by Randal Sloan
Her movement had separated her from the third man, who was a very large man. He thought he could overcome her with a bull rush, thinking to take advantage of his size. Seeing him coming toward her pushed Julie over the edge. Throwing a flying kick into him, she knocked him backwards and then ran forward to jump on top of him, giving him two rapid punches to the chest. The intimidation factor of his large size caused her to hit harder with him. She felt ribs break with those punches, quickly realizing he wasn’t going to be getting up again.
Taking a deep breath, Julie felt time slow back down to normal. It had seemed like a long time for her, but she realized it had only been seconds.
Jerrem had gotten help a lot sooner than she had expected, as he came running up leading several monks toward them. Julie stood up slowly with her hands raised. “I tried to tell them,” she said with a sob, “but they wouldn’t listen. They gave me no choice.”
Julie knew that if she had controlled her anger just a little more, maybe she could have kept them talking just a little longer. Then maybe she wouldn’t have had to do this at all. But she also knew what had to have happened. Jerrem must have run into a group of monks almost immediately, and she suspected that they had been sent there by the Master. So he could have sent them early enough to stop it, but he must have had a reason to let it all play out. That made her feel at least a little better.
#
The arriving monks could hardly believe what they saw when they came up, with two of the men barely moving and the third completely incapacitated. Most of them just stared at Julie in surprise. She knew to them she had to look like the mouse the three had seen, but she knew what she was capable of doing. She was getting closer to control, but the life and death situation had pushed her beyond the level she could handle.
The healer monks arrived shortly thereafter, quickly taking control of the situation. The first two men were transported to the monk equivalent of an infirmary, but they determined that the third had a collapsed lung. He would have to be flown to the hospital. Because his large size had triggered those hard blows, the damage was more severe than for the others.
It wasn’t long before the Master monk arrived. By this time, Julie was certain that he had foreseen what would happen, but she knew from her mother that sometimes that didn’t mean there was another solution. Still visibly shaken, she was sitting at the compound drinking tea.
“I thought I was close to learning to control it,” she told the Master, “but they gave me no choice and I couldn’t control it enough.”
The Master spoke softly to her. “But your actions were entirely correct by the code. You had to defend yourself with the least amount of force the situation warranted.”
Moved with compassion, he told her gently, “I would also say you did control yourself. They are still living, aren’t they? If you had not controlled it, one or more would be dead right now. So do not be too hard on yourself. They brought it entirely on themselves, and you did not seek any of this.”
Tears still in her eyes, Julie nodded. She couldn’t see anything she could have done differently, and she did manage a good bit of control. Just not enough, especially on the third man. But he had genuinely frightened her at the time.
The Master looked at her with concern for a moment. “I believe it is now time to make you my full student. I should have listened more to my honorary brother Ted. You must rest tonight to allow your soul to heal. No working with your VR. You may read if you wish, light reading only. Tomorrow, I want you to meditate in the morning, then come to see me after lunch. We will talk more about your training then.” He bowed to her, master to advanced student. Before she could respond, he was gone, just like he so often did, vanishing back into the evening.
CHAPTER SEVEN
Preparations
Caitlyn Erwin had received a VR message from Emily the day before. It only said that she was to meet Emily at the Space Tech office complex today at this specified time. She had immediately replied that she would be there. She had last talked to Emily a couple of days after the explosion at the lab at Space Academy. Caitlyn wanted to find out about Miranda and Zeke, knowing both had been injured in the explosion and she knew that Emily would be able to tell her.
After Caitlyn learned what little Emily could tell her about their condition, she had gone all in, telling Emily about her commitment to do whatever she could do to make amends with Miranda, asking Emily for her help. A rumor had been going around the school that Miranda was really Julie Randolph, the daughter of the CEO of Space Tech. Caitlyn had figured that Emily would know if that was true. Emily didn’t confirm or deny it, but Caitlyn was able to tell from her response that it must be true. Emily could scheme with the best of them, but she wasn’t very good at telling a straight-up lie. That made Caitlyn feel even more ashamed of the things she had done, and even more determined to do whatever she could to make up for her actions. Fortunately for Caitlyn, Emily was convinced of her sincerity, and when she left that day, Emily was in full scheming mode.
Caitlyn didn’t know what Emily was up to, but she made her way into the huge lobby at the Space Tech Corporate Office. Having visited Space Tech before with her father, Caitlyn had always found the lobby of Space Tech to be rather intimidating. She made sure she was punctual, not wanting to risk any issue with whatever it was that Emily had planned.
At least Caitlyn didn’t have to wait, as Emily was standing there holding two temporary access badges when she arrived. When Emily explained what was going on, at first Caitlyn could only stare at her in complete surprise. Finally gaining control of herself, she told Emily, “If this one works out, I do believe it will be your biggest scheme to date.”
Emily laughed at her pronouncement. “You should have seen some of the things I’ve pulled on my family. But I’ve got to admit it, this one is up there.”
Caitlyn knew she had tears in her eyes, but she didn’t care. “I will give it my best and we’ll see what happens. I guess I will owe you big, too.”
“No biggie. If it works out, I will have you here close to keep an eye on Julie while I go back to school. She does tend to find trouble, as you know, and I won’t be close by.”
“Yes, but she seems to take care of trouble without any problem. Whoever is on the other side of that gets the bad end of the deal. It’s much better, I think, to be her friend and not her enemy. I just wished I had started out on the right side.” Caitlyn sighed. “So what do we do to get started?”
Emily showed her how to wear her badge and then had security call Julie’s uncle to meet them. A few minutes later, he appeared in front of them, giving Emily a big hug. Ted had told her to call him “Uncle,” since she and Julie were like sisters. He really did feel like an uncle to her, often seeing her at the hospital when she went to see Zeke and offering her comfort. After a moment, Emily pulled back and turned toward Caitlyn.
“Uncle Ted, this is Caitlyn Erwin. She is here to help me set up Julie’s office. I am expecting it will take most of the week to finish up. I will probably not be able to come every day, so she will need a pass for the week on her own.”
He nodded. “That’s fine. Just show her where to pick up her badge.” He smiled at both of them. “I’m going to let Andrea be the one to work with you guys, so I’ll give you her VR contact info.” His smile grew bigger. “If you will, ladies, step this way. I expect you two are in for a treat. Not many people get to see behind the scenes in the upper echelons of Space Tech.” He motioned in front of him toward the entrance to the elevator lobby.
Ted quietly escorted them through security which included a scanner that Caitlyn suspected would detect any danger known to man. When they got to the high rise elevators that went only to the penthouse, Ted had to use a biometric scanner to operate the elevator, explaining to them that to go up to the office area, they would need either someone with access to the floor or a security escort. The elevator rose so smoothly Caitlyn barely felt it, but the whole experience was surreal. This place is
more secure than Fort Knox was her foremost thought. She couldn’t believe Emily had gotten her here.
When they exited the elevators, Ted led them a short way down the hall, stopping in front of a very upscale office area. Turning to Emily and Caitlyn, he said, “This office area is where we are going to locate Julie.” Opening the door, he went in, showing them around. “The front office will be for a future administrative person. Julie’s office is the one behind it. The conference room beside it will be Julie’s also.” Stepping up to the VR station in the front office, he activated it, and speaking distinctly, told it, “Grant access for one week to the two accompanying interns, Security Level 1.”
Ted motioned to a couple of VR icons, pulling up the first briefly. “This is the catalog where you will order furniture, equipment and supplies for the offices. For Julie, we want to upgrade her VR to full size. Same thing for her conference room. Don’t worry about the cost for it, or anything else she asks for you to do. That’s my job, not that I am likely to tell her no.”
“Make sure her office has the highest security suite available. Space Tech Security can help you with that.” He pointed to the icon to contact them. “I think that should be enough to keep the two of you busy. Do you have any questions?”
When the girls shook their heads, he told them, “I’m sure you will have questions later. Andrea is right down the hall, and she should be able to answer anything you need. If there is anything I can do to help, let me know.”
Emily smiled at him. This was going to be such fun. “We’ve got it Uncle Ted. You just wait. I promise Julie will be happy when we are done, and you are going to be so jealous of her set up. Caitlyn is my office design person, so you’ll have to talk to me if you want her to do yours.”
Caitlyn laughed, telling him, “I don’t know about all that. But I do promise I will do my best to help make sure her office is the best we can do. Although it’s probably going to be a little too feminine for your taste anyway, despite Emily’s sales pitch.”
Ted laughed. “I think Emily could sell anyone almost anything. I already know about her. But I am sure you will do it very well. I assume you want to keep the details a surprise for Julie?”
Emily nodded, “She knows that I’m here but not Caitlyn. I want to surprise her with the final setup, so yeah, keep it quiet.”
Ted glanced down at his arm band, “She usually calls in by now. It should be pretty late there, so I’m a little worried.”
He was turning to go back toward his office, when Andrea paged him on his VR. “You have a call from someone calling himself your Brother Monk and he’s asking for Brother Ted. He’s using Julie’s secure VR.”
“Yes, patch him through,” he said and started walking toward his office.
Caitlyn couldn’t keep from overhearing, “Julie is fine but shaken up. Three men attacked her, and she had to defend herself, leaving them injured. One of them is in the hospital with broken ribs and a collapsed lung.”
Ted closed the door so they couldn’t hear the rest of the conversation. The girls swapped looks. Caitlyn couldn’t help but think about the time she along with her soccer team friends had tried to attack Miranda. That could have been me and the girls on the soccer team. Glad I’m on her team now.
Emily told Caitlyn. “That sounded scary. I’m glad Julie’s ok. I’ll have to send her a VR later so she can answer me tomorrow.” Emily was more than a little worried, but she knew that now wasn’t the time to try to reach her.
Finally, Emily shook her head. They had a job to do. She looked directly at Caitlyn. “So you understand the plan for us, right? I will be here today to help you get settled in, but you are going to take care of getting the work done. It will be all your design and choices.”
Caitlyn looked right back at her. “I owe her a very big debt. So yes, I will do whatever it takes to get this done right.” She gave Emily a smile. “I really appreciate you letting me do this.”
“Well, I believe we have to earn our second chances, but I also believe everyone deserves one if they sincerely desire it and are willing to work for it. So this one is yours.”
Caitlyn couldn’t argue with that. “Well, thanks again.” She took a big breath. “So, let’s get it done. Let’s go see Andrea first, so we can work out the logistics for the week. I’d then say we grab some quick lunch. Then the two of us can come back to see how far we can get today. I’m going to use you while I have you. If we can work out the basic layout, doing the fine tuning will be the fun part.”
As Caitlyn led the way toward Andrea’s office, Emily smiled. She so loved it when a plan came together.
#
Impressed and very happy that he was talking on Julie’s secure VR, Ted opened up with his friend. “We really didn’t get to talk much before you left us after the challenge. Now that we are using secure VR, I can talk more freely. I assume Julie’s training is progressing well? Before the accidentally super boost of her nanites, Julie was as fast as anyone I have ever seen, including during my training there with your monks. Because of that boost, when she left she was having to fight for control and to slow things down. I am not surprised that she injured those men in defending herself, but I’m glad she has learned some control. You saw what she did to your student, so you know what she is capable of doing.”
Master Kash replied, “I knew the instant I saw her. To the other sight, she glows as brightly as anyone I have ever seen. To answer your question, she is doing very well despite what happened this evening. But I think I was mistaken in trying to stay so hands off in her training. I will teach her myself from now on. Truthfully, I will tell you. I think we will have a new high master before she leaves, and not honorary like you, old brother.”
“I wouldn’t be surprised, especially if you are doing her training,” Ted said, smiling as he remembered his time there with the monks when his friend was his teacher. “And I know she will be a better student than I was.”
“Yes, in some ways. But dear brother, you did have your moments.”
“Please take care of her. She means so very much to me, and it’s been a long, hard journey this last couple of years,” Ted told him, his voice full of emotion. “Call me if you need me for anything,” Ted added, something he knew his friend would do but he had to say it. However, an idea popped into his head. So he couldn’t keep from asking, “If I send you your own set of secure VR equipment, will you use it to contact me? For Julie’s sake, of course.”
That brought a big laugh from his friend. “You’ve got me on that one, brother. I will do anything for her protection and you know it. So send it. I told her she was an agent of change. Guess I have to accept it where it hits home.” He disconnected the call, still laughing as he did so.
Not one to waste an opportunity, Ted immediately sent a VR to Andrea. “Send our highest quality secure VR equipment to the head monk of the island, with extra battery packs and the solar charging station. Make it fastest delivery available.”
#
Somewhere in the US capital, a covert task force was assembling for the mission to Kinza. The newest member of the team, and an outsider at that, Carla was a little worried about her acceptance. But she was not really that surprised to see Hernando, who came forward to give her a big handshake.
“So you too,” he told her. “Too bad we don’t have Miranda with us too. We could really use her on the team.”
Carla nodded. She was still amazed at what she had seen that girl do. Hopefully the girl was done with all her conflict. She knew even the soccer girls, who apparently had been causing Miranda problems, had been talking about how much they owed her. She had overheard them talking on the plane, and had been impressed that the leader of the group had insisted that they all had to find ways to make it up to her. Hopefully, that meant that her path was a lot easier now. Lucky for those girls, though. Carla wouldn’t want to be on the other side against Miranda.
Hernando pointed to the board which had the status of all the members of the
covert team. “Speaking of the team, we are all here except our leader. I have heard that the brass has pulled our normal team leader and sent in someone else for this mission. Not a good sign.”
But a moment later, a much too young major, in dress uniform of all things, came marching into their room. When none of the men came to attention and saluted him, he barked, “Attention. Everyone front and center on the double.” Everyone stared in disbelief. As normal procedure, none of them were in uniform when they were preparing for a black op. Saluting was dangerous when they were in the field, for the leader potentially even more than the soldier. A sniper was always looking to take out the officer, if he could spot him.
This was their team leader, the baby-faced kid, who had probably never set foot in the field? He was in way over his head if this first meeting was any indication. Many of them were already worried. I don’t have a good feeling about this. All of those thoughts were going through their heads as the team whose sole purpose was to blend in and infiltrate was forced to stand at attention like a bunch of new recruits.
Pointing to the map in front of him, he indicated an area that had to be over 50 miles away from their destination. “The plan is to parachute in to this location and cross the border in the mountains. We will then travel along this road here to reach the compound.”
Carla could not believe it. That was the dumbest op plan she had ever seen. If they all made it through the mountains, they would be exhausted by the time they reached their destination. Even worse, if they marched down the road, they might as well carry a beacon transmitting their location. Had they not looked at the intelligence information at all? Finally, she could not take it any longer.
“Sir, why not come in from the south by helicopter instead? Our intelligence indicates that they have no ground-based radar in that area. We can get much closer and then cross a small section of desert to make our approach.”