by Beth Lynne
Val laughed at Sidra’s description. “Saturn must be a good guide, because when Bella sends me through my car vents, I think I am going to die from the fumes and I feel like I am being squeezed and pooped out some giant’s butt. I seem to land so gracelessly, flopping like a ragdoll.”
Celia nodded. “That is more than likely indicative of the guide’s expertise, caring, and personality. I’m not saying Bella is mean, but she is somewhat abrasive. Saturn is a gentle-natured person with some creativity. I think she styled the experience to be pleasant for you, Sidra.”
“Hmmm,” Sidra acknowledged thoughtfully. “I guess here is where I am supposed to say, ‘Aw, Saturn ain’t so bad after all.’ I just don’t like her or her type, is all. Maybe I can get a different guide? Like Simon’s guides probably don’t have anyone right now. Tanya seemed nice and Jordan is a lot of fun.”
“You aren’t here to have fun or even to enjoy yourself. And I am not here to entertain you. This is not school now, where I need to tell you how wonderful you are without meaning it. I think you are rather immature and I wish I could choose who can have the powers and abilities and who I can pass by. I so dislike working with teens. They are unpredictable and unreliable. I had enough of that for over thirty years. I am not repeating that with something so important as this, at the risk of compromising my own business.” Celia’s tirade left Sidra sitting with her mouth open.
“So why did you work with kids if you hate them?”
“That was a typical option for my generation. Women didn’t typically have careers in medicine unless their families supported them. I did a dual major of education and chemistry, hoping I could do something with my love of science. I thought the teaching was temporary, and I discovered something I loved more than science: leadership. I love being in charge, so that was what I did. I didn’t care what I led, as long as I did. But I never enjoyed kids; they have too many ridiculous problems stemming from their hormonal drama. I do sympathize with the ones that are neglected, live in poverty, and are abused, but the typical angsty teen like you, Sidra, I can completely live without!”
“And I can live without bossy, evil, old women like you, Celia!” Sidra erupted. Val tried to quiet her down, although Celia simply smiled benevolently.
“Good. I am glad we understand each other now. Can we please get down to business?” Celia asked.
“Yes,” Sidra answered.
“First order of business. I have named the team. You are now called ‘The Good Vibes.’”
“Hmmm, I like that,” Val said. “How about you, Sidra?”
“Yes. That works.”
“Second order of business. I need you, Val, to convince Simon to come back.”
“Why me? I barely knew him at work and we only met the one time here.”
“He seemed to like you. You bonded as team mates, as you seemed to have with Angsty here. Angsty…that is a brilliant codename for you.”
“Oh come on, Celia!” Val protested on Sidra’s behalf.
“No, that’s okay, Val. I kind of like it. I earned it, I think,” Sidra told her. “Yeah. Nice big A right in the middle of my chest.” A smile lit up Sidra’s face.
33
A week later, the uniforms were ready. Sidra left school early for a special meeting (she actually forged a note and Val picked her up from the school, as she was just down the street parked in her car, watching the elementary school). Celia asked that Val bring Simon’s over to him to entice him back. Saturn and Bella had beamed their fighters down to Celia from Val’s driveway—Val through her Toyota and Sidra through her notebook, of course—and were banned from the Chamber as before. They would be notified when Sidra and Bella were ready to leave.
While Sidra was thrilled with her thin blue unitard with the light blue A in the middle of the chest, Val felt cheated. Basically, they were the same as the training uniforms but had more give to them and seemed better quality in that they were better ventilated and form-fitting.
“Where’s the cape and boots, Celia?” asked Val as they were modeling them for Celia and Smith.
“No capes,” Celia stated in her best Edna Mode voice.
Val cracked up and Sidra rolled her eyes, while Smith looked puzzled.
“What’s that? Why the voice?” he asked.
“The Incredibles movie, ya know?” Sidra said. “The animated superheroes?” He still didn’t seem to get it. “You had a childhood, right?” she asked. Smith gave her a tiny smile.
“I must’ve missed that one.”
“It came out in 2004 and has been on TV a ton of times. You oughta see it! I have it on Blu-ray. You should come over and watch it with me!” Sidra held her breath, hardly believing what had come out of her mouth.
“Okay.” Smith smiled a bit.
Sidra turned bright red and ducked her head. Val laughed and whispered, “Are you okay, baby girl? That was so brave.” Sidra made a low whimpering sound.
“Well, you girls look wonderful. I suggest you keep these on under your clothing as much as possible.”
“Every day?” Val asked. “That’s gonna stink after a couple wearings.”
“Well then, carry it in your bag, but you will need to change fast. Your counterparts around the world have no problem with being prepared.”
“Smith, what do you do?” Val asked.
“I have a few uniforms and I usually wash them on Saturdays.”
“Oh,” Val said, giving Celia a pointed look.
“I start you with one uniform and if you stay on, you will get another. Smith has been with me for several years. I doubt he is going anywhere.”
“Well la-di-da, Smith,” Val taunted him.
Celia groaned. “Please, just take the uniform to Simon and convince him to join us. Tanya and Jordan will be waiting for you.” She aimed the remote at the screens in her office and Saturn and Bella appeared remotely. “Pull ‘em out, ladies.”
“Are you ready, my dear?” he asked. “You look absolutely stunning, you know.”
“I’m definitely ready,” she replied. “That little nerd is going to wish she had never crossed me.”
“And you remember what we agreed on, right?”
“Yeah, yeah, I attend the prom with you. Really? That’s what you want for destroying a school? A prom date?” Idiot, does he really think there is going to still be a prom after this?
“And, if the school prom is canceled, we’ll have our own little party.” He attempted to pull her nearer, but she pushed him, hard. He sprawled on the ground, looking up at her with anger glittering in his eyes. He forced a smile. “Don’t try that underground, my dear,” he warned her.
“Are we going under now?” she asked.
“Yes, let’s go.” He accessed an app on his phone that he had created and held her hand. He tapped the phone screen and they vanished from the surface of the Earth. They materialized under the school and the first thing he did was smack her. He had the strength of ten men down here, and she was flung back into the rock wall of the cave-like structure they had entered, flying through the air and hitting her back.
“Oof!” she murmured as the air left her lungs.
“I owed you one,” he informed her. He let her recover as he summoned some helpers.
Tanya and Jordan had been texted by Saturn and were expecting Val, Bella, Sidra, and Saturn. They all converged at Simon’s door and pounded on it.
“Simon, man, open up! We wanna talk to you!” Jordan shouted.
“We have something for you!” Val offered, raising her voice as well. She held up Simon’s gray unitard with the GH sewn on it in charcoal color. “Hot!”
“We’re gonna make a scene if you don’t open up,” Tanya screamed. “Our neighbors are spying on us!”
“And you are gonna look handsome in this uniform!” Val yelled.
The door opened, and Simon peeked out. In the last couple of weeks, he had aged some more. His hair, what was left of it, was totally gray, his gut extended over his pants, and his
back stooped. His face drooped with wrinkles and lines.
“Uh, is your son Simon home?” Sidra asked.
“This is Simon,” Jordan advised her. “He needs some hookworm!”
“What do you all want?” Simon grumbled. “I don’t want no part of this.” He looked at the uniform Val was holding up. He smiled slightly. “What’s this? Your idea of a bribe or incentive?”
“Yes, we want you on the team, Simon. We enjoyed working with you for that short time we did,” Val told him, going over and giving him a hug. “Celia wants you back.”
“She wants to apologize?”
“What is it with you and apologies, man?” Jordan asked.
“It’s called common courtesy, boychick. She wants me back, she says, ‘Sorry, Simon. I was wrong.’ Otherwise, tough shit.”
Jordan’s phone rang. “Celia.” He answered, “Yeah, boss.” He listened and as he was on the phone, Smith appeared. His face was pale. Jordan’s expression was serious as he hung up.
“Everyone, we need to get underground right away. The school sank,” Smith said.
Val screamed, “Oh my God! My children! Please, we need to go now!” Tanya grabbed her and held her, shushing her and patting her back.
“No, it isn’t the elementary school. It’s the high school. The east wing, where the art, music, and shop classes are, collapsed into a fissure and a bunch of kids got swallowed up into it.”
“Good thing you cut class, girl!” Val informed Sidra, calming down a bit, but Sidra looked stricken.
“What time is it?” Sidra asked.
“Two fifteen.”
“Oh no, oh no!” Sidra moaned. “Did this all just happen?”
“Yes, just five minutes ago,” Jordan said.
“What? What? What’s wrong?” Val asked.
“My brother Axel has art class last period and that’s where he probably is. We need to get over there now!”
34
He took my hand and we glided, not really flying, but glided through the sky toward the woods at the edge of the park. We landed at the base of a large tree and sort of melted into the ground. We were underground and it seemed so normal, like Beam me up, Scotty, and there we were! Anyway, there were all these people chained to the walls of this cave. I knew it was the Underworld and these people were my neighbors, classmates, and other people from the community. All being held captive. They were being guarded by these beasts in loincloths. They had horns on their heads and swords in their hands. The people chained to the walls were moaning in pain, obviously getting tortured by these creatures. Smith pointed, and there I saw my parents and brother chained up, bleeding and starving. I tried to go to them, but Smith stopped me and said, “If you save them, you need to save everyone. The world is counting on you, Sidra.”
As Sidra floated downward in Smith’s arms, she remembered the dream she had recounted to Mittens/Saturn several weeks ago. She was panicked yet calm, anxious yet reassured. It all seemed normal, but she knew it was an extraordinary thing.
They landed in a cave-like setting, the smell musty and rotting. Smith pulled Sidra into a dark corner and whispered to her, “If you see your brother, resist the urge to run to him. We need to think of everyone. If we can’t get everyone out, then we need a different plan. Okay?”
“Okay.”
Surprisingly, there was a lot of hustle and bustle going on in the cave. The weird creatures with horns were present and so were some of the beetles that were in Celia’s slideshow. There were a few humans present, dressed all in black. At least, Sidra assumed they were humans, due to the lack of horns. One of them was dressed identically to the person in the picture that looked familiar. He—Sidra assumed it was a he—still looked familiar and appeared to be directing everyone. He spoke and gestured to a horned creature, who went over to another human that was slumped over, sitting against a rock. The horned creature hauled up the human by the arms. Sidra could see that it was a female with blonde hair, tall, dressed all in black. Black leotard, boots, and a cape. As the figure turned toward them, Sidra gasped.
“Figures the enemy has a cape,” Val bitched behind Sidra and Smith. Sidra jumped. “Stay calm, sis. And strip down.” Saturn joined them, already in her silver outfit. The rest stripped down to their unitards and bundled their clothes behind some rocks.
“The cape is for show, ladies,” Smith informed them.
“And we can strangle the bitch with it,” Saturn said.
Maybe I can like her, Sidra thought.
As they watched, some more horned creatures brought in more humans, but these were not dressed in black, at least not in leotards and capes and boots. Most of these humans were frightened teens. A few were adults, also frightened. One adult male tried to fight the horned creature that was pulling him along. The horned creature belted the man and zapped him with his hand. The man disintegrated. The humans all gasped and some of them began to cry hysterically. Once they were led in, they were chained to the wall. Sidra gasped again when she recognized her brother, who was putting up a brave front and not doing anything stupid. She felt a surge of pride for him as they chained his arms to shackles connected to the cave wall.
Smith nudged her. “You know someone?”
Sidra nodded. “My brother is there in the blue and white plaid shirt. They are chaining him to the wall.” As she watched, the horned things chained another kid up to the wall, not next to Axel, but a few feet over. Funny, everyone else was right next to each other…
“Don’t worry, we’ll get them all out of here,” Smith assured her.
“And that tall blonde over there is my bully. Her name is Venti and I beat her up a few weeks ago.” Smith gave her a smile that raised up one side of his mouth.
The other human in black was finished giving orders and he walked over to Venti. “Hello, darling. Feeling better?” He pulled her to him and she tried to resist at first. “Come on now. This is what you wanted. Let’s go a little further with it. Bring in the others!” he yelled to someone who could not be seen. Sidra knew the voice but couldn’t place it.
Two horned creatures brought in another adult. Sidra let out a whimper when she realized it was her mother.
“Axel!” Her mother ran to Axel and hugged him. He could not hug back, being chained to the wall as he was. The horned creature chained up Margo next to Axel. She struggled some, but the creature smacked her. Saturn held Sidra and clamped her hand over the girl’s mouth to keep her from yelling out. “We need to wait and plan. If you run to them, they might capture you as well and then you are of no use in rescuing them.”
“Where is the girl? She should have been in music class. It was a perfect time to get her and her brother!” The horned things shrugged. “And she wasn’t in the house either?” They shook their heads. “Then where the hell is she?”
“I’m over here, Hammond!” Sidra yelled.
Afterword
So what the heck? Why does Hammond want to destroy the world? Or at least get even with Sidra on Venti’s behalf? Does he need a prom date that badly? More importantly, can Sidra and her team rescue the students and her brother and mom? Where is Evan, Sidra’s dad? Hopefully he is okay, because Mittens needs to be fed. And did Simon decide to join forces or does he want to recline in his Barcalounger and forget the team ever existed?
While you are waiting for the answers to those questions and more, please leave a review for this first installment in The Good Vibes series. Thank you for reading!
>