“Not to worry, boss,” Tao replied. “Me and the guys will figure it out. Why don’t you see if you can get a little shut-eye on the ride to the airport?”
It was the best suggestion she’d heard all day.
As Kristin sunk into unconsciousness, the last image of the cabin’s room stayed frozen on her mind’s eye for several seconds. It was like staring at a lit lightbulb and then looking away and still seeing the impression of the bulb, except the room’s details were much more vivid and in color. She saw the two canisters where they lay on the floor, the clouds of gas frozen in time.
Damn, if I’d only seen them soon enough, I might have been able to flip them back out the window with my mind. Too late for such regrets now.
She felt herself lying on the hard floor, one knee sore where it had slammed into the hard wood. Her last conscious action had been to twist to the side in an effort to protect her baby. Her baby! What would the gas do to her baby? If anything happened to her soon-to-be-born child, there’d be hell to pay.
Even as she had the thought, she felt herself being lifted by a pair of strong hands as someone threw her over their shoulder like a rag doll. So strange, to feel herself and her body without being able to do anything. She tried to move her arms. Nothing. Next, she tried kicking the body beneath her. Again, nothing. So, she tried to scream with all her might. She felt like she was screaming, could feel the tightening of her throat and neck muscles, but no sound; not even a squeak. Frustrated, she tried once again, and a moment later a third time.
That’s when she felt something shift, like a presence suddenly coming to her awareness.
Mel? Is that you? Tabitha? You there?
No response. Evidently there were out cold. But still, she felt something or someone so she tried again.
Hello, is someone there? Answer me. I need help. My sister, brother and I are being kidnapped!
Still nothing. It must have been her imagination or the effects of the gas.
Hello…who’s this? I’m hearing you. Can you hear me? Came a voice she didn’t recognize. It felt like a masculine voice but not Mel’s. It was softer, gentler, more mature; more like her father’s but not his either.
Yes, I can hear you. This is Kristin. Who’s this?
Let’s for the moment just say that I’m someone who means you no harm. I just heard your screaming.
Oh, you heard that, Kristin replied, momentarily embarrassed. Hardly a good first impression. Sorry.
Not to worry. I’ve been hearing voices for weeks but hadn’t known what they were or how to respond. The desperation I heard in your screams forced me to try to communicate with you with more effort.
You’ve got to help us, Kristin begged. Some very mean people have kidnapped five of my sisters. My brother, one of my other sisters and I just narrowly escaped; but now they’ve tracked us down here in West Virginia and drugged us. I’m afraid what they might do to us.
Okay, calm down. Did you say five sisters?
Yes, I’m part of a large family. So?
Oh, nothing. Just found it interesting. Listen, I’ll do whatever I can to help. Just know that you’re not alone. Now that we’ve connected, we should be able to reconnect. I’ve got to go now. I’m meeting a man about an important job, but I’ll be back in touch as soon as I can. One last thing. Are you pregnant?
Yes. How did you know?
I felt her.
Her? My baby is a girl? Why hadn’t she been able to detect her, Kristin wondered?
Sorry. Gotta run. I’ll be in touch.
No, don’t go! Kristin shouted, but it was too late. The strange presence was gone.
Inflight
Chickowski looked up from the inflight magazine he was pretending to read to wipe the sweat from his brow. Despite the cool temperatures of the Roanoke-Blacksburg Regional Airport terminal, the thick beard he’d put on that morning was not only hot as hell but also itchy. Maybe it would have been better to try some less irritating disguise, he thought, like blackening his white hair, or shaving it completely off. That last idea sounded especially appealing at the moment. It would at least cool him off a bit, even though normally he was quite proud of his full head of hair at his age. He noticed Miriam returning from the rest room and lowered his hand and returned his gaze to the magazine.
“Don’t think I didn’t see you wiping the sweat off your face,” Miriam said as she lowered herself into the seat beside him. “Told you the beard was a dumb idea.”
“And getting caught by some two-bit cop in a podunk town like this when we’re so close to the biggest deal of either of our lives…that would be smart?”
“Okay, okay, let’s not argue,” Miriam replied smiling. “Still seems strange to me that we had to drive almost three hours to get here when we were less than thirty minutes from the Raleigh-Durham airport?”
“I told you, Mr. Brown was very specific about where we were to meet our contact. The Raleigh airport is too large. We need to keep as low a profile as possible. Besides, there’s nothing wrong with this airport. It’s clean, relatively new…”
“…And the seats are just as uncomfortable as the ones in the Raleigh terminals,” Miriam finished for him. “How much longer do we have wait?”
“I don’t know,” Chickowski replied. “He just said to get here by 2 pm and wait.”
“But how is our contact going to know who we are, especially with you wearing that stupid beard.”
That was a good point, Chickowski thought. Maybe he should go to the bathroom and take it off, but before he could do so, a young man of Asian descent dressed in black slacks and a matching shirt strolled over to them and sat down next to Petty. Was this their contact or just another traveler?
“I understand Paris is a particularly pleasant travel destination this time of year,” the man said. He looked first to Miriam and then to Chickowski. “Would you agree?”
Miriam opened her mouth to reply but, before she could say anything, Chickowski cut her off. “Not really. I’d recommend the French Riviera.”
Miriam turned to him. “What would you know about the….” She stopped as she realized the phrase was part of the signal back to their contact.
“Will the two of you please accompany me this way?” the man replied.
As the meeting of the rescue team broke up, the phone rang. Lionel walked over to pick it up.
“Wow, I don’t think the phone has rung so much since I moved in here,” he said as he picked up the receiver and listened to the person on the other end. After a nod, he said, “Yes, he’s here. Hold on a minute. I’ll get him.”
He held the phone out to Flip. “I may have to apply to become your personal secretary. It’s another call for you.”
Flip smiled. “Sorry, your legs are much too hairy to qualify for my personal anything…other than my personal best bro-friend. Who is it?”
“Your other bro-friend; Chunk Robinson.”
“Really?” Flip asked. If he made a list of friends, he knew Chunk’s name wouldn’t be on it. After all, Chunk had been a pain in the ass ever since he’d headed up the case for the FDA. He’d done everything in his power, which was substantial to make Flip’s and his children’s lives difficult. He’d heard from Alp that, after she’d saved his younger daughter’s life, Chunk had started to come around; but it was hard to believe this particular leopard had changed its spots.
“Hello, Flip MacDougal here. Pulled the wings off of any flies lately, Chunk?”
“Good day to you too,” the gruff FDA agent replied. “I know we haven’t always seen eye-to-eye on things…”
“Yeah, like life in general,” Flip added, then realizing he was being unnecessarily harsh, especially to a man who was facing his own challenges with his family, he added, “But today is a new day, so what can I do for you?”
“Yes, it is a new day,” Chunk agreed, “and it’s not what you can do for me, but what I might be able to do for you.”
“And what would that be?”
&n
bsp; “Well, Alp told me a little about how you and she have been able to communicate; how you visited her while she was on that island and all.”
“Yes?” Flip replied, a note of suspicion creeping in. He’d just as soon Alp hadn’t shared that information, especially not with the man who had almost cost her and her sisters their lives.
“I have someone I think you should meet. His name is Alfred Besser; an old friend of mine.”
“Really, you have a friend?” The words popped out before Flip could stop them.
“Yes, as a matter of fact, Alfred and I go back several decades. I first met him while he was involved with the Stargate Project. Are you familiar with it?”
“No, can’t say that rings a bell.”
“Well, it’s defunct now, or at least that’s what the CIA wants the world to believe. It was an Army unit started back in the late seventies. Alfred was one of its founding members. Its purpose was to investigate the potential for psychic phenomena in military and domestic applications. This primarily involved remote viewing, the purported ability to psychically ‘see’ events, sites, or information from a great distance.”
“And so this Besser guy is with the CIA?” Flip asked.
“No, he retired several years ago when Stargate was supposedly dismantled.”
“Supposedly?”
“Yeah, this is just between you and me. You tell anyone else about it, and I’ll deny ever having this conversation. But according to Alfred, they didn’t close out Stargate. That’s just what they told the public. The Project went underground so our country’s enemies wouldn’t be aware of what the Project was actually learning. Alfred didn’t agree with the move so he was invited to retire.”
“Okay, that’s all interesting and good,” Flip replied, “but I don’t see what any of it has to do with me.”
“I think what you did with Alp is closely akin to remote viewing, and my friend is one of the leading experts on such phenomenon. He may be able to give you some tips on how to strengthen your abilities.”
Flip found himself growing interested despite his and Chunk’s past history. “So, what’s in it for you?”
“Absolutely nothing,” came the reply from the other end of the phone. “Well, that’s not accurate. If Alfred can help with what you and Alp are engaged in at present, this will be a small repayment of a very large debt I owe to your daughter. That’s all.”
Flip had to admit being able to more easily connect psychically with his other children as well as Alp could be a big plus with helping to rescue them.
“I’m getting ready to go on a business trip in a few days. I’m not sure I’ll have time to meet with your friend.”
“I understand,” Chunk said. “Why not give him a call for starters? I mentioned you to him…without giving any specifics, of course. He’s willing to talk to you, and that’s no small matter.”
“Why’s that?”
“Well, let’s just say that Alfred is set in his ways. He’s an old man. I’m guessing he’s probably in his nineties by now. Not everyone finds him all that easy to get along with, but he really knows his subject. I think it’s worth at least a phone call. Of course, that’s up to you.”
“Okay,” Flip replied. “That’s fair enough. Give me his number and I’ll either call him or I won’t.”
Chunk read out the number to him, adding at the end. “You and I have had our differences. I want you to know it was never personal. I was just doing my job.”
“Sure, I understand,” Flip replied with a more caustic tone than he’d intended.
“But I want you to know I do hope everything works out for you and your family,” Chunk added. “And I’ll do whatever I can at my end to smooth the way for your business trip.”
“Thanks. I appreciate it.” And this time Flip meant what he said.
Gulfstream
Willow watched through the front window of the Gulfstream G650 aircraft where it idled on the private tarmac as Tao escorted their two new passengers towards the plane. She glanced at the images on her phone and back to the couple. It was clear they had the right woman, but what about the man. He wore a floppy hat that covered his hair and a beard that prevented her from getting a good look at his face. As they neared the plane, the man reached up to scratch at his beard. Unusual, Willow thought. The men she had known with beards (and she’d known her fair share through the years), rarely paid any attention to them. They were simply a part of their anatomy, but this guy seemed to be overly occupied by his. Strange.
As the three climbed the stairs, Willow returned to her seat. The original plans of the G650 had marked this area as a “Crew Rest Area” but the Sheik had customized it as a luxurious private area, which Willow appreciated. She might have to chauffeur these clowns around but that didn’t mean she had to mingle with them.
The woman stepped into the plane first where she stopped and gazed around as most people typically did when first entering such a luxuriously designed plane.
“Oh my,” Miriam Petty said. “It’s even nicer on the inside.” Her eyes locked on Willow.
“Hello. Are you by chance Mrs. Brown?”
“What? Who?” Willow said, startled by the question. “Never mind who I am. Identify yourself and your companion.”
“Why I’m Mrs. Miriam Petty,” Miriam replied in a haughty, what-business-is-it-to-you voice, “And my ‘companion’ is the imminent Dr. Thaddeus Chickowski.” She turned to make room for him. Glancing back, she added, “You can take that ridiculous beard off now, don’t you think?”
Chickowski also looked around the cabin, nodding his head. He reminded Willow of one of those silly dolls people used to keep in the back of their cars. He sure didn’t look very ‘imminent’ at the moment. Did he really think that fake beard would fool anyone?
“My men will make you comfortable in the next compartment,” Willow said as she motioned towards the rear of the plane as Widget opened the door to the business cabin. She could just make out Ted sitting at the rear. It must be Ned’s turn to guard their other passengers in the rear most compartment, Willow thought. “Our flight should take approximately seventeen hours with a brief stop over in Portugal to refuel.”
“I’m sorry but I didn’t catch your name, Miss,” Miriam tried again.
“Miss-none-of-your-business,” Willow replied.
“Why that certainly isn’t very polite,” Miriam replied with an edge to her voice.
“I’m not paid for my manners,” Willow replied. “I’m paid to get the job done. At the moment that includes getting you to my boss. Now, shut your mouth and do as you’re told.”
She glanced at Tao who stood on the top step just outside the plane. “If she gives you any trouble whatsoever, you have my permission to restrain her in whatever fashion you find most effective…short of dumping her overboard.”
Willow turned back to Petty. “You have a nice flight, now, you’all hear.”
Before Miriam could reply, Chickowski shoved her from behind. “Do what she said. I want to get this damn itchy thing off my face.”
“Your superior will hear about this, I can assure you,” Miriam said as she moved reluctantly towards the business compartment.
Like I give a flying fuck, Willow thought before turning her attention to Tao. She really needed to get some rest. She realized she was growing more ornery the longer she put off resting. “Let them know back there that when the young woman with the short red hair wakes up I’ll want to talk with her up here,” she said in a hushed voice. “But make sure the others stay down, especially the boy. ”
“Sure thing,” Tao replied.
Meanwhile I’m going to get a little shut-eye of my own, Willow thought as she closed her eyes. She was asleep within a few minutes, never noticing their takeoff.
“Boss…boss.”
Willow felt a hand on her shoulder shaking her gently. She shrugged it away, but the voice and shaking continued.
“Boss. Willow, the young woman is awake,” Tao s
aid a little louder.
Willow opened one eye and looked around the cabin. “How long have I been asleep?”
“Almost three hours,” Tao replied. “I would have let you sleep longer but you said…”
“Yes, it’s okay,” Willow interrupted as she sat up, stretched and yawned. “I’m feeling much better. Give me a couple of minutes then bring her to me. How about getting me some water in the meantime?”
Tao nodded and handed her the bottle of water he held in his other hand. “Figured you’d be thirsty when you awoke.”
Willow nodded as she took a long draught from the bottle, finishing off half of it. She arose and walked the few steps to the lavatory where she relieved herself, then washed her face. As she did so she considered the situation at hand. She had successfully apprehended three more of the children, including the boy who had already exhibited special and dangerous powers. No telling what powers the other children might possess. Best to keep them out of it until they arrived in Dubai. She’d also picked up the mystery passengers as the Sheik had directed her. Now, there was just one other loose end to tie up. What to do with the young woman who’d been with the children?
She stared at her own reflection in the mirror. There was still some puffiness around her eyes, left over from the long hours with no sleep, but all in all she felt much better. She looked a little closer. Were those crow’s feet beginning to form at the outer corners of her eyelids?
“I’ve got to get myself out of this line of work,” she whispered to herself as she threw some more water on her face, even though she knew she was locked into her work probably for the rest of her life. The trick would be to make sure her retirement was at least a few more decades away.
She returned to her seat just as the door to the business compartment opened, and Tao pushed the young woman into her cabin.
“According to her driver’s license her name is Mimi Rogers,” Tao said as he pulled down a temporary seat from the wall across from where Willow sat. “Sit,” he instructed the woman. When she hesitated, he pushed her into the seat.
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