“Yeah, but it’s only a 20-minute ride.” He popped the chip in his mouth.
Cheryl Lynn was aghast. She knew there were technologies here that were incredible, but from the middle of the United States all the way over to the Mediterranean in 20 minutes? “Is this using the same type of Pod that you took Tina up in?” She continued as he nodded. “I don’t suppose you need to visit the ship any time soon, do you?”
Marcus smiled to her, “Why, I think I might need to do another field trip. Would you care to make sure it’s kid friendly?”
She grinned, “I think that would be very appropriate, Mr. Scientist man!”
—
“John!” Bethany Anne called out. The team was working out in the underground practice area together. He came jogging over to her, “Yes?”
“I have just been informed that Marcus is requesting a ‘field trip’ to take Cheryl Lynn over to the Ad Aeternitatem. Have you been expecting this?” She asked and then grumped, “And when am I going to get my helper back? I can’t keep making up crap for her to do while all of you finish whatever you have going on.”
John answered, “Sorry boss, but I know my cousin. You would have a solid support person with just me telling her it’s a good cause.” He leaned down a little bit and smiled, “But you will have an amazing support person when she knows, no believes, in this herself.”
Bethany Anne eyed him back, “Yeah, I can see that, but I’m getting impatient. And do you know what impatience causes me to do, Mr. Grimes?” She smiled up to him.
John straightened back up, “Makes you want to eat ice cream? Because if you do, I’m more than willing to run up to the cafeteria and get you some.” He grinned.
“Fat chance! It makes me want to vent a little of my frustration, and since you’re the closest victim available at the moment …” She stepped back a few steps and settled into a Krav Maga fighting stance.
“Cheryl Lynn”, John prayed under his breath, “for God’s sake make up your mind soon. I can’t keep taking these ass kicking’s all of the time!”
He decided that giving Bethany Anne any more time to prepare was a lost cause, so he rushed her.
—
“OOHHH MYYYY GOOOOOOOD!” The roof had opened in Marcus’ area. Everyone knew that the roof opened for Shelly, and many had seen the helicopter leave and return. But Cheryl Lynn had never heard of anyone mentioning the Pods leaving.
Now she knew why. It was because no one could possibly see the Pods leaving. Not when they accelerated so fast it would be nothing but a blur to someone on the ground.
Then, the upper atmosphere went away and she was able to see the beauty of space in all of its glory. Neither one spoke until she whispered into the silence, “I think I’m beginning to understand the siren call of outer space.”
Marcus stayed silent. He felt the cosmos could carry on a conversation with Cheryl Lynn just fine without his help.
Fifteen minutes later it was time to go back down. Since it was dark in the Mediterranean area, they didn’t have to descend at the insane rate as their ascent. Cheryl Lynn had her face glued to the glass looking all around.
“Wow, saving the world comes with some perks, doesn’t it?” She asked.
Marcus had to laugh, “Well, only the most advanced craft this world doesn’t know about. Some of the most amazing medical capabilities that the world, once again, doesn’t know about. And … exciting plans for the future that we share with no one. But other than that I’d say yes.”
She looked over to him, “I get the idea you still haven’t completely gotten over your rejection?”
He waved his hand, “I should probably stop talking like that, but bitching about it has been such a part of my life for so long that it’s a situation of my bad habits taking a while to stop.”
As they came closer and closer to the water, Cheryl Lynn could see the navigation lights of the ships starting to appear. Her eyes only got bigger and bigger as she finally realized just how large they were. She squeaked, “Those are the ships she has?”
Marcus shrugged, “Well, technically, they actually belong to Stephen but as far as I know he is merely holding them as a convenience for her. It isn’t like he doesn’t practically worship the ground she walks on.”
“Who is Stephen?”
Marcus reached up and scratched the side of his neck, “I forget that you’re so new and you don’t know a lot of the major players. You might meet him as he is usually either here on the Ad Aeternitatem or on the Polarus, but he is another vampire. In fact, he’s Michael’s brother.”
“The Michael? The Michael as in the original vampire Michael?” Marcus nodded. “God,” she murmured, “I wonder what Stephen could tell us about the last few hundred years.”
“Maybe not as much as you might think, I understand he slept through a lot of it.”
Cheryl Lynn turned a confused face toward him for a split second before continuing to look down at the approaching ship, “Slept?”
“Yes, mind you most everything I know about Vamps is second-hand. Apparently they can become bored, or tired with living. Stephen had been suffering from that condition. Then, Bethany Anne came along.”
Seconds later, they were slowing down to stop mere inches above the deck of the rolling ship. Then, they heard and felt a little nudge as the pod settled down on the ship. “Well, the first half of our field trip is now officially over. Since I’m here I’m going to go check on some things.”
Cheryl Lynn said in alarm, “How am I supposed to find Pete, this ship is huge!”
Marcus smiled, and pointed with his finger, “See that young guy right there coming at us with a smile on his face?” She nodded, “Well, that would be Pete.” Marcus opened the doors and Pete reached into shake his hand and help him out.
Pete turned to Cheryl Lynn as she unbuckled her belt, “Hello, I’m Pete. Patricia sent a message that you have questions and we should talk.”
Cheryl Lynn took a second to undo the belt and huffed, “Do they have to have so many damn buckles on these things!”
“Yes, as a matter of fact they do.” He added, “You don’t want a simple automobile seat belt in one of these things. Pods fly in three dimensions and even though they handle gravity very well it could still toss you around if it had to do some sort of quick maneuvers. Besides, we use them as transportation into combat situations. Arriving still able to function is important.”
Cheryl Lynn thought about her first comment to Pete and her cheeks reddened, “Sorry! I’m just a little flustered.” She took Pete’s hand and he pulled her out of the Pod with no effort.
“Hungry?” He asked.
“You know? I wouldn’t have thought I was but now that you mention it I could do with a bite.”
Pete chuckled. “Be careful of that term around Weres, but follow me, we have some of the best food anywhere.”
CHAPTER TWELVE
Cheryl Lynn looked at everything following Pete while he led her through the ship. There was no way she could figure out how to get back to the Pod, but she was amazed at how nice everything was. They passed multiple people, all of them seemed very professional. Finally, she had to ask Pete in a whisper, “Is everybody here from the military?”
Pete turned to her and leaned in a little and spoke in a soft voice, “No, not when they first get here.” He winked at her and straightened back up then a few seconds later he took a right turn to go into the Mess hall.
“Wow!” Was all Cheryl Lynn could say as she took in the dining room and the cafe area.
“Nice, huh?” He walked into the cafe area, “Go ahead and grab something. I’m going to get something and a drink, I’ll meet you out at the tables, ok?” She nodded her agreement.
A few minutes later, she arrived at Pete’s table with a plate full of food. She smiled at him as she sat down. She mentioned, “I thought I would have a small bite. Then, when everything looked so good I figured I’d have a small bite of this… and this… and that.”
Pete looked over at her plate, “Oh! Those meatballs are delicious. The chef on this boat has been in high-level five-star restaurants. Heck, I think he has owned one or two.” He reached across with his fork and speared one of the meatballs. Cheryl Lynn watched as he put her meatball into his mouth.
“Hey now!” She grabbed her fork and reached over to spear one of his small round tomatoes and popped it into her mouth, daring him with her eyes to try again.
That was when she noticed that his eyes seemed to go from green to gold and back again. Her eyes opened a little in surprise and Pete asked, “What is it?”
Cheryl Lynn bent towards Pete and looked around the room. No one was near them. When she turned she noticed Pete was mimicking her actions and turned to look at her.
He was just a foot away. She whispered “Um, are you normal?”
He didn’t answer but asked a question after twitching his eyes left and right, “Why are we whispering?”
She narrowed her eyes, “Answer. the damn. question!”
Pete leaned back in his chair. “If you are asking if I’m ‘human’ then the answer is yes.” He paused, then continued, “With a few modifications.”
Cheryl Lynn set her teeth and pointed at him with her fork, “You are a pain-in-the-ass just like Little John!”
“Who?” Pete replied.
She folded her arms across her chest, “My cousin.”
“John?” Pete put his hand high up in the air, “John Grimes? Six story tall John?”
Her head jerked in a ‘yes’.
Pete burst out laughing. She wanted to walk around the little table and kick him. God! What was it? He was at least seven years younger than her. She looked harder, at least ten years actually, maybe more.
“Sorry!” He put up a hand, “I’m sorry, really. You have to understand. John is the first one who showed me what a ‘man’s discipline’ felt like.”
“Why? What did he do, punch you?” She asked tartly.
Pete sobered up, “Well, yes. That is exactly what he did. Damn near knocked my lights out and for a human to have done that to a Wechselbalg?” He shook his head, “It would have been more impressive if it wasn’t my jaw that was having to fix itself.”
“What did you do?”
“I was disrespectful to Bethany Anne.” This time, Pete didn’t smile like it was an inside joke. “At the time, mind you, I didn’t know who she was and I was full of myself. My father hadn’t raised me with too many rules so I was kinda wild and I took advantage of the situation.”
“So, what happened?” Cheryl Lynn started eating, going first for the remaining meatball.
“He knocked some sense and respect into me every damned morning until I realized he wasn’t doing it to be an ass, he was doing it to shape me into the potential he saw in me.”
“What was that?”
Pete looked her in the eye, “A man, and a leader.” He shrugged and speared the other tomato on his plate and took a bite, “I guess the leader part became something I wanted when I watched him all of the time. He has a way of making you feel … ‘when I grow up I want to be like John’.”
Cheryl Lynn laughed, “You want to be a walking, talking example of testosterone?”
Pete turned his head partway to the left and speared her with his eyes, “Are you dissing your cousin?”
She exhaled and put her fork down, “No, no I’m not. I’m just not happy with him right now.”
“Oh? Why is that?” Pete slid his chair back, “Sorry, one sec. Would you like a refill?” She shook her head and Pete took half a minute to refill his drink and returned to the table. “Sorry again, so you were going to tell me why you are not happy with ‘Little John’?”
“He is treating me with kid gloves!”
“Really? Because, from my perspective I can tell you that being treated the ‘opposite’ of kid gloves is no fun.”
“Why? Did he do something to you? Well, other than almost break your jaw?” She asked.
Pete thought about it for a moment, “Can we say I came to him a spoiled little rich kid who felt superior to humans in every way and leave it at that?”
“He helped you out of the spoiled part?”
“He literally beat the spoiled part out,” Pete said. “It wasn’t that I didn’t need it, I did. The more responsibility I earned, piece by piece, the more responsibility I wanted. All the way to being the alpha of the Wechselbalg Guardians.” Pete noticed Cheryl Lynn open then close her mouth, “What is it?”
“Well, is it rude of me to ask you to describe what you look like when you change?”
Pete laughed, loud and long, “I’m sorry!” He calmed down some, “You are so damned polite I’m not sure how to act. Most people, if they are aware of Werewolves at all, are practically begging to see a change. You’re asking me if it is rude to ask me to describe how I look?”
Cheryl Lynn sat up straight and her tone became sharper, “I don’t think it is incorrect of me to be polite here!”
Pete waved his hands, “No, no! I’m good.” He wiped at a tear threatening to come loose. “It’s just our group is so full of testosterone that to have someone demure come on board is …” He stopped for a second to think about it, “Well, it’s kinda nice.”
“Thank you … I think.” She said after a moment.
“Tell you what.” He started.
“Yes?”
“Would it be impolite of me to ask you if you would like to ‘see’ a Werewolf change?” He asked her.
Cheryl Lynn thought about it, “I suppose it isn’t impolite of you to ask, but I’m not sure that I want to see it.”
“Why is that?”
“Well,” she continued, “I’m trying to understand what everything here is working towards. For instance, why are you here?”
That question took Pete back, “What do you mean?”
“Well, do you have to stay here now? I mean, sure if you’re the leader maybe but did you ever have a chance to go home?” She pressed.
This time, it was Pete who stayed silent for a minute, “You know, I’ve not truly been home since that day on the tarmac.” He spoke quickly before she got out her next question, “I’ve seen my dad!” She shut her mouth, “It’s just I haven’t tried to ‘go home’. This,” he pointed around him, “is my home. The people here and at the base are my family. This family has formed under one person to accomplish one goal.”
“Save the world, right?”
Pete ‘hmmmd’ for second, “Not exactly. It’s more like provide the world the opportunity to be whatever it wants to be. Whether that works out for the better or not. Bethany Anne just wants to make sure they have the choice in the future.”
“That seems odd. What kind of answer is that?” She was confused.
“Well,” He said, idly rotating his drink glass, “a Bethany Anne answer. However, what it means is she has no intent to force the world to be anything it wasn’t going to be.”
“Like she could?”
“Come again?” Pete asked.
“I mean, like she could force the world to be something…” She stopped as she saw Pete’s expression, “Can she?”
“Probably. She could destroy the world right now.”
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