intelligence.

Gábor feared for his wife's sanity. He approached Helena, put his arm around her shoulder, and gently led her to the couch. He sat down beside her with his arm still holding her, and she leaned against him and cried, herself not knowing if they were tears of joy, relief, or despair.

Ivan still held Leo's paw, and Leo seemed to be looking at him as if wanting to be comforted. Leo said nothing and his father regarded his pet/son thoughtfully. He turned to his wife.

"Lena, if it is true he said he was at Ivan's place, I'd believe it. I've been with him in the woods and he outpaced me by far. He has more stamina than I do and that was last year. In the woods, he is unbeatable. He could easily make that distance to Ivan's house and back in two hours."

Helena just looked at Leo with a quizzical expression. Gábor was forty-nine now and in excellent shape. He practiced martial arts and had the sixth Dan in Jujutsu, a black belt in several other disciplines, taught archery and rode horses like a rodeo champion. He also held classes in Kenjutsu, a Japanese sword fighting discipline, and was superb in that. He awoke at five a.m. every day to jog eight kilometers, before going to work in Vancouver and Helena now wondered how Leo could outpace her husband.

"He is just five," Helena stated.

"Six in August," Gábor replied.

"He looks much older to me," mused Ivan. "You feed him well, Helena. What is it? Can't be growth hormones alone."

"Look you guys," interrupted Gábor, "I'm as surprised as you about Leo, but we have to talk about the plan. Let me ask you first, Ivan, how are you with your time schedule for the end of May? Do you have the time for a cruise in the South Pacific and perhaps live there for a while? Moreover, would you want to help? We will pay for your time and living expenses."

"What are you talking about? I want this assignment for me. Forget the payment. I have more than I can spend in this life."

"You don't live like that," remarked Gábor. "How do you make your money if you don't mind me asking?"

"I used to compete with the government in forbidden trade."

"Just the right person. Okay. Forget I asked. Are you in?"

Ivan's eyebrows shot up on his forehead.

"Is this a trick question or multiple choices? I'm bored out of my wits and getting older by the day, faster on Sundays. Never been in the South Pacific either. Sounds better than Vladivostok in Siberia. What's the plan?" Forgetting Leo for the moment, the two men engaged in serious talking. Gábor told him, and together they worked out all the details.

Leo seemed to follow the conversation for a little, while Helena shared the couch with him, stroking his fur and trying to engage him in a conversation, but Leo had apparently run out of things to say, curled up with his head in his mother's lap, purring while her eyes strayed over him. Her hopes that there was more intelligence in him than in an animal, soared to an all-time high.

Deep in her being she felt tremendous changes in the offing and surprises beyond imagination. Paying attention to her husband’s and Ivan's planning with one ear, she foresaw with dread, complications and upheavals in all of their lives but knew as well that the dark clouds had broken and a bright beam of light shone on a path ahead of them. Her son was more than just a caprice of nature of that she was certain now. He existed for a purpose.

The following day, they booked a cruise liner departing May 14 from San Francisco to the South Pacific. In the days leading up to the cruise, Leo and Ivan saw each other almost every day, and often Leo stayed at Ivan's place. He discarded all his clothes during those times and felt unencumbered and free. Most of the time he moved on all four limbs and only occasionally walked upright. In those instances, his moves were trying to imitate the walk of humans, but he still looked awkward.

Fishing together with Ivan was fun and Leo once fell into the water and almost drowned. Ivan jumped into the frigid water and dragged him back to the boat and decided to teach Leo to swim and found an apt student. He wasn't water-shy like cats tended to be; he loved it.

The second time Ivan had the chance, he threw Leo into the water and watched him struggle to stay afloat, but Leo caught on. It became a game, and Ivan's skills in swimming improved as well because Leo liked this game of tossing each other into the water and Ivan learned to appreciate Leo's strength. Their time together was perfect for Helena as well. Spring was always a busy time for her. People got active after the long winter months and injuries were common, plus her husband lost his morose attitude, the dark clouds were thinning and the sun came out.

Three days after Ivan's visit, Helena and Gábor had the house for themselves, and as soon as he was home from work, Helena wrapped herself around him. They romped around as if they were again on their honeymoon. She was excited and happy about Ivan's discovery of Leo's intelligence, at least they could communicate. Gábor's mood had lifted enormously and his outgoing nature resurfaced and that increased their sexual activity. They chased each other around the house, had play fights, laughed and cried and made love as if they just had met and would die tomorrow while Ivan spent time with Leo. They had agreed not to have another baby out of fear it might turn out like Leo, with limited intelligence, but now it was as if they wanted a child, regardless.

Part of their happiness was the relief that Leo wouldn't need to attend school with other children, but most of the joy they felt was over the fact that he wasn't an animal, as they had feared. Leo was with Ivan until the cruise date came up and he learned fast.

A week later, Leo was swimming like a fish. He and Ivan were inseparable, and Ajax, the dog, took second place. He was getting old and slept a lot, and it was getting harder for him to play with Leo, so this was a restful time for him.

Ivan also took the time to practice voice articulation with Leo, and if he first thought Leo only parroted words and perhaps had the intelligence of a three-year-old, he revised his thinking. More and more he realized that that was not the truth. Leo could think and reason at least like a human of fifteen years.

Concepts of maps and the use of a compass, an abstraction only humans could understand, Leo understood on the third day and applied them correctly when he oriented the map according to the lay of the land. When Leo showed interest in the charts, Ivan explained the symbols and the purpose of the grids on the globe he had in his house. To his surprise, Leo didn't need to be told anything twice and Ivan had to up-scale his assessment about Leo's mental ability.

Two days later, Leo corrected Ivan who stated New Zealand was a day behind the date in Canada instead of ahead, and his speaking skills had improved dramatically as well. Ivan had no problem understanding him, and Leo understood even when Ivan was not clear with his words as if Leo could read his mind. He talked with Gábor and Helena about his discovery but he wondered; how could his parents not have seen Leo's superior intelligence? Did Leo want to keep his intelligence a secret or was it just his nature not to reveal himself?

Leo was open with him and asked constantly about human relationships with their world and inquired about things and topics that were much more adult than any child would be interested asking. How was it possible his parents didn't clue in on that? It must have been that they were too close to the truth to see it.

He had frequently observed that of people in general, even about himself. It was a tendency of people that thought they knew everything already and couldn't accept facts and truth when it was slapping them in the face, the typical full cup that couldn't be filled.

Not that his friends were stupid, he knew they were above average, but he had also observed that highly intelligent people often overlooked the obvious in front of them. Their eyes fixed on the horizon they stumbled over their own feet. He reported to Helena and Gábor what he discovered.

That hit the Fabien's like another bomb and made their decision so much harder to follow through with their plan. Now they had to convince society that humans were not the only sentient beings in the Universe. If they ever thought that other beings were of a higher intelligence, humans would destroy them to maintain their sense of superiority. As the trio had found out, intelligence was not limited to human form, but the rest of humanity, in general, was a bit behind in that field.

This news had also started a huge change in their personal relationship. The blame they had hurled at each other stopped entirely and they forgave themselves and each other for the senseless accusations. Gábor especially realized his insensitive abandonment of his mate when she needed him the most. Too wrapped up in his own emotions and fears he had treated her like an abomination and it was Helena that tried lifting him out of his despair and self-hatred. Expressing her understanding of his fears and her own, they experienced liberation from their misery and anguish. Both apologized to each other and asked for forgiveness for their behaviour and words, then cried.

Helena and Gábor experienced a renaissance in their intimate relation and even if they would not have more children, Gábor vowed to pay attention to his wife's emotional and physical needs and in the process, it also took care of his. Acceptance of Leo's appearance poured in like water through a breached dam and it fanned their fervour for each other again like starving animals. Being on a pregnancy prevention system, they felt they had a lot of catching up to do and Gábor even skipped a few days from the clinic to be with his wife and both blossomed in their love. Even Ivan commented on that. He thought both of them looked vibrant and much younger and asked them what their secret was.

"Helena keeps me young," laughed Gábor. "She is chasing me around the house until I'm exhausted and give up."

"And that keeps you young?"

"What follows that does.”

Now Helena got ready for the trip and was nervous about the plot they had planned. It wasn't without risk, but Gábor assured her that Ivan had the knowledge to pull it off. The day of departure drew near and they settled in a kind of calm before the actual event. Holding each other after an exhausting intimate encounter Helena reviewed in her mind the necessary things they would take with them and shared her thoughts with her husband. Gábor supplemented with several suggestions how to disguise Leo and thought about Leo's alimentation while on the cruiser. It was Helena who normally did all the organizing of planned events and now she was pleased to see Gábor taking a real interest in the logistics of providing Leo with what he would need. After they made some notes on paper, she looked at him with a frisky glance.

"When you are done with your to-do list, do you think you could do me?"

"Now why do I have the feeling that you purposely want to sidetrack me from a very important task?"

"Maybe I think that a very important aspect of any operation is to keep the troops in good spirits. The troops must love their CO to perform a task well and I’m not ovulating."

"I can't argue with that," he replied, scooping up the screeching with laughter woman, carrying her into the bedroom and raised the ‘spirit' of his ‘troops' along with his own to a point of undying devotion.

An hour later they fell asleep exhausted and tightly embraced, happy with each other and the plan they had concocted. They slept peacefully until the dawn.