Jenny carried the stack of mail into her office as Bob saw himself out. She sat down in front of her computer. It almost felt alien to her. While she had been in training she had taken to writing in longhand in the leatherbound journal Lizzie had given her. The only tech she had spent any time with was LizzieAI and that was more like talking with a friend than interacting with an electronic device. The laptop sitting on her desk reminded her of how much her life had changed.
Nevertheless, she checked her email, sorted out the spam and went through the newsletters she subscribed to. There was nothing earth-shaking there.
Tidbit mewled at the back doors. "I guess I don't really have to do this," he thought to her. "But if someone was around and I forgot, they might catch on to the fact that you and I are communicating 'unnaturally'. It's time for our workout."
Jenny realized she had really lost track of time between her conversations with Sam and Bob. She and Tidbit headed for the gate room. There she went through the second door and saw the door next to the door she used to visit Miriha, the purple door described by Lova.
The door opened to a large space patterned after the gym in Sanglarka. The familiar gray floor mats appeared to have been well used, if not exactly shabby. In one corner stood a basket of quarterstaffs. The balance equipment was all there and through the door on the far end she was sure she would see the workout pool.
Tidbit was now Tarafau, dressed in his muted green Gi. Jenny had asked him why green, when all of the Gi she had ever seen were white. Tarafau had simply shrugged. "White makes you a target. This color blends into many backgrounds."
Tarafau wasn't exactly a chatterbox, but he was a good listener and nearly always made sense when he did speak. He seemed to be of the school of thought that, when speaking, 'less is more'.
They dropped to the mat to do their draga breathing. By now, Jenny found the exercise soothing and energizing at the same time. She had learned that this breathing technique had other benefits as well. She had graduated from doing it seated to applying it even when she was moving, such as when she went on her run.
She found that intentional breathing made a huge difference in her performance. When she did it seated, it cleared her mind and allowed her to concentrate more fully on whatever she was doing at the time. And when she was in pain, she could use the breathing much like women did in labor. The focused breathing helped her to distance herself from pain to a certain extent.
The quarterstaff sessions were getting more and more challenging. They had gone from carefully choreographed block and parry drills to adding a freeform fight at the end of each lesson, applying the tactics she had learned.
Tarafau was a patient instructor, but he had no problem tweaking her when she messed up. This sometimes took the form of a "light tap" of Tarafau's staff and "Let's try that again."
Jenny was amazed at Tarafau's control of the staff. She knew, as strong as he was, that he could land powerful blows to an opponent, but he never gave her more than a few bruises, no matter how furious the flurry of blows had been leading up to that "light tap.”
"Ow!" she exclaimed, rubbing her shin. She needed to think less, react more, she realized.
Tarafau just said, "Again."
Chapter 11: Daddy's Little Girl
Friday morning Jenny answered the bell and there they stood. Her mom rushed to give her a warm hug and her dad grabbed them both, making what her dad had always called a "Jenny sandwich.” It was good to see them, although she admitted to herself she was a little (no, a lot) nervous, knowing she would have to be very good at her cover story. Neither of her parents were thick or slow on the uptake.
When she was a kid, she was sure her mom and dad must have some kind of crystal ball, the way they always seemed to know what she was up to.
Technically, everything in her cover story was true. She was working for a very large entity with deep pockets with which she had a strict non-disclosure agreement. It did involve a lot of travel and she was writing about it. Of course, that was leaving out the part about dimensional portals, quarterstaff fighting and that her mentor just happened to be a shape-changer.
"So, give us the grand tour!" her dad said. His eyes crinkled. "We're not getting any younger, you know." With a wink he entered the living room and did a slow turn. "That fireplace needs a painting. Have you talked to your Uncle Bill? He just did a gallery show in Seattle last month."
"You know dad, I think it needs something too. I've just been too busy to think about it. Great idea. I'll give Uncle Bill a call."
Her mom noticed the crocheted throw on the couch and her eyes went warm. She loved to crochet and loved giving her projects away and seeing them used. The warm colors of the afghan were just the right accent for this room.
"I get a lot of compliments on that, Mom. It goes perfectly with the dark floor tiles, don't you think?"
She took them through the house and noticed for the first time that she could see the door to the gateway room. She felt a sharp swell of panic until she realized that her parents' eyes seemed to slip right past it. She had expected it to be invisible when others were in the house, but she had thought that would mean she wouldn't be able to see it either.
Dad loved the little kitchen. Of the two of her parents, he was the one who loved to cook. Her mom was a great cook, but her dad was the one who loved doing it. "I've got the ingredients for our pizza in a cooler in the car. I'll go get it," he enthused. "Be right back."
In the meantime, she led her mom out onto the patio. Tidbit was there, basking in the sun and watching the butterflies. "What a beautiful cat!" Upon hearing this, Tidbit sauntered over for some ear scratching, so mom could tell him how beautiful he was. Jenny sent him a mental, "Pretty kitty." He sent back a mental smirk.
She could hear her dad puttering around in the kitchen through the open French doors. "So tell me all about this new job of yours. Are you still free-lancing as well?"
"No, I finished out my contracts and those clients were passed to some others in the co-op. This job will be taking most of my time and I won't be around much as it involves travelling a lot."
"Looks like you didn't just inherit your aunt's place," mom mused. "Lizzie had the 'travel-bug' too. That woman was nearly never home. Does this job pay a salary and benefits or is it another pay-as-they-go thing?"
Jenny's mouth pursed for a moment. Her parents were of the generation that believed in settling down with a company in a career and building security by being good at your job and working hard until those retirement benefits kicked in. Her dad was of the opinion that Jenny was "flying by the seat of your pants" and that she needed more stability.
"It's a salaried position with good benefits," Jenny was relieved to be able to reply truthfully. "Lots of travelling and lots of writing."
"It sounds perfect! Send us lots of photos, will you?"
Photos! Oh no! Jenny's thoughts raced. How was she going to send photos of her in foreign places? It isn't like she would be taking selfies with Tarafau on her inter-dimensional forays.
"I'll try to remember, mom," she replied dutifully.
Tidbit broke into her thoughts and it startled her slightly. "You can keep that promise. I'll show you a cool trick later that you'll like a lot."
It was amazing to her how insightful he was. He seemed to sense her moods and her needs already, even though they had only been together for weeks instead of years.
Her dad came out into the garden, gazing around. He walked over to the koi pond and watched the fish doing their sinuous watery dance, golden scales sparkling in the sunlight.
"Are those strawberries?" He reached down to part the leaves and sure enough, there were little green strawberries peeking out from between them. "Nice set up. I've seen aquaponics projects on a much larger scale, but this is really nice. Lizzie always did have good taste. And I notice you have a fully stocked herb garden here. Will you be doing anything with them?"
"I have a gardener, Ted, who was hired by Aunt Lizzie to take care of al
l of this." Her wave took in the garden. "As well as the front yard. But I hadn't really thought much about what to do with them."
"I have a good herbology book at home I'll lend to you. Lizzie was really up on all of that. She was an old-fashioned girl, that Lizzie," he said with a fond smile.
Jenny thought that her dad would have been shocked to know that Lizzie had used out-of-this-world tech, traveled inter-dimensionally and could fight with a quarterstaff like a warrior.
"So, about this job of yours…" Dad began, but Mom cut him off. "She just told me. It's a salaried position with benefits." She emphasized the word benefits with a satisfied smile.
"Well then, moving up in the world in more than just your digs." He looked as satisfied as Tidbit did after putting Cinder in his place. "We always knew you'd get there. I'll bet it feels good knowing you'll not miss a paycheck, eh?"
Jenny just barely restrained herself from rolling her eyes. Quickly she changed the subject.
"Tell me about this convention, Dad."
Her dad launched into an enthusiastic description of the speakers, the vendors and the various events that took up a good half hour, her mom inserting an occasional comment, but mostly letting him roll on.
"I'm hungry," he said suddenly, finally rolling to a stop in his narrative. "I'm going to get started on that pizza." He rubbed his hands together in anticipation and went into the house, leaving Jenny and her mom to enjoy the beautiful sunny day.
Mom caught her up on the antics of her siblings, her nieces and nephews and the neighbors she had grown up with. They talked about options for personalizing Jenny's new space and just general "girl-talk.” Jenny enjoyed watching her mom's animated face.
Her mom was a curvy lady, not exactly fat, but rounded. Her dad called her "comfortable,” something that always got a wry look. She was one of the most optimistic people Jenny had ever met. Sometimes folks took that as meaning she was unaware of the bad things going on in the world, but Jenny knew better. Mom had had her share of trials and sorrow, but she never let it pull her down for long. It was one of the things she admired about her.
Her dad, on the other hand, was practical and a trifle cynical about the world. He had a strong work ethic built by a strict up-bringing and 20 years military service. He often saw the world as "us against them" and yet he had a mischievous sense of humor and mom knew how to take him down a peg or two when he went overboard.
The smells of his "secret sauce" were wafting out into the garden. He came out with a plate of sandwiches and the pitcher of lemonade Jenny had made for the occasion.
"Sauce is simmering and the dough is rising. Thought we should have a little something to tide us over," he said, setting the plate down on the little table. He got himself a lawn chair from next to the koi pond and sat down with a satisfied sigh.
"Do you mind if I invite my neighbor, Bob, for supper? I've raved about your pizza and he'd like to meet you both," Jenny asked before her dad could get started on a new topic.
"We'd love to," her mom replied enthusiastically. "Give him a call."
Tidbit wandered over and sat staring up at her dad. "Oh, your aunt's cat, what was your name? Little Britches or some such?" The end of Tidbit's tail twitched.
"It's Tidbit, Dad," Jenny laughed.
She texted Bob to come over for supper and when it would be ready. He replied in the affirmative.
They passed the time, nibbling on sandwiches and chatting about nothing consequential. Her dad told some funny stories about his own travels in the military and her mom listened with amused patience. Jenny knew she had heard all of these stories many times before. And she and their family had all traveled with him. Like all "army brats" Jenny had not had much of a chance to put down any roots anywhere. And it looked like that wasn't going to change much.
When the last crumbs were gone, they headed back into the house, which by this time smelled like a fine Italian restaurant. Dad had always said that the secret to his pizza was his sauce, made from scratch and simmered for hours.
In the living room, Dad pulled a little thumb drive out of his pocket and handed it to her. "I thought you'd like a copy of our family history," he said, gesturing as if he could see down the ancestral path, far beyond. "There's the pedigree, some of it going back as far as the beginning of the Roman empire, and several family journals. Even one of your Aunt Lizzie's when she was a girl. Thought you might enjoy that, since you never had a chance to get to know her."
Jenny threw her arms around her dad. "Thanks, Dad. What an awesome gift!"
"Speaking of gifts…" her mom said. "I'll be right back."
She went out to the car and came back with a box.
"I made this when we found out about you moving into Lizzie's house. Thought it would make it feel more like your own."
Jenny opened the box carefully and inside was a beautiful door wreath with sage and seashells and little birds. She knew her mom made these every year as a fundraiser for their local food bank, but never thought to be the recipient of one.
"It's beautiful, Mom. It's just perfect."
Her heart warmed to the kind acceptance of her parents. She admitted to herself that she had been somewhat apprehensive about this visit, but so far it had been a big boost for her.
Her dad helped her mount the wreath on her front door. It gave it a very welcoming look, she thought, and definitely put her own stamp on the place. Every time she saw it from now on, she would remember how loved she was.
The doorbell rang about suppertime. It was Bob. Jenny introduced him to her parents and he and her dad shook hands with enthusiasm. It turned out Bob was also a veteran and he and her dad reminisced about military life and her dad told him stories, some of them embarrassing, about Jenny's teen years.
They chatted and ate her dad's amazing pizza. She always thought she exaggerated the taste in her mind until she tasted it again. It was definitely heaven on a plate. Bob enthused about it and then told them he needed to get back to his project in his workshop, but that he looked forward to spending time with them again, the next time they were in town.
"Good to see you have good neighbors," her mom remarked, when he had gone, and her dad nodded approvingly. They cleared the table together, still laughing and chatting about nothing important. It was great.
"Well, we have to head out," dad said as he helped her clean up the last of the dishes. "There's enough leftover pizza for a good lunch for you tomorrow. We've got to get to our motel up the coast before bedtime. I want you to know we're proud of you. And just because you're all grown up, remember, you'll always be daddy's little girl."
Jenny nodded. It had been a long standing joke. As Jenny had grown into teen-hood, she had always corrected him about not being a little girl. But it had become a running joke with them by the time she had gone away to college. They made another "Jenny sandwich" and she waved until their little green sedan disappeared around the bend in the loop.
As she went back through the door hung with her mother's wreath and into the house which still smelled yummy, she mused that the visit had exceeded her expectations. This just might work out after all.
Chapter 12: Assignment
Jenny had scarce turned around when she felt her key warm. She immediately checked her cell phone. One of the apps Miriha had added to her phone was interdimensional texting and sure enough, there was a message inside the app for her. "Report." Was all it said.
The app had been designed to only respond to someone wearing an authorized key. Anyone else would see a crossword puzzle game app icon, which would actually take them to a crossword puzzle game.
Jenn looked up to see Tidbit staring at her from the window seat. "Get your gear," he thought to her. "And don't forget to trigger your auto-responders."
Jenny obediently went to her computer, keyed in the code to her personal email and messaging AI and then gathered her things, knowing she would appear to be responding to friends and family in a normal way, while she was in other dimensio
ns.
She grabbed her official staff of office, grabbed her satchel out of the MDP, per her instructions, and left a text to Bob that she might be away for a while, and could he please collect her mail?
She opened the door to the impossible little gate office room with Tidbit at her heels. She remembered that no one had given her an exact amount of time till her first assignment, but she had thought it would be a little longer. She hadn't even been home two weeks. And she just realized that she had told her hike club she would be going on the hike. Looks like she was going to miss it again, so she left a text for Sam to please send her regrets.
When they went through the door to The Gatekeeper's dimension, she realized something wasn't quite right. First, there were no gem eyes speeding across the sand to scan them. Secondly, an odd keening was coming from the trees that surrounded the path to the village.
Tarafau frowned. "It's the Linklings. I've only heard them do that once before and it wasn't good. Put your satchel back into the MDP and keep your staff handy."
Jenny was surprised at Tarafau's grim tone. "What would cause the gem eyes not to show up?" she wondered aloud.
They entered the shaded path. Linklings stood on their branches, their mustaches bristling, and their bodies completely erect in a posture of extreme alert. The sound was wrenching, like the wail of police sirens.
They emerged to complete devastation. The market square was empty of human life and the booths were collapsed or burning, goods spread across the ground as if discarded carelessly by some giant hand. Shop windows were smashed, and here and there buildings burned without anyone rushing to put out the fires.
"Where is everyone? What has happened here?"
Tarafau shook his head in answer to Jenny's questions. They peered around through the smoky air, still not a single person in evidence. As they arrived at the Gatekeeper's building, the large carved double doors hung off their hinges, splintered and broken as if by a battering ram.
Tarafau went ahead into the building his quarterstaff in readiness. No one greeted them there. The only light was from the high windows. They called for someone, anyone who might be here, but their voices echoed into the silence.
The House on Infinity Loop Page 10