Alp had been avoiding asking herself that question since she didn’t have a clue how to answer it. Always before she’d left such decisions to Mel, but he wasn’t around now. For all I know he might be dead, she thought then stopped herself. No, cross that out, she thought. No need to think such negative thoughts. In the last few days, she’d learned just how resourceful her brother could be. His survival instincts had proven to be exceptional as had his ability for evil.
“Might I make a suggestion?” James asked when she didn’t answer.
“Well, yes, I guess.” While she didn’t trust anything he was about to say, she also realized she didn’t have an answer to the question, so she might as well listen to him.
“You’re escaping from someone, right? You need some place safe for you and your sisters.” James said.
“Yes, that’s right.”
“Well, why don’t you let me complete my mission? The person who contracted me to pick you up has the resources to keep you safe and quite comfortable.”
“And who would that be?” Alp asked, curious despite herself.
“Well, I’m not at liberty to divulge that information. He’ll have to do that for himself when the time is right, but I can assure you he has the means to protect you and your sisters and to provide you with a very comfortable life.”
Alp didn’t know what to say in reply so decided to ask him another question.
“Let’s say I were to go along with this suggestion of yours, where would you take us?”
James pointed straight ahead. “That way; due east.”
“You mean you’re already headed in that direction?”
“Yeah,” James replied. “You see, we’ve quite a way to go to reach our destination…over eight hundred miles, and even with the reserve tanks it’s going to be tight as to whether we make it before we run out of fuel.”
“And at the end of that eight hundred miles, where will we be…that is if we make it without running out of fuel?”
“We’ll be in the beautiful island paradise of Bermuda.”
Stealth
Alp felt a queasy feeling in her stomach as the helicopter suddenly started to descend rapidly. She reached up and grabbed the harness. Glancing over at James, she relaxed a bit. He seemed nonplussed and to have everything in control. What was that sly grin on his face all about?
“Why are we descending?” She gazed out the helicopter window at the brilliant blue sky dotted in places with light, puffy clouds. It was a beautiful day to fly, but surely they hadn’t covered the eight hundred miles to their island destination.
“We’re approaching the Albermarle Sound,” James replied. He pointed out the window and to his left. “The town we passed a little while ago was Greenville.”
“But why are we descending? Are we running out of gas?” The thought made Alp’s stomach jump again.
“No, we still have plenty of fuel,” James replied as he reached to the overhead console and flipped a couple switches. “We just need to fly much lower now to avoid detection?”
Alp nodded, but then realized she really didn’t understand. “Detection from what?”
“I’ve been talking with Air Traffic Control radar and they’re starting to get a little too nosey, asking me questions I’d rather not answer, so it’s time we disappeared.”
“Disappear?” Alp asked. “What you mean disappear?”
“The United States borders are closely guarded these days, mostly by the Coast Guard but also by other federal agencies. They’re guarding against drug runners and terrorist attacks mainly. While we’re not carrying any illegal drugs and we’re technically not terrorists, it would still be difficult to explain what we are carrying.” He nodded to the back of the helicopter where Alp’s seven sisters lay still asleep.
“Oh, yeah, I guess you’re right about that.”
“So, I’ve turned off the transponder. That will make it difficult for radar to pick up the helicopter, and I have stealth equipment on board that’ll help with the disappearing act. Keep your eyes peeled on your side for other aircraft and let me know if you see anything no matter how far away it is. We’ll be skimming just above the trees until we reach the sound, and then we’ll stay low along the water, staying in the middle of the sound to draw as little attention as possible.”
Noticing the growing look of concern on Alp’s face from this last comment, James smiled and gave her a thumbs up. “Don’t worry. I’m very good at what I do. It’s been years since I’ve clipped a tree or crashed into the water.”
It took the firemen an hour to get the blaze of the neighboring research lab under control and another two hours to put it out completely. Meanwhile, an unidentified aircraft flying away from the vicinity had been reported by the Raleigh-Durham airport to have suddenly disappeared from their radar screens as it traveled in an easterly direction. No one had offered an explanation as to the cause of the lost signal.
Lionel sat in the BVT’s infirmary grimacing with pain as Bridgette gently wrapped his burned hands with Furacin-soaked gauze.
"This should help until we can get you seen by someone who knows what they're doing," she said and made a face as Lionel winced again. "Do they hurt?"
"Not too bad. I'm just trying to get some sympathy," Lionel replied.
"Oh, she will be happy to give you as much sympathy as you want," Denise said nodding towards Bridgette as she entered the room. "Any word about the children?"
Lionel glanced from Denise to Bridgette and back again. They both looked tired and worn out, much like he felt. It had been a trying day, and especially the last few hours. The protective instincts of the two mothers had turned both of them into dangerous she bears, but Denise had become particularly agitated the more time passed without any word. Lionel had persuaded her to take a Valium to calm her nerves. It seemed to have finally taken effect. At least she wasn’t screaming at everyone.
"No, I'm afraid not. Chunk was in just a few minutes ago. But speaking of missing children, they finally found Franklin tied and gagged a couple of rooms down from yours. He'd fallen asleep. Said he was beginning to enjoy the peace and quiet."
"Oh, the poor dear," Denise said, but from the tone of her voice, Lionel didn’t think she felt particularly sympathetic towards the administrator of Bio Vita Tech at the moment. “Where is he now?”
"They took him home to his wife. I'm sure he'll have some explaining to do as to where he was last night," Lionel said.
“Are you sure there’s nothing we can do about the children?” Denise asked for what felt like the twentieth time. “There must be someone we can call who can help us find them.”
Lionel tried to give her a reassuring smile but failed miserably. He’d been trying to keep a positive attitude especially while around the two women who had devoted so much to taking care of the Kindred. But the truth was, he was also worried sick about them.
“I don’t know what else we can do. Chunk has filed a missing person report and is in regular communication with both the S. B. I. and F. B. I. and knowing Chunk probably several other agencies.”
“It’s just not enough,” Denise said, her anger breaking through the veneer of drug-induced calm. “There must be something we can do.”
“Well, I do have one idea,” Lionel finally said. “It’s not much to go on but…”
“What? What is it?” Denise and Bridgette both asked.
“I’d like to go talk to Flip.” Lionel hesitated. He didn’t want to give the two mothers any false hope, but just maybe…
“I’m sure he wants to see you as well,” Denise said, breaking into his thoughts.
“It’s hard to believe, after all this time, he's finally back with the living,” Bridgette added.
“I know,” Denise replied, a little calmer now. “He can hardly stop talking. It's like he's trying to make up for lost time. I'm going back up in a few minutes if you want to come with me."
"Sure," Lionel replied. "Chunk did say that, although there’s been no
new information about the helicopter, he was able to shine some light on how Alp was able to persuade the pilot to help in the escape."
"What was that?" Bridgette asked as she stifled a yawn.
"Chickowski’s gun is missing."
"That little shit,” Denise said.
“She must have picked it up from the parking lot, and kept it hidden from me all that time,” Lionel continued.
"But where the hell are they?” It was Bridgette this time asking the question with an unmistakable edge to her voice. I might need to give her a Valium next, Lionel thought.
“Surely eight kids can't just disappear, not to mention the helicopter. We’ve got to find them."
The three of them sat in silence; each of them deep in their own thoughts.
“Nine.” Lionel’s one word broke the silence like a crack of thunder.
“What was that?” Denise asked.
“Nine children have disappeared if you include the boy.”Lionel stood up and stretched. "Chunk told me the firemen didn't find any body in the burned out lab. No remains whatsoever."
"But how is that possible?” Denise asked. “What happened to the him?”
"Well, they said there'd been several more explosions. Evidently, the room was filled with some highly flammable reagents. But they couldn't explain it either."
“I’m afraid we’ve not seen the last of him,” Denise replied. “I’m betting he’ll show up.”
“Yea, like a bad penny,” Bridgette added.
Lionel reached for his jacket on the back of the chair and winced as he tried to pull it on over his bandages.
"Here, let me help you. Honestly, you don't have to be so macho," Bridgette said with a chuckle; the first such sound anyone had heard in hours.
"Me, macho? Hardly. I'll be happy to let you wait on me hand and foot."
"It's about time," Bridgette replied as she took Lionel by the arm and winked at Denise.
Noticing the wink Lionel asked, “What's that all about?"
"Oh, never mind; just girl talk," Denise answered as she took his other arm.
"Let's go see Flip. Maybe it'll take our mind off the children."
"What happens if they don't find them?" Bridgette asked as the three started for the door.
“I don’t know,” Lionel replied. “But try not to worry. I have a feeling that it'll be impossible for the Kindred not to attract attention eventually.”
"Good point," Denise and Bridgette answered together.
James and Alp flew for close to two hours with both of them keeping a close eye out for other aircrafts. Alp pointed out two different dots in the sky, but they were too far away to make out any details and the other aircrafts didn’t seem interested in them. For most of that time, there were no trees to worry about clipping, only the dark greenish blue water of the Atlantic Ocean along which they skimmed. The clouds that had started out as small and puffy cotton balls had begun to grow in size. Off in the distance to the Southeast in the direction they were traveling, a line of dark storm clouds gathered.
James turned to Alp. “We’ll be approaching that storm in the next five to ten minutes. I need to climb up to about a thousand feet and turn to the East to try to avoid it. It’ll cost us some fuel, but I think we’ll have enough to do it.”
“Even at a thousand feet we should be safe from detection,” James declared as he relaxed back in his seat. “There’s just too much coastline and ocean and not enough Coast Guard. Thank God.”
Alp relaxed back in her seat as well. Her neck ached, and her eyes burned from straining so hard to see out the window into the blazing sunlight. “How much…” she started to say but stopped when James held up one hand, as a new voice came through their headsets. After a moment, he lowered his hand.
“What were you saying?”
“What was that all about?” Alp asked instead. “Did I hear him say something about a storm?”
“Yeah, that was a weather update,” he replied nonchalantly. “Might get interesting in a little bit.”
“Interesting?” Alp’s hackles raised by the comment. “What’s that mean?”
“That storm could be more powerful and moving faster than it looks. Those clouds over there are just the front end of it,” he said pointing out Alp’s window. “Storms from that direction can be pretty violent out here in the ocean.”
As Alp looked out the window at the broad expanse of ocean below, she groaned, but before she could say anything else she heard another voice but not one coming from her headset. This one was coming from within her mind.
Where am I? Help…I can’t move my arms.
I can’t move mine either, Tabitha. What’s going on?
Her sisters were awakening.
Denial
As the three of them entered Flip’s room, Lionel stared around in awe at the transformation that had taken place. Denise had made a sincere effort to maintain a warm, homey feel to what was an otherwise sterile, medical environment. Pictures of herself and the children that made up the Kindred were scattered around the room. All these lovely children have come from Flip generous sharing of his genetically altered seeds, Lionel thought. It amazed him to think how many people had been affected by that one small accident.
Today the room was changed even more. The medical equipment that had kept Flip alive during his coma—the monitoring unit, IV drip and stand, the crash unit—all had been pushed into one corner and then covered with a mass of flowers that extended around the room on every flat service including the floor.
Lionel’s jaw dropped as he gazed around the room.
“Too much?” Denise asked, noticing his look of astonishment.
“Ah, no, I wouldn’t say that,” Lionel answered. “Just wasn’t prepared for the change, that’s all.”
“Well, Bridgette and I wanted Flip to know how much he was missed. The flowers have cards from all his children. Okay, I know they didn’t send them, and Flip probably knows it as well, but they would have sent them if…” Denise stopped not knowing how to finish the sentence, a hurt expression marring her pretty face.
“I understand,” Lionel said as he reached out and squeezed her hand. “It’s lovely.”
“Well, hello, old friend,” Flip called from his hospital bed that had been cranked up, so he sat upright. “It’s about damn time you dropped in. What’s with the mitts?” He asked pointing to the bandages on Lionel’s hands.
“Just a bit of a barbecuing accident,” Lionel replied walking over to Flip’s bedside, winding his way through the pots of flowers. He didn’t want to get into describing how he’d been burned and how it was possible that Flip’s only son might have been killed in the same fire. He’d wait until his friend was stronger to discuss such delicate matters.
Denise and Bridgette joined him at Flip’s bedside, and Denise reached over and gave Flip a long hug and kiss. “It’s so good to have you back. I just can’t get over how well you look.”
“Well, for sure I’ve had my beauty sleep though looking in the mirror I don’t think it did me much good.”
Despite the obvious weight loss that showed both on Flip’s face as well as on the gaunt frame below the covers, Lionel had to agree Flip looked amazingly well with an energetic glow of vitality. He’d heard a rumor that Alp had supposedly helped with Flip’s recovery but had doubted the story. Now seeing his old friend, he wondered if the story was true. For sure, much of his scientific-based belief system had been turned on its end since working with the Kindred and their unique powers.
The cracks in his scientific world had begun shortly after Flip had shown back up in his life, accidentally ruining his research and infusing his reproductive tract with the genetic template before running off to sleep with his collection of high power professional women. The cracks continued as it was discovered that Flip had impregnated each of them during his visits. They’d all become pregnant despite the fact that Flip had had a vasectomy years ago, and all the women had been on birth control. But that was
only the beginning. The cracks turned into large chasms of doubt and wonder when the women had been brought to Bio Vita Tech for further study by Chunk, the federal agent assigned to the case. There it was determined their pregnancies were progressing approximately four times faster than normal.
Lionel had grown pretty used to such medical miracles when suddenly a whole new twist of impossibilities arrived in the form of Alp and Mel. The twins had been the product of Flip being seduced by his spiritual guide and fortune teller, Madame Sarah. Lionel still had nightmares of Madame Sarrah’s torched carcass Chunk and he had found in her home. His scientific mind rejected Chunk’s suspicion that she’d been killed in such a manner by one of her children; that was until Mel had turned his powers on Chunk and later on him.
So, the idea that Alp might have extraordinary healing powers and that she’d used them to heal her father wasn’t such a stretch. In fact, as Lionel reflected on everything he’d witnessed in the past three years, he began to wonder just how powerful these young children were and what role Flip might play in all this.
They spent the next several minutes talking about everything but the missing children, having made an unspoken pact to avoid that subject while around Flip. After several minutes of polite conversation, one of the nurses stuck her head into the room.
“It’s time for our miracle boy here to get a little rest.”
“Rest? Me, rest?” Flip replied good-naturedly. “I’ve had enough rest to last a lifetime. I want to visit with my friends.”
“They’ll be plenty of time for that later on,” the nurse replied. “You’re still weak. They can come back tomorrow.”
“She’s right,” Denise said before Flip could continue to argue. “We’ll be back tomorrow.”
As the two women began to follow the nurse out, Lionel stayed standing next to Flip’s bed. “I’ll be with you in just a minute. I just have a question I need to ask Flip.”
After everyone else had left, and the door was closed, Lionel turned back to Flip.
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