by M. L. Ryan
“I thought that anyone without Courso blood attempting to get through the dimensional barrier would be zapped into oblivion.” I really didn’t want to end up like a roasted marshmallow if he was wrong. Talk about a buzz kill.
“No, one’s corporeal self cannot cross without their spiritual self. But anyone that is at least half-Courso can traverse the barrier. If a human tried crossing on their own, nothing would happen; they would just be taking another step forward. And if a Courso tried to take a human over, the Courso would cross, but the human would feel like they had run into a wall and still be in this dimension. Worst case scenario, you would have a few bruises.” Smiling, he concluded with, “No zapping, I promise.”
“As long as I don’t run the risk of resembling that tree over there,” I said as I gestured toward the ruined mesquite, “I’m good to go. When do we leave?”
Alex picked up his phone and started punching in numbers. “I’ll have to make some arrangements,” he answered as he placed the device to his ear. “But I would guess sometime in the next couple of days.” He completed a number of calls in quick succession and when he was finished, he filled me in.
“We will depart the day after tomorrow. To arrive where we need to be, we will travel first to Vancouver by plane; from there we will journey across dimensions.”
I hadn’t ever spent a lot of time thinking about the ins and outs of inter-dimensional globe-trotting; I guess I always assumed one just sort of disappeared and ended up in the right spot. Apparently, there was more to it. “So, you have to be in particular places in this dimension to get to specific locations in the other?”
Alex wandered over to the fridge and grabbed two bottles of water. He took a long swig from his as he handed one to me, and plopped down on the couch. “One can cross virtually anywhere these days, but wherever you do it, you end up in the same place, just in another plane. Sebastian’s case will be adjudicated in the Northland Department of Justice, which is roughly located on the outskirts of what here is Vancouver, British Columbia.”
“Is Sebastian in jail?” I hated to think he was locked up somewhere; he could barely tolerate my cramped quarters, much less a prison cell.
“No, he was arrested and charged but there was no need to hold him until trial. As a Xyzok commander, it is inconceivable that he would not show up for the proceedings.”
“More likely no one could stand listening to the inevitable litany of complaints over the conditions of his incarceration if he had been imprisoned,” I muttered under my breath.
Alex took another gulp of water and nodded. “That too, I’m sure.”
We sat for a while in silence. Suddenly, it occurred to me I needed to see if Rachel could keep Vinnie while we were away. Some cats can be left for days and days with only an occasional look-in, but Vinnie wasn’t fond of being alone. And he found creative ways to punish me for my abandonment, mostly involving leaving various noxious kitty secretions in the worst possible places. I didn’t even want to imagine how he might retaliate if I ever kenneled him. But he liked going to stay with Aunt Rachel; she fed him people food, something I never do.
Rachel didn’t answer, so I left a message for her to call me back. Alex went off to take a shower and change into clean clothes. In the meantime, I yanked my suitcase down from the top shelf of the hall closet and started packing. Staring alternately between the empty valise and my limited wardrobe, I realized I had a problem. After all, what does one wear to another world?
I went to the bathroom door; I could hear the water running and I went in and sat on the closed toilet while I conversed with Alex through the shower curtain. “I have no idea what kind of clothes I should bring. I don’t even know what sort of weather to expect.”
Alex turned off the shower and flung open the curtain. Damn he looked good naked. I handed him a towel and tried not to focus on the muscles in his abdomen that formed the “V” down to his pelvis. Yum.
“Good point. The temperature will be moderate during the day, but it could be chilly at night, so a sweater will be necessary I think.”
He started to towel off his hair, and with his arms raised, the definition in his torso was displayed to its greatest advantage. Concentrate Hailey. You are not a sex-starved maniac. I looked away from his chiseled abs, but that meant other glorious bits of him came into view. Okay, I am.
He finally finished drying off and wrapped the towel around his waist. “Courso attire is somewhat different than what you are accustomed to wearing,” he pronounced as he stepped over the side of the tub. “For every day, your dressier outfits will be fine.”
“What exactly do you mean by ‘dressier outfits’?” I said apprehensively. I pretty much lived in jeans and t-shirts and to me, “dressy” meant non-denim pants and a nice top. If I was expected to don skirts or dresses, that could be a problem. I only own one dress, a little black number that I bought for a friend’s grandfather’s funeral but could be, with proper accessorizing, suitable for a hot date. Swap sedate flats for slinky heels and I could go from coffin to cocktails in one evening. Of course, I didn’t have any sexy stilettos and because of my previous dating dry spell, the dress spent the last three years hanging in the back of my closet. Narrowing my eyes, I added an accusatory, “I don’t have to wear dresses, do I?”
He grinned and walked past me and out the door. “You can wear pants, just not jeans,” he called from the bedroom. I followed him and watched him pull on some shorts and a University of Arizona t-shirt while I leaned on the door frame.
“However, for the trial,” he continued, “you will have to wear something more…formal, like a suit. But don’t worry, I will have my sister bring something appropriate for you.”
Sebastian told me about Alex’s gorgeous sister. I’m not sure I’d trust any of my own sisters to pick out outfits for me, but hopefully, Tannis’s taste in fashion was as exquisite as Sebastian’s description of her. And getting to know Alex’s sister was an bonus to the whole impending Coursodon junket.
“Will I get to meet any of the rest of your family?”
Alex seemed caught off-guard by the question; maybe he was surprised I had any desire get acquainted with his relatives given his mother’s unconventional messaging system. Whatever the source of his discomfort, he recovered almost immediately.
“No, just Tannis,” he said smoothly. “The trial will take up most of our time and we won’t be that close to where my parents live. Perhaps on our next trip.”
“Your mother had someone throw a greeting into my kitchen to get your attention. Won’t she be annoyed that you are in-dimension but don’t go visit?
“I will contact her when we arrive. She will understand why we cannot go to her. My mother is quirky, but she’s not completely unreasonable.” The last part was stated without much conviction, however.
I was beginning to wonder if there was something more to this than he was letting on. Maybe he was hesitant because I was a human, and not a particularly distinctive one at that. “You’re not avoiding introducing me to her, are you?” I asked tentatively.
Alex must have understood the underpinnings of my comment, because he raised one eyebrow, crossed his arms and proclaimed, “I’ve never met your mother. Is it because you believe I will be an embarrassment?”
He had me there. To postpone Alex’s inevitable realization that my mother was certifiable, I planned to keep them apart as long as possible. I raised my hands in capitulation. “Point taken.”
As my thoughts shifted from admonishing myself for reverting to self-deprecation to what sort of formal attire might be worn to court, Joe Cocker’s “A Little Help From My Friends” blasted out of my phone. I pulled it out of my jeans pocket and flicked my finger across the screen to answer.
“Hey Rach, thanks for calling back. I need to ask a favor. Alex and I are going out of town for….” I realized I never asked how long we’d be gone, but fortunately, Alex was listening and mouthed, “a week” which I repeated to Rachel.
> “You’re going away again?” she asked. “Where to this time?”
“Uh…Canada.” Alex nodded his approval at my response. “Anyway, could I bring Vinnie over to stay with you and Harrison?”
There was a long pause, and Rachel finally said, “Actually, would it be okay if I stayed at your place instead? Harrison and I, well, I’m moving out and until I find a place, being able to hang at your house while I look would be a godsend. It’s been kind of awkward here.”
I wasn’t completely shocked; she had told me there were problems. But it still made me sad. “I’m really sorry. We aren’t leaving for a couple of days, but you can come over here now if you don’t want to wait.”
“That’s okay, Harrison has a 24-hour shift today, and then he’ll be asleep for most of tomorrow. Besides, I don’t want to intrude.”
“You wouldn’t be intruding.”
Rachel let out an audible sigh. “To be honest, your couch isn’t that comfortable and every time I’ve slept on it, I wake up with puffy eyes. I’ll be fine here until you guys leave.”
Leave it to Rachel to put her appearance before potential acrimony with a soon-to-be ex. “Okay,” I said, shaking my head at her unusual priorities. “I’ll let you know exactly when we are leaving as soon as I know all the details. But if you change your mind, come over anytime.”
We ended the call shortly thereafter, and as I recounted the conversation and Rachel’s plans to Alex, I remembered last night’s incendiary incident.
“I don’t think Rachel should stay here if she might be in any danger. I’d never forgive myself if anything happened to her while she was here.”
“I suspect the bonfire was meant for me, and I doubt whoever was responsible will try anything again. But to be on the safe side, I’ll have Aiden and Cortez keep watch on her and the house while we are away.”
That made me feel a lot better. I knew Rachel and Vinnie would be well protected with those two on the job. “Better make sure they keep a low profile, though. I don’t know how I’d explain the need for security guards.”
“Low profile is their specialty. They’ve been patrolling the perimeter since soon after I was aware there might be a problem.”
I glanced outside, and at first I didn’t see anyone. Alex tapped on the window; two short raps followed by three longer ones and Aiden appeared about 30 feet from the edge of the patio. He waved, and then made himself invisible once more. The ability to be unseen is a huge advantage when trying to be inconspicuous. It’s probably also beneficial if you’re a peeping tom or a stalker, but I tried not to dwell on that cheery thought.
“Sweet trick,” I remarked as I turned from the window. It struck me as odd, however, that we needed the added security Aiden and Cortez were providing. “Are they out there now because the threat might be more than one Xyzok can handle?”
“Not at all, carisa.” He closed the distance between us and literally swept me off my feet. As he carried me to the bed, he murmured seductively, “I called them so I could focus my full attention on you. These two days apart have been torture.”
Damn. Had I known that, I would have jumped him in the shower.
~12~
It was almost noon the next day when we finally emerged. After a well-deserved meal to replenish our depleted energy reserves, I resumed packing. I quickly realized two important things: I barely owned anything that wasn’t too casual for Coursodon polite society and what appropriate outfits I did have were too big for my new and improved physique. I had to face a grim reality. I needed to go shopping.
I’ve heard most women find going from store to store trying on clothing a pleasant activity and apparently even look forward to it. I, on the other hand, have always considered it only slightly less egregious than having a root canal. Without anesthesia. Thanks to technology, these days it was fairly easy to purchase almost everything online so I almost never had to venture out when I required new attire. Unfortunately, the need for a hasty departure forced me to abandon my preferred method of apparel acquisition and head out to the mall.
I tried to get Alex to go with me, but when I asked, a look of abject terror swept over his face. It was only there for a second; he did a good job of masking the horror that I, too, felt at being driven to such a wretched chore. He quickly recovered and suggested that Rachel would be a much better companion. But I planned to be in ninja-stealth mode and get in and get out as fast as possible. She would only hinder my progress.
As it turned out, the excursion wasn’t nearly as excruciating as I imagined. I went alone and found everything at the first place I went. In just under 90 minutes, I emerged from the department store unscathed with two pairs of trousers – as the salesperson called them – a few blouses and a neutral-colored unstructured jacket. I even bought a just-above-the-knee, flowy, floral-print skirt that I actually didn’t completely hate. None were my usual style, but they’d work well if I ever got around to arranging any job interviews. I added a couple pairs of not-sneaker shoes, plus some boots to complete the day’s purchases.
The next day, we boarded a private jet at a small airport west of Tucson for the flight to Vancouver. The Xyzok kept a fleet of aircraft as their preferred method of transportation. No commercial airlines for them unless absolutely necessary. I’m not a big fan of flying, but at least when using Xyzok Air, there were never long layovers and you didn’t have to deal with screaming children or a lack of overhead bin space.
During the flight, Alex reminded me that my phone wouldn’t work in Coursodon. Apparently my plan with the largest high-speed wireless network in North America didn’t include inter-world coverage. Not that it mattered much, but if Rachel tried to get in touch with me and I didn’t return her calls, she might get worried. I called her and explained that I forgot to mention that our ultimate destination was in a somewhat isolated area where there was no phone service of any kind. The only means of communication was via ham radio, and if she had to get in touch, she could leave word with someone Alex knew who had access to one. The number I gave her was Cortez’s and he would shuttle messages back and forth if necessary, albeit using a Xyzok courier, not frequency modulation. An elaborate ruse, but, hey, to keep the existence of the parallel dimension secret, sometimes only convoluted will do.
To my disappointment, we landed somewhere northeast of Vancouver. I never even got a glimpse of what I had heard was a beautiful city. The chauffeured drive in an old Land Rover to the middle-of-nowhere, British Columbia, was breathtaking, however. Verdant, with many lakes and majestic mountains in the distance, the scenery more than made up for missing out on the City of Glass.
Eventually, we exited the paved road and drove slowly into the forest on what I guessed were infrequently used logging paths. About three miles in, at a small area devoid of trees, two well-muscled men stood waiting. If they had been wearing only skimpy tight shorts instead of the dark, unadorned jumpsuits, they could have both been professional wrestlers. There was no vehicle that I could see, and their presence seemed odd to say the least. It was like they parachuted in or something. When I factored in why we were here, I realized that they sort of did. Obviously, they had come across the dimensional barrier, and were there to accompany us back to the other side.
As our vehicle came to a stop, Alex turned to me and said enthusiastically, “Ready?”
Actually, I was a little nervous. I knew I wasn’t in any real danger if Alex was wrong and I couldn’t make it across, although he kept telling me he was certain I could. And he had assured me that in the unlikely event he popped out in Coursodon and I wasn’t there, he would come back immediately to arrange my transport back to Tucson. But now that the time had come, I realized I only knew what to expect if I couldn’t make the journey. Like running into an invisible wall, Alex had said. He had mentioned that part of the trick to traveling through the barrier was picturing oneself doing it. But for some reason, I hadn’t thought to ask how going through successfully would feel.
In case Al
ex had purposely neglected to give me that information to spare me unnecessary angst, I decided not to inquire now. Instead, I replied with a clichéd, “As ready as I’ll ever be,” and stepped out of the Land Rover.
Alex followed and as he hefted our suitcases out of the car, Hulk Hogan and The Rock moved toward him. They greeted Alex with the deference of subordinates, grabbed the luggage and walked briskly to the far side of the clearing. The air around them shimmered slightly, almost like ripples on sunlit water, and they disappeared.
Wide eyed and uncharacteristically speechless, I heard Alex laugh softly behind me.
“Amazing, is it not?” he murmured as he stood beside me, gazing at the spot that now showed no evidence that anything unusual had occurred. “No matter how many times I see it, watching someone breach the dimensional plane never fails to impress.”
Alex turned and surveyed me carefully, his eyes locking with mine. “It is time, carisa,” he said confidently as he took my hand. We began to walk purposefully forward, and I could feel my heart beginning to race. He must have sensed my growing unease, because he gave my hand a squeeze and whispered, “Just visualize walking through an open door.”
A frosted, back-lit shower door sliding to one side came to mind; I suppose because it seemed closest to what I had just witnessed. As I opened my mouth to share this amusing mental picture with Alex, I was jolted by a sensation akin to a sudden loss of altitude in an airplane. Not the kind where oxygen masks fall from the ceiling and people start making deals with God; it was more like a gut-roiling dip when flying through turbulence. And then I wasn’t in the clearing anymore.