“Rafa! Where have you been? I’ve been trying to get a hold of you all morning.”
He explains about the phone being in the bike and then tells her about Isabel’s mirror.
“That explains everything. The twin said she lost all contact with the mirror when the mirror walked into the ocean. Forbes says it’s like when he and my mom and dad lost contact with their avatars in the Mountains above Julian in California. Something more powerful than the twin severed her connection and control over the avatar.”
“Meaning?”
“The presence of aliens, Rafa. Enemies of Gi. Enemies of humans.”
“Shit.” This is worse than he thought.
“Zed and the twin left immediately after she lost contact. They’re on their way there. She’ll dispose of the body.”
“What about the police? You just can’t steal the body. It’s a dead little girl.”
“She’ll take care of it.”
“What about ID? Hell, I had to make up a name for her. They think she’s my daughter.”
“Hmmm. I’ll let the twin know. She’ll have to improvise. How about you?”
“I’m fine, just at a loss for how to handle this.”
“Yes. There may be loose ends that could come back to haunt us. I’ll try to think of something. Just keep your phone with you, tell them the mother is on her way...”
“Twizzle, you’re my wife. How can the Twin be the mother if I’m the father?”
“Divorce, Rafa. Or maybe she was born out of wedlock. Yes, I think that works better. Explains why you have no documented connection to her. Biological father, but that’s all. Think you can make that work?”
Rafa frowns as he considers the proposed solution, then relaxes when he decides he likes it. “Yeah. That solves a number of things. Make sure the twin is on board before she arrives.”
“She will be,” Twizzle says. “Sorry about all this, honey. But I guess this pales in comparison to the Congo.”
Rafa laughs sharply. “No finger joints lost to a monkey this time. At least not yet. No giant snakes, no poachers or cannibals. Yeah, this is a cakewalk compared to that. When they release me and I drive back, we can toast Pisco Sours to getting through this little bump.”
“It’s not over, Rafa. Anything can happen. Just stay prepared. This is just as serious.”
He blows air out and admits, “Yeah. I know. I was just trying to lighten things up. Don’t worry about me. I’ll let you know when I’m ready to drive back.”
“Your bike performed well?”
“Like a dream. No engine vibration. Tires smoothed out the road unbelievably well; made a long journey a lot easier. I look forward to the trip back.”
Four hours later, Zed and the twin pull up to the Hotel y Cabañas Portal del Inca, check in, and then head over to the police station, where Rafa is quiet and in mourning. Introductions are made to the police and then the twin is brought into the small room where Isabel’s mirror lies on the table. When the policeman removes the covering, revealing her face, the twin breaks down in tears and falls onto the body, hugging it and wailing loudly. Zed drags her from the body and tells the policemen that the trauma is too much for her, that she needs to return to the hotel, where Rafa must comfort her in her sorrow.
While they are still in the police station, a lawyer calls from Santiago and says that the family estate will take care of the body. Familiar with the process, he then goes through the necessary procedures, via email and phone to get the body released to Zed to take back in his truck for burial in Santiago. As the lawyer is speaking with the police, two men from the local funeral home arrive to take the body and prepare it for travel. A local lawyer arrives with them and finishes off the paperwork for the release. All in all, it is a well-coordinated assault on the police station that solves the problem of the body. With Twizzle and the Foundation lawyers working in the background, everyone performs well and the police are satisfied.
But before they leave, the twin has Zed take her to the site of Isabel’s mirror’s demise. Rafa follows with his bike. As the three of them walk towards the water, she says to Zed, “Take off your shoes, Zed. Roll up your pants. I want you to walk out to where Isabel’s mirror ceased contact with me.”
She points to the rock jetty and wooden pier that extends out into the ocean. “I’ll be walking along there with Rafa. Stay parallel to me as you walk out.”
She says to Rafa, “If I collapse, rush me back to the beach as quickly as possible.”
Out of nowhere, a small yellow bird appears in her hand and she gives it to Zed. “Carry this with you. Stop in the water when it collapses.”
Zed takes the bird in his hand and asks, “Canary in a coal mine?”
The twin nods, smiles, and then takes Rafa by the arm. Together they start off over the sand to the jetty and pier. Zed removes his shoes and rolls up his pants. Once Rafa and the twin reach the jetty and begin walking toward the ocean, he heads out into the water, keeping pace with them the whole time. When the water is up to his crotch, the canary flutters in his hand and then collapses into a small heap in his palm. He looks up at the twin, waves and yells that the bird is down. Moments later, the twin stumbles and Rafa catches her. When she sags further, he lifts her into his arms and turns back towards the beach. By the time they hit the beach, she is walking on her own.
In the meantime, Zed has returned to the beach and is waiting for them. When they regroup, Zed asks, “So what happened?”
“There is a field of disconnect with an edge that begins at the water.”
“It cut you off from the bird, but what happened to you?”
“Do not forget what I am. I am entities inside an avatar. It affects connections between avatar and controller. My connection with myself was disrupted.”
“It could kill you?”
“No. Simply paralyze me inside a disrupted avatar, but it is very dangerous for me. Disruption of this kind has consequences.”
“Such as?”
“I am made vulnerable in that state. Unacceptable.”
She turns and heads towards the truck.
Zed trades looks with Rafa, who slowly shakes his head.
“Something more powerful than the twin,” Zed says. “Scary.”
When the three of them return to the truck, the twin is sitting in the front seat, grim and staring straight ahead. “Isabel is the only hope. The avatar child must die to release the panther.”
Zed frowns in incomprehension. “The avatar child is dead in the back of the truck.”
The twin turns to him with cold eyes. “The dead avatar is mine. Isabel must cease to exist.”
“You can’t kill the little girl. And panther? What is that?”
The twin looks away from him and stares back out the windshield. “It will be traumatic for all concerned, even me.”
“She’ll scream. You know what happens when that occurs.”
The twin closes her eyes. “Yes, she will scream, we will all scream. It will be pain like we have never known.” She opens her eyes and gives Zed a look of fear. “I do not look forward to it.”
An hour later, Zed and the twin are back on the road with Rafa in the lead. In the back of the truck, Isabel’s mirror is encased in a box filled with dry ice. Zed’s concern that the ice would melt before they got back to Santiago was mollified when the twin assured him that it didn’t matter. Isabel’s mirror would be dissolved and gone in less than an hour, and they would be carrying only an empty box.
On the road, the twin is silent and uncommunicative. So Zed listens to the radio as they return to Santiago.
Driving much faster than Zed’s truck, Rafa disappears from sight about a half hour into the trip.
It was a long trek to Caldera for Zed, and it’s going to be an even longer one home, Zed decides.
Chapter 31
Day 3
Santiago, Chile
When Sister Mary finally woke yesterday, her reunion with Isabel was a joyous occasion. Tear
s of joy, shed at first, were supplanted by relieved laughter.
Adding to the festive atmosphere, flower delivery after flower delivery interrupted them until, by the time Isabel left last night, Sister Mary’s room looked like a florist-bomb had detonated inside it. Flower arrangements, sent from all her well-wishers in the parish, had filled the room to capacity, overwhelming Sister Mary as much as they did her room. The outpourings of sympathy and concern were more than she could have ever dreamed of.
As Isabel left the room last night, she looked forward to returning to see and smell the flowers almost as much as she looked forward to being with her Beloved Sister Mary.
Father Donovan had beamed in pride at the response of his parishioners. He and Sister Mary were truly blessed to have such a caring parish.
Now, this morning, slightly before 10 AM, an emotionally exhausted Isabel stirs in her hotel bed in the room she shares with Sonnet, sleeping in what would have been the twin’s bed (except that the twin left for Caldera last night). When Isabel opens her eyes and looks around, the new surroundings momentarily disorient her, forcing her to pause to remember where she is.
Sitting at a table in a corner of the room, a woman with her back to Isabel is busy with a laptop. Glancing to her right, Isabel sees an empty bed with the blankets askew from having been slept in the previous night. Looking in the other direction, she sees sunlight filtered through drawn floor-to-ceiling curtains. The odor of fresh coffee and toast brings her attention back to the table and woman, where a tray of food rests next to the laptop.
When Isabel coughs, the woman turns from her laptop and, seeing Isabel awake, smiles and says in Spanish, “Good morning, Isabel. Yesterday must have really worn you out. Did you sleep well?”
Isabel nods shyly and looks around the room again.
“I took the liberty of getting you some fresh clothes for today. I hope they fit. I put them on the dresser top. You can choose what you like. I tried to match the taste of the clothes you already have. I hope you like them.”
Isabel stares blankly at her.
Sonnet gives her a kind smile. “I’m Sonnet. My twin whom you saw me with yesterday is not here today. Whenever you’re ready after you’ve showered, we can get breakfast or lunch and we can take you back to see Sister Mary. Your friend, Ángel, is downstairs in the restaurant with my brother, Forbes. We’ll all take you.”
Isabel is glad the woman has identified herself. She was having problems telling the two identical women apart. But what of the girl who looked like her?
Sonnet interprets Isabel’s frown correctly and adds, “The little girl that found you with Ángel and left with Rafa yesterday has not returned. I doubt we’ll see them today.”
Isabel nods in response.
“Soap and toothbrush and comb and hairbrush are on the bathroom counter waiting for you. The shampoo is in the shower. I placed a sanitary napkin on the bathroom counter as well.”
Isabel flushes at the reminder of her menstruation. Sonnet, seeing the embarrassment adds, “It’s just us girls here, Isabel. Nothing to be embarrassed about. It happens to us all.”
Sister Mary, learning that Sonnet was going to care for Isabel, had discreetly informed Sonnet of Isabel’s circumstances.
When Isabel, feeling insecure in the new surroundings, pulls the covers up to her chin and remains in bed, Sonnet decides that maybe she should leave the child alone to get used to the room. She stands and says, “I’m going to see how Ángel and Forbes are doing. Will you be okay alone until I get back?”
Isabel nods shyly.
Sonnet gives her a friendly smile and then leaves the room.
Alone, Isabel jumps out of the bed and begins inspecting everything in the room, turning the TV on and then off, taking a few bites out of one of the pieces of toast on the table, sipping from a glass of previously untouched orange juice next to it, and then opening the curtains and standing in awe at the wide view of the city beyond. These new friends must be very rich to be able to afford this room.
When she inspects the clothes left out for her, she decides that the fresh underwear, new socks, and the new dark grey blouse are all she wants. She’ll keep the rest of what she is wearing.
Inside the bathroom, she does a happy pirouette of joy as she basks in the lush surroundings. As much as she likes Sister Mary’s bathroom, this is marvelous.
When she finishes cleaning and drying in the bathroom, she dresses in her new and even newer clothes, and then stands before the bathroom mirror enjoying the new improved her that Sister Mary started yesterday. Sister Mary will be so proud to see her still wearing what they both picked out.
Suddenly, she hears the sound of the door to the suite open. There is a woman’s voice in conversation.
Isabel slowly twirls around in front of the mirror, giving herself one last inspection and then opens the door. At the table in the room, Ángel and Forbes and Sonnet, all seated, turn to her.
“Bravo,” Sonnet says with a smile. “You look just as nice as you did yesterday.”
Ángel nods slowly in approval.
“Can we go to Sister Mary now?” Isabel asks, revealing what is on her mind.
“You aren’t hungry, Isabel?” Sonnet asks.
“I’m still kind of full from our dinner last night,” Isabel answers.
Forbes rises and says, “Then, by all means, we should make haste to see Sister Mary before they bring more flowers and there’s no place left for us to stand in the room.”
Startled by such a thought, Isabel quickly realizes that Forbes is teasing.
“Don’t worry, honey. These two big men can make room for you in there no matter how many flowers are brought in,” Sonnet says, and elbows Forbes in the ribs for giving Isabel a momentary scare.
A half-hour later, Isabel is back with Sister Mary, holding her hand and looking longingly into her eyes. As Sister Mary recounts the events at the Ministry and stadium to a policeman, Isabel struggles to stay silent. It takes all of her ten-year-old control to not blurt out to Sister Mary that she is the cause of the terrible event. But her conversation with the twin has impressed upon her that she can never say anything to anyone about it; not under any circumstances. The twin made it clear that such a revelation might jeopardize Isabel’s relationship with Sister Mary and, more importantly, they might not let Isabel stay with Sister Mary, whom she loves so much.
Isabel is silent during the back and forth between the policeman and Sister Mary, but when a doctor enters the room and tells Sister Mary that she can leave any time she likes, Isabel can no longer contain herself and bubbles with obvious enthusiasm, fidgeting, smiling and nearly dancing next to Sister Mary’s bed. Going back to Sister Mary’s apartment to be together with her is what she looks forward to the most.
When the policeman concludes the interview and leaves, Sister Mary says to Isabel, who is bursting with energy, “Yes, Isabel, we will both go back to my apartment when I leave.”
Looking around at all the flowers surrounding her, she says, “So many flowers. What am I going to do with all of these?”
Sonnet suggests, “Other patients in the hospital might be happy to have them brighten their rooms.”
Sister Mary says to Isabel, “How would you feel about delivering these to other people?” She looks at Sonnet and says about Forbes and Ángel, “Maybe those two big men guarding my door could help.”
Isabel dances from one arrangement to the other, already choosing which flowers to take. Sonnet pulls Forbes and Ángel from the door, and enlists their help in clearing the room and following Isabel from patient to patient. Isabel, directing the two big men, is on cloud nine. She hasn’t had this much fun for as long as she can remember.
The two huge men dwarfing little Isabel when she enters rooms raises eyebrows at first, then draws smiles when people see her directing them on flower placement.
After they finally finish, only a single arrangement of red roses in a glass vase graces the room. Sister Mary has laid claim to
it and indicated that it was to leave the hospital with her.
When they all leave the hospital, Isabel skips merrily next to Sister Mary while keeping a firm grip on her hand. Sonnet, carrying the flowers and vase, walks behind them. Forbes and Ángel follow. Heads turn and eyes follow their procession as they exit the building. Outside, the sun shines gaily, the birds tweet in song and the sky is a beautiful azure blue.
The new improved Isabel is sure life couldn’t be any better.
Chapter 32
Day 3
Santiago, Chile
Sister Mary is surprised to see a policeman waiting at her apartment door. She thought she had given the last policeman all the information he needed about the bomb blast. As she walks to the entry steps, he nods, identifies himself, and then asks if she is Sister Mary. She affirms that she is. He looks down at Isabel and asks if she is Isabel. Isabel pushes up against Sister Mary and nods back shyly to the policeman. For her, policemen are always people to avoid.
The policeman looks up from Isabel and beyond Sister Mary to Sonnet, Forbes, and Ángel. “And you people are?” he says in Spanish.
Sister Mary answers for them, stating that they are friends of Isabel and her.
The policeman studies them for a few moments, glancing from Ángel to Forbes and then back to Ángel. Finally, he says to Sister Mary, “It’s my understanding that the child is living with you for the time being.”
“Father Donovan told you this?”
“No, one of your parishioners. Is this true?”
“Yes, is there a problem of some kind?”
The policeman looks to the street beyond with people walking by and asks, “Would you mind if we went inside? I have a few questions to ask her that would probably be better answered in the privacy of your home.”
Sister Mary reluctantly accedes to the request and leads everyone into her small living room. Forbes and Ángel remain standing at the door, Sonnet takes a seat on a chair, and Sister Mary and Isabel sit next to each other on the couch. The policeman compliments Sister Mary on how cozy the room is, and takes a chair from the small kitchen/dining room and places it opposite the couch.
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