by Randal Sloan
Caitlyn quickly rushed forward, giving her a hug. Wiping the tears from her eyes, she said, “I’ve got to go tell Emily. She’s going to be so happy that another of her plans has come together.”
“Yep, she will. Tell her I love her, and tell her thank you for the both of us. And then tell her someday she’s going to have to face payback.”
Wearing a huge smile, Caitlyn practically ran from the room as she checked her VR to see where she could find Emily.
I do owe Emily… A whole lot!
Hurrying back to her new office, Julie settled into what she discovered was a very comfortable chair. Absolutely thrilled at the VR setup that she found was hers, nevertheless, Julie quickly settled in. She checked her VR messages to see if she had heard anything from her uncle. He had been handling most of the day to day decisions and only sent things to her if he deemed it necessary for her to review it. Luckily, nothing big was happening. She sent him a quick VR explaining what was going on with Caitlyn. At least she wouldn’t have to search for an assistant now.
Settling in, Julie quickly got to work. She needed to get a few things done before leaving with Emily to visit Zeke at the hospital. First she called the techs to talk about the components for the prototype power supply. They were still on schedule and expected to be ready in a week. Disconnecting the call, Julie thought that would work out just right. Zeke should be awake then and she was going to need Zeke’s help before she could do anything else with it. Julie just absolutely refused to think about what she would do if she didn’t have Zeke to help.
Julie worked a few more minutes, finishing up the rest of the things queued up for her, but as a result of taking the portable VR system to the island and working on it at night, she really wasn’t that far behind. A few minutes later it was time to meet Emily to go see Zeke. She really missed him.
#
Emily drove herself and Julie to the hospital. Since it was already lunch time to a very confused Julie, they stopped for lunch, the two them then talking over dessert and coffee. Julie had a lot to tell her near sister about, so it was pretty late by the time they left for the hospital. Emily let Julie out at the entrance, because she could see that Julie, really, really wanted to see Zeke. She also knew Julie needed to have a few minutes alone with him.
Of course, nothing at all had changed in Zeke’s condition since Julie had been there last, but it made her feel better to see him. Grasping his hand, Julie whispered, “It is almost time. Soon we are going to be able to finish some of these one-sided conversations and we’ll see where it goes.” Strangely, Julie could feel something with that touch, again that little extra spark like she had felt when she touched him just before she left for the island. It seemed even stronger than the last time. She wondered what it meant.
Julie stood there, holding Zeke’s hand and lost in thought until Emily came into the room. Emily gave her a hug and said, “I’m so glad you are back, Sis. Caitlyn and Joe have helped keep a watch on Zeke, but we’ve needed you here too.”
Pulling Emily into a deeper hug, Julie clung to her for a moment, herself near to tears. “You don’t know how hard it has been for me, not being able to see him. It was difficult keeping my doubts in check without being able to even touch him. I’ve just had to keep believing everything will be alright. Even though nothing has changed, seeing him here and finally being able to get that direct touch somehow makes me believe it will really happen. But it’s still really hard.” Finally, she pulled back from her enough to turn back toward Zeke, and for some time they both stood there looking at him.
After a few minutes, Emily roused herself. “We’ve got to go out together. We haven’t done that in a long time. I think I need that right now.”
“Yes, I would like that, but if I go, I have to go as Miranda. You don’t think you will find that weird, do you?”
“No, I’ve spent more time with Miranda than I have with Julie anyway.” Emily turned toward her, giving her a mischievous grin. “You gonna let me watch you change?”
Julie couldn’t keep from laughing. She realized it had been a while since she had laughed. “Why not? You’ve pretty much seen everything else, haven’t you? I’ve really missed my roomie.” She concentrated on her nanites and started the change.
Emily stared in fascination. First Julie’s face thinned out a little. Then her skin tone began to darken. Her eyes changed from their pure blue to a hazel color. Finally her hair seemed to glow for an instant, and then it was black. A moment later, Miranda was standing in front of her.
“So am I going to have to go change clothes or will these do?” Miranda asked her. “You know I’m not very good with the styles.”
“Lucky for you, Julie is. You’re not perfect, but you will do. I on the other hand am always perfect.”
That got Miranda laughing. “I have so missed you, girl. Sorry, but you’re stuck chauffeuring again since Miranda doesn’t own a car.” That brought on another round of laughter, both of them this time.
#
The venue that Emily picked was perfect for their mood for the evening, a popular nite spot called the Black Tavern. It had a bar, but the two were able to enter as underage, since those old enough to buy alcohol had to wear arm bands. The place was crowded enough that they felt comfortable alone as two single girls, but not so busy that they would feel overwhelmed.
The musical band was awesome, playing an upbeat sound with variations of popular songs. They even had a violin, although the leader of the band called it a fiddle when he introduced the band members. The girls devoured a couple of appetizers, each drinking a fancy lemonade with it. It was all really good. Miranda was beginning to get a suspicion that Emily had been there before, since she knew exactly what to order.
Miranda was amazed when at the break the band came over to see them. Or to see Emily, more correctly. Emily quickly introduced the guys. Thomas Jacobs, the leader of the band, was a likable guy and he really seemed down to earth. He also seemed quite friendly with Emily. Miranda wondered what the story was there. Christopher Jones, not Chris he emphasized, was the head guitar player, and Miranda could tell he probably had a story or two to tell. Jimmy Wilson, the bass player, was a big guy, but he had the quietest personality of them all. Jason Winston was the fiddle player, and he appeared to be the jokester of the band. He also gave Miranda an intense look when she told him she played the violin.
The guys waved at a waiter and had their drinks delivered to the girl’s table, pulling a nearby table over to make more room. Miranda couldn’t keep from noticing that Thomas sat rather closely to Emily. In her case, she wasn’t surprised when Jason pulled his chair over beside her. Smiling, he asked her, “Tell me about your violin. I guess you know the real difference between a fiddle and a violin?”
Knowing she had to be careful to maintain her identity as Miranda, she nevertheless really wanted to know more about his fiddle. So she shook her head. “No, different strings, different setup I guess?”
“You never get beer spilled on a violin,” Jason laughed, his eyes dancing. Definitely the joker of the band.
“You got me,” Miranda told him, laughing with him. After she caught her breath, she went on. “But one musician to the other. You may play a different sound than I do, but I can tell you are a great musician. I tend to play the more modern variations on the violin, so it really isn’t that different. Your sound is just a little more folksy.”
Emily couldn’t help but chime in. “You should hear her play Julie Randolph’s song, the one that’s still out on the VR net. She sounds just like her.”
Jason’s eyebrows went up at that. “You’ll have to play that for me someday. I love that song. I could never play it close to as well as her. “ His look had grown more intense. “You must be quite talented.”
Miranda couldn’t keep from blushing. She was glad she had her dark complexion. “It’s more like I have practiced it a thousand times, but it is a special song.”
Thomas had been distracted by s
omeone who had come up, but he turned back to the table, listening in to the last part of their conversation. “Jason here is the one that makes the most difference in our band. His contribution is what makes our sound special compared to the thousands of other bands out there.”
The two guitar players nodded. Each knew he was good at his instrument, but they also knew a lot of bands had guitar players. Seeing he had the attention of the whole band, Thomas went on, “We were hoping we could do some recordings and try to go viral, but we need an investor to come onboard with us. The guy I was just talking to was our best bet, but I just found out that he is backing out on us. A bad quarter in the stock market, he says. But he may get back to us in a few months.”
His announcement put a bit of a drag on the conversation, each of the guys nursing their beers, probably thinking about their lost opportunity. Leaning over, Emily whispered in Miranda’s ear, “Julie could invest in them easily. Pocket change for her. What do you think?”
Miranda looked at her in surprise. But why not? Emily seemed to really like Thomas. She would have to get the scoop soon. “Hey guys,” she said, easily breaking into the near silence of the band. “Emily and I just happen to know someone who might help you out. We both went to school with Julie Randolph and we could present it to her. I bet she’d go for it when she finds out you have such a great fiddle player. Think you can give us a business case describing what you want to do with the funds?” she asked, looking at Thomas.
“Sure, you guys come backstage after the next show and I can whip something up. That would be awesome if you think you can make it happen.” The mood greatly improved, they enjoyed a few minutes of talking to the guys before they went back onstage. Miranda really wanted a chance to see the “fiddle”, and play it, just a little.
#
After the guys left, the girls split a chocolate dessert and each had a cup of specialty coffee. After scraping the chocolate out of the bottom of the bowl, Miranda sat listening to the music and sipping her coffee with pleasure. All were things she had missed on the island. Back in civilization at last. She gave a sigh at that.
After several songs where the fiddle was a prominent part of their act, the guys finished their set and exited the set backstage. Quickly finishing their coffee, the two girls rose from their table and Emily led the way backstage. She knew exactly where she was going. The bouncer at the backstage entrance obviously knew her, because he didn’t even ask their names. Miranda looked at Emily with even more suspicion. Emily for her part tried to play it cool, but she knew she was in for the inquisition when they left.
Miranda was pleased to see that the backstage party for the band was relatively tame. The guys weren’t acting crazy or anything and the visitors were all polite. When a group of teenage girls showed up, Miranda’s eyes widened a little, but she was pleasantly surprised when the guys all gathered with them for pictures and autographs, the guys behaving as perfect gentlemen. Even though some of the girls were a little too bright-eyed to suit her.
When Thomas led the girls around on a tour, Jason leaned over toward Miranda and whispered, “The blond is my sister. He promised her a visit with some of her friends.” He gave her a crooked smile. “We don’t usually get this many visitors back here, despite what you might have thought. No wild women throwing themselves at us.”
Jason held out his fiddle, laying it carefully on the table in front of Miranda. “So, you want to see it? I know you are dying to try it.”
Miranda nodded quietly, gently reaching down to pick it up. It was a beautiful instrument, not as fancy as hers, well, Julie’s violin, but still a very special instrument. She could tell that the strings were a different material and the setup just a little different, but it was still basically the same. When Jason handed her the bow, she gave a sigh of pleasure, lifting it up to gently stroke the strings. She adjusted the tuning minutely, but she knew it was already well tuned. Then she began to play very softly.
Of course, she played her song. The song that Julie had played just before the world changed for her, when she was still that innocent young girl who had everything she wanted. The song that had helped Miranda so much when she was struggling to deal with the debilitating headaches, not even knowing her real name. The song Julie played when she was first trying to find herself again, helping her to bring her memories back. Forgetting about where she was for a moment, all she thought about was the song.
When she finished playing, Miranda looked up to see the whole room gathered around her, and they all broke out in quiet applause. She could have sworn some of them had tears in their eyes. And she suspected that, with Jason at least, she had probably blown her cover. There were variations in the song that only Julie would have been able to reproduce exactly the way she played it, no matter how much someone would have been able to practice.
She gave them all a nervous smile. “Guess I got a little carried away. I haven’t had the opportunity to play in some time. Thank you, Jason, it is a beautiful instrument, with a beautiful sound.” She handed it back to him gently. Seeing she was finished, her small crowd broke up again, but they were much more subdued than before. Even the teenage girls were mellowed out.
Jason was one of those with tears in his eyes. “No,” he said. “Thank you. That was absolutely breathtaking to listen to. I really liked that song before, but hearing you play it in person, I loved it even more.” She had definitely blown her cover!
They hung around for a few minutes, talking with the guys, while Thomas worked with his VR. “There,” he said to Miranda, sending her the document with a flick of a finger. “I basically just took the business case we had written up a few months ago and updated it. You really think she will go for it?”
Well, at least she hadn’t completely blown her cover. “I think so. If I don’t convince her, I’m pretty sure Emily will.” She looked him straight in the eyes. “You know I’m going to have to find out all about you from Emily. So far you are passing muster, but it’s not a total wrap yet.”
Thomas smiled at her. “Looks like I’m caught. I expect I will be seeing a lot more of you. And, I really enjoyed your little solo there. Come back any time you want. If Jason decides to dump us for the big times, I may come recruiting you.” They all laughed at that.
#
The girls spent just a few minutes more with them. It was getting pretty late, so Thomas volunteered to walk them back to the car. Because they had been backstage, when the three of them exited, it was out the back door. Thomas had done it so many times he had begun to take the relative safety of the area for granted, but they hadn’t gone very far when two men accosted them. They must have been waiting for them. Somehow they had managed to get between them and most of the cars in the parking lot.
One of the men had a gun which he waved around. “I’ll be relieving you of the take from tonight’s show. I’ve watched you, and I know you bring it out every night to give it to the courier. I heard he was going to be delayed tonight, so I thought I would help out.”
Thomas realized that he had gotten way too careless lately. But, because of the visitors backstage, he hadn’t finished counting up their tips. On most previous nights, he had turned them in about this time, and as a favor to the manager, had been bringing the money from the night’s receipts out to the courier. He had been so distracted by the possibility of getting a backer for the band, he was running behind. But he was sure these men weren’t going to believe him. “Look guys, I don’t have it on me tonight. I was just walking the girls out.”
Miranda didn’t like the way that man was waving the gun around. She could tell the safety was off and she was worried he would accidentally shoot someone, in particular her friend Emily. She wished she had her knives. They didn’t want to know what she could do with a knife. So instead she looked around carefully, looking for anything she could use as a weapon.
Apparently completely taken by surprise at the possibility that Thomas might not have the money on him, the man leveled the
gun at them. He just stared, at a loss for words. Thomas pushed the girls behind him, desperately trying to think of a way out of this. He now wished he had gotten the security guy to come out with them. He knew he could have defended himself and the girls in most situations, but that gun changed everything. “Just let the girls go, and I will go back in to get the money.” He could tell that Emily looked scared and felt her trembling as she pressed against him. He had to find a way to get her and Miranda to safety.
Thomas really didn’t like the guy’s response. “I bet. I expect you would make a stop by security, too. Why don’t my partner and I just hold on to the girls instead, and you go in to get it.” He turned briefly toward his partner, which was what Miranda had been waiting for. Time slowed as she dropped deep into the zone, scooping up a couple of rocks that had been lying on the ground near her, just out of reach.
The man must have seen her move out of the corner of his eye, but his response seemed ridiculously slow. His gun hand dropped as he reacted in surprise, and that was what she had been waiting for. She let fly the first of the two rocks, which flew like a bullet to strike the gun in the man’s hand, knocking it loose to go flying in the air. Miranda had calculated in her head the trajectory so that the gun would go where she wanted, the open garbage bin behind him. Luckily, the gun didn’t go off although Miranda had expected it might. In case it did, she had wanted the steel of the container as a backup. He dropped to the ground clutching his hand, which Miranda expected was broken.
Still in the zone, Miranda was ready to let fly the second rock but before she could, Thomas ran forward to attack the second man, and she didn’t want to risk hitting him. It didn’t matter, because the man was so distracted by what happened to his companion, he didn’t even get a defense up before Thomas reached him, hitting him with a quick double combo that dropped him like a rock with a surprised look on his face. He finished him with a kick to the head. Miranda switched her focus back to the first man, but he still hadn’t moved other than to curl up into a ball. Good!