Serve and Protect

by Douglas Varnell

  After dinner the Queen Mother gave the Myers’ a tour of the Mansion while Paul headed to his office to discuss some security issues with CIA Director Sullivan and Vlad. Desiree and Marie headed back to the Republic of Mali, where they were doing their clinical work with Doctors without Borders and meeting in Bamako, Mali with officials from Guinea and Mali about building desalinization facilities along the coast of Guinea that could pump water into Mali. After a short discussion with George Sullivan, they decided that before anything could be built in either country, there would need to be a push by the Terrorist Elimination Unit to help bring some stability to the corrupt governments of both Nations.

  Finley, Burka, Ilna and Pavel all went to Pavel and Ilna’s home to watch movies and talk about babies. Hon IV departed for Klelta, Cali made a quick stop to see Marcus and Danyel then took off of to Tecalna, Camil headed for Molnar with Lydia after sitting in on the meeting with Vlad, George and Paul. The Queen Mother explained as much as possible to the Myers’ about who everyone was and what they did on Verron. The two only thought of Tala as a cute redhead who raced motorcycles and whose Uncle had enough money to sponsor Elena’s team. They had no idea she was training pilots in Area 51, or that those who just ate dinner with them had just finished training the next batch of astronauts from Earth. Matt was still trying to get his mind around the fact that the Director of the CIA was there to consult with King Verron and his Intelligence Chief, when the Queen Mother told them, “You know Mr. Sullivan and his wife were two of the first from Earth to go through regeneration and rejuvenation. George had an amputated leg and kidney failure from diabetes. You’d never know to look at him that he is over 70. He’s become one of Paul’s closest and most trusted friends. He and Samantha keep a room here at the Mansion. Anita was blown away by the majesty of the Mansion. For a place so luxurious to have such a homey atmosphere was unheard of on Earth. They had just about finished touring the main living areas when Alene decided to introduce them to Zeus. Matt smiled like a kid when he saw the big dragon. Anita had her doubts about whether she wanted to get any closer or not. With both Matt’s and Alene’s encouragement, Anita finally got close enough to touch him. The expression on her face was priceless. She was officially hooked on non-verbal communications.

  Danyel arrived early the next morning and had the MJs with her. She had decided to play host to the parents of her daughter’s new friend. Everyone else was off planet or busy and she felt like they needed to know Tala’s family. After spending the day escorting the Myers’ to the Mall and other interesting places in Capital City, she flew them back to their home to have dinner with Marcus, Michael and Rachel. Anita fell in love with Tigger, but wasn’t quite sure what to think of Ben. The MJs kept everyone entertained. The Myers’ spent the night at the Verron residence and given a tour the following morning of the Marcus Verron Space Center. After Marcus told them that Tala and her brother and sister, as well as every member of the Dragon Guard, could fly every ship in the fleet and had earned a Flying Ace Medal for their battles in space, the couple began to view this little girl in an entirely different light. They had always been proud of Elena’s accomplishments, it was obvious that the Marcus Verron family had a lot to be proud of as well. The following day Danyel and Rachel escorted the Myer’s through the gateways into some of the other allied Nations, spending the night in the Elder Tower on Xhondar I then continuing with the other Nations the next morning.

  Time had flown by and before they knew it, the day had come for Elena to get out of the Regeneration chamber. Anita insisted on being there when Elena first came out and handled the initial expelling of fluids like only a mother could. She helped Elena to the shower to clean-up and left the room to give her some privacy. Elena had to do a double-take in the mirror. She looked, turned around slowly and looked again. The ugly scars on her femur and her left arm, where she had broken them both years earlier, were gone. In fact, even her appendectomy scar was gone. She stood and carefully evaluated herself; not an ounce of body fat, six-pack abs, muscle definition in her arms and legs and a sculpted, lean athletic look in her face. She couldn’t believe she was the same woman. She had been training and dieting all her life and never had she looked so lean and fit. She left the room in some of Katelyn’s cloths and immediately told her parents, “I’m starved!” Dr. Joe showed them where the closest place to eat was located and they wasted no time in eating some of the best seafood they had ever enjoyed, everything on the menu was a local Verron fish.

  Matt then proudly escorted Elena to the BMW styled transport that had been loaned to him by King Verron. She asked, “You can drive this, I mean fly it.” They climbed in and Matt took the family across the bay to personally thank King Verron for what he had done for his daughter. Being recognized by the people in the hanger, the Myers’ were directed to Paul’s office. Elena walked through the hanger with her mouth hanging open as she kept saying to her parents, “Did you see that.” “Is this for real?” “Tala told me Verron was a lot different than Earth, but I never imagined.” Inga greeted them and immediately escorted them into his office. King Verron and three human male Generals were in the office along with one ten foot tall Klelta General, a very attractive woman General and a seven foot tall cyborg General. At first the family felt awkward interrupting what was obviously a very high level meeting, then General Hall spoke-out saying, “When King Verron was still living on Earth he had two favorite motorcycle racers, Nicky Hayden and you. My daughter, Princess Amber, had posters of you in her room back in Nashville. If you think about it sometime, autograph a picture and send it to her. She’s at the Air Force Academy right now, but will be commanding the Air Force on Verron when she gets back. You were a role model for her, letting her know that women could accomplish anything. Maybe you can meet her sometime.”

  Paul walked over to the closet and came back carrying two sets of custom made leathers for both Tala and Elena. He handed them to Elena and informed her, “These are synthetic leather made from Verron Steel. They may not breathe as well as real leather, but I can assure you that they are indestructible. All the elbow, knee and shoulder pads are Verron Steel and even the chest and spine protectors are copied from your old leathers.” Elena was expecting the usual weight of four sets of leathers; they felt no heavier than her clothes when she picked-up her dry-cleaning. He then retrieved two helmets from behind his desk, saying, “These are the same design as your old helmet, but you could ignore a 50 caliber shot from a Barrett Sniper Rifle with it on, same for the face shield, all Verron Steel.” He handed her the helmets as well, which her father now carried. Paul continued, “Now let me tell you some things you need to know. Eat as much as you possibly can for the next few weeks and workout to your absolute maximum. The harder you stress your new body, the more it will conform to your demands. Tala made a request which I allowed. You now have more than twice the muscle density, twice the bone density and twice the brain density of what you had in the past. Be careful until you get used to it, don’t hug people too hard, be cautious when you shake hands and if you should decide to work on your bike, which I wouldn’t recommend, be very careful you don’t over-torque nuts and bolts. When you start back racing, take time to adjust to the increased strength and much faster reflexes. Now go out there and win that championship you’ve been after and stay off Mountain Bikes.” Elena cautiously reached forward to hug Paul and hesitated. Paul said, “With me, you can squeeze as hard as you want. I promise I won’t break.” Paul apologized for not being able to see them off, but promised he would try to catch the opening race at Daytona. He had Tlase make a gateway back to their home, where Elena immediately called Neil Hodgson to set up a time and a place to break-in the new bikes.

  The motorcycle racing world was excited to see the beginning of this racing season. This was to be the first time in history that both the AMA and FIM World Superbike and World Supersport divisions were going to race under the same rules and regulations. Finally an AMA Superbike was truly a Superbike and not
some drastically modified stock motorcycle. The news media were out in swarms trying to interview the top riders, especially last year’s champions and the popular rising stars. There was a lot of chatter about Elena Myers switching from Suzuki to BMW. But everyone realized that the Suzuki being supplied to her and the Suzuki being supplied to their defending champion was not the same Suzuki. Now for the first time in her career, Elena and her team had the very best in equipment and not a penny had been spared to keep the team competitive. While the sponsorship money and news teams focused on last year’s champion and his closest competitors, Elena had finished 4th overall the previous year, no one was paying much attention to the brightly colored pink and blue leathers or the brightly colored bikes of Team 21 Motosport; that is until it came time for qualifying. Soon everyone was watching the competition for pole-position. The race was not between last year’s champion and his team-mate that finished second behind him. It was between two members of Team 21 Motosport. Tala and Elena finished 1st and 2nd for the qualifying and both had perfect positions on the front row for the start of the race. Suddenly the media attention shifted to the two-girl team of Elena Myers and Tala Verron. When the word got around that Tala had won the Australian Supersport Championship and beaten the best in the FIM for a Superbike race at the end of last season, the girls in pretty blue/pink/white and black team colors were taken more seriously.

  Another major event was taking place this year at Daytona. The Superbikes were once again racing the 200. In previous years, they decided to run 600cc motorcycles in the 200 mile race because the big bikes had too many tire problems and hit excessively high speeds the entire 200 mile race. This year, with new tire technology available, they once again were racing 1000cc Superbikes in the Daytona 200. There would be at least two, if not three pit-stops for tires and fuel during the course of the race. Tala and Elena had spent hours drilling with Neil and the pit crew to get as smooth and fast as possible on the pit-stops. When the racers lined-up Brad was there to hold Tala’s umbrella. Elena was between relationships at the time and asked her Dad to hold hers. There were a lot of questioning stares as Tala lined-up and sat perfectly still with her legs dangling on each side of her motorcycle. There had to be 100 pictures taken of the girl with perfect balance. The horn sounded for the warm-up lap and the umbrella and crew members left the track. Tala noticed her Dad, Grandpa Kary and Uncle Paul then realized half the people she knew, including 99, Ilna, Cali, Camil and Hon had showed-up for the race.

  Elena Myers had always been known for her sensational starts. When the lights flashed green, the sound of 50 two-hundred and fifty horsepower motorcycles and the smell of burning rubber filled the Florida air. Elena lived-up to her reputation for fantastic starts, and was first into the sharp left-hand turn at the end of the straightaway. Tala was right on her rear. For the next 24 laps the two girls were in their own world. It was like the only two people on the track were the two friends and teammates racing each other, as they left the competition far behind. The lead swapped at least half a dozen times and the two pulled into the pits together on lap 25 of the 57 lap 200 mile race. Neither realized just how far ahead of the 3rd and 4th place riders they were until they took a closer look at the pit-board. In seconds they were refueled and had fresh front and rear tires. They were pulling out of the pits as the first of the other riders were pulling in. Tala’s pit crew was a fraction of a second faster than Elena’s so she hit the track four tenths of a second in front of her teammate.

  By the time the others hit the track, Tala and Elena were lapping the slower riders. Everyone expected the two girls to get slowed down as they got tangled-up in negotiating the slow moving objects in their path. But neither girl lost a fraction of a second as they dodged in and out of those they lapped. The back and forth of the lead continued for the next twenty four laps and the girls plan to run till the end changed. Between the heat of the track and the hard-driving styles of the girls, they both began to notice a big loss of traction in the corners. The two of them once again stopped for tires and a couple of gallons of fuel. This time it was Elena who blasted out of the pits first. The girls had a substantial lead on their closest competitor, but they had decided not to make a pit stop, placing the 3rd and 4th place riders now in front of Tala and Elena. The two aggressive Suzuki riders could taste the victory as they knew they had out maneuvered the Team 21 riders. Their hopes were crush when first Elena then Tala blasted past them like they were sitting still. No matter how hard they pushed, there was no catching Tala and Elena. In a valiant effort to keep up with Tala, one of the Suzuki riders tire shredded and he just barely made it into the pits before it completely disintegrated. His chance at a podium was over.

  The white flag went down indicating the last lap. Four times in the last lap alone, Tala and Elena traded positions, but when they came out of the chicane with Elena inches from Tala’s rear wheel, Elena tucked in tight for the 200 mph draft as they swept around the final bank and headed for the finish line. Just before they hit the finish line, Elena whipped from behind Tala and it was a photo-finish for the Daytona 200. After the judges reviewed the computer sensors and the photographs and even had the technicians double-check to be certain everything was exactly as it should be, it was announced that it had been a dead-even tie. The judges and lap counters met for a review of the race statistics and determined that Elena had led the race ½-lap longer than Tala. The opening race of the new season had gotten off to a fantastic start. Elena Myers had just won her second Championship at Daytona and Tala finished in second place. Team 21 Motorsport would now go down in history as the first all-female professional racing team to win the Daytona 200.

  BMW was pretty thrilled to have a 1 – 2 finish in such a widely publicized event. The top executives were congratulating Paul Verron, as the sponsor, Neil Hodgson, as the manager and both the racers. It looked like for the first season in years where Elena Myers was actually going to make a pretty good income from her efforts. When Tala was leaving the podium, her Grandpa Kary walked up to her and gave her a hug, saying, “I was really proud of you today sweetheart. It took some unbelievable skill to lose a race so closely. I will say that you sure made her work for it.” Tala knew better than to deny it. She replied, “Thanks. Did anyone else notice?” Kary smiled, “Only my big brother. He’s the one that pointed it out to me.” Tala shrugged and told her Grandpa, “Grandpa, I really like Elena, and she’s spent her entire life working for this moment of victory and a season where she actually wins the overall Championship. I know I can beat her, but for some reason it feels a lot better to help her win. I am after-all on her team. Besides, I can do all sorts of things. This is her life. She’s smart, she’s pretty and she’s really good, she deserves to go down in history as the first female AMA Superbike Champion and I plan to help get her there. Isn’t that what Uncle Paul’s been telling us for five years now; use our abilities to serve others, instead of serving our own interest?” He gave her a hug and told her, “I’m so proud of you, kid. I don’t think your Uncle Paul or I could have let someone else win, if we knew we could beat them; you did good.”

  Elena Myers picture and interviews were printed and televised all over the world. She couldn’t say enough about her sponsor, manager and teammate. She was flown to BMW Headquarters in Germany for a plant tour and for endorsement photographs. Tala returned to Area 51 with Brad. He gave her a big long kiss and asked, “Are you going to do that all season. She’ll get suspicious if you let her win them all; you have to win enough of them to keep her honest.” Tala looked at her favorite person in the whole world and asked, “Gesh, does everybody know what I did?” Brad put his arms around her and told her, “Besides your Uncle Paul, Grandpa Kary, Me and Neil, I doubt it. Everyone else just saw a really competitive race and felt like they got their money’s worth watching you two battle it out for first. We’re the only ones who knew you could beat her. But you have to admit, she’s really, really good.” Tala agreed, especially since the enhancement. Elena
was better than any of the men she had raced before. She finally was no longer limited physically and her skills and experience were shining through. Tala laid her head on Brad’s shoulder and asked, “Infineon Raceway in two weeks. Think you can get your parents to come. I still haven’t met them. Are you trying to hide me from them?” Brad swore his love and promised he would try to get his parents to make the trip to the race, then told her; “I’m more concerned about you not liking my parents than I am about my parents not liking you. They can be real jerks at times. If you don’t play golf or tennis then they don’t even know what to talk about around you. My life is so different than theirs that when I go home we really have nothing to carry-on a conversation about. You are way more interesting than they will ever be. They feel safe in their little world, where they are the big fish. I believe they get out of their comfort zone when they get around people like you and your family who have so much more in your life than them.”

  Everyone wondered where Katelyn had been keeping herself. She didn’t go to Tala’s motorcycle race and hadn’t been visiting Verron near as often as she did before. She and Bart had been spending almost all her spare time in her new campaign against drugs. Bart had been living in the apartments in the Verron Tower in Mississippi. Daniel and the Terrorist/Drug Elimination Team had been working with Katelyn and Bart, as well as Brigadier General Hunter Verron-Hall. Over the past several months there had been dozens of flights over China, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Burma and Laos to eliminate the poppy plants from those countries. In addition, flights were being made across South America, Central America and Mexico to kill off as much of the coca plant as possible. The drug manufacturers and traffickers were in a state of turmoil. Each was blaming the other for their problems and they were even robbing each other to keep their supply chain going. Los Zetas, Knights Templar, Mata Zetas and even the Gulf Cartel, were fighting internal battles for leadership positions over the tremendous loses being inflicted by this disaster in the coca fields. The Elimination Team had destroyed four of the largest cocaine producing facilities and three of the well-armed compounds housing the armies supported by the cartel dollars. The real push was going to begin when Tala and Katelyn finished their obligation to train the Interceptor pilots. That assignment was soon coming to an end and Katelyn would then relocate herself to Mississippi to work on her new mission. Bart was assembling some the best people he could find with experience in the drug and gang taskforces from around the country and even a couple of the few honest agents from South America and Mexico. Katelyn was thinking about Bart as she and Major Brown flew over the Philippine Sea headed for the Australian Coast.