Stargazer Gets the Girl
Chapter 23-K The Circle Grows
By Stargazer MD
“The following morning, Alex and Isabel were sitting across the table while Gloria was puttering at the stove. “So what you think about the house?” Isabel asked.
“Isn't it still early in the process?” Alex asked hesitantly. “Don't we need to have an inspection and talk to bankers and lawyers and all that stuff?”
“Yeah, it's a long process, but the first step is in deciding that you want to go through with it. Do you like the house?” Seeing the look on Alex's face she put her spoon down. “You do like the house, don't you?”
“It's all just happening so fast,,,”
“You don't want to marry me?”
Gloria looked down at her pan of scrambled eggs which were just starting to firm up in her damaged T-Fal pan. Although she momentarily considered leaving the kitchen and giving the teens privacy, that would cause her eggs to burn, not to mention the fact that it was her kitchen. Besides, it was a well documented fact that the two of them were brain damaged, and it was her God-given duty to keep them out of trouble. Instead, she reached for the garlic powder.
“What?” Alex gasped in amazement. “No, no! I mean yes of course I want to marry you, I feel married already.” he said earnestly reaching and taking her hands in his own. “Izzy, where is that coming from?”
“This is going to be our house, the one I'm going to turn into your home, where you run our company so that we can afford to start our family,,,”
“Izzy, we’re going to have that,” Alex said reassuringly. “I think it's a great house, but do we really want to buy the first house we look at. It's so much money, and you are such a shopahollic. Just look at how much you shopped around before you knew I was the one you would going to marry,,,”
“Alex,” Gloria snapped, swinging her pan at him. “Fight nice. I brought you into this world, and so help me God I'll take you out just as quick.”
Alex looked down at their hands contritely. “Sorry.”
“Okay, so you think it's a great house. It's ten minutes from the airport and ten minutes from the university. And although it cost more then you may want to spend on the house, you have to factory in the office suite. We are going to be able to grow Aries without having to rent additional space. We won't have to drive to the office, we won't have to go home for lunch, everything we need is going to be right there under one roof. Besides, we're only going to make a minimum down payment because with the need to finance as much as we possibly can,,,”
“Finance,” Alex asked, his curiosity piqued, “Why would we spend money on interest if we don't have to?”
“Taxes,” Isabel replied confidently. “We are going to buy the houses as individuals, then we are going to lease it to Aries. This arrangement will allow us to move revenue from Aries into our personal accounts as an expense, which is not taxable, rather than as a dividend, which would be taxed at the forty percent corporate rate. We’re going to do the same thing with every piece of equipment we need,,,”
“But once we transfer of money to ourselves, won't we pay the same tax on it?”
“Don't worry your pretty little head about that Sweetie,” Isabel teased, happy that the earlier acrimonious mood was gone. “That's my job, but suffice it to say that unless I do this you're going to be working for the government.”
Alex got up, collected their dishes and rinsed them in the sink, and then held out his hand to help Isabel up.
“Thanks Sweetie,” Isabel said cheerfully, “But you do realize that you’re sleeping on the couch tonight, don't you?”
“What? Why,” Alex stammered.
“For doubting me.”
“Izzy, we don't sleep together. Besides, I’ll be in the guest room at your house tonight. There’s no need to make me sleep on the couch to get away from me.”
“Oh Sweetie, this isn't about getting away from you,” Isabel teased as they got out into the yard. “I'll still have you if I want you. Your sleeping on the couch is in response to your comment about my shopping around before I picked you and thereby shamming me in front of your mother.”
“I'm never going to understand women,” Alex muttered as he climbed into the passenger side of the Volvo.
“What's that?” Isabel challenged.
“I said you didn't look that shammed to me.”
“Good.”
**********
“Aries Technologies,” Isabel said cheerfully as she answered her cell. “Hello?” She asked when there was no answer.
“Isabel, don't hang up,” she heard in her own voice.
“Lonnie?” Isabel spat out. “You have some nerve calling me.”
“Listen, don't get mad at me,” Lonnie sighed wearily. “We got out of town just like you told us to. We honored the terms of the truce,,,”
“You ratted us out to Nicolas. It had to be you, no one else knew we were coming,,”
“He wanted to negotiate his own truce with you,,,”
“Wrong Lonnie,” Isabel replied coldly. “He lured us into an ambush,,,”
“He ambushed you?” Lonnie said in shock.
“He tried, he died.”
“Nicholas is dead?”
“You would be too if I could have found you.”
“Frack me,” Lonnie sighed, her voice dying out.
Isabel waited indifferently not wanting anything to do with her dupe, but just when she was expecting her to hang up she heard something that stunned her. “I need your help.”
“Me, help you? What are you, fracking nuts?”
“It's not me, it's Rath,” Lonnie said softly. When Isabel didn't say anything, she continued nervously, “Michael busted him up pretty bad. He's not healing. I think he's going to die if he doesn't get any help,,,”
“So what, you expect Max to heal him? You guys tried to kill him!”
“That was a misunderstanding,” Lonnie said quickly, grasping at straws. “He has to do it, for old times sake. Rath was Zan's second, your intended. That has to mean something.”
“I'll think about it and talk to Max,” Isabel replied levelly. “In the meantime, don't call me, I'll call you.”
**********
Charles got ready for bed, not bothering to be careful as he clopped around the room. He was in the mood for a little something-something, and he didn’t care if he had to wake Gloria to get it. Moments later he was in bed, spooned against his wife’s back while he nibbled on her neck. Nothing. He reached around to her front and emboldened his touches. Still nothing. He pulled her towards him, only to be rewarded by getting his face slapped as Gloria’s hand flopped up as she rolled onto her back, but instead of waking her, she now was snoring about as loud as a bull moose with asthma. Not only that, but she had landed diagonally across the middle of the bed, effectively forcing Charles onto the floor.
Charles swore to himself as he pulled on his pajamas and robe before gathered his pillow and the spare comforter. He was angry as he stomped down the stairs, headed for family room couch, but that was nothing compared to the shock he got as soon as he fell asleep. “Isabel!” he gasped as she made her presence known.
“Sexually frustrated and uncomfortable,” she stated. “Just the way I want you.”
Charles didn’t know how to respond to this as the sight of her made him more than a little nervous. She was dressed in a conservative pair of red satin pajamas, her arms crossed angrily over her breasts, while her tapping foot caused swirling eddies in the ever present mist of the dream realm.
“You’re going to be restless all night, and won’t get a moment of deep sleep, just the way I want you so I can get a good look at your dreams.” Isabel dropped her arms to her side and approached him, invading his personal space. “You’re not going to try to hide anything from me, are you?”
Charles shook his head as he swallowed dryly.
“Good,” Isabel said as she touched his forehead, taking control of his dreams.
“You find out anything about the Granolith?” Alex asked as they backed out of the driveway.
“You doubt me?” Isabel teased.
Alex simply chuckled in response, allowing her to have her fun.
“You were right, it was Pops.” Not hearing a response she looked at her husband, “Alex?”
“How did he find out about it?”
“He knew something was going on, and after we had our first fight and I blew up your computers, he suspected it had something to do technology. So he sat at the Blade and started talking to it,,,”
“So Pops talks to the Blade and the Granolith rats us out?” Alex said, his voice trembling with a mixture of fear and anger. “I’m going out there and blow it up,,,”
“No!” Isabel commanded. “It took him a while to convince the Granolith that he was sincere. I saw some of the secrets he told to convince it that he was only interested in our safety,,,”
“He told it about Clean Sweep?”
“Yea. He said that they needed to work together,,,”
“If they ever found out that he talked,,,”
“Daddy’s a good lawyer Sweetie, we’d look out for him,,,”
“Izzy, if the Government ever found out, there would be no trial. Pops would get a one way ride out into the desert and we’d never see him again.”
This revelation stunned Isabel, and she was silent a moment.
“He's the one who figured out that Rath and Lonnie were in town?”
“Indirectly,” Isabel explained. “He had the Granolith create a number of pairs of orbs that he placed at strategic locations ten miles outside of Roswell. The first pair were concealed on both sides Route Seventy out near the Pecos River Crossing rest stop. Over the next several days he had installed additional pairs to monitor every route in and out of the city, including all three runways at the airpark. By the end of the year, they will have installed a complete circle of orbs around Roswell, preventing anyone from sneaking up on us through the desert. They are also going to install early warning orbs about one hundred miles (160 km) out on the major highways,,,”
“So in effect he's created fortress Roswell?”
“Not just Roswell, they also have a surveillance grid planned out for both Albuquerque and Boston,,,”
“Boston? Pops is putting up a detection grid to protect Max and Liz?”
“That surprises you?”
“No! I didn't mean it that way, I'm just surprised that he thought of Boston this early. They haven’t even been accepted yet.”
“It wasn't just Charles, he's been talking to Daddy and Jim. He's putting his own private army together. He's got himself a weapons cache, and he's made arrangements with the Granolith to produce another batch of protective vest.”
Isabel pulled the car into their spot at the school parking lot, and before she could shut down the engine and unbuckle her belt Alex had her door open. “Thank you kind sir,” she said formally as she took his offered hand, refusing to let go of it as they headed into the building.
“Kind sir?” Alex teased. “I'll let you in on a little secret. I wasn't trying to be polite, I was trying to get a look up your skirt as you got out of the car.”
“If you were hoping to see my panties, you’d be disappointed. I’m not wearing any,,,”
“You do realize that you just ruined any chance I'm going to have of getting anything done today, don't you?”
Isabel sent him a mental goose before continuing, “You know, we're going to have to sit down and talk with them. I don't want any of them getting hurt.”
“Izzy, you're not going to be able to stop them, they're protecting their kids.”
“I know,” she answered softly, “And you want to know the funny part, I'm willing to accept their help. From the moment I first saw our family in our dreams, I realize that I would do anything to protect them, including accepting help from the adults.” By now they were outside of Isabel's first class, and as the warning bell rang Alex kissed her before running off to get to his own class.
**********
Following directions that she was receiving over her cell, Lonnie struggled to help Rath into the abandoned building located in an industrial section of Lubbock Texas that had seen better days. “What a fracking shit hole,” she complained.
“Yeah, but it's our shit hole,” Michael replied. “We like it.”
“What's to like?”
“How about the fact that we had the time to scout it out and you didn't,” Max answered from a different direction, far enough away from Michael that they couldn’t be taken out by a single shot.
“Here's the way this is going to work,” Michael command. “You are going to bring Rath to the middle of the room and lay him down in the box painted on the floor. Then you’re going to back up and stand in the painted circle. If either if you move, you both die.”
“Frack you!” Lonnie spat, but her rant was cut off by the metallic sound of a cocking lever being jacked as Jim stepped from the shadows.
”You're that cornball sheriff who stopped us in Roswell. What are you doing here, aren't you out of your jurisdiction?” but her anger turned to fear as she saw the futuristic weapon in his hands. “What the frack is that thing?”
“In answer to your first question, I'm just here as an observer, and as such I've got to say that you have a pretty nasty way of asking for help. In answer to your second question, my little friend here is an Armee Universal Gewehr model A-One, which is Austrian for blow your ass a-fracking-way. And it brought friends,,,”
Lonnie's attention snapped to the left and up in response to the sound of a second weapon being cocked in the dark recesses of the warehouse only to snap to the right as the third weapon was jacked. Realizing that for the first time in her life, well at least in this lifetime, things were out of her control, she dropped her veneer of anger. “I'm sorry,” she said softly. “I lash out when I get scared. You’re going to help him?”
“Put him in the box,” Max said softly. “I'll see what I can do.”
Lonnie quickly and quietly follow their instructions and retreated to her place, watching as Max quickly and efficiently healed Rath. She stayed in place as Max sat back on his heels and rested his hands on his knees, hesitating until he recovered enough that he could stand and retreat to where Michael waited.
“He'll be sore for a while, but he should get over that in a day or two,,,”
“A day or two, you could have healed him right now if you wanted to,” Lonnie spat as she charged out of the circle, but her progress was stopped by the staccato blast of a dozen bullets exploding into the wooden floor in front of her. She froze in place, and for the first time Max saw a new expression on her face, fear.
“Do you think we’re a special kind of stupid?” Michael challenged. “That we’d return him to fighting form so the two of you could start shooting?”
“Don’t move a muscle,” Max commanded, as he, Michael, and Jim started to sidestep around Rath, making their way towards the doorway. Once they had the doorway safely behind them, Max and Michael raised their hands, ready to fire while Jim raised his AUG. “We got them covered, “Max called out, allowing their high cover time to escape. “Okay Lonnie, you can go to him,” Max allowed.
Lonnie scrambled towards her mate who was struggling to sit up, and she slid in behind him, wrapping her arms around him, pulling her back against her chest while she murmured comforting words. Once she had Rath comfortable, she turned towards the door, but they were gone.
**********
Meanwhile, back in Roswell, Isabel smiled tolerantly while listening to Maria’s rant, knowing that the petit fireball was just blowing off tension as they waited for words from the Lubbock party. “Maria, they’re going to be fine. We’ve used the new vest twice in the past two weeks, nothing they can do can hurt Michael.”
“Scared? You think I’m scared of Lonnie? Listen Girlfriend, I’ve faced Michael’s toxic waste dump of a bathroom, and got him to clean it, so I’m so not afraid of anything that skank can do,,,”
“You got Michael to clean his bathroom?” Isabel gasped in amazement, her anxiety forgotten. “I always had to give up and do it myself.”
“You don’t have the right stuff,” Maria explained proudly. “I went over to his house a couple of weeks ago and with just one look, I knew that I wasn’t going to make it through the night,,,”
I hadn’t been over for a while,” Isabel explained guiltily.
“It showed,” Maria deadpanned. “So, wearing my shortest skirt and no panties, I sat down sat down in the recliner facing him on the couch. Then I pulled out my little pink friend and proceeded to put on a one woman show. I told him that as soon as the bathroom was cleaned, he could join in,,,”
“What he say?”
“Well, he started bitching about how he couldn’t be blackmailed, but I had Buzzy on high, and by then I really didn’t give a rats ass what he said,,,”
“And that worked?” Isabel asked skeptically.
“Buzzy was starting to slow down, and I was starting to get sore, but Michael gave out before the batteries did,,,”
“And you call me a slut because of my triples? How many did you have?”
“One,” Maria replied smugly.
“One?” Isabel repeated disbelievingly.
“Ooonnneee,” Maria confirmed, dragging out the word.
“I hate you,” Isabel snapped.
**********
As Phillip accelerated his Lexus up the onramp of Route Two Eighty-Nine and merged into the anonymity of beltway traffic, the guys unwound from the tension of their encounter.
“I must be getting old,” Charles complained. “I didn’t even get on target before Rambo there was rocking-and-rolling.”
“Hey, I was motivated,” Phillip rebutted. “That was my son she was charging at,,,”
“That was you Dad?” Max exclaimed in amazement.
“I was in the Navy, I do know how to handle a weapon.”
“Like you could have killed her,” Michael said softly.
“Like, that was the idea. If she hadn’t stopped where she did I would have dropped her like a dirty rubber,” Phillip teased as he turned slightly and gave Charles a knowing grin.
Jim, who was in the backseat with the teens, couldn’t help but laugh at their discomfort. “Do you remember how close you’ve all gotten after the dangers you faced together? Well, combat does that to people. It forges a bond that can never be broken, and as much as you have to learn to accept us into your group, you will need to learn to feel welcome in ours.”
Max and Michael just looked at each other, and while this may have been easy for Max, who had grown up in a loving family, it would be much harder for Michael to come to grips with.
“Max, Michael,” Charles said earnestly. “You can come to me anytime for anything. I take care of my own.”
“Ahhmm, thanks,” Michael muttered, not knowing what else to say.
“Oh and Michael,” Jim added, a smile on his face as he looked forward to his reaction to his news. “I would be extra careful around Amy if I were you. Charles issued her two of his High-Powers, one for her and the other for Maria to use to defend themselves, and even I’m a little scared of the thought of Amy with a gun,,,”
**********
~~”Tone, tone,,, Roswell dispatching Truck One, Rescue One. Medical aid. North 426 Michigan Ave. Zone One, cross street West Forth Street. Time out Sixteen-Eleven. KKL-796”~~
“Whitman!” Lieutenant Howcroft called out. “We’re short handed. Saddle up!”
“Ahhmm,” Alex replied in dismay, he really didn’t want to go, but he entered the kill code into his computer and followed the crew out to the equipment bay.
**********
“Hello Alison,” Isabel said in greeting to the clerk of the Lincoln County courthouse. “How’s Jacques?” she asked, inquiring about the woman’s accomplished husband.
“Who cares about him?” Alison teased. “Wouldn’t you rather hear about Brumby?”
Isabel’s brows shot up and she leaned onto the counter expecting gossip. “Brumby?”
“Yea, he’s an Aussie, which makes him an expert at going down under if you know what I mean,,,”
Isabel slid her father’s paperwork across the counter before settling in for what promised to be a good story. She honestly thought that the rather dowdy housewife was pulling her leg about her constant assignations, but one never knew; plus, her stories were always highly entertaining.
**********
By the time they got their patient to the hospital, the emergency room was a madhouse. Chris Welch, the charge nurse for the shift, called over to the newest arrivals. “Is she still stable?” she asked, knowing the patient’s chief complaint from their radio call.
“Stable enough,” Alex replied.
“Where’s the rest of your crew?”
“They got dispatched to a ‘40’ (accident) out on Three-Eighty. They took the spare eight-level (stretcher) out of the linen room and dumped me off.”
“Good, I need the help,” Chris said over her shoulder as she started a line in an elderly gentlemen’s arm. “Grab a gurney from the hall. Janice and I will help you move her over, then you can put her in front of curtain one and start a chart on her. Then I’m going to use you to triage any new arrivals we get.”
Alex pushed the gurney next to the eight-level, and then started to pull the sheets out from under the mattress, gathering them in his hand. Chris and Janice leaned over the gurney and pulled the sheets out from their side of the patient, rolling them into their hands until they were tight against the woman’s side. “One, two, three!” Chris called out, and on three she and Janice pulled the patient towards them, while Alex lifted on his side, lessening the patients weight on the two mattresses and allowing the patient be pulled onto the gurney comfortably.
As Alex struggled to make the nurses job easier by taking the greatest amount of the woman’s weight, he felt a tugging sensation in his chest, causing him to scratch his non-existent itch. Janice made her way back to Trauma One, while Chris stuck her head into the cast room.
“Doctor Josephs, we’re racking and stacking them out here,,,”
The good doctor smiled at little Angela, who had fallen while running in her kitchen with a glass of milk in her hand. “Okay, one more special magic stitch for our Little Princess here, and I’ll be out. In the mean time call the floor and see if anyone’s available.”
“Yes Doctor,” she answered, but as she got out of earshot she began muttering, “We call the floor,,, the floor calls the O.R.,,, The O.R. calls X-Ray,,, X-Ray calls us. When are they going to realize there aren’t enough of us to go around.”
After making sure his patient was comfortable, Alex sluggishly made his way over to Trauma-One. “She’s,,, She’s,,, stable,” he advised, gasping for breath.
“Hey Roswell, you okay?” Janice asked while she hooked her patient up to a monitor.
In response Alex leaned against the wall and gasped for breath, looking a lot like a fish out of water.
“We’re loosing control,” Janice called over to her boss. “Roswell here’s dyspneic, (short of breath) and if the rescue come in from that accident with anything serious we’re doing to be in deep shit.”
“We’re already in over our head,” Chris shouted back as she headed for the nurses station. “Alex?”
Alex couldn’t respond as his eyes rolled up into his head and he slumped to the floor.
Chris hopped onto the high counter at the nurses station, landing on her stomach as she reached for the control panel next to the locked medicine cabinet. She swung her hand, slamming her palm into one of the large mushroom headed buttons mounted there. She did not hit the blue button that would summon hospital security and the Sheriff, and she did not hit the red button that was hard wired directly to Roswell Fire. Instead the hit the orange button that triggered an automated message to reverberate throughout the entire building. “~~~Tone, Tone, Tone,,, Code Emergency,,, Code Emergency,,, Tone, Tone, Tone,,, Code Emergency,,, Code Emergency,,,~~~” From one end of the hospital to the other, charts and pens were thrown onto the closest flat surface and conversations were broken off in mid word as practitioners of every specialty sprinted towards the Emergency Department, every second needed to engage in a battle between life and death that was usually lost before it began.
**********
Miles away, on Route Seventy, Isabel’s thoughts turned inward as her heart was seized in an icy grip as her connection faded to a little pinprick of light before winking out like an old television set when it’s power was cut off.
“ALEX!!!”
TBC
Gazer Gets the Girl (CC,A/I,MATURE) Part 25-L - 15 July[WIP]
Moderators: Anniepoo98, ISLANDGIRL5, truelovepooh, Forum Moderators
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stargazer md
- Addicted Roswellian
- Posts: 120
- Joined: Sun Jun 06, 2004 10:25 pm
- Location: New Hampshire, USA
My completed stories:
The Seekers, I&A with angst
http://www.majiksfanfic.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?t=282
Alex C Whitman SSAIC, (Supervising Special Agent in Charge) I&A with uber-angst
http://www.majiksfanfic.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?t=488
The Seekers, I&A with angst
http://www.majiksfanfic.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?t=282
Alex C Whitman SSAIC, (Supervising Special Agent in Charge) I&A with uber-angst
http://www.majiksfanfic.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?t=488
-
stargazer md
- Addicted Roswellian
- Posts: 120
- Joined: Sun Jun 06, 2004 10:25 pm
- Location: New Hampshire, USA
Stargazer Gets the Girl
Chapter 23-L The Circle Grows
By Stargazer MD
Alarms went off within the Granolith. Alex’s medical records were being accessed, which meant that something was not right in Roswell. Within moments it knew that it’s Interface and the Husband of it’s Sovereign was in trouble, triggering automated responses that had been pre-programmed weeks ago. The hospital’s computer system was attacked, while across city, cell phones began to ring.
**********
Charles’ and Jim’s cell rang simultaneously. “Yes,” Charles answered.
“My interface, your son, is undergoing treatment at Eastern Medical Center,,,”
“What happened?” Charles demanded as he bolted from his office.
“He had been admitted to the Emergency Department with a diagnosis of dyspnea, or shortness of breath. The information that has been entered into their computer is lacking in detail and as such the cause of his malady is unknown at this time; however, he has been scheduled for an immediate surgical consult, which is compromising the security of his unique medical nature. Protective protocols are in place, but immediate human intervention is imperative,,,”
Charles started to open the door of his car, but hearing a siren approaching he looked up to see Jim’s Explorer approaching. He quickly stepped to the edge of the street and jumped into the cruiser almost before it stopped. “You heard?” he asked.
“Yea,” Jim replied as he floored the powerful engine.
**********
Feeling a vibration at his hip, Jim covertly read the text on his phone. He leaned over and whispered to Charles, “Ava is here now, she’s going to bring Max and Liz in. Whatever you do, don’t acknowledge their existence in front of any of the staff.” Moments later the teens entered Treatment One through the opened door, careful to stay against the side wall out of the way of the care givers.
“Mister Whitman,” Nurse Welch pleaded. “We have your son stabilized,,,”
“That’s with the dart?”
“Yes,” Chris answered confidently, “The McSwain dart has decompressed his tension pneumothorax, but he’s not out of the woods yet. We really need to run more test,,,”
“No Test!” Charles demanded. “You have him hooked up to all these monitors, surely that’s enough?”
“We need blood work,,,”
“No blood work. Our beliefs disallow it,,,”
“The Circle of the Universal Family?,,”
“Yes. You can do anything with your monitors. You can vent the air from his chest and you can use all the drugs and volume extenders that you need, but you cannot withdraw any fluids from his body. Our faith does not allow it.”
“We’ll respect your wishes, for now,” Chris agreed reluctantly. “But if his condition deteriorates we’ll have this conversation again. And I like Alex. If I have to, I’ll go to Judge Lewis.” Having had her say, she left the room.
“She can’t see you?” Jim demanded as soon as the door closed.
“No,” Ava replied confidently. “As long as they don’t bump into us they’ll not know we’re here.”
“How long can you maintain that?” Max demanded nervously. “Tess had trouble with multiple people and complex mind warps.”
“She couldn’t have been very good,,,” Ava sighed dismissively.
“Or maybe she wasn't be honest with us,” Liz cut in. “She had to be very powerful to pull off the whole ‘Alex in Sweden deception,’ so maybe she was trying to hide the true extent of her abilities.”
“Well I can assure you that group mind warps are not beyond my ability. Once or twice a week we would go out to eat, and Lonnie liked nice places. I would mind warp the entire restaurant then get the servers to bring us everything we wanted, and never, not once, did any of the other diners know we were there.” Reacting to the disapproving look she received, she defended her self, “What? I had to do it that way, Rath ate like a pig,,,”
“What’s happening,” Gloria exclaimed as she swept into the room. Giving the gathered group of teens the evil eye, she rushed to Alex’s side. Seeing that he was unconscious but resting comfortably, she ran her hand over his forehead, brushing his hair back gently. “What happened to him this time?” she demanded of her husband.
“He injured himself lifting a patient,” Charles explained. “He ended up with a collapsed lung,,,”
“Nurse Welch says that they have him stabilized,” Isabel barked out as she entered the room, “But we need to work fast. They want to put a chest tube in him, which involves surgery, not to mention the fact he’ll be stuck here for three days.” She looked Gloria in the eyes, but did not let that stop her as she continued, “Ava, we need privacy. Have each of the nurses think that the other nurse is checking up on him.” She took both of Gloria's hands in her own and led her away from Alex, depositing her next to Charles’ side. “I need you to always remember that I love him more than life itself, and I will do anything to make sure he is safe.” With that she returned to Alex's side.
“Why is she talking like that?” Gloria demanded of her husband who had wrapped his arm around her shoulders pulling her in tight against him. “What the hell are you doing? Let me go,,,” but her diatribe was cut off as Isabel started snapping out commands.
“Ava?”
“Good to go.”
“Let's get started Max.”
“What about the Cadnium-X,” Max rebutted. “It’s one thing for his parents to have to explain a faith healing, quite another if they find a silver handprint.”
“Faith healing?” Gloria spat as she turned on Charles. “What the hell is going on, and why you just standing here? I'm going to go out there and get his doctor,,,”
“If you bring those people back in here,,,” Charles said softly, “We’ll never see him again.”
“But why?” she demanded. “What’s going on?”
“Isabel and Max will take care of him,” Charles said reassuringly. “Alex is going to be fine in just a couple of minutes.”
Gloria took a deep breath, “What the frack are you talking about? Do you have rocks in your head? He almost died,,,”
“Do you trust Isabel?” he replied. “She would never hurt him.”
“No! She would never do anything to hurt him, in fact she would kill or die for him, but this isn’t about how much she loves him, this is about the fact that he can’t breathe,,,”
Isabel stood next to Alex’s bed, his hand in her own as she tentatively looked at her brother. “I’ll connect with him, you connect with me.”
“I don’t know if that will work,” Max cautioned.
“I do,” Isabel declared. “Alex and I have pushed my,,, our abilities farther that we ever thought possible. Besides, I have to be able to do this. We can’t leave any marks.”
“Okay,” Max said reluctantly, “But if I see you getting hurt I’m going to stop. Did you talk to the doctors?”
“Yes I did. I will tell you everything you need to know,” Isabel answered, taking Max’s hands in her own. She looked him in the eyes. “You’re not going to stop for any reason. He deserves whatever we have to do to make him well.”
Max slowly nodded in agreement. “I know, but you’re my sister. I had to try.”
“Whatever it takes!” Isabel looked around the room and received nods of agreement from both Ava and Michael.
“Okay,” Isabel started. “I’m going to paraphrase what the doctors told me. Tell me if I get too technical.”
“I’ll be okay,” Max replied confidently.
“Alex has an adhesion. It is likely from his injuries the night he was shot, but they can also occur naturally. The space between the lungs and the chest wall is called the pleural space. It consist of a double layered membrane, one which surround the lungs and the other which lines the chest cavity. The space between the membranes contains pleural liquid, which lubricates the membranes and allow the lungs to move freely. An adhesion is when the two membranes fuse at one or more points, preventing the chest wall and lungs from moving freely. When he over exerted himself, the adhesion tore, allowing air to leak into the plural space, causing his lung to collapse. As more and more air entered the plural space, the lung was pressed against his heart, compromising it’s output. That's why he collapsed in the emergency room.
Max nodded, taking in everything Isabel said as he placed his hand on the side of Alex’s face. “Alex?” he said in a soft yet determined voice. “Alex, I need you to look at me.”
“Can you connect?” Isabel asked nervously.
“No, they have him sedated too deeply.”
Hearing this Liz stepped forward and examined his intravenous bag. “It’s nothing but normal saline.” (Normal saline is a volume extender utilized to stabilize a patients circulatory system and to provide a ready pathway for the administration of drugs and other medications. It consist of sterile water with a tiny amount of sodium chloride (salt) added to match the natural salinity of one’s bloodstream.) She turned towards Charles. “Did you see them spike his bag?”
“Yea, she put two syringes of something into the ‘Y’ thing in the tubing.”
Liz picked up his IV tubing and looked at the labels that were wrapped around it. “Sodium Thiopental and Meperidine,” she said as she looked at Isabel with concern. “I don’t have any idea what either one of them is.”
“That’s because he didn’t have you memorize his PDR. (Physician’s Desk Reference) Give me a moment,” she replied levelly before biting her lower lip in concentration. “Sodium Thiopental is Sodium Penothal, an anesthetic, (to induce unconsciousness) while Meperidine is generic Demerol, for pain. Both are quick acting,,,”
“Can you purge them?” Max asked.
Isabel put her hand on his IV bag and closed her eyes. “Yea, I can see the water, and I can see the drugs as foreign bodies. So I should be able to change the drugs to water as well,,,”
“Wait! Isabel,” Charles snapped. “I realize you need to wake him up in order for Max to make a connection, but if he wakes up suddenly, in a strange place and in pain, I'm afraid that he'll wake up shooting. You’d better have your shield on automatic.”
“There’s no way that I can do that while I’m purging has bloodstream, Max?”
“I got it,” Max replied as he raised his hand to the ready position.
“What the hell do you mean wake up shooting,” Gloria asked in confusion as events spun outside of her understanding, but before she could get any answers her son was beginning to come to.
Sensing Isabel's connection on his right side, that side was safe, but his left hand started to glow an angry red. Max quickly threw his shield around Alex's extremity just as the bed linens exploded into flames. As surprise shouts rang around the room Isabel spoke reassuringly, “I've got it, I’m in.” Although he writhed in pain, she was able to calm him, and the fire was quickly extinguished.
“Now Max,” she commanded.
Max stood behind his sister, wrapping his arms around her and placing his hands on her fore arms. He quickly connected with Alex through his sister and began scanning him for damage. “I can see the pocket of air outside of his lungs.”
“Max, do you see the tear that cause the leak?” Isabel asked as she deepened her involvement in the connection.
“Is that it here? Something doesn't look right,,,”
“Hang on a moment let me think,,, it looks like a small air sack,,, I've got it, it's a bleb.”
“Tell me,” Max commanded as he started to heal the injury.
“It's an air sack, a defect in his lung. It's probably hereditary, meaning he's probably predisposed to emphysema. Apparently its most common in men with his body type, tall and lean, but he's unusually young for this to happen. I'm going to guess that by its location, it happened as a result of his being shot.”
Max continued to pour power into his sister, as she relayed his life force into her husband. Suddenly Isabel was able to see more damage in Alex’s chest. “There are so many,” she said, panic evident in her voice. We have to heal them all, or this will happen to him again. They’re just like ticking time bombs, just waiting to kill him.” She focused her brother’s energy at the injury points, gradually starting to heal all of them.
Gloria stood transfixed by the luminescent plasma that emanated from Max’s hands and ran down Isabel’s arms to her sons chest. She turned to her husband with panic on her face, hoping for answers. “What’s happening?” she gasped.
“They’re healing him,” Charles stated flatly, dismayed that he could do nothing to help his extended family.
Suddenly Isabel bolted upright, the veins in her neck distended. She began gasping for air, wheezing with every breath. Her entire upper body struggled to move air in and out of her chest, and to the others in the room it looked like she was loosing the battle.
Tears were streaming down Max’s face, but he never stopped. He would honor his promise to her that he would do whatever it took to heal Alex.
Liz strode forward and hugged Max from behind, resting her cheek against his shoulder and sending him all of the love and support that he could take.
“What’s happening now?” Gloria gasped in dismay, watching as Isabel’s face began to turn blue.
“It’s part of the healing process,” Ava answered softly, as she watched Michael hold Maria’s face to his chest so she couldn’t watch. “Isabel’s body is assuming Alex’s injuries, but she isn’t a healer. She isn’t able to dissipate what is happening to her like Max could.”
“She shouldn’t be taking this risk,” Michael snapped. Max should heal her and then we’ll deal with the fallout.”
“Michael,” Liz replied softly. “She has to. They’re linked through their marriage,,,”
“Marriage?” Gloria bellowed. “Their married! What do you know about this?” she demanded as she turned towards Charles.
“News to me,” he mumbled as he watched Liz carefully.
“She’s just turned eighteen,” Gloria steamed on. “Did her parents consent to this?”
“It’s not really a consent issue,,,” Liz stammered.
“What? They went out of state? Vegas?” Gloria gasped.
“No,,,”
“Mexico?”
“It’s kind of outside of our local jurisdictions,,,”
“Liz, what do you mean when you said that she had to help,,,” Charles reasoned. “I mean I know she wanted to, but that’s not what you said.” Seeing a look of indecision on Liz’s face, he continued, “Is the Granolith involved in this marriage somehow?”
Liz looked relieved that Charles had, in effect, given her permission to speak freely. “The Granolith said that in addition to their bond, they are married by their words and actions towards each other. But what surprised it even more is the strength of their bond. It doesn’t know if it’s a cross-species thing,,,”
“Species? She’s a different species?” Gloria asked more quietly, further questions being cut off as she noticed that Isabel’s chest was beginning to glow. “What the frack is that, and Alex?” she demanded as the five black rings of his seal also became visible.
“That is the Royal Seal of Antar,” Charles answered. “Alex is engaged to,,, or I guess he married into royalty. As far as their similarities and differences, that's not important right now. What is important is their bond, and whether or not it's going to allow Isabel to help Max heal him.”
“Bonds are rare on Antar, about one in a million,” Liz explained softly, almost hesitating to continue. “But the strength of their bond, communicating over distances, Alex changing,,, well there hasn’t been a bond like theirs in generations. The Granolith,,,” her voice trailed off.
“What?” Michael snapped. “This is about when you were called back to the cave, isn’t it? What aren’t you telling us?”
Liz looked back to Michael, “Their share a soul,” she whispered.
“What?” Gloria demanded.
“They can not survive apart,” Liz answered softly. “Maybe, once they start their family, one could survive the loss of the other for the sake of the children, but until then,,,”
“But what happens if they can’t heal him?” Charles said with a catch in his voice.
“If that happens, both Alex and Isabel will die,” Michael stated with tears in his eyes, “And since Max will never give up on her, he will die also.”
“You’re saying all three of them could die” Gloria asked, visibly sobbing now.
“No,” Ava stated, with passion in her voice. “If Max and Isabel can’t complete,,,” she let the answer drop as she received a nod from her tall pod mate, “Michael and I will step in and take their place. We all owe our friends a debt that can never be repaid. Either we all leave here together, or we will all die trying.”
Isabel’s breathing eased, and Max stumbled back, letting go of her. While Gloria moved to Alex’s side to check on him, Charles pushed Michael to one side, and scooped his daughter-in-law into his arms as she began to collapse. He lifted her and gently placed her onto the second bed. Michael guided Max to a chair, and helped him sit. As soon as he knew his brother was safe, he left him with Ava, and moved to the foot of his sisters bed.
Michael stood close by as Charles tended to Isabel. He smiled as Charles swept Isabel’s damp hair out of her face, and reassured her that Alex was fine. Michael’s heart swelled as he watched another human treat one of his pod mates so tenderly.
Isabel rapidly recovered, and everything in her being demanded that she be at her husband’s side. The moment she was fully aware, she struggled to sit up.
“Whoa,” Charles sang out, taking her by the shoulders to steady her as Michael also stepped in.
“Move!” Isabel commanded. “I need to get to Alex!”
Michael gave Charles a knowing look. “Iz, hang on a minute, you’re not ready to stand yet,” he said gently as he helped her sit on the edge of the bed. “He’s right there, you can see him.”
Liz and Gloria stepped apart allowing the young couple to make eye contact, which greatly calmed Isabel.
“See?” Michael continued. “He’s fine.”
Isabel’s immediate concern satisfied, she next asked about her brother.
Ava laughingly directed Isabel’s attention to the chair in the corner of the room. Max was sitting in an arm chair, his recovery greatly aided by Liz, who was sitting in his lap while covering his face with kisses and running her hands through his hair.
Gloria reached and caressed her sons face, and then turned to her husband. “I don’t know what happened here just now. I’m grateful for what you all did for Alex, but someone has a lot of explaining to do!”
Alex reached and took his mother’s hand, while looking at his father. “Pops? I need the room.” He looked at Isabel with a smile, and held out his other hand towards her. Alex found himself lying in the bed, between the two most important woman in his life.
“Guys, I’m getting tired, time to bail,” Ava called out. “Now!”
As the room cleared out, Gloria released Alex’s hand and walked around to Isabel’s side of the bed. She noticed that despite the fact that Isabel was practically trembling, the teen continued to look her in the eye. “What did you do to my son?” she asked softly.
“Hang on a minute,” Alex asked of his mate. “Let me talk to her.”
“Mom,” Alex started, his voice cracking with tension, “I wish you hadn’t seen that.”
“Why?” she asked, surprised that Alex was taking the lead.
“Because,” Alex replied, his voice gaining confidence as he felt Isabel supporting him through their connection, “Your being here changes everything. What you hear in the next several minutes and how you decide to react will change your life and possibly end ours.”
“Sweetie,,,” Isabel protested.
“I know what you’re going to say,” Alex interrupted. “You’re going to try to protect me.” He simply looked at her, his love for her visible to both women.
Isabel continued softly. “I wish that we were nothing more than a couple of teenagers with no greater problem than finding a private place to make out.”
“I know Izzy,” he answered softly, “And I wish I could give that to you, but we have to live the life we’re given, together.”
Isabel turned back to Gloria, but she was so scared of how the older woman would react that she could couldn’t speak.
Gloria reached and took Isabel’s free hand. “I seem to remember a conversation we had after one of your nightmares. You were telling me about how difficult it was to know where you were going when you didn’t know where you came from, and that Alex is the only one you’ve ever been able to allow in. Do you remember that?”
Isabel nodded as she bit her lower lip.
“You were trying to tell me about this,” she asked, suddenly understanding many things that had been happening in the teens life.
“I couldn’t tell you, I wanted to, we don’t tell anyone,” Isabel trailed off.
“What did you want to tell me? What just happened? How did you heal Alex?” Gloria stated quietly but with determination.
“Mom,” Alex said quietly, “When Isabel and I get married, maybe after college but probably long before then, we’re going to have some guest who are from out of this world.”
Gloria looked at him confused.
“Our parents,” Alex sighed as he looked at his mate with love in his eyes, “The Whitman’s and the Evans’, are going to be from Roswell. On the other hand, Isabel’s original family, if we can get an address for their invitation, are going to be visiting us from the planet Antar.”
“You’re not trying to tell me that you’re,,,” Gloria pointed to the ceiling and humming the theme from the ‘Twilight Zone.’
“That’s right Mom,” Alex quipped, trying to lighten the mood. “You’re going to have little green grandchildren.”
“Sweetie,” Isabel grinned while leaning and slapped him gently on the shoulder. “Stop that.”
“Never,” he quipped. “Not as long as I can make you smile.”
Isabel turned back to Gloria, her voice desperate. “Now you know our secret. You can’t tell anyone.”
“Mom,” Alex reinforced, “Our lives, my life, depends on your silence.”
**********
This isn’t the way home,” Charles complained.
“No, it is not,” Gloria replied stoically “I have understood the secret nature of the life you’ve led. I’ve never questioned you when you took off for months at a time, or when we had to pick everything up and move on a moments notice. I never interfered when you let some project eat you up inside being I was doing my patriotic duty as a good military wife,” Gloria complained as she rolled the car to a stop, “But I never, not for an instant, believed that you would keep a secret about my baby from me.”
For the first time Charles noticed that they were in front of the Comfort Inn before looking back at his wife in confusion.
Gloria’s face reflected the storm within. “Do I need to say the words?” she demanded.
Realizing that any delay could be injurious towards his health, Charles hastily unbuckled his belt and scooted out of the car, scampering back before the squealing rear tire could run over his feet. As he watched his wife and newest daughter-in-law drive off for what he knew would be a long conversation, he quickly took inventory, finding that he had twelve dollars and a credit card, or at least he had a credit card until she could get home and cancel it. But as he turned towards the entrance, he looked up at the inky sky. “I was interrogated by Isabel, caught in the middle of a fire-fight, and now kicked out of my own house for trying to keep my son and his fiancé safe. Can this week suck any worse?” he shouted as the first drop of rain struck him right between the eyes.
END Chapter
Photo links:
Charles’ AUG-A1
http://i76.photobucket.com/albums/j22/S ... AUG-A1.jpg
Firefighter Alex Taylor, Alex’s rescuer when he was shot at the Kettle’s
http://i76.photobucket.com/albums/j22/S ... Taylor.jpg
Isabel’s Floating Heart, a gift from Alex after Prom
http://www.kheigl.com/cgi-bin/view.cgi? ... t/kh34.jpg
Courtesy Khegil.com
Isabel’s Earrings, Alex’s present for her Eighteenth birthday.
http://i76.photobucket.com/albums/j22/S ... arings.jpg
Isabel’s Engagement Ring
http://i76.photobucket.com/albums/j22/S ... sring2.jpg
Chapter 23-L The Circle Grows
By Stargazer MD
Alarms went off within the Granolith. Alex’s medical records were being accessed, which meant that something was not right in Roswell. Within moments it knew that it’s Interface and the Husband of it’s Sovereign was in trouble, triggering automated responses that had been pre-programmed weeks ago. The hospital’s computer system was attacked, while across city, cell phones began to ring.
**********
Charles’ and Jim’s cell rang simultaneously. “Yes,” Charles answered.
“My interface, your son, is undergoing treatment at Eastern Medical Center,,,”
“What happened?” Charles demanded as he bolted from his office.
“He had been admitted to the Emergency Department with a diagnosis of dyspnea, or shortness of breath. The information that has been entered into their computer is lacking in detail and as such the cause of his malady is unknown at this time; however, he has been scheduled for an immediate surgical consult, which is compromising the security of his unique medical nature. Protective protocols are in place, but immediate human intervention is imperative,,,”
Charles started to open the door of his car, but hearing a siren approaching he looked up to see Jim’s Explorer approaching. He quickly stepped to the edge of the street and jumped into the cruiser almost before it stopped. “You heard?” he asked.
“Yea,” Jim replied as he floored the powerful engine.
**********
Feeling a vibration at his hip, Jim covertly read the text on his phone. He leaned over and whispered to Charles, “Ava is here now, she’s going to bring Max and Liz in. Whatever you do, don’t acknowledge their existence in front of any of the staff.” Moments later the teens entered Treatment One through the opened door, careful to stay against the side wall out of the way of the care givers.
“Mister Whitman,” Nurse Welch pleaded. “We have your son stabilized,,,”
“That’s with the dart?”
“Yes,” Chris answered confidently, “The McSwain dart has decompressed his tension pneumothorax, but he’s not out of the woods yet. We really need to run more test,,,”
“No Test!” Charles demanded. “You have him hooked up to all these monitors, surely that’s enough?”
“We need blood work,,,”
“No blood work. Our beliefs disallow it,,,”
“The Circle of the Universal Family?,,”
“Yes. You can do anything with your monitors. You can vent the air from his chest and you can use all the drugs and volume extenders that you need, but you cannot withdraw any fluids from his body. Our faith does not allow it.”
“We’ll respect your wishes, for now,” Chris agreed reluctantly. “But if his condition deteriorates we’ll have this conversation again. And I like Alex. If I have to, I’ll go to Judge Lewis.” Having had her say, she left the room.
“She can’t see you?” Jim demanded as soon as the door closed.
“No,” Ava replied confidently. “As long as they don’t bump into us they’ll not know we’re here.”
“How long can you maintain that?” Max demanded nervously. “Tess had trouble with multiple people and complex mind warps.”
“She couldn’t have been very good,,,” Ava sighed dismissively.
“Or maybe she wasn't be honest with us,” Liz cut in. “She had to be very powerful to pull off the whole ‘Alex in Sweden deception,’ so maybe she was trying to hide the true extent of her abilities.”
“Well I can assure you that group mind warps are not beyond my ability. Once or twice a week we would go out to eat, and Lonnie liked nice places. I would mind warp the entire restaurant then get the servers to bring us everything we wanted, and never, not once, did any of the other diners know we were there.” Reacting to the disapproving look she received, she defended her self, “What? I had to do it that way, Rath ate like a pig,,,”
“What’s happening,” Gloria exclaimed as she swept into the room. Giving the gathered group of teens the evil eye, she rushed to Alex’s side. Seeing that he was unconscious but resting comfortably, she ran her hand over his forehead, brushing his hair back gently. “What happened to him this time?” she demanded of her husband.
“He injured himself lifting a patient,” Charles explained. “He ended up with a collapsed lung,,,”
“Nurse Welch says that they have him stabilized,” Isabel barked out as she entered the room, “But we need to work fast. They want to put a chest tube in him, which involves surgery, not to mention the fact he’ll be stuck here for three days.” She looked Gloria in the eyes, but did not let that stop her as she continued, “Ava, we need privacy. Have each of the nurses think that the other nurse is checking up on him.” She took both of Gloria's hands in her own and led her away from Alex, depositing her next to Charles’ side. “I need you to always remember that I love him more than life itself, and I will do anything to make sure he is safe.” With that she returned to Alex's side.
“Why is she talking like that?” Gloria demanded of her husband who had wrapped his arm around her shoulders pulling her in tight against him. “What the hell are you doing? Let me go,,,” but her diatribe was cut off as Isabel started snapping out commands.
“Ava?”
“Good to go.”
“Let's get started Max.”
“What about the Cadnium-X,” Max rebutted. “It’s one thing for his parents to have to explain a faith healing, quite another if they find a silver handprint.”
“Faith healing?” Gloria spat as she turned on Charles. “What the hell is going on, and why you just standing here? I'm going to go out there and get his doctor,,,”
“If you bring those people back in here,,,” Charles said softly, “We’ll never see him again.”
“But why?” she demanded. “What’s going on?”
“Isabel and Max will take care of him,” Charles said reassuringly. “Alex is going to be fine in just a couple of minutes.”
Gloria took a deep breath, “What the frack are you talking about? Do you have rocks in your head? He almost died,,,”
“Do you trust Isabel?” he replied. “She would never hurt him.”
“No! She would never do anything to hurt him, in fact she would kill or die for him, but this isn’t about how much she loves him, this is about the fact that he can’t breathe,,,”
Isabel stood next to Alex’s bed, his hand in her own as she tentatively looked at her brother. “I’ll connect with him, you connect with me.”
“I don’t know if that will work,” Max cautioned.
“I do,” Isabel declared. “Alex and I have pushed my,,, our abilities farther that we ever thought possible. Besides, I have to be able to do this. We can’t leave any marks.”
“Okay,” Max said reluctantly, “But if I see you getting hurt I’m going to stop. Did you talk to the doctors?”
“Yes I did. I will tell you everything you need to know,” Isabel answered, taking Max’s hands in her own. She looked him in the eyes. “You’re not going to stop for any reason. He deserves whatever we have to do to make him well.”
Max slowly nodded in agreement. “I know, but you’re my sister. I had to try.”
“Whatever it takes!” Isabel looked around the room and received nods of agreement from both Ava and Michael.
“Okay,” Isabel started. “I’m going to paraphrase what the doctors told me. Tell me if I get too technical.”
“I’ll be okay,” Max replied confidently.
“Alex has an adhesion. It is likely from his injuries the night he was shot, but they can also occur naturally. The space between the lungs and the chest wall is called the pleural space. It consist of a double layered membrane, one which surround the lungs and the other which lines the chest cavity. The space between the membranes contains pleural liquid, which lubricates the membranes and allow the lungs to move freely. An adhesion is when the two membranes fuse at one or more points, preventing the chest wall and lungs from moving freely. When he over exerted himself, the adhesion tore, allowing air to leak into the plural space, causing his lung to collapse. As more and more air entered the plural space, the lung was pressed against his heart, compromising it’s output. That's why he collapsed in the emergency room.
Max nodded, taking in everything Isabel said as he placed his hand on the side of Alex’s face. “Alex?” he said in a soft yet determined voice. “Alex, I need you to look at me.”
“Can you connect?” Isabel asked nervously.
“No, they have him sedated too deeply.”
Hearing this Liz stepped forward and examined his intravenous bag. “It’s nothing but normal saline.” (Normal saline is a volume extender utilized to stabilize a patients circulatory system and to provide a ready pathway for the administration of drugs and other medications. It consist of sterile water with a tiny amount of sodium chloride (salt) added to match the natural salinity of one’s bloodstream.) She turned towards Charles. “Did you see them spike his bag?”
“Yea, she put two syringes of something into the ‘Y’ thing in the tubing.”
Liz picked up his IV tubing and looked at the labels that were wrapped around it. “Sodium Thiopental and Meperidine,” she said as she looked at Isabel with concern. “I don’t have any idea what either one of them is.”
“That’s because he didn’t have you memorize his PDR. (Physician’s Desk Reference) Give me a moment,” she replied levelly before biting her lower lip in concentration. “Sodium Thiopental is Sodium Penothal, an anesthetic, (to induce unconsciousness) while Meperidine is generic Demerol, for pain. Both are quick acting,,,”
“Can you purge them?” Max asked.
Isabel put her hand on his IV bag and closed her eyes. “Yea, I can see the water, and I can see the drugs as foreign bodies. So I should be able to change the drugs to water as well,,,”
“Wait! Isabel,” Charles snapped. “I realize you need to wake him up in order for Max to make a connection, but if he wakes up suddenly, in a strange place and in pain, I'm afraid that he'll wake up shooting. You’d better have your shield on automatic.”
“There’s no way that I can do that while I’m purging has bloodstream, Max?”
“I got it,” Max replied as he raised his hand to the ready position.
“What the hell do you mean wake up shooting,” Gloria asked in confusion as events spun outside of her understanding, but before she could get any answers her son was beginning to come to.
Sensing Isabel's connection on his right side, that side was safe, but his left hand started to glow an angry red. Max quickly threw his shield around Alex's extremity just as the bed linens exploded into flames. As surprise shouts rang around the room Isabel spoke reassuringly, “I've got it, I’m in.” Although he writhed in pain, she was able to calm him, and the fire was quickly extinguished.
“Now Max,” she commanded.
Max stood behind his sister, wrapping his arms around her and placing his hands on her fore arms. He quickly connected with Alex through his sister and began scanning him for damage. “I can see the pocket of air outside of his lungs.”
“Max, do you see the tear that cause the leak?” Isabel asked as she deepened her involvement in the connection.
“Is that it here? Something doesn't look right,,,”
“Hang on a moment let me think,,, it looks like a small air sack,,, I've got it, it's a bleb.”
“Tell me,” Max commanded as he started to heal the injury.
“It's an air sack, a defect in his lung. It's probably hereditary, meaning he's probably predisposed to emphysema. Apparently its most common in men with his body type, tall and lean, but he's unusually young for this to happen. I'm going to guess that by its location, it happened as a result of his being shot.”
Max continued to pour power into his sister, as she relayed his life force into her husband. Suddenly Isabel was able to see more damage in Alex’s chest. “There are so many,” she said, panic evident in her voice. We have to heal them all, or this will happen to him again. They’re just like ticking time bombs, just waiting to kill him.” She focused her brother’s energy at the injury points, gradually starting to heal all of them.
Gloria stood transfixed by the luminescent plasma that emanated from Max’s hands and ran down Isabel’s arms to her sons chest. She turned to her husband with panic on her face, hoping for answers. “What’s happening?” she gasped.
“They’re healing him,” Charles stated flatly, dismayed that he could do nothing to help his extended family.
Suddenly Isabel bolted upright, the veins in her neck distended. She began gasping for air, wheezing with every breath. Her entire upper body struggled to move air in and out of her chest, and to the others in the room it looked like she was loosing the battle.
Tears were streaming down Max’s face, but he never stopped. He would honor his promise to her that he would do whatever it took to heal Alex.
Liz strode forward and hugged Max from behind, resting her cheek against his shoulder and sending him all of the love and support that he could take.
“What’s happening now?” Gloria gasped in dismay, watching as Isabel’s face began to turn blue.
“It’s part of the healing process,” Ava answered softly, as she watched Michael hold Maria’s face to his chest so she couldn’t watch. “Isabel’s body is assuming Alex’s injuries, but she isn’t a healer. She isn’t able to dissipate what is happening to her like Max could.”
“She shouldn’t be taking this risk,” Michael snapped. Max should heal her and then we’ll deal with the fallout.”
“Michael,” Liz replied softly. “She has to. They’re linked through their marriage,,,”
“Marriage?” Gloria bellowed. “Their married! What do you know about this?” she demanded as she turned towards Charles.
“News to me,” he mumbled as he watched Liz carefully.
“She’s just turned eighteen,” Gloria steamed on. “Did her parents consent to this?”
“It’s not really a consent issue,,,” Liz stammered.
“What? They went out of state? Vegas?” Gloria gasped.
“No,,,”
“Mexico?”
“It’s kind of outside of our local jurisdictions,,,”
“Liz, what do you mean when you said that she had to help,,,” Charles reasoned. “I mean I know she wanted to, but that’s not what you said.” Seeing a look of indecision on Liz’s face, he continued, “Is the Granolith involved in this marriage somehow?”
Liz looked relieved that Charles had, in effect, given her permission to speak freely. “The Granolith said that in addition to their bond, they are married by their words and actions towards each other. But what surprised it even more is the strength of their bond. It doesn’t know if it’s a cross-species thing,,,”
“Species? She’s a different species?” Gloria asked more quietly, further questions being cut off as she noticed that Isabel’s chest was beginning to glow. “What the frack is that, and Alex?” she demanded as the five black rings of his seal also became visible.
“That is the Royal Seal of Antar,” Charles answered. “Alex is engaged to,,, or I guess he married into royalty. As far as their similarities and differences, that's not important right now. What is important is their bond, and whether or not it's going to allow Isabel to help Max heal him.”
“Bonds are rare on Antar, about one in a million,” Liz explained softly, almost hesitating to continue. “But the strength of their bond, communicating over distances, Alex changing,,, well there hasn’t been a bond like theirs in generations. The Granolith,,,” her voice trailed off.
“What?” Michael snapped. “This is about when you were called back to the cave, isn’t it? What aren’t you telling us?”
Liz looked back to Michael, “Their share a soul,” she whispered.
“What?” Gloria demanded.
“They can not survive apart,” Liz answered softly. “Maybe, once they start their family, one could survive the loss of the other for the sake of the children, but until then,,,”
“But what happens if they can’t heal him?” Charles said with a catch in his voice.
“If that happens, both Alex and Isabel will die,” Michael stated with tears in his eyes, “And since Max will never give up on her, he will die also.”
“You’re saying all three of them could die” Gloria asked, visibly sobbing now.
“No,” Ava stated, with passion in her voice. “If Max and Isabel can’t complete,,,” she let the answer drop as she received a nod from her tall pod mate, “Michael and I will step in and take their place. We all owe our friends a debt that can never be repaid. Either we all leave here together, or we will all die trying.”
Isabel’s breathing eased, and Max stumbled back, letting go of her. While Gloria moved to Alex’s side to check on him, Charles pushed Michael to one side, and scooped his daughter-in-law into his arms as she began to collapse. He lifted her and gently placed her onto the second bed. Michael guided Max to a chair, and helped him sit. As soon as he knew his brother was safe, he left him with Ava, and moved to the foot of his sisters bed.
Michael stood close by as Charles tended to Isabel. He smiled as Charles swept Isabel’s damp hair out of her face, and reassured her that Alex was fine. Michael’s heart swelled as he watched another human treat one of his pod mates so tenderly.
Isabel rapidly recovered, and everything in her being demanded that she be at her husband’s side. The moment she was fully aware, she struggled to sit up.
“Whoa,” Charles sang out, taking her by the shoulders to steady her as Michael also stepped in.
“Move!” Isabel commanded. “I need to get to Alex!”
Michael gave Charles a knowing look. “Iz, hang on a minute, you’re not ready to stand yet,” he said gently as he helped her sit on the edge of the bed. “He’s right there, you can see him.”
Liz and Gloria stepped apart allowing the young couple to make eye contact, which greatly calmed Isabel.
“See?” Michael continued. “He’s fine.”
Isabel’s immediate concern satisfied, she next asked about her brother.
Ava laughingly directed Isabel’s attention to the chair in the corner of the room. Max was sitting in an arm chair, his recovery greatly aided by Liz, who was sitting in his lap while covering his face with kisses and running her hands through his hair.
Gloria reached and caressed her sons face, and then turned to her husband. “I don’t know what happened here just now. I’m grateful for what you all did for Alex, but someone has a lot of explaining to do!”
Alex reached and took his mother’s hand, while looking at his father. “Pops? I need the room.” He looked at Isabel with a smile, and held out his other hand towards her. Alex found himself lying in the bed, between the two most important woman in his life.
“Guys, I’m getting tired, time to bail,” Ava called out. “Now!”
As the room cleared out, Gloria released Alex’s hand and walked around to Isabel’s side of the bed. She noticed that despite the fact that Isabel was practically trembling, the teen continued to look her in the eye. “What did you do to my son?” she asked softly.
“Hang on a minute,” Alex asked of his mate. “Let me talk to her.”
“Mom,” Alex started, his voice cracking with tension, “I wish you hadn’t seen that.”
“Why?” she asked, surprised that Alex was taking the lead.
“Because,” Alex replied, his voice gaining confidence as he felt Isabel supporting him through their connection, “Your being here changes everything. What you hear in the next several minutes and how you decide to react will change your life and possibly end ours.”
“Sweetie,,,” Isabel protested.
“I know what you’re going to say,” Alex interrupted. “You’re going to try to protect me.” He simply looked at her, his love for her visible to both women.
Isabel continued softly. “I wish that we were nothing more than a couple of teenagers with no greater problem than finding a private place to make out.”
“I know Izzy,” he answered softly, “And I wish I could give that to you, but we have to live the life we’re given, together.”
Isabel turned back to Gloria, but she was so scared of how the older woman would react that she could couldn’t speak.
Gloria reached and took Isabel’s free hand. “I seem to remember a conversation we had after one of your nightmares. You were telling me about how difficult it was to know where you were going when you didn’t know where you came from, and that Alex is the only one you’ve ever been able to allow in. Do you remember that?”
Isabel nodded as she bit her lower lip.
“You were trying to tell me about this,” she asked, suddenly understanding many things that had been happening in the teens life.
“I couldn’t tell you, I wanted to, we don’t tell anyone,” Isabel trailed off.
“What did you want to tell me? What just happened? How did you heal Alex?” Gloria stated quietly but with determination.
“Mom,” Alex said quietly, “When Isabel and I get married, maybe after college but probably long before then, we’re going to have some guest who are from out of this world.”
Gloria looked at him confused.
“Our parents,” Alex sighed as he looked at his mate with love in his eyes, “The Whitman’s and the Evans’, are going to be from Roswell. On the other hand, Isabel’s original family, if we can get an address for their invitation, are going to be visiting us from the planet Antar.”
“You’re not trying to tell me that you’re,,,” Gloria pointed to the ceiling and humming the theme from the ‘Twilight Zone.’
“That’s right Mom,” Alex quipped, trying to lighten the mood. “You’re going to have little green grandchildren.”
“Sweetie,” Isabel grinned while leaning and slapped him gently on the shoulder. “Stop that.”
“Never,” he quipped. “Not as long as I can make you smile.”
Isabel turned back to Gloria, her voice desperate. “Now you know our secret. You can’t tell anyone.”
“Mom,” Alex reinforced, “Our lives, my life, depends on your silence.”
**********
This isn’t the way home,” Charles complained.
“No, it is not,” Gloria replied stoically “I have understood the secret nature of the life you’ve led. I’ve never questioned you when you took off for months at a time, or when we had to pick everything up and move on a moments notice. I never interfered when you let some project eat you up inside being I was doing my patriotic duty as a good military wife,” Gloria complained as she rolled the car to a stop, “But I never, not for an instant, believed that you would keep a secret about my baby from me.”
For the first time Charles noticed that they were in front of the Comfort Inn before looking back at his wife in confusion.
Gloria’s face reflected the storm within. “Do I need to say the words?” she demanded.
Realizing that any delay could be injurious towards his health, Charles hastily unbuckled his belt and scooted out of the car, scampering back before the squealing rear tire could run over his feet. As he watched his wife and newest daughter-in-law drive off for what he knew would be a long conversation, he quickly took inventory, finding that he had twelve dollars and a credit card, or at least he had a credit card until she could get home and cancel it. But as he turned towards the entrance, he looked up at the inky sky. “I was interrogated by Isabel, caught in the middle of a fire-fight, and now kicked out of my own house for trying to keep my son and his fiancé safe. Can this week suck any worse?” he shouted as the first drop of rain struck him right between the eyes.
END Chapter
Photo links:
Charles’ AUG-A1
http://i76.photobucket.com/albums/j22/S ... AUG-A1.jpg
Firefighter Alex Taylor, Alex’s rescuer when he was shot at the Kettle’s
http://i76.photobucket.com/albums/j22/S ... Taylor.jpg
Isabel’s Floating Heart, a gift from Alex after Prom
http://www.kheigl.com/cgi-bin/view.cgi? ... t/kh34.jpg
Courtesy Khegil.com
Isabel’s Earrings, Alex’s present for her Eighteenth birthday.
http://i76.photobucket.com/albums/j22/S ... arings.jpg
Isabel’s Engagement Ring
http://i76.photobucket.com/albums/j22/S ... sring2.jpg
My completed stories:
The Seekers, I&A with angst
http://www.majiksfanfic.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?t=282
Alex C Whitman SSAIC, (Supervising Special Agent in Charge) I&A with uber-angst
http://www.majiksfanfic.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?t=488
The Seekers, I&A with angst
http://www.majiksfanfic.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?t=282
Alex C Whitman SSAIC, (Supervising Special Agent in Charge) I&A with uber-angst
http://www.majiksfanfic.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?t=488
-
stargazer md
- Addicted Roswellian
- Posts: 120
- Joined: Sun Jun 06, 2004 10:25 pm
- Location: New Hampshire, USA
Stargazer Gets the Girl
Chapter 24-A There be Heroes Here
By Stargazer MD
“Are you afraid of me?”
“Right now I’m too angry to be afraid.”
Isabel's head dropped as she headed for the door, “I'll have my mom come and collect my things.”
“Sit down,” Gloria commanded. “I'm making tea, and then we going to have a nice chat.”
“You want me to stay?”
“Aren’t you my daughter-in-law?”
“No, not yet,” Isabel answered as she was forced to put into words thoughts that she hadn't fully formed yet. “The Granolith says we are, but I don't think we're quite ready for that yet. So I think my mom is still going to get the big church wedding for her daughter that she’s been planning for years,,,”
“Diane been planning?” Gloria teased.
“Well,,, with a little help from me,” Isabel answered as she bolted up and a smile slowly crept onto her face.
“That's better,” Gloria said with a smile as she filled their mugs from the Insinkerator.
Meanwhile Isabel raided cabinets, arranging Milano double chocolate cookies on a plate that matched the mugs Gloria was using, but as she placed the plate on the table, she became agitated. “Those bastards! Those fracking bastards!”
“What’s wrong?”
“They woke him up to give him a sleeping pill,,,”
“Is that all?” Gloria laughingly said. “Obviously you’ve never been in a hospital before,,,” but her momentary amusement was cut short as she shrieked and leapt back.
Isabel’s protective instincts took over. She raised her hand as she turned, and seeing movement in front of the stove, she fired. “What the frack was that?”
“A mouse,” Gloria answered as she warily walked around the end of the island. “They usually sneak in when the nights start getting colder.” Gloria looked down at the floor. Seeing a three foot (90 cm) diameter hole she glanced at Isabel before looking back at her ruined stove. “I usually just whack them with a broom.”
“I'm so sorry,” Isabel gasped. “I,,, I,,,”
Gloria took both of her hands into her own and led her to the table. “Sit!” she commanded.
As Isabel said down both of their attention was captured by the sound of the heavily damaged stove's open door snapping off and falling loudly onto the basement floor. “Do you have a safety setting for those?” Gloria teased. “I've been meaning to get Charles to buy me a new range, so you’re forgiven, but if you blow up my new refrigerator, I'll be seriously pissed.”
“You're not mad at me?” Isabel asked in amazement. “You’re not afraid?”
“Afraid?” Gloria answered dismissively as she retrieve their tea and cookies. “I've been waiting for you my entire life.”
“Because of Alex?”
“Because I've always wanted to be Judy Robinson. The fact that you're going to be part of the family is a bonus.”
“Judy Robinson?”
“Lost In Space, Nineteen Sixty-five.”
“What, you have a thing about a character on a TV show? No wonder Alex grew so quirky.”
“So where were you born?”
“I wasn't born, I was cloned, and I emerged right here outside of Roswell, so I guess you have to say I'm a US citizen.”
“Then how can you be an alien?”
“One of my donors, half of my DNA, came from Princess Vilandra, of the house of Zan, of the planet Antar. The other half of my DNA came from a human, of whom I know nothing about,,,”
“So how did you get here? Did you come on a ship?”
Isabel giggled in embarrassment. “I came on a spaceship, but I can't say much for Antarian technology. It crashed.”
“What kind of propulsion system did it have? A faster than light drive? Did it create artificial worm holes? Did it travel between portals? Does hyperspace really exist?”
“Gloria, I'm sorry. I know almost nothing about myself and where I come from. What little we've been told came from people who were trying to hurt us.” Seeing the look of disappointment on the woman's face who had become both a second mother and mentor to her, Isabel relented. She would tell her all that she knew. “It all started in Nineteen Forty-Seven,,,”
**********
Thumper Thurber was grabbing a late snack at the Taco Shack when she looked up to see Kyle headed her way. “Got the night off?” she sighed reluctantly.
“What do you mean?” Kyle replied as he sat next to her and took a massive bite out of one of his taco’s.
“Ava’s been keeping you on a short leash lately, especially since she caught you trying to figure out if I had an inner clasp on my Black Watch Tartan skirt,,,”
“Nope, I’m a free agent tonight,,,”
“Lucky me,” Thumper muttered.
“Late practice and a dead cell phone,” Kyle rambled on, not noticing her less than enthusiastic response to his presence. “How about you?”
Thumper looked a him as if he had rocks in his head. “Well, instead of getting my beauty sleep, I’m sitting here eating fat food that’s going to go straight to my thighs.”
“Oh, sorry. Dad told me that you had your Grand Jury appearance this week,,,”
“Thanks for reminding me that my life as I know it ends in three days,,,”
“Thumper,” Kyle said softly as his hand covered hers in as comforting yet non-threatening a manner as he could, “Dad isn’t saying anything, but he’s confident you’ll be cleared,,,”
“That’s easy for you to say,” Thumper replied worriedly. “The County Attorney is basing his whole re-election campaign on putting me in prison for the rest of my life,,,”
“Thumper, your life is like a river, and although it may be detoured by many mountains, it will always empty into the sea.”
“Thanks, I think,” Thumper answered with a smile.
“There we go,” Kyle said, his task of cheering her up accomplished.
“Very Eastern. I was expecting a wisecrack about my green tights,,,”
“Well, I’ve given my football hero side the night off, but don’t tell anyone. I have my reputation to protect,” he said as he looked around the parking lot. “Where’s your car?”
“I walked, you know the whole Sleepless in Roswell thing,,,”
“Come on, I’ll take you home.”
“Why Kyle, such a gentleman,,,”
“Gentleman, No,,, No! I’m just trying to get you out from under this picnic table so I can get a good look at you,” but his lecherous scheme was derailed as the lights were turned off as the shack shut down for the night.
“Come on Buddha-Boy, give a girl a ride home.” Seeing the surprised look on his face she continued, “Hey, I’ve been hanging with Ava ever since Isabel took me under her wing. I know all your secrets. You’re the safest ride home in town.”
“Safe,,,” he spat the word out as if it left a bad taste in his mouth. “I’m anything but safe,,,”
“If Ava so much as thought you were cheating on her, she’d rip your balls out and tie them in a knot behind your neck, then she’d get serious,,,”
“Ahhh, yea,,, Let me take you home.”
**********
“So you can talk to him right now?”
“Yea,” Isabel replied shyly. “As a matter of fact he’s keeping our connection open because he’s worried that I need calming,,,”
“You?” Gloria teased.
“Imagine that,” Isabel agreed with a self depreciating smile. “It’s as he’s here brushing my hair.”
“So, how does this connection work?”
“Sometimes it’s as if we were sitting next to each other talking, but when we go deeper, there are times when we share the same body. For example, I have memorized a number of his medical texts, and he can access my memories whenever he needs them,,,”
“How far can you reach?”
“We’ve been able to connect while he was in Albuquerque and I was here with no loss of signal, so we don’t know what our limits are.”
“You can talk to him right now?”
Isabel smiled a moment, biting her lip, as she asked Alex for a story. “When you were down in Homestead, you had a Golden Retriever named Brandy. You used to say she was the dumbest dog ever because whenever someone walked up to her she would roll onto her back and pee herself,,,”
“I remember Brandy,” Gloria thought back with a smile. “You’re talking to him right now?”
Isabel got up and started rummaging through the pantry. “Alex says she was the worst watchdog ever. She loved everyone she met and she was afraid of the dark.”
“Dumb dog. I used to have to keep her in my room at night or she’d start whining and keep everyone up,,,”
“Liar!” Isabel exclaimed as she placed a dozen eggs onto the countertop. “Alex says Pops came home from a month away and Brandy bit him when he tried to sneak into your room. He says after that you kept sneaking her treats and keeping her in your room every night.”
“Well, that served Charles right for sneaking home unannounced and not telling me what his plans were,,,” Gloria’s voice trailed off in irritation upon seeing Isabel pull out a mixing bowl and her new SilverStone baking pans. “Isabel Dear, what are you doing?”
“I picked up on the fact that Alex is craving brownies,” Isabel replied nervously. “If I can’t be there to take care of him at least I can drop off a pan or two on the way to school tomorrow,,,”
“Might I remind you that the stove no longer has a door on it?,,”
“I can fix that,,,”
“Oh no you don’t!” Gloria commanded. “If Charles thinks he can keep a secret about the two of you from me he has another thing coming. Instead of the new TV he wants for Christmas he’s going to be getting me a new ceramic cooktop and a built-in double oven, and he’s going to be happy to do it,,,”
“You can’t mess with Christmas,,,”
“Watch me, and speaking of sanctions, both of you are grounded for two weeks,,,”
“I can’t let you do that,,,”
“WHAT!,,”
“We have classes, meetings, and a trip to both Colorado and Albuquerque during the next two weeks,” Isabel rebutted nervously as she started cracking eggs and dropping them onto the brownie mix.
“Fine! “Then no Mexican food for either one of you,,,”
“I can’t let you do that either,” Isabel complained, her voice climbing higher in panic as she started to crack eggs faster and faster.
“Give me those,” Gloria said softly as she snatched the carton of eggs from the counter. Seeing the shocked look on her face, she continued, “Isabel, you’ve already put in seven eggs into a mix that calls for one.”
Isabel snatched the bowl off the counter and wrapped her arm around it protectively as she began to beat the mix with a large table spoon. “Ever since I changed Alex his taste in foods have changed to the point that they’re pretty identical to mine,,,”
“And your taste?”
Isabel hesitated a moment while you'll she tried to figure out a way to articulate a thought that she'd never had to put into words before. “I guess I would describe them as having a higher threshold of flavor. We really don't taste normal food, we like everything to be sweet and spicy. That's why you see us always having Mexican or Chinese food, because we can really dial-up the seasonings.”
“And Diane?”
“Poor Mom. When we were young we wouldn’t to eat anything that she cooked. She spent years trying to find different ways to make things that we would like,,,”
“That explains a lot,” Gloria muttered under her breath.
“What?”
“You said that you changed Alex. How so?”
Gloria watched as Isabel went through a transformation so dramatic that she wouldn't have believed it possible if she hadn't seen it for herself. It was as if all the life drained away from Isabel leaving an empty shell. Stunned by the transformation, it was one of the few times in her life that she did not know what to do, so she waited for a reply, hoping that there would be guidance in her words.
“It would have been better if he had never met me. I keep getting him hurt,,,”
“Now that's a fracking crock of shit and you know it,,,” Gloria interjected.
“He was shot protecting me,,,”
“You have nothing to do with his being shot, except taking care of him while we were gone, not to mention getting him to a doctor while he was sick,,,”
“No, it was my fault that he was sick. Tess was using him, hurting him, to get to me,,,”
“Tess? You mean Ava?”
“No, not Ava. The original Tess. She was an enemy.” Seeing a look of confusion on Gloria's face, she tried to explain. “I told you that we were the Royal Four Square, what I haven't had a chance to explain yet is that there was a second four square, and every time they've come near us there’s been trouble. Tess shot Alex. I killed Tess, and then we brought in Ava, Tess's duplicate, to replace her,,,”
“There's two four squares? Are you telling me there’s another Isabel out there somewhere?”
“Yes. Her name is Lonnie,,,”
“Heaven help us,,,” Gloria mumbled. “So you killed this Tess,,,”
“Well, I would say that I killed Tess to protect Alex, but if you asked him he would protect my feelings by telling you that he killed her to protect me. I guess you could say that we did it together.”
“And Alex got hurt,,,”
“Not just Alex. Max, Kyle, Liz, Myself, we were all busted up pretty bad, but Alex definitely took the worse of it. He was healed by both Max and Ava that night, and he hasn't been the same since.”
“And you had nothing to do with his healing?”
“Well,,,”
“All I know what is that ever since we've moved to Roswell you have been Alex's life, and although everything I've learned is going to take some time to come to grips with, it doesn't change the fact that the two of you belong together,,,” Gloria was interrupted by two quick knocks on the door before it swept open. She knew that knock, and looked up with a little irritation as Maria swept into the room. She was simply getting too tired to deal with another high-maintenance teenager, but to her surprise Maria blew right past her and stopped in front of Isabel.
“Give me that,” Maria said softly but determinately as she took the mixing spoon away from her taller friend.
“Alex is going to want brownies,” Isabel stammered as she struggled to maintain control.
“Then in the morning you can call Michael, get his lazy ass out of bed, and he can go down to Dexter to get him a couple of brownies at the bakery,,,”
“What if he doesn’t want to go?”
“Not even Michael’s dumb enough to deify the two of us; besides, if he gets there early enough he’ll be able go get himself a couple of crullers fresh from the cooker. Now why aren’t you getting ready for bed?”
“I, I,,,” Isabel stammered.
“Don’t look at her, she’s not going to help you,” Maria said with a smirk as she took Isabel’s hand and towed her towards the stairs. “Now don’t make me get a newspaper and start smacking you, I practically grew up in this house and I know just where she keeps them,,,”
“Maria?” Gloria asked, not quite sure what was going on.
“Don’t worry, we’re quite used to taking care of each other,” Maria said as they started up the stairs, but her next comment, not intended for their ears caused them both to smile. “Now remember, you lumberjack, me munchkin. I know I’m irresistible, but no spooning. I don’t want you rolling over in your sleep and crushing me to death,,,”
Less than an hour later Gloria at Isabel’s door, summoned by Isabel’s screams that she had come to know all too well, but before she could enter the room, she was stopped by Maria’s gentle voice in the soft light.
“It’s okay Iz. Alex is fine,,,” Maria said softly as she held Isabel to her shoulder and rubbed her back in little circles, the same caring gesture the Three Musketeers used when ever one of them was hurt or upset.
“I felt him,,, wink out,,, again,,,” Isabel choked between the wrenching sobs that she struggled for control.
“That’s because they gave him a sleeping pill, and it’s just kicking in now, right?”
“Maybe,,,”
“You said they woke him to give him a pill, and you always say you can’t dreamwalk us when we’re in deep sleep,,,”
“He belongs here with me,,,”
“Isabel,” Maria declared. “Alex needs his rest. Tomorrow you and Gloria will go over there and collect him,,,”
“What will I do if they won’t release him,,,”
“Are you kidding? Do you think anyone’s going to say no to the two of you? Now in the mean time, settle down and get some rest. I don’t want you looking all tired and haggard when you pick him up. I don’t want him thinking I can’t take care of you,,,”
“What makes you think you can keep talking to me like this,” Isabel challenged, a spark of her usual persona shining through.
“I know you better than you know yourself, and I know that when you get into one of these moods, Alex steps in and takes charge,,,”
“You’re not Alex,,,”
“So? You’ve got Alex whipped. I on the other hand, can smack the Uber General of the Antarian Army around, so what makes you think I can’t handle a simple Princess?”
**********
After school the next day, Kyle was at the Crashdown, leaning over the counter and yakking at Liz.
“I’m happy you’ve started your own company,” Liz said skeptically, “But I don’t know how that involves me,,,”
“Have you ever gone down to Super Buffet and just as you’re going to dig into a nice hot Egg-Foo-Yong you notice that your fork has a bent prong?”
“No I can’t say I have,” Liz answered with an indulgent smile.
“Why, you’re welcome Liz,” Kyle said cheerfully. “That’s because of me. I have them under contract for my prong straightening service. Once a week, for a small fee, I inspect all of their forks and repair any that are deficient. So, can I sign you up for my services?”
“We don’t have that problem. Dad purchases quality products,” Liz explained dismissively as she turned to walk away.
“Liz!,, Liz,” Kyle pleaded, bringing the harried waitress back to the counter. “I also have a wrapping service. Have you ever ordered unwrapped straws or toothpicks? Instead of throwing them out, I’ll wrap them, again for a very modest fee,,,”
“Sorry Kyle, we get everything wrapped automatically,,,”
“Okay then, maybe you’ll want to invest in my newest company,” Kyle continued smoothly. “You know those paper covered hangers you get at the dry cleaners?,,” but his pitch was cut short as his head snapped forward.
“What the frack do you think you’re doing?” Maria challenged.
“Is that your answer to everything,” Kyle whined as he rubbed the back of his head. “Violence?”
“Violence, I’ll show you violence. Not only are you distracting Liz, which means I’m having to take care of her customers, but three customers have bitched to me that you’re mooching their fries, so unless you’re going to spend some of that big businessman money on food, I’m going to shove my foot up your ass,,,”
Kyle, liking his ass just the way it was, decided it was time to leave.
“And take your friend Steve with you!”
Liz watched as Kyle and Steve skipped out the door before turning on her best friend. “He’s right. You have to stop hitting people.”
“Oh really,” Maria teased. “How about I tell you that Kyle bet Steve that you were so gullible you would sit through three bogus sales pitches?,,”
“He What!”
“Bet you’d like your foot up his ass right about now,” Maria said smugly. “Now back to work. The starving masses want their fried cholesterol.”
TBC
Photo links:
Charles’ AUG-A1
http://i76.photobucket.com/albums/j22/S ... AUG-A1.jpg
Firefighter Alex Taylor, Alex’s rescuer when he was shot at the Kettle’s
http://i76.photobucket.com/albums/j22/S ... Taylor.jpg
Isabel’s Floating Heart, a gift from Alex after Prom
http://www.kheigl.com/cgi-bin/view.cgi? ... t/kh34.jpg
Courtesy Khegil.com
Isabel’s Earrings, Alex’s present for her Eighteenth birthday.
http://i76.photobucket.com/albums/j22/S ... arings.jpg
Isabel’s Engagement Ring
http://i76.photobucket.com/albums/j22/S ... sring2.jpg
Chapter 24-A There be Heroes Here
By Stargazer MD
“Are you afraid of me?”
“Right now I’m too angry to be afraid.”
Isabel's head dropped as she headed for the door, “I'll have my mom come and collect my things.”
“Sit down,” Gloria commanded. “I'm making tea, and then we going to have a nice chat.”
“You want me to stay?”
“Aren’t you my daughter-in-law?”
“No, not yet,” Isabel answered as she was forced to put into words thoughts that she hadn't fully formed yet. “The Granolith says we are, but I don't think we're quite ready for that yet. So I think my mom is still going to get the big church wedding for her daughter that she’s been planning for years,,,”
“Diane been planning?” Gloria teased.
“Well,,, with a little help from me,” Isabel answered as she bolted up and a smile slowly crept onto her face.
“That's better,” Gloria said with a smile as she filled their mugs from the Insinkerator.
Meanwhile Isabel raided cabinets, arranging Milano double chocolate cookies on a plate that matched the mugs Gloria was using, but as she placed the plate on the table, she became agitated. “Those bastards! Those fracking bastards!”
“What’s wrong?”
“They woke him up to give him a sleeping pill,,,”
“Is that all?” Gloria laughingly said. “Obviously you’ve never been in a hospital before,,,” but her momentary amusement was cut short as she shrieked and leapt back.
Isabel’s protective instincts took over. She raised her hand as she turned, and seeing movement in front of the stove, she fired. “What the frack was that?”
“A mouse,” Gloria answered as she warily walked around the end of the island. “They usually sneak in when the nights start getting colder.” Gloria looked down at the floor. Seeing a three foot (90 cm) diameter hole she glanced at Isabel before looking back at her ruined stove. “I usually just whack them with a broom.”
“I'm so sorry,” Isabel gasped. “I,,, I,,,”
Gloria took both of her hands into her own and led her to the table. “Sit!” she commanded.
As Isabel said down both of their attention was captured by the sound of the heavily damaged stove's open door snapping off and falling loudly onto the basement floor. “Do you have a safety setting for those?” Gloria teased. “I've been meaning to get Charles to buy me a new range, so you’re forgiven, but if you blow up my new refrigerator, I'll be seriously pissed.”
“You're not mad at me?” Isabel asked in amazement. “You’re not afraid?”
“Afraid?” Gloria answered dismissively as she retrieve their tea and cookies. “I've been waiting for you my entire life.”
“Because of Alex?”
“Because I've always wanted to be Judy Robinson. The fact that you're going to be part of the family is a bonus.”
“Judy Robinson?”
“Lost In Space, Nineteen Sixty-five.”
“What, you have a thing about a character on a TV show? No wonder Alex grew so quirky.”
“So where were you born?”
“I wasn't born, I was cloned, and I emerged right here outside of Roswell, so I guess you have to say I'm a US citizen.”
“Then how can you be an alien?”
“One of my donors, half of my DNA, came from Princess Vilandra, of the house of Zan, of the planet Antar. The other half of my DNA came from a human, of whom I know nothing about,,,”
“So how did you get here? Did you come on a ship?”
Isabel giggled in embarrassment. “I came on a spaceship, but I can't say much for Antarian technology. It crashed.”
“What kind of propulsion system did it have? A faster than light drive? Did it create artificial worm holes? Did it travel between portals? Does hyperspace really exist?”
“Gloria, I'm sorry. I know almost nothing about myself and where I come from. What little we've been told came from people who were trying to hurt us.” Seeing the look of disappointment on the woman's face who had become both a second mother and mentor to her, Isabel relented. She would tell her all that she knew. “It all started in Nineteen Forty-Seven,,,”
**********
Thumper Thurber was grabbing a late snack at the Taco Shack when she looked up to see Kyle headed her way. “Got the night off?” she sighed reluctantly.
“What do you mean?” Kyle replied as he sat next to her and took a massive bite out of one of his taco’s.
“Ava’s been keeping you on a short leash lately, especially since she caught you trying to figure out if I had an inner clasp on my Black Watch Tartan skirt,,,”
“Nope, I’m a free agent tonight,,,”
“Lucky me,” Thumper muttered.
“Late practice and a dead cell phone,” Kyle rambled on, not noticing her less than enthusiastic response to his presence. “How about you?”
Thumper looked a him as if he had rocks in his head. “Well, instead of getting my beauty sleep, I’m sitting here eating fat food that’s going to go straight to my thighs.”
“Oh, sorry. Dad told me that you had your Grand Jury appearance this week,,,”
“Thanks for reminding me that my life as I know it ends in three days,,,”
“Thumper,” Kyle said softly as his hand covered hers in as comforting yet non-threatening a manner as he could, “Dad isn’t saying anything, but he’s confident you’ll be cleared,,,”
“That’s easy for you to say,” Thumper replied worriedly. “The County Attorney is basing his whole re-election campaign on putting me in prison for the rest of my life,,,”
“Thumper, your life is like a river, and although it may be detoured by many mountains, it will always empty into the sea.”
“Thanks, I think,” Thumper answered with a smile.
“There we go,” Kyle said, his task of cheering her up accomplished.
“Very Eastern. I was expecting a wisecrack about my green tights,,,”
“Well, I’ve given my football hero side the night off, but don’t tell anyone. I have my reputation to protect,” he said as he looked around the parking lot. “Where’s your car?”
“I walked, you know the whole Sleepless in Roswell thing,,,”
“Come on, I’ll take you home.”
“Why Kyle, such a gentleman,,,”
“Gentleman, No,,, No! I’m just trying to get you out from under this picnic table so I can get a good look at you,” but his lecherous scheme was derailed as the lights were turned off as the shack shut down for the night.
“Come on Buddha-Boy, give a girl a ride home.” Seeing the surprised look on his face she continued, “Hey, I’ve been hanging with Ava ever since Isabel took me under her wing. I know all your secrets. You’re the safest ride home in town.”
“Safe,,,” he spat the word out as if it left a bad taste in his mouth. “I’m anything but safe,,,”
“If Ava so much as thought you were cheating on her, she’d rip your balls out and tie them in a knot behind your neck, then she’d get serious,,,”
“Ahhh, yea,,, Let me take you home.”
**********
“So you can talk to him right now?”
“Yea,” Isabel replied shyly. “As a matter of fact he’s keeping our connection open because he’s worried that I need calming,,,”
“You?” Gloria teased.
“Imagine that,” Isabel agreed with a self depreciating smile. “It’s as he’s here brushing my hair.”
“So, how does this connection work?”
“Sometimes it’s as if we were sitting next to each other talking, but when we go deeper, there are times when we share the same body. For example, I have memorized a number of his medical texts, and he can access my memories whenever he needs them,,,”
“How far can you reach?”
“We’ve been able to connect while he was in Albuquerque and I was here with no loss of signal, so we don’t know what our limits are.”
“You can talk to him right now?”
Isabel smiled a moment, biting her lip, as she asked Alex for a story. “When you were down in Homestead, you had a Golden Retriever named Brandy. You used to say she was the dumbest dog ever because whenever someone walked up to her she would roll onto her back and pee herself,,,”
“I remember Brandy,” Gloria thought back with a smile. “You’re talking to him right now?”
Isabel got up and started rummaging through the pantry. “Alex says she was the worst watchdog ever. She loved everyone she met and she was afraid of the dark.”
“Dumb dog. I used to have to keep her in my room at night or she’d start whining and keep everyone up,,,”
“Liar!” Isabel exclaimed as she placed a dozen eggs onto the countertop. “Alex says Pops came home from a month away and Brandy bit him when he tried to sneak into your room. He says after that you kept sneaking her treats and keeping her in your room every night.”
“Well, that served Charles right for sneaking home unannounced and not telling me what his plans were,,,” Gloria’s voice trailed off in irritation upon seeing Isabel pull out a mixing bowl and her new SilverStone baking pans. “Isabel Dear, what are you doing?”
“I picked up on the fact that Alex is craving brownies,” Isabel replied nervously. “If I can’t be there to take care of him at least I can drop off a pan or two on the way to school tomorrow,,,”
“Might I remind you that the stove no longer has a door on it?,,”
“I can fix that,,,”
“Oh no you don’t!” Gloria commanded. “If Charles thinks he can keep a secret about the two of you from me he has another thing coming. Instead of the new TV he wants for Christmas he’s going to be getting me a new ceramic cooktop and a built-in double oven, and he’s going to be happy to do it,,,”
“You can’t mess with Christmas,,,”
“Watch me, and speaking of sanctions, both of you are grounded for two weeks,,,”
“I can’t let you do that,,,”
“WHAT!,,”
“We have classes, meetings, and a trip to both Colorado and Albuquerque during the next two weeks,” Isabel rebutted nervously as she started cracking eggs and dropping them onto the brownie mix.
“Fine! “Then no Mexican food for either one of you,,,”
“I can’t let you do that either,” Isabel complained, her voice climbing higher in panic as she started to crack eggs faster and faster.
“Give me those,” Gloria said softly as she snatched the carton of eggs from the counter. Seeing the shocked look on her face, she continued, “Isabel, you’ve already put in seven eggs into a mix that calls for one.”
Isabel snatched the bowl off the counter and wrapped her arm around it protectively as she began to beat the mix with a large table spoon. “Ever since I changed Alex his taste in foods have changed to the point that they’re pretty identical to mine,,,”
“And your taste?”
Isabel hesitated a moment while you'll she tried to figure out a way to articulate a thought that she'd never had to put into words before. “I guess I would describe them as having a higher threshold of flavor. We really don't taste normal food, we like everything to be sweet and spicy. That's why you see us always having Mexican or Chinese food, because we can really dial-up the seasonings.”
“And Diane?”
“Poor Mom. When we were young we wouldn’t to eat anything that she cooked. She spent years trying to find different ways to make things that we would like,,,”
“That explains a lot,” Gloria muttered under her breath.
“What?”
“You said that you changed Alex. How so?”
Gloria watched as Isabel went through a transformation so dramatic that she wouldn't have believed it possible if she hadn't seen it for herself. It was as if all the life drained away from Isabel leaving an empty shell. Stunned by the transformation, it was one of the few times in her life that she did not know what to do, so she waited for a reply, hoping that there would be guidance in her words.
“It would have been better if he had never met me. I keep getting him hurt,,,”
“Now that's a fracking crock of shit and you know it,,,” Gloria interjected.
“He was shot protecting me,,,”
“You have nothing to do with his being shot, except taking care of him while we were gone, not to mention getting him to a doctor while he was sick,,,”
“No, it was my fault that he was sick. Tess was using him, hurting him, to get to me,,,”
“Tess? You mean Ava?”
“No, not Ava. The original Tess. She was an enemy.” Seeing a look of confusion on Gloria's face, she tried to explain. “I told you that we were the Royal Four Square, what I haven't had a chance to explain yet is that there was a second four square, and every time they've come near us there’s been trouble. Tess shot Alex. I killed Tess, and then we brought in Ava, Tess's duplicate, to replace her,,,”
“There's two four squares? Are you telling me there’s another Isabel out there somewhere?”
“Yes. Her name is Lonnie,,,”
“Heaven help us,,,” Gloria mumbled. “So you killed this Tess,,,”
“Well, I would say that I killed Tess to protect Alex, but if you asked him he would protect my feelings by telling you that he killed her to protect me. I guess you could say that we did it together.”
“And Alex got hurt,,,”
“Not just Alex. Max, Kyle, Liz, Myself, we were all busted up pretty bad, but Alex definitely took the worse of it. He was healed by both Max and Ava that night, and he hasn't been the same since.”
“And you had nothing to do with his healing?”
“Well,,,”
“All I know what is that ever since we've moved to Roswell you have been Alex's life, and although everything I've learned is going to take some time to come to grips with, it doesn't change the fact that the two of you belong together,,,” Gloria was interrupted by two quick knocks on the door before it swept open. She knew that knock, and looked up with a little irritation as Maria swept into the room. She was simply getting too tired to deal with another high-maintenance teenager, but to her surprise Maria blew right past her and stopped in front of Isabel.
“Give me that,” Maria said softly but determinately as she took the mixing spoon away from her taller friend.
“Alex is going to want brownies,” Isabel stammered as she struggled to maintain control.
“Then in the morning you can call Michael, get his lazy ass out of bed, and he can go down to Dexter to get him a couple of brownies at the bakery,,,”
“What if he doesn’t want to go?”
“Not even Michael’s dumb enough to deify the two of us; besides, if he gets there early enough he’ll be able go get himself a couple of crullers fresh from the cooker. Now why aren’t you getting ready for bed?”
“I, I,,,” Isabel stammered.
“Don’t look at her, she’s not going to help you,” Maria said with a smirk as she took Isabel’s hand and towed her towards the stairs. “Now don’t make me get a newspaper and start smacking you, I practically grew up in this house and I know just where she keeps them,,,”
“Maria?” Gloria asked, not quite sure what was going on.
“Don’t worry, we’re quite used to taking care of each other,” Maria said as they started up the stairs, but her next comment, not intended for their ears caused them both to smile. “Now remember, you lumberjack, me munchkin. I know I’m irresistible, but no spooning. I don’t want you rolling over in your sleep and crushing me to death,,,”
Less than an hour later Gloria at Isabel’s door, summoned by Isabel’s screams that she had come to know all too well, but before she could enter the room, she was stopped by Maria’s gentle voice in the soft light.
“It’s okay Iz. Alex is fine,,,” Maria said softly as she held Isabel to her shoulder and rubbed her back in little circles, the same caring gesture the Three Musketeers used when ever one of them was hurt or upset.
“I felt him,,, wink out,,, again,,,” Isabel choked between the wrenching sobs that she struggled for control.
“That’s because they gave him a sleeping pill, and it’s just kicking in now, right?”
“Maybe,,,”
“You said they woke him to give him a pill, and you always say you can’t dreamwalk us when we’re in deep sleep,,,”
“He belongs here with me,,,”
“Isabel,” Maria declared. “Alex needs his rest. Tomorrow you and Gloria will go over there and collect him,,,”
“What will I do if they won’t release him,,,”
“Are you kidding? Do you think anyone’s going to say no to the two of you? Now in the mean time, settle down and get some rest. I don’t want you looking all tired and haggard when you pick him up. I don’t want him thinking I can’t take care of you,,,”
“What makes you think you can keep talking to me like this,” Isabel challenged, a spark of her usual persona shining through.
“I know you better than you know yourself, and I know that when you get into one of these moods, Alex steps in and takes charge,,,”
“You’re not Alex,,,”
“So? You’ve got Alex whipped. I on the other hand, can smack the Uber General of the Antarian Army around, so what makes you think I can’t handle a simple Princess?”
**********
After school the next day, Kyle was at the Crashdown, leaning over the counter and yakking at Liz.
“I’m happy you’ve started your own company,” Liz said skeptically, “But I don’t know how that involves me,,,”
“Have you ever gone down to Super Buffet and just as you’re going to dig into a nice hot Egg-Foo-Yong you notice that your fork has a bent prong?”
“No I can’t say I have,” Liz answered with an indulgent smile.
“Why, you’re welcome Liz,” Kyle said cheerfully. “That’s because of me. I have them under contract for my prong straightening service. Once a week, for a small fee, I inspect all of their forks and repair any that are deficient. So, can I sign you up for my services?”
“We don’t have that problem. Dad purchases quality products,” Liz explained dismissively as she turned to walk away.
“Liz!,, Liz,” Kyle pleaded, bringing the harried waitress back to the counter. “I also have a wrapping service. Have you ever ordered unwrapped straws or toothpicks? Instead of throwing them out, I’ll wrap them, again for a very modest fee,,,”
“Sorry Kyle, we get everything wrapped automatically,,,”
“Okay then, maybe you’ll want to invest in my newest company,” Kyle continued smoothly. “You know those paper covered hangers you get at the dry cleaners?,,” but his pitch was cut short as his head snapped forward.
“What the frack do you think you’re doing?” Maria challenged.
“Is that your answer to everything,” Kyle whined as he rubbed the back of his head. “Violence?”
“Violence, I’ll show you violence. Not only are you distracting Liz, which means I’m having to take care of her customers, but three customers have bitched to me that you’re mooching their fries, so unless you’re going to spend some of that big businessman money on food, I’m going to shove my foot up your ass,,,”
Kyle, liking his ass just the way it was, decided it was time to leave.
“And take your friend Steve with you!”
Liz watched as Kyle and Steve skipped out the door before turning on her best friend. “He’s right. You have to stop hitting people.”
“Oh really,” Maria teased. “How about I tell you that Kyle bet Steve that you were so gullible you would sit through three bogus sales pitches?,,”
“He What!”
“Bet you’d like your foot up his ass right about now,” Maria said smugly. “Now back to work. The starving masses want their fried cholesterol.”
TBC
Photo links:
Charles’ AUG-A1
http://i76.photobucket.com/albums/j22/S ... AUG-A1.jpg
Firefighter Alex Taylor, Alex’s rescuer when he was shot at the Kettle’s
http://i76.photobucket.com/albums/j22/S ... Taylor.jpg
Isabel’s Floating Heart, a gift from Alex after Prom
http://www.kheigl.com/cgi-bin/view.cgi? ... t/kh34.jpg
Courtesy Khegil.com
Isabel’s Earrings, Alex’s present for her Eighteenth birthday.
http://i76.photobucket.com/albums/j22/S ... arings.jpg
Isabel’s Engagement Ring
http://i76.photobucket.com/albums/j22/S ... sring2.jpg
Last edited by stargazer md on Mon May 21, 2007 2:05 pm, edited 1 time in total.
My completed stories:
The Seekers, I&A with angst
http://www.majiksfanfic.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?t=282
Alex C Whitman SSAIC, (Supervising Special Agent in Charge) I&A with uber-angst
http://www.majiksfanfic.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?t=488
The Seekers, I&A with angst
http://www.majiksfanfic.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?t=282
Alex C Whitman SSAIC, (Supervising Special Agent in Charge) I&A with uber-angst
http://www.majiksfanfic.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?t=488
-
stargazer md
- Addicted Roswellian
- Posts: 120
- Joined: Sun Jun 06, 2004 10:25 pm
- Location: New Hampshire, USA
Stargazer Gets the Girl
Chapter 24-B There be Heroes Here
By Stargazer MD
**********
“So I guess with Alex coming home from the hospital this afternoon you two won’t be spending the night here,” Diane stated offhandedly over breakfast.
Although she knew her mom tried to hide it, Isabel could hear the hurt in her voice. “I’m sorry Mom, but if I try to bring Alex over here, Gloria would kill me.” She didn’t even bother to voice the fact that she would not even consider the option of coming home alone. “I know we don’t spend as much time here as you would like, but that’s where the computers are, and we have so much work to do right now.”
“I know, and soon you’ll be off to college, so we’ll just have to make what we can of the time we have.”
“We can come over for dinner on Friday if you’d like?” Isabel offered hesitantly.
“I’d like that,” Diane answered cheerfully. “In fact I think I’ll invite everyone.” Not noticing the look of dismay on her daughter’s face, she continued, “We’ll have dinner then cards.”
**********
“I don’t want to hear this,” Isabel said with a trace of irritation.
“Girlfriend,” Maria teased, “If we can sit still while you talk about giving Alex a hard-on by sticking your finger up his ass and tickling his prostate, you can sit still while Liz talks about your brother.”
“Isabel, your brother is perfect, but sometimes he’s too perfect,,,”
“You’re saying my brother’s wrong because he treats you like a queen?,,,”
“That’s not what I’m saying,” Liz snapped, “And you know it,,,”
“Sometimes you need some good loving, sometimes you need a hard therapeutic fracking,,,”
“Exactly! Sore thighs, an itch well scratched, and no talking.”
“Get him a pirate shirt,” Maria exclaimed.
“A pirate shirt?” Liz answered skeptically.
Ava agreed. “You put your guy in a pirate shirt, it like Swept away,,,”
“Wait a minute,” Isabel said. “Isn’t Swept Away like a thirty year old porno movie?,,”
“One of Kyle’s favorites,,,”
“You got Michael into a pirate shirt?”
“Michael doesn’t need no stinking pirate shirt,” Maria teased. “At least not during the first half,,,”
“First half? Michael does doubles?”
“Not really.” Maria looked around the group guiltily. She knew Michael would freak if he knew she was talking about him, but this was girl talk, and girl talk trumped boyfriend’s feelings every time. “Michael holds out, keeps everything bottled up inside,,,”
“Tell us something we don’t know,” Isabel interrupted, but upon receiving a glare from Maria that was at least as good as her own, she relented. “Sorry.”
“It just builds up until he either snaps on his own or I break it out of him. So the first time is explosive. Lots of hickeys, and, torn panties, and, no thought about wearing a rubber, which is why I got this,,,” she explained haltingly, pointing to her Norplant. “Now, this works for me, a lot, but like the ice-slut over there says,,,”
“Hey!”
“The best thing about good sex is more sex, so I look at him, all sweaty and little guilty looking because he thinks that once again he took his pleasure and left me behind,,, he looks so adorable I just want to hold him and make the whole world go away,,,” Maria paused with a look of rapture on her face.
“And” Liz prompted.
“Oh,,, well,,, I just look at him with this little girl expression and ask, ‘anything left for me.’ Well,,, you’ve never seen this side of Michael, but he’s so tender,,, and so giving,,, he makes sure I get mine,,, well, that works for me too,,,”
“And you’re calling me a slut?” Isabel teased as Maria’s face turned bright red.
“You are a slut, Iz. Three trips to the bingo parlor every time,,,” Liz teased.
“Ava hasn’t said anything,” Maria replied, deflecting attention from herself.
“What’s to say, Kyle’s a pig.”
“He was all right around me,” Liz rebutted.
Liz’s protestation of Kyle’s innocence was more than Isabel could handle, causing the blond goddess to laugh. Under normal circumstances, Isabel may have been able to maintain her dignity while laughing, but in this instance she had just taken a large gulp of LimeWarp, which moments later was spraying out of her nose.
“He dreamed about me?” Liz deadpanned, ignoring Isabel’s gasping for breath. “He is so dead,,,”
“You don’t want to know,” Ava advised as she picked up Maria’s empty brown lunch bag and stealthily changed it into a soft cloth, which she handed to her friend in need. “Isabel’s told me about some of his dreams, and so far we’ve only been able to recreate two of them. I don’t think most of the rest are humanly possible,,, at least for human females. You’re too fragile,,, well, I don’t think they’re possible for me either. I don’t have that many breasts,,, or places for him to stick his,,, never mind, Kyle’s a pig.”
The guys watched the girls from a couple of tables over. “They’re talking about us,” Michael complained.
“Naw. They’re not talking about us,” Kyle answered. Girls don’t talk about the same things we do. Look how Isabel’s taking charge, Liz and Maria are teasing her, and Ava’s shaking her head no. They’re planning a trip to ‘Walk on the Moon’ at the mall. They’re going shoe shopping. We don’t have a thing to worry about.”
While Liz was probing Ava for details about Kyle’s depravities, Isabel saw her next,,, project, enter the Quad. Making her apologies she made her way over. “Steve,” she said enthusiastically as she sat next to him while she pulled several sheets of heavily printed twenty-four pound bond paper out of her organizer. “This is a list of times, pick-up and drop-off locations as well as cargos related to the Christmas pageant,,,”
“And you’re giving me this because?”
“As the only couple with a truck, you’ve been drafted,,, There’s Trish. Got to go,,,”
“When the hell did it become a couple’s truck?,,”
“What’s the hurry?” Vickie asked.
“It’s my Lightning, my Baby,,, Trucks deliver milk,,,”
Isabel turned and answered over her shoulder, “I’m running stag while Alex is in the hospital,,,”
“Haul trash,,,”
“So I’m trying to get as much done as I can before I pick him after school.”
“Look at this fracking list,” Steve muttered disgustedly. “Damned Isa-bitch. It’s going to take a shit load of time,,,”
“No afternoon BJ for you,” Vickie commanded as she smacked him up the side of the head.
“What the frack did I do?”
“You still need to learn that our little universe revolves around Isabel. If you botch one job on that list her pageant will be only ninety-nine successful. If her pageant isn’t perfect she’ll start to stress out. If she stresses out Alex won’t get laid. If Alex doesn’t get laid my tutoring will suffer. Then, if my Spanish grade slips you won’t get laid.”
“Shit,,,” Steve sighed in resignation. “Maybe we can get Kyle and Ava to help.”
“Good idea, because if Isabel cuts off Alex, she won’t be able to hold out for a day, maybe a day and a half at the most, but I can hold out for weeks.”
“Damned girl, you’ve been hanging out with Maria too much.”
**********
“We still think you should spend another night,” the nurse stated mechanically. “Your presentation was quite serious, and where there’s one bleb there’s usually more,,,”
“Listen, you didn’t find anything this morning when you gave me a CAT scan, and then you couldn’t find anything this afternoon when you gave me an ultrasound. Can you give me one reason, one medical reason, why I shouldn’t go home.”
The nurse stammered, struggling to come up with a reply for this young man who would deify modern medicine. “It’s procedure,,, Anything could happen to you,,, The doctors,,,”
Alex cocked his ear towards the door and a smile crossed his face as he heard the tap,,, tap,,, tap,,, of stiletto heels on the hard tile floor. He turned back to the nurse. That’s right, anything can happen. Anything can happen because I’m the luckiest guy on the face of the planet,,,”
Isabel stepped through the door and paused just inside the room, not wanting to interrupt the conversation that her husband was having with his caregiver. Despite the fact that she had left school less than an hour ago, she looked marvelous. Her upswept golden hair looked like a halo in the bright light, while her suit made her look years older. Sans blouse, her jacket plunged daringly while her tapered slacks exposed well turned ankles in sexy heels.
“Ready to go Sweetie?”
“Izzy!” Alex exclaimed in greeting before his brows shot up. “White? In November?”
“Seemed appropriate for the hospital.”
“I was just telling Nurse Susan here how much work I have to do,,,”
“Work?” Isabel snapped indignantly. “I’m taking you straight home and then you’re going right to bed,,,”
“Hum,,, hum,,, hum,,,” Alex crackled.
“Get your mind out of the gutter,” Isabel rebutted with a smile towards Nurse Susan. “The nookie light is off and you’re taking it easy at least until the weekend, now get your clothes on while I sign you out.”
“Don’t worry about me, she can’t resist the Whitman charm,” Alex rebutted with a smiled towards Nurse Susan, but to his dismay, he found that the women were no longer paying attention to him as they left him to his own devices.
“Actually I need him at home,” Isabel said conspiratorially. “I made a mess of the kitchen and I need his help to clean it up.”
**********
Late the same evening, Isabel snuck into Alex’s room and snuggled in behind him.
“Izzy?” he asked in confusion, his voice tinged with sleep.
“Shhh,” she whispered. “You didn’t think I could bring you home and then stay away, did you?”
“Mom, Pops?”
“Don’t worry, they’re going to sleep through the night.”
“Well in that case,,,” Alex snickered as he began to nuzzle Isabel’s neck, all thoughts of sleep gone.
”Down boy,” Isabel said laughingly. “You need your rest,” but seeing that his ardor was in full flow, she decided to take matters into her own hand. She dove below the covers, and moments later had fished Fred out from his boxers. Next she slid her hand between his legs and under his ass. “Ready?”
“Izzy?” he replied.
She sent a burst of power up his butt, causing Fred to stand up and take notice, right where she was waiting for him. Moments later she sent another burst of power to the huge bundle of nerves that Trude had told her about in his brain.
“Oh God Izzy!”
Her task completed, Isabel popped her head out from under the covers as she licked her lips. “Tasty.”
“I love you,” Alex sighed.
“I love you too,” she replied as she kissed him. “Say good night Alex.”
“Good night Alex,” he replied and as he knew what was coming, he settled back on his pillow. She touched his forehead and moments later he went out like a light, their whole encounter having lasted less then a minute.
Isabel took comfort in snuggling against his back for a couple of minutes until she was sure he was asleep and then reluctantly climbed out of the warm bed. She kissed him again, and then settled down in front of the Blade workstation, settling the headset firmly in place. “Granolith, we have lost several days, are you willing to help me get caught up?”
“State the nature of your request.”
Now while Isabel knew her way around a computer, and she knew their company inside and out, she did not usually work on the programming itself, so she gently opened a connection with her husband and drew on his knowledge of the next task that he was planning to accomplish. “Granolith. Open EMS Data folder containing multiple data files.”
“Compliance.”
“Write program to parse data contained in individual comma delineated data files into new Aries databases. Database name is to be the same as the original file.”
“Program ready.”
“Execute.”
“Working. Estimated run time, four hours.”
“Upon completion prepare multiple exception reports consisting of aberrant data records from each database. Present them to workstation display adaptor for my review. Once available for review, notify me with a dialog box transmitted to the WinTel (Windows/Intel) display,” Isabel commanded.
“Compliance.”
Then with Alex’s project running, she hit the KVM switch and toggled over to the WinTel server then opened the MS Word file containing the Users Manual that she had been writing for the EMS program. She knew that she had a long night ahead of her, but she only needed a couple of hours sleep a night, and after a full night’s sleep last night, she wanted to get their work far enough ahead so they could enjoy their time together on their trip to Colorado without having to take additional work with them. Looking over at the sleeping reason that she was doing all of this, she began to type with a smile on her face.
**********
Diane looked around her dining room, happy that everyone had shown up for her expanded Friday Night card game. In addition to the Whitman’s and the kids, the Parkers were also in attendance along with Liz. She watched with amusement as Isabel hesitantly placed a pan of lasagna on the table, her hands visibly trembling as if the casserole were alive and trying to attack her.
“Before you begin I have two announcements,” she proclaimed. “The first is that I would like to thank everyone for joining us tonight. I know that it’s been a hard week for some of us,” she continued with a knowing look towards Gloria, “And with everyone scattering for the weekend, I thought that a little get together was called for,,,”
“Don’t worry about me, I’m getting the rest of my new kitchen,” Gloria teased, a comment that elicited a groan from her husband.
Diane waited for the laughter to die down before continuing, “And the second announcement is about the lay out of tonight’s table. Everyone is going to have to be careful which dish you serve yourself from, white for the adults, and red for the rest. Liz dear, you’ll need white.”
“Mom?” Isabel asked in confusion as Gloria simply shrugged and took the first portion of lasagna.
“I have spent the last ten years butchering my recipes trying to come up with flavors that will suit everyone only to come to learn that it isn’t possible. So now when I cook I’ll be making two dishes, the first utilizing my traditional recipes and the second with some new variations that I worked out with Michael,,,”
“Hey, this is good!” Gloria exclaimed in surprise.
“Of course it’s good,” Diane answered. “Do you think Phillip got this way because I can’t cook,,,”
“Oh my God!” Isabel sighed in pleasure as she began to attack her plate. “How’d you do this?”
“I browned the beef with cayenne and finely chopped habanero chilies, the sauce is spiced with Tabasco and Wiltshire sauces along with curry, and the garlic bread is seasoned with sesame oil and caraway seed,,,”
“Bonehead,” Isabel snapped as she slapped Max up the side of the head causing his slice of garlic bread to fly into Liz’s plate.
“What was that for?” Max snapped back.
“Isabel Amanda Evans,,,”
“That’s for not letting me tell Mom about us. We could have been eating like this years ago,,,”
“Apologize to your brother this instant!”
“You’ve been hanging out with Maria too much,,,”
“I’m sorry I got caught hitting you,” Isabel muttered out of the side of her mouth, placing limits on her contrition.
”This is all your fault!” Isabel chastised her husband.
“My fault?” Alex answered in surprise. “I haven’t said a word, how the frack is this my fault?”
“It’s your fault because your mom has been hanging out with my mom too much!”
TBC
Stargazer Gets the Girl
Chapter 24-C There be Heroes Here
By Stargazer MD
“Come on Sweetie,” Isabel cajoled with a trace of irritation in her voice as she stepped out of the bathroom. “You don’t even have your bag packed yet. We can’t be late for this meeting.”
Instead of reacting, Alex just continued to watch her move around the room as he lay with his head on his arm.
As she bent over her own bag while putting away her toiletries kit, she reminded him of her plan. “We check out, have breakfast, and then we can leave for home directly from Leprino,,,” but her voice trailed off as her senses turned inwards. “What are you doing?” she asked as she turned and confronted him. “Are you checking out my ass?” she continued, but with a much more pleasant voice.
“I’m trying to figure out what you’re wearing,” Alex said offhandedly. “I don’t see any panty lines, which is good, but I don’t see any garters either,,,”
“Alex, I’m dressed for my comfort, not your pleasure.” But noticing that he was watching her black nyloned ankle, about all that showed from her pinstriped DKNY pantsuit she continued, “I’m wearing tricot cheeky panties. Comfortable fit and lacey legs with no elastic band to show through my slacks. I’ve also got a Penny’s satin bra on, which after I altered it so the underwire wouldn’t dig, it’s about the most comfortable one I own.”
In response Alex simply sent her an image of her standing next to the dresser wearing nothing but her sheer black merry widow gartered to black seamed stockings.
“Oh my God Sweetie! Don’t tell me you’re still horny? We spent all day yesterday and half of last night in bed. My thighs are still sore from when you had then spread so wide, and since Fred didn’t make his usual appearance this morning, I assumed you were sated.”
“Izzy, I’m an eighteen year old guy who is five hundred miles (800 km) away from home and I’m sharing a hotel room with the girl of my dreams, so when we get out of this meeting we’re coming back here and if I have to I’ll stand you on your head in the corner I will because if I still can’t get it up I’m going to drop it in,,,”
By now the image of her nearly naked self was lost as Isabel began laughing so hard that she had to lean on him for support. He wrapped his arm around her shoulder before leading her out to the car. “That’s what every guy wants to hear when he talks to his wife about sex; laughter.” After opening the driver’s side door for her and then settling himself in the passenger seat he continued, “You have these great alien gifts, and it would be a shame to not take advantage of them. I can manage on five to six hours sleep, while you only need two, so we’ll leave for home about ten. I’ll start driving while you take a power nap, then when I get tired you’ll take over and with your ability to stay alert and with your fantastic night you can drive while I get some sleep.”
“So you get to sleep while I get to drive all night. What’s in it for me?”
“Do you remember that Cosmo article you showed me?”
“The one about sensory overload?” she replied as her eyes dilated and her nostrils flared.
“I figured I’d try that on you,,,”
“Try? What’s this try shit? I need a little confidence here,,,”
“Though with my mouth and both hands busy in the same general area I don’t know how I’ll support my upper body weight,,,”
“Don’t worry, I’ll throw a pillow under your chest!,,” Isabel snapped in response.
“Hugh?”
“Two pillows!”
“Come on Izzy,” Alex sighed. “Turn into Friendly’s. I’d better get you some breakfast before we both miss this meeting and I die young and penniless,,,”
“And dehydrated,” Isabel teased.
**********
Earlier that morning over northeastern New Mexico.
“~~Cannon Tower, two-six-thousand, ten miles southeast turning downwind for four.~~”
(Translation: Attention the control tower at Cannon Air Force Base, Clovis, New Mexico, this is Air Force aircraft twenty six-thousand, a KC-135 aerial refueling tanker. We are ten miles (16 km) southeast of your location and turning to set-up a standard downwind approach, requesting permission to land on runway four.)
“~~Cannon, two-six-thousand, traffic CVN six east, downwind, four.~~”
(Air Force twenty six-thousand, this is Cannon tower. Exercise caution as there is a plane departing from Clovis Municipal Airport, currently six miles (10 km) to your east. Permission granted to approach and land on runway four.)
“~~Cannon Tower, two-six-thousand, continuing final, four.~~”
(,,,We have the runway in sight and are continuing our approach.)
“~~Attention two-six-thousand, we have you in sight. Negative Nav’s, PDI’s appear active.~~”
(Check your switches, you have the wrong set of lights on.)
(AN: As an aircraft approaches a tanker for refueling, the tanker turns off it’s underside beacon and strobe lights, which could blind the approaching pilot. Instead a system of Pilot Direction Indicator lights are used. These appear as a chevron of lights on the underside of the tanker. These lights, along with the AR Flood, or Aerial Refueling flood light, which illuminates the refueling probe, are only illuminated during refueling operations. At all other times these specialty lights are off and the aircraft’s normal navigation lights are on.)
“~~Two-six-thousand.~~”
(Message received, please excuse me while I go out back and kick some ass.)
The pilot changed his microphone feed from the radio to the plane’s intercom. “~~Hey Boomer, you awake back there? Check your switches for frack sake.~~”
(‘Boomer’ is the nickname common to all the personnel, typically an E-6, (Tech. Sergeant) who are stationed at the back of the aircraft. They ‘fly’ the aerial refueling boom into the socket on the receiving aircraft. They also operate two refueling drogues located on wing pods which allow the refueling of smaller, typically Navy or Marine Corps aircraft, which are equipped with refueling probes. For example, a large C-9 Nightingale (Medical Evacuation Transport) is refueled by the boom and socket method while two Navy FA-18E Super Hornet Strike Fighters may be refueled simultaneously utilizing the drogue and probe equipment. While most of the Air Force KC-135 Stratotankers and KC-10 Extenders are now equipped for both methods of aerial refueling, and are fully capable of performing both on a single mission, they can not be used simultaneously. There is simply not enough room for the safe separation of the receiving aircraft.)
“~~Sorry Boss,~~” the hapless technician replied.
(I heard the towers transmission and have already made the correction.)
“~~Let’s stay sharp back there. I know you’re only a part timer putting in your two weeks, but you make that same mistake in indian country and you’ll get your ass fragged.~~”
(Although right now you may be a reservist putting in your two weeks per year of training, there’s a war coming, and you’re likely to get activated. If you make that same mistake during a combat sortie, you’ll likely get everyone killed.)
“~~Awww, frack us,~~” the co-pilot sighed.
The pilot ignored this while she concentrated on making a safe landing before asking what was wrong.
“~~We flew right over Roswell with out PDI’s on,,,~~”
The pilot immediately recognized the significance of this statement. “~~Oh for frack’s sake. Low enough to be seen, high enough not to be heard. The nutcases are going to be coming out of the woodwork.~~”
**********
“Alex, Isabel, I would like to introduce you to Robert Blynn, our Corporate IT Manager. Rob, this is Alex Whitman and Isabel Evans. They are the principles of Aries technology.” As they seated themselves around the small conference table Patty turned her attention back to Alex and Isabel. “Rob has spent an extensive amount of time at the Roswell plant and he reports that the network you build is satisfactory and the software you have provided is adequate for our needs.”
Isabel's stole a quick glance at Rob and found that he would not make eye contact. In fact he was looking at the table top with what could only be described as an expression of guilt. “Don’t react!” Isabel commanded. “Don't show any reaction at all, just ignore everything she says. She's doing this as a negotiating tactic. She gave us the grand tour of their campus to show us how big a company Leprino is, and now she's going to tell us house small of a company we are. She's trying to get herself into a position of power.” “I am happy to hear that we are in compliance with the specifications that you provided,” Isabel replied with a wirily grin. “Perhaps if you made an effort to fine tune your specifications we could exceed your basic needs and provide you with product that would make your operations fly.”
“Rob has a list of observations he made while in Roswell,” Patty stated.
“This is a list of service request you have given us,” Isabel responded, “As well as a log of every help desk call you have taken internally. We have studied these, and have several suggestions for improvements in addition to the actions we have already taken. We’ll need to go through these items one at a time.”
“Good. I want to get these problems under control, so lets fix them once and for all before we roll this out nation wide. Then, once we have repaired the defects, we can eliminate the expense of the monthly payments.”
Isabel didn’t bat an eye. “As I’m sure Rob would agree, the software is not defective. You are not working for the same company that you were just six months ago, and as your operations have evolved, so has our product. These changes will not go away, in fact they will grow in number and size as we expand from one plant to the entire company,,,”
“It is my job to minimize cost,” Patty replied icily.
“And you will need us to do that,” Isabel replied, exercising great restraint. “No one has any ideas of the challenges and opportunities that will present themselves as your plants go through their change-overs. As a result, the need for consulting, and the associated cost, will grow, not go away. Perhaps you would like to pay for our consulting time by the hour?,,”
“No! We’re not paying by the hour,” Rob insisted. Turing towards Pat, he continued in a strained voice, “I don’t know about you, but my job depends on this project,,,”
“Maybe we need a break,” Alex interjected. “Lets concentrate on what we can agree on and make some progress. Then after lunch we can come back to the issues that separate us.”
Rob looked back and forth between the two woman before shaking his head. “I don't know about you Alex, but I've never got anything accomplished by sitting around a conference table. Let me bring you down of the server room and we’ll start laying out the network upgrades that I need. We'll let the ladies here battle over the paper clips.”
“Good idea,” Alex stated as he stood. “We're going to need that information before we can assemble a quote.”
Patty looked at the back of the two men, momentarily unable to decide if it was to her advantage that they had left. Well, at least she wouldn’t have to worry about Rob speaking out of turn, so taking a deep breath she turned back to Isabel, only to face another interruption.
“Donna Castillo!” Isabel exclaims as she rose and greeted her mentor, reaching for both of her hands.
“Isabella,” Señora Castillo replied, kissing her on both cheeks. She then took her charge and turned her, holding her in a side hug as she turned and faced the table. “I hope you’re taking good care of our guest,,,” she let her voice fade, waiting for a name.
“Orlowski, Pat Orlowski.” The young firebrand manager felt a chill run up her back as she watched Isabel be so warmly greeted by one of the true power brokers of the corporation. While it was common knowledge that the Magliaro family had been at Mike Leprino’s side ever since the company was founded, it was less widely known that the Leprino’s had grown their company the old fashioned way, through acquisitions. The entire south-west operations had been bought from one single family operated company. A family that had expanded their thriving cattle business into the meat and dairy industries. As a result, not only did the Castile family have the resources to live their lives comfortably, Señora Castile controlled enough Leprino stock so that what her husband wanted, he got.
“Yes, Pat Orlowski. The work that you have performed on the Roswell upgrades is to be commended. Output and profits have improved better than expected, so it is imperative that you roll this program out company wide. It would please me if all of our plants have these enhancements in place by the end of our next fiscal year. You can do this for me, sí?”
“Yes Señora Castillo de Magliaro. I will make it my top priority.”
“Muy bueno,” Señora Castillo replied to Patty with an indulgent smile before turning her attention to Isabel. “Isabel, you and your fiancé will join Mike and myself for lunch. I still think my name has enough influence to get us a table at the Cattlemen’s Association, yes?”
“Sí Donna Castillo. It would be our pleasure.”
“It will be good to have some time to catch up before you return to Roswell, so I’ll let you get back to work. Buenos Dias, Señorita Isabella, Señora Orlowski.”
“Buenos Dias,” Isabel replied, while Patty was too stunned to speak.
“You’re on a first name basis with Señora Castillo de Magliaro?” Patty asked, her expression failing to hide her surprise.
“Yes,” Isabel answered hesitantly. “You are aware that her husband is the general manager of the Roswell plant? Donna Castillo is, well was, my business development instructor in school. Additionally she set up the co-op project that Alex built into Aries,,,”
“So you’re telling me that this entire project,,, your company as well as the software you produce, was the brainchild of Señora Castillo de Magliaro?”
“Well,,, yes,,, but that’s not to say that she had anything to do with our company,” Isabel hastened to explain after seeing the shocked expression on Patty’s face. “There is no hanky-panky on anyone’s part. We built our company on our own and produced our product with no outside help. We simply reacted to a request from a client, and need I remind you, you have been involved in the project from day one.”
“It may be true that I’ve been involved from day one,” Patty sighed, “But I never realized just how involved senior management was. I don’t see any point in further negotiations. This project is going to go through whether I like it or not,,,”
Isabel looked at Patty. “Listen, I’m still not sure what just happened here, but nothing has changed. You still represent Leprino. You’re still responsible for coordinating your needs and specifications to us so that you can obtain the best hardware and software package that we’re capable of producing, and as far as we’re concerned, you’re still an important client that we are most eager to please,” and with that little lie understood by both parties, they got back to work.
Señora Castillo, her task of the moment completed, stopped in her husbands office to ask about his lunch plans. “Don’t you think you were a little harsh with Mrs. Orlowski?” he asked.
“She’s treating Aries as if they were a recreant supplier to be squeezed instead of a valued consultant to be invited to the table. She’s worried about a hundred dollars here and a thousand dollars there when this project is worth millions.”
“Are you sure this has nothing to do with your affection for them?”
“A serendipitous enhancement,” his wife answered with a smile. “If I were simply interested in seeing them successful I would be happy to make introductions to acquaintances who would benefit from their services, but under the circumstances I want to keep them all to myself.” Seeing doubt she elaborated. “It’s your plant, look at the numbers. When we started this, we were expecting nothing more than good community relations, with the possibility of some small incremental improvements. We got so much more. Since fully implementing Aries, we have had no spoilage losses, none! We have not suffered a single shut-down due to material shortages. On hand inventory levels are down, and inventory turns are up. There is no downside to this. We were expecting a two year payback on the new software and network, instead it paid for itself in less than four months and so far has generated an unexpected million dollars in profit,,,”
“Which brings us back to our resident bean counter. Do you want to replace her on this project?”
Señora Castillo hesitated only a moment before replying, “No, we’ve lost too much time on this project already, especially with the whole Stamford fiasco. I want this project up and running, and I think after my little performance she’s well motivated.” After a moments thought she continued, “I do think I’ll ask her to lunch tomorrow though. She shows promise, and with the right mentor to guide and protect her, I think she’ll go far.”
TBC
Chapter 24-B There be Heroes Here
By Stargazer MD
**********
“So I guess with Alex coming home from the hospital this afternoon you two won’t be spending the night here,” Diane stated offhandedly over breakfast.
Although she knew her mom tried to hide it, Isabel could hear the hurt in her voice. “I’m sorry Mom, but if I try to bring Alex over here, Gloria would kill me.” She didn’t even bother to voice the fact that she would not even consider the option of coming home alone. “I know we don’t spend as much time here as you would like, but that’s where the computers are, and we have so much work to do right now.”
“I know, and soon you’ll be off to college, so we’ll just have to make what we can of the time we have.”
“We can come over for dinner on Friday if you’d like?” Isabel offered hesitantly.
“I’d like that,” Diane answered cheerfully. “In fact I think I’ll invite everyone.” Not noticing the look of dismay on her daughter’s face, she continued, “We’ll have dinner then cards.”
**********
“I don’t want to hear this,” Isabel said with a trace of irritation.
“Girlfriend,” Maria teased, “If we can sit still while you talk about giving Alex a hard-on by sticking your finger up his ass and tickling his prostate, you can sit still while Liz talks about your brother.”
“Isabel, your brother is perfect, but sometimes he’s too perfect,,,”
“You’re saying my brother’s wrong because he treats you like a queen?,,,”
“That’s not what I’m saying,” Liz snapped, “And you know it,,,”
“Sometimes you need some good loving, sometimes you need a hard therapeutic fracking,,,”
“Exactly! Sore thighs, an itch well scratched, and no talking.”
“Get him a pirate shirt,” Maria exclaimed.
“A pirate shirt?” Liz answered skeptically.
Ava agreed. “You put your guy in a pirate shirt, it like Swept away,,,”
“Wait a minute,” Isabel said. “Isn’t Swept Away like a thirty year old porno movie?,,”
“One of Kyle’s favorites,,,”
“You got Michael into a pirate shirt?”
“Michael doesn’t need no stinking pirate shirt,” Maria teased. “At least not during the first half,,,”
“First half? Michael does doubles?”
“Not really.” Maria looked around the group guiltily. She knew Michael would freak if he knew she was talking about him, but this was girl talk, and girl talk trumped boyfriend’s feelings every time. “Michael holds out, keeps everything bottled up inside,,,”
“Tell us something we don’t know,” Isabel interrupted, but upon receiving a glare from Maria that was at least as good as her own, she relented. “Sorry.”
“It just builds up until he either snaps on his own or I break it out of him. So the first time is explosive. Lots of hickeys, and, torn panties, and, no thought about wearing a rubber, which is why I got this,,,” she explained haltingly, pointing to her Norplant. “Now, this works for me, a lot, but like the ice-slut over there says,,,”
“Hey!”
“The best thing about good sex is more sex, so I look at him, all sweaty and little guilty looking because he thinks that once again he took his pleasure and left me behind,,, he looks so adorable I just want to hold him and make the whole world go away,,,” Maria paused with a look of rapture on her face.
“And” Liz prompted.
“Oh,,, well,,, I just look at him with this little girl expression and ask, ‘anything left for me.’ Well,,, you’ve never seen this side of Michael, but he’s so tender,,, and so giving,,, he makes sure I get mine,,, well, that works for me too,,,”
“And you’re calling me a slut?” Isabel teased as Maria’s face turned bright red.
“You are a slut, Iz. Three trips to the bingo parlor every time,,,” Liz teased.
“Ava hasn’t said anything,” Maria replied, deflecting attention from herself.
“What’s to say, Kyle’s a pig.”
“He was all right around me,” Liz rebutted.
Liz’s protestation of Kyle’s innocence was more than Isabel could handle, causing the blond goddess to laugh. Under normal circumstances, Isabel may have been able to maintain her dignity while laughing, but in this instance she had just taken a large gulp of LimeWarp, which moments later was spraying out of her nose.
“He dreamed about me?” Liz deadpanned, ignoring Isabel’s gasping for breath. “He is so dead,,,”
“You don’t want to know,” Ava advised as she picked up Maria’s empty brown lunch bag and stealthily changed it into a soft cloth, which she handed to her friend in need. “Isabel’s told me about some of his dreams, and so far we’ve only been able to recreate two of them. I don’t think most of the rest are humanly possible,,, at least for human females. You’re too fragile,,, well, I don’t think they’re possible for me either. I don’t have that many breasts,,, or places for him to stick his,,, never mind, Kyle’s a pig.”
The guys watched the girls from a couple of tables over. “They’re talking about us,” Michael complained.
“Naw. They’re not talking about us,” Kyle answered. Girls don’t talk about the same things we do. Look how Isabel’s taking charge, Liz and Maria are teasing her, and Ava’s shaking her head no. They’re planning a trip to ‘Walk on the Moon’ at the mall. They’re going shoe shopping. We don’t have a thing to worry about.”
While Liz was probing Ava for details about Kyle’s depravities, Isabel saw her next,,, project, enter the Quad. Making her apologies she made her way over. “Steve,” she said enthusiastically as she sat next to him while she pulled several sheets of heavily printed twenty-four pound bond paper out of her organizer. “This is a list of times, pick-up and drop-off locations as well as cargos related to the Christmas pageant,,,”
“And you’re giving me this because?”
“As the only couple with a truck, you’ve been drafted,,, There’s Trish. Got to go,,,”
“When the hell did it become a couple’s truck?,,”
“What’s the hurry?” Vickie asked.
“It’s my Lightning, my Baby,,, Trucks deliver milk,,,”
Isabel turned and answered over her shoulder, “I’m running stag while Alex is in the hospital,,,”
“Haul trash,,,”
“So I’m trying to get as much done as I can before I pick him after school.”
“Look at this fracking list,” Steve muttered disgustedly. “Damned Isa-bitch. It’s going to take a shit load of time,,,”
“No afternoon BJ for you,” Vickie commanded as she smacked him up the side of the head.
“What the frack did I do?”
“You still need to learn that our little universe revolves around Isabel. If you botch one job on that list her pageant will be only ninety-nine successful. If her pageant isn’t perfect she’ll start to stress out. If she stresses out Alex won’t get laid. If Alex doesn’t get laid my tutoring will suffer. Then, if my Spanish grade slips you won’t get laid.”
“Shit,,,” Steve sighed in resignation. “Maybe we can get Kyle and Ava to help.”
“Good idea, because if Isabel cuts off Alex, she won’t be able to hold out for a day, maybe a day and a half at the most, but I can hold out for weeks.”
“Damned girl, you’ve been hanging out with Maria too much.”
**********
“We still think you should spend another night,” the nurse stated mechanically. “Your presentation was quite serious, and where there’s one bleb there’s usually more,,,”
“Listen, you didn’t find anything this morning when you gave me a CAT scan, and then you couldn’t find anything this afternoon when you gave me an ultrasound. Can you give me one reason, one medical reason, why I shouldn’t go home.”
The nurse stammered, struggling to come up with a reply for this young man who would deify modern medicine. “It’s procedure,,, Anything could happen to you,,, The doctors,,,”
Alex cocked his ear towards the door and a smile crossed his face as he heard the tap,,, tap,,, tap,,, of stiletto heels on the hard tile floor. He turned back to the nurse. That’s right, anything can happen. Anything can happen because I’m the luckiest guy on the face of the planet,,,”
Isabel stepped through the door and paused just inside the room, not wanting to interrupt the conversation that her husband was having with his caregiver. Despite the fact that she had left school less than an hour ago, she looked marvelous. Her upswept golden hair looked like a halo in the bright light, while her suit made her look years older. Sans blouse, her jacket plunged daringly while her tapered slacks exposed well turned ankles in sexy heels.
“Ready to go Sweetie?”
“Izzy!” Alex exclaimed in greeting before his brows shot up. “White? In November?”
“Seemed appropriate for the hospital.”
“I was just telling Nurse Susan here how much work I have to do,,,”
“Work?” Isabel snapped indignantly. “I’m taking you straight home and then you’re going right to bed,,,”
“Hum,,, hum,,, hum,,,” Alex crackled.
“Get your mind out of the gutter,” Isabel rebutted with a smile towards Nurse Susan. “The nookie light is off and you’re taking it easy at least until the weekend, now get your clothes on while I sign you out.”
“Don’t worry about me, she can’t resist the Whitman charm,” Alex rebutted with a smiled towards Nurse Susan, but to his dismay, he found that the women were no longer paying attention to him as they left him to his own devices.
“Actually I need him at home,” Isabel said conspiratorially. “I made a mess of the kitchen and I need his help to clean it up.”
**********
Late the same evening, Isabel snuck into Alex’s room and snuggled in behind him.
“Izzy?” he asked in confusion, his voice tinged with sleep.
“Shhh,” she whispered. “You didn’t think I could bring you home and then stay away, did you?”
“Mom, Pops?”
“Don’t worry, they’re going to sleep through the night.”
“Well in that case,,,” Alex snickered as he began to nuzzle Isabel’s neck, all thoughts of sleep gone.
”Down boy,” Isabel said laughingly. “You need your rest,” but seeing that his ardor was in full flow, she decided to take matters into her own hand. She dove below the covers, and moments later had fished Fred out from his boxers. Next she slid her hand between his legs and under his ass. “Ready?”
“Izzy?” he replied.
She sent a burst of power up his butt, causing Fred to stand up and take notice, right where she was waiting for him. Moments later she sent another burst of power to the huge bundle of nerves that Trude had told her about in his brain.
“Oh God Izzy!”
Her task completed, Isabel popped her head out from under the covers as she licked her lips. “Tasty.”
“I love you,” Alex sighed.
“I love you too,” she replied as she kissed him. “Say good night Alex.”
“Good night Alex,” he replied and as he knew what was coming, he settled back on his pillow. She touched his forehead and moments later he went out like a light, their whole encounter having lasted less then a minute.
Isabel took comfort in snuggling against his back for a couple of minutes until she was sure he was asleep and then reluctantly climbed out of the warm bed. She kissed him again, and then settled down in front of the Blade workstation, settling the headset firmly in place. “Granolith, we have lost several days, are you willing to help me get caught up?”
“State the nature of your request.”
Now while Isabel knew her way around a computer, and she knew their company inside and out, she did not usually work on the programming itself, so she gently opened a connection with her husband and drew on his knowledge of the next task that he was planning to accomplish. “Granolith. Open EMS Data folder containing multiple data files.”
“Compliance.”
“Write program to parse data contained in individual comma delineated data files into new Aries databases. Database name is to be the same as the original file.”
“Program ready.”
“Execute.”
“Working. Estimated run time, four hours.”
“Upon completion prepare multiple exception reports consisting of aberrant data records from each database. Present them to workstation display adaptor for my review. Once available for review, notify me with a dialog box transmitted to the WinTel (Windows/Intel) display,” Isabel commanded.
“Compliance.”
Then with Alex’s project running, she hit the KVM switch and toggled over to the WinTel server then opened the MS Word file containing the Users Manual that she had been writing for the EMS program. She knew that she had a long night ahead of her, but she only needed a couple of hours sleep a night, and after a full night’s sleep last night, she wanted to get their work far enough ahead so they could enjoy their time together on their trip to Colorado without having to take additional work with them. Looking over at the sleeping reason that she was doing all of this, she began to type with a smile on her face.
**********
Diane looked around her dining room, happy that everyone had shown up for her expanded Friday Night card game. In addition to the Whitman’s and the kids, the Parkers were also in attendance along with Liz. She watched with amusement as Isabel hesitantly placed a pan of lasagna on the table, her hands visibly trembling as if the casserole were alive and trying to attack her.
“Before you begin I have two announcements,” she proclaimed. “The first is that I would like to thank everyone for joining us tonight. I know that it’s been a hard week for some of us,” she continued with a knowing look towards Gloria, “And with everyone scattering for the weekend, I thought that a little get together was called for,,,”
“Don’t worry about me, I’m getting the rest of my new kitchen,” Gloria teased, a comment that elicited a groan from her husband.
Diane waited for the laughter to die down before continuing, “And the second announcement is about the lay out of tonight’s table. Everyone is going to have to be careful which dish you serve yourself from, white for the adults, and red for the rest. Liz dear, you’ll need white.”
“Mom?” Isabel asked in confusion as Gloria simply shrugged and took the first portion of lasagna.
“I have spent the last ten years butchering my recipes trying to come up with flavors that will suit everyone only to come to learn that it isn’t possible. So now when I cook I’ll be making two dishes, the first utilizing my traditional recipes and the second with some new variations that I worked out with Michael,,,”
“Hey, this is good!” Gloria exclaimed in surprise.
“Of course it’s good,” Diane answered. “Do you think Phillip got this way because I can’t cook,,,”
“Oh my God!” Isabel sighed in pleasure as she began to attack her plate. “How’d you do this?”
“I browned the beef with cayenne and finely chopped habanero chilies, the sauce is spiced with Tabasco and Wiltshire sauces along with curry, and the garlic bread is seasoned with sesame oil and caraway seed,,,”
“Bonehead,” Isabel snapped as she slapped Max up the side of the head causing his slice of garlic bread to fly into Liz’s plate.
“What was that for?” Max snapped back.
“Isabel Amanda Evans,,,”
“That’s for not letting me tell Mom about us. We could have been eating like this years ago,,,”
“Apologize to your brother this instant!”
“You’ve been hanging out with Maria too much,,,”
“I’m sorry I got caught hitting you,” Isabel muttered out of the side of her mouth, placing limits on her contrition.
”This is all your fault!” Isabel chastised her husband.
“My fault?” Alex answered in surprise. “I haven’t said a word, how the frack is this my fault?”
“It’s your fault because your mom has been hanging out with my mom too much!”
TBC
Stargazer Gets the Girl
Chapter 24-C There be Heroes Here
By Stargazer MD
“Come on Sweetie,” Isabel cajoled with a trace of irritation in her voice as she stepped out of the bathroom. “You don’t even have your bag packed yet. We can’t be late for this meeting.”
Instead of reacting, Alex just continued to watch her move around the room as he lay with his head on his arm.
As she bent over her own bag while putting away her toiletries kit, she reminded him of her plan. “We check out, have breakfast, and then we can leave for home directly from Leprino,,,” but her voice trailed off as her senses turned inwards. “What are you doing?” she asked as she turned and confronted him. “Are you checking out my ass?” she continued, but with a much more pleasant voice.
“I’m trying to figure out what you’re wearing,” Alex said offhandedly. “I don’t see any panty lines, which is good, but I don’t see any garters either,,,”
“Alex, I’m dressed for my comfort, not your pleasure.” But noticing that he was watching her black nyloned ankle, about all that showed from her pinstriped DKNY pantsuit she continued, “I’m wearing tricot cheeky panties. Comfortable fit and lacey legs with no elastic band to show through my slacks. I’ve also got a Penny’s satin bra on, which after I altered it so the underwire wouldn’t dig, it’s about the most comfortable one I own.”
In response Alex simply sent her an image of her standing next to the dresser wearing nothing but her sheer black merry widow gartered to black seamed stockings.
“Oh my God Sweetie! Don’t tell me you’re still horny? We spent all day yesterday and half of last night in bed. My thighs are still sore from when you had then spread so wide, and since Fred didn’t make his usual appearance this morning, I assumed you were sated.”
“Izzy, I’m an eighteen year old guy who is five hundred miles (800 km) away from home and I’m sharing a hotel room with the girl of my dreams, so when we get out of this meeting we’re coming back here and if I have to I’ll stand you on your head in the corner I will because if I still can’t get it up I’m going to drop it in,,,”
By now the image of her nearly naked self was lost as Isabel began laughing so hard that she had to lean on him for support. He wrapped his arm around her shoulder before leading her out to the car. “That’s what every guy wants to hear when he talks to his wife about sex; laughter.” After opening the driver’s side door for her and then settling himself in the passenger seat he continued, “You have these great alien gifts, and it would be a shame to not take advantage of them. I can manage on five to six hours sleep, while you only need two, so we’ll leave for home about ten. I’ll start driving while you take a power nap, then when I get tired you’ll take over and with your ability to stay alert and with your fantastic night you can drive while I get some sleep.”
“So you get to sleep while I get to drive all night. What’s in it for me?”
“Do you remember that Cosmo article you showed me?”
“The one about sensory overload?” she replied as her eyes dilated and her nostrils flared.
“I figured I’d try that on you,,,”
“Try? What’s this try shit? I need a little confidence here,,,”
“Though with my mouth and both hands busy in the same general area I don’t know how I’ll support my upper body weight,,,”
“Don’t worry, I’ll throw a pillow under your chest!,,” Isabel snapped in response.
“Hugh?”
“Two pillows!”
“Come on Izzy,” Alex sighed. “Turn into Friendly’s. I’d better get you some breakfast before we both miss this meeting and I die young and penniless,,,”
“And dehydrated,” Isabel teased.
**********
Earlier that morning over northeastern New Mexico.
“~~Cannon Tower, two-six-thousand, ten miles southeast turning downwind for four.~~”
(Translation: Attention the control tower at Cannon Air Force Base, Clovis, New Mexico, this is Air Force aircraft twenty six-thousand, a KC-135 aerial refueling tanker. We are ten miles (16 km) southeast of your location and turning to set-up a standard downwind approach, requesting permission to land on runway four.)
“~~Cannon, two-six-thousand, traffic CVN six east, downwind, four.~~”
(Air Force twenty six-thousand, this is Cannon tower. Exercise caution as there is a plane departing from Clovis Municipal Airport, currently six miles (10 km) to your east. Permission granted to approach and land on runway four.)
“~~Cannon Tower, two-six-thousand, continuing final, four.~~”
(,,,We have the runway in sight and are continuing our approach.)
“~~Attention two-six-thousand, we have you in sight. Negative Nav’s, PDI’s appear active.~~”
(Check your switches, you have the wrong set of lights on.)
(AN: As an aircraft approaches a tanker for refueling, the tanker turns off it’s underside beacon and strobe lights, which could blind the approaching pilot. Instead a system of Pilot Direction Indicator lights are used. These appear as a chevron of lights on the underside of the tanker. These lights, along with the AR Flood, or Aerial Refueling flood light, which illuminates the refueling probe, are only illuminated during refueling operations. At all other times these specialty lights are off and the aircraft’s normal navigation lights are on.)
“~~Two-six-thousand.~~”
(Message received, please excuse me while I go out back and kick some ass.)
The pilot changed his microphone feed from the radio to the plane’s intercom. “~~Hey Boomer, you awake back there? Check your switches for frack sake.~~”
(‘Boomer’ is the nickname common to all the personnel, typically an E-6, (Tech. Sergeant) who are stationed at the back of the aircraft. They ‘fly’ the aerial refueling boom into the socket on the receiving aircraft. They also operate two refueling drogues located on wing pods which allow the refueling of smaller, typically Navy or Marine Corps aircraft, which are equipped with refueling probes. For example, a large C-9 Nightingale (Medical Evacuation Transport) is refueled by the boom and socket method while two Navy FA-18E Super Hornet Strike Fighters may be refueled simultaneously utilizing the drogue and probe equipment. While most of the Air Force KC-135 Stratotankers and KC-10 Extenders are now equipped for both methods of aerial refueling, and are fully capable of performing both on a single mission, they can not be used simultaneously. There is simply not enough room for the safe separation of the receiving aircraft.)
“~~Sorry Boss,~~” the hapless technician replied.
(I heard the towers transmission and have already made the correction.)
“~~Let’s stay sharp back there. I know you’re only a part timer putting in your two weeks, but you make that same mistake in indian country and you’ll get your ass fragged.~~”
(Although right now you may be a reservist putting in your two weeks per year of training, there’s a war coming, and you’re likely to get activated. If you make that same mistake during a combat sortie, you’ll likely get everyone killed.)
“~~Awww, frack us,~~” the co-pilot sighed.
The pilot ignored this while she concentrated on making a safe landing before asking what was wrong.
“~~We flew right over Roswell with out PDI’s on,,,~~”
The pilot immediately recognized the significance of this statement. “~~Oh for frack’s sake. Low enough to be seen, high enough not to be heard. The nutcases are going to be coming out of the woodwork.~~”
**********
“Alex, Isabel, I would like to introduce you to Robert Blynn, our Corporate IT Manager. Rob, this is Alex Whitman and Isabel Evans. They are the principles of Aries technology.” As they seated themselves around the small conference table Patty turned her attention back to Alex and Isabel. “Rob has spent an extensive amount of time at the Roswell plant and he reports that the network you build is satisfactory and the software you have provided is adequate for our needs.”
Isabel's stole a quick glance at Rob and found that he would not make eye contact. In fact he was looking at the table top with what could only be described as an expression of guilt. “Don’t react!” Isabel commanded. “Don't show any reaction at all, just ignore everything she says. She's doing this as a negotiating tactic. She gave us the grand tour of their campus to show us how big a company Leprino is, and now she's going to tell us house small of a company we are. She's trying to get herself into a position of power.” “I am happy to hear that we are in compliance with the specifications that you provided,” Isabel replied with a wirily grin. “Perhaps if you made an effort to fine tune your specifications we could exceed your basic needs and provide you with product that would make your operations fly.”
“Rob has a list of observations he made while in Roswell,” Patty stated.
“This is a list of service request you have given us,” Isabel responded, “As well as a log of every help desk call you have taken internally. We have studied these, and have several suggestions for improvements in addition to the actions we have already taken. We’ll need to go through these items one at a time.”
“Good. I want to get these problems under control, so lets fix them once and for all before we roll this out nation wide. Then, once we have repaired the defects, we can eliminate the expense of the monthly payments.”
Isabel didn’t bat an eye. “As I’m sure Rob would agree, the software is not defective. You are not working for the same company that you were just six months ago, and as your operations have evolved, so has our product. These changes will not go away, in fact they will grow in number and size as we expand from one plant to the entire company,,,”
“It is my job to minimize cost,” Patty replied icily.
“And you will need us to do that,” Isabel replied, exercising great restraint. “No one has any ideas of the challenges and opportunities that will present themselves as your plants go through their change-overs. As a result, the need for consulting, and the associated cost, will grow, not go away. Perhaps you would like to pay for our consulting time by the hour?,,”
“No! We’re not paying by the hour,” Rob insisted. Turing towards Pat, he continued in a strained voice, “I don’t know about you, but my job depends on this project,,,”
“Maybe we need a break,” Alex interjected. “Lets concentrate on what we can agree on and make some progress. Then after lunch we can come back to the issues that separate us.”
Rob looked back and forth between the two woman before shaking his head. “I don't know about you Alex, but I've never got anything accomplished by sitting around a conference table. Let me bring you down of the server room and we’ll start laying out the network upgrades that I need. We'll let the ladies here battle over the paper clips.”
“Good idea,” Alex stated as he stood. “We're going to need that information before we can assemble a quote.”
Patty looked at the back of the two men, momentarily unable to decide if it was to her advantage that they had left. Well, at least she wouldn’t have to worry about Rob speaking out of turn, so taking a deep breath she turned back to Isabel, only to face another interruption.
“Donna Castillo!” Isabel exclaims as she rose and greeted her mentor, reaching for both of her hands.
“Isabella,” Señora Castillo replied, kissing her on both cheeks. She then took her charge and turned her, holding her in a side hug as she turned and faced the table. “I hope you’re taking good care of our guest,,,” she let her voice fade, waiting for a name.
“Orlowski, Pat Orlowski.” The young firebrand manager felt a chill run up her back as she watched Isabel be so warmly greeted by one of the true power brokers of the corporation. While it was common knowledge that the Magliaro family had been at Mike Leprino’s side ever since the company was founded, it was less widely known that the Leprino’s had grown their company the old fashioned way, through acquisitions. The entire south-west operations had been bought from one single family operated company. A family that had expanded their thriving cattle business into the meat and dairy industries. As a result, not only did the Castile family have the resources to live their lives comfortably, Señora Castile controlled enough Leprino stock so that what her husband wanted, he got.
“Yes, Pat Orlowski. The work that you have performed on the Roswell upgrades is to be commended. Output and profits have improved better than expected, so it is imperative that you roll this program out company wide. It would please me if all of our plants have these enhancements in place by the end of our next fiscal year. You can do this for me, sí?”
“Yes Señora Castillo de Magliaro. I will make it my top priority.”
“Muy bueno,” Señora Castillo replied to Patty with an indulgent smile before turning her attention to Isabel. “Isabel, you and your fiancé will join Mike and myself for lunch. I still think my name has enough influence to get us a table at the Cattlemen’s Association, yes?”
“Sí Donna Castillo. It would be our pleasure.”
“It will be good to have some time to catch up before you return to Roswell, so I’ll let you get back to work. Buenos Dias, Señorita Isabella, Señora Orlowski.”
“Buenos Dias,” Isabel replied, while Patty was too stunned to speak.
“You’re on a first name basis with Señora Castillo de Magliaro?” Patty asked, her expression failing to hide her surprise.
“Yes,” Isabel answered hesitantly. “You are aware that her husband is the general manager of the Roswell plant? Donna Castillo is, well was, my business development instructor in school. Additionally she set up the co-op project that Alex built into Aries,,,”
“So you’re telling me that this entire project,,, your company as well as the software you produce, was the brainchild of Señora Castillo de Magliaro?”
“Well,,, yes,,, but that’s not to say that she had anything to do with our company,” Isabel hastened to explain after seeing the shocked expression on Patty’s face. “There is no hanky-panky on anyone’s part. We built our company on our own and produced our product with no outside help. We simply reacted to a request from a client, and need I remind you, you have been involved in the project from day one.”
“It may be true that I’ve been involved from day one,” Patty sighed, “But I never realized just how involved senior management was. I don’t see any point in further negotiations. This project is going to go through whether I like it or not,,,”
Isabel looked at Patty. “Listen, I’m still not sure what just happened here, but nothing has changed. You still represent Leprino. You’re still responsible for coordinating your needs and specifications to us so that you can obtain the best hardware and software package that we’re capable of producing, and as far as we’re concerned, you’re still an important client that we are most eager to please,” and with that little lie understood by both parties, they got back to work.
Señora Castillo, her task of the moment completed, stopped in her husbands office to ask about his lunch plans. “Don’t you think you were a little harsh with Mrs. Orlowski?” he asked.
“She’s treating Aries as if they were a recreant supplier to be squeezed instead of a valued consultant to be invited to the table. She’s worried about a hundred dollars here and a thousand dollars there when this project is worth millions.”
“Are you sure this has nothing to do with your affection for them?”
“A serendipitous enhancement,” his wife answered with a smile. “If I were simply interested in seeing them successful I would be happy to make introductions to acquaintances who would benefit from their services, but under the circumstances I want to keep them all to myself.” Seeing doubt she elaborated. “It’s your plant, look at the numbers. When we started this, we were expecting nothing more than good community relations, with the possibility of some small incremental improvements. We got so much more. Since fully implementing Aries, we have had no spoilage losses, none! We have not suffered a single shut-down due to material shortages. On hand inventory levels are down, and inventory turns are up. There is no downside to this. We were expecting a two year payback on the new software and network, instead it paid for itself in less than four months and so far has generated an unexpected million dollars in profit,,,”
“Which brings us back to our resident bean counter. Do you want to replace her on this project?”
Señora Castillo hesitated only a moment before replying, “No, we’ve lost too much time on this project already, especially with the whole Stamford fiasco. I want this project up and running, and I think after my little performance she’s well motivated.” After a moments thought she continued, “I do think I’ll ask her to lunch tomorrow though. She shows promise, and with the right mentor to guide and protect her, I think she’ll go far.”
TBC
My completed stories:
The Seekers, I&A with angst
http://www.majiksfanfic.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?t=282
Alex C Whitman SSAIC, (Supervising Special Agent in Charge) I&A with uber-angst
http://www.majiksfanfic.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?t=488
The Seekers, I&A with angst
http://www.majiksfanfic.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?t=282
Alex C Whitman SSAIC, (Supervising Special Agent in Charge) I&A with uber-angst
http://www.majiksfanfic.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?t=488
-
stargazer md
- Addicted Roswellian
- Posts: 120
- Joined: Sun Jun 06, 2004 10:25 pm
- Location: New Hampshire, USA
Stargazer Gets the Girl
Chapter 24-D There be Heroes Here
By Stargazer MD
“Thanks Sweetie,” Isabel said as she kissed him on the cheek. She then settled on the passenger’s seat before reaching across the car and unlocking his door. Then she sighed in contentment and wiggled herself deeply into her seat, an action that reminded Alex of a contented kitten. He imagined Isabel as a sleek and graceful feline, curling up with a full belly on a soft hooked rug in a golden beam of sunlight. “Don’t be long,” she teased as he closed her door.
As he walked around the front of the car he looked up at the leaden sky with trepidation. ‘Maybe it had been bad idea to tarry after leaving Leprino,’ he thought to himself. Already fat wet snowflakes were falling, and although he hadn’t been caught in a bad snow storm since he was a kid at Plattsburg, (Air Force Base in upper New York state) he could still smell that a big storm was coming.
“What’s wrong?” Isabel asked having picked up on his change of mood.
“Snow.”
“We’re used to snow,” Isabel answered hopefully.
“Not like this,” he answered as he backed the car out of the lot. “You’re used to a couple of inches here, a couple of inches there. This is Denver. They get zonked a couple of times every winter.”
“We can outrun it, can’t we?”
“We’ll try, but we’re going to be gaining altitude and going through the mountains for the first half of the trip. If it gets too bad we’ll find a place to stop and sit it out.”
Isabel smiled and patted his knee. “How many times have you told me how good a Volvo is? Made in Sweden? Land of ice and snow?” she continued confidently. “That you’d put your Mom’s front wheel drive against any four wheel drive in Roswell?”
“That’s true Izzy,” Alex said, his mood brightening as he turned onto the now wet but still black interstate. “Volvo doesn’t even make a four-wheel drive. It’s been my experience that the only thing four-wheel drive is good for is to make it harder for Pete to tow it when they get it stuck.”
**********
As dusk fell, Deputy Blackwood found himself at the intersection of Washington Avenue and Hobbes Road. He made it his habit to watch this crossing at least one day a week, as with the close proximity of both Valley View Elementary School and West Roswell High it had become a dangerous intersection. Having given the evil eye to what he believed to be the last car full of high school students who were trying to make a quick trip to the Taco Shack after practice, he reached for his ignition and fired up the cruiser’s powerful engine, but as he reached for the gear shift, he heard a siren spin up close by. The deputy started to look to his left, the source of the sound, but before he could move his head his eyes locked on the face of a young driver opposite him who is making a turn on to Washington Ave.
“What the frack is he doing?” he muttered out loud as he pulled up to the stop line. He watched as the pickup truck, with nowhere to go, stopped in the middle of the travel lane. The rescue truck, siren screaming all the while, next became stuck behind this sudden roadblock. Owen turned on his emergency lights and pulled in a traffic coming to a stop behind the rescue. After a significant delay, the oncoming traffic was able to give the rescue truck room to proceed, allowing the deputy, swearing like a drunken sailor, to pull in tight behind the truck. Selecting P.A. on his siren console, he keyed the microphone and commanded, “Pull into the bank parking lot and turn off your engine.”
Paulie’s hands trembled on the steering wheel as he watched the deputy climb out of his cruiser and approached his window. He didn't know what he had done wrong, and as such wasn't afraid of the deputy. He was afraid of his father. If he got another ticket, his life as he knew it would be over.
“What's the matter with you boy?” Deputy Blackwood asked with just a touch of anger in his voice.
“I stopped for the stop sign,” Paulie answered, his voice cracking.
“Did you hear the siren?” Owen rebutted annunciating each word carefully as if speaking to a child.
“Yes Deputy, I did. But I had plenty of time to go through the intersection safely,,,”
“You saw how heavy the traffic was, where were you going to go? How will you could get out of the rescue's way?”
“I guess I wasn't thinking that far ahead.”
“Let me have your license, registration, and proof of insurance. We'll just have to teach you a lesson about thinking ahead.”
Five minutes later Paulie looked at the ticket. “Failure to yield to an emergency vehicle,,,” his eyes scanned lower. “One hundred eighty-eight bucks!” (143 €) he screamed in dismay. His life was certainly over.
**********
Two hours later in the heart of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains of Southern Colorado.
“Call the Granolith,” Alex commanded. “Tell it where we are and see if it can get us a weather report.”
Isabel pulled out her cell. “Greetings Granolith.”
“~~Greetings Isabel. Royal Four Square. Sister of Zan. Keeper of the Royal Seal of Antar. First in line of succession to the throne of Antar Prime and the Antarian Planetary Cluster. Wife of Alex Whitman.~~”
“We need help,,,”
“~~State the nature of your request.~~”
“We are currently southbound on Interstate Twenty-Five, south of Pueblo, Colorado. Weather conditions are deteriorating rapidly. Do we continue? Do we turn back? Please advise.”
“~~Accessing current weather data for National Weather Station Pueblo, sector Rampant Range above seventy-five hundred feet (2300m) of elevation,,, Data stream in queue, awaiting audio broadcast loop restart.~~”
“Provide additional data from other sources while awaiting the audio broadcast weather report,” Isabel commanded with a prompt from Alex.
“~~Historical data on file at NOAA for your current location indicates the potential for thirty plus inches (76cm) of snow within a twenty-four hour period. Colorado Department of Transportation web site carries extensive information on the Interstate Twenty-Five corridor from Pueblo to Colorado Springs. Preponderance of data implies that this is a problematic travel corridor.~~”
“Can you see anything?” Alex asked softly.
“Everything’s white,,, Everything’s cold,” Isabel replied flatly. “I can’t see a fracking thing outside the car. You?”
“I can see enough to keep us on the road, but I was hoping for a little alien assistance. Guess you Antarians don’t have an outpost on Hoth, hugh?” Alex teased, his instincts to ease tensions in full flow.
It took a moment for Isabel to recognize the reference, Hoth, the ice planet from Star Wars. “Could use a Tauntaun right about now, couldn’t we?”
“As long as you don’t expect me to cut it open and climb inside of it,,,”
“~~Current weather data for your location. A winter storm warning is in effect now through seven A.M. tomorrow morning. Today. Snow likely. Accumulation of ten to twelve inches. (25-30 cm) East winds of twenty to thirty miles per hour. (30-50 KPH.) Lows twenty to ten. (-6 to –12 C) Chance of precipitation above 90 percent.~~”
“~~Tonight. Snow continues. Additional accumulation of ten to twelve inches. East winds of twenty to thirty miles per hour. Lows three below zero to twelve below zero. (-19 to -24 C) Wind chill thirty below zero to forty-five below zero. (-35 to -43 C)~~”
“~~Danger! Colorado Department of Transportation has closed the section of highway that you are now on due to anticipated snow accumulation and high winds that are expected to generate snow drifting.~~”
“~~Analysis. Your current location is on an exposed ridgeline of the Rampart Range. You are located in the middle of this geographic formation. Continuing along this route is not an option. Turning back is not an option. Your lives are in great peril. Seek shelter immediately.~~”
“Define shelter! Can we hole up in the car? Isabel can convert the center console to metal and I can use my gifts to heat it. Will that be enough?”
“~~Your plan is implausible. The rate of heat loss from the vehicle will exceed your capacity to produce energy. Even if you utilize Isabel’s recourses, you will both be energy depleted by daybreak. You will both die. Your only option is to seek a secure commercial building or private dwelling immediately,,,~~”
“Unless you know something that we don’t know, there is no shelter,” Isabel snapped.
“~~There is state secondary highway paralleling the interstate to your east. Exit the interstate at the next opportunity and proceed on this route. Your opportunities for shelter should be greater on this road,,,~~”
“There is a rectangle in the snow just ahead. Hopefully it’s an exit sign.”
“If we can’t see the highway, how are you going to find the exit?” Isabel pondered out loud as she began to wring her hands and bite her lower lip.
Alex reached over and took her hand. “It’s not that bad, I can see the reflectors on the side of the road,,,”
“I can’t see them,,,”
“Well, they’re not really reflectors anymore, they’re covered with wind driven snow, but they’re enough to keep me on the road,” he said reassuringly as he eased the Volvo down the exit ramp.
“Is that a traffic light?” Alex asked worriedly.
“I don’t know,” Isabel replied honestly. “All I can see is a blob of something.”
“I think it’s a traffic light, but it’s either packed full of snow or it’s not working.”
“Great, so we’re right smack in the middle of a power failure,,,”
“Right? Left?,,”
“Turn right. If this is a connecting road, and the secondary highway is to the east, we need to turn right.” After about a quarter mile, (250m) they came to another intersection. “This must be the road we’re looking for, north or south?”
“Wait! There’s a flashing light down the road to the left,,,”
“A snowplow? Maybe we can follow it somewhere,,,”
“No! It looks like a building. It looks like there’s a sign out by the side of the road, but it’s covered with snow.”
A minute later, after carefully navigating into the drift laden parking lot, the young couple were stomping their feet in the lobby of a magnificently warm, if slightly run down motel. They watched as a businessman stood at the desk arguing with the clerk.
“So you’re telling me that there’s no electricity, no cable, no internet, and yet you expect me to pay full price?”
“Listen,” the clerk tried to explain patiently as a woman came into the room behind him, positioning herself near the phone. “There is nothing I can do about the weather, and nothing I can do about the fact that we lost power. But there was one thing I could control, and that was the installation of a five-thousand dollar (3800€) emergency generator that I am still making payments on. So if you want, you’re welcome to go somewhere else, but I’ll give you fair warning, we’re the only shelter for miles.”
Apparently the businessman was convinced, because he handed over his credit card and checked in without further complaint.
Before he left the lobby, Isabel was at the desk. “It was a wonderful idea to put the yellow beacon light on the corner of your roof, it was the first thing we saw from the road.”
“Actually it was my wife’s idea,” he replied in a relieved voice as he waved her forward. She grew up here, and she’s gone through enough white-outs to know how to survive.”
“We’re just relieved to have found you,” Alex said with a smile. “Do you have a room for us?”
“Rooms we have. Two twins or a Queen?”
Alex hesitated, allowing Isabel to reply.
“I’m too cold to sleep alone,” Isabel said softly. “If you don’t mind,,,”
“We’ll take a queen,” Alex answered for her.
”Thank you for letting me maintain my modesty,” Isabel teased.
“My pleasure.”
“I’m going to put you in room one-oh-one. Under normal conditions it isn’t one of our best rooms, being right close to the office and diner, but under these conditions, I think it’s best. We’re really on minimum power until the lights come back on. There’s a propane heater in each room, but the generator isn’t powerful enough to run the blowers in the heaters, so the rooms will be on the chilly side. The overhead light will work, but none of the others. We have power for the well, and the water heater runs on propane, but please, take quick showers and don’t use more water than you need. The good news is that the diner’s open. Limited menu, but we have enough food for a week.”
“That’s fine,” Isabel said with a smile. “Considering the conditions out on the highway we’d be foolish to complain.”
Isabel checked her cell, no bars. “Are your phones working? We need to call home and tell our families that we’re delayed but safe.”
“The phones in the rooms are out, but you can use the phone here in the office,” the woman replied. “John, why don’t you take them to their room, make sure their heater is on high.” She turned her attention back to Isabel. “Once you’re settled, come back here. I’ll make you something to eat.”
Later that evening, Alex’s attention turned towards the bathroom as the door opened. What he saw next surprised him. “Flannel? You’re wearing flannel PJ’s? I didn’t even know you owned flannel PJ’s.”
Isabel pulled up the edge of the covers and slid in besides her husband. “Just a little alien alteration. Under the circumstances, I thought they were appropriate.” She snuggled deeply into her husband’s side. Moments later she was asleep.
Isabel slinked out of her bathroom. Dressed in the sheerest red nightie that she owned, she was ready for battle. But to her astonishment, the subject of her pending conquest was nowhere to be found. With disappointment evident in every move she made, she snatched her terrycloth robe from its hook on the back of the door, and then cinching the waist tie so violently she almost cringed, she began a search and destroy mission for her absent husband.
Isabel found Alex, and the sight of him washed away her ire as well as taking her breath away. Her heart overflowed with happiness as she stealthily watched him rock Cassiopeia until their daughter fell asleep in her father strong arms. She watched as he carefully lowered their most precious gift to the crib before wrapping her with the comforter that Diane had so lovingly made. Even then the father could not leave his daughter side. He stood and watched her, counting her breaths, as if he was afraid that their gift from heaven would be snatched away.
Isabel wrapped her arms around her husband and rested her chin on his shoulder as she too gazed upon the miracle before them.
“You're not going to cry again, are you?” he whispered. “We've not going anywhere.”
“I know that,” she said tenderly. “It may have taken years for me to come to believe it, but I have come to tolerate the fact that you want to spend time with me.”
Alex took her by the hand and after checking that the baby monitor was functioning normally, he let her out to the hall way before he began to tease back. “Tolerate? What ever happened to love, honor, and obey. For that matter, whatever happened to dragging me off and having you wicked alien way with me?”
By now they were standing besides Isabel's side of the bed. She pulled the tie around her waist open and let the modest terrycloth robe fall to the floor revealing the sheer pantyless baby doll nightie underneath. Hearing her husband moan in appreciation, she smiled seductively as she wrapped her arms around his neck and allowed her to be pulled into his passionate embrace. Her obsidian eyes locked up on his as her body struggled to wrest control of her mate from her mind. “In case you haven't noticed, it's time again for you to have your wicked way with me.”
“I know,” he said with an evil grin. “I've been planning for your next ‘visit’ for months. Will you submit to me?”
By now Isabel's nostrils were flaring with every breath she took. The single tie holding her nightie snapped under the strain of trying to contain her heaving breasts as her body prepared for the delightful exertions that his words promised. “Yes. Take me and make me your woman. I need you. I won't be able to live another minute unless you take me and make me yours.”
Alex pulled the covers from the bed, dragging them over the foot board and dropped them into a messy pile on the floor. “You must really be horny if you going to let me get away with this.”
“You have no idea,” she gasped in reply.
He then walked back to his wife and slowly reached for the shoulder straps of her nightie before gently guiding them down the length of her arms and letting go. “My God Izzy,” Alex sighed, the sight of his wife still exciting him after almost twelve years of marriage. “You get more beautiful every day.” He guided her back onto the bare satin sheets, and then using a pair of his good silk ties, he tied her ankles to the foot board.
“Make me yours!” Isabel gasped as she trembled with every touch.
Alex just smiled as he went to the head of the bed. He took her arm and pulled the towards one of the head post. He took another silk tie, passed it over her open palm, and wrapped it twice around her wrist before laying the end of the tie atop her open hand. “Close your hand,” he commanded. Then, after quickly doing the same to her other arm, he looked her in the eyes. “Now I’m not going to tie your hands, you’re going to restrain them yourself because I want you to. Do you understand me? Don't let go until I tell you to.”
“Rough sex,” Isabel moaned as her entire body began to undulate. “Alex is going to give Izzy a hard fracking,,,”
“Actually Alex is in the mood to be gentle,” he whispered into her ear.
“No!,,” she moaned as the touch of his breath drove her wild. “Take me,,, Use me for your pleasure,,, Frack me and make me yours,,, Noooo,,,”
As Alex placed the last silken tie around her head, blocking her sight of him, he reminded her, “Do not release yourself until I tell you to,,,”
“I can’t see,,,”
“All the better so you can’t anticipate my next caress,” he whispered before blowing on the special spot just behind and under her ear. In fact Alex did not touch her once during the next half hour while he stoked her fires with words, whispers, and gentle puffs of air. By the time he was satisfied that she was ready for more she was thrusting her hips into the air in a vain attempt to anticipate his location and force contact against her burning skin, all the while making the little noises that so inspired him. She never expected his first kiss would be there!
Alex did indeed use her for his pleasure, but only after he had reduced the intelligent and beautiful goddess who had miraculously consented to become his wife to a quivering puddle of sweat. Barely conscious, he rolled off her, flopping onto his back as he gasped for breath like a fish out of water.
Isabel felt the loss of his weight atop of her as if a part of her was missing and she struggled to reestablish contact with him. She strained to roll onto her side to maintain contact with him, but aside from her legs, which had become free from the torn ties when she crossed them behind his ass to pull him deeper, she could not reach him. “Breathe Sweetie,” she implored. “Stay with me, just take a deep breath.”
As Alex slowly regained his senses, the first thing he noticed was the loss of his wife. “Release yourself,” he croaked.
Instantly Isabel opened her hands, allowing her silken bonds to slip through her fingers as she rolled into Alex’s side. She placed her head on his shoulder and her hand on his heart, calming him. After several minutes when she began to feel more and more confident that she had not killed him, she hopped out of bed, grabbed the edges of the covers, and carefully tucked him in before settling back against him.
“Are you going to make it?” she asked softly.
“I don’t know yet,” he advised honestly in a sleepy voice. “Thank God you only get this way every eighteen months.”
“Well I have news for you Sweetie. I may not get my period again for a while, but I’m going to want you again tomorrow.”
On the brink of sleep, Alex limited his response to a groan, but to Isabel’s ear he sounded more happy then upset.
“Alex! Sweetie! Wake up!”
“What?” he asked groggily. “Cassie!” he barked as he bolted upright.
Isabel placed a comforting hand on his cheek, turning him to face her. “Cassie’s fine. Everyone’s fine,,,”
“What then?’’
“Connect with me,” she implored, pressing him back onto the bed.
As he reached out for her with his mind he turned to face her.
“Deeply,,, All the way,,, Hurry!”
“Seriously?,,”
“Shhh,,, Just a moment,,, Stay still.”
Alex did as she asked, for after all there were worse things than being deeply connected to the goddess who was his wife, and moments later his efforts were rewarded as he began to sense a warmth spread through their bodies. It was a new sensation, Pleasant, but alien to his sensibilities. The only way he could think to describe it was as he was watching a desert sunrise as a sense of warmth and contentment swept through them.
“Wow,” he gasped as Isabel burrowed deeper into his side. “What was that?”
“Andy.”
“Andromeda?”
‘Umm-hum,” Isabel answered tenderly. “That was my egg dividing. She’s only two cells big right now, but in eleven months we’re going to have another daughter,,,”
“Alex! Sweetie! Wake up!”
“What?” he asked groggily. “Izzy!” he barked as he bolted upright.
Isabel placed a comforting hand on his cheek, turning him to face her. “I’m fine. Everything’s fine,,,”
“Seriously?,,’’
“Did you see that dream?” Isabel asked nervously. “I can’t figure out where it came from, was it some kind of premonition?,,”
“Relax, that was my dream,” he answered softly as he send love and calm through their connection. “Well I guess it’s not a real dream, it didn’t come from my subconscious. It’s more of a fantasy I’ve been refining the last several weeks, and after the day we had, I thought this would be a good time to share it with you.”
Isabel found this to be so overwhelming that tears began to stream down her face.
“Izzy, Sweetheart, don’t cry,” Alex implored. “You know I can’t stand to see you unhappy,,,”
“I am happy,” she replied. “I don’t think I’ve ever been so happy in my entire life, but at the same time it’s so scary to think about,,, Having our own family.”
“Shhh,” Alex said softly. “We still have a lot of growing to do before we’re ready to have the girls; besides, I want to be a couple before we’re a family. There are so many places to see and things to do.”
“Sweetie, I don’t think I have anything left that you haven’t seen yet,” Isabel teased.
“I want us to go to London to see Big Ben,” Alex pondered. “Paris to see the Eiffel Tower, the Alps, the Pyramids. How about a trip to Hawaii? Lying out on a black sand beach, looking down into an active volcano?”
“Ummm,” Isabel agreed as she drifted off towards sleep, although she realized that when she made love to her husband on that far away beach she’d have to be careful not to get sand where it didn’t belong.
TBC
Chapter 24-D There be Heroes Here
By Stargazer MD
“Thanks Sweetie,” Isabel said as she kissed him on the cheek. She then settled on the passenger’s seat before reaching across the car and unlocking his door. Then she sighed in contentment and wiggled herself deeply into her seat, an action that reminded Alex of a contented kitten. He imagined Isabel as a sleek and graceful feline, curling up with a full belly on a soft hooked rug in a golden beam of sunlight. “Don’t be long,” she teased as he closed her door.
As he walked around the front of the car he looked up at the leaden sky with trepidation. ‘Maybe it had been bad idea to tarry after leaving Leprino,’ he thought to himself. Already fat wet snowflakes were falling, and although he hadn’t been caught in a bad snow storm since he was a kid at Plattsburg, (Air Force Base in upper New York state) he could still smell that a big storm was coming.
“What’s wrong?” Isabel asked having picked up on his change of mood.
“Snow.”
“We’re used to snow,” Isabel answered hopefully.
“Not like this,” he answered as he backed the car out of the lot. “You’re used to a couple of inches here, a couple of inches there. This is Denver. They get zonked a couple of times every winter.”
“We can outrun it, can’t we?”
“We’ll try, but we’re going to be gaining altitude and going through the mountains for the first half of the trip. If it gets too bad we’ll find a place to stop and sit it out.”
Isabel smiled and patted his knee. “How many times have you told me how good a Volvo is? Made in Sweden? Land of ice and snow?” she continued confidently. “That you’d put your Mom’s front wheel drive against any four wheel drive in Roswell?”
“That’s true Izzy,” Alex said, his mood brightening as he turned onto the now wet but still black interstate. “Volvo doesn’t even make a four-wheel drive. It’s been my experience that the only thing four-wheel drive is good for is to make it harder for Pete to tow it when they get it stuck.”
**********
As dusk fell, Deputy Blackwood found himself at the intersection of Washington Avenue and Hobbes Road. He made it his habit to watch this crossing at least one day a week, as with the close proximity of both Valley View Elementary School and West Roswell High it had become a dangerous intersection. Having given the evil eye to what he believed to be the last car full of high school students who were trying to make a quick trip to the Taco Shack after practice, he reached for his ignition and fired up the cruiser’s powerful engine, but as he reached for the gear shift, he heard a siren spin up close by. The deputy started to look to his left, the source of the sound, but before he could move his head his eyes locked on the face of a young driver opposite him who is making a turn on to Washington Ave.
“What the frack is he doing?” he muttered out loud as he pulled up to the stop line. He watched as the pickup truck, with nowhere to go, stopped in the middle of the travel lane. The rescue truck, siren screaming all the while, next became stuck behind this sudden roadblock. Owen turned on his emergency lights and pulled in a traffic coming to a stop behind the rescue. After a significant delay, the oncoming traffic was able to give the rescue truck room to proceed, allowing the deputy, swearing like a drunken sailor, to pull in tight behind the truck. Selecting P.A. on his siren console, he keyed the microphone and commanded, “Pull into the bank parking lot and turn off your engine.”
Paulie’s hands trembled on the steering wheel as he watched the deputy climb out of his cruiser and approached his window. He didn't know what he had done wrong, and as such wasn't afraid of the deputy. He was afraid of his father. If he got another ticket, his life as he knew it would be over.
“What's the matter with you boy?” Deputy Blackwood asked with just a touch of anger in his voice.
“I stopped for the stop sign,” Paulie answered, his voice cracking.
“Did you hear the siren?” Owen rebutted annunciating each word carefully as if speaking to a child.
“Yes Deputy, I did. But I had plenty of time to go through the intersection safely,,,”
“You saw how heavy the traffic was, where were you going to go? How will you could get out of the rescue's way?”
“I guess I wasn't thinking that far ahead.”
“Let me have your license, registration, and proof of insurance. We'll just have to teach you a lesson about thinking ahead.”
Five minutes later Paulie looked at the ticket. “Failure to yield to an emergency vehicle,,,” his eyes scanned lower. “One hundred eighty-eight bucks!” (143 €) he screamed in dismay. His life was certainly over.
**********
Two hours later in the heart of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains of Southern Colorado.
“Call the Granolith,” Alex commanded. “Tell it where we are and see if it can get us a weather report.”
Isabel pulled out her cell. “Greetings Granolith.”
“~~Greetings Isabel. Royal Four Square. Sister of Zan. Keeper of the Royal Seal of Antar. First in line of succession to the throne of Antar Prime and the Antarian Planetary Cluster. Wife of Alex Whitman.~~”
“We need help,,,”
“~~State the nature of your request.~~”
“We are currently southbound on Interstate Twenty-Five, south of Pueblo, Colorado. Weather conditions are deteriorating rapidly. Do we continue? Do we turn back? Please advise.”
“~~Accessing current weather data for National Weather Station Pueblo, sector Rampant Range above seventy-five hundred feet (2300m) of elevation,,, Data stream in queue, awaiting audio broadcast loop restart.~~”
“Provide additional data from other sources while awaiting the audio broadcast weather report,” Isabel commanded with a prompt from Alex.
“~~Historical data on file at NOAA for your current location indicates the potential for thirty plus inches (76cm) of snow within a twenty-four hour period. Colorado Department of Transportation web site carries extensive information on the Interstate Twenty-Five corridor from Pueblo to Colorado Springs. Preponderance of data implies that this is a problematic travel corridor.~~”
“Can you see anything?” Alex asked softly.
“Everything’s white,,, Everything’s cold,” Isabel replied flatly. “I can’t see a fracking thing outside the car. You?”
“I can see enough to keep us on the road, but I was hoping for a little alien assistance. Guess you Antarians don’t have an outpost on Hoth, hugh?” Alex teased, his instincts to ease tensions in full flow.
It took a moment for Isabel to recognize the reference, Hoth, the ice planet from Star Wars. “Could use a Tauntaun right about now, couldn’t we?”
“As long as you don’t expect me to cut it open and climb inside of it,,,”
“~~Current weather data for your location. A winter storm warning is in effect now through seven A.M. tomorrow morning. Today. Snow likely. Accumulation of ten to twelve inches. (25-30 cm) East winds of twenty to thirty miles per hour. (30-50 KPH.) Lows twenty to ten. (-6 to –12 C) Chance of precipitation above 90 percent.~~”
“~~Tonight. Snow continues. Additional accumulation of ten to twelve inches. East winds of twenty to thirty miles per hour. Lows three below zero to twelve below zero. (-19 to -24 C) Wind chill thirty below zero to forty-five below zero. (-35 to -43 C)~~”
“~~Danger! Colorado Department of Transportation has closed the section of highway that you are now on due to anticipated snow accumulation and high winds that are expected to generate snow drifting.~~”
“~~Analysis. Your current location is on an exposed ridgeline of the Rampart Range. You are located in the middle of this geographic formation. Continuing along this route is not an option. Turning back is not an option. Your lives are in great peril. Seek shelter immediately.~~”
“Define shelter! Can we hole up in the car? Isabel can convert the center console to metal and I can use my gifts to heat it. Will that be enough?”
“~~Your plan is implausible. The rate of heat loss from the vehicle will exceed your capacity to produce energy. Even if you utilize Isabel’s recourses, you will both be energy depleted by daybreak. You will both die. Your only option is to seek a secure commercial building or private dwelling immediately,,,~~”
“Unless you know something that we don’t know, there is no shelter,” Isabel snapped.
“~~There is state secondary highway paralleling the interstate to your east. Exit the interstate at the next opportunity and proceed on this route. Your opportunities for shelter should be greater on this road,,,~~”
“There is a rectangle in the snow just ahead. Hopefully it’s an exit sign.”
“If we can’t see the highway, how are you going to find the exit?” Isabel pondered out loud as she began to wring her hands and bite her lower lip.
Alex reached over and took her hand. “It’s not that bad, I can see the reflectors on the side of the road,,,”
“I can’t see them,,,”
“Well, they’re not really reflectors anymore, they’re covered with wind driven snow, but they’re enough to keep me on the road,” he said reassuringly as he eased the Volvo down the exit ramp.
“Is that a traffic light?” Alex asked worriedly.
“I don’t know,” Isabel replied honestly. “All I can see is a blob of something.”
“I think it’s a traffic light, but it’s either packed full of snow or it’s not working.”
“Great, so we’re right smack in the middle of a power failure,,,”
“Right? Left?,,”
“Turn right. If this is a connecting road, and the secondary highway is to the east, we need to turn right.” After about a quarter mile, (250m) they came to another intersection. “This must be the road we’re looking for, north or south?”
“Wait! There’s a flashing light down the road to the left,,,”
“A snowplow? Maybe we can follow it somewhere,,,”
“No! It looks like a building. It looks like there’s a sign out by the side of the road, but it’s covered with snow.”
A minute later, after carefully navigating into the drift laden parking lot, the young couple were stomping their feet in the lobby of a magnificently warm, if slightly run down motel. They watched as a businessman stood at the desk arguing with the clerk.
“So you’re telling me that there’s no electricity, no cable, no internet, and yet you expect me to pay full price?”
“Listen,” the clerk tried to explain patiently as a woman came into the room behind him, positioning herself near the phone. “There is nothing I can do about the weather, and nothing I can do about the fact that we lost power. But there was one thing I could control, and that was the installation of a five-thousand dollar (3800€) emergency generator that I am still making payments on. So if you want, you’re welcome to go somewhere else, but I’ll give you fair warning, we’re the only shelter for miles.”
Apparently the businessman was convinced, because he handed over his credit card and checked in without further complaint.
Before he left the lobby, Isabel was at the desk. “It was a wonderful idea to put the yellow beacon light on the corner of your roof, it was the first thing we saw from the road.”
“Actually it was my wife’s idea,” he replied in a relieved voice as he waved her forward. She grew up here, and she’s gone through enough white-outs to know how to survive.”
“We’re just relieved to have found you,” Alex said with a smile. “Do you have a room for us?”
“Rooms we have. Two twins or a Queen?”
Alex hesitated, allowing Isabel to reply.
“I’m too cold to sleep alone,” Isabel said softly. “If you don’t mind,,,”
“We’ll take a queen,” Alex answered for her.
”Thank you for letting me maintain my modesty,” Isabel teased.
“My pleasure.”
“I’m going to put you in room one-oh-one. Under normal conditions it isn’t one of our best rooms, being right close to the office and diner, but under these conditions, I think it’s best. We’re really on minimum power until the lights come back on. There’s a propane heater in each room, but the generator isn’t powerful enough to run the blowers in the heaters, so the rooms will be on the chilly side. The overhead light will work, but none of the others. We have power for the well, and the water heater runs on propane, but please, take quick showers and don’t use more water than you need. The good news is that the diner’s open. Limited menu, but we have enough food for a week.”
“That’s fine,” Isabel said with a smile. “Considering the conditions out on the highway we’d be foolish to complain.”
Isabel checked her cell, no bars. “Are your phones working? We need to call home and tell our families that we’re delayed but safe.”
“The phones in the rooms are out, but you can use the phone here in the office,” the woman replied. “John, why don’t you take them to their room, make sure their heater is on high.” She turned her attention back to Isabel. “Once you’re settled, come back here. I’ll make you something to eat.”
Later that evening, Alex’s attention turned towards the bathroom as the door opened. What he saw next surprised him. “Flannel? You’re wearing flannel PJ’s? I didn’t even know you owned flannel PJ’s.”
Isabel pulled up the edge of the covers and slid in besides her husband. “Just a little alien alteration. Under the circumstances, I thought they were appropriate.” She snuggled deeply into her husband’s side. Moments later she was asleep.
Isabel slinked out of her bathroom. Dressed in the sheerest red nightie that she owned, she was ready for battle. But to her astonishment, the subject of her pending conquest was nowhere to be found. With disappointment evident in every move she made, she snatched her terrycloth robe from its hook on the back of the door, and then cinching the waist tie so violently she almost cringed, she began a search and destroy mission for her absent husband.
Isabel found Alex, and the sight of him washed away her ire as well as taking her breath away. Her heart overflowed with happiness as she stealthily watched him rock Cassiopeia until their daughter fell asleep in her father strong arms. She watched as he carefully lowered their most precious gift to the crib before wrapping her with the comforter that Diane had so lovingly made. Even then the father could not leave his daughter side. He stood and watched her, counting her breaths, as if he was afraid that their gift from heaven would be snatched away.
Isabel wrapped her arms around her husband and rested her chin on his shoulder as she too gazed upon the miracle before them.
“You're not going to cry again, are you?” he whispered. “We've not going anywhere.”
“I know that,” she said tenderly. “It may have taken years for me to come to believe it, but I have come to tolerate the fact that you want to spend time with me.”
Alex took her by the hand and after checking that the baby monitor was functioning normally, he let her out to the hall way before he began to tease back. “Tolerate? What ever happened to love, honor, and obey. For that matter, whatever happened to dragging me off and having you wicked alien way with me?”
By now they were standing besides Isabel's side of the bed. She pulled the tie around her waist open and let the modest terrycloth robe fall to the floor revealing the sheer pantyless baby doll nightie underneath. Hearing her husband moan in appreciation, she smiled seductively as she wrapped her arms around his neck and allowed her to be pulled into his passionate embrace. Her obsidian eyes locked up on his as her body struggled to wrest control of her mate from her mind. “In case you haven't noticed, it's time again for you to have your wicked way with me.”
“I know,” he said with an evil grin. “I've been planning for your next ‘visit’ for months. Will you submit to me?”
By now Isabel's nostrils were flaring with every breath she took. The single tie holding her nightie snapped under the strain of trying to contain her heaving breasts as her body prepared for the delightful exertions that his words promised. “Yes. Take me and make me your woman. I need you. I won't be able to live another minute unless you take me and make me yours.”
Alex pulled the covers from the bed, dragging them over the foot board and dropped them into a messy pile on the floor. “You must really be horny if you going to let me get away with this.”
“You have no idea,” she gasped in reply.
He then walked back to his wife and slowly reached for the shoulder straps of her nightie before gently guiding them down the length of her arms and letting go. “My God Izzy,” Alex sighed, the sight of his wife still exciting him after almost twelve years of marriage. “You get more beautiful every day.” He guided her back onto the bare satin sheets, and then using a pair of his good silk ties, he tied her ankles to the foot board.
“Make me yours!” Isabel gasped as she trembled with every touch.
Alex just smiled as he went to the head of the bed. He took her arm and pulled the towards one of the head post. He took another silk tie, passed it over her open palm, and wrapped it twice around her wrist before laying the end of the tie atop her open hand. “Close your hand,” he commanded. Then, after quickly doing the same to her other arm, he looked her in the eyes. “Now I’m not going to tie your hands, you’re going to restrain them yourself because I want you to. Do you understand me? Don't let go until I tell you to.”
“Rough sex,” Isabel moaned as her entire body began to undulate. “Alex is going to give Izzy a hard fracking,,,”
“Actually Alex is in the mood to be gentle,” he whispered into her ear.
“No!,,” she moaned as the touch of his breath drove her wild. “Take me,,, Use me for your pleasure,,, Frack me and make me yours,,, Noooo,,,”
As Alex placed the last silken tie around her head, blocking her sight of him, he reminded her, “Do not release yourself until I tell you to,,,”
“I can’t see,,,”
“All the better so you can’t anticipate my next caress,” he whispered before blowing on the special spot just behind and under her ear. In fact Alex did not touch her once during the next half hour while he stoked her fires with words, whispers, and gentle puffs of air. By the time he was satisfied that she was ready for more she was thrusting her hips into the air in a vain attempt to anticipate his location and force contact against her burning skin, all the while making the little noises that so inspired him. She never expected his first kiss would be there!
Alex did indeed use her for his pleasure, but only after he had reduced the intelligent and beautiful goddess who had miraculously consented to become his wife to a quivering puddle of sweat. Barely conscious, he rolled off her, flopping onto his back as he gasped for breath like a fish out of water.
Isabel felt the loss of his weight atop of her as if a part of her was missing and she struggled to reestablish contact with him. She strained to roll onto her side to maintain contact with him, but aside from her legs, which had become free from the torn ties when she crossed them behind his ass to pull him deeper, she could not reach him. “Breathe Sweetie,” she implored. “Stay with me, just take a deep breath.”
As Alex slowly regained his senses, the first thing he noticed was the loss of his wife. “Release yourself,” he croaked.
Instantly Isabel opened her hands, allowing her silken bonds to slip through her fingers as she rolled into Alex’s side. She placed her head on his shoulder and her hand on his heart, calming him. After several minutes when she began to feel more and more confident that she had not killed him, she hopped out of bed, grabbed the edges of the covers, and carefully tucked him in before settling back against him.
“Are you going to make it?” she asked softly.
“I don’t know yet,” he advised honestly in a sleepy voice. “Thank God you only get this way every eighteen months.”
“Well I have news for you Sweetie. I may not get my period again for a while, but I’m going to want you again tomorrow.”
On the brink of sleep, Alex limited his response to a groan, but to Isabel’s ear he sounded more happy then upset.
“Alex! Sweetie! Wake up!”
“What?” he asked groggily. “Cassie!” he barked as he bolted upright.
Isabel placed a comforting hand on his cheek, turning him to face her. “Cassie’s fine. Everyone’s fine,,,”
“What then?’’
“Connect with me,” she implored, pressing him back onto the bed.
As he reached out for her with his mind he turned to face her.
“Deeply,,, All the way,,, Hurry!”
“Seriously?,,”
“Shhh,,, Just a moment,,, Stay still.”
Alex did as she asked, for after all there were worse things than being deeply connected to the goddess who was his wife, and moments later his efforts were rewarded as he began to sense a warmth spread through their bodies. It was a new sensation, Pleasant, but alien to his sensibilities. The only way he could think to describe it was as he was watching a desert sunrise as a sense of warmth and contentment swept through them.
“Wow,” he gasped as Isabel burrowed deeper into his side. “What was that?”
“Andy.”
“Andromeda?”
‘Umm-hum,” Isabel answered tenderly. “That was my egg dividing. She’s only two cells big right now, but in eleven months we’re going to have another daughter,,,”
“Alex! Sweetie! Wake up!”
“What?” he asked groggily. “Izzy!” he barked as he bolted upright.
Isabel placed a comforting hand on his cheek, turning him to face her. “I’m fine. Everything’s fine,,,”
“Seriously?,,’’
“Did you see that dream?” Isabel asked nervously. “I can’t figure out where it came from, was it some kind of premonition?,,”
“Relax, that was my dream,” he answered softly as he send love and calm through their connection. “Well I guess it’s not a real dream, it didn’t come from my subconscious. It’s more of a fantasy I’ve been refining the last several weeks, and after the day we had, I thought this would be a good time to share it with you.”
Isabel found this to be so overwhelming that tears began to stream down her face.
“Izzy, Sweetheart, don’t cry,” Alex implored. “You know I can’t stand to see you unhappy,,,”
“I am happy,” she replied. “I don’t think I’ve ever been so happy in my entire life, but at the same time it’s so scary to think about,,, Having our own family.”
“Shhh,” Alex said softly. “We still have a lot of growing to do before we’re ready to have the girls; besides, I want to be a couple before we’re a family. There are so many places to see and things to do.”
“Sweetie, I don’t think I have anything left that you haven’t seen yet,” Isabel teased.
“I want us to go to London to see Big Ben,” Alex pondered. “Paris to see the Eiffel Tower, the Alps, the Pyramids. How about a trip to Hawaii? Lying out on a black sand beach, looking down into an active volcano?”
“Ummm,” Isabel agreed as she drifted off towards sleep, although she realized that when she made love to her husband on that far away beach she’d have to be careful not to get sand where it didn’t belong.
TBC
My completed stories:
The Seekers, I&A with angst
http://www.majiksfanfic.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?t=282
Alex C Whitman SSAIC, (Supervising Special Agent in Charge) I&A with uber-angst
http://www.majiksfanfic.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?t=488
The Seekers, I&A with angst
http://www.majiksfanfic.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?t=282
Alex C Whitman SSAIC, (Supervising Special Agent in Charge) I&A with uber-angst
http://www.majiksfanfic.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?t=488
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stargazer md
- Addicted Roswellian
- Posts: 120
- Joined: Sun Jun 06, 2004 10:25 pm
- Location: New Hampshire, USA
Stargazer Gets the Girl
Chapter 24-E There be Heroes Here
By Stargazer MD
Michael was going to have to talk to Alex. He was on the receiving end of a salvo of blast to his chest, and they were starting to hurt. Obviously his vest was defective.
“Michael!” Maria snapped as she poked him in the chest. “Wake up!”
“You’re going to have to do better than that Lonnie,” Michael taunted as he pulled his covers back up to his neck, trying to get comfortable enough to get all the way back to sleep. “You’re fighting like a girl,,,”
“Lonnie!” Maria gasped indignantly. “I’ll show you Lonnie,” she said as she dug down under his covers.
“HOLY FRACKING SHIT!!!” Michael shouted as he levered himself up out of his bed. Unfortunately he did this with the tightening of every human muscle in his body, not his alien powers. As a result, when he came back down he fell off the edge of his mattress, slamming his head on his nightstand, and landing in a pile between his bed and the wall.
Before he stopped moving Maria was on her hands and knees, crawling across his bed before lying across his mattress with her face just inches from his.
“What the hell you do that for?,,”
“Oh give me a break you girlie-man. I just pulled out four or five pubies. That’s nothing compared to a bikini wax,,,”
“If this is your way of picking a fight so you can get some make-up sex,,,”
“Why the frack is everything about sex with you,,,”
“Well then what the frack are you doing here at the crack of dawn if you don’t want sex,,,”
“The crack of dawn is the only crack you’re going to see for quite some time,,,”
By now Michael had struggled upright and was rubbing himself through the front of his boxers. He looked over at the clock. “It’s the middle of first period. What are you doing here? You have a class.”
“It may come as a surprise to you, being a drop-out in training, but you have a class too,,,”
“Mr. Cowan and I have an understanding,,,”
“Understand this!,, Alex and Isabel are missing,,,”
“What!” Michael bellowed as he scrambled for yesterday’s clothes. “Why the frack didn’t you say something?”
“I just did,,,”
“What do you know?”
“They both have first period class, neither of them showed up,,,”
“You called?,,”
“From the pay phone in the lobby. No answer at either of their houses, no answer on their cells,,,”
“Did you ask the Granolith? If they needed help on the road they would have called it,,,” Michael asked as he finished pulling on his shoes. “Give me that!” he snapped as Maria pulled his cell out of it’s charger.
“Why, so you can blow it up like you blew up mine?”
“I keep telling you, I was trying to charge the battery,” but he skidded to a stop as Maria turned to face him, her face thunderous.
“There are three messages here from Isabel,,,” she said in a deceptively soft voice.
“~~Michael, this is Iz. We had to spend the night in a motel waiting out a snowstorm. Make sure you tell Maria. I don’t want her worrying about us.~~”
‘~~Michael, are you up yet? I can’t get through to Maria, and Liz isn’t going in until second period. Call her, would you? We’re just crossing through Clovis, so until we get to the Pecos crossing we’re not going to have a signal,,, WAKE-UP!!!~~”
“~~Michael, we’re in the parking lot and don’t see the Jetta. If Maria’s with you, ask her to leave just a little piece of you intact, so I can have something to beat on,,,~~”
“See? Everything’s alright,,,” Michael pleaded.
“No, everything’s not alright, because when I get done with you Isabel’s going to be so disappointed, because there’s going to be nothing left of you for her to beat,,,”
**********
Steve Lydick caught Maria at her locker. “You’re really doing this?”
“Yea.”
“Okay, I’ll put ten dollars on six.”
“Six?” Maria confirmed as she took out a little black book. “Got you covered.”
**********
Later at lunch, Tish Okabe placed a restraining hand over Isabel’s as she sat next to her in the Quad. “What’s your hurry, got a hot date with Alex in the eraser room?”
Isabel, sensing another opportunity to enhance her husband’s reputation smiled as she replied, “Alex in the eraser room? Not really,,, well maybe if one of us if frustrated, but for the most part a fifty minute period isn’t enough time for him,,,”
“Fifty minutes? Alex? Excuse me Isabel, but less than a year ago Alex was standing in the Quad demonstrating his ability to wrap his arms around his head without letting go of his hands. Now you’re telling me he’s a super stallion?”
Isabel pivoted on her seat, but before she left she looked her friend square in the eye. “Times change Tish, but not my standards. When have you ever known me to settle for less than the best? Now-a-days when we get to the fifty minute point I’m usually finished with seconds and going for thirds, but Alex is still in foreplay mode. He can usually keep me flying most of the evening.”
“Fifty minutes,” Tish sighed in resignation. “By then Patrick would be done, have wiped his dick on my duvet, and eaten about half way through my refrigerator.”
“I keep telling you Tish, you’ve got to give up on jocks. They are so full of themselves they have nothing left for anyone else. You’ve got to try a nerd.”
As Tish watched Isabel walk away she gave her words a lot of thought. ‘Considering the last couple of jocks I went out with, what have I got to loose. They certainly can’t be any worse.’
**********
“Maria!” Amber Walen said happily as she walked in the girls room. “I’ve been looking for you,,,”
Maria held up her hand warily as she looked around the restroom, taking stock of potential witnesses. “Okay.”
“Great! I want to put twenty on two in your pool.”
“Two? You don’t have much faith in our guy, do you?”
“You think I should change?”
“No, you got to go with your gut.”
Amber thought for a minute, “Yea, two.”
**********
That Wednesday Assistant Principal Jim Cavanaugh and Miss Leigh were standing on the edge of the Quad keeping an eye on things. With the escalation of tension between the two schools Mrs. Schaffer had ordered that the outside areas of the campus be monitored at all times. She was bound and determined that the violence that was starting to break out between the sports teams would not spread to her school.
“What the hell is that geekoid Bruce Gray doing sitting with the cheerleaders?”
“He was invited.”
“Invited? Him? Why?”
“Well according to Lucinda’s web site Tish took him out on a date Monday night after being challenged to try a nerd by Isabel Evans. Word is that Tish claims he turned red every time he got a glance at her cleavage but when she pinned him against her porch railing and kissed him goodnight, he kissed back with an eight inch tongue. (Authors note,,, While I normally translate measurements into the metric system, I am not going to dignify this one with a computation.) So as of right now, every cheerleader who is single and several of the ones that are already hooked up are competing for him. Stacey Scheinin says it is their duty to ‘break him in right’.”
“Isabel Evans, hugh?”
“What about Isabel,” Miss Leigh challenged.
“She’s responsible for this,,, this freak of nature?” Mr. Cavanaugh practically spat. “Cheerleaders exist for one reason and one reason only. To frack athletes so they can concentrate on their game instead of having to worry about finding some bitch to bang. Tish dumped Patrick, who had to settle for Pam Troy. That cost us the Clovis game last night.”
Miss Leigh looked at her superior, her mouth agape. “I don’t know what to say? Where do I start? Your callous disregard for women? Athlete’s expectations that they can have anything they want? That with attitudes like that you still have a job?”
“Baahh,” he spat before showing her his back and retreating inside.
**********
Thanksgiving snuck up on our friends in Roswell, and as could be expected with so many of the teens coupled up, it made for some interesting Thanksgiving Dinner plans. Some combinations were obvious. Michael went to Maria’s, taking charge of turkey, stuffing, and side dishes while Amy applied her considerable talents to home made soups, rolls, and deserts. All the better for her to show off her domestic skills for her special guest Jim, who, needless to say, brought Kyle and Ava with him.
Max chose to spend Thanksgiving with the Parkers, who under the pressure of having the restaurant closed for only the one day, had a celebration that was elegant as well as efficient. One benefit of their short respite however, was the fact that they could spend the day together.
Since Alex and Isabel would be spending Christmas with the Whitman’s, who were planning to have as many of their sons home as could arrange leave, Alex and Isabel chose to take this holiday dinner with Isabel’s parents. Since this would leave Gloria and Charles alone, Gloria decided to accept Diane’s gracious invitation to join them for the day. Neither of them arrived empty handed.
**********
Meanwhile, in the Parker’s apartment above the Crashdown, Nancy was enjoying a holiday meal prepared by her daughter and Max, who had been dragooned into service. But while enjoying the time together, being Claudia’s daughter, Nancy could not help but study the teens as she watched the young couple chat with Jeff. She subconsciously compared them to their friends, smiling as she thought of the fight that Michael and Maria had had in the restaurant’s kitchen the night before. She did not know what it had been about, in fact she doubted that they knew. What she did know is that Michael and Maria were more alike than not. Products of their environments, both had evolved a sense of self reliance and were fiercely protective of their independence yet they were in need of each other more than either would ever admit.
Amused at her employees antics, she couldn’t stop her amusement from slipping as she compared them to Max, the complex individual that was now sharing her table, for while she would be eternally grateful to Max for having saved her daughters life, she couldn’t but wish for the simpler days before his secret had been revealed. As far as boyfriend material went, she compared Max to Kyle, deciding that she liked who Liz had been during the summer she had dated Kyle, for despite the jock stereotype, he had always conducted himself honorably. An unusual couple, the honor student and the athlete, they were good for each other, and more importantly, neither took the relationship too seriously, not allowing their dating to interfere with Kyle’s games of Liz’s studies,,,
“Mom?”
Nancy’s reverie was broken. “What?” she stammered.
“Wine?” Liz asked hesitantly, her a face a mask of concern.
“Thanks,” Nancy replied, holding up her glass as she watched her daughter walk on egg shells around her, all because she had appeared distracted during their family dinner. That’s what scared her, that her daughter had become a stranger to her. Liz had changed so much in the past year, she had become a perfectionist, and a dreamer. With Max, she was a different person. The two of them lived with their heads so far in the clouds, they couldn’t see the world around them for what it was, and then that world departed from their ideal, they were thrown for a loop. In the short time since they had been together, they had faced two hurdles, neither of which Liz had chosen to share, but both times they had come close to breaking up, and she swore that for over a year they had spent more time miserable than happy.
Take the fact that Liz had adored her mother, but again Liz had looked at her grandmother through rose colored glasses. She took delight in Claudia’s visits, everyone of them replete with tales of her many travels and accomplishments. But Liz had never accepted that this success came with a price. Nancy was lucky if she saw her mother once a year, a pattern that dated back almost her entire life, and Nancy truly felt that Liz was not prepared to pay the price that would be demanded of her in her future career, she just hoped that she would not be shattered when her dreams were not realized.
On the other hand, what you see was what you got from Kyle and Ava, she thought. Ava was like a child in a candy shop, taking in every new experience that was placed in front of her, while Kyle, who despite having shown signs of maturing during the past year, nevertheless remained the stereotypical high school jock, looking for a good time.
‘Isabel and Alex were the couple that was going to make it,’ she thought. The two of them were going out into the world with their eyes wide open, willing to perform the hard work that it took to succeed in both life and their relationship. Isabel’s drive and propensity for planning, along with Alex’s hard work and easy going nature, made them uniquely resilient to life’s challenges. Even when it had become necessary for them to kill to protect each other and their families, they had been able to do so. Maybe it was Alex’s military upbringing and Isabel’s lifelong exposure to the court system, but whatever it was, they were able to view an act of defense as a unpleasant duty to be performed and put behind them.
Nancy pushed back from the table. “That, in a word, was fantastic. Thank you,” she gushed as she started to stack the dishes.
“Mom, we’ll get that,” Liz protested.
“You cooked,” Nancy protested, “We’ll clean up. Besides, you have your Turkey Bowl game this afternoon.”
**********
“Do you see anyone?” Liz asked nervously.
“No, they should all be in the locker room by now,” Max replied as he looked around the school’s parking lot. Finding themselves alone, he used a discrete burst of power to open Kyle’s drivers side door. Moments later he was holding it open before running around to the other side and jumping in the passenger seat. “After we finish, we can go to your balcony, right?”
“Huh?” Liz replied as she fumbled around in her purse, “Yea, now do your stuff.”
Minutes later Liz held up a much mangled fork. “It took three tries to get it right. Hand me the duct tape.”
**********
Early evening found the Goddard High Rockets playing the West Roswell Comets in their annual Turkey Day Tournament, but this year there was much more than possession of the traveling trophy on the line. The tension between the two schools had already boiled over, and with less than two minutes left in the first half, many of the starting players had already fouled out.
Steve Lydick was the next player pulled. Even though he only had two fouls against him, Coach Clay was fearful that one of his few remaining starters would burn out early.
“Why the frack aren’t you hitting anyone?” Kyle asked angrily.
“Because someone’s got to win the game,” Steve spat.
“They slimed your fracking truck,,,”
“There’s no fracking way I’m letting those pig frackers get their fracking hands on that fracking trophy,” but their discussion was interrupted by a disruption under the bleachers near the visitors locker room.
“Stay Focused!” Coach Clay snapped at his squad.
Kyle and Steve watched helplessly until the horn blew, ending the half with the score tied. Not knowing whether to be angry or disappointed, they headed back for their locker room, only to find Ava waiting by the door.
“What happened?” Kyle asked.
“I don’t know,” she answered. “I’ll find out what I can and let you know when you come back out.
**********
Isabel and Alex, having spent most of the day at the homeless shelter cooking and entertaining, arrived at her home just as the turkey was coming out of the oven. Alex went through the kitchen into the living room to put in an appearance with the dads, while Isabel perused the kitchen for problems before proceeding to the dining room to inspect the table and evaluate the quality of the presentations that their moms had prepared.
Moments later, Isabel raised her brow in question as Alex joined her in the dining room. “Denver Broncos at Dallas,” he answered, but upon seeing her expression sour, he realized that wasn’t what she was asking. “What?”
“What shape are they in?”
“They’ve been watching football and drinking beer all afternoon, they’re pretty well smashed.”
“Your mom came armed with a case of Sutter Home,” Isabel replied distastefully as she rearranged her grandmother’s silverware. “It’s a wonder they haven’t burned the house down. “You’re going to have to carve the turkey, I don’t trust any of them with a sharp knife,,,” but her instruction was cut off as Alex grabbed her from behind.
“I woodent woory about that, my Izzy-Wizzy worky woo-woo,,,” he slobbered into her ear.
“Alex!” she exclaimed, slipping from his embrace and turning to find him watching her with a more goofy than normal grin on his face.
“You’re going to wove this one,” he promised.
“Have you been drinking?”
<singing> “I’m so happy, I’m so gay, cause I come everyday, I’m your mailman,,,”
“You’re drunk!” Isabel exclaimed.
“I’m so happy, I’m so gay, cause I come every day, I’m your mailman,,, Pops taught us this one while we were camping. Mom hates it.”
Isabel realized that he was indeed drunk, and while alcohol had brought out her brothers romantic tendencies, her husband seemed to have reverted into his natural born role of entertaining her and making her happy.
“I can come in any kind of weather, that’s because my bag is made of leather,,,”
“This can’t be happening,,,”
“I’m so happy, I’m so gay, cause I come every day, I’m your mailman.”
“What did you have to drink?” Isabel hissed, pulling him towards the corner of the room before their parents noticed.
“I didn’t have anything to drink.”
“You’re cocked off your ass, you must have had something!”
“All I had was this teensy-weensy piece of fruitcake,,,”
“That’s not fruitcake! That’s Gram’s rum cake. Didn’t you see the liquid dripping out of it when you cut it?”
“That was rum?” Alex asked innocently as he turned his head on it’s side and gave her his most endearing grin.
“Yes Sweetie,” Isabel answered, unable to stay mad at him. “That was rum.”
**********
Kyle exited the locker room searching for Ava. “What happened?” he asked as he watched the knot of people around the visitors locker room start to part.
“It’s Pamela Troy,” Ava answered. “Someone attacked her,,,”
“What do you mean ‘attacked’ her?” Doug Highsinger demanded.
“Apparently a couple of guys dragged her under the bleachers. They all wanted BJ’s, but Pam refused. She said she might be easy, but she wasn’t a slut. She had never pulled a train before, and she wasn’t going to start now, especially with a bunch of guys she didn’t know. She struggled to get away and caught the attention of a couple of people up in the bleachers, but then she fell. She must have hit her head on the way down because when they got to her she was pretty much out of it and there was blood everywhere from a cut on the back of her head,,,”
Ava’s report was interrupted as two EMT’s rolled a Stokes stretcher from the visitors locker room towards the main entrance.
“She didn’t know who attacked her?” Pauly asked.
“No, apparently not,” Ava answered as she watched Pam raise her hand from the stretcher and wave to the bleachers, a gesture which resulted in a round of applause and cheers from her schoolmates.
“Those fracking Goddard assholes,,,”
“How do you know they were from Goddard,,,”
“If she didn’t know them they had to be from Goddard, she’s blown everyone from our school,,,” a comment that was interrupted by the officials blowing their whistles, trying to restart the game.
“That’s right, she may be a slut, but she’s our slut,” Steve Lydick commanded as he led the second half’s starting team onto the court. There was fire in Steve’s eyes as he took his place opposite John Andrews, Goddard’s center, but as the referee tossed the ball in the air Steve’s eyes never left the opposing player’s. John easily got the tap, but the moment his feet hit the floor Steve’s fist hit his face. That was the signal the other Comets were waiting for. Within moments five fights had broken out on the game floor, that number swelling as the benches emptied.
Deputy Owen Blackwood was just starting to get a feel for what had happened to Pam when the fight broke out. “Now what the frack?” he muttered as he headed for the basketball court. “Fracking-A!” he bellowed as a full scale riot broke out around him, but his Mesaliko heritage prevented him from calling for assistance. This was nothing but a bunch of kids, no match for a man who had Apache warrior’s blood in his veins.
Deputy Blackwood grabbed the first two fighters by the hair and pulled them apart. While one of the kids tried to carry on the fight, the second started to swing at Owen, only to pull his punch at the last second when he recognized his intended target, a realization that took the fight out of him. ‘A reputation is a good thing,’ Owen thought as he pushed them apart, only to be shocked to see the first player continue pummeling his opponent despite the fact that he had stopped fighting.
Knowing that he couldn’t really hurt any of these fracking bastards, the Deputy reached past his PR-24, instead grabbing for his Mace canister on his belt. He only gave the fighter a little puff in the face, but that dropped him to his knees as his hands went to his eyes. Owen knew a good thing when he saw it, and proceeded to give everyone who was actively fighting a small burst. Even if he couldn’t get them in the eyes, the burning sensation of the Oleoresin Capsicum spray was enough to drop even the biggest athlete. Luckily for him, and everyone else for that matter, he was using a cone pattern spraying, non-vaporizing canister of Mace, which meant that only his intended targets were affected. This was as a result of his researching the properties of every item he carried, as well as the fact that when Hanson had used a misting pepper spray in the department’s holding cell, the vapors got sucked in by the building’s air condition system and it took three days for everyone’s eyes to stop running.
“Get them into the locker rooms and hose them down,” Blackwood commanded the increasing number of adults who were starting to gain ground in breaking up the fighters. “And I want to see the coaches from both teams now!” He then turned to one last scuffle that was within easy reach, and finding that his can of Mace was empty, he kicked both teens in the ass, sending them sprawling onto the floor.
Finished, he found the Goddard’s team student manager standing there. “The Coach is in the locker room making sure everyone’s alright and then reaming their asses,,,”
“Now I promised the Sheriff a weekend off, so you tell your coach I want him and his team captain at the Sheriff’s office at four o’clock on Monday!”
“Monday? But we have practice,,,”
“Practice! Do you want me to tell you what to do with your practice?”
“No sir!” the teen stammered before turning and running back towards their locker room.
“Hey!” Owen shouted.
Goddard’s manager skidded to a halt and turned fearfully.
“You tell him to make sure he’s there. He really doesn’t want to make me go looking for him.” Turning away, he practically slammed into Coach Clay. “And just what the frack do you want?”
“Ahhh,” the coach stammered, visibly intimidated by a man who could stop a riot single handed..
Leaning into the Coach’s personal space, Owen slammed his clenched fist into his hips and bellowed, “Do you think I’m pissed off? Just wait until you’re face-to-face with the Sheriff. If you know anything, you’d better start talking.”
“One of my guys threw the first punch.”
“See? That wasn’t so hard. Just make sure he’s with you on Monday.”
**********
Later that night, after Isabel returned from driving the Whitman’s home, she found Alex sitting at the desk in her room, furiously pounding away at the Win-Tel server while dictating programming directly into the Blade workstation while his stereo boomed. ‘Well at least his other obsession isn’t smashing my room with his guitar,’ she thought.
“What is that sound?” Isabel beseeched as she turned down the volume on his CD player. “It sounds like someone is using a hockey stick to beat on the side of a shipping carton filled with angry cats.”
“Microphone off!” Alex commanded, pausing the Blade as he answered her question without pause in his work on the Win-Tel. “It’s Egyptian music,” he explained patiently. “Listen to it, really listen. There’s no vocals, no strings, no brass and no keyboards. It consist entirely of woodwinds and percussion. It’s amazing that they can do so much with so little; besides, I love listening to different types of music for a change of pace.”
“So what? You’re tossing me over for a guy in a turban?” she teased as she gently took his chin and turned him away from the workstation.
“What?” Alex asked as if seeing her for the first time.
“Come here,” she whispered into his ear as she gently took his hands, leading him up to the steaming kiss that awaited him.
**********
“What the frack is this?” Kyle muttered when he found the bent fork taped to his steering wheel, but instead of getting upset with Liz, he smiled as he gave her credit for getting back at him for his little business propositions. That feeling turned to irritation however, as he found that the strong duct tape left snotty adhesive residue allover his airbag. “Well, a little goo-be-gone and everything’ll be fine.
Moments later he fired the Mustang up, shifted into reverse, and gunned the engine, all in one fluid motion. Therefore, he was already on the way out of the parking lot before his CD player booted and his speakers started booming:
“~~Oops!,, you did it again. You played with my head, pulled me in the game,,,~~”
“What the frack?” Kyle muttered as he turned onto West Hobbs Street. “Damned chick music. That’s what I get for letting Ava drive my ‘Stang.”
“~~Oh baby, baby. Oops!,, you think I’m above, getting help from my love,,,~~”
“Wait a minute, that’s not Britney Spears.”
“~~I’m not that innocent,,,~~”
“That’s Liz,,, and she’s horrible.” He reached over and hit the eject button. It didn’t work. He then tried to turn down the volume, but that control didn’t work either. Nothing that Kyle tried worked, the song segment just kept repeating over and over.
By the time Kyle got home, it wasn’t funny anymore. He turned off the engine, finally silencing the disk, but it restarted again as soon as he turned the key. “Frack!” he muttered as he opened his door and knelt on the ground. He bent over sideways and reached under the dashboard for the fuse box, but to his dismay, even though he systematically pulled every fuse, the noise did not go away.
“Ava!” he shouted as he slammed into the house.
“Kyle!” Jim snapped in reply. “You’re not on the basketball court anymore. Stop shouting.”
“Sorry, do you know where Ava is?’
“Frack Ava, I got a call from Owen. He told me about the riot,,,”
“Dad, I really need to talk to Ava,,,”
“She’s at the hospital with a couple of the cheerleaders waiting for Pam Troy to be released, now come in here and sit your ass down!”
**********
Phillip was near the point of exhaustion as he turned onto Murray lane. “I’m happy we only do that once a year.”
‘Stop complaining,” Diane answered from the back seat. “We got all our shopping done in one trip to Lubbock.”
“But why on the day after Thanksgiving?” Gloria complained. “The stores were packed.”
“Oh we have our reasons,” Phillip replied cryptically as he parked his Lexus in front of the unopened garage door. He stepped out of the car and turned to open the back door for Gloria before stretching luxuriously.
“Why didn’t you pull into the garage?” Charles asked casually.
Phillip pretended not to hear, but Diane stopped at the front of the car. “Tell them.”
Phillip continued to play dumb.
“They have a right to know what their getting themselves in for.
“Getting ourselves in for what?,, With Isabel?” Gloria asked hesitantly. “Nothing can be worse than the shock of learning her little green secret,,,”
“Oh it gets worse,” Philip sighed as he stopped next to the garage door and keyed in the password causing the overhead door to open. Moments later the openers light flickered on revealing that the space once reserved for Phillip’s Lexus was now taken over by a precisely stacked pile of white packing cartons, each with a large number on it’s side.
“Twenty-seven,” Diane moaned. “That means four new boxes since last year,,,”
“Four boxes of what?” Gloria asked slowly.
“Christmas stuff,” Diane answered.
“What?,, No,,, Her presents were loose and already wrapped,” Gloria stammered.
Diane stopped and looked at her friend, “She has another stash?”
Gloria hesitated a moment, concerned that she may be violating a confidence, but decided that the selfless nature of Isabel’s ‘project’ deserved mention. “She has a stash of Christmas presents out across from Rocket Fuels. They’re for the children at the orphanage.”
“A storage locker full?” Phillip asked doubtfully.
“Yes,” Gloria replied, gaining confidence in Isabel’s decision.
“She must be really acting out the Princess side of her personality,,,”
“Princess?” Gloria challenged. “I know she’s your only daughter, but Princess, I don’t think so. I’ve seen her before she’s had her morning Tabasco,,,”
“No, not small ‘P’ princess, I mean Princess as in the daughter of King Zan and Queen Lauranna,,,”
“She’s royalty? Frack me! I had no idea.”
“Yea,” Diane answered. “It’s not something she tells people,,,”
Meanwhile Charles turned to Phillip. “Christmas stuff?”
“You’ll see,” Phillip warned direly as he led them through the garage, through the dining room, and into the family room, where he screeched to a stop, causing the others to slam into his back in a chain reaction.
Isabel was sitting on the couch, with a sleeping Alex’s head in her lap. She held one finger over her mouth, asking for quiet, while she stroked his hair with the other. “I think I wore him out,” she explained softly.
By now the rest of the adults had worked their way into the room and were looking around with differing levels of shock and amazement. “It looks like Santa Claus threw up in here,” Charles commented.
“Seriously,” Gloria agreed.
“This is why we beat feet out town?” Charles asked.
“Yea,” Phillip answered. “We learned our lesson two years ago. Last year we went to Albuquerque while Max stayed here,,,”
“Isabel practically worked him to death,,,”
“Hey!” Isabel protested, causing Alex to stir. “Sorry Sweetie,,,”
“What?” Alex stammered as he sat upright. “No problem, only closed my eyes for a moment,,,”
“Come on Sweetie, I’ll tuck you in.”
“No, I’m not going to bed this early on a Friday night, especially during a four day weekend,” Alex said dismissively. “Let’s go down to the Crash and see who’s there. Maybe we can put together an after hours party.”
“Sorry Sweetie,” Isabel replied with obvious disappointment in her voice. “Max is taking Liz out to Señor Chow’s for dinner, and then they’re playing pool.”
“The Giant Haystacks are playing at the University House in Las Cruces tomorrow night,” Alex said consolingly. “We could go dancing?”
“It’s a four hour drive back, we’d have to get a room,” Isabel replied hopefully, her mind already in high gear.
“Okay, dancing tomorrow. Tonight we’ll stay in and get a pizza. Go upstairs, put your PJ’s on then come downstairs with your hairbrush.”
As Diane and Gloria watched Alex scoot through the kitchen, following Isabel up to change, she turned to her friend, “They are so much better together than they ever were apart.”
“They’re so lucky to have found each other so early in life.”
“Yup,” Diane agreed. “All in all, life is good.”
As Alex chugged up the stairs he thought to himself, “I get to snuggle with Isabel. All in all, life is good.”
Isabel stripped down to her underwear and, in deference to her husband’s command that she not upset their fathers, pulled on a modest yet luxurious set of red satin pajamas. In her mind she was already planning tomorrow’s seduction of Alex. ‘I’ll wear shorts for the drive down, and leg tease him all the way. That’ll get me laid before dinner. Then while we’re dancing I’ll wear my backless Vera Wang with lace top stockings. That’ll get me laid again when we get back to our room. Then I’ll cuddle and fall asleep naked in his arms, spending the entire night in his dreams. If I play my cards right, we’ll both be ready to frack the ever loving shit out of each other come morning. After I get my three introductory ‘O’s’, we’ll super connect and I’ll try for two big ‘O’s’ instead of the usual one. Course that’ll mean that he’ll be unconscious for the ride home, and I’ll be quite sore, but all in all, life is good.’
“You do realize what your son is going to do to my daughter, don’t you?” Phillip said dejectedly.
“I’d offer to beat him up for you,” Charles replied taking a deep sip of his Black Jack. “But to be honest I’m afraid of what Isabel would do to me if I did. The whole situation sucks.”
“Yup,” Phillip agreed. “All in all, life truly sucks.”
**********
Saturday morning Alex looked up to see Isabel enter the kitchen, but he was surprised by her appearance, to say the least. Over a pair of flannel sleep pants she was wearing one of his wife-beater shirts under a stretched out but comfortable looking pink knit camisole, all covered by a thin housecoat that she had not bothered to close.
“What the frack is that infernal racket?” she asked with irritation as she reached for her mug and a tea bag.
“Language dear,” Gloria warned from her place in front of her brand new stove.
“That’s a leaf blower,” Charles answered innocently, without looking up from the sports section.
“Who would waste their money on a leaf blower?” Isabel snapped. “This is Roswell. There’s only seven trees in the entire city.”
“You know something Izzy?” Alex teased. “I think this is the first time you've ever come downstairs with bed head,,,”
“Hsssssss,” Isabel snapped through bared teeth.
“That had better be intended for Alex, young lady,” Gloria interjected, “Because if you ever get catty with me I’ll drag you down to the vet’s by your hair and have you fixed.”
Charles put down the sports page and took a quick look at the woman before deciding that it was time to clean the garage. “Come with me Son,” he commanded as he stood. Maybe it was too early to clean the garage, but they would definitely retreat there, while they still could. He didn't quite understand what was going on, but he knew on an instinctive level that it would not be good for him.
Not even noticing that the men were gone, Gloria looked at her newest daughter-in-law with concern. “What's wrong honey?”
“Nothing really,” Isabel said listlessly as she sat down in the seat that had been warmed by her husband. “I am half human you know, and still all teenager, so with the long day we’re going to have today I was looking forward to nine-and-a-quarter hours of sleep, but due to that racket I got only seven-and-a-half hours instead.” Seeing Gloria struggling to keep from laughing, she couldn’t help herself. “What?”
“You scheduled yourself for nine-and-a-quarter hours of sleep? Most people simply settle for sleeping in late, but you have to schedule exactly nine-and-a-quarter hours,” Gloria teased as she slid a plateful of bacon and eggs in front of Isabel. Then, leaning down, she brushed a gentle kiss on top of her head. “Don’t ever change.”
“Thanks,” Isabel said with surprise.
“Now don’t you tell Alex I made those for you. If he wants breakfast he can make his own,” Gloria admonished. “Us girls are outnumbered in this household, we have to stick together.”
“Outnumbered?” Isabel asked with confusion.
“Just you wait until Jesse gets home,” Gloria warned. “You’ll see what I mean.”
“I can’t imagine you ever feeling outnumbered,” Isabel replied honestly, but her mood turned as she reached for the Tabasco, which by now occupied a permanent place on the table. Vigorously shaking the condiment over her plate, she continued, “Don’t ever change, you say. I’m afraid I’m incapable of changing. Just look at me, the first thing I did this morning was get into a fight with Alex,,,”
“I’m sure he didn’t mean anything by that bed head comment,,,”
“I know,,,”
“In fact I’m sure he meant it as a good thing, that you’re getting more comfortable around us, that you’re allowing yourself to be yourself,,,”
Isabel reached out and took Gloria’s hands in her own, “That’s exactly the way I feel,,, I’m,,, This is like home to me. Now all I have to do is apologize,,,”
“You’ll do no such thing,” Gloria commanded. “There’s something you need to learn about guys. They have what they call a no harm-no foul philosophy. They don’t sweat the little things.” She paused to gather her thoughts. “If you’re going to spent the rest of your life with Alex, you’re both going to have to learn to stop tip-toeing around each other, and develop a trust that you’re going to have to shrug off the millions of little offenses and disappointments that you will encounter every day. Otherwise you’ll let life pass you by because you’re afraid to get out of bed in the morning.”
Isabel’s face broke into a radiant smile as she recognized the truth in the older and wiser woman’s words.
“Now take tonight’s supper for example. With you kids gone Charles will be disappointed when I put a turkey loaf on the table, but into every life a little turkey loaf must fall; besides, if he wants a steak he can damned well take me out to dinner.”
“So what are we doing out here Pops?” Alex asked.
“I really don't know,” Charles answered honestly, “But things were going from bad to worse in there and I figured it was time to get out before we were blamed for something,,,”
“Blamed for what? We didn't do anything wrong,” a reply that earned a chuckle from his father. “Wait a minute, you don't think I'm in trouble because of the bed head comment, do you?”
“No I doubt it had anything to do with that,” Charles said reassuringly. “Do you remember how you used to complain that your mom would jump on your case the moment you walked in from school? How you simply wanted a couple of minutes to listen to music or play your guitar, giving you time to mentally change gears? Well Isabel just needed a moment to wake-up. That’s all.”
“Oh, so everything’s okay then?,,”
“I didn’t say that,” Charles chuckled. “We’re guys, and if they want us in the dog house, they’ll put us there. There’s nothing you can do to prevent that,,,”
“Frack me,,,” Alex moaned.
“Don’t worry about it,” Charles admonished as he stood and started back towards the kitchen. “Isabel’s a good kid, and she’s madly in love with you. As long as she doesn’t spend too much time with your Mom, you’ll be all right.”
“That’s right, she does love me,” Alex waxed dreamily as he rose to follow before his father’s words struck home. “Wait a minute, define too much time!”
“As Gloria watched her men folk return to the kitchen, she became alarmed as she watched Alex open the pantry. “What are you doing?”
“Hummm?” he answered without conscious thought. “Feels like a Captain Crunch and Count Chocula kind of morning.”
Gloria’s hand shot out, restraining Isabel before she could rise. “Sit down!” she commanded as she rose and walked to the refrigerator. Coming out with the carton of eggs she continued, “As long as you live in my house, you’re not eating cereal on a Sunday morning.”
Charles sat at the head of the table, both hands wrapped around his steaming mug of black coffee, watching the interchange between the others with amusement. His wife gave Isabel a wink while Isabel shyly smiled at Alex, who responded with his trademark goofy grin. ‘Apologies offered and accepted,’ he thought to himself, ‘And all is right and wonderful in the world.’
**********
Meanwhile, at Jim’s house Ava placed her hand over Kyle’s CD player for a third time, this time scrunching her entire face in concentration, but within moments it was apparent that she could not undo whatever spell had been placed upon it. “Sorry,” she gasped as she gave up. “I don’t know who did this, but they have serious Mo-Jo going for them,,,”
“Fracking Max,,,”
“Max?” Ava replied a little too quickly.
“Yea Max,,,” Kyle said slowly. “Why do you say that? Do you know something?”
“No, not really, but Max and I were married. We were King and Queen. If he did this I’m pretty confident that I should be able to undo it.”
“It couldn’t be Michael,” Kyle pondered. “It’s too subtle a gag for him; besides, even if he would have done it for Liz, he would have botched the job and blown my stereo to kingdom come.” Kyle paused a moment as a look of sheer horror passed over his face as he had a new thought, “Isabel?”
“You think Isabel did it?”
“It must be. With her seal thing going for her you wouldn’t be able to undo it.”
“It could be Alex. He’s Liz’s best friend, and with his Granolith seal, we really don’t know what his powers are,,,”
“No, this is something Isabel would do,,,”
“Sounds like you’re going to have to do a little groveling,,,”
“Grovel to Isabel?” Kyle replied dismissively. “No way. I’ll rip it out and put in a new one first, but a least in the mean time you were able to cut the volume a bit.”
“Yea, there’s that,” Ava agreed, knowing that she had accomplished much more. In addition to cutting the volume to a tolerable level, she had covered for Max and kept herself out of hot water, all the while keeping Liz’s secret while in the process earning herself free Crashdown food for a week.
TBC
Chapter 24-E There be Heroes Here
By Stargazer MD
Michael was going to have to talk to Alex. He was on the receiving end of a salvo of blast to his chest, and they were starting to hurt. Obviously his vest was defective.
“Michael!” Maria snapped as she poked him in the chest. “Wake up!”
“You’re going to have to do better than that Lonnie,” Michael taunted as he pulled his covers back up to his neck, trying to get comfortable enough to get all the way back to sleep. “You’re fighting like a girl,,,”
“Lonnie!” Maria gasped indignantly. “I’ll show you Lonnie,” she said as she dug down under his covers.
“HOLY FRACKING SHIT!!!” Michael shouted as he levered himself up out of his bed. Unfortunately he did this with the tightening of every human muscle in his body, not his alien powers. As a result, when he came back down he fell off the edge of his mattress, slamming his head on his nightstand, and landing in a pile between his bed and the wall.
Before he stopped moving Maria was on her hands and knees, crawling across his bed before lying across his mattress with her face just inches from his.
“What the hell you do that for?,,”
“Oh give me a break you girlie-man. I just pulled out four or five pubies. That’s nothing compared to a bikini wax,,,”
“If this is your way of picking a fight so you can get some make-up sex,,,”
“Why the frack is everything about sex with you,,,”
“Well then what the frack are you doing here at the crack of dawn if you don’t want sex,,,”
“The crack of dawn is the only crack you’re going to see for quite some time,,,”
By now Michael had struggled upright and was rubbing himself through the front of his boxers. He looked over at the clock. “It’s the middle of first period. What are you doing here? You have a class.”
“It may come as a surprise to you, being a drop-out in training, but you have a class too,,,”
“Mr. Cowan and I have an understanding,,,”
“Understand this!,, Alex and Isabel are missing,,,”
“What!” Michael bellowed as he scrambled for yesterday’s clothes. “Why the frack didn’t you say something?”
“I just did,,,”
“What do you know?”
“They both have first period class, neither of them showed up,,,”
“You called?,,”
“From the pay phone in the lobby. No answer at either of their houses, no answer on their cells,,,”
“Did you ask the Granolith? If they needed help on the road they would have called it,,,” Michael asked as he finished pulling on his shoes. “Give me that!” he snapped as Maria pulled his cell out of it’s charger.
“Why, so you can blow it up like you blew up mine?”
“I keep telling you, I was trying to charge the battery,” but he skidded to a stop as Maria turned to face him, her face thunderous.
“There are three messages here from Isabel,,,” she said in a deceptively soft voice.
“~~Michael, this is Iz. We had to spend the night in a motel waiting out a snowstorm. Make sure you tell Maria. I don’t want her worrying about us.~~”
‘~~Michael, are you up yet? I can’t get through to Maria, and Liz isn’t going in until second period. Call her, would you? We’re just crossing through Clovis, so until we get to the Pecos crossing we’re not going to have a signal,,, WAKE-UP!!!~~”
“~~Michael, we’re in the parking lot and don’t see the Jetta. If Maria’s with you, ask her to leave just a little piece of you intact, so I can have something to beat on,,,~~”
“See? Everything’s alright,,,” Michael pleaded.
“No, everything’s not alright, because when I get done with you Isabel’s going to be so disappointed, because there’s going to be nothing left of you for her to beat,,,”
**********
Steve Lydick caught Maria at her locker. “You’re really doing this?”
“Yea.”
“Okay, I’ll put ten dollars on six.”
“Six?” Maria confirmed as she took out a little black book. “Got you covered.”
**********
Later at lunch, Tish Okabe placed a restraining hand over Isabel’s as she sat next to her in the Quad. “What’s your hurry, got a hot date with Alex in the eraser room?”
Isabel, sensing another opportunity to enhance her husband’s reputation smiled as she replied, “Alex in the eraser room? Not really,,, well maybe if one of us if frustrated, but for the most part a fifty minute period isn’t enough time for him,,,”
“Fifty minutes? Alex? Excuse me Isabel, but less than a year ago Alex was standing in the Quad demonstrating his ability to wrap his arms around his head without letting go of his hands. Now you’re telling me he’s a super stallion?”
Isabel pivoted on her seat, but before she left she looked her friend square in the eye. “Times change Tish, but not my standards. When have you ever known me to settle for less than the best? Now-a-days when we get to the fifty minute point I’m usually finished with seconds and going for thirds, but Alex is still in foreplay mode. He can usually keep me flying most of the evening.”
“Fifty minutes,” Tish sighed in resignation. “By then Patrick would be done, have wiped his dick on my duvet, and eaten about half way through my refrigerator.”
“I keep telling you Tish, you’ve got to give up on jocks. They are so full of themselves they have nothing left for anyone else. You’ve got to try a nerd.”
As Tish watched Isabel walk away she gave her words a lot of thought. ‘Considering the last couple of jocks I went out with, what have I got to loose. They certainly can’t be any worse.’
**********
“Maria!” Amber Walen said happily as she walked in the girls room. “I’ve been looking for you,,,”
Maria held up her hand warily as she looked around the restroom, taking stock of potential witnesses. “Okay.”
“Great! I want to put twenty on two in your pool.”
“Two? You don’t have much faith in our guy, do you?”
“You think I should change?”
“No, you got to go with your gut.”
Amber thought for a minute, “Yea, two.”
**********
That Wednesday Assistant Principal Jim Cavanaugh and Miss Leigh were standing on the edge of the Quad keeping an eye on things. With the escalation of tension between the two schools Mrs. Schaffer had ordered that the outside areas of the campus be monitored at all times. She was bound and determined that the violence that was starting to break out between the sports teams would not spread to her school.
“What the hell is that geekoid Bruce Gray doing sitting with the cheerleaders?”
“He was invited.”
“Invited? Him? Why?”
“Well according to Lucinda’s web site Tish took him out on a date Monday night after being challenged to try a nerd by Isabel Evans. Word is that Tish claims he turned red every time he got a glance at her cleavage but when she pinned him against her porch railing and kissed him goodnight, he kissed back with an eight inch tongue. (Authors note,,, While I normally translate measurements into the metric system, I am not going to dignify this one with a computation.) So as of right now, every cheerleader who is single and several of the ones that are already hooked up are competing for him. Stacey Scheinin says it is their duty to ‘break him in right’.”
“Isabel Evans, hugh?”
“What about Isabel,” Miss Leigh challenged.
“She’s responsible for this,,, this freak of nature?” Mr. Cavanaugh practically spat. “Cheerleaders exist for one reason and one reason only. To frack athletes so they can concentrate on their game instead of having to worry about finding some bitch to bang. Tish dumped Patrick, who had to settle for Pam Troy. That cost us the Clovis game last night.”
Miss Leigh looked at her superior, her mouth agape. “I don’t know what to say? Where do I start? Your callous disregard for women? Athlete’s expectations that they can have anything they want? That with attitudes like that you still have a job?”
“Baahh,” he spat before showing her his back and retreating inside.
**********
Thanksgiving snuck up on our friends in Roswell, and as could be expected with so many of the teens coupled up, it made for some interesting Thanksgiving Dinner plans. Some combinations were obvious. Michael went to Maria’s, taking charge of turkey, stuffing, and side dishes while Amy applied her considerable talents to home made soups, rolls, and deserts. All the better for her to show off her domestic skills for her special guest Jim, who, needless to say, brought Kyle and Ava with him.
Max chose to spend Thanksgiving with the Parkers, who under the pressure of having the restaurant closed for only the one day, had a celebration that was elegant as well as efficient. One benefit of their short respite however, was the fact that they could spend the day together.
Since Alex and Isabel would be spending Christmas with the Whitman’s, who were planning to have as many of their sons home as could arrange leave, Alex and Isabel chose to take this holiday dinner with Isabel’s parents. Since this would leave Gloria and Charles alone, Gloria decided to accept Diane’s gracious invitation to join them for the day. Neither of them arrived empty handed.
**********
Meanwhile, in the Parker’s apartment above the Crashdown, Nancy was enjoying a holiday meal prepared by her daughter and Max, who had been dragooned into service. But while enjoying the time together, being Claudia’s daughter, Nancy could not help but study the teens as she watched the young couple chat with Jeff. She subconsciously compared them to their friends, smiling as she thought of the fight that Michael and Maria had had in the restaurant’s kitchen the night before. She did not know what it had been about, in fact she doubted that they knew. What she did know is that Michael and Maria were more alike than not. Products of their environments, both had evolved a sense of self reliance and were fiercely protective of their independence yet they were in need of each other more than either would ever admit.
Amused at her employees antics, she couldn’t stop her amusement from slipping as she compared them to Max, the complex individual that was now sharing her table, for while she would be eternally grateful to Max for having saved her daughters life, she couldn’t but wish for the simpler days before his secret had been revealed. As far as boyfriend material went, she compared Max to Kyle, deciding that she liked who Liz had been during the summer she had dated Kyle, for despite the jock stereotype, he had always conducted himself honorably. An unusual couple, the honor student and the athlete, they were good for each other, and more importantly, neither took the relationship too seriously, not allowing their dating to interfere with Kyle’s games of Liz’s studies,,,
“Mom?”
Nancy’s reverie was broken. “What?” she stammered.
“Wine?” Liz asked hesitantly, her a face a mask of concern.
“Thanks,” Nancy replied, holding up her glass as she watched her daughter walk on egg shells around her, all because she had appeared distracted during their family dinner. That’s what scared her, that her daughter had become a stranger to her. Liz had changed so much in the past year, she had become a perfectionist, and a dreamer. With Max, she was a different person. The two of them lived with their heads so far in the clouds, they couldn’t see the world around them for what it was, and then that world departed from their ideal, they were thrown for a loop. In the short time since they had been together, they had faced two hurdles, neither of which Liz had chosen to share, but both times they had come close to breaking up, and she swore that for over a year they had spent more time miserable than happy.
Take the fact that Liz had adored her mother, but again Liz had looked at her grandmother through rose colored glasses. She took delight in Claudia’s visits, everyone of them replete with tales of her many travels and accomplishments. But Liz had never accepted that this success came with a price. Nancy was lucky if she saw her mother once a year, a pattern that dated back almost her entire life, and Nancy truly felt that Liz was not prepared to pay the price that would be demanded of her in her future career, she just hoped that she would not be shattered when her dreams were not realized.
On the other hand, what you see was what you got from Kyle and Ava, she thought. Ava was like a child in a candy shop, taking in every new experience that was placed in front of her, while Kyle, who despite having shown signs of maturing during the past year, nevertheless remained the stereotypical high school jock, looking for a good time.
‘Isabel and Alex were the couple that was going to make it,’ she thought. The two of them were going out into the world with their eyes wide open, willing to perform the hard work that it took to succeed in both life and their relationship. Isabel’s drive and propensity for planning, along with Alex’s hard work and easy going nature, made them uniquely resilient to life’s challenges. Even when it had become necessary for them to kill to protect each other and their families, they had been able to do so. Maybe it was Alex’s military upbringing and Isabel’s lifelong exposure to the court system, but whatever it was, they were able to view an act of defense as a unpleasant duty to be performed and put behind them.
Nancy pushed back from the table. “That, in a word, was fantastic. Thank you,” she gushed as she started to stack the dishes.
“Mom, we’ll get that,” Liz protested.
“You cooked,” Nancy protested, “We’ll clean up. Besides, you have your Turkey Bowl game this afternoon.”
**********
“Do you see anyone?” Liz asked nervously.
“No, they should all be in the locker room by now,” Max replied as he looked around the school’s parking lot. Finding themselves alone, he used a discrete burst of power to open Kyle’s drivers side door. Moments later he was holding it open before running around to the other side and jumping in the passenger seat. “After we finish, we can go to your balcony, right?”
“Huh?” Liz replied as she fumbled around in her purse, “Yea, now do your stuff.”
Minutes later Liz held up a much mangled fork. “It took three tries to get it right. Hand me the duct tape.”
**********
Early evening found the Goddard High Rockets playing the West Roswell Comets in their annual Turkey Day Tournament, but this year there was much more than possession of the traveling trophy on the line. The tension between the two schools had already boiled over, and with less than two minutes left in the first half, many of the starting players had already fouled out.
Steve Lydick was the next player pulled. Even though he only had two fouls against him, Coach Clay was fearful that one of his few remaining starters would burn out early.
“Why the frack aren’t you hitting anyone?” Kyle asked angrily.
“Because someone’s got to win the game,” Steve spat.
“They slimed your fracking truck,,,”
“There’s no fracking way I’m letting those pig frackers get their fracking hands on that fracking trophy,” but their discussion was interrupted by a disruption under the bleachers near the visitors locker room.
“Stay Focused!” Coach Clay snapped at his squad.
Kyle and Steve watched helplessly until the horn blew, ending the half with the score tied. Not knowing whether to be angry or disappointed, they headed back for their locker room, only to find Ava waiting by the door.
“What happened?” Kyle asked.
“I don’t know,” she answered. “I’ll find out what I can and let you know when you come back out.
**********
Isabel and Alex, having spent most of the day at the homeless shelter cooking and entertaining, arrived at her home just as the turkey was coming out of the oven. Alex went through the kitchen into the living room to put in an appearance with the dads, while Isabel perused the kitchen for problems before proceeding to the dining room to inspect the table and evaluate the quality of the presentations that their moms had prepared.
Moments later, Isabel raised her brow in question as Alex joined her in the dining room. “Denver Broncos at Dallas,” he answered, but upon seeing her expression sour, he realized that wasn’t what she was asking. “What?”
“What shape are they in?”
“They’ve been watching football and drinking beer all afternoon, they’re pretty well smashed.”
“Your mom came armed with a case of Sutter Home,” Isabel replied distastefully as she rearranged her grandmother’s silverware. “It’s a wonder they haven’t burned the house down. “You’re going to have to carve the turkey, I don’t trust any of them with a sharp knife,,,” but her instruction was cut off as Alex grabbed her from behind.
“I woodent woory about that, my Izzy-Wizzy worky woo-woo,,,” he slobbered into her ear.
“Alex!” she exclaimed, slipping from his embrace and turning to find him watching her with a more goofy than normal grin on his face.
“You’re going to wove this one,” he promised.
“Have you been drinking?”
<singing> “I’m so happy, I’m so gay, cause I come everyday, I’m your mailman,,,”
“You’re drunk!” Isabel exclaimed.
“I’m so happy, I’m so gay, cause I come every day, I’m your mailman,,, Pops taught us this one while we were camping. Mom hates it.”
Isabel realized that he was indeed drunk, and while alcohol had brought out her brothers romantic tendencies, her husband seemed to have reverted into his natural born role of entertaining her and making her happy.
“I can come in any kind of weather, that’s because my bag is made of leather,,,”
“This can’t be happening,,,”
“I’m so happy, I’m so gay, cause I come every day, I’m your mailman.”
“What did you have to drink?” Isabel hissed, pulling him towards the corner of the room before their parents noticed.
“I didn’t have anything to drink.”
“You’re cocked off your ass, you must have had something!”
“All I had was this teensy-weensy piece of fruitcake,,,”
“That’s not fruitcake! That’s Gram’s rum cake. Didn’t you see the liquid dripping out of it when you cut it?”
“That was rum?” Alex asked innocently as he turned his head on it’s side and gave her his most endearing grin.
“Yes Sweetie,” Isabel answered, unable to stay mad at him. “That was rum.”
**********
Kyle exited the locker room searching for Ava. “What happened?” he asked as he watched the knot of people around the visitors locker room start to part.
“It’s Pamela Troy,” Ava answered. “Someone attacked her,,,”
“What do you mean ‘attacked’ her?” Doug Highsinger demanded.
“Apparently a couple of guys dragged her under the bleachers. They all wanted BJ’s, but Pam refused. She said she might be easy, but she wasn’t a slut. She had never pulled a train before, and she wasn’t going to start now, especially with a bunch of guys she didn’t know. She struggled to get away and caught the attention of a couple of people up in the bleachers, but then she fell. She must have hit her head on the way down because when they got to her she was pretty much out of it and there was blood everywhere from a cut on the back of her head,,,”
Ava’s report was interrupted as two EMT’s rolled a Stokes stretcher from the visitors locker room towards the main entrance.
“She didn’t know who attacked her?” Pauly asked.
“No, apparently not,” Ava answered as she watched Pam raise her hand from the stretcher and wave to the bleachers, a gesture which resulted in a round of applause and cheers from her schoolmates.
“Those fracking Goddard assholes,,,”
“How do you know they were from Goddard,,,”
“If she didn’t know them they had to be from Goddard, she’s blown everyone from our school,,,” a comment that was interrupted by the officials blowing their whistles, trying to restart the game.
“That’s right, she may be a slut, but she’s our slut,” Steve Lydick commanded as he led the second half’s starting team onto the court. There was fire in Steve’s eyes as he took his place opposite John Andrews, Goddard’s center, but as the referee tossed the ball in the air Steve’s eyes never left the opposing player’s. John easily got the tap, but the moment his feet hit the floor Steve’s fist hit his face. That was the signal the other Comets were waiting for. Within moments five fights had broken out on the game floor, that number swelling as the benches emptied.
Deputy Owen Blackwood was just starting to get a feel for what had happened to Pam when the fight broke out. “Now what the frack?” he muttered as he headed for the basketball court. “Fracking-A!” he bellowed as a full scale riot broke out around him, but his Mesaliko heritage prevented him from calling for assistance. This was nothing but a bunch of kids, no match for a man who had Apache warrior’s blood in his veins.
Deputy Blackwood grabbed the first two fighters by the hair and pulled them apart. While one of the kids tried to carry on the fight, the second started to swing at Owen, only to pull his punch at the last second when he recognized his intended target, a realization that took the fight out of him. ‘A reputation is a good thing,’ Owen thought as he pushed them apart, only to be shocked to see the first player continue pummeling his opponent despite the fact that he had stopped fighting.
Knowing that he couldn’t really hurt any of these fracking bastards, the Deputy reached past his PR-24, instead grabbing for his Mace canister on his belt. He only gave the fighter a little puff in the face, but that dropped him to his knees as his hands went to his eyes. Owen knew a good thing when he saw it, and proceeded to give everyone who was actively fighting a small burst. Even if he couldn’t get them in the eyes, the burning sensation of the Oleoresin Capsicum spray was enough to drop even the biggest athlete. Luckily for him, and everyone else for that matter, he was using a cone pattern spraying, non-vaporizing canister of Mace, which meant that only his intended targets were affected. This was as a result of his researching the properties of every item he carried, as well as the fact that when Hanson had used a misting pepper spray in the department’s holding cell, the vapors got sucked in by the building’s air condition system and it took three days for everyone’s eyes to stop running.
“Get them into the locker rooms and hose them down,” Blackwood commanded the increasing number of adults who were starting to gain ground in breaking up the fighters. “And I want to see the coaches from both teams now!” He then turned to one last scuffle that was within easy reach, and finding that his can of Mace was empty, he kicked both teens in the ass, sending them sprawling onto the floor.
Finished, he found the Goddard’s team student manager standing there. “The Coach is in the locker room making sure everyone’s alright and then reaming their asses,,,”
“Now I promised the Sheriff a weekend off, so you tell your coach I want him and his team captain at the Sheriff’s office at four o’clock on Monday!”
“Monday? But we have practice,,,”
“Practice! Do you want me to tell you what to do with your practice?”
“No sir!” the teen stammered before turning and running back towards their locker room.
“Hey!” Owen shouted.
Goddard’s manager skidded to a halt and turned fearfully.
“You tell him to make sure he’s there. He really doesn’t want to make me go looking for him.” Turning away, he practically slammed into Coach Clay. “And just what the frack do you want?”
“Ahhh,” the coach stammered, visibly intimidated by a man who could stop a riot single handed..
Leaning into the Coach’s personal space, Owen slammed his clenched fist into his hips and bellowed, “Do you think I’m pissed off? Just wait until you’re face-to-face with the Sheriff. If you know anything, you’d better start talking.”
“One of my guys threw the first punch.”
“See? That wasn’t so hard. Just make sure he’s with you on Monday.”
**********
Later that night, after Isabel returned from driving the Whitman’s home, she found Alex sitting at the desk in her room, furiously pounding away at the Win-Tel server while dictating programming directly into the Blade workstation while his stereo boomed. ‘Well at least his other obsession isn’t smashing my room with his guitar,’ she thought.
“What is that sound?” Isabel beseeched as she turned down the volume on his CD player. “It sounds like someone is using a hockey stick to beat on the side of a shipping carton filled with angry cats.”
“Microphone off!” Alex commanded, pausing the Blade as he answered her question without pause in his work on the Win-Tel. “It’s Egyptian music,” he explained patiently. “Listen to it, really listen. There’s no vocals, no strings, no brass and no keyboards. It consist entirely of woodwinds and percussion. It’s amazing that they can do so much with so little; besides, I love listening to different types of music for a change of pace.”
“So what? You’re tossing me over for a guy in a turban?” she teased as she gently took his chin and turned him away from the workstation.
“What?” Alex asked as if seeing her for the first time.
“Come here,” she whispered into his ear as she gently took his hands, leading him up to the steaming kiss that awaited him.
**********
“What the frack is this?” Kyle muttered when he found the bent fork taped to his steering wheel, but instead of getting upset with Liz, he smiled as he gave her credit for getting back at him for his little business propositions. That feeling turned to irritation however, as he found that the strong duct tape left snotty adhesive residue allover his airbag. “Well, a little goo-be-gone and everything’ll be fine.
Moments later he fired the Mustang up, shifted into reverse, and gunned the engine, all in one fluid motion. Therefore, he was already on the way out of the parking lot before his CD player booted and his speakers started booming:
“~~Oops!,, you did it again. You played with my head, pulled me in the game,,,~~”
“What the frack?” Kyle muttered as he turned onto West Hobbs Street. “Damned chick music. That’s what I get for letting Ava drive my ‘Stang.”
“~~Oh baby, baby. Oops!,, you think I’m above, getting help from my love,,,~~”
“Wait a minute, that’s not Britney Spears.”
“~~I’m not that innocent,,,~~”
“That’s Liz,,, and she’s horrible.” He reached over and hit the eject button. It didn’t work. He then tried to turn down the volume, but that control didn’t work either. Nothing that Kyle tried worked, the song segment just kept repeating over and over.
By the time Kyle got home, it wasn’t funny anymore. He turned off the engine, finally silencing the disk, but it restarted again as soon as he turned the key. “Frack!” he muttered as he opened his door and knelt on the ground. He bent over sideways and reached under the dashboard for the fuse box, but to his dismay, even though he systematically pulled every fuse, the noise did not go away.
“Ava!” he shouted as he slammed into the house.
“Kyle!” Jim snapped in reply. “You’re not on the basketball court anymore. Stop shouting.”
“Sorry, do you know where Ava is?’
“Frack Ava, I got a call from Owen. He told me about the riot,,,”
“Dad, I really need to talk to Ava,,,”
“She’s at the hospital with a couple of the cheerleaders waiting for Pam Troy to be released, now come in here and sit your ass down!”
**********
Phillip was near the point of exhaustion as he turned onto Murray lane. “I’m happy we only do that once a year.”
‘Stop complaining,” Diane answered from the back seat. “We got all our shopping done in one trip to Lubbock.”
“But why on the day after Thanksgiving?” Gloria complained. “The stores were packed.”
“Oh we have our reasons,” Phillip replied cryptically as he parked his Lexus in front of the unopened garage door. He stepped out of the car and turned to open the back door for Gloria before stretching luxuriously.
“Why didn’t you pull into the garage?” Charles asked casually.
Phillip pretended not to hear, but Diane stopped at the front of the car. “Tell them.”
Phillip continued to play dumb.
“They have a right to know what their getting themselves in for.
“Getting ourselves in for what?,, With Isabel?” Gloria asked hesitantly. “Nothing can be worse than the shock of learning her little green secret,,,”
“Oh it gets worse,” Philip sighed as he stopped next to the garage door and keyed in the password causing the overhead door to open. Moments later the openers light flickered on revealing that the space once reserved for Phillip’s Lexus was now taken over by a precisely stacked pile of white packing cartons, each with a large number on it’s side.
“Twenty-seven,” Diane moaned. “That means four new boxes since last year,,,”
“Four boxes of what?” Gloria asked slowly.
“Christmas stuff,” Diane answered.
“What?,, No,,, Her presents were loose and already wrapped,” Gloria stammered.
Diane stopped and looked at her friend, “She has another stash?”
Gloria hesitated a moment, concerned that she may be violating a confidence, but decided that the selfless nature of Isabel’s ‘project’ deserved mention. “She has a stash of Christmas presents out across from Rocket Fuels. They’re for the children at the orphanage.”
“A storage locker full?” Phillip asked doubtfully.
“Yes,” Gloria replied, gaining confidence in Isabel’s decision.
“She must be really acting out the Princess side of her personality,,,”
“Princess?” Gloria challenged. “I know she’s your only daughter, but Princess, I don’t think so. I’ve seen her before she’s had her morning Tabasco,,,”
“No, not small ‘P’ princess, I mean Princess as in the daughter of King Zan and Queen Lauranna,,,”
“She’s royalty? Frack me! I had no idea.”
“Yea,” Diane answered. “It’s not something she tells people,,,”
Meanwhile Charles turned to Phillip. “Christmas stuff?”
“You’ll see,” Phillip warned direly as he led them through the garage, through the dining room, and into the family room, where he screeched to a stop, causing the others to slam into his back in a chain reaction.
Isabel was sitting on the couch, with a sleeping Alex’s head in her lap. She held one finger over her mouth, asking for quiet, while she stroked his hair with the other. “I think I wore him out,” she explained softly.
By now the rest of the adults had worked their way into the room and were looking around with differing levels of shock and amazement. “It looks like Santa Claus threw up in here,” Charles commented.
“Seriously,” Gloria agreed.
“This is why we beat feet out town?” Charles asked.
“Yea,” Phillip answered. “We learned our lesson two years ago. Last year we went to Albuquerque while Max stayed here,,,”
“Isabel practically worked him to death,,,”
“Hey!” Isabel protested, causing Alex to stir. “Sorry Sweetie,,,”
“What?” Alex stammered as he sat upright. “No problem, only closed my eyes for a moment,,,”
“Come on Sweetie, I’ll tuck you in.”
“No, I’m not going to bed this early on a Friday night, especially during a four day weekend,” Alex said dismissively. “Let’s go down to the Crash and see who’s there. Maybe we can put together an after hours party.”
“Sorry Sweetie,” Isabel replied with obvious disappointment in her voice. “Max is taking Liz out to Señor Chow’s for dinner, and then they’re playing pool.”
“The Giant Haystacks are playing at the University House in Las Cruces tomorrow night,” Alex said consolingly. “We could go dancing?”
“It’s a four hour drive back, we’d have to get a room,” Isabel replied hopefully, her mind already in high gear.
“Okay, dancing tomorrow. Tonight we’ll stay in and get a pizza. Go upstairs, put your PJ’s on then come downstairs with your hairbrush.”
As Diane and Gloria watched Alex scoot through the kitchen, following Isabel up to change, she turned to her friend, “They are so much better together than they ever were apart.”
“They’re so lucky to have found each other so early in life.”
“Yup,” Diane agreed. “All in all, life is good.”
As Alex chugged up the stairs he thought to himself, “I get to snuggle with Isabel. All in all, life is good.”
Isabel stripped down to her underwear and, in deference to her husband’s command that she not upset their fathers, pulled on a modest yet luxurious set of red satin pajamas. In her mind she was already planning tomorrow’s seduction of Alex. ‘I’ll wear shorts for the drive down, and leg tease him all the way. That’ll get me laid before dinner. Then while we’re dancing I’ll wear my backless Vera Wang with lace top stockings. That’ll get me laid again when we get back to our room. Then I’ll cuddle and fall asleep naked in his arms, spending the entire night in his dreams. If I play my cards right, we’ll both be ready to frack the ever loving shit out of each other come morning. After I get my three introductory ‘O’s’, we’ll super connect and I’ll try for two big ‘O’s’ instead of the usual one. Course that’ll mean that he’ll be unconscious for the ride home, and I’ll be quite sore, but all in all, life is good.’
“You do realize what your son is going to do to my daughter, don’t you?” Phillip said dejectedly.
“I’d offer to beat him up for you,” Charles replied taking a deep sip of his Black Jack. “But to be honest I’m afraid of what Isabel would do to me if I did. The whole situation sucks.”
“Yup,” Phillip agreed. “All in all, life truly sucks.”
**********
Saturday morning Alex looked up to see Isabel enter the kitchen, but he was surprised by her appearance, to say the least. Over a pair of flannel sleep pants she was wearing one of his wife-beater shirts under a stretched out but comfortable looking pink knit camisole, all covered by a thin housecoat that she had not bothered to close.
“What the frack is that infernal racket?” she asked with irritation as she reached for her mug and a tea bag.
“Language dear,” Gloria warned from her place in front of her brand new stove.
“That’s a leaf blower,” Charles answered innocently, without looking up from the sports section.
“Who would waste their money on a leaf blower?” Isabel snapped. “This is Roswell. There’s only seven trees in the entire city.”
“You know something Izzy?” Alex teased. “I think this is the first time you've ever come downstairs with bed head,,,”
“Hsssssss,” Isabel snapped through bared teeth.
“That had better be intended for Alex, young lady,” Gloria interjected, “Because if you ever get catty with me I’ll drag you down to the vet’s by your hair and have you fixed.”
Charles put down the sports page and took a quick look at the woman before deciding that it was time to clean the garage. “Come with me Son,” he commanded as he stood. Maybe it was too early to clean the garage, but they would definitely retreat there, while they still could. He didn't quite understand what was going on, but he knew on an instinctive level that it would not be good for him.
Not even noticing that the men were gone, Gloria looked at her newest daughter-in-law with concern. “What's wrong honey?”
“Nothing really,” Isabel said listlessly as she sat down in the seat that had been warmed by her husband. “I am half human you know, and still all teenager, so with the long day we’re going to have today I was looking forward to nine-and-a-quarter hours of sleep, but due to that racket I got only seven-and-a-half hours instead.” Seeing Gloria struggling to keep from laughing, she couldn’t help herself. “What?”
“You scheduled yourself for nine-and-a-quarter hours of sleep? Most people simply settle for sleeping in late, but you have to schedule exactly nine-and-a-quarter hours,” Gloria teased as she slid a plateful of bacon and eggs in front of Isabel. Then, leaning down, she brushed a gentle kiss on top of her head. “Don’t ever change.”
“Thanks,” Isabel said with surprise.
“Now don’t you tell Alex I made those for you. If he wants breakfast he can make his own,” Gloria admonished. “Us girls are outnumbered in this household, we have to stick together.”
“Outnumbered?” Isabel asked with confusion.
“Just you wait until Jesse gets home,” Gloria warned. “You’ll see what I mean.”
“I can’t imagine you ever feeling outnumbered,” Isabel replied honestly, but her mood turned as she reached for the Tabasco, which by now occupied a permanent place on the table. Vigorously shaking the condiment over her plate, she continued, “Don’t ever change, you say. I’m afraid I’m incapable of changing. Just look at me, the first thing I did this morning was get into a fight with Alex,,,”
“I’m sure he didn’t mean anything by that bed head comment,,,”
“I know,,,”
“In fact I’m sure he meant it as a good thing, that you’re getting more comfortable around us, that you’re allowing yourself to be yourself,,,”
Isabel reached out and took Gloria’s hands in her own, “That’s exactly the way I feel,,, I’m,,, This is like home to me. Now all I have to do is apologize,,,”
“You’ll do no such thing,” Gloria commanded. “There’s something you need to learn about guys. They have what they call a no harm-no foul philosophy. They don’t sweat the little things.” She paused to gather her thoughts. “If you’re going to spent the rest of your life with Alex, you’re both going to have to learn to stop tip-toeing around each other, and develop a trust that you’re going to have to shrug off the millions of little offenses and disappointments that you will encounter every day. Otherwise you’ll let life pass you by because you’re afraid to get out of bed in the morning.”
Isabel’s face broke into a radiant smile as she recognized the truth in the older and wiser woman’s words.
“Now take tonight’s supper for example. With you kids gone Charles will be disappointed when I put a turkey loaf on the table, but into every life a little turkey loaf must fall; besides, if he wants a steak he can damned well take me out to dinner.”
“So what are we doing out here Pops?” Alex asked.
“I really don't know,” Charles answered honestly, “But things were going from bad to worse in there and I figured it was time to get out before we were blamed for something,,,”
“Blamed for what? We didn't do anything wrong,” a reply that earned a chuckle from his father. “Wait a minute, you don't think I'm in trouble because of the bed head comment, do you?”
“No I doubt it had anything to do with that,” Charles said reassuringly. “Do you remember how you used to complain that your mom would jump on your case the moment you walked in from school? How you simply wanted a couple of minutes to listen to music or play your guitar, giving you time to mentally change gears? Well Isabel just needed a moment to wake-up. That’s all.”
“Oh, so everything’s okay then?,,”
“I didn’t say that,” Charles chuckled. “We’re guys, and if they want us in the dog house, they’ll put us there. There’s nothing you can do to prevent that,,,”
“Frack me,,,” Alex moaned.
“Don’t worry about it,” Charles admonished as he stood and started back towards the kitchen. “Isabel’s a good kid, and she’s madly in love with you. As long as she doesn’t spend too much time with your Mom, you’ll be all right.”
“That’s right, she does love me,” Alex waxed dreamily as he rose to follow before his father’s words struck home. “Wait a minute, define too much time!”
“As Gloria watched her men folk return to the kitchen, she became alarmed as she watched Alex open the pantry. “What are you doing?”
“Hummm?” he answered without conscious thought. “Feels like a Captain Crunch and Count Chocula kind of morning.”
Gloria’s hand shot out, restraining Isabel before she could rise. “Sit down!” she commanded as she rose and walked to the refrigerator. Coming out with the carton of eggs she continued, “As long as you live in my house, you’re not eating cereal on a Sunday morning.”
Charles sat at the head of the table, both hands wrapped around his steaming mug of black coffee, watching the interchange between the others with amusement. His wife gave Isabel a wink while Isabel shyly smiled at Alex, who responded with his trademark goofy grin. ‘Apologies offered and accepted,’ he thought to himself, ‘And all is right and wonderful in the world.’
**********
Meanwhile, at Jim’s house Ava placed her hand over Kyle’s CD player for a third time, this time scrunching her entire face in concentration, but within moments it was apparent that she could not undo whatever spell had been placed upon it. “Sorry,” she gasped as she gave up. “I don’t know who did this, but they have serious Mo-Jo going for them,,,”
“Fracking Max,,,”
“Max?” Ava replied a little too quickly.
“Yea Max,,,” Kyle said slowly. “Why do you say that? Do you know something?”
“No, not really, but Max and I were married. We were King and Queen. If he did this I’m pretty confident that I should be able to undo it.”
“It couldn’t be Michael,” Kyle pondered. “It’s too subtle a gag for him; besides, even if he would have done it for Liz, he would have botched the job and blown my stereo to kingdom come.” Kyle paused a moment as a look of sheer horror passed over his face as he had a new thought, “Isabel?”
“You think Isabel did it?”
“It must be. With her seal thing going for her you wouldn’t be able to undo it.”
“It could be Alex. He’s Liz’s best friend, and with his Granolith seal, we really don’t know what his powers are,,,”
“No, this is something Isabel would do,,,”
“Sounds like you’re going to have to do a little groveling,,,”
“Grovel to Isabel?” Kyle replied dismissively. “No way. I’ll rip it out and put in a new one first, but a least in the mean time you were able to cut the volume a bit.”
“Yea, there’s that,” Ava agreed, knowing that she had accomplished much more. In addition to cutting the volume to a tolerable level, she had covered for Max and kept herself out of hot water, all the while keeping Liz’s secret while in the process earning herself free Crashdown food for a week.
TBC
My completed stories:
The Seekers, I&A with angst
http://www.majiksfanfic.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?t=282
Alex C Whitman SSAIC, (Supervising Special Agent in Charge) I&A with uber-angst
http://www.majiksfanfic.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?t=488
The Seekers, I&A with angst
http://www.majiksfanfic.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?t=282
Alex C Whitman SSAIC, (Supervising Special Agent in Charge) I&A with uber-angst
http://www.majiksfanfic.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?t=488
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stargazer md
- Addicted Roswellian
- Posts: 120
- Joined: Sun Jun 06, 2004 10:25 pm
- Location: New Hampshire, USA
Stargazer Gets the Girl
Chapter 24-F There be Heroes Here
By Stargazer MD
Sunday evening found Alex treating Isabel to one of her special stir-fries at the Crashdown and despite the fact that his taste buds were in a free fall, he was still able to get some enjoyment from his Will Smith burger and Saturn rings. Of course the fact that Michael had added some chopped Habaneros peppers to his grilled onions didn’t hurt. But despite their ‘in’ with the owners, they were seated at the counter for all the booths were full.
“What’s going on?” Isabel asked quickly as Liz grabbed their empty dishes. “I’ve never seen you this busy on a Sunday night.”
“You haven’t heard?” Liz moaned as she blew a puff of air straight up, tossing her bangs out of her eyes. “There was a sighting,,,”
“Sighting is not the term I would use,” Jeff interrupted. “Golden opportunity is more like it.”
Seeing Alex’s brow rise in question he continued, “Business is booming,,,”
“Business is crazy is more like it,” Liz rebutted sarcastically.
“Crazy is good Pumpkin. Crazy is what’s going to pay your way through college,” Jeff continued as they headed back towards the kitchen.
“Great!” Isabel snapped. “Here we go again,,,”
Alex placed his hand on hers as well as reaching out for her through their connection. “Lets not jump to any conclusions,” he said as he reached for his cell.
“What are you doing?” Isabel asked nervously.
“Izzy,” Alex said reassuringly as he lifted her hand to his mouth and kissed it. “There’s two big difference between this time and the last time we went down this road.”
“Really,” Isabel teased, a reaction that surprised even herself, but while he hadn’t been able to totally allay her fears, she did have infinite faith in her husband’s ability to take care of her.
“Yea, first, we’re connected,” he said as he flipped his phone open.
“And?”
“And, even more importantly, we know we haven’t done anything to draw attention to ourselves,,, Sheriff Valenti,,,”
“~~Evening Alex. What can I do for you? Everything okay?”~~”
“I believe so, but I’m at the Crash with Izzy, and the place is swarming with tourist, tourist who are talking about a sighting. Have you heard anything?”
“~~I got a call from Clovis Air Force Base about a week ago. They wanted to advise us that a tanker flew low over the city with it’s lights on. I didn’t think anything of it at the time, but Amy told me that her business was picking up, so I called Max yesterday and warned him that we might start hearing about a sighting, but I guess you all haven’t caught up with each other yet.~~”
“But nothing official’s going to come of it, right?”
“~~Well seeing as how the entire thing is a known Air Force screw up, I can’t imaging the government doing any thing, and I’m sure as hell not going to get involved.~~”
“Thanks Sheriff, that’s good to hear.”
“~~Okay then, you say howdy to Miss Evans for me, and you be sure to let me know if there’s anything else I can do for you.~~”
“I will, bye.” He turned towards his wife. “The sighting was nothing more than a low flying Air Force jet. We’ve got nothing more to worry about.”
“Well, that’s good to hear,” Isabel replied, visibly relieved, “But judging by the tips the girls are making, I bet they’d wish for a low flying jet everyday. Ready?”
Alex hopped up and held Isabel’s coat for her, but as they said good bye to Liz and left, he couldn’t help but think that more alien activities would be good for every business in the city.
**********
Tish leaned back against the bank of lockers while she confidently placed her bet. “Maria, I understand everything you say, but I’m still betting on twelve, but having made it that far, I think he’s then going to drop dead,,,”
“Alex is not going to drop dead,,,”
“Isabel,,,” Tish gasped as she elbowed Maria in the side.
“Tish!” Isabel gushed warmly as she gave her friend an air hug. “How was your date with Bruce?”
“Okay, I guess,” Tish replied, confusion evident in her voice. “I mean, he promised dinner and a movie, and then he took me to dinner and a movie,,,”
“That’s all?” Maria teased. “Nothing else?”
“Well of course there was ‘something’ else, but all that amounted to was making out on the porch when he dropped me off.”
While Isabel just smiled, Maria figured there was more dish to be had. “And how was the good night kiss?”
“Oh, it was a good kiss,” Tish teased.
“A really good kiss?” Isabel teased.
“It was such a good kiss I had to go inside and wash my cat,,,”
“So you have a really clean cat?”
“I’ll tell you, I have the cleanest cat in West Roswell High,” Tish cooed as she slinked away with an extra wiggle in her step.
Isabel watched Tish walk away before turning back to Maria in confusion. “You can’t wash a cat! First cats groom themselves, second a cat would rip you to shreds if you tried to put one in a tub, and,,, what does washing a cat have to do with coming home from a date?”
Maria looked at Isabel with a look of incredulity on her face. “You’re serious. You don’t know what she was talking about, do you?”
“Washing a cat,,,”
“Iz, not much gets by you, but when you miss something, it’s a doozie,” Maria said as she slammed her locker door before wrapping her around her friends back and leading her towards their first class. “Bruce left her all worked up, so she stripped, laid down in her tub, schooched down so her ‘cat’ was under the spout with her legs up against the wall, then she turned the water on,,,”
“She didn’t!” Isabel gasped as she stopped, pushing Maria into the alcove of an empty classroom and forcing her to turn and face her.
“Oh yea, and knowing Tish she stayed there until the hot water ran out.”
“But that would cause her to,,,”
“Pretty much instantly and continuously,” Maria said with a smile. “Why do you think she’s always in such a good mood.” Seeing a look of disbelief on her tall friends face, she continued, “You’re not telling me,,, you,,,”
“No!” Isabel gasped in shock. “Why would I do that? I have Alex!”
“Come on, never?” Maria probed. “Are you telling me that having dated almost every desirable guy in school,,,”
“No,,,”
“You never got hot and bothered once,,,”
“No! Never! Not until I decided I wanted Alex.”
“How is that possible,” Maria rebutted in disbelief. “You don’t mean to tell me that you’ve never gotten all hot and horny on a date, that’s,,, that’s,,, inhuman.”
“Ria,” Isabel answered softly, with a smile that her friend thought of her as just another normal girl. “I’m not human, remember? I waited for two lifetimes for Alex. I was made for him.”
“Wow,” Maria gasped in amazement.
Isabel silently smiled in response as she gave her friend a moment to let it all sink in.
Maria’s eyes went wide as she processed this new information. “It’s true, isn’t it! You’ll die without him,,,”
Maria placed a finger over Maria’s lips, quieting her before answering her. “So the Granolith tells us. I don’t know if it’s true or not, but I’m in no hurry to find out.”
Their discussion was interrupted by the warning bell.
“So Tish washes her cat, hugh?” Isabel teased as they reentered the hallway. “Have you been known to wash your cat?”
“Well,” Maria drawled out. “If I did, I probably wouldn’t admit it, but then again, I’m only human.”
**********
“Alex!” Thumper shouted as she headed for him like a heat seeking missile. Closing in on him, she leapt the last ten feet, slamming into him, hanging on with her arms around his neck while she covered his face with kisses. This public display of affection did not go unnoticed, not only because of the participants, but also because Thumper was wearing her usual short tartan kilt over a pair of brown opaque tights.
“Isabel, don’t blast Thumper into oblivion in front of witnesses,” Maria commanded nervously. “This would be a really bad time for the green eyed Alien Princess to come out,,,” but to her surprise, when she looked over, Isabel was smiling.
“Butt Cheeks!!!” a nearby student called out, ringleader of a table full of freshmen who were doubtlessly getting their first peek at Thumper’s epic assets.
Isabel’s smile faded from her face as she picked a peanut from her trail mix. She rifled the improvised projectile at the apparent ringleader of the offending table, striking him on the top of his ear. As the frosh looked over, Isabel leveled a long perfectly manicured finger at him, throwing in her best ice-princess scowl for good measure. Moments later the entire offending table was retreating from the suddenly unfriendly Quad.
“Okay,” Maria stammered. “What’s happening? Not only is Thumper hanging all over your husband, but you’re defending,,,”
“Her Grand Jury appearance was this morning,” Isabel said happily as she watched Alex put his arm around her shoulder and led her towards their table.
Thumper broke free and made her way to Isabel’s free side. She wrapped her arms around the tall teen’s shoulder and kissed her on the cheek. “I love you guys,” she gushed as she broke free and sat down. “You’re my heroes.”
“I take it things went well?” Isabel said softly.
“I’m free!” Thumper exclaimed. “All charges dropped.”
“That’s wonderful,” Michael replied sincerely as he settled next to Maria on the opposite side of the table.
“And now I can talk,” Thumper said, her mood leveling. “All these weeks I’ve been wanting to say something,,, All those horrible things they’ve been saying about me.” The first of many tears slipped down her cheek as Isabel took her hand. “What I couldn’t tell anyone is that her parents left a twenty dollar bill (15 €) under the keys to the Pathfinder. They had promised the kids that I would take them to McDonald’s for McFlurries,,, I didn’t take the car without permission,,, I didn’t take the kids,,, I didn’t do anything wrong,,, I loved her,,,” Thumper cried out as she completely broke down.
“I know,” Isabel said soothingly as she pulled Thumper against her shoulder while the entire group closed in on her in support. It took a while for Thumper to cry herself out, but the entire assemblage was shocked when they found that Michael was the last one to turn away. Instead he took her hand as he looked her in the eye. “Thumper, I know something about,,, hard times,” he explained quietly. “You don’t need to believe me now, in fact you don’t need to believe me until you’re ready to, but things do get better. You won’t forget, and there will be times when the memories will hit you like a ton of bricks, but given time to heal, you will find peace with yourself.”
**********
Meanwhile, south of Roswell, Amy’s heart fluttered as Jim again wrapped his arms around her, pulling her tight into his strong chest.
Now most people think way to much when they do this,” he said softly, his breath causing a tingle as it brushed against her cheek, “But the secret is not to think at all. Just let your body relax and do what it needs to do.”
“If you think that’s best,” Amy teased as she pulled the trigger, putting every round into the black.
“Okay, I’m going downrange to change targets,” Jim said as Amy placed the Browning High Power flat on the table. She watched as Jim brought a larger target frame downrange but her questioning look turned to dismay as she was now facing off against a profile target, the profile of a human form. Moments later Jim was back by her side. Seeing her look of shock on her face, he tried to explain. “I hope this never happens Amy, and if it does, I hope I’m there to protect you,,,”
“Jim,” Amy pointed at the target. “I don’t think I can do this,,,”
“Amy,” Jim pleaded as he took her by the arms. “Don’t think! Just point and shoot! The only time you’ll ever have to do this is if you or Maria is in danger.” He looked her in the eye, and finding that he was getting through, he continued, “Think of Maria needing you, then point and shoot,” but the smile that crept over her face scared him.
Without another word Amy snatched the weapon and a spare magazine from the table. She pivoted towards the target, thumbing the magazine release lever as she did so, ejecting the empty magazine onto the ground. “Remember that morning I caught Michael in bed with Maria?” she asked as she slammed the fresh magazine in place. Lifting the weapon into battery, she thumbed the slide release, loading a fresh cartridge into the pistol’s chamber as she slid the safety lever into fire position. As the weapon aligned with her target, she began firing, emptying the entire magazine in seconds.
Stunned at the fluidity of her motions and the efficiency of her attack, Jim could only stare at the target. He took a dry gulp as he looked at the groin area of the target, finding it shot clean away.
“You’re right, this was fun,” Amy said cheerfully as she packed the shooting supplies into her pistol case, not noticing the cold sweat that had broken out on Jim’s brow. “Why don’t you come out to the house for lunch. You should be rewarded for all your hard work you’ve done,” she continued, but her voice turned flirty as she continued, “And Maria’s working at the Crashdown after school. We’ll have the entire afternoon to ourselves.”
“Ahh,,, I’d like that,” Jim replied, still not able to take his eyes off the mutilated target, but he couldn’t help thinking, ‘What the frack have I created?’
**********
At the warning bell Isabel broke off from the others and headed for her next class, bumping into Kyle at the door. “What’s wrong? You look like someone shot your dog, well,,, if you had a dog.”
“It’s nothing,” he responded morosely.
“That’s not what I hear. Word is you have to meet with your father on a professional level this afternoon,” Isabel replied evenly. Although Kyle was a teenage jock who did stupid jock things, Isabel had spent enough time with him over the last year or so that she had seen his softer side, so she wanted to try to not make things any worse for him.
“Yea,” Kyle sighed, “It’s not going to be pretty.”
“So what happened?”
“I don’t know, things have just gotten so out of control. Between Pam getting hurt and Steve’s truck getting slimed.”
“So what are you going to do?”
Kyle shook his head in response as he stood and picked up his uneaten lunch. “I don’t know, but I hope someone comes up with something, because if this feud keeps growing, Pam’s not the only person who’s going to get hurt.”
*********
As soon as school let out Alex raided the kitchen looking for a snack. “Hey Mom,” he said cheerfully to Diane as he kissed her on the cheek.
“Hi Alex,” Diane replied cheerfully as she looked behind him. “Where’s Iz?”
“She’s taking a meeting. Kyle got into some trouble, and she’s trying to help find a solution,,,”
“Nothing serious I hope.”
“No, hopefully not.”
“There’s a package for her, from France.”
“Paris? Oh, it’s probably from Simone Pérèle of Paris. It’s a bra,,,”
“A bra? From Paris? Sometimes I wonder about her, what would possess her to order a bra from Paris?”
“It’s custom made, a matter of fit, comfort and style,” Alex answered cheerfully. “You do realize that eighty-five percent of women wear the wrong size bra, and a properly fitting bra consist of at least thirty-two pieces of fabric?”
“Well I guess Iz can spend her money as she chooses,,,”
“What makes you think she’s spending her money? She put it on my credit card saying that if I liked her boobs to stay the way they are,,,”
“Hum, hum, hummm,,,” Diane interrupted while stealthily pointing towards Isabel’s father.
“Alex!” Phillip commanded. “You know way too much about bras, so put the package down and then put your hand between your legs.”
“Excuse me?”
“Put your hand between your legs and tell me if you still have a set of balls there.”
“Yea, I still have a set of balls,,,”
“Good! Because quite frankly, as much as I love seeing you with Isabel, you’re starting to worry me.”
**********
“,,,But I didn’t know if I had to take a dump, or just fart, so just for safety’s sake, I went into the bathroom. Well it turns out that all I had in me was a little ball of crap, but just before my cheeks hit the seat, I farted like the mighty camel of the trackless desert. Well that ball of crap hit the water like a canon ball, and created such a splash my ass felt like I was walking through a garden sprinkler,,, and in my opinion the city is right to regulate garden sprinklers,” Kyle hastily added as he looked down the hall. “We live in a fracking desert, and water’s important.”
Isabel entered the anteroom, all the while giving Kyle the evil eye with one brow arched. “Afternoon, Splash,” she said haughty, looking at Kyle as if he were something dirty on the bottom of her shoe.
“Oh, you heard that, hugh?” Kyle said dejectedly, knowing that this was the wrong time to bring up his CD player.
Steve smirked at Kyle’s discomfort as he nodded to the new arrivals. “Hey.”
“What are you doing here?” Owen snapped, eyeing Michael skeptically.
“I just got caught up in the magic of the moment,” Michael muttered.
“Deputy Blackwood, good to see you back in Roswell where you belong,” Isabel said respectfully. “As for Michael, he’s with me.”
“Meaning no disrespect, Miss Evans, but what gives?” Owen replied in a much calmer voice. “Don’t tell me those jocks are lawyering up.”
“No, Deputy, my presence here is neither official nor expected,” Isabel said with an evil grin. “I’m just trying to find some opportunity in a bad situation.”
Owen’s face cracked into a wide smile for the first time in a long time. “Maybe I should take Jim down to the Crashdown for a coffee and let you take care of business,,,”
“No way!” Isabel interrupted. “The Sheriff’s been working up a good head of steam all weekend, and it would be a shame to deny him a chance to give out a good ass kicking,” but her retort was interrupted by the sound of shouting coming from Jim’s office. “Show’s on,” she quipped as she headed towards the voices.
“You slimed my truck!”
“What?”
“You covered my truck with pig sperm,,,”
“Hey! None of that language, keep it civil!” Jim interjected.
“What the fr,,,” John Andrews started to reply, only to stop and look at Deputy Blackwood warily. “What are you talking about?” he continued more reasonably. “First there isn’t enough pig sperm in the whole county to cover your truck, but more importantly, I’m a truck kind of guy. I might slime Kyle’s ride, but I would never let anyone hurt the Lydick Lightning,,,”
“Nobody slimed your truck,” Michael said impatiently.
“What?” Kyle protested. “Dude, you weren’t there,,,”
“Did you ever wonder why there’s a ‘no parking’ spot behind the Crashdown?”
“There’s not a ‘no parking’ space behind the Crashdown,” Steve protested. “It’s private property.”
“There is,” Isabel said softly, “Right under the exhaust blower for the grill.”
“What are you saying,” Kyle demanded, his eyes opening wide in horror. “That the mess on his truck was hamburger grease?
“You fracking numb frack,” Steve whined towards Kyle. “You’re the one who told me to park there,,,”
“Sounds like the boys at Goddard had nothing to do with this,” Jim interjected.
“What about Pam getting hurt?,,” Kyle asked hopefully.
“I talked to Miss Troy,” Jim advised. “She doesn’t know who attacked her, but she said that they were probably about twenty, too old to be in high school,,,”
Steve and Kyle looked at each other in horror. The war that they’d been waging for the past several weeks had been based on faulty intelligence. Kyle stepped forward, stopping directly in front of John Andrews, who was flanked by his co-captains, Jim (Big Red) Robinson and Kenny Young. “Dude, I’m sorry. I didn’t know,,,”
Following the ‘guy code,’ and knowing about Kyle’s softer side, John let him off the hook before he got all weepy eyed or tried to hug him, embarrassing them both. “Fer-get-about-it.”
“Sorry I hit you,” Steve added.
“No problem,” John sneered, indicative that despite letting Kyle off the hook his problem with Steve was far from over. “You hit like a pussy.” He then looked over to the Sheriff, “Are we done here?”
Having seen the look in John’s eyes, Jim answered, “No, we’re not. As a matter of fact Isabel called me earlier with a proposal.”
Drawing on a deep pool of confidence, Isabel stepped forward. “We have some real problems here in Roswell. We have families with no place to live, and even worse, we have children with no families. Now, instead of trying to make sure these children have a good Christmas, it seems the entire cities getting caught up in your little pissing contest.”
“Pissing contest?” Kyle muttered, drawing a sharp look from his father.
“So after hearing about how things had gotten so out of hand I decided that there must be a way to solve all of our problems at the same time,,,”
“What do you expect us to be able to do?” Jim Robinson asked.
Isabel walked up to him, an athlete twice her size, and looked him in the eye. “I was found homeless in the desert and brought to Casa Maria, where I spent the Christmas before I was adopted,” she said softly. “So I’m one of the lucky ones, but there are still too many children still looking for a family to love them. Tell me you won’t help them.”
“I’ll help you,” Big Red replied gently, impressed by her countenance and confidence. “Tell me what you want me to do.”
“A benefit game,,,”
“You think a basketball game is going to help?” Deputy Blackwood interjected skeptically.
“Yes, a bury the hatchet game to benefit the homeless shelter and the orphanage,,,” the Sheriff replied.
“The only ‘burying of the hatchet,’ that’s likely to occur would be in each other’s head,” Kenny muttered under his breath.
“He’s right,” Jim Robinson agreed. “Goddard and West have been rivals for years, and after the way we’ve been treated during our past two games,,,”
“Which you won by default,,,” Steve spat.
“We don’t need no stinking default to beat you guys,,,” John replied.
“That’s enough of that shit,” Jim shouted before leaning into Steve’s personal space. “I thought you were keeping quiet because you were smart, because you knew you still have an assault charge hanging over your head, a charge which could kill any chance of getting a scholarship and getting out of this town.”
Steve suddenly found his shoes very interesting, remaining silent as the discussion continued.
“You would have to mix the teams to get it to work,” Isabel said, encouraged by the fact that she had already got one convert. “The Captains would have to pick players from both teams,,,”
“Never happen,” Kyle said under his breath.
“KYLE!”
“No, he’s right,” Jim Robinson agreed while making positive eye contact with the Sheriff. “However the teams are picked,
the process would have to be arbitrary.”
“By address,,,”
“By the first letter of our last names,,,”
“Odd and Even,” Isabel suggested. “Jersey numbers ending in zero, two and four play for the orphanage, and jersey numbers ending one, three and five play for the homeless shelter,,,”
“No!” Big Red Robinson interjected. “Odds play for the orphanage.”
“We’ll play at our school,,,”
“Neutral territory,” Isabel snapped. “The community center,,,”
“I thought it was closed with the fire and all,,,”
“Just the kitchen,” Isabel replied coldly. “The rest of the building is fine, and we are going to have this benefit if I have to kick every one of your asses myself,,,”
Unobserved, Isabel leaned close to Kyle. “You help me with this, and I’ll help you with your little ‘stereo’ problem.”
“Now,” Jim bellowed, “Get the frack out of my office!”
**********
“You and Thumper must be the last two girls in school who still wear pantyhose,” Maria commented cheerfully on Isabel’s outfit.
“Newsflash girlfriend, I've never owned a pair of pantyhose, which is lucky for me since Alex likes me in stockings. So that leaves Thumper, with whom I have an understanding.”
“Seriously? You ratted our Alex's leg thing to Thumper?,,”
“Well no, I have to be a special kind of stupid to give her that kind of ammunition. Let's just say that I understand her. Alex rescued her, and she has a hero worship kind of crush on him. It's all kind of sweet and innocent, and after years of being the butt of every joke, Alex really deserves to have a groupie,,,”
“And you're okay with that?”
“Sure, but to be honest I'm keeping my friends close, and the girl with a crush on my boyfriend closer.”
Maria watched as Isabel placed her hand over the combination knob of her locker, opening it utilizing her own express method. “Do you even remember your combination?”
Hidden by her locker door Isabel smirked at her friends little dig, but when she closed her locker door and turned to face Maria her face was all business. “What are you worried about, I can open my locker with no glow at all.”
“So I'll see you at lunch then?”
“No, Alex and I have plans. He's going to help me prepare for the Spanish AP exam I have this afternoon.”
“That's our Alex, the perfect study buddy,,,”
Sensing an opportunity to return fire, Isabel stepped in tight to her friend, crowding her personal space and making her uncomfortable. “Alex and I am not going to study. He is going to take me in to the eraser room and frack me into submission. Then I will be relaxed for my exam, and I'll ace it.”
“For God sakes Padmé, too much information,” Maria complained as she put her hands over her ears.
“Ria, I'm going to let you in on a little secret. We are more alike then you realize. We both like to torquing each other up, but in addition to that you like being torqued up.”
“I do not?,,”
“Are you kidding? When you leave here you go to spend the rest of the day making Michaels life miserable, but in your mind it's going to be an entire day of foreplay. I just hope that Michael gives you as good as Alex is going to give me.”
Isabel stepped back, preparing to head for her class when Maria grabbed her by the elbow. The pixie leaned in close and whispered, “Just promise me that you're going to give Alex as good as I'm going to give Michael, and I'll say we’re even.”
Leaving the alcove Isabel turned left while Maria turned right, but she was stopped moments later by one of her classmates.
“Maria, you’re the one running the pool?” he asked.
“Shut the frack up!” Maria snapped angrily before dragging the clueless one out of traffic. “Do you have any idea what Isabel will do to us if she finds out,,,”
“I got twenty on six,” Octavo continued in a much softer tone of voice. “And after Alex conks out Maybe Isabel’ll be ready for a real man,,,”
“You?” Maria choked out. “You and Isabel?”
“Yea, why not?”
“If Isabel thought for one minute that you had thoughts like that about her, she’d kill you the moment you turned onto her block.”
**********
“So what do you think?” Isabel asked as she concluded the tour of the Albuquerque house.
“It’s nice,,,” Diane replied hesitantly.
“It’s big,” Gloria added bluntly.
“It’s got enough room for us, our business and our guests,” Isabel said indulgently, accepting that any objections from their parents would be more about their leaving home than any shortcomings of the house.
“It’s too far from Roswell,” Phillip complained.
In response to this, Alex led the fathers to the French doors overlooking the rear deck. He pointed to a portion of the back yard behind the garage. “Before we move in, I’m going to have them install a pad mounted emergency generator and a security system,,,”
“I thought you said the business suite was on a separate electrical service?”
“It’s on a separately metered sub-panel, but that meter’s part of the house system, not the power companies. That way the electrical usage of the business can be measured and written off as a business expense. As far as installing a generator, I’ll have them place an automatically activated cut-over switch that’s rated for the whole house. That way if Isabel’s ever home alone and the power goes out, she won’t have to do a thing,,,’
“I bet she likes that,” Phillip quipped.
“Actually she hates the thought of it, as well as the security system I’m having installed,” Alex answered. “She thinks it’s a waste of time and money,,,”
“What do you think?” Phillip challenged.
“She doesn’t know it yet, but she’s going to loose this time,” Alex quipped. “She is my family, and nothing is going to stand in the way of my making sure she is safe and comfortable.
While Phillip nodded appreciatively, Charles asked what kind of security system he was looking at.
“Brinks,” Alex answered. “I’m going to go with a perimeter system instead of motion detectors, which will cut way down on false alarms plus allow Isabel to keep the system armed while she’s moving around the house,,,”
“Land line?”
“No cellular, with battery back-up, not to mention the generator,” Alex replied confidently. “The antenna’s going to be mounted in the attic, and it will be protected by a motion detector. That way no one will be able to attack the system without setting it off.”
“You’re kind of on the outskirts of the city to have natural gas, aren’t you?”
“Yea, this was one of the first houses built in the neighborhood, so instead of natural gas, it has propane.”
“I don’t see a tank,,,”
“Pops, the place was built by an architect. It was his home and office. He buried the tank off the end of the garage. I already looked into it and it’s big enough to support the house and generator for at least a week if something ever happens,,,”
“Weapons cache?” Phillip asked offhandedly.
“Yea, if you need back-up and we have to come charging halfway across the state I don’t want to get stopped for speeding with a trunk full of illegal weapons.”
“In the hallway wall between the master bedroom suite and the office suite. There’s a closet behind that section of wall, so I’ll ask Isabel bump the sheetrock back so the wall will end up a foot thick, plenty of room to secrete a weapons locker.”
“Well, it sounds as if you have everything covered,” Charles sighed.
Meanwhile Isabel was showing the Moms the office suite. “Alex is going to rack mount all of the computer equipment in this alcove, and then in the main section there’s room for three workstations, a drawing table for me, a small conference table, and a casual corner with Alex’s recliner, a futon, mini-fridge, and an entertainment center,,,”
“Alex has a recliner?” Gloria asked in amazement.
“He will,” Isabel replied with a smile.
“Why do you have an entertainment center here,” Diane questioned. “Your fathers home office is just that, an office. I would have thought that you learned not to mix business and pleasure from him?,,”
“This isn’t the same thing Mom,” Isabel answered. “Daddy’s a lawyer, and as such he has to generate billable hours. That means he has to maintain a dedicated office, but it also means that when he’s not working on a project he can turn his work world off. It’s not the same for us. We may go for weeks at a time doing nothing but working, eating, and sleeping while we’re struggling to deliver a project under deadline, it’s just as likely that one of us may be working while the other is off, but we still want to stay close by. To be honest, I expect that for the first year or so, we’ll be living in here, and may never go downstairs,” she concluded as Alex and their fathers joined them.
“So what timetable are you looking at?” Phillip asked nonchalantly.
“The estate will probate any day now, in fact it already may have,” Alex answered. “Our inspections happen this week, and then we have until January First to sign a purchase and sales agreement or the house gets listed with a broker.
“Who did you decide to do the home inspection?” Charles asked.
“I asked Chief Montoya, who called the State Fire Marshal, off the record of course, for a recommendation. Turned out he liked the same guy you recommended,” Alex answered, nodding towards his father, “So he’s doing the inspection Tuesday morning,,,”
“You said inspections, plural,” Phillip challenged.
“Well, there’s today,” Alex stammered. “Your opinions mean a lot.”
Phillip took a slow deep breath, giving himself time to bite back all of the objections that revolved around the irrevocable fact that his daughter was moving out of his house more than any complaint about the house. “So what’s Izzy got to say about all this?”
“She says she’s deferring to me to make the final decision, as the man in the relationship. She said it was my responsibility to provide a suitable house that she would then make over into a loving home, but somehow I think I’m being played,” Alex chuckled. “It’s as if she’s already vetted the place and that my approval is both expected and little more than a formality,,,”
“And you’re just figuring this out now?”
“How long have you been hanging out with Liz and Maria?”
“Yea,,,”
“For the record, I approve,” Phillip said slowly, “But it has to be your decision.”
As it started to get dark, Gloria heard a giggle from the back of the van. Her voice slowed as she looked over her shoulder, her irritation showing, but apparently Isabel and Alex didn’t notice, because moments later it happened again. ‘Give me that,” Gloria snapped, taking Diane’s water bottle. She snapped open the pull tab, and then fired it over her shoulder, eliciting a number of screams from the back seat. “Phillip! Pull over, right now,” she bellowed.
Now Phillip didn’t have to be married to Gloria to recognize that tone of voice. In fact any man would recognize it instantly. He had heard it from his mother while he was growing up, he had heard his wife use it on more than one occasion, and he had also been astounded and dismayed when Isabel had perfected it right around her thirteenth birthday.
As soon as the van stopped Gloria leapt out of the door and signaled Diane to follow. “You two, in the front where we can keep an eye on you,” she commanded as Diane snickered softly.
“That’s okay. We’re fine back here,” Isabel replied happily as she clamped her hand down on Alex’s thigh, keeping him in place. “But thanks for your concern,,,” She watched with alarm as Gloria glared at her while settling her clenched fist on her hips. Realizing that they weren’t going anywhere until she complied, she got out of the van, allowing Alex to scoot into the middle bench first. Meanwhile she turned to her mother-in-law. “You do realize that you’re dealing with an alien princess, don’t you?”
“So?” Gloria answered indifferently.
“Isabel stammered a moment before replying, “With just a thought I can have you dreaming that you’re laying in a bed filled with Charles’ toenail clippings, all night, every night, for the rest of your life,,,”
Gloria simply stepped into Isabel’s personal space and looked up. “I’ll pull mother-in-law’s prerogative and move in with you. I’ll pick your girls up at their bus stop every afternoon. Then I’ll fulfill my grandmotherly duties by spoiling them rotten with Jolt Cola and Ben and Jerry’s ice cream. I’ll get them so juiced up that they’ll be bouncing off the walls until midnight every day until they start college,,,”
“You wouldn’t,,,”
“Try me!”
Feinting indifference, Isabel knew when she was beaten. As she buckled her belt, she glared at her husband, the man who had failed to support her in her recent conflict.
“Og tveimur geisladiskum er varðveitt á segulböndum þjóðfræðasafni finna frá bænum,” Alex simply whispered in reply.
“What?”
“That means, ‘I will never cross you, but don’t throw me under the bus with Mom’.”
(Authors note: The Antarian character set is not supported by the ANSI-II Extended character set that is utilized by our computing equipment, so I have taken the liberty of transcribing Alex’s Antarian speech into ANSI-II phonetically.)
Charles settled into the drivers seat, and as he leaned inward to buckle his seat belt he glanced over at Phillip. “Do you remember asking how Gloria was adjusting to the knowledge that we aren’t alone?”
“Yea,,,”
“I think she’s over it.”
As soon as the teens got settled, Alex raised his arm. Allowing Isabel to snuggle back against his side. “You’re not afraid of her, are you?” she teased.
“Afraid?,, Hell yes! She rules our house the old fashioned way, fear. Now she’d never hurt you, you’re the daughter she always wanted, but with three more sons, she could drop me like a prom dress and never notice.”
“Sweetie, she’s not that bad,,,”
“Really? Mom went toe to toe with Jesse the day after he came back from boot camp. She said if he was staying in the house he would have to abide by a midnight curfew. Jesse just said that he was eighteen, an adult, and a Marine. He wasn’t bound by any curfew, then he kissed her on the forehead and took her by the upper arms and tried to swing her out of the way,,,”
“No,,,” Isabel gasped in amazement. “What’d she do?”
“Kneed him in the balls,,,”
Isabel couldn’t help but break out laughing at this.
“Dropped him like a sack of potatoes. He ended curled up into as ball puking up Taco Shack Mexican food all over her just waxed floor,,,”
“Was this before or after she broke her good pan on his head,,,”
Both teens were startled as Gloria’s head popped over their seatback. “Actually,” she answered for him, “It was the same day.”
**********
Late that evening, Liz parked her father’s car and exited it with trepidation. Finding Maria sitting with her back to her at the opposite end of the picnic area, she took a deep breath before heading over to give a friend a target for her wrath. “Ria?”
“Hey,” Maria said in greeting before handing her friend a sundae cup. “About time you got here, vanilla with strawberry topping, just the way you like it,,,”
“You mad?” Liz asked rather pointlessly as Maria had never stopped speaking.
“So I’m talking to Isabel while Alex is so ignoring us,,,”
“Seriously? That’s all it takes to get you pissed now?”
“He’s was sitting there totally immersed in a double scoop of Kahlua chip ice cream,,,”
“Isabel?”
“She started out alright, but the more that he talked about how good the ice cream tasted, the more enamored she got that he was taking such a simple pleasure from an ice cream cone,,,”
“I sense a but coming up?” Liz teased.
“Then he said it was the best thing that he had ever tasted, she didn’t like that at all. So she reached out and touched his ice cream,,,”
“What, she change the flavor?”
“First the chocolate chunks disappeared, then it turned a kind of little alien princess green,,,”
Seeing the grin on Maria’s face, Liz figured it out on her own. “Oh no!” she gasped. “She could make it taste like herself?”
“Well I sure as hell wasn’t going to try it, but Alex seemed quite happy,,,”
“And Isabel?”
“Well she thought it was funny at first, but watching him lick that ice cream started to get to her,,,”
“Really,,,”
“Well you know how she gets around Alex, and here he is, with that big tongue of his licking away, and I think he was using his temperature thing to keep the ice cream from melting too fast. He was moaning, talking abut how good it tasted,,,”
“And Isabel?”
“She was starting to get in tough shape. Her eyes were glazed, her nostrils were flared, and her chest was heaving with every breath. I thought she was going to take him right there on the picnic table.”
“So how did you end up here alone?”
Maria looked at her friend in amazement. “I’m stuck here because she dragged him off by the scruff of his neck saying that she didn’t give a frack if I had to walk home, call a taxi, or if I spent the night sleeping under one of the picnic tables.”
“And you’re obviously alright with that,” Liz said in amazement. “I figured you’d be steaming.”
“I guess,” Maria waxed philosophically, “But the truth be told, I’m happy for Alex. He’s having so much fun with the only girl he's ever wanted,,, well, the truth be told, I’m happy for the both of them.”
“So, you want to go home?” Liz asked as she got up to toss her empty sundae cup in the trash.
“No. Michael’s,” Maria answered. “Hey!” she exclaimed seeing the smirk on her friends face. “Don’t look at me like that, you didn’t have a ring side seat watching a half-hour of foreplay.”
**********
The next day Isabel was getting a Lime Warp when Maria slid up next to her. “Sorry about last night,,,”
“Oh don’t worry about it,” Maria replied distractedly as she hopped from one foot to the other. “Would you mind swinging by your locker and helping a friend in need?” she added hopefully.
Isabel bit her lip a moment before letting loose an exaggerated sigh, “And what is it this time?”
“I need a couple of firecrackers,” Maria said softly. “Just enough to last me until I get home.”
“You know I don’t use them anymore,,,”
“Come on, I was with you on the first day of school,” Maria pleaded. “I watched you customize your locker and you’re better stocked than Spaced-Out Drugs.”
“Okay ‘Ria, come on. I’ll let you in on my stash.”
TBC
Chapter 24-F There be Heroes Here
By Stargazer MD
Sunday evening found Alex treating Isabel to one of her special stir-fries at the Crashdown and despite the fact that his taste buds were in a free fall, he was still able to get some enjoyment from his Will Smith burger and Saturn rings. Of course the fact that Michael had added some chopped Habaneros peppers to his grilled onions didn’t hurt. But despite their ‘in’ with the owners, they were seated at the counter for all the booths were full.
“What’s going on?” Isabel asked quickly as Liz grabbed their empty dishes. “I’ve never seen you this busy on a Sunday night.”
“You haven’t heard?” Liz moaned as she blew a puff of air straight up, tossing her bangs out of her eyes. “There was a sighting,,,”
“Sighting is not the term I would use,” Jeff interrupted. “Golden opportunity is more like it.”
Seeing Alex’s brow rise in question he continued, “Business is booming,,,”
“Business is crazy is more like it,” Liz rebutted sarcastically.
“Crazy is good Pumpkin. Crazy is what’s going to pay your way through college,” Jeff continued as they headed back towards the kitchen.
“Great!” Isabel snapped. “Here we go again,,,”
Alex placed his hand on hers as well as reaching out for her through their connection. “Lets not jump to any conclusions,” he said as he reached for his cell.
“What are you doing?” Isabel asked nervously.
“Izzy,” Alex said reassuringly as he lifted her hand to his mouth and kissed it. “There’s two big difference between this time and the last time we went down this road.”
“Really,” Isabel teased, a reaction that surprised even herself, but while he hadn’t been able to totally allay her fears, she did have infinite faith in her husband’s ability to take care of her.
“Yea, first, we’re connected,” he said as he flipped his phone open.
“And?”
“And, even more importantly, we know we haven’t done anything to draw attention to ourselves,,, Sheriff Valenti,,,”
“~~Evening Alex. What can I do for you? Everything okay?”~~”
“I believe so, but I’m at the Crash with Izzy, and the place is swarming with tourist, tourist who are talking about a sighting. Have you heard anything?”
“~~I got a call from Clovis Air Force Base about a week ago. They wanted to advise us that a tanker flew low over the city with it’s lights on. I didn’t think anything of it at the time, but Amy told me that her business was picking up, so I called Max yesterday and warned him that we might start hearing about a sighting, but I guess you all haven’t caught up with each other yet.~~”
“But nothing official’s going to come of it, right?”
“~~Well seeing as how the entire thing is a known Air Force screw up, I can’t imaging the government doing any thing, and I’m sure as hell not going to get involved.~~”
“Thanks Sheriff, that’s good to hear.”
“~~Okay then, you say howdy to Miss Evans for me, and you be sure to let me know if there’s anything else I can do for you.~~”
“I will, bye.” He turned towards his wife. “The sighting was nothing more than a low flying Air Force jet. We’ve got nothing more to worry about.”
“Well, that’s good to hear,” Isabel replied, visibly relieved, “But judging by the tips the girls are making, I bet they’d wish for a low flying jet everyday. Ready?”
Alex hopped up and held Isabel’s coat for her, but as they said good bye to Liz and left, he couldn’t help but think that more alien activities would be good for every business in the city.
**********
Tish leaned back against the bank of lockers while she confidently placed her bet. “Maria, I understand everything you say, but I’m still betting on twelve, but having made it that far, I think he’s then going to drop dead,,,”
“Alex is not going to drop dead,,,”
“Isabel,,,” Tish gasped as she elbowed Maria in the side.
“Tish!” Isabel gushed warmly as she gave her friend an air hug. “How was your date with Bruce?”
“Okay, I guess,” Tish replied, confusion evident in her voice. “I mean, he promised dinner and a movie, and then he took me to dinner and a movie,,,”
“That’s all?” Maria teased. “Nothing else?”
“Well of course there was ‘something’ else, but all that amounted to was making out on the porch when he dropped me off.”
While Isabel just smiled, Maria figured there was more dish to be had. “And how was the good night kiss?”
“Oh, it was a good kiss,” Tish teased.
“A really good kiss?” Isabel teased.
“It was such a good kiss I had to go inside and wash my cat,,,”
“So you have a really clean cat?”
“I’ll tell you, I have the cleanest cat in West Roswell High,” Tish cooed as she slinked away with an extra wiggle in her step.
Isabel watched Tish walk away before turning back to Maria in confusion. “You can’t wash a cat! First cats groom themselves, second a cat would rip you to shreds if you tried to put one in a tub, and,,, what does washing a cat have to do with coming home from a date?”
Maria looked at Isabel with a look of incredulity on her face. “You’re serious. You don’t know what she was talking about, do you?”
“Washing a cat,,,”
“Iz, not much gets by you, but when you miss something, it’s a doozie,” Maria said as she slammed her locker door before wrapping her around her friends back and leading her towards their first class. “Bruce left her all worked up, so she stripped, laid down in her tub, schooched down so her ‘cat’ was under the spout with her legs up against the wall, then she turned the water on,,,”
“She didn’t!” Isabel gasped as she stopped, pushing Maria into the alcove of an empty classroom and forcing her to turn and face her.
“Oh yea, and knowing Tish she stayed there until the hot water ran out.”
“But that would cause her to,,,”
“Pretty much instantly and continuously,” Maria said with a smile. “Why do you think she’s always in such a good mood.” Seeing a look of disbelief on her tall friends face, she continued, “You’re not telling me,,, you,,,”
“No!” Isabel gasped in shock. “Why would I do that? I have Alex!”
“Come on, never?” Maria probed. “Are you telling me that having dated almost every desirable guy in school,,,”
“No,,,”
“You never got hot and bothered once,,,”
“No! Never! Not until I decided I wanted Alex.”
“How is that possible,” Maria rebutted in disbelief. “You don’t mean to tell me that you’ve never gotten all hot and horny on a date, that’s,,, that’s,,, inhuman.”
“Ria,” Isabel answered softly, with a smile that her friend thought of her as just another normal girl. “I’m not human, remember? I waited for two lifetimes for Alex. I was made for him.”
“Wow,” Maria gasped in amazement.
Isabel silently smiled in response as she gave her friend a moment to let it all sink in.
Maria’s eyes went wide as she processed this new information. “It’s true, isn’t it! You’ll die without him,,,”
Maria placed a finger over Maria’s lips, quieting her before answering her. “So the Granolith tells us. I don’t know if it’s true or not, but I’m in no hurry to find out.”
Their discussion was interrupted by the warning bell.
“So Tish washes her cat, hugh?” Isabel teased as they reentered the hallway. “Have you been known to wash your cat?”
“Well,” Maria drawled out. “If I did, I probably wouldn’t admit it, but then again, I’m only human.”
**********
“Alex!” Thumper shouted as she headed for him like a heat seeking missile. Closing in on him, she leapt the last ten feet, slamming into him, hanging on with her arms around his neck while she covered his face with kisses. This public display of affection did not go unnoticed, not only because of the participants, but also because Thumper was wearing her usual short tartan kilt over a pair of brown opaque tights.
“Isabel, don’t blast Thumper into oblivion in front of witnesses,” Maria commanded nervously. “This would be a really bad time for the green eyed Alien Princess to come out,,,” but to her surprise, when she looked over, Isabel was smiling.
“Butt Cheeks!!!” a nearby student called out, ringleader of a table full of freshmen who were doubtlessly getting their first peek at Thumper’s epic assets.
Isabel’s smile faded from her face as she picked a peanut from her trail mix. She rifled the improvised projectile at the apparent ringleader of the offending table, striking him on the top of his ear. As the frosh looked over, Isabel leveled a long perfectly manicured finger at him, throwing in her best ice-princess scowl for good measure. Moments later the entire offending table was retreating from the suddenly unfriendly Quad.
“Okay,” Maria stammered. “What’s happening? Not only is Thumper hanging all over your husband, but you’re defending,,,”
“Her Grand Jury appearance was this morning,” Isabel said happily as she watched Alex put his arm around her shoulder and led her towards their table.
Thumper broke free and made her way to Isabel’s free side. She wrapped her arms around the tall teen’s shoulder and kissed her on the cheek. “I love you guys,” she gushed as she broke free and sat down. “You’re my heroes.”
“I take it things went well?” Isabel said softly.
“I’m free!” Thumper exclaimed. “All charges dropped.”
“That’s wonderful,” Michael replied sincerely as he settled next to Maria on the opposite side of the table.
“And now I can talk,” Thumper said, her mood leveling. “All these weeks I’ve been wanting to say something,,, All those horrible things they’ve been saying about me.” The first of many tears slipped down her cheek as Isabel took her hand. “What I couldn’t tell anyone is that her parents left a twenty dollar bill (15 €) under the keys to the Pathfinder. They had promised the kids that I would take them to McDonald’s for McFlurries,,, I didn’t take the car without permission,,, I didn’t take the kids,,, I didn’t do anything wrong,,, I loved her,,,” Thumper cried out as she completely broke down.
“I know,” Isabel said soothingly as she pulled Thumper against her shoulder while the entire group closed in on her in support. It took a while for Thumper to cry herself out, but the entire assemblage was shocked when they found that Michael was the last one to turn away. Instead he took her hand as he looked her in the eye. “Thumper, I know something about,,, hard times,” he explained quietly. “You don’t need to believe me now, in fact you don’t need to believe me until you’re ready to, but things do get better. You won’t forget, and there will be times when the memories will hit you like a ton of bricks, but given time to heal, you will find peace with yourself.”
**********
Meanwhile, south of Roswell, Amy’s heart fluttered as Jim again wrapped his arms around her, pulling her tight into his strong chest.
Now most people think way to much when they do this,” he said softly, his breath causing a tingle as it brushed against her cheek, “But the secret is not to think at all. Just let your body relax and do what it needs to do.”
“If you think that’s best,” Amy teased as she pulled the trigger, putting every round into the black.
“Okay, I’m going downrange to change targets,” Jim said as Amy placed the Browning High Power flat on the table. She watched as Jim brought a larger target frame downrange but her questioning look turned to dismay as she was now facing off against a profile target, the profile of a human form. Moments later Jim was back by her side. Seeing her look of shock on her face, he tried to explain. “I hope this never happens Amy, and if it does, I hope I’m there to protect you,,,”
“Jim,” Amy pointed at the target. “I don’t think I can do this,,,”
“Amy,” Jim pleaded as he took her by the arms. “Don’t think! Just point and shoot! The only time you’ll ever have to do this is if you or Maria is in danger.” He looked her in the eye, and finding that he was getting through, he continued, “Think of Maria needing you, then point and shoot,” but the smile that crept over her face scared him.
Without another word Amy snatched the weapon and a spare magazine from the table. She pivoted towards the target, thumbing the magazine release lever as she did so, ejecting the empty magazine onto the ground. “Remember that morning I caught Michael in bed with Maria?” she asked as she slammed the fresh magazine in place. Lifting the weapon into battery, she thumbed the slide release, loading a fresh cartridge into the pistol’s chamber as she slid the safety lever into fire position. As the weapon aligned with her target, she began firing, emptying the entire magazine in seconds.
Stunned at the fluidity of her motions and the efficiency of her attack, Jim could only stare at the target. He took a dry gulp as he looked at the groin area of the target, finding it shot clean away.
“You’re right, this was fun,” Amy said cheerfully as she packed the shooting supplies into her pistol case, not noticing the cold sweat that had broken out on Jim’s brow. “Why don’t you come out to the house for lunch. You should be rewarded for all your hard work you’ve done,” she continued, but her voice turned flirty as she continued, “And Maria’s working at the Crashdown after school. We’ll have the entire afternoon to ourselves.”
“Ahh,,, I’d like that,” Jim replied, still not able to take his eyes off the mutilated target, but he couldn’t help thinking, ‘What the frack have I created?’
**********
At the warning bell Isabel broke off from the others and headed for her next class, bumping into Kyle at the door. “What’s wrong? You look like someone shot your dog, well,,, if you had a dog.”
“It’s nothing,” he responded morosely.
“That’s not what I hear. Word is you have to meet with your father on a professional level this afternoon,” Isabel replied evenly. Although Kyle was a teenage jock who did stupid jock things, Isabel had spent enough time with him over the last year or so that she had seen his softer side, so she wanted to try to not make things any worse for him.
“Yea,” Kyle sighed, “It’s not going to be pretty.”
“So what happened?”
“I don’t know, things have just gotten so out of control. Between Pam getting hurt and Steve’s truck getting slimed.”
“So what are you going to do?”
Kyle shook his head in response as he stood and picked up his uneaten lunch. “I don’t know, but I hope someone comes up with something, because if this feud keeps growing, Pam’s not the only person who’s going to get hurt.”
*********
As soon as school let out Alex raided the kitchen looking for a snack. “Hey Mom,” he said cheerfully to Diane as he kissed her on the cheek.
“Hi Alex,” Diane replied cheerfully as she looked behind him. “Where’s Iz?”
“She’s taking a meeting. Kyle got into some trouble, and she’s trying to help find a solution,,,”
“Nothing serious I hope.”
“No, hopefully not.”
“There’s a package for her, from France.”
“Paris? Oh, it’s probably from Simone Pérèle of Paris. It’s a bra,,,”
“A bra? From Paris? Sometimes I wonder about her, what would possess her to order a bra from Paris?”
“It’s custom made, a matter of fit, comfort and style,” Alex answered cheerfully. “You do realize that eighty-five percent of women wear the wrong size bra, and a properly fitting bra consist of at least thirty-two pieces of fabric?”
“Well I guess Iz can spend her money as she chooses,,,”
“What makes you think she’s spending her money? She put it on my credit card saying that if I liked her boobs to stay the way they are,,,”
“Hum, hum, hummm,,,” Diane interrupted while stealthily pointing towards Isabel’s father.
“Alex!” Phillip commanded. “You know way too much about bras, so put the package down and then put your hand between your legs.”
“Excuse me?”
“Put your hand between your legs and tell me if you still have a set of balls there.”
“Yea, I still have a set of balls,,,”
“Good! Because quite frankly, as much as I love seeing you with Isabel, you’re starting to worry me.”
**********
“,,,But I didn’t know if I had to take a dump, or just fart, so just for safety’s sake, I went into the bathroom. Well it turns out that all I had in me was a little ball of crap, but just before my cheeks hit the seat, I farted like the mighty camel of the trackless desert. Well that ball of crap hit the water like a canon ball, and created such a splash my ass felt like I was walking through a garden sprinkler,,, and in my opinion the city is right to regulate garden sprinklers,” Kyle hastily added as he looked down the hall. “We live in a fracking desert, and water’s important.”
Isabel entered the anteroom, all the while giving Kyle the evil eye with one brow arched. “Afternoon, Splash,” she said haughty, looking at Kyle as if he were something dirty on the bottom of her shoe.
“Oh, you heard that, hugh?” Kyle said dejectedly, knowing that this was the wrong time to bring up his CD player.
Steve smirked at Kyle’s discomfort as he nodded to the new arrivals. “Hey.”
“What are you doing here?” Owen snapped, eyeing Michael skeptically.
“I just got caught up in the magic of the moment,” Michael muttered.
“Deputy Blackwood, good to see you back in Roswell where you belong,” Isabel said respectfully. “As for Michael, he’s with me.”
“Meaning no disrespect, Miss Evans, but what gives?” Owen replied in a much calmer voice. “Don’t tell me those jocks are lawyering up.”
“No, Deputy, my presence here is neither official nor expected,” Isabel said with an evil grin. “I’m just trying to find some opportunity in a bad situation.”
Owen’s face cracked into a wide smile for the first time in a long time. “Maybe I should take Jim down to the Crashdown for a coffee and let you take care of business,,,”
“No way!” Isabel interrupted. “The Sheriff’s been working up a good head of steam all weekend, and it would be a shame to deny him a chance to give out a good ass kicking,” but her retort was interrupted by the sound of shouting coming from Jim’s office. “Show’s on,” she quipped as she headed towards the voices.
“You slimed my truck!”
“What?”
“You covered my truck with pig sperm,,,”
“Hey! None of that language, keep it civil!” Jim interjected.
“What the fr,,,” John Andrews started to reply, only to stop and look at Deputy Blackwood warily. “What are you talking about?” he continued more reasonably. “First there isn’t enough pig sperm in the whole county to cover your truck, but more importantly, I’m a truck kind of guy. I might slime Kyle’s ride, but I would never let anyone hurt the Lydick Lightning,,,”
“Nobody slimed your truck,” Michael said impatiently.
“What?” Kyle protested. “Dude, you weren’t there,,,”
“Did you ever wonder why there’s a ‘no parking’ spot behind the Crashdown?”
“There’s not a ‘no parking’ space behind the Crashdown,” Steve protested. “It’s private property.”
“There is,” Isabel said softly, “Right under the exhaust blower for the grill.”
“What are you saying,” Kyle demanded, his eyes opening wide in horror. “That the mess on his truck was hamburger grease?
“You fracking numb frack,” Steve whined towards Kyle. “You’re the one who told me to park there,,,”
“Sounds like the boys at Goddard had nothing to do with this,” Jim interjected.
“What about Pam getting hurt?,,” Kyle asked hopefully.
“I talked to Miss Troy,” Jim advised. “She doesn’t know who attacked her, but she said that they were probably about twenty, too old to be in high school,,,”
Steve and Kyle looked at each other in horror. The war that they’d been waging for the past several weeks had been based on faulty intelligence. Kyle stepped forward, stopping directly in front of John Andrews, who was flanked by his co-captains, Jim (Big Red) Robinson and Kenny Young. “Dude, I’m sorry. I didn’t know,,,”
Following the ‘guy code,’ and knowing about Kyle’s softer side, John let him off the hook before he got all weepy eyed or tried to hug him, embarrassing them both. “Fer-get-about-it.”
“Sorry I hit you,” Steve added.
“No problem,” John sneered, indicative that despite letting Kyle off the hook his problem with Steve was far from over. “You hit like a pussy.” He then looked over to the Sheriff, “Are we done here?”
Having seen the look in John’s eyes, Jim answered, “No, we’re not. As a matter of fact Isabel called me earlier with a proposal.”
Drawing on a deep pool of confidence, Isabel stepped forward. “We have some real problems here in Roswell. We have families with no place to live, and even worse, we have children with no families. Now, instead of trying to make sure these children have a good Christmas, it seems the entire cities getting caught up in your little pissing contest.”
“Pissing contest?” Kyle muttered, drawing a sharp look from his father.
“So after hearing about how things had gotten so out of hand I decided that there must be a way to solve all of our problems at the same time,,,”
“What do you expect us to be able to do?” Jim Robinson asked.
Isabel walked up to him, an athlete twice her size, and looked him in the eye. “I was found homeless in the desert and brought to Casa Maria, where I spent the Christmas before I was adopted,” she said softly. “So I’m one of the lucky ones, but there are still too many children still looking for a family to love them. Tell me you won’t help them.”
“I’ll help you,” Big Red replied gently, impressed by her countenance and confidence. “Tell me what you want me to do.”
“A benefit game,,,”
“You think a basketball game is going to help?” Deputy Blackwood interjected skeptically.
“Yes, a bury the hatchet game to benefit the homeless shelter and the orphanage,,,” the Sheriff replied.
“The only ‘burying of the hatchet,’ that’s likely to occur would be in each other’s head,” Kenny muttered under his breath.
“He’s right,” Jim Robinson agreed. “Goddard and West have been rivals for years, and after the way we’ve been treated during our past two games,,,”
“Which you won by default,,,” Steve spat.
“We don’t need no stinking default to beat you guys,,,” John replied.
“That’s enough of that shit,” Jim shouted before leaning into Steve’s personal space. “I thought you were keeping quiet because you were smart, because you knew you still have an assault charge hanging over your head, a charge which could kill any chance of getting a scholarship and getting out of this town.”
Steve suddenly found his shoes very interesting, remaining silent as the discussion continued.
“You would have to mix the teams to get it to work,” Isabel said, encouraged by the fact that she had already got one convert. “The Captains would have to pick players from both teams,,,”
“Never happen,” Kyle said under his breath.
“KYLE!”
“No, he’s right,” Jim Robinson agreed while making positive eye contact with the Sheriff. “However the teams are picked,
the process would have to be arbitrary.”
“By address,,,”
“By the first letter of our last names,,,”
“Odd and Even,” Isabel suggested. “Jersey numbers ending in zero, two and four play for the orphanage, and jersey numbers ending one, three and five play for the homeless shelter,,,”
“No!” Big Red Robinson interjected. “Odds play for the orphanage.”
“We’ll play at our school,,,”
“Neutral territory,” Isabel snapped. “The community center,,,”
“I thought it was closed with the fire and all,,,”
“Just the kitchen,” Isabel replied coldly. “The rest of the building is fine, and we are going to have this benefit if I have to kick every one of your asses myself,,,”
Unobserved, Isabel leaned close to Kyle. “You help me with this, and I’ll help you with your little ‘stereo’ problem.”
“Now,” Jim bellowed, “Get the frack out of my office!”
**********
“You and Thumper must be the last two girls in school who still wear pantyhose,” Maria commented cheerfully on Isabel’s outfit.
“Newsflash girlfriend, I've never owned a pair of pantyhose, which is lucky for me since Alex likes me in stockings. So that leaves Thumper, with whom I have an understanding.”
“Seriously? You ratted our Alex's leg thing to Thumper?,,”
“Well no, I have to be a special kind of stupid to give her that kind of ammunition. Let's just say that I understand her. Alex rescued her, and she has a hero worship kind of crush on him. It's all kind of sweet and innocent, and after years of being the butt of every joke, Alex really deserves to have a groupie,,,”
“And you're okay with that?”
“Sure, but to be honest I'm keeping my friends close, and the girl with a crush on my boyfriend closer.”
Maria watched as Isabel placed her hand over the combination knob of her locker, opening it utilizing her own express method. “Do you even remember your combination?”
Hidden by her locker door Isabel smirked at her friends little dig, but when she closed her locker door and turned to face Maria her face was all business. “What are you worried about, I can open my locker with no glow at all.”
“So I'll see you at lunch then?”
“No, Alex and I have plans. He's going to help me prepare for the Spanish AP exam I have this afternoon.”
“That's our Alex, the perfect study buddy,,,”
Sensing an opportunity to return fire, Isabel stepped in tight to her friend, crowding her personal space and making her uncomfortable. “Alex and I am not going to study. He is going to take me in to the eraser room and frack me into submission. Then I will be relaxed for my exam, and I'll ace it.”
“For God sakes Padmé, too much information,” Maria complained as she put her hands over her ears.
“Ria, I'm going to let you in on a little secret. We are more alike then you realize. We both like to torquing each other up, but in addition to that you like being torqued up.”
“I do not?,,”
“Are you kidding? When you leave here you go to spend the rest of the day making Michaels life miserable, but in your mind it's going to be an entire day of foreplay. I just hope that Michael gives you as good as Alex is going to give me.”
Isabel stepped back, preparing to head for her class when Maria grabbed her by the elbow. The pixie leaned in close and whispered, “Just promise me that you're going to give Alex as good as I'm going to give Michael, and I'll say we’re even.”
Leaving the alcove Isabel turned left while Maria turned right, but she was stopped moments later by one of her classmates.
“Maria, you’re the one running the pool?” he asked.
“Shut the frack up!” Maria snapped angrily before dragging the clueless one out of traffic. “Do you have any idea what Isabel will do to us if she finds out,,,”
“I got twenty on six,” Octavo continued in a much softer tone of voice. “And after Alex conks out Maybe Isabel’ll be ready for a real man,,,”
“You?” Maria choked out. “You and Isabel?”
“Yea, why not?”
“If Isabel thought for one minute that you had thoughts like that about her, she’d kill you the moment you turned onto her block.”
**********
“So what do you think?” Isabel asked as she concluded the tour of the Albuquerque house.
“It’s nice,,,” Diane replied hesitantly.
“It’s big,” Gloria added bluntly.
“It’s got enough room for us, our business and our guests,” Isabel said indulgently, accepting that any objections from their parents would be more about their leaving home than any shortcomings of the house.
“It’s too far from Roswell,” Phillip complained.
In response to this, Alex led the fathers to the French doors overlooking the rear deck. He pointed to a portion of the back yard behind the garage. “Before we move in, I’m going to have them install a pad mounted emergency generator and a security system,,,”
“I thought you said the business suite was on a separate electrical service?”
“It’s on a separately metered sub-panel, but that meter’s part of the house system, not the power companies. That way the electrical usage of the business can be measured and written off as a business expense. As far as installing a generator, I’ll have them place an automatically activated cut-over switch that’s rated for the whole house. That way if Isabel’s ever home alone and the power goes out, she won’t have to do a thing,,,’
“I bet she likes that,” Phillip quipped.
“Actually she hates the thought of it, as well as the security system I’m having installed,” Alex answered. “She thinks it’s a waste of time and money,,,”
“What do you think?” Phillip challenged.
“She doesn’t know it yet, but she’s going to loose this time,” Alex quipped. “She is my family, and nothing is going to stand in the way of my making sure she is safe and comfortable.
While Phillip nodded appreciatively, Charles asked what kind of security system he was looking at.
“Brinks,” Alex answered. “I’m going to go with a perimeter system instead of motion detectors, which will cut way down on false alarms plus allow Isabel to keep the system armed while she’s moving around the house,,,”
“Land line?”
“No cellular, with battery back-up, not to mention the generator,” Alex replied confidently. “The antenna’s going to be mounted in the attic, and it will be protected by a motion detector. That way no one will be able to attack the system without setting it off.”
“You’re kind of on the outskirts of the city to have natural gas, aren’t you?”
“Yea, this was one of the first houses built in the neighborhood, so instead of natural gas, it has propane.”
“I don’t see a tank,,,”
“Pops, the place was built by an architect. It was his home and office. He buried the tank off the end of the garage. I already looked into it and it’s big enough to support the house and generator for at least a week if something ever happens,,,”
“Weapons cache?” Phillip asked offhandedly.
“Yea, if you need back-up and we have to come charging halfway across the state I don’t want to get stopped for speeding with a trunk full of illegal weapons.”
“In the hallway wall between the master bedroom suite and the office suite. There’s a closet behind that section of wall, so I’ll ask Isabel bump the sheetrock back so the wall will end up a foot thick, plenty of room to secrete a weapons locker.”
“Well, it sounds as if you have everything covered,” Charles sighed.
Meanwhile Isabel was showing the Moms the office suite. “Alex is going to rack mount all of the computer equipment in this alcove, and then in the main section there’s room for three workstations, a drawing table for me, a small conference table, and a casual corner with Alex’s recliner, a futon, mini-fridge, and an entertainment center,,,”
“Alex has a recliner?” Gloria asked in amazement.
“He will,” Isabel replied with a smile.
“Why do you have an entertainment center here,” Diane questioned. “Your fathers home office is just that, an office. I would have thought that you learned not to mix business and pleasure from him?,,”
“This isn’t the same thing Mom,” Isabel answered. “Daddy’s a lawyer, and as such he has to generate billable hours. That means he has to maintain a dedicated office, but it also means that when he’s not working on a project he can turn his work world off. It’s not the same for us. We may go for weeks at a time doing nothing but working, eating, and sleeping while we’re struggling to deliver a project under deadline, it’s just as likely that one of us may be working while the other is off, but we still want to stay close by. To be honest, I expect that for the first year or so, we’ll be living in here, and may never go downstairs,” she concluded as Alex and their fathers joined them.
“So what timetable are you looking at?” Phillip asked nonchalantly.
“The estate will probate any day now, in fact it already may have,” Alex answered. “Our inspections happen this week, and then we have until January First to sign a purchase and sales agreement or the house gets listed with a broker.
“Who did you decide to do the home inspection?” Charles asked.
“I asked Chief Montoya, who called the State Fire Marshal, off the record of course, for a recommendation. Turned out he liked the same guy you recommended,” Alex answered, nodding towards his father, “So he’s doing the inspection Tuesday morning,,,”
“You said inspections, plural,” Phillip challenged.
“Well, there’s today,” Alex stammered. “Your opinions mean a lot.”
Phillip took a slow deep breath, giving himself time to bite back all of the objections that revolved around the irrevocable fact that his daughter was moving out of his house more than any complaint about the house. “So what’s Izzy got to say about all this?”
“She says she’s deferring to me to make the final decision, as the man in the relationship. She said it was my responsibility to provide a suitable house that she would then make over into a loving home, but somehow I think I’m being played,” Alex chuckled. “It’s as if she’s already vetted the place and that my approval is both expected and little more than a formality,,,”
“And you’re just figuring this out now?”
“How long have you been hanging out with Liz and Maria?”
“Yea,,,”
“For the record, I approve,” Phillip said slowly, “But it has to be your decision.”
As it started to get dark, Gloria heard a giggle from the back of the van. Her voice slowed as she looked over her shoulder, her irritation showing, but apparently Isabel and Alex didn’t notice, because moments later it happened again. ‘Give me that,” Gloria snapped, taking Diane’s water bottle. She snapped open the pull tab, and then fired it over her shoulder, eliciting a number of screams from the back seat. “Phillip! Pull over, right now,” she bellowed.
Now Phillip didn’t have to be married to Gloria to recognize that tone of voice. In fact any man would recognize it instantly. He had heard it from his mother while he was growing up, he had heard his wife use it on more than one occasion, and he had also been astounded and dismayed when Isabel had perfected it right around her thirteenth birthday.
As soon as the van stopped Gloria leapt out of the door and signaled Diane to follow. “You two, in the front where we can keep an eye on you,” she commanded as Diane snickered softly.
“That’s okay. We’re fine back here,” Isabel replied happily as she clamped her hand down on Alex’s thigh, keeping him in place. “But thanks for your concern,,,” She watched with alarm as Gloria glared at her while settling her clenched fist on her hips. Realizing that they weren’t going anywhere until she complied, she got out of the van, allowing Alex to scoot into the middle bench first. Meanwhile she turned to her mother-in-law. “You do realize that you’re dealing with an alien princess, don’t you?”
“So?” Gloria answered indifferently.
“Isabel stammered a moment before replying, “With just a thought I can have you dreaming that you’re laying in a bed filled with Charles’ toenail clippings, all night, every night, for the rest of your life,,,”
Gloria simply stepped into Isabel’s personal space and looked up. “I’ll pull mother-in-law’s prerogative and move in with you. I’ll pick your girls up at their bus stop every afternoon. Then I’ll fulfill my grandmotherly duties by spoiling them rotten with Jolt Cola and Ben and Jerry’s ice cream. I’ll get them so juiced up that they’ll be bouncing off the walls until midnight every day until they start college,,,”
“You wouldn’t,,,”
“Try me!”
Feinting indifference, Isabel knew when she was beaten. As she buckled her belt, she glared at her husband, the man who had failed to support her in her recent conflict.
“Og tveimur geisladiskum er varðveitt á segulböndum þjóðfræðasafni finna frá bænum,” Alex simply whispered in reply.
“What?”
“That means, ‘I will never cross you, but don’t throw me under the bus with Mom’.”
(Authors note: The Antarian character set is not supported by the ANSI-II Extended character set that is utilized by our computing equipment, so I have taken the liberty of transcribing Alex’s Antarian speech into ANSI-II phonetically.)
Charles settled into the drivers seat, and as he leaned inward to buckle his seat belt he glanced over at Phillip. “Do you remember asking how Gloria was adjusting to the knowledge that we aren’t alone?”
“Yea,,,”
“I think she’s over it.”
As soon as the teens got settled, Alex raised his arm. Allowing Isabel to snuggle back against his side. “You’re not afraid of her, are you?” she teased.
“Afraid?,, Hell yes! She rules our house the old fashioned way, fear. Now she’d never hurt you, you’re the daughter she always wanted, but with three more sons, she could drop me like a prom dress and never notice.”
“Sweetie, she’s not that bad,,,”
“Really? Mom went toe to toe with Jesse the day after he came back from boot camp. She said if he was staying in the house he would have to abide by a midnight curfew. Jesse just said that he was eighteen, an adult, and a Marine. He wasn’t bound by any curfew, then he kissed her on the forehead and took her by the upper arms and tried to swing her out of the way,,,”
“No,,,” Isabel gasped in amazement. “What’d she do?”
“Kneed him in the balls,,,”
Isabel couldn’t help but break out laughing at this.
“Dropped him like a sack of potatoes. He ended curled up into as ball puking up Taco Shack Mexican food all over her just waxed floor,,,”
“Was this before or after she broke her good pan on his head,,,”
Both teens were startled as Gloria’s head popped over their seatback. “Actually,” she answered for him, “It was the same day.”
**********
Late that evening, Liz parked her father’s car and exited it with trepidation. Finding Maria sitting with her back to her at the opposite end of the picnic area, she took a deep breath before heading over to give a friend a target for her wrath. “Ria?”
“Hey,” Maria said in greeting before handing her friend a sundae cup. “About time you got here, vanilla with strawberry topping, just the way you like it,,,”
“You mad?” Liz asked rather pointlessly as Maria had never stopped speaking.
“So I’m talking to Isabel while Alex is so ignoring us,,,”
“Seriously? That’s all it takes to get you pissed now?”
“He’s was sitting there totally immersed in a double scoop of Kahlua chip ice cream,,,”
“Isabel?”
“She started out alright, but the more that he talked about how good the ice cream tasted, the more enamored she got that he was taking such a simple pleasure from an ice cream cone,,,”
“I sense a but coming up?” Liz teased.
“Then he said it was the best thing that he had ever tasted, she didn’t like that at all. So she reached out and touched his ice cream,,,”
“What, she change the flavor?”
“First the chocolate chunks disappeared, then it turned a kind of little alien princess green,,,”
Seeing the grin on Maria’s face, Liz figured it out on her own. “Oh no!” she gasped. “She could make it taste like herself?”
“Well I sure as hell wasn’t going to try it, but Alex seemed quite happy,,,”
“And Isabel?”
“Well she thought it was funny at first, but watching him lick that ice cream started to get to her,,,”
“Really,,,”
“Well you know how she gets around Alex, and here he is, with that big tongue of his licking away, and I think he was using his temperature thing to keep the ice cream from melting too fast. He was moaning, talking abut how good it tasted,,,”
“And Isabel?”
“She was starting to get in tough shape. Her eyes were glazed, her nostrils were flared, and her chest was heaving with every breath. I thought she was going to take him right there on the picnic table.”
“So how did you end up here alone?”
Maria looked at her friend in amazement. “I’m stuck here because she dragged him off by the scruff of his neck saying that she didn’t give a frack if I had to walk home, call a taxi, or if I spent the night sleeping under one of the picnic tables.”
“And you’re obviously alright with that,” Liz said in amazement. “I figured you’d be steaming.”
“I guess,” Maria waxed philosophically, “But the truth be told, I’m happy for Alex. He’s having so much fun with the only girl he's ever wanted,,, well, the truth be told, I’m happy for the both of them.”
“So, you want to go home?” Liz asked as she got up to toss her empty sundae cup in the trash.
“No. Michael’s,” Maria answered. “Hey!” she exclaimed seeing the smirk on her friends face. “Don’t look at me like that, you didn’t have a ring side seat watching a half-hour of foreplay.”
**********
The next day Isabel was getting a Lime Warp when Maria slid up next to her. “Sorry about last night,,,”
“Oh don’t worry about it,” Maria replied distractedly as she hopped from one foot to the other. “Would you mind swinging by your locker and helping a friend in need?” she added hopefully.
Isabel bit her lip a moment before letting loose an exaggerated sigh, “And what is it this time?”
“I need a couple of firecrackers,” Maria said softly. “Just enough to last me until I get home.”
“You know I don’t use them anymore,,,”
“Come on, I was with you on the first day of school,” Maria pleaded. “I watched you customize your locker and you’re better stocked than Spaced-Out Drugs.”
“Okay ‘Ria, come on. I’ll let you in on my stash.”
TBC
My completed stories:
The Seekers, I&A with angst
http://www.majiksfanfic.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?t=282
Alex C Whitman SSAIC, (Supervising Special Agent in Charge) I&A with uber-angst
http://www.majiksfanfic.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?t=488
The Seekers, I&A with angst
http://www.majiksfanfic.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?t=282
Alex C Whitman SSAIC, (Supervising Special Agent in Charge) I&A with uber-angst
http://www.majiksfanfic.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?t=488
-
stargazer md
- Addicted Roswellian
- Posts: 120
- Joined: Sun Jun 06, 2004 10:25 pm
- Location: New Hampshire, USA
Stargazer Gets the Girl
Chapter 24-G There be Heroes Here
By Stargazer MD
Alex woke early, shaking his head and wondering why when he had a wonderful night dreaming of Isabel and the girls, he couldn’t get thoughts of manufacturing standards and sheet metal processing out of his head. This mystified him as he didn’t know anything about sheet metal processing. Adding to his confusion was the fact that the Blade server was still running a job. First, he didn’t remember starting a job before turning in for the night, and second, even if he did leave a job running, it should have completed by now.
“Morning Mom,” he mumbled as he made his way around the table to Isabel’s side. “Morning,” he said, this time in a more coherent voice as he leaned down and kissed her.
“Ugghhh, morning breath,” Isabel teased as she waved her hand in front of her face. “Either you’ve got to adjust to your new taste in foods or use mouthwash.”
“I can’t use mouthwash,” he teased back. “Michael drank it all when he and Maria came over to visit,” he added as he got the captain Crunch and Count Chocoula cereals out of the pantry. Dropping the boxes and a bowl on the table, he went to the refrigerator and retrieved a bottle of cranberry juice. He sat, poured from both boxes into a large bowl, and then wet the mix with the juice. As he started to dig in he looked at Isabel. “Do you have any idea what the Blade is running?”
“It’s running a Pangborn Job,” she answered nervously. “I got their bill of materials database completed, and now the process inventory control module is building,,,”
“I nowhere near ready for that,,,” Alex replied in alarm.
“We are now,” Isabel answered. “I know you’ve been pounding away on the EMS program, getting it polished for delivery, and there isn’t anything more we can do for Leprino until we get a purchase order from them, so I’m keeping Pangborn moving along.”
“How?”
“Well,” she replied hesitantly while biting her bottom lip, “While you were sleeping I connected with you to find out what needed to be done,,,”
“Is that why I woke up thinking of sheet metal?”
“Probably,,,”
“You don’t have to do that!”
“Of course I do,” Isabel snapped.
“Izzy, I don’t want you to have to do things like that. I can take care of it myself,,,”
Things like what?” Isabel demanded. “First, I may occasionally like to laze in bed for ten hours, but I only really need two hours of sleep, and second, I don’t think you’ve taken an evening off for the past several months that I didn’t schedule for you,,,”
“I’m okay,” Alex stammered, suddenly finding himself on the defensive. “Besides, I’ve been having a blast these past months, as long as I’m doing if with you,,, for you.”
“Alex, all I want to be able to do is my fair share. You took a school project and built it into this great thing,,,”
“I couldn’t have done it without you,,,”
“If there is anything I can do to get these projects done, if there’s anything I can do to make your job easier, I’m going to do it,,,” Isabel pleaded. “For frack’s sake Alex, you’ve had to kill for me,,,”
“Not for you, or because of you,,, To keep us safe,,, Not to mention the others. Besides, Tess and Nicholas,,, they weren’t even human,,,” Alex knew he had made a major mistake the moment the words left his mouth. “Izzy,,,”
“I’m not human,” Isabel gasped as her face dissolved into tears and she ran out the door.
“Izzy,” Alex shouted after her in disbelief as he sprang from his chair.
“Alex!” Gloria commanded. “Sit down!”
“I’ve got to go after her,” He muttered as he fumbled through the hutch. “Where are your keys? I’ve got to make her see I didn’t mean what I said the way she took it,,,”
“She knows that,” Gloria replied consolingly. “But you stung her, twice. First by minimizing her contributions, and second with your ‘human’ comment. She’s going to need some time to calm down, and you’re going need to change your attitudes about her pulling her share of the load,,,”
“I’m going after her,,,”
“No you’re not!,, Let me tell you about the difference between boys and girls.”
“We’ve had this talk,,,”
“Not this one,” Gloria snapped as she closed the door to the garage and stood in front of it with her arms crossed. “If a cop pulls Isabel over, he will find a beautiful woman dressed in modest red silk pajamas and a red satin robe. He will listen sympathetically as she tearfully recounts the fight she had with her boyfriend, explaining that she is running home to her mother’s loving bosom. That cop will don his shining armor, climb on his white steed, and ride off to slay a dragon for her. On the other hand, if that same cop stops you, all bed-headed and dressed in baggy drawers with a wife-beater shirt, and you tell him you are chasing after the girlfriend you just had a fight with, he’ll drag you out of your car without the benefit of opening the door. He will give you a hard-wood shampoo the likes of which you have never seen before, and then throw you into a cell with a drunken red-neck named Bubba who will make you his snuggle bunny for the rest of the week.”
Despite his upset, Alex couldn’t help but chuckle at Gloria’s colorful description of his impending doom. “Given a lot of thought to this, have you?” he asked.
“What can I say,” Gloria replied levelly. “You are Son Number Four. I’ve had lots of practice.”
“So, what do I do?”
“You take the day off and let her cool down, then this afternoon you get down on your knees, admit you’re wrong, and grovel like crazy until she takes your sorry ass back. Now go upstairs and get dressed, and throw that ratty-assed robe in the trash,,,” Gloria shouted up after him. “I’m amazed she let you keep it,” she continued to mutter under her breath as she collected the remains of her tea and breakfast. “For frack’s sake God, why’d you have to give me a house full of boys,,, they’re all brain damaged you know, it’s Charles’ fault. Him and his defective genes. The least you could have done is given me one girl. At least then I’d have something to work with, I’ve gotten to Isabel way to late.”
**********
Maria paced back across her room, muttering under her breath while Alex sat backwards on her computer chair wondering what in hell had her so worked up. “Maria, why don’t you just tell me what’s wrong?” he pleaded.
“What, you think this is easy for me?” Maria snapped.
Alex leapt from the chair and before Maria could react, he took her by the shoulders and sat her on the foot of her bed. Moments later he had fished through her purse and had her sniffing from her vial of cedar oil. “Better?” he asked.
“A little,” she sniffed.
“Good. Now why don’t you tell me why you asked me over here.”
“It’s embarrassing.”
“Ria,” Alex said softly. “We’ve never kept secrets from each other. Who did you turn to when you got your period?”
“You,” Maria answered softly. “But that was natural. It was supposed to happen. It was nothing to be embarrassed about.”
“Maybe for you,” Alex chuckled. “But it was quite a shock for me.”
Maria’s brows shot up. “You never said anything,,,”
“Course not. I don’t have time to be embarrassed when it comes to my girlfriends. I’d do anything for you, you must know that by now,,,”
“My grandmother died of breast cancer,” Maria gushed. “She was younger that Mom is right now,,,”
“Ria, what’s this about?”
In response she stood and started to unbutton her shirt.
“Maria!” Alex gasped.
“Don’t worry Whitman,” Maria admonished. “We’re to old for show you mine, show me yours,,,”
“Mom was pissed that day, wasn’t she,,,”
“You’d think she’d have given us credit for the Mister Bubble bubble bath,,,” Maria complained about the decade old scolding she had received, first from his mom, then hers. By the time she had finished she had her blouse off, leaving her in a tank top and bra. “Here,” she said, pointing to the back of her underarm, almost all the way back to her shoulder blade.
“Maria, that’s no where near your breast,” Alex explained as he palpated the area.
“It’s still in the area of my lymph nodes,” she rebutted nervously. “And it really irritates me when I wear the wrong clothes.”
“Maria, it’s not a lump,” Alex said cheerfully.
“No?” she responded nervously. “Oh my God, it’s a mole. It’s going to grow hair and turn into cancer,,,”
“Ria, it’s a skin tag, just a piece of worn skin.”
While Maria continued to mutter, he connected with Isabel, checking up on Maria’s malady in the medical books he had asked her to memorize. “I can take care of it,,,”
“Really! How?”
“The easiest method is estrangulation,,,”
“You’re going to strangle me? Isn’t that a little drastic?” Maria gasped.
“No, Ria,” Alex replied consolingly. “I’ll tie it off with a piece of dental floss, cutting off it’s blood supply. It’ll shrivel up and fall off. Or we can go homeopathic with a herb called bloodroot, but that may leave a mark. Both methods take about a week,,,”
“A week! You expect me to walk around with a roll of dental floss in my armpit for a week,,,”
“You know, Max could,,,”
“Girlfriend, don’t you know that I am the last of the unadulterated in our group,,, the Noah’s Ark,,, the Rosetta Stone of humanity?” Maria stated emphatically. “I have a duty to keep this body sacrosanct.”
“Okay, surgery it is,,,”
“Surgery!!!”
“Relax, it’ll only take a moment, and you won’t feel a thing,” Alex explained as he quickly gathered supplies. Moments later he had a short piece of floss tied around her tag,
“You see, if Max took care of this,,,” Maria rambled on as Alex held an ice cube to her skin. “He’d change me. Maybe a lot, or maybe just a little,,,” Alex removed the cube, tugged the now anesthetic skin tag tight, and then snipped it off with her good scissors. “But how can I allow that and put the whole human race at risk,,,” Alex put a drop of Betadine on a Band-Aid before covering her tiny wound. “All done,,,”
“Done? That’s it?”
“That’s it,” Alex replied cheerfully as he cleaned his mess. “You can take off the Band-Aid tomorrow.”
“Kewl,” Maria replied cheerfully as she reached for her bag. “Come on! Saturn Rings, my treat.”
“Rings,” Alex sighed in agreement. This would postpone his homecoming to Isabel, but as much as he didn’t have an appetite, he hadn’t yet composed the perfect apology.
**********
Gloria parked her Focus, and giving it a disgusted look, she walked through the garage into the kitchen, but as soon as she entered the kitchen, her senses were assailed. “What the frack is that smell?”
“I’m cooking a pomegranate for Alex,” Isabel replied proudly. “It’s one of his favorite foods, and with Christmas coming, it’s in season,,,”
“You’re preparing one of his favorite foods?” Gloria asked incredulously. “When Charles screws up I make him suffer,,,”
“Alex didn’t screw up,,,” Isabel exclaimed earnestly as she charged her surrogate mom.
“Do you really want to be doing this?” Gloria asked acidly as she slowly turned her face down and looked at one of the two hands pinning her back against her new refrigerator.
Isabel, realizing the enormity of her mistake, released her and took a step back. “He didn’t screw up,” she repeated softly. “I did,,,” She held her hand up, preventing Gloria from interfering. “Everything he said was true. Nicholas and Tess were aliens,,, he did kill them,,, for me,,, for us.” Looking in Gloria’s appraising eyes, her confidence began to fade. “I know he didn’t mean me,,, he doesn’t think of me that way,,,”
“How does he think of you?” Gloria queried, confident that enough time had passed that Isabel would answer correctly.
“Our connection was open all day, we couldn’t control it. I was angry, he was contrite and hurt that I was holding him off, but I’m ready apologize when he gets home.”
“Where is he now?”
“He had to do a favor for Maria and then she took him to the Crashdown for a snack. He’s there now but he’ll be home for supper.”
“Charles?”
“He’s in the den, he brought some work home with him.”
“So now that Gloria was up to speed on the happenings in her home, she turned to the crisis at hand. “Let me see that pomegranate.” Taking the offered saucepan she looked Isabel in the eye. “How did you prepare it?”
“I washed it, peeled it, cut it in half and then cleaned out the insides. I then diced it, boiled it until it became soft, and then mashed it,,,”
“I take it this is the first time you prepared one of these?”
“Yea,” Isabel replied meekly.
“You are your mother’s daughter,” Gloria muttered as she stepped on the foot pedal for the garbage can, throwing out Isabel’s concoction pan and all. “Let me have another one.”
“What?” Isabel responded, staring wide-eyed at the now closed garbage can.
“Come on, you’re not capable of buying just one of anything,” Gloria teased while getting out a large mixing bowl and setting it in the sink. “I’m certain you bought several and then agonized while grading them in levels of near perfection before butchering your top choice, so let me have the one which was your second choice.”
Without comment, Isabel opened the refrigerator, reached inside, and handed Gloria the fruit.
Gloria reached for a chief’s knife, giving it a couple of swipes with the ceramic for good measure and then placed the pomegranate on a cutting board. Making a quick sure cut she instructed, “Cut the stem off, making sure you get all the pith off.” She then made several light cuts from end to end. “You see these ribs of pith diving it into sections? Cut the rind over the ribs, being careful not to go all the way through.” Gloria then put the knife down and moved the fruit into the mixing bowl that was now filled with slightly cool water. “Now break it into sections and gently scoop out the arils (juice pods) being careful not to break them, which is why you didn’t cut all the way through the rind.”
Isabel’s face fell as she watched Gloria throw ‘her’ part of the pomegranate in the trash. “You don’t use that at all?” she asked in alarm.
“Even with all the strange stuff I’ve seen you eat; no, you don’t want to try it,,, “Here, hold the strainer.” Gloria swirled the arils in the water, flicking odd bits of rind into the sink and then she poured the bowl through the strainer. Next she took the strainer from Isabel. “Get me a serving bowl,,, no, not the Corelle, the small china bowl with the blue glaze.” She gently poured the fruit into the offered bowl and then took it from Isabel, placing it on the counter. Next she reached for Isabel’s favorite cereal bowl, and then scooped several spoonfuls of pomegranate into it before sprinkling it with sugar. “Here, try this,” she offered.
“Oooh,” Isabel moaned as she took a taste. “Tart and sweet. I love it,,,”
“Well no more now, I don’t want you to spoil your appetite. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and put it on the counter, it should always be freshly prepared, and served cool, not cold.”
Isabel did as she was told, then as she rinsed out her bowl and spoon Gloria continued, “Now get out of my kitchen so I can get supper ready. Go out and bug Charles for a while,,,”
“Okay Mom, and thanks for the cooking lesson. I’m sure Alex is going to like it when he gets home,” Isabel teased as she kissed Gloria on the cheek before heading for the hallway.
“Isabel!”
“Yea,” Isabel replied with surprise as she stopped in the doorway and turned to see what Gloria wanted to add.
“Don’t let Alex off too easy,” Gloria instructed. “Men value the most that which they have to work the hardest to get.”
Isabel thought about this a moment before her face broke into a wide grin. “Then Charles must value you a lot,,,” Isabel squealed and dodged the dish towel Gloria threw at her.
**********
“Alex, stop acting like it’s the end of the world,” Maria snapped, slapping him on the shoulder for good measure before stealing one of his onion rings. “Michael and I fight all the time,,,”
“Foreplay,” Liz interjected, faking a cough into her elbow as she loaded an alien blast into the shake machine..
Alex snickered at Liz’s less than subtle dig as he turned to face Maria. “Everyone expects the two of you to fight, hell we’d be surprised if a day went by and you didn’t find a reason to holler at each other, but it’s different with Isabel and me. When Isabel gets upset, I get the old heave ho,,,”
Hearing this, Maria spun him on his seat until he faced her squarely. “You don’t believe that anymore, do you? I mean those days are gone forever, Isabel’s crazy about you,,,”
“Ria, how long have you known me? I’ve never been a ‘glass half full’ kind of guy,,,” Alex admitted softly.
“I saw her today, and she’s just as upset as you are,,,”
“I know,,,”
“She said that your connection was wide open all day and she could feel how much you loved her,,,”
“I know,,,”
“You know? Then what are you doing here?”
“She’s supposed to be home for supper. I’m composing my apology.”
“Do you know what you’re going to say yet?”
“No,” Liz interjected while leaning over the counter. “But I bet it will involve significant groveling,,,”
“I’m going to have to rub her feet,,,”
“You do foot massages?” Maria interjected excitedly.
“Don’t even think about it,” Alex retorted. “I hate feet.”
“Then why are you going to do Isabel’s,” Maria pouted.
“Now you how much trouble I’m in.”
**********
As Isabel headed towards the front of the house the doorbell rang. “I’ll get it,” she called out as she reached for the doorknob. Opening the door, she found two uniformed Air Force officers, hats in hand.
“Is this the Whitman residence?” the first officer asked.
“Yes,” Isabel answered cheerfully, for the first time in her life comfortable with Charles’ contemporaries.
“I have an important message for Major Charles Whitman from the Secretary of the Air Force. May we come in please?”
Isabel opened the door wide, allowing the officers to enter as she noticed Charles stepping into the hallway from the den, his face ashen. Isabel slipped into hostess mode as she ushered the men into the house and closed the door behind them. As she turned, she found Gloria grasping the frame of the kitchen doorway in support. Although she didn’t yet realize what was going on, she ran to Gloria’s side and helped her into the den where Charles had led their guest.
“My name is Lieutenant Colonel Jeffrey McDaniels. I am the commander of the Five Hundred Twenty-Second Fighter Squadron based at Cannon Air Force Base. (Clovis, MN) Am I addressing Major Charles Whitman? Are you the father of Lieutenant Robert Whitman?”
Charles slid down onto the couch next to his wife. He wrapped his hand around her, pulling her head to his shoulder as he nodded yes.
“The Chief of Staff, United States Air Force, has asked me to express his deepest regrets that your son, Lieutenant Robert Whitman, has died as a result of a gunshot wound received in Fairfax County Virginia this morning,,,”
“He was shot? How the hell did that happen?” Charles demanded.
“The preliminary information we received from the Virginia State Police lead us to believe that he was shot by the Beltway Sniper,,,”
“No, NO!” Gloria screeched.
“Apparently a woman and child came under fire. Lieutenant Whitman came to their aid, leading them to cover, but he was struck himself in the process.”
The second officer stepped toward the couch, but still remaining his distance, he sat back onto his heel, lowering himself to Charles’ and Gloria’s level. After giving them a moment to come to grips with their message, he asked, “Is there anyone we can call?”
Maria noticed Alex space out, and became quite upset that some of her best material was going to waste. “I know that look,” she said sarcastically to Liz. “Even when she’s on the other side of town,,,”
“Something’s wrong,” Alex blurted out, coming out of his Izzy-gram.
“Isabel?” Liz gasped.
“I don’t think so.”
“Czechoslovakian?” Maria probed as she got up to follow.
After a moments pause he answered. “No, but she wants me home, now. I need your Jetta,” he demanded, snatching Maria’s keys from the counter.
“Agnes, call upstairs and tell Mom I had to go,” Liz called out as she stripped off her antenna and apron.
“Alex, this isn’t a good time for you to drive,” Maria implored as she followed him out the front door of the Crashdown. “Why don’t you let me have my keys back,,,”
Instead Alex threw his keys to Liz and headed for the passenger door of the Jetta. As he buckled his seat belt, he turned to face Maria in the back seat. “You guys raised me so I wouldn’t go all macho on you, but as much as I might concede that this is not a good time for me to be driving, I’m certain it’s not a good time for me to give you the keys,,,” But Alex’s diatribe was cut off. He grimaced and turned forward as Liz blew through a red light and went around several corners on two wheels.
“Good plan,” Maria teased, “Except for one thing. Have you ever asked yourself why in three years no one has ever seen Liz drive?”
Alex hopped out of the car before it stopped, but the sight that awaited him froze him in his tracks. Ever since he had been a little kid growing up at Plattsburgh (Air Force Base, Plattsburgh, New York) he had nightmares of finding a blue Air Force car in front of his house. Instead of blue, this Crown Victoria was jet black, but there was no mistaking the yellow on blue military stenciled license plate. “One of my brothers is dead,” he said softly, his voice trembling.
Maria and Liz knew better than to question his pronouncement. Instead, they enveloped their childhood friend in a three?way hug, giving him all the love and support they could muster, but as time wore on, Liz realized that Alex stood firm, rooted to the spot. She stepped back and pulled out her cell. “Granolith, can you reach Isabel discretely?”
“I will activate the vibrator on her cell. If she is wearing it, she should respond. If so, what message do you wish me to convey to her?”
“Text her that Alex is outside, that he is afraid to come inside. She will understand.”
Moments later the Granolith replied, “Message conveyed.”
“My son Jesse should be enroute home as we speak. Harry is in Aviano,,,”
“Major, Lieutenant Whitman’s DD-93 (Record of Emergency Data form) is up to date, and we have all of the necessary information to locate his secondary next-of-kin. If you wish, we will make the necessary notifications,,,”
Isabel felt a soft rumble at the back of her waist, and she discretely pulled out her cell where she could see it.
“Not by phone,” Gloria implored. “I don’t want them to get that call.”
“No Ma’am,” the Colonel answered softly, turning his attention to her fully. “We would make the notifications in person, within the next three hours. Simultaneously to the notification, they would be placed on emergency leave status, allowing them to requisition priority travel vouchers to get home as quickly as possible.”
By now Isabel had made her way to the window, where she could ‘notice’ the car outside. “Alex is home,” she announced as she started towards the door.
“Alex,” Gloria gasped. “How could I forget,” she muttered as she started to stand.
Isabel was in front of her in an instant, gently pushing her back into her seat. “I’ve got it,” she whispered. “You stay here and take care of Charles. Alex is my responsibility now.”
As Isabel headed for the door Gloria continued, “I need to call Rachel,,,”
“Is that something I could do for you,” the Chaplain probed gently.
“No!” Gloria insisted. “With Harry flying over Bosnia, I need to make this call myself. I don’t want her to hear an unfamiliar voice and mistakenly start to panic, thinking something’s happened to her husband.”
Isabel slowly approached the group still supporting each other in the yard. As she approached, the twins stepped to the side, opening Alex to her approach. “Who?” was all he could manage to ask.
“Robert,” Isabel answered softly, hesitating just out of reach, waiting for his reaction to guide her actions.
“Robert?” Alex gasped in amazement. “He’s CONUS! (Stationed in the CONtinental United States.) He’s at Fort Meade Maryland, one of the safest bases in the world. Have you ever been there? Even their children’s day care center is surrounded by barbed wire and is defended with it’s own dedicated guard house.”
“He,,, It was a crime, nothing connected to the military,” Isabel explained. “That’s all, he was in the wrong place at the wrong time.”
At this point Alex façade crumbled and with their petty differences forgotten, Isabel pulled him into her arms.
TBC
Chapter 24-G There be Heroes Here
By Stargazer MD
Alex woke early, shaking his head and wondering why when he had a wonderful night dreaming of Isabel and the girls, he couldn’t get thoughts of manufacturing standards and sheet metal processing out of his head. This mystified him as he didn’t know anything about sheet metal processing. Adding to his confusion was the fact that the Blade server was still running a job. First, he didn’t remember starting a job before turning in for the night, and second, even if he did leave a job running, it should have completed by now.
“Morning Mom,” he mumbled as he made his way around the table to Isabel’s side. “Morning,” he said, this time in a more coherent voice as he leaned down and kissed her.
“Ugghhh, morning breath,” Isabel teased as she waved her hand in front of her face. “Either you’ve got to adjust to your new taste in foods or use mouthwash.”
“I can’t use mouthwash,” he teased back. “Michael drank it all when he and Maria came over to visit,” he added as he got the captain Crunch and Count Chocoula cereals out of the pantry. Dropping the boxes and a bowl on the table, he went to the refrigerator and retrieved a bottle of cranberry juice. He sat, poured from both boxes into a large bowl, and then wet the mix with the juice. As he started to dig in he looked at Isabel. “Do you have any idea what the Blade is running?”
“It’s running a Pangborn Job,” she answered nervously. “I got their bill of materials database completed, and now the process inventory control module is building,,,”
“I nowhere near ready for that,,,” Alex replied in alarm.
“We are now,” Isabel answered. “I know you’ve been pounding away on the EMS program, getting it polished for delivery, and there isn’t anything more we can do for Leprino until we get a purchase order from them, so I’m keeping Pangborn moving along.”
“How?”
“Well,” she replied hesitantly while biting her bottom lip, “While you were sleeping I connected with you to find out what needed to be done,,,”
“Is that why I woke up thinking of sheet metal?”
“Probably,,,”
“You don’t have to do that!”
“Of course I do,” Isabel snapped.
“Izzy, I don’t want you to have to do things like that. I can take care of it myself,,,”
Things like what?” Isabel demanded. “First, I may occasionally like to laze in bed for ten hours, but I only really need two hours of sleep, and second, I don’t think you’ve taken an evening off for the past several months that I didn’t schedule for you,,,”
“I’m okay,” Alex stammered, suddenly finding himself on the defensive. “Besides, I’ve been having a blast these past months, as long as I’m doing if with you,,, for you.”
“Alex, all I want to be able to do is my fair share. You took a school project and built it into this great thing,,,”
“I couldn’t have done it without you,,,”
“If there is anything I can do to get these projects done, if there’s anything I can do to make your job easier, I’m going to do it,,,” Isabel pleaded. “For frack’s sake Alex, you’ve had to kill for me,,,”
“Not for you, or because of you,,, To keep us safe,,, Not to mention the others. Besides, Tess and Nicholas,,, they weren’t even human,,,” Alex knew he had made a major mistake the moment the words left his mouth. “Izzy,,,”
“I’m not human,” Isabel gasped as her face dissolved into tears and she ran out the door.
“Izzy,” Alex shouted after her in disbelief as he sprang from his chair.
“Alex!” Gloria commanded. “Sit down!”
“I’ve got to go after her,” He muttered as he fumbled through the hutch. “Where are your keys? I’ve got to make her see I didn’t mean what I said the way she took it,,,”
“She knows that,” Gloria replied consolingly. “But you stung her, twice. First by minimizing her contributions, and second with your ‘human’ comment. She’s going to need some time to calm down, and you’re going need to change your attitudes about her pulling her share of the load,,,”
“I’m going after her,,,”
“No you’re not!,, Let me tell you about the difference between boys and girls.”
“We’ve had this talk,,,”
“Not this one,” Gloria snapped as she closed the door to the garage and stood in front of it with her arms crossed. “If a cop pulls Isabel over, he will find a beautiful woman dressed in modest red silk pajamas and a red satin robe. He will listen sympathetically as she tearfully recounts the fight she had with her boyfriend, explaining that she is running home to her mother’s loving bosom. That cop will don his shining armor, climb on his white steed, and ride off to slay a dragon for her. On the other hand, if that same cop stops you, all bed-headed and dressed in baggy drawers with a wife-beater shirt, and you tell him you are chasing after the girlfriend you just had a fight with, he’ll drag you out of your car without the benefit of opening the door. He will give you a hard-wood shampoo the likes of which you have never seen before, and then throw you into a cell with a drunken red-neck named Bubba who will make you his snuggle bunny for the rest of the week.”
Despite his upset, Alex couldn’t help but chuckle at Gloria’s colorful description of his impending doom. “Given a lot of thought to this, have you?” he asked.
“What can I say,” Gloria replied levelly. “You are Son Number Four. I’ve had lots of practice.”
“So, what do I do?”
“You take the day off and let her cool down, then this afternoon you get down on your knees, admit you’re wrong, and grovel like crazy until she takes your sorry ass back. Now go upstairs and get dressed, and throw that ratty-assed robe in the trash,,,” Gloria shouted up after him. “I’m amazed she let you keep it,” she continued to mutter under her breath as she collected the remains of her tea and breakfast. “For frack’s sake God, why’d you have to give me a house full of boys,,, they’re all brain damaged you know, it’s Charles’ fault. Him and his defective genes. The least you could have done is given me one girl. At least then I’d have something to work with, I’ve gotten to Isabel way to late.”
**********
Maria paced back across her room, muttering under her breath while Alex sat backwards on her computer chair wondering what in hell had her so worked up. “Maria, why don’t you just tell me what’s wrong?” he pleaded.
“What, you think this is easy for me?” Maria snapped.
Alex leapt from the chair and before Maria could react, he took her by the shoulders and sat her on the foot of her bed. Moments later he had fished through her purse and had her sniffing from her vial of cedar oil. “Better?” he asked.
“A little,” she sniffed.
“Good. Now why don’t you tell me why you asked me over here.”
“It’s embarrassing.”
“Ria,” Alex said softly. “We’ve never kept secrets from each other. Who did you turn to when you got your period?”
“You,” Maria answered softly. “But that was natural. It was supposed to happen. It was nothing to be embarrassed about.”
“Maybe for you,” Alex chuckled. “But it was quite a shock for me.”
Maria’s brows shot up. “You never said anything,,,”
“Course not. I don’t have time to be embarrassed when it comes to my girlfriends. I’d do anything for you, you must know that by now,,,”
“My grandmother died of breast cancer,” Maria gushed. “She was younger that Mom is right now,,,”
“Ria, what’s this about?”
In response she stood and started to unbutton her shirt.
“Maria!” Alex gasped.
“Don’t worry Whitman,” Maria admonished. “We’re to old for show you mine, show me yours,,,”
“Mom was pissed that day, wasn’t she,,,”
“You’d think she’d have given us credit for the Mister Bubble bubble bath,,,” Maria complained about the decade old scolding she had received, first from his mom, then hers. By the time she had finished she had her blouse off, leaving her in a tank top and bra. “Here,” she said, pointing to the back of her underarm, almost all the way back to her shoulder blade.
“Maria, that’s no where near your breast,” Alex explained as he palpated the area.
“It’s still in the area of my lymph nodes,” she rebutted nervously. “And it really irritates me when I wear the wrong clothes.”
“Maria, it’s not a lump,” Alex said cheerfully.
“No?” she responded nervously. “Oh my God, it’s a mole. It’s going to grow hair and turn into cancer,,,”
“Ria, it’s a skin tag, just a piece of worn skin.”
While Maria continued to mutter, he connected with Isabel, checking up on Maria’s malady in the medical books he had asked her to memorize. “I can take care of it,,,”
“Really! How?”
“The easiest method is estrangulation,,,”
“You’re going to strangle me? Isn’t that a little drastic?” Maria gasped.
“No, Ria,” Alex replied consolingly. “I’ll tie it off with a piece of dental floss, cutting off it’s blood supply. It’ll shrivel up and fall off. Or we can go homeopathic with a herb called bloodroot, but that may leave a mark. Both methods take about a week,,,”
“A week! You expect me to walk around with a roll of dental floss in my armpit for a week,,,”
“You know, Max could,,,”
“Girlfriend, don’t you know that I am the last of the unadulterated in our group,,, the Noah’s Ark,,, the Rosetta Stone of humanity?” Maria stated emphatically. “I have a duty to keep this body sacrosanct.”
“Okay, surgery it is,,,”
“Surgery!!!”
“Relax, it’ll only take a moment, and you won’t feel a thing,” Alex explained as he quickly gathered supplies. Moments later he had a short piece of floss tied around her tag,
“You see, if Max took care of this,,,” Maria rambled on as Alex held an ice cube to her skin. “He’d change me. Maybe a lot, or maybe just a little,,,” Alex removed the cube, tugged the now anesthetic skin tag tight, and then snipped it off with her good scissors. “But how can I allow that and put the whole human race at risk,,,” Alex put a drop of Betadine on a Band-Aid before covering her tiny wound. “All done,,,”
“Done? That’s it?”
“That’s it,” Alex replied cheerfully as he cleaned his mess. “You can take off the Band-Aid tomorrow.”
“Kewl,” Maria replied cheerfully as she reached for her bag. “Come on! Saturn Rings, my treat.”
“Rings,” Alex sighed in agreement. This would postpone his homecoming to Isabel, but as much as he didn’t have an appetite, he hadn’t yet composed the perfect apology.
**********
Gloria parked her Focus, and giving it a disgusted look, she walked through the garage into the kitchen, but as soon as she entered the kitchen, her senses were assailed. “What the frack is that smell?”
“I’m cooking a pomegranate for Alex,” Isabel replied proudly. “It’s one of his favorite foods, and with Christmas coming, it’s in season,,,”
“You’re preparing one of his favorite foods?” Gloria asked incredulously. “When Charles screws up I make him suffer,,,”
“Alex didn’t screw up,,,” Isabel exclaimed earnestly as she charged her surrogate mom.
“Do you really want to be doing this?” Gloria asked acidly as she slowly turned her face down and looked at one of the two hands pinning her back against her new refrigerator.
Isabel, realizing the enormity of her mistake, released her and took a step back. “He didn’t screw up,” she repeated softly. “I did,,,” She held her hand up, preventing Gloria from interfering. “Everything he said was true. Nicholas and Tess were aliens,,, he did kill them,,, for me,,, for us.” Looking in Gloria’s appraising eyes, her confidence began to fade. “I know he didn’t mean me,,, he doesn’t think of me that way,,,”
“How does he think of you?” Gloria queried, confident that enough time had passed that Isabel would answer correctly.
“Our connection was open all day, we couldn’t control it. I was angry, he was contrite and hurt that I was holding him off, but I’m ready apologize when he gets home.”
“Where is he now?”
“He had to do a favor for Maria and then she took him to the Crashdown for a snack. He’s there now but he’ll be home for supper.”
“Charles?”
“He’s in the den, he brought some work home with him.”
“So now that Gloria was up to speed on the happenings in her home, she turned to the crisis at hand. “Let me see that pomegranate.” Taking the offered saucepan she looked Isabel in the eye. “How did you prepare it?”
“I washed it, peeled it, cut it in half and then cleaned out the insides. I then diced it, boiled it until it became soft, and then mashed it,,,”
“I take it this is the first time you prepared one of these?”
“Yea,” Isabel replied meekly.
“You are your mother’s daughter,” Gloria muttered as she stepped on the foot pedal for the garbage can, throwing out Isabel’s concoction pan and all. “Let me have another one.”
“What?” Isabel responded, staring wide-eyed at the now closed garbage can.
“Come on, you’re not capable of buying just one of anything,” Gloria teased while getting out a large mixing bowl and setting it in the sink. “I’m certain you bought several and then agonized while grading them in levels of near perfection before butchering your top choice, so let me have the one which was your second choice.”
Without comment, Isabel opened the refrigerator, reached inside, and handed Gloria the fruit.
Gloria reached for a chief’s knife, giving it a couple of swipes with the ceramic for good measure and then placed the pomegranate on a cutting board. Making a quick sure cut she instructed, “Cut the stem off, making sure you get all the pith off.” She then made several light cuts from end to end. “You see these ribs of pith diving it into sections? Cut the rind over the ribs, being careful not to go all the way through.” Gloria then put the knife down and moved the fruit into the mixing bowl that was now filled with slightly cool water. “Now break it into sections and gently scoop out the arils (juice pods) being careful not to break them, which is why you didn’t cut all the way through the rind.”
Isabel’s face fell as she watched Gloria throw ‘her’ part of the pomegranate in the trash. “You don’t use that at all?” she asked in alarm.
“Even with all the strange stuff I’ve seen you eat; no, you don’t want to try it,,, “Here, hold the strainer.” Gloria swirled the arils in the water, flicking odd bits of rind into the sink and then she poured the bowl through the strainer. Next she took the strainer from Isabel. “Get me a serving bowl,,, no, not the Corelle, the small china bowl with the blue glaze.” She gently poured the fruit into the offered bowl and then took it from Isabel, placing it on the counter. Next she reached for Isabel’s favorite cereal bowl, and then scooped several spoonfuls of pomegranate into it before sprinkling it with sugar. “Here, try this,” she offered.
“Oooh,” Isabel moaned as she took a taste. “Tart and sweet. I love it,,,”
“Well no more now, I don’t want you to spoil your appetite. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and put it on the counter, it should always be freshly prepared, and served cool, not cold.”
Isabel did as she was told, then as she rinsed out her bowl and spoon Gloria continued, “Now get out of my kitchen so I can get supper ready. Go out and bug Charles for a while,,,”
“Okay Mom, and thanks for the cooking lesson. I’m sure Alex is going to like it when he gets home,” Isabel teased as she kissed Gloria on the cheek before heading for the hallway.
“Isabel!”
“Yea,” Isabel replied with surprise as she stopped in the doorway and turned to see what Gloria wanted to add.
“Don’t let Alex off too easy,” Gloria instructed. “Men value the most that which they have to work the hardest to get.”
Isabel thought about this a moment before her face broke into a wide grin. “Then Charles must value you a lot,,,” Isabel squealed and dodged the dish towel Gloria threw at her.
**********
“Alex, stop acting like it’s the end of the world,” Maria snapped, slapping him on the shoulder for good measure before stealing one of his onion rings. “Michael and I fight all the time,,,”
“Foreplay,” Liz interjected, faking a cough into her elbow as she loaded an alien blast into the shake machine..
Alex snickered at Liz’s less than subtle dig as he turned to face Maria. “Everyone expects the two of you to fight, hell we’d be surprised if a day went by and you didn’t find a reason to holler at each other, but it’s different with Isabel and me. When Isabel gets upset, I get the old heave ho,,,”
Hearing this, Maria spun him on his seat until he faced her squarely. “You don’t believe that anymore, do you? I mean those days are gone forever, Isabel’s crazy about you,,,”
“Ria, how long have you known me? I’ve never been a ‘glass half full’ kind of guy,,,” Alex admitted softly.
“I saw her today, and she’s just as upset as you are,,,”
“I know,,,”
“She said that your connection was wide open all day and she could feel how much you loved her,,,”
“I know,,,”
“You know? Then what are you doing here?”
“She’s supposed to be home for supper. I’m composing my apology.”
“Do you know what you’re going to say yet?”
“No,” Liz interjected while leaning over the counter. “But I bet it will involve significant groveling,,,”
“I’m going to have to rub her feet,,,”
“You do foot massages?” Maria interjected excitedly.
“Don’t even think about it,” Alex retorted. “I hate feet.”
“Then why are you going to do Isabel’s,” Maria pouted.
“Now you how much trouble I’m in.”
**********
As Isabel headed towards the front of the house the doorbell rang. “I’ll get it,” she called out as she reached for the doorknob. Opening the door, she found two uniformed Air Force officers, hats in hand.
“Is this the Whitman residence?” the first officer asked.
“Yes,” Isabel answered cheerfully, for the first time in her life comfortable with Charles’ contemporaries.
“I have an important message for Major Charles Whitman from the Secretary of the Air Force. May we come in please?”
Isabel opened the door wide, allowing the officers to enter as she noticed Charles stepping into the hallway from the den, his face ashen. Isabel slipped into hostess mode as she ushered the men into the house and closed the door behind them. As she turned, she found Gloria grasping the frame of the kitchen doorway in support. Although she didn’t yet realize what was going on, she ran to Gloria’s side and helped her into the den where Charles had led their guest.
“My name is Lieutenant Colonel Jeffrey McDaniels. I am the commander of the Five Hundred Twenty-Second Fighter Squadron based at Cannon Air Force Base. (Clovis, MN) Am I addressing Major Charles Whitman? Are you the father of Lieutenant Robert Whitman?”
Charles slid down onto the couch next to his wife. He wrapped his hand around her, pulling her head to his shoulder as he nodded yes.
“The Chief of Staff, United States Air Force, has asked me to express his deepest regrets that your son, Lieutenant Robert Whitman, has died as a result of a gunshot wound received in Fairfax County Virginia this morning,,,”
“He was shot? How the hell did that happen?” Charles demanded.
“The preliminary information we received from the Virginia State Police lead us to believe that he was shot by the Beltway Sniper,,,”
“No, NO!” Gloria screeched.
“Apparently a woman and child came under fire. Lieutenant Whitman came to their aid, leading them to cover, but he was struck himself in the process.”
The second officer stepped toward the couch, but still remaining his distance, he sat back onto his heel, lowering himself to Charles’ and Gloria’s level. After giving them a moment to come to grips with their message, he asked, “Is there anyone we can call?”
Maria noticed Alex space out, and became quite upset that some of her best material was going to waste. “I know that look,” she said sarcastically to Liz. “Even when she’s on the other side of town,,,”
“Something’s wrong,” Alex blurted out, coming out of his Izzy-gram.
“Isabel?” Liz gasped.
“I don’t think so.”
“Czechoslovakian?” Maria probed as she got up to follow.
After a moments pause he answered. “No, but she wants me home, now. I need your Jetta,” he demanded, snatching Maria’s keys from the counter.
“Agnes, call upstairs and tell Mom I had to go,” Liz called out as she stripped off her antenna and apron.
“Alex, this isn’t a good time for you to drive,” Maria implored as she followed him out the front door of the Crashdown. “Why don’t you let me have my keys back,,,”
Instead Alex threw his keys to Liz and headed for the passenger door of the Jetta. As he buckled his seat belt, he turned to face Maria in the back seat. “You guys raised me so I wouldn’t go all macho on you, but as much as I might concede that this is not a good time for me to be driving, I’m certain it’s not a good time for me to give you the keys,,,” But Alex’s diatribe was cut off. He grimaced and turned forward as Liz blew through a red light and went around several corners on two wheels.
“Good plan,” Maria teased, “Except for one thing. Have you ever asked yourself why in three years no one has ever seen Liz drive?”
Alex hopped out of the car before it stopped, but the sight that awaited him froze him in his tracks. Ever since he had been a little kid growing up at Plattsburgh (Air Force Base, Plattsburgh, New York) he had nightmares of finding a blue Air Force car in front of his house. Instead of blue, this Crown Victoria was jet black, but there was no mistaking the yellow on blue military stenciled license plate. “One of my brothers is dead,” he said softly, his voice trembling.
Maria and Liz knew better than to question his pronouncement. Instead, they enveloped their childhood friend in a three?way hug, giving him all the love and support they could muster, but as time wore on, Liz realized that Alex stood firm, rooted to the spot. She stepped back and pulled out her cell. “Granolith, can you reach Isabel discretely?”
“I will activate the vibrator on her cell. If she is wearing it, she should respond. If so, what message do you wish me to convey to her?”
“Text her that Alex is outside, that he is afraid to come inside. She will understand.”
Moments later the Granolith replied, “Message conveyed.”
“My son Jesse should be enroute home as we speak. Harry is in Aviano,,,”
“Major, Lieutenant Whitman’s DD-93 (Record of Emergency Data form) is up to date, and we have all of the necessary information to locate his secondary next-of-kin. If you wish, we will make the necessary notifications,,,”
Isabel felt a soft rumble at the back of her waist, and she discretely pulled out her cell where she could see it.
“Not by phone,” Gloria implored. “I don’t want them to get that call.”
“No Ma’am,” the Colonel answered softly, turning his attention to her fully. “We would make the notifications in person, within the next three hours. Simultaneously to the notification, they would be placed on emergency leave status, allowing them to requisition priority travel vouchers to get home as quickly as possible.”
By now Isabel had made her way to the window, where she could ‘notice’ the car outside. “Alex is home,” she announced as she started towards the door.
“Alex,” Gloria gasped. “How could I forget,” she muttered as she started to stand.
Isabel was in front of her in an instant, gently pushing her back into her seat. “I’ve got it,” she whispered. “You stay here and take care of Charles. Alex is my responsibility now.”
As Isabel headed for the door Gloria continued, “I need to call Rachel,,,”
“Is that something I could do for you,” the Chaplain probed gently.
“No!” Gloria insisted. “With Harry flying over Bosnia, I need to make this call myself. I don’t want her to hear an unfamiliar voice and mistakenly start to panic, thinking something’s happened to her husband.”
Isabel slowly approached the group still supporting each other in the yard. As she approached, the twins stepped to the side, opening Alex to her approach. “Who?” was all he could manage to ask.
“Robert,” Isabel answered softly, hesitating just out of reach, waiting for his reaction to guide her actions.
“Robert?” Alex gasped in amazement. “He’s CONUS! (Stationed in the CONtinental United States.) He’s at Fort Meade Maryland, one of the safest bases in the world. Have you ever been there? Even their children’s day care center is surrounded by barbed wire and is defended with it’s own dedicated guard house.”
“He,,, It was a crime, nothing connected to the military,” Isabel explained. “That’s all, he was in the wrong place at the wrong time.”
At this point Alex façade crumbled and with their petty differences forgotten, Isabel pulled him into her arms.
TBC
My completed stories:
The Seekers, I&A with angst
http://www.majiksfanfic.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?t=282
Alex C Whitman SSAIC, (Supervising Special Agent in Charge) I&A with uber-angst
http://www.majiksfanfic.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?t=488
The Seekers, I&A with angst
http://www.majiksfanfic.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?t=282
Alex C Whitman SSAIC, (Supervising Special Agent in Charge) I&A with uber-angst
http://www.majiksfanfic.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?t=488
-
stargazer md
- Addicted Roswellian
- Posts: 120
- Joined: Sun Jun 06, 2004 10:25 pm
- Location: New Hampshire, USA
Stargazer Gets the Girl
Chapter 24-H There be Heroes Here
By Stargazer MD
“The clerk is ordered to enter a finding of guilty,” Judge Lewis commanded as he slammed his gavel on his bench. “Fine set at ninety-six dollars. (71€) Pay the cashier in the lobby. Miss Holly? The next case please.”
“The next case is UCR code eighty-eight dash two-zero-zero-one dash nine dash two-six sequence number eleven. The City of Roswell verses Jason Summers.”
Jason Summers stood and looked around the courtroom nervously, but this was far from the first time Judge Lewis had to deal with a first time defendant. “Come on down, Mister Summers,” he said teasingly. “We don’t stand much on ceremony here, so just come close enough so Miss Holly can hear you, and we’ll make this as quick and painless as possible.”
Jason slowly approached the bench, but as he made eye contact with the deputy that gave him the ticket, his nerve faltered. “Maybe I’ll just sign the back of the ticket and pay the fine,,,” he stammered.
“I know what you were thinking,” the judge interjected as he leaned forward. “You were hoping that Deputy Copp wouldn’t be here and you could get your charges dismissed,,, Right?”
“Yes,,, Your Honor.”
“Well as you can see Deputy Copp is here, as well as Sheriff Valenti, myself, and Miss Holly. Now since the City of Roswell is paying all of us to be here at your beck and call, I think it’s only fitting and proper that we have ourselves a trial, don’t you agree?” he asked cheerfully.
“Yes, I guess,” Jason agreed, his nervousness fading fast in light of the Judges homespun appeal.
“Good,” Judge Lewis drawled as he settled back in his gleaming black leather chair. “Now I can guess, word for word, what Deputy Copp is going to have to say, so we’ll dispense with that for the moment and listen to your side of the story.”
“Your honor,” Jason stammered nervously. “I’m new to New Mexico, and the first thing I wanted to do when I got here was to visit Roswell. So I was driving through the desert, and I didn’t really understand that there was a speed limit out there.”
“You didn’t realize there was a speed limit?” Judge Lewis repeated skeptically. “Aren’t there speed limits where you come from Son?”
While the Judge was speaking, Jason looked over his head, at the Roswell City Seal. He could almost imagine seeing a stylized U.F.O. shaped like a New Mexico Sunburst swooping down from the nighttime sky. “No your Honor,” he replied hesitantly. “We don’t.”
“And just where do you come from?”
Jason scrambled for a name, and the first thing that popped into his mind was the manufacturer of the video capture converter that he had just installed on his computer. “I come from the planet Plextor, your Honor.”
“Really?” Judge Lewis replied laughingly. With a harrumph, he looked down at his bench and began to shuffle through the paperwork assembled there. While he was doing this, he couldn’t help but notice Sheriff Valenti trying to hide a chuckle behind his hand while Deputy Copp’s face began to turn red, but finding that the man had a spotless driving record, he decided to play along. “Well in that case, let me be the first to welcome you to planet Earth,,,”
“Your Honor!,,” Deputy Copp protested, only stopping when the Sheriff placed a restraining arm on his own.
“But speaking for all the citizens of this fair city, I need to warn you that we take our laws seriously here, we can’t have our special guest tearing up the roads and parking their spaceships wherever they damned well please,,, excuse my French Miss Holly, I didn’t mean to offend,,,”
“None taken, your Honor,” Miss Holly replied without batting an eye, for she had heard much worse pass through the good Judge’s lips over the years.
“Now, as I was saying, you never know about aliens. Those Centari,,, they really know how to throw a party.” the Judge admonished. “Last time they were here they blew up every parking meter on South Main Street.”
“I promise your Honor, when I party I park my car first, but as far as this ticket goes, I had already seen the edge of the city and started to slow down, but by then the deputy already had me,,,”
“Your Honor! Aliens?” Deputy Copp pleaded in disbelief. “You’re not buying this, are you?”
“Sheriff?”
“Why Roswell’s full of aliens Deputy,” Jim admonished. “I bump into them all the time; in fact I’ve had aliens out to the house for barbecue.”
“So I’ll tell you what I’m going to do Mister Summers. In light of your unfamiliarity with Earth’s customs, I’m going to continue this case without finding for the next six months. If I don’t see you again, the charges will be dismissed. Is that clear?” Judge Lewis advised, his voice taking on a sinister tone as he finished.
“Yes your Honor,” Jason stammered.
“Good,” the Judge declared, banging his gavel. “In that case it’s a warp.”
Jason turned to talk to Jim, who seeing the judge waiting expectantly, didn’t want to get involved in chitchat with a civilian. “Did you hear Judge Lewis bang his gavel?” he asked sarcastically.
“Yea,” Jason answered slowly.
“That’s judge-speak for ‘get the frack out of my courtroom before I change my mind,,,”
“Oh,” Jason replied as he beat a hasty retreat for the door.
“Miss Holly, you’ll drop the day’s summary by the newspaper on the way home?” Judge Lewis asked needlessly.
“Yes your Honor,” she replied. “I always do.”
“You’ll point out our special guest?”
“I will,” she continued. “I’m willing to bet Foster will have a story uploaded onto the wire services before he goes home tonight.”
“Good,,, good.”
“Next week the cover story of the National Inquisitor will be about Roswell’s ‘first ticket free’ policy for aliens,,,”
“Your Honor,” Deputy Copp protested. “What’s this all about?”
Judge Lewis looked over to Jim with a smile on his face, receiving a shrug in reply. “Deputy, you just happened to have gotten a job in a town that depends on tourism for it’s survival. Oh sure we have the cheese factory and the air center, but without tourism, this city would be nothing more than a gas station and a MacDonald’s at a highway intersection,,,”
“Then we need that forty-eight dollars now more than ever.”
“Son, that forty-eight dollars just bought us exposure on every supermarket checkout counter in the entire country. Now for my money, that’s a fair trade,” Judge Lewis concluded, banging his gavel one last time. “Now, if there are no more questions, get out. I have a card game to get to.”
**********
“Lance Corporal Whitman reporting as ordered, Sir!” Jesse barked as he braced at attention in his platoon commander’s office.
“Take a seat, Marine,” the captain commanded as he rose from behind his desk. “Gunny, please wait outside,” the officer requested of the Sergeant who had accompanied Corporal Whitman.
Jesse felt a chill run up his spine as his ass puckered. As a Marine, he was trained to face any enemy with confidence in his abilities to overcome any obstacle, but he now found himself in unfamiliar waters. Marine Corporals did not sit while officers stood, and more importantly, Marie Captains did not close their own hatches (doors) when there was an enlisted man handy to do it for them, but in the end he did as he was ordered. He sat down.
Moments later the Captain sat back behind his desk and crossed his hands. “Marine, I’m afraid I have some bad news.,,,”
Less than an hour later Jesse was driving towards San Diego airport, with instructions from his Gunny to report to the United Airlines customer service counter where he would be put on the next flight to Albuquerque. Once there, he would have to make a decision, whether to rent a car and drive through the night or to wait until morning and catch a Messa flight into Roswell. Thinking of the disruption a three AM arrival would have on his parents, he was leaning towards sleeping at the airport. He could sleep anywhere after all, he was a Marine.
**********
As midnight approached, Isabel slowly walked through the quiet house, surveying her domain. She had already looked in on Charles and Gloria, gracing them with a deep dreamless slumber that would give them rest that that they would desperately need over the next several days.
Her rounds finished, she found herself at Alex’s bedside. She considered climbing in besides him, wondering if Gloria might grant dispensation in light of the circumstances, but decided that incurring the wrath of the house’s alpha female was not worth the risk, especially when she had a much safer way of spending the night with him.
Isabel decided that it was time for another pillow swap, as his scent was fading from her linens. She scooted to the linen closet and covered her own pillows with fresh crisp pillow cases. Her task completed, she returned to his bedside.
“Lift your head, Sweetie,” Isabel softly commanded as she eased Alex’s pillow out from under his head, replacing it with the fresh one, but as she went to replace his second pillow, a smile crossed her face. She took her own second pillow and ran back to her room. Safely alone, Isabel slipped her panties down her legs and sprayed them with her Lady Grace perfume. ‘’What Gloria doesn’t know won’t hurt her,’ Isabel thought as she slipped the warm garment into the clean pillow case before returning to Alex’s room.
“Turn onto your side,” she asked softly, and as he complied, she set the pillow against his chest. She watched as Alex hugged the pillow against his chest, and as it settled against his face, he took a deep breath, a smile crossing his face. Next she pulled his comforter up, tucking it around his neck for Charles was as frugal with the heat as he was with the air conditioning.
“I’ll be with you in just a moment, Sweetie,” she said softly before gently kissing him good night and returning to her own bed. “I think we’ll take the girls swimming tonight.”
After a rambunctious afternoon at the pool back at Balmorhea State Park, Alex found himself sitting at their campsite with his girls while Isabel made a quick run into Toyahvale, Texas to purchase food for an evening cookout. Both of his daughters were exhausted, and before leaving Isabel had instructed that everyone, Daddy included, take a nap.
Alex was resting in the only spot of shade in the camp site, his back against a large Velvet Mesquite tree. Despite the heat, both Andy and Cassie wanted to curl up in their dad’s lab, but the girls had grown to a point where they wouldn't fit together. “You can sit on Daddy’s lap,” Andy told Cassie. “You’re Daddy’s little girl.”
Cassie crawled into Alex’s lap in innocent bliss of her sisters words, but Alex had heard the hurt that was there. “Come on Princess,” Alex implored while holding out his arm. “Daddy’s always going to have room for everyone.”
Andy’s face lit up as she snuggled into her father’s side, and with his family happy for the moment, the Whitman’s fell asleep.
“Charcoal’s ready!” Alex called out.
“Cheese-burger! Cheese-burger! Cheese-burger!” Andy and Cassie chanted as they danced around the campsite.
“Girls, stay away from the grill,” Isabel instructed.
Alex, wearing his wife’s ‘kiss the cook’ apron, turned to face Isabel, communicating silently before adding, “I need the corn first.”
Isabel made eye contact before raising her brows in question, Receiving a slight nod in reply, she called Andy over and handed her the platter of carefully prepared corn. “Okay Sweetheart, bring this over to Daddy, but be careful. Your Uncle Max isn’t here to take care of you if you get burned on the grill.”
“I’ll be careful, Mommy,” Andy replied solemnly.
Alex took the platter from his daughter, placing it on the grill’s sideboard before scooping her up in his arms. “You know the rules little girl. You have to kiss the cook,” he teased as he rubbed his cheek against hers.
“Daddy, your cheek scratches,” Andy replied laughingly.
“Okay then, I’ll let you off easy,” he teased as he kissed her on the forehead before putting her down. “Now go back to Mommy.”
After dark Alex was sitting in front of the fire, listening to his beautiful wife as she read to Cassie in their tent when he felt, more than heard, Andy approach. “Come on Princess,” he beckoned, sweeping her up with an arm and settling her on his lap. He let her wiggle a moment to get comfortable, but as soon as she snuggled in against him, he wrapped his arms around her and bent to kiss the top of her head. “That was a very nice thing you did today, letting Cassie sit on my lap.”
“That’s okay,” she silently pouted. “She’s the little girl.”
“Andy,” Alex said softly as he again kissed her head, “Cassie may be a little younger than you are, but you’re both my little girls. You’ll always be my little girl,” he continued, kissing her head again.
“But Daddy, I’m older!”
“Um-hum,” he replied, giving another kiss, “But little girls never get old. Have you ever watched Mommy when Grampy Phillip comes to visit? Mommy always makes sure that she spends some time alone with her Daddy because your Mommy is still her daddy’s little girl. Some visits she lets him take her out to dinner, and other visits they only have time to take a walk around the block, but Mommy always has time for him,,,”
“Mommy says that we can’t fix the broken light over the table,” Andy advised shyly. “She said she is saving it for Grampy.”
“That’s right. The next time Grampy visits, Mommy will complain about that bulb, and Grampy will get the step ladder and replace it with a new bulb,,,”
“But doesn’t Grampy know that Mommy could fix it by just touching it?” Andy asked in wonder.
“Ah yes,” Alex answered, loving how his daughter was growing so insightful so fast, and needing to give her another kiss. “Grampy knows that Mommy could fix the bulb, but he also knows that she saved it for him because she loves him and she still needs him to fix things for her because she’s still his little girl even though she had two little girls of her own.”
“So no matter how old Mommy gets, she’ll always be Grampy’s little girl?”
“Um-hum,” Alex answered with another kiss.
“And I’ll always be your little girl?”
“Um-hum.” Another kiss.
“Even when I’m so old I have boobies like Mommy and I’m in high school?”
Alex groaned at the thought of his precious daughter all grown up and at the hands of a bunch of West Roswell High hornball jocks. “You’re never getting boobs like your Mom, and you’re never going to high school,” Alex declared, clutching her tight to his chest.
“Daddy! Too tight,” Andy complained, causing her father to instantly let go. “Daddy! Too loose,” Andy next whined.
Alex crossed one hand over his other, calling on years of practice and got his grip just right.
“I’m always going to be your little girl,” Andy declared, and with the crisis of the day settled, she turned her head, resting her cheek against her father’s strong chest, and went to sleep.
Alex held his daughter and alternated between watching the flickering fire and the stars crossing the inky sky. Amazingly, the night never grew cold, and the logs were never consumed even as the crescent moon rose in the east and set in the west. His mind was blank of all thoughts until his wife faded into view next to him. Despite their desert setting, she was sitting in his computer chair, dressed in his shirt from the day before, over, well he couldn’t tell what else she was wearing, her legs were crossed modestly. “Thank you for this,” he whispered. “Thank you for all of this.”
“Don’t thank me,” she replied softly. “This is your dream. I was going to join you, but by the time I got here you were having so much fun I figured I would just stay back and observe.”
“I did this? There’s so much detail,,, It’s so perfect.”
“Your mind needed a time out,” Isabel answered. “It gave you what you needed most,,,”
“Aren’t you cold?,,”
“Sweetie,” Isabel teased. “I don’t think you’re even capable of letting me be cold in one of your dreams.” Having said that she slinked out of her chair, exposing a lot of pantyless flank before squatting down next to him. “Here, let me take her,,,”
“No! Don’t take her from me,” Alex exclaimed in panic, holding her more tightly, but not tight enough to wake her.
Isabel, realizing that this conversation wasn’t over, settled back onto her heel. “Sweetie, I would never take her from you, but it’s morning, and your dream’s just about over. It’s time to get up.”
“Promise me we’ll have this!”
Isabel’s eyes grew wide. “Do you need this,,, now?” she asked nervously.
“Now?” Alex answered in shock. “You would do that?”
“If that’s what you wanted,” Isabel said softly, reaching out and caressing her daughter’s hair. “I’m not due for my period for about a year, that would give us time to adjust,,,”
“Izzy,,,”
“I could talk to the Granolith, maybe there’s a way to speed the process along,,,” her voice faltered as her mind started planning.
“Izzy!” Alex insisted as he took her chin in his hand and gently pulled it down. “Careful, or you’re going to bite through your lip.
Isabel looked into his eyes, and seeing his love for her there, her confidence returned. If he wanted his family now, she would gladly give it to him.
“Not now,” he said softly but firmly. “I still want time to be a couple before we’re a family. There are so many things I want to do with you,,, so many places I want to show you,,, but promise me we’ll still have this.”
“Sweetie,” Isabel answered, her face falling. “I can’t promise you that which I don’t have the power to give. I can’t control the future outside on my realm, but I swear to you, I want this future as badly as you do, and I will work as hard as you do to achieve it.”
Alex’s face broke into a beautiful smile. “That’s enough, in fact that’s more than most people have a right to ask for; besides, I seem to remember that you wanted me to make love to you ten thousand times before we start having to worry about night time feedings.”
“Oh how nice and human of you to think of me that way,” Isabel said tenderly as she reached out and caressed his cheek. “You just remember that your heart and soul felt ‘making love’ is part of a good hard body bruising fracking that leaves me awash on a pool of sweat and you gasping for your next breath and we’ll get along just fine.”
“Izzy!” Alex complained as his face turned red while he struggled to cover his daughters ears.
“Prude! You know you like it as much as I do,” she teased as she leaned forward and took their sleeping daughter. “Mommy’s going to put you in your sleeping bag and tuck you in,” she said softly, kissing Andy’s forehead. Seeing Alex start to stand, she turned back to face him, “No! I’m not ready for you yet. You just sit there a moment and watch the fire.
Isabel’s eyes opened slowly, but once she was fully awake, she bounded out of her bed and scurried into her bathroom. Within moments she had brushed her teeth, used mouthwash, and combed the worst of the bed-head out of her golden mane. This done, she hesitated at her door. She sharpened her senses for a moment, then despite finding that everyone else who was upstairs was still asleep, she gripped the hem of Alex’s shirt and pulled it a couple of inches lower. This accomplished she scurried across the hall and knelt by Alex’s bed.
Alex looked up from the fire to find Isabel sitting on her heel in front of him. She reached out, touched his cheek, and advised, “Time to wake up.” Alex opened his eyes to find Isabel waiting for him. “Good morning Sweetie.”
“Good morning,” He replied tenderly as he rolled forward for the first kiss of the day.
“You know, it’ll only take a moment to stroll through the house, knock everyone out, and then we can get going on that ten thousand,” she teased.
“Izzy,” he replied regretfully. “There’s so much we got to do today,,,”
In response she stood and lifted the hem of his shirt, showing off her golden curls that he insisted she keep untamed. “Are you sure about that?,,”
“One of these days you’re going to kill me with that thing,” he moaned as he crawled out of bed and headed for the hallway bathroom.
**********
The rest of the day proved to be quite tumultuous at the Whitman household, with all the comings and goings of the rapidly growing household, but this all went on without Alex and Isabel, as Gloria had insisted that they attend school. “You’ve already going to miss far too many classes due to your business,” she stated. “So get out of my way and let me get some work done.
By the time the teens arrived home from school, Jesse was ensconced in the kitchen, systematically pillaging the refrigerator, but when he caught a glance of Isabel, he did a double take. “Alice,” he said in surprise. “Who’s this, your study-buddy?”
“Isabel Evans,” she explained as she stepped forward and held out her hand. “I’m Alex’s fiancé.”
“Fiancé?” Jesse gasped. “You?,, Him?,,”
“Yea, I know,” Isabel said with a sweet smile. “Some days I can hardly believe that he’ll be in the same room with me, but I’ve got him now, and I’ll never let him go.”
“You’ll never let him go?,,”
Meanwhile Alex had been ignoring the sparing match between his wife and brother, fully realizing that she didn’t need any help from him. Instead he had walked over to look out the back window. “Rachel!” he said happily.
With Jesse dismissed and forgotten, Isabel turned her attention to Alex. “Your sister-in-law?”
“Yea, and the kids,” he replied reaching for her hand. “Come on, I’ll introduce you.”
**********
“Phillip,” Charles asked softly. “Gloria and I would like it if you would be one of Robert’s bearers.”
“Of course.”
“Thank you. We’ve also asked Jim, so that will make three airedales, one squid, a jarhead plus Alex the hose-dragger.”
“I haven’t had my uniform on since I left the Navy,” Charles quipped. “I’ll have to get some help from Isabel to make it fit.”
“Did you know that Jim made Staff Sergeant during the three years he was in?”
“’E-Four’ during one enlistment? He must have been cruising,” Phillip commented. “I just put in my hitch and got out.”
“Phil, no one’s going to give a rats ass if you were Seaman Apprentice, we’d be appreciative if you would help out.”
“I would be honored,” Phillip answered sincerely.
**********
Gloria came down the stairs, and the first thing that struck her was silence. With Rachel in the house, or more accurately, with Rachel’s children in the house, silence was an ominous thing.
Gloria walked up to the kitchen window. “What are you looking at?” she asked of her daughter-in-law. “Where are the kids?”
“They’re out back with Alex and Isabel,” she replied.
“Oh No,” Gloria exclaimed. “You’re not letting my kids take care of your kids, are you?” She looked out the window and her worse fears were confirmed. “Charles! Get down here! Now!”
“What’s the matter?” Rachel asked. “They’re both fantastic with the little ones. Besides Alex can gain some points with Isabel if she sees that he’s good with kids. Nothing stirs a woman’s nest building mo-jo like seeing her man being all tender with a little one in his arms.”
“Alex doesn’t need any mo-jo points with Isabel,” Gloria said with disdain.
“And Alex can barely handle her mo-jo at it’s current level. He doesn’t need you ratcheting it up on him,” Charles moaned as he walked into the kitchen. “That poor kid burns up a year’s worth the will power every time he’s in the same room as her. Is this discussion what you called me down for?” he asked of his wife.
“Look,” Gloria said simply as she pointed out the back window.
Charles walked over, leaned over the sink, and looked out the window. “Aww Crap!” he exclaimed. “I’m going to have to stay up all night prying her off him with a crowbar.”
“Not if they want to get together,” Gloria sighed. “If she gets him to give in and you stand in the way, she’ll take that crow bar away from you and shove it up your ass sideways,,,”
“I know, that’s what I’m afraid of,” Charles said, calming down.
“You’re not afraid of her, are you?” Rachel asked in amazement.
“Let me put it this way,” Charles said, getting a beer out of the fridge while pushing the image of Isabel blasting their computer to the back of his mind. “If anything were ever to happen to Alex again, I wouldn’t want to be caught in front of her when she went to him.”
“Why?” Rachel asked, clearly confused. “What happened?”
“Harry didn’t tell you what happened?” Getting a shake of the head in response, Gloria settled at the table with a mug of hot tea, and waved to the opposite seat. Once Rachel had sat down, she continued. “We went on a cruse over the Memorial day weekend. While we were gone, Alex was hurt. Isabel terrorized the hospital. She demanded and got him the best of care, and then brought him home and didn’t let him out of her sight for three days.”
“She took his clothes and shoes away from him so he had to stay home like the doctor ordered,” Charles added. “I honestly think that she was reluctant to give him back to us when we got home. Then several weeks later she wasn’t satisfied that he was recovering properly, so she defied us, her own parents, and the doctors here in Roswell. She dragged him down to a specialist in Las Cruces and got him taken care of.”
“What was wrong?” Rachel asked with concern.
Charles looked to Gloria who shook her head. “To this day I don’t think anyone knows exactly what was going on, with the exception of his having some memory issues, which were so subtle that we didn’t notice them until Isabel pointed them out to us, but she’s watching him like a hawk, making sure it doesn’t happen again,,,” she explained, allowing her voice to trail off, not wanting to even mention his latest hospital experience.
“Not to mention the fact that they had a brush with the law a couple of months ago and now the entire city council is afraid of her,” Gloria concluded.
“Wait a minute,” Rachel protested. “You’re making them sound like a couple of super heroes.”
“No, not super heroes,” Gloria explained, “But certainly special. “Alex came home from his first day of school here almost eight years ago and announced that he had met the girl that he was going to marry. Isabel took a little longer, but her heart is now set on Alex, and she will never let go of him again.”
“So their high school sweethearts,” Rachel prompted, warming to the subject. “I had one, but I have to admit that my parents never let us spend as much time together as you do.”
“In the past six months,” Charles recounted proudly, “Those two kids have traveled to Boston and declined full ride scholarships to two of the best schools in the country because they didn’t fit in with their plans. When they returned home they set up an early admissions program here in New Mexico,,,”
“A college two thousand miles closer to home,” Gloria interrupted with a smile on her face.
“Then this summer,” Charles continued, “They took a school project and converted it into a company that has made them more money than Gloria and I combined have made so far this year, all the while maintaining their standing at the head of their class. Yet while they’ve been charting their future, they have also been contributing to the community. Isabel continues to work at the homeless shelter and the community center, while Alex has joined the volunteer call company of the fire department.”
“But they’re still kids,” Rachel protested.
“They’re kids who are engaged, and are already buying a house in Albuquerque for when they start college. They could move out tomorrow, if they wanted to,” Gloria responded. “They are here because they want to be, “
“So they are going to be in Albuquerque?”
“Yea, as soon as they start college.”
“Good,” Rachel replied thoughtfully. “You know Harry is trying to get stationed at Kelly (Air Force Base, Albuquerque) when he gets home. It would be good to have family close by.”
**********
At Washington DC’s Dulles airport, David Black Wolf settled down into his spacious seat in the first class cabin of United Airline’s flight seven eighty-three. Having caught the red-eye flight into DC early this morning and meeting with a critical customer all day, he was tired, sore, hungry, and impatient to get home. Looking over his shoulder he saw that while the line of passengers entering the plane had ended, the cabin door was still open. Being a seasoned traveler, he decided to test the limits of the flight attendants preferential treatment of first class customers by leaving his seat and walking to the gallery to ask for a drink.
“Excuse me Miss, would it be possible,,,” but his question died on his lips as he saw the stairway door on the jet-walk open and a young Air Force officer step through, entering the aircraft. Taking note of the officers Class-A uniform, the shiny silver bar on his lapels, and especially his white gloved hands, he turned back to the flight attendant, all timidness gone from his voice. “Who’s in charge here?” he demanded.
“I am,” an older flight attendant answered.
“You will take the Lieutenant to my seat in first class, make him comfortable, and see to his every need. Is that clear?”
Ignoring the confused look on the young man’s face the senior attendant hesitated only a moment before answering, “Yes sir, but first class is full. We don’t have another seat for you.”
“That’s okay,” he answered. “I have a sudden craving to ride in coach.”
“Lieutenant, would you follow me please,” the senior attendant asked solicitously.
“Semper Fi, Lieutenant,” said the businessman as a different flight attendant led him to his new seat, and as he settled into the cramped coach seat next to a young woman holding a crying baby on her lap he realized that compared to the mission the young officer was on, his day could have been a lot worse.
**********
Isabel was a little worried about Alex. He had sat through the entire game of Jeopardy without answering a single question and now that the show was over, it didn’t look like the situation was getting any better. “Come on out back,” she prompted as she stood and tugged on his arm. “I’ll let you feel me up while we wrestle.”
“Okay, I’m coming,” Alex replied as he slowly stood. “You don’t need to pull my arm out of it’s socket.” Although he acted as if he had the weight of the world on his shoulder, Alex was secretly happy to go out back with Isabel. First, he was indeed in a funk, and he knew it, but more importantly, he was still a teenaged boy, and happy for any excuse to feel Isabel up.
“And just where do you two think you’re going?” Gloria demanded as they passed through the kitchen.
“We’re going out to the back yard,” Isabel replied confidently. “I’m going to let him practice some moves on me.”
Gloria was long accustomed to their little wrestling matches, but while she was sure that some groping was going on, both accidental and intentional, she had enough men in the house to realize that the ‘training’ they were doing on a quite regular basis was serious, and in fact dangerous if they weren’t careful. She willingly accepted this though, as part of the price Isabel paid for her safety. “You just be careful,” she warned. “One of these days you’re going to kill him and then you’ll have no one to play with,” she added teasingly.
“I know,” Isabel replied haughtily. “Men are just like a favorite pair of jeans. It takes years to get them just right and then the ass falls out of them and you have to throw them out,,,”
“I’m standing right here,” Alex interjected.
“Well you need to take better care of him than your favorite jeans,” Gloria cautioned. “It took me years to get him ready for you, and I have neither the time nor the desire to go through that again. In fact if I were to go through that again, I’d try for a girl.”
“I can hear every word your saying,” Alex added, not that either woman was listening.
“Well you don’t have anything to worry about,” Isabel teased, obviously for Alex’s benefit. “As long as I have these,,,” she said, pointing to her breasts, I can get all of those,,,” she continued, pointing towards Alex’s crotch, “I want.”
“Hey!”
“You should switch to plastic,” Gloria countered, also happy for a moments levity on a dark day. “It’s easier to keep clean, batteries cost less than food, and you can always slip the neighbor boy a couple of bucks to take the trash out and mow the lawn,,,”
“MOM!!!”
“Yea,” Isabel replied with a smile, relenting and pulling Alex into a warm sideways hug. “But plastic won’t snuggle and keep you warm on a cold night,,,”
Gloria’s face clouded over and a single brow shot up at this admission.
“Or so I imagine,” Isabel giggled as she dragged him out the back door.
Alex had just finished showing Isabel a throw when Jesse made his presence known. “I’m impressed Alice. It’s about time you got your ass out from in front of a computer. Of course with a girlfriend like Isabel, it’s about time you learned to defend yourself, or more importantly, her.”
“I’ve always been able to take care of myself,” Alex protested
Alex and Jesse spent several minutes sparring, and while Alex was coming out the worse for wear, he kept coming back for more. Alex was not in the same league as his brother, who was after all a Marine Rifleman, meaning that combat arms was his only specialty, but Alex was slowly impressing his brother, not that he would ever admit it.
Showing off for Isabel, Jesse became complacent, and tried the same move on Alex twice in a row, learning to his sorrow that his brother was a quick learner. The proof of this was the fact that he found himself on his back, looking up.
“My, my,” Isabel teased, proud of her husband. “High school boy flips Marine.”
“That means nothing,” Jesse replied defensively. “This isn’t real. You’re making the mistake of assuming your enemies are going to fight you fair on a field of honor. That only happens in movies. In the real world, fighting is a dirty business,,,”
“The point is to avoid getting physical at all,” Isabel instructed. “If you need to go hand-to-hand, it means your best defensive tactics have already failed.”
“Well, that may be true, for ugly chicks,” Jesse replied sarcastically. “But there are bad guys out there who don’t play by the rules, and more importantly, bad things happen to good people every day. Now Alex’s hit and dodge tactics may work for him, because the puke attacking him isn’t going to get into a pitched battle for a teenager’s near empty wallet, but someone who looks like you, they’re going to rape. If some dickwad get you on the ground, your battle is just beginning, because he’s probably going to have a hundred pounds on you, and by now, he’s probably worked up a rage and is motivated.”
“Rape isn’t about looks, it’s about power. But make no mistake. If that dickwad gets me on the ground, I’ll be motivated, and I’ll show him power,” Isabel replied coldly.
“Good,” Jesse said with a smile. “I’m not one to believe the someone should just lie back and submit to their destiny,,,”
“Destiny is overrated,” Alex interjected.
“Okay Alice, so you got her on the ground,” Jesse challenged. “Now what are you going to do?”
“Hugh?” Alex answered in amazement.
“You got her on the ground, now you want her on her back, that’s where the goodies are, but you,” he continued, pointing towards Isabel, “You want to be on your side,,,”
“Why my side?”
“If he gets you face down you’re pretty much defenseless, but you’re not much better when you’re flat on your back, so when he tries to roll you, that’s the time to fight him. As he’s forcing you over, you want to curl up, stay on your side,,,”
“Why her side?”
“Because that is her best defensive position. Curled on her side she can protect her head between her arms or pull her knees up to protect her torso.” He turned towards Isabel. “Pull your heels up to your ass with your knees in tight to your chest, then if you can sense where he is, kick behind you with your heels, using your thighs for power. Strike back with your elbows. Aim towards the sound of his voice, striking towards his face. Strike his belly where he is soft. Strike at his knees, the weakest joint in his body.”
“If he is in front of you, hit him with the heels of your hands and with your knees, putting all the power of your thighs into it. When you get an opening, escape. Don’t try to punish him, and it’s not your job to catch him. Just get away and run. Run as if the devil’s after you.”
“Show me,” Isabel demanded.
“Okay,” Jesse replied. “I’m going to make the same move on you that Alex just tried, you try the same counter.”
“Be careful with her Jesse,” Alex warned. "I wouldn’t want to have to hurt you.”
Jesse ignored him as he grabbed Isabel, who easily countered his move. “Okay, that’s self defense for beginners, so lets see what happens when your attacker knows the counter.”
Isabel took a deep breath then nodded that she was ready. Without warning Jesse attacked, but when Isabel countered, she missed. Instead she found herself flying through the air, landing heavily on the lawn. Moments later, Jesse was on his knees besides, but not yet touching her.
“No!” he barked. “The moment he comes down, you need to decide if you can escape or if you need to fight. If you can’t get away, move in closer to me, with your back towards me. Make sure you’re close enough to strike back.”
“Again,” Isabel demanded.
This time Jesse held nothing back, and despite the fact that the attack had been requested, the violence of the attack scared the living shit out of Alex. Isabel had adapted her defense to Jesse’s last attack, but again she failed to connect, for he had again changed his attack. This time he grabbed her by her hair and dragged her across his hip.
Isabel wasn’t fazed by his attack. She had already seen more real combat than her attacker, and more importantly she was motivated to defend herself and her family. The moment Jesse came down next to her, she rolled to her side with her back to him, curled into a defensive ball as he expected. Before he could touch her, she struck back with her upper elbow, hitting the outside of his lower thigh, just above his knee. For good measure, she added a healthy dose of power to her blow.
Jesse roared as he felt a lightning bolt of pain shoot up his leg, but his amazement turned to shock as he realized that Isabel had learned her lesson all to well. Not the lesson that he had articulated, but the lesson that he had demonstrated. Two times now he had changed his tactic and committed to an attack that Isabel had not anticipated, and now Isabel was using that tactic against him. Having bolted uptight as a result of the pain inflicted to his leg, he was not close enough to Isabel to prevent her from rolling onto her back. Her knees were curled tight to her chest, but she was spinning on her back, bringing her feet into battery.
Before Jesse could move, Isabel switched from the defensive to the offensive, putting every ounce of force she could muster in the most powerful muscles of her body into a kick directed towards Jesse’s soft belly. Before her legs were even half extended, the heels of her boots dug deep.
Jesse found himself being tossed backwards gasping for breath, but Isabel’s offensive wasn’t over yet. Like a cat she rolled to her knees and launched herself, landing on him and rolling him onto his stomach. She grabbed his arm, and before he could react, she bent it up behind his shoulder.
Isabel was amazed at how fast Jesse reacted. Maybe he was aware of what she was doing, but it was much more likely a combination of instinct and training. His arm felt like a tree trunk as he simply used raw strength to power out of her hold, signaling to her that it was time to get out of Dodge; but it was now a fact. A high school girl had pinned a Marine, even if for only a moment.
Isabel sprung to her feet, slamming into Alex, who had been coming in for his own attack. Knowing that she didn’t have time to explain, much less calm the blood fury in his eyes, Isabel slammed through their connection, escalating it instantly into the super connection level. “No!” she commanded, pulling him back several feet.
Superb physical training allowed Jesse to recover quickly, but when he stood he was still a little wobbly in his sore leg.
“Attack, incapacitate, and escape,” Isabel declared. “I’m already a block away, and having run in the desert heat every day for the past year, I’ll take my chances that I’ll stay ahead of you, especially with your sore knee,,,”
Charles had been looking out the window, and seeing seen Jesse drag Isabel down by her hair, he came charging out of the house, loaded for bear. “What the frack are you doing?” he shouted as he stormed into the yard looking for a weapon. “You hurt her and I’ll break that thick skull of yours wide open,” he added, hoisting a baseball bat.
“Pops, why is it that whenever you or Mom come near me you have a hunk of aluminum in your hands?” Jesse gasped, bent nearly in half.
“Fracking jarhead,” Alex muttered as he checked his wife for damage.
“He was just showing me a move,” Isabel demurred as she rubbed her shoulder.
“You treat your brother with respect,” Charles commanded as he turned on Alex. “He’s serving his country.”
“Pops, how many times have you said the only good Marine is one you throw out of the back of your airplane,,,”
“God damned Air Force pukes,” Jesse muttered. “You look like a fracking Greyhound bus driver in your plane-jane uniforms,,,”
“I served!” Charles snapped back. “I earned the right to call him a fracking asshole. You join the service and then you can swap insults. “’Till then, you treat the shit-head with respect,,,
“Fracking hosehead,,,” Jesse spat back.
“Now just a fracking minute,” Charles snapped as he made an abrupt about face. “Your brother has been injured twice while serving this city while I’ve never seen you do anything around here but chase cheerleaders,,,”
“STOP IT!” Isabel shouted. “Jesus Fracking Christ, Gloria’s been feeding you guys too much red meat. “Jesse, thank you for your help, but as you can see we’re doing fine on our own.” She turned towards Alex. “Get your keys. You’re taking me out for an ice cream,” and then she finally addressed Charles. “And you, go get yourself a bourbon before you have a heart attack.”
Seeing that all three men just stood there looking at her, she jammed her fist into her hips. “Now!”
Already having his keys, Alex reached out and took her hand, leading her towards the front of the house and the driveway.
“No wonder your mother turned out the way she did,” Isabel complained. “And there were four of you?”
‘Actually five, at least when Pops was home,’ Alex thought to himself, but he knew better than to say anything out loud for the moment.
**********
As United flight seven eighty-three settled on the end of runway twenty-six at the Albuquerque International Sunport, several of the passengers took note of the time in surprise. “We’re almost an hour early,” one said happily.
“Thank God,” his seatmate replied. “I usually end up missing my connection here,” but his glee turned to shock as he saw the cockpit door open and the captain enter the cabin. It was rare that the cockpit door was opened while an aircraft was in motion, and since 9-11, it never happened.
~~“,,,We know that there are many choices for your air travel needs,”~~ the flight attendant droned on from the mid-cabin bulkhead as she wrapped up her arrival announcement, ~~“And we want to thank you for choosing United. I am now going to ask you to settle down and stay in your seats for a brief announcement from the Captain.”~~ Now finished, she handed the microphone to the pilot.
~~“Ladies and gentlemen, I would like to take a moment to introduce myself. My name is David Anderson, and in addition to being a captain with United Air Lines, I am also a major in the Air Force Reserves.”~~ He paused a moment to take a deep breath before continuing. ~~“We have been given the privilege of bringing a young Air Force officer, who has been killed while serving his country, home to his family. When we arrive at the terminal I am going to ask that you all stay in your seats and allow his honor guard to perform their duty.
~~“I assure you that we have received preferential treatment from the FAA for the entire flight allowing us to arrive early, making sure that despite this delay you will all have plenty of time for you to make your connections and meet your loved ones. So for the moment I’m going to ask you to remain in your seats, refrain from the use of electronic devices, and pay a moment of respect for this brave airman.”~~
As he hung up the microphone, he saw that the cabin door was ready to be opened. As the flight attendant disarmed the escape chute he leaned into the first class cabin. “Lieutenant, we’re ready for you.”
The pilot led the lieutenant out of the cabin, and as soon as they stepped onto the jet-walk, he opened the door, allowing them to take a short stairway down to the tarmac. On the opposite side of the aircraft, the United ground crew finished opening the cargo door and placed the luggage conveyor in place as a State Police cruiser leading a glistening black hearse followed by a white airport van pulled up next to the plane. As the pilot and the lieutenant moved towards the end of the conveyor, the honor guard stepped out of the van and marched to plane. Two members of the United flight crew met the honor guard, and then helped two of the airmen, one carrying a flag, scramble into the hold.
The pilot watched with approval as his co-workers reverently moved the coffin to the cargo door, pausing while the honor guard unfolded the flag and draped it over their fallen comrade. This task finished, the airmen scooted back down and took their place at the foot of the conveyor. As this was happening, the pilot waved the rest of the ground crew and the state trooper into a line in front of his aircrafts wing, and waited for the honor guard to get into position..
“Ten-Hut!” he commanded softly as he raised his hand in salute. The honor guard snapped to attention, their arms at their side, the lieutenant and the trooper also saluted, while the ground crew stood rigidly, doffing their hats. With everyone in position, he nodded towards the crew members in the hold, and they activated the conveyor, gently guiding their precious cargo onto the slowly moving belt.
The head flight attendant had never seen a cabin full of passengers act so quietly as they lined the windows, watching the honor guard lift the flag draped coffin and carry it across the tarmac before passing the coffin hand to hand as they loaded it into the back of the hearse.
“Tu!” the pilot commanded, and as they lowered their arms, the trooper stepped forward, joining the two officers before they marched to the front of the hearse. As the honor guard closed up the rear of the vehicle, the pilot reached over and opened the passenger door, holding it for the lieutenant as the trooper marched to his cruiser. His duties finished, the pilot returned to his ground crew and watched as the vehicles started up and moved away. As soon as they were out of sight of the aircraft, he looked up at the windows and nodded.
~~“Ladies and gentlemen, on behalf of the Captain, I would like to thank you for you patience. You are now free to deplane.”~~
TBC
Chapter 24-H There be Heroes Here
By Stargazer MD
“The clerk is ordered to enter a finding of guilty,” Judge Lewis commanded as he slammed his gavel on his bench. “Fine set at ninety-six dollars. (71€) Pay the cashier in the lobby. Miss Holly? The next case please.”
“The next case is UCR code eighty-eight dash two-zero-zero-one dash nine dash two-six sequence number eleven. The City of Roswell verses Jason Summers.”
Jason Summers stood and looked around the courtroom nervously, but this was far from the first time Judge Lewis had to deal with a first time defendant. “Come on down, Mister Summers,” he said teasingly. “We don’t stand much on ceremony here, so just come close enough so Miss Holly can hear you, and we’ll make this as quick and painless as possible.”
Jason slowly approached the bench, but as he made eye contact with the deputy that gave him the ticket, his nerve faltered. “Maybe I’ll just sign the back of the ticket and pay the fine,,,” he stammered.
“I know what you were thinking,” the judge interjected as he leaned forward. “You were hoping that Deputy Copp wouldn’t be here and you could get your charges dismissed,,, Right?”
“Yes,,, Your Honor.”
“Well as you can see Deputy Copp is here, as well as Sheriff Valenti, myself, and Miss Holly. Now since the City of Roswell is paying all of us to be here at your beck and call, I think it’s only fitting and proper that we have ourselves a trial, don’t you agree?” he asked cheerfully.
“Yes, I guess,” Jason agreed, his nervousness fading fast in light of the Judges homespun appeal.
“Good,” Judge Lewis drawled as he settled back in his gleaming black leather chair. “Now I can guess, word for word, what Deputy Copp is going to have to say, so we’ll dispense with that for the moment and listen to your side of the story.”
“Your honor,” Jason stammered nervously. “I’m new to New Mexico, and the first thing I wanted to do when I got here was to visit Roswell. So I was driving through the desert, and I didn’t really understand that there was a speed limit out there.”
“You didn’t realize there was a speed limit?” Judge Lewis repeated skeptically. “Aren’t there speed limits where you come from Son?”
While the Judge was speaking, Jason looked over his head, at the Roswell City Seal. He could almost imagine seeing a stylized U.F.O. shaped like a New Mexico Sunburst swooping down from the nighttime sky. “No your Honor,” he replied hesitantly. “We don’t.”
“And just where do you come from?”
Jason scrambled for a name, and the first thing that popped into his mind was the manufacturer of the video capture converter that he had just installed on his computer. “I come from the planet Plextor, your Honor.”
“Really?” Judge Lewis replied laughingly. With a harrumph, he looked down at his bench and began to shuffle through the paperwork assembled there. While he was doing this, he couldn’t help but notice Sheriff Valenti trying to hide a chuckle behind his hand while Deputy Copp’s face began to turn red, but finding that the man had a spotless driving record, he decided to play along. “Well in that case, let me be the first to welcome you to planet Earth,,,”
“Your Honor!,,” Deputy Copp protested, only stopping when the Sheriff placed a restraining arm on his own.
“But speaking for all the citizens of this fair city, I need to warn you that we take our laws seriously here, we can’t have our special guest tearing up the roads and parking their spaceships wherever they damned well please,,, excuse my French Miss Holly, I didn’t mean to offend,,,”
“None taken, your Honor,” Miss Holly replied without batting an eye, for she had heard much worse pass through the good Judge’s lips over the years.
“Now, as I was saying, you never know about aliens. Those Centari,,, they really know how to throw a party.” the Judge admonished. “Last time they were here they blew up every parking meter on South Main Street.”
“I promise your Honor, when I party I park my car first, but as far as this ticket goes, I had already seen the edge of the city and started to slow down, but by then the deputy already had me,,,”
“Your Honor! Aliens?” Deputy Copp pleaded in disbelief. “You’re not buying this, are you?”
“Sheriff?”
“Why Roswell’s full of aliens Deputy,” Jim admonished. “I bump into them all the time; in fact I’ve had aliens out to the house for barbecue.”
“So I’ll tell you what I’m going to do Mister Summers. In light of your unfamiliarity with Earth’s customs, I’m going to continue this case without finding for the next six months. If I don’t see you again, the charges will be dismissed. Is that clear?” Judge Lewis advised, his voice taking on a sinister tone as he finished.
“Yes your Honor,” Jason stammered.
“Good,” the Judge declared, banging his gavel. “In that case it’s a warp.”
Jason turned to talk to Jim, who seeing the judge waiting expectantly, didn’t want to get involved in chitchat with a civilian. “Did you hear Judge Lewis bang his gavel?” he asked sarcastically.
“Yea,” Jason answered slowly.
“That’s judge-speak for ‘get the frack out of my courtroom before I change my mind,,,”
“Oh,” Jason replied as he beat a hasty retreat for the door.
“Miss Holly, you’ll drop the day’s summary by the newspaper on the way home?” Judge Lewis asked needlessly.
“Yes your Honor,” she replied. “I always do.”
“You’ll point out our special guest?”
“I will,” she continued. “I’m willing to bet Foster will have a story uploaded onto the wire services before he goes home tonight.”
“Good,,, good.”
“Next week the cover story of the National Inquisitor will be about Roswell’s ‘first ticket free’ policy for aliens,,,”
“Your Honor,” Deputy Copp protested. “What’s this all about?”
Judge Lewis looked over to Jim with a smile on his face, receiving a shrug in reply. “Deputy, you just happened to have gotten a job in a town that depends on tourism for it’s survival. Oh sure we have the cheese factory and the air center, but without tourism, this city would be nothing more than a gas station and a MacDonald’s at a highway intersection,,,”
“Then we need that forty-eight dollars now more than ever.”
“Son, that forty-eight dollars just bought us exposure on every supermarket checkout counter in the entire country. Now for my money, that’s a fair trade,” Judge Lewis concluded, banging his gavel one last time. “Now, if there are no more questions, get out. I have a card game to get to.”
**********
“Lance Corporal Whitman reporting as ordered, Sir!” Jesse barked as he braced at attention in his platoon commander’s office.
“Take a seat, Marine,” the captain commanded as he rose from behind his desk. “Gunny, please wait outside,” the officer requested of the Sergeant who had accompanied Corporal Whitman.
Jesse felt a chill run up his spine as his ass puckered. As a Marine, he was trained to face any enemy with confidence in his abilities to overcome any obstacle, but he now found himself in unfamiliar waters. Marine Corporals did not sit while officers stood, and more importantly, Marie Captains did not close their own hatches (doors) when there was an enlisted man handy to do it for them, but in the end he did as he was ordered. He sat down.
Moments later the Captain sat back behind his desk and crossed his hands. “Marine, I’m afraid I have some bad news.,,,”
Less than an hour later Jesse was driving towards San Diego airport, with instructions from his Gunny to report to the United Airlines customer service counter where he would be put on the next flight to Albuquerque. Once there, he would have to make a decision, whether to rent a car and drive through the night or to wait until morning and catch a Messa flight into Roswell. Thinking of the disruption a three AM arrival would have on his parents, he was leaning towards sleeping at the airport. He could sleep anywhere after all, he was a Marine.
**********
As midnight approached, Isabel slowly walked through the quiet house, surveying her domain. She had already looked in on Charles and Gloria, gracing them with a deep dreamless slumber that would give them rest that that they would desperately need over the next several days.
Her rounds finished, she found herself at Alex’s bedside. She considered climbing in besides him, wondering if Gloria might grant dispensation in light of the circumstances, but decided that incurring the wrath of the house’s alpha female was not worth the risk, especially when she had a much safer way of spending the night with him.
Isabel decided that it was time for another pillow swap, as his scent was fading from her linens. She scooted to the linen closet and covered her own pillows with fresh crisp pillow cases. Her task completed, she returned to his bedside.
“Lift your head, Sweetie,” Isabel softly commanded as she eased Alex’s pillow out from under his head, replacing it with the fresh one, but as she went to replace his second pillow, a smile crossed her face. She took her own second pillow and ran back to her room. Safely alone, Isabel slipped her panties down her legs and sprayed them with her Lady Grace perfume. ‘’What Gloria doesn’t know won’t hurt her,’ Isabel thought as she slipped the warm garment into the clean pillow case before returning to Alex’s room.
“Turn onto your side,” she asked softly, and as he complied, she set the pillow against his chest. She watched as Alex hugged the pillow against his chest, and as it settled against his face, he took a deep breath, a smile crossing his face. Next she pulled his comforter up, tucking it around his neck for Charles was as frugal with the heat as he was with the air conditioning.
“I’ll be with you in just a moment, Sweetie,” she said softly before gently kissing him good night and returning to her own bed. “I think we’ll take the girls swimming tonight.”
After a rambunctious afternoon at the pool back at Balmorhea State Park, Alex found himself sitting at their campsite with his girls while Isabel made a quick run into Toyahvale, Texas to purchase food for an evening cookout. Both of his daughters were exhausted, and before leaving Isabel had instructed that everyone, Daddy included, take a nap.
Alex was resting in the only spot of shade in the camp site, his back against a large Velvet Mesquite tree. Despite the heat, both Andy and Cassie wanted to curl up in their dad’s lab, but the girls had grown to a point where they wouldn't fit together. “You can sit on Daddy’s lap,” Andy told Cassie. “You’re Daddy’s little girl.”
Cassie crawled into Alex’s lap in innocent bliss of her sisters words, but Alex had heard the hurt that was there. “Come on Princess,” Alex implored while holding out his arm. “Daddy’s always going to have room for everyone.”
Andy’s face lit up as she snuggled into her father’s side, and with his family happy for the moment, the Whitman’s fell asleep.
“Charcoal’s ready!” Alex called out.
“Cheese-burger! Cheese-burger! Cheese-burger!” Andy and Cassie chanted as they danced around the campsite.
“Girls, stay away from the grill,” Isabel instructed.
Alex, wearing his wife’s ‘kiss the cook’ apron, turned to face Isabel, communicating silently before adding, “I need the corn first.”
Isabel made eye contact before raising her brows in question, Receiving a slight nod in reply, she called Andy over and handed her the platter of carefully prepared corn. “Okay Sweetheart, bring this over to Daddy, but be careful. Your Uncle Max isn’t here to take care of you if you get burned on the grill.”
“I’ll be careful, Mommy,” Andy replied solemnly.
Alex took the platter from his daughter, placing it on the grill’s sideboard before scooping her up in his arms. “You know the rules little girl. You have to kiss the cook,” he teased as he rubbed his cheek against hers.
“Daddy, your cheek scratches,” Andy replied laughingly.
“Okay then, I’ll let you off easy,” he teased as he kissed her on the forehead before putting her down. “Now go back to Mommy.”
After dark Alex was sitting in front of the fire, listening to his beautiful wife as she read to Cassie in their tent when he felt, more than heard, Andy approach. “Come on Princess,” he beckoned, sweeping her up with an arm and settling her on his lap. He let her wiggle a moment to get comfortable, but as soon as she snuggled in against him, he wrapped his arms around her and bent to kiss the top of her head. “That was a very nice thing you did today, letting Cassie sit on my lap.”
“That’s okay,” she silently pouted. “She’s the little girl.”
“Andy,” Alex said softly as he again kissed her head, “Cassie may be a little younger than you are, but you’re both my little girls. You’ll always be my little girl,” he continued, kissing her head again.
“But Daddy, I’m older!”
“Um-hum,” he replied, giving another kiss, “But little girls never get old. Have you ever watched Mommy when Grampy Phillip comes to visit? Mommy always makes sure that she spends some time alone with her Daddy because your Mommy is still her daddy’s little girl. Some visits she lets him take her out to dinner, and other visits they only have time to take a walk around the block, but Mommy always has time for him,,,”
“Mommy says that we can’t fix the broken light over the table,” Andy advised shyly. “She said she is saving it for Grampy.”
“That’s right. The next time Grampy visits, Mommy will complain about that bulb, and Grampy will get the step ladder and replace it with a new bulb,,,”
“But doesn’t Grampy know that Mommy could fix it by just touching it?” Andy asked in wonder.
“Ah yes,” Alex answered, loving how his daughter was growing so insightful so fast, and needing to give her another kiss. “Grampy knows that Mommy could fix the bulb, but he also knows that she saved it for him because she loves him and she still needs him to fix things for her because she’s still his little girl even though she had two little girls of her own.”
“So no matter how old Mommy gets, she’ll always be Grampy’s little girl?”
“Um-hum,” Alex answered with another kiss.
“And I’ll always be your little girl?”
“Um-hum.” Another kiss.
“Even when I’m so old I have boobies like Mommy and I’m in high school?”
Alex groaned at the thought of his precious daughter all grown up and at the hands of a bunch of West Roswell High hornball jocks. “You’re never getting boobs like your Mom, and you’re never going to high school,” Alex declared, clutching her tight to his chest.
“Daddy! Too tight,” Andy complained, causing her father to instantly let go. “Daddy! Too loose,” Andy next whined.
Alex crossed one hand over his other, calling on years of practice and got his grip just right.
“I’m always going to be your little girl,” Andy declared, and with the crisis of the day settled, she turned her head, resting her cheek against her father’s strong chest, and went to sleep.
Alex held his daughter and alternated between watching the flickering fire and the stars crossing the inky sky. Amazingly, the night never grew cold, and the logs were never consumed even as the crescent moon rose in the east and set in the west. His mind was blank of all thoughts until his wife faded into view next to him. Despite their desert setting, she was sitting in his computer chair, dressed in his shirt from the day before, over, well he couldn’t tell what else she was wearing, her legs were crossed modestly. “Thank you for this,” he whispered. “Thank you for all of this.”
“Don’t thank me,” she replied softly. “This is your dream. I was going to join you, but by the time I got here you were having so much fun I figured I would just stay back and observe.”
“I did this? There’s so much detail,,, It’s so perfect.”
“Your mind needed a time out,” Isabel answered. “It gave you what you needed most,,,”
“Aren’t you cold?,,”
“Sweetie,” Isabel teased. “I don’t think you’re even capable of letting me be cold in one of your dreams.” Having said that she slinked out of her chair, exposing a lot of pantyless flank before squatting down next to him. “Here, let me take her,,,”
“No! Don’t take her from me,” Alex exclaimed in panic, holding her more tightly, but not tight enough to wake her.
Isabel, realizing that this conversation wasn’t over, settled back onto her heel. “Sweetie, I would never take her from you, but it’s morning, and your dream’s just about over. It’s time to get up.”
“Promise me we’ll have this!”
Isabel’s eyes grew wide. “Do you need this,,, now?” she asked nervously.
“Now?” Alex answered in shock. “You would do that?”
“If that’s what you wanted,” Isabel said softly, reaching out and caressing her daughter’s hair. “I’m not due for my period for about a year, that would give us time to adjust,,,”
“Izzy,,,”
“I could talk to the Granolith, maybe there’s a way to speed the process along,,,” her voice faltered as her mind started planning.
“Izzy!” Alex insisted as he took her chin in his hand and gently pulled it down. “Careful, or you’re going to bite through your lip.
Isabel looked into his eyes, and seeing his love for her there, her confidence returned. If he wanted his family now, she would gladly give it to him.
“Not now,” he said softly but firmly. “I still want time to be a couple before we’re a family. There are so many things I want to do with you,,, so many places I want to show you,,, but promise me we’ll still have this.”
“Sweetie,” Isabel answered, her face falling. “I can’t promise you that which I don’t have the power to give. I can’t control the future outside on my realm, but I swear to you, I want this future as badly as you do, and I will work as hard as you do to achieve it.”
Alex’s face broke into a beautiful smile. “That’s enough, in fact that’s more than most people have a right to ask for; besides, I seem to remember that you wanted me to make love to you ten thousand times before we start having to worry about night time feedings.”
“Oh how nice and human of you to think of me that way,” Isabel said tenderly as she reached out and caressed his cheek. “You just remember that your heart and soul felt ‘making love’ is part of a good hard body bruising fracking that leaves me awash on a pool of sweat and you gasping for your next breath and we’ll get along just fine.”
“Izzy!” Alex complained as his face turned red while he struggled to cover his daughters ears.
“Prude! You know you like it as much as I do,” she teased as she leaned forward and took their sleeping daughter. “Mommy’s going to put you in your sleeping bag and tuck you in,” she said softly, kissing Andy’s forehead. Seeing Alex start to stand, she turned back to face him, “No! I’m not ready for you yet. You just sit there a moment and watch the fire.
Isabel’s eyes opened slowly, but once she was fully awake, she bounded out of her bed and scurried into her bathroom. Within moments she had brushed her teeth, used mouthwash, and combed the worst of the bed-head out of her golden mane. This done, she hesitated at her door. She sharpened her senses for a moment, then despite finding that everyone else who was upstairs was still asleep, she gripped the hem of Alex’s shirt and pulled it a couple of inches lower. This accomplished she scurried across the hall and knelt by Alex’s bed.
Alex looked up from the fire to find Isabel sitting on her heel in front of him. She reached out, touched his cheek, and advised, “Time to wake up.” Alex opened his eyes to find Isabel waiting for him. “Good morning Sweetie.”
“Good morning,” He replied tenderly as he rolled forward for the first kiss of the day.
“You know, it’ll only take a moment to stroll through the house, knock everyone out, and then we can get going on that ten thousand,” she teased.
“Izzy,” he replied regretfully. “There’s so much we got to do today,,,”
In response she stood and lifted the hem of his shirt, showing off her golden curls that he insisted she keep untamed. “Are you sure about that?,,”
“One of these days you’re going to kill me with that thing,” he moaned as he crawled out of bed and headed for the hallway bathroom.
**********
The rest of the day proved to be quite tumultuous at the Whitman household, with all the comings and goings of the rapidly growing household, but this all went on without Alex and Isabel, as Gloria had insisted that they attend school. “You’ve already going to miss far too many classes due to your business,” she stated. “So get out of my way and let me get some work done.
By the time the teens arrived home from school, Jesse was ensconced in the kitchen, systematically pillaging the refrigerator, but when he caught a glance of Isabel, he did a double take. “Alice,” he said in surprise. “Who’s this, your study-buddy?”
“Isabel Evans,” she explained as she stepped forward and held out her hand. “I’m Alex’s fiancé.”
“Fiancé?” Jesse gasped. “You?,, Him?,,”
“Yea, I know,” Isabel said with a sweet smile. “Some days I can hardly believe that he’ll be in the same room with me, but I’ve got him now, and I’ll never let him go.”
“You’ll never let him go?,,”
Meanwhile Alex had been ignoring the sparing match between his wife and brother, fully realizing that she didn’t need any help from him. Instead he had walked over to look out the back window. “Rachel!” he said happily.
With Jesse dismissed and forgotten, Isabel turned her attention to Alex. “Your sister-in-law?”
“Yea, and the kids,” he replied reaching for her hand. “Come on, I’ll introduce you.”
**********
“Phillip,” Charles asked softly. “Gloria and I would like it if you would be one of Robert’s bearers.”
“Of course.”
“Thank you. We’ve also asked Jim, so that will make three airedales, one squid, a jarhead plus Alex the hose-dragger.”
“I haven’t had my uniform on since I left the Navy,” Charles quipped. “I’ll have to get some help from Isabel to make it fit.”
“Did you know that Jim made Staff Sergeant during the three years he was in?”
“’E-Four’ during one enlistment? He must have been cruising,” Phillip commented. “I just put in my hitch and got out.”
“Phil, no one’s going to give a rats ass if you were Seaman Apprentice, we’d be appreciative if you would help out.”
“I would be honored,” Phillip answered sincerely.
**********
Gloria came down the stairs, and the first thing that struck her was silence. With Rachel in the house, or more accurately, with Rachel’s children in the house, silence was an ominous thing.
Gloria walked up to the kitchen window. “What are you looking at?” she asked of her daughter-in-law. “Where are the kids?”
“They’re out back with Alex and Isabel,” she replied.
“Oh No,” Gloria exclaimed. “You’re not letting my kids take care of your kids, are you?” She looked out the window and her worse fears were confirmed. “Charles! Get down here! Now!”
“What’s the matter?” Rachel asked. “They’re both fantastic with the little ones. Besides Alex can gain some points with Isabel if she sees that he’s good with kids. Nothing stirs a woman’s nest building mo-jo like seeing her man being all tender with a little one in his arms.”
“Alex doesn’t need any mo-jo points with Isabel,” Gloria said with disdain.
“And Alex can barely handle her mo-jo at it’s current level. He doesn’t need you ratcheting it up on him,” Charles moaned as he walked into the kitchen. “That poor kid burns up a year’s worth the will power every time he’s in the same room as her. Is this discussion what you called me down for?” he asked of his wife.
“Look,” Gloria said simply as she pointed out the back window.
Charles walked over, leaned over the sink, and looked out the window. “Aww Crap!” he exclaimed. “I’m going to have to stay up all night prying her off him with a crowbar.”
“Not if they want to get together,” Gloria sighed. “If she gets him to give in and you stand in the way, she’ll take that crow bar away from you and shove it up your ass sideways,,,”
“I know, that’s what I’m afraid of,” Charles said, calming down.
“You’re not afraid of her, are you?” Rachel asked in amazement.
“Let me put it this way,” Charles said, getting a beer out of the fridge while pushing the image of Isabel blasting their computer to the back of his mind. “If anything were ever to happen to Alex again, I wouldn’t want to be caught in front of her when she went to him.”
“Why?” Rachel asked, clearly confused. “What happened?”
“Harry didn’t tell you what happened?” Getting a shake of the head in response, Gloria settled at the table with a mug of hot tea, and waved to the opposite seat. Once Rachel had sat down, she continued. “We went on a cruse over the Memorial day weekend. While we were gone, Alex was hurt. Isabel terrorized the hospital. She demanded and got him the best of care, and then brought him home and didn’t let him out of her sight for three days.”
“She took his clothes and shoes away from him so he had to stay home like the doctor ordered,” Charles added. “I honestly think that she was reluctant to give him back to us when we got home. Then several weeks later she wasn’t satisfied that he was recovering properly, so she defied us, her own parents, and the doctors here in Roswell. She dragged him down to a specialist in Las Cruces and got him taken care of.”
“What was wrong?” Rachel asked with concern.
Charles looked to Gloria who shook her head. “To this day I don’t think anyone knows exactly what was going on, with the exception of his having some memory issues, which were so subtle that we didn’t notice them until Isabel pointed them out to us, but she’s watching him like a hawk, making sure it doesn’t happen again,,,” she explained, allowing her voice to trail off, not wanting to even mention his latest hospital experience.
“Not to mention the fact that they had a brush with the law a couple of months ago and now the entire city council is afraid of her,” Gloria concluded.
“Wait a minute,” Rachel protested. “You’re making them sound like a couple of super heroes.”
“No, not super heroes,” Gloria explained, “But certainly special. “Alex came home from his first day of school here almost eight years ago and announced that he had met the girl that he was going to marry. Isabel took a little longer, but her heart is now set on Alex, and she will never let go of him again.”
“So their high school sweethearts,” Rachel prompted, warming to the subject. “I had one, but I have to admit that my parents never let us spend as much time together as you do.”
“In the past six months,” Charles recounted proudly, “Those two kids have traveled to Boston and declined full ride scholarships to two of the best schools in the country because they didn’t fit in with their plans. When they returned home they set up an early admissions program here in New Mexico,,,”
“A college two thousand miles closer to home,” Gloria interrupted with a smile on her face.
“Then this summer,” Charles continued, “They took a school project and converted it into a company that has made them more money than Gloria and I combined have made so far this year, all the while maintaining their standing at the head of their class. Yet while they’ve been charting their future, they have also been contributing to the community. Isabel continues to work at the homeless shelter and the community center, while Alex has joined the volunteer call company of the fire department.”
“But they’re still kids,” Rachel protested.
“They’re kids who are engaged, and are already buying a house in Albuquerque for when they start college. They could move out tomorrow, if they wanted to,” Gloria responded. “They are here because they want to be, “
“So they are going to be in Albuquerque?”
“Yea, as soon as they start college.”
“Good,” Rachel replied thoughtfully. “You know Harry is trying to get stationed at Kelly (Air Force Base, Albuquerque) when he gets home. It would be good to have family close by.”
**********
At Washington DC’s Dulles airport, David Black Wolf settled down into his spacious seat in the first class cabin of United Airline’s flight seven eighty-three. Having caught the red-eye flight into DC early this morning and meeting with a critical customer all day, he was tired, sore, hungry, and impatient to get home. Looking over his shoulder he saw that while the line of passengers entering the plane had ended, the cabin door was still open. Being a seasoned traveler, he decided to test the limits of the flight attendants preferential treatment of first class customers by leaving his seat and walking to the gallery to ask for a drink.
“Excuse me Miss, would it be possible,,,” but his question died on his lips as he saw the stairway door on the jet-walk open and a young Air Force officer step through, entering the aircraft. Taking note of the officers Class-A uniform, the shiny silver bar on his lapels, and especially his white gloved hands, he turned back to the flight attendant, all timidness gone from his voice. “Who’s in charge here?” he demanded.
“I am,” an older flight attendant answered.
“You will take the Lieutenant to my seat in first class, make him comfortable, and see to his every need. Is that clear?”
Ignoring the confused look on the young man’s face the senior attendant hesitated only a moment before answering, “Yes sir, but first class is full. We don’t have another seat for you.”
“That’s okay,” he answered. “I have a sudden craving to ride in coach.”
“Lieutenant, would you follow me please,” the senior attendant asked solicitously.
“Semper Fi, Lieutenant,” said the businessman as a different flight attendant led him to his new seat, and as he settled into the cramped coach seat next to a young woman holding a crying baby on her lap he realized that compared to the mission the young officer was on, his day could have been a lot worse.
**********
Isabel was a little worried about Alex. He had sat through the entire game of Jeopardy without answering a single question and now that the show was over, it didn’t look like the situation was getting any better. “Come on out back,” she prompted as she stood and tugged on his arm. “I’ll let you feel me up while we wrestle.”
“Okay, I’m coming,” Alex replied as he slowly stood. “You don’t need to pull my arm out of it’s socket.” Although he acted as if he had the weight of the world on his shoulder, Alex was secretly happy to go out back with Isabel. First, he was indeed in a funk, and he knew it, but more importantly, he was still a teenaged boy, and happy for any excuse to feel Isabel up.
“And just where do you two think you’re going?” Gloria demanded as they passed through the kitchen.
“We’re going out to the back yard,” Isabel replied confidently. “I’m going to let him practice some moves on me.”
Gloria was long accustomed to their little wrestling matches, but while she was sure that some groping was going on, both accidental and intentional, she had enough men in the house to realize that the ‘training’ they were doing on a quite regular basis was serious, and in fact dangerous if they weren’t careful. She willingly accepted this though, as part of the price Isabel paid for her safety. “You just be careful,” she warned. “One of these days you’re going to kill him and then you’ll have no one to play with,” she added teasingly.
“I know,” Isabel replied haughtily. “Men are just like a favorite pair of jeans. It takes years to get them just right and then the ass falls out of them and you have to throw them out,,,”
“I’m standing right here,” Alex interjected.
“Well you need to take better care of him than your favorite jeans,” Gloria cautioned. “It took me years to get him ready for you, and I have neither the time nor the desire to go through that again. In fact if I were to go through that again, I’d try for a girl.”
“I can hear every word your saying,” Alex added, not that either woman was listening.
“Well you don’t have anything to worry about,” Isabel teased, obviously for Alex’s benefit. “As long as I have these,,,” she said, pointing to her breasts, I can get all of those,,,” she continued, pointing towards Alex’s crotch, “I want.”
“Hey!”
“You should switch to plastic,” Gloria countered, also happy for a moments levity on a dark day. “It’s easier to keep clean, batteries cost less than food, and you can always slip the neighbor boy a couple of bucks to take the trash out and mow the lawn,,,”
“MOM!!!”
“Yea,” Isabel replied with a smile, relenting and pulling Alex into a warm sideways hug. “But plastic won’t snuggle and keep you warm on a cold night,,,”
Gloria’s face clouded over and a single brow shot up at this admission.
“Or so I imagine,” Isabel giggled as she dragged him out the back door.
Alex had just finished showing Isabel a throw when Jesse made his presence known. “I’m impressed Alice. It’s about time you got your ass out from in front of a computer. Of course with a girlfriend like Isabel, it’s about time you learned to defend yourself, or more importantly, her.”
“I’ve always been able to take care of myself,” Alex protested
Alex and Jesse spent several minutes sparring, and while Alex was coming out the worse for wear, he kept coming back for more. Alex was not in the same league as his brother, who was after all a Marine Rifleman, meaning that combat arms was his only specialty, but Alex was slowly impressing his brother, not that he would ever admit it.
Showing off for Isabel, Jesse became complacent, and tried the same move on Alex twice in a row, learning to his sorrow that his brother was a quick learner. The proof of this was the fact that he found himself on his back, looking up.
“My, my,” Isabel teased, proud of her husband. “High school boy flips Marine.”
“That means nothing,” Jesse replied defensively. “This isn’t real. You’re making the mistake of assuming your enemies are going to fight you fair on a field of honor. That only happens in movies. In the real world, fighting is a dirty business,,,”
“The point is to avoid getting physical at all,” Isabel instructed. “If you need to go hand-to-hand, it means your best defensive tactics have already failed.”
“Well, that may be true, for ugly chicks,” Jesse replied sarcastically. “But there are bad guys out there who don’t play by the rules, and more importantly, bad things happen to good people every day. Now Alex’s hit and dodge tactics may work for him, because the puke attacking him isn’t going to get into a pitched battle for a teenager’s near empty wallet, but someone who looks like you, they’re going to rape. If some dickwad get you on the ground, your battle is just beginning, because he’s probably going to have a hundred pounds on you, and by now, he’s probably worked up a rage and is motivated.”
“Rape isn’t about looks, it’s about power. But make no mistake. If that dickwad gets me on the ground, I’ll be motivated, and I’ll show him power,” Isabel replied coldly.
“Good,” Jesse said with a smile. “I’m not one to believe the someone should just lie back and submit to their destiny,,,”
“Destiny is overrated,” Alex interjected.
“Okay Alice, so you got her on the ground,” Jesse challenged. “Now what are you going to do?”
“Hugh?” Alex answered in amazement.
“You got her on the ground, now you want her on her back, that’s where the goodies are, but you,” he continued, pointing towards Isabel, “You want to be on your side,,,”
“Why my side?”
“If he gets you face down you’re pretty much defenseless, but you’re not much better when you’re flat on your back, so when he tries to roll you, that’s the time to fight him. As he’s forcing you over, you want to curl up, stay on your side,,,”
“Why her side?”
“Because that is her best defensive position. Curled on her side she can protect her head between her arms or pull her knees up to protect her torso.” He turned towards Isabel. “Pull your heels up to your ass with your knees in tight to your chest, then if you can sense where he is, kick behind you with your heels, using your thighs for power. Strike back with your elbows. Aim towards the sound of his voice, striking towards his face. Strike his belly where he is soft. Strike at his knees, the weakest joint in his body.”
“If he is in front of you, hit him with the heels of your hands and with your knees, putting all the power of your thighs into it. When you get an opening, escape. Don’t try to punish him, and it’s not your job to catch him. Just get away and run. Run as if the devil’s after you.”
“Show me,” Isabel demanded.
“Okay,” Jesse replied. “I’m going to make the same move on you that Alex just tried, you try the same counter.”
“Be careful with her Jesse,” Alex warned. "I wouldn’t want to have to hurt you.”
Jesse ignored him as he grabbed Isabel, who easily countered his move. “Okay, that’s self defense for beginners, so lets see what happens when your attacker knows the counter.”
Isabel took a deep breath then nodded that she was ready. Without warning Jesse attacked, but when Isabel countered, she missed. Instead she found herself flying through the air, landing heavily on the lawn. Moments later, Jesse was on his knees besides, but not yet touching her.
“No!” he barked. “The moment he comes down, you need to decide if you can escape or if you need to fight. If you can’t get away, move in closer to me, with your back towards me. Make sure you’re close enough to strike back.”
“Again,” Isabel demanded.
This time Jesse held nothing back, and despite the fact that the attack had been requested, the violence of the attack scared the living shit out of Alex. Isabel had adapted her defense to Jesse’s last attack, but again she failed to connect, for he had again changed his attack. This time he grabbed her by her hair and dragged her across his hip.
Isabel wasn’t fazed by his attack. She had already seen more real combat than her attacker, and more importantly she was motivated to defend herself and her family. The moment Jesse came down next to her, she rolled to her side with her back to him, curled into a defensive ball as he expected. Before he could touch her, she struck back with her upper elbow, hitting the outside of his lower thigh, just above his knee. For good measure, she added a healthy dose of power to her blow.
Jesse roared as he felt a lightning bolt of pain shoot up his leg, but his amazement turned to shock as he realized that Isabel had learned her lesson all to well. Not the lesson that he had articulated, but the lesson that he had demonstrated. Two times now he had changed his tactic and committed to an attack that Isabel had not anticipated, and now Isabel was using that tactic against him. Having bolted uptight as a result of the pain inflicted to his leg, he was not close enough to Isabel to prevent her from rolling onto her back. Her knees were curled tight to her chest, but she was spinning on her back, bringing her feet into battery.
Before Jesse could move, Isabel switched from the defensive to the offensive, putting every ounce of force she could muster in the most powerful muscles of her body into a kick directed towards Jesse’s soft belly. Before her legs were even half extended, the heels of her boots dug deep.
Jesse found himself being tossed backwards gasping for breath, but Isabel’s offensive wasn’t over yet. Like a cat she rolled to her knees and launched herself, landing on him and rolling him onto his stomach. She grabbed his arm, and before he could react, she bent it up behind his shoulder.
Isabel was amazed at how fast Jesse reacted. Maybe he was aware of what she was doing, but it was much more likely a combination of instinct and training. His arm felt like a tree trunk as he simply used raw strength to power out of her hold, signaling to her that it was time to get out of Dodge; but it was now a fact. A high school girl had pinned a Marine, even if for only a moment.
Isabel sprung to her feet, slamming into Alex, who had been coming in for his own attack. Knowing that she didn’t have time to explain, much less calm the blood fury in his eyes, Isabel slammed through their connection, escalating it instantly into the super connection level. “No!” she commanded, pulling him back several feet.
Superb physical training allowed Jesse to recover quickly, but when he stood he was still a little wobbly in his sore leg.
“Attack, incapacitate, and escape,” Isabel declared. “I’m already a block away, and having run in the desert heat every day for the past year, I’ll take my chances that I’ll stay ahead of you, especially with your sore knee,,,”
Charles had been looking out the window, and seeing seen Jesse drag Isabel down by her hair, he came charging out of the house, loaded for bear. “What the frack are you doing?” he shouted as he stormed into the yard looking for a weapon. “You hurt her and I’ll break that thick skull of yours wide open,” he added, hoisting a baseball bat.
“Pops, why is it that whenever you or Mom come near me you have a hunk of aluminum in your hands?” Jesse gasped, bent nearly in half.
“Fracking jarhead,” Alex muttered as he checked his wife for damage.
“He was just showing me a move,” Isabel demurred as she rubbed her shoulder.
“You treat your brother with respect,” Charles commanded as he turned on Alex. “He’s serving his country.”
“Pops, how many times have you said the only good Marine is one you throw out of the back of your airplane,,,”
“God damned Air Force pukes,” Jesse muttered. “You look like a fracking Greyhound bus driver in your plane-jane uniforms,,,”
“I served!” Charles snapped back. “I earned the right to call him a fracking asshole. You join the service and then you can swap insults. “’Till then, you treat the shit-head with respect,,,
“Fracking hosehead,,,” Jesse spat back.
“Now just a fracking minute,” Charles snapped as he made an abrupt about face. “Your brother has been injured twice while serving this city while I’ve never seen you do anything around here but chase cheerleaders,,,”
“STOP IT!” Isabel shouted. “Jesus Fracking Christ, Gloria’s been feeding you guys too much red meat. “Jesse, thank you for your help, but as you can see we’re doing fine on our own.” She turned towards Alex. “Get your keys. You’re taking me out for an ice cream,” and then she finally addressed Charles. “And you, go get yourself a bourbon before you have a heart attack.”
Seeing that all three men just stood there looking at her, she jammed her fist into her hips. “Now!”
Already having his keys, Alex reached out and took her hand, leading her towards the front of the house and the driveway.
“No wonder your mother turned out the way she did,” Isabel complained. “And there were four of you?”
‘Actually five, at least when Pops was home,’ Alex thought to himself, but he knew better than to say anything out loud for the moment.
**********
As United flight seven eighty-three settled on the end of runway twenty-six at the Albuquerque International Sunport, several of the passengers took note of the time in surprise. “We’re almost an hour early,” one said happily.
“Thank God,” his seatmate replied. “I usually end up missing my connection here,” but his glee turned to shock as he saw the cockpit door open and the captain enter the cabin. It was rare that the cockpit door was opened while an aircraft was in motion, and since 9-11, it never happened.
~~“,,,We know that there are many choices for your air travel needs,”~~ the flight attendant droned on from the mid-cabin bulkhead as she wrapped up her arrival announcement, ~~“And we want to thank you for choosing United. I am now going to ask you to settle down and stay in your seats for a brief announcement from the Captain.”~~ Now finished, she handed the microphone to the pilot.
~~“Ladies and gentlemen, I would like to take a moment to introduce myself. My name is David Anderson, and in addition to being a captain with United Air Lines, I am also a major in the Air Force Reserves.”~~ He paused a moment to take a deep breath before continuing. ~~“We have been given the privilege of bringing a young Air Force officer, who has been killed while serving his country, home to his family. When we arrive at the terminal I am going to ask that you all stay in your seats and allow his honor guard to perform their duty.
~~“I assure you that we have received preferential treatment from the FAA for the entire flight allowing us to arrive early, making sure that despite this delay you will all have plenty of time for you to make your connections and meet your loved ones. So for the moment I’m going to ask you to remain in your seats, refrain from the use of electronic devices, and pay a moment of respect for this brave airman.”~~
As he hung up the microphone, he saw that the cabin door was ready to be opened. As the flight attendant disarmed the escape chute he leaned into the first class cabin. “Lieutenant, we’re ready for you.”
The pilot led the lieutenant out of the cabin, and as soon as they stepped onto the jet-walk, he opened the door, allowing them to take a short stairway down to the tarmac. On the opposite side of the aircraft, the United ground crew finished opening the cargo door and placed the luggage conveyor in place as a State Police cruiser leading a glistening black hearse followed by a white airport van pulled up next to the plane. As the pilot and the lieutenant moved towards the end of the conveyor, the honor guard stepped out of the van and marched to plane. Two members of the United flight crew met the honor guard, and then helped two of the airmen, one carrying a flag, scramble into the hold.
The pilot watched with approval as his co-workers reverently moved the coffin to the cargo door, pausing while the honor guard unfolded the flag and draped it over their fallen comrade. This task finished, the airmen scooted back down and took their place at the foot of the conveyor. As this was happening, the pilot waved the rest of the ground crew and the state trooper into a line in front of his aircrafts wing, and waited for the honor guard to get into position..
“Ten-Hut!” he commanded softly as he raised his hand in salute. The honor guard snapped to attention, their arms at their side, the lieutenant and the trooper also saluted, while the ground crew stood rigidly, doffing their hats. With everyone in position, he nodded towards the crew members in the hold, and they activated the conveyor, gently guiding their precious cargo onto the slowly moving belt.
The head flight attendant had never seen a cabin full of passengers act so quietly as they lined the windows, watching the honor guard lift the flag draped coffin and carry it across the tarmac before passing the coffin hand to hand as they loaded it into the back of the hearse.
“Tu!” the pilot commanded, and as they lowered their arms, the trooper stepped forward, joining the two officers before they marched to the front of the hearse. As the honor guard closed up the rear of the vehicle, the pilot reached over and opened the passenger door, holding it for the lieutenant as the trooper marched to his cruiser. His duties finished, the pilot returned to his ground crew and watched as the vehicles started up and moved away. As soon as they were out of sight of the aircraft, he looked up at the windows and nodded.
~~“Ladies and gentlemen, on behalf of the Captain, I would like to thank you for you patience. You are now free to deplane.”~~
TBC
My completed stories:
The Seekers, I&A with angst
http://www.majiksfanfic.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?t=282
Alex C Whitman SSAIC, (Supervising Special Agent in Charge) I&A with uber-angst
http://www.majiksfanfic.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?t=488
The Seekers, I&A with angst
http://www.majiksfanfic.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?t=282
Alex C Whitman SSAIC, (Supervising Special Agent in Charge) I&A with uber-angst
http://www.majiksfanfic.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?t=488
-
stargazer md
- Addicted Roswellian
- Posts: 120
- Joined: Sun Jun 06, 2004 10:25 pm
- Location: New Hampshire, USA
Stargazer Gets the Girl
Chapter 24-I There be Heroes Here
By Stargazer MD
At the funeral home a somber Charles completed the plans for his son’s service. He was greatly appreciative of the assistance that the Air Force was providing, but he was somewhat surprised as well. As the meeting broke up, he pulled Lieutenant Colonel Jeffrey McDaniels to one side. “Colonel, permission to speak freely.” (As a military courtesy, a lieutenant colonel is usually referred to as ‘Colonel.’)
“You don’t have to ask that Major, you’re not in the service anymore,” Colonel McDaniels replied. “Speak freely, and please, call me Jeff.”
Although the comment on his military status wasn’t quite accurate, he would have been sent straight to jail if he admitted it, so he let it pass. “Thank you, and please call me Charles.”
“Charles. What is your concern?”
“Again, I appreciate the honors being extended,,,”
“Stop right there,” Colonel McDaniels interrupted. “You are asking why full military honors are being extended to an officer who was not killed in the line of duty?”
“Yes.”
“General Hayden (Commander, National Security Agency) feels that your son’s sacrifice brought honor and distinction to the service, therefore he ‘suggested’ that Lieutenant Whitman be treated with full honors. Now, how many times have you said no to a two-star? (general)”
“Never.”
“Neither have I, and I’m not going to start now.”
**********
Gloria took advantage of her employer’s rather liberal bereavement policy, which allowed her to stay home with Sarah and Sam while Rachel ran several errands alone. Over their morning coffee, Rachel had confessed that she had packed in such a hurry that she had given no consideration to the fact that she would reunited with her husband for the first time in eight months. Gloria had promptly sent her out with directions to Victoria’s Secrets at the mall and an appointment for a style and manicure at her hairdressers. This left her with the girls for the day, a situation she was most happy with.
“Okay girls, lunch time,” Gloria pleaded as she herded her rambunctious charges into the kitchen.
“Oh boy,,, cheeseburger,,, cheeseburger,,, cheeseburger,,,”
“I want a happy meal,,, chicken nugs,,,”
“Pop-Tarts and Fruit-Woops.”
“Meme? Can I have a milk shake?”
“Ya-hoo, Mountain Doo.”
“Kevo, Tacco-Swell,,,”
“Mommy makes Spegette-O’s for lunch,,,”
Gloria realized that if she didn’t reign in this stampede soon she’d have a kitchen full of out-of-control children, a situation she hadn’t faced since,,, actually she’d never faced that situation. “Girls! This isn’t Burger King. You don’t get lunch your way, you get it Meme’s way or you don’t get it all. Your choices are grilled cheese sandwiches, plain, or grilled cheese sandwiches with tomato,,,”
“Tomato? Ewww.”
“Okay, plain. Now Sarah, take Sam and go wash your hands.”
“Okay, Meme.”
Gloria quickly and efficiently gathered the materials for their lunches, white bread for the girls, oat-nut for hers, butter, and cheese. She put her griddle on her new range to preheat and then selected one of her own home grown tomatoes. While not quite as good as the ones she remembered growing back east, the Heatwave Hybrid variety she had found at the local nursery was still far superior to anything she could buy at the local Albertson’s grocery store.
Gloria was surprised to hear the back door open, and as she turned to see who was home, she found herself enveloped in a tight warm hug.
“I’m done classes for the day at West, and I have an afternoon session at Eastern,” Isabel explained, “So instead of hitting the Crashdown I figured I’d stop by and see if I could do anything.”
“You’re just in time for lunch. Grilled cheese with tomato on oat-nut,” Gloria replied warmly. “How do you want me to contaminate yours?”
Isabel quickly took a Habanero chili and a slice of Vidalia onion from the refrigerator. Placing them next to the tomato on the cutting board, she had just enough time to use her powers to slice and dice the vegetables before the girls made their way back from the bathroom.
“You’d better never let Jeff see you do that,” Gloria teased. “He’d never let you out of the kitchen.”
“Aunt Isabel, Auntie Izzy-bell,” the girls sing-sang as they ran and hugged their newest favorite relative around the legs.
“Actually anyone who has eaten at the Crash in the last year or so has eaten Czechoslovakian prepped foods,” Isabel teased. Max and Michael do it all the time. It gets Liz and Maria out of the kitchen a lot quicker.”
Gloria only shook her head as she began to assemble the sandwiches on the griddle.
“Look who’s here!” Isabel exclaimed in surprise as she turned her attention to the new arrivals. “My little helpers!”
She sat on her heels and faced them. “Who wants to help me set the table while Meme cooks your lunch?”
Used to being banished from the kitchen at meal time, the girls were happy to have an opportunity to help out, let alone the attention that went along with it. “Me!,, I want to,,, Me too,,,”
“Okay,” Isabel replied cheerfully, leading the girls away from the dangers of the range. “Sam, you take the place mats and Sarah, you take the plates.” Isabel grabbed a handful of silverware, and then they were back at the breakfast table. Isabel taught the girls how to make a simple place setting before reaching up into the cabinet for glasses. Their next stop was the refrigerator, where Isabel placed a finger over her lip, deep in thought. “I wonder what little girls like to drink now-a-days,,,” Before the girls could chime in she continued, “When I was just a itty-bitty girl my Mommy let me drink lots-and-lots of milk so I would grow up big and tall,,,”
“I want Kool-Ache,” Sam pouted.
“No!” Sarah whispered fiercely. “Aunt Isabel drank lots and lots of milk, and look. She’s taller than Mommy,,, In fact she’s pob’ly taller than Daddy,,,”
“Nobody’s taller than Daddy,” Sam protested, but she did look at her aunt with admiration.
“Aunt Isabel, can we have milk too?” Sarah pleaded.
Gloria looked up from flipping the sandwiches, giving Isabel a wink in the process.
“Milk it is,” Isabel exclaimed as she took a container of whole milk from the fridge. She took it over to the table along with a pitcher of iced tea for Gloria.
As Gloria scooped the sandwiches into plates, adding a handful of tortilla chips, Isabel poured the drinks.
“I want a big girl cup,” Sam pouted, causing Isabel to look to Gloria for advice.
Gloria placed the plates on the counter before bending next to Sam’s booster seat. “Meme’s going to give you a sippy cup this time, but if there are no accidents, you can have a big girl cup at snack time.”
“Okay,” Sam answered, her eyes wide.
Rising, Gloria nodded towards the counter, silently asking Isabel for help. “They need to go into the freezer a moment,,,”
“Mom would just let them sit on the counter long enough so that we wouldn’t burn our mouths,” Isabel teased as she held her hand over the girls sandwiches, cooling them just to the point where the girls wouldn’t burn themselves. “Our mouths would water so much while we waited, my way’s much quicker.
Gloria cut the sandwiches into strips and then slid the plates in front of the hungry girls with a flourish. “Wait!” she commanded, catching her charges by surprise, their hands in mid air. She reached out and took her granddaughter’s hands in her own, as did Isabel. “Would you say Grace, please.”
Isabel looked straight into Gloria’s eyes as she spoke from the heart. “Thank you God for this wonderful lunch which we are about to receive, and thank you for all the wonderful people who make sure that little girls are never lonely, Amen.”
With the formalities finished, the girls dug into their sandwiches and chips, while the adults continued to watch each other for a moment. “Oops, I forgot my juice,” Isabel exclaimed, and breaking eye contact, she headed for the fridge. Moments later she had stealthily laced her drink with Tabasco and was headed back to the table when she saw Sam knock her doll from the table.
“Bobo,” Sam whined as she looked down at her fallen friend. Isabel started to reach for it but stopped when Gloria spoke.
“No!” This is lunch time, and we are not going to play ‘make Meme and Auntie fetch.’ Finish your lunch and then you can play with Bobo.”
Expecting an outcry, Isabel was surprised when both girls settled down and took bites of their sandwiches, but the lull wasn’t going to last long.
“Auntie Izzy-bell, what’s you drinking?”
“I’m drinking tomato juice,,,”
“Like in Meme’s sandwich?”
“Can I try?,,”
“Me too,,,”
Gloria smiled at Isabel’s dilemma.
“Okay,” Isabel replied cheerfully as she stood and headed for the refrigerator. Reaching past her the bottle of Clamato that she was actually drinking, she took out the bottle of the V-8 Juice that Alex was fond of. She filled a small cup with V-8, and then shared it with the girls.
“That’s good,” Sarah exclaimed. “Does your sandwich taste like that?”
Now Isabel was in trouble, but Gloria immediately came to her aid. “You can both have a bite of my sandwich.”
Moments later the girls were liking grilled cheese on oat-nut with tomato, and were very vocal about saying so.
“Now stop that,” Gloria commanded. “You can not have my sandwich, what would Meme eat?” she teased. “Now finish up, but if you still want one at snack time I’ll make one for the two of you to split.”
Several minutes later lunch was finished and the girls stomped into the family room while Isabel helped Gloria clean up before heading out for her afternoon class.
“They are so wonderful, so full of life,” Isabel sighed, “Do you think I’ll ever be ready for them?”
“You will,,, someday.”
“Rachel has done a wonderful job.”
“She has, and she has the toughest job in the world.” Seeing a look of confusion on Isabel’s face, she continued. “She’s a military wife. Harry packs up and goes off on a deployment, and she’s got to take care of the kids. While he’s gone she has to be both Mom and Dad, she has to fix the broken washer hose, and pay too many bills with too little money, all the time trying to save enough money so there will be a vacation when he gets home. Then when he does get home, he wants to be in charge. He wants to fix everything and take the kids out and spoil them. That’s probably the toughest part of her job, the constant shifting of gears when your husband comes and goes. But considering all that, she’s been operating at a severe disadvantage.”
“Yea, what’s that?”
“She hasn’t been able to spend enough time with me,” Gloria teased. “I expect much better from you.”
**********
Later that night, as Charles passed by Alex’s room, he was surprised to find Jesse setting up residence. “What are you doing in here Son? Is the couch too uncomfortable for your Marine back?”
“Nothing like that Pops,” Jesse teased back. “I can sleep on a pile of rocks, but Alex told me to take it for the next couple of days,,,”
“Your Mother isn’t going to like that,” Charles sighed. “She wanted to keep the entire family together.”
“All I can tell you is that Alex has finally become comfortable with his place in the universe, which just happens to be deferring to his warrior god brother.”
“Well maybe,” Charles postulated as he backed out of the room, ‘But it’s much more likely Isabel dragged him to her place in the universe out at the Comfort Inn,’ he added silently.
Meanwhile, down the hall, Gloria hid her ire as she helped Rachel tuck her granddaughters into Isabel’s bed. “Night-night,” she murmured as she kissed their cheeks.
“Night-night Mommy, night-night Meme.”
“Actually Isabel had them all settled in her room before I got back from the mall,” Rachel explained once they got out into the hall.
“Tea?” Gloria offered.
“Ahhmm, no, I have plans,,,” Rachel demurred, pointing towards Harry’s old room with a touch of blush coloring her cheeks.
“So I understand,” Gloria teased. “Maybe it’s a good thing Isabel offered her room.”
“I like her,” Rachel answered with a smile. “She even cleaned out the bottom two drawers of her dresser so the girls would feel right at home in the ‘Princess Room’ as she called it, but I don’t know where she got the Cinderella sheets so fast, and for a full bed set no less.”
“You’ll find she’s very resourceful,,,”
“Listen, I know you wanted to have everyone under one roof, but I’m not going to say I’m sorry. It has been almost eight months, after all,,,”
“Say no more,” Gloria instructed. Having been a young wife with a deployed husband, she knew exactly what Rachel was talking about.
“At least she has her own home to go to, and I’m sure she and Alex will survive a night or two apart,,,”
“Apart?” Gloria challenged. “Not likely, especially after you got her mo-jo all worked up in the back yard this afternoon.” Seeing a look of confusion on her daughter-in-law’s face she explained, “Isabel gave Alex’s room to Jesse, and while they may show up at Diane’s tomorrow or the next day, I’d bet my new kitchen she’s got him at the Comfort Inn right now, and I’ll also be willing to bet that she’ll give you a run for your money in the ‘getting an itch scratched’ department.”
**********
Towards the end of fourth period Thumper excused herself and snuck out of study hall. The fact of the matter was that she really needn’t have bothered. Mister Renner, a retired gentleman who supplemented his social security pension as a teachers aid who monitored study halls had a long standing and well known policy. ‘You don’t bother me and I won’t make your life miserable.’ Thumper bypassed the girls room and headed straight for the music room where she caught Alex packing his stuff. She approached him slowly, but once she was in front of him, she didn’t know what to say.
Realizing that he wasn’t alone, Alex looked up. “Oh, hey Thumper.”
“Hi Alex,” she replied shyly. “I heard about your brother. I’m sorry. It must really suck.”
“I really don’t know yet,” Alex replied honestly, setting his guitar case down and taking a seat. “Bobby’s the oldest, and he left for the academy not long after we moved to Roswell. I don’t think I’ve seen him five times since he left, but I always knew he was out there.”
Thumper took the chair next to him, carefully keeping her knees together and tucking her tartan skirt in under her thighs as she sat. Settled, she looked over to meet his eyes. ‘He didn’t look,’ she thought in amazement. ‘Not that I would mind if he looked, but this guy is one-in-a-million.’ “It’s not that you think of him everyday, or even that often,,, My Grandmother died during the summer,” she hastened to explain.
“Sorry,,,” Alex interjected softly.
“It’s like you suffer the loss of a sense of family, but at the same time,,, I don’t know,,, it’s almost like I feel guilty because I wasn’t more upset than I was. Am I making sense?”
“Yea,” Alex agreed. “It’s not real yet, at least not for me.”
Both teens sat in silence, lost in their own thoughts, but after a moment Alex looked at her, and found an unasked question on her face. “Thumper, is there something else?”
Thumper’s brows shot up. “Man, you are good.”
“A lifetime with Liz and Maria. They’ve taught me well,” Alex explained. “Especially Maria. She jealously guards her independence, finding it hard to admit that she needs help. So she won’t ask me about a problem until it’s to late, and by then she’s subconsciously disappointed that I failed her.”
“But how can you disappoint her if she doesn’t ask?”
“I’ve given up trying to figure that one out because apparently I don’t have the right chromosomes to think like her, but she is my friend, so I won’t fail her,” Alex explained resolutely. “It’s much easier with Liz. She’s much more analytical. She relates a need, accepts help, and them moves on.”
“Well, it was Liz that told me to talk to you, but now’s not the time,,,”
Alex leaned forward and put his hand on top of hers. “Are you going to get me in trouble with Isabel?”
“God No!”
“Then shoot. Anything for a friend,” Alex replied cheerfully before looking down at his hand, his hand which actually belonged to Isabel, which was sitting on top of Thumper’s hand, which was sitting on top of her green pantyhose covered thigh. He snapped his hand back as if burned. “Sorry.”
Thumper smiled, again struck by his sense of personal honor. Realizing that her instinct to flirt would make him more uncomfortable, she bit back that impulse and instead pressed forward. “Actually it’s a computer problem. My father promised me a new computer for graduation, saying that the one I have now is getting too slow. But during the past couple of months they’ve spent so much on lawyers, I’d rather try to fix the one I got.”
“How old is it?”
“It’s a two year old Dell,” Thumper explained efficiently. “It’s a Windows Ninety-Eight machine. Pentium three, seven thirty-three processor. Two fifty-six memory. Three gig hard drive. Daddy installed Office Ninety-seven and Norton’s System Works. The hard drive’s almost full, and it’s running really slow. If you could fix it, I could save the rest of the money towards books and other stuff I’m going to need for college.”
“I’m impressed. Usually if I ask someone about the particulars about their computer they tell me the screen size of their monitor. It sounds like it’s still new enough to warrant an upgrade, but it will never set any speed records. What are you going to use it for?”
“Homework. Word processing, some spread sheets, e-mail, the internet. Sometimes some music, but I’m not a power user like you.”
“Okay, here’s what we could do. Increase the memory and install a second hard drive. Then I’ll move all your documents to the new drive and disk-wipe the old one. Install Windows XP, and your copy of Office. We won’t run Norton’s, it’s getting more and more bloated with every revision, so I’ll download a freeware anti-virus program and a couple of other utilities. That should take a couple of hours and cost you about a hundred bucks.”
“You can do all that for a hundred bucks?” Thumper gasped.
“Yea, I got connections.”
“Alex, I don’t want you to do charity. I can pay for what I need,,,”
“Thumper, this is business. Isabel will give you a bill from Aries. You’ll be paying for an OEM copy of XP, and as far as the hard drive and memory goes, I have boxes of them in my garage. I’m sure I can find everything else you need,” Alex explained as he stood to leave.”
“Alex, this means a lot to me,,,”
“Hey, don’t thank me yet. When this is all over you will owe me a Will Smith and rings,,,”
“And an orange soda, light on the ice. It’s a date,” she concluded, reaching up and pecking him on the cheek.
**********
Later, Alex was hanging with Maria at her mom’s shop, waiting for Isabel to finish at Eastern and pick him up. Ever the gentleman, he treated this as an opportunity to perform a lot of the pack out of the heavier cases of merchandise from the back room. He was just coming out with a box of life sized alien blow up dolls.
“Izzy,” Alex called out cheerfully, dropping the heavy box onto the counter. “Good, I need you to do something for me.”
Isabel thought she knew everything about her husband, but he still continued to amaze her. Here he was, just days after his brother was killed, car less, covered with dust and hauling heavy boxes, but with his friends, he stayed cheerful. She looked over at Maria and winked.
Maria loved times like this. Isabel could tease better than all of the rest of the group put together, and lately, more and more, Isabel was letting her inside.
“We’re not going to do that Alex, I already told you that.”
“What?” he asked in confusion.
“You’re only going to do me back there on our wedding night, and that’s only because it’s the last special gift I have left to offer you,,,”
“Hugh?”
“But we’re only going to do that once, because it’s nasty,,,”
“By now Maria was making strange gasping noises as she struggled to keep a straight face.
“Really, really, nasty,,,” Isabel continued, her eyes aglow as she bent her head down and pivoted on her hips as she stared at him intently from under her brows.
“Izzy!” Alex gasped as light dawned on Marblehead.
“Unless I like it, in which case we’re going to be doing it a lot,,,”
By now Alex had his hands over Maria’s ears, but he was doing little to protect her delicate sensibilities as she was squirming around so much he couldn’t keep his hands in place. “No! Nothing like that! I need an invoice for Thumper,,,”
“Thumper?” Isabel continued, keeping her voice light and teasing, but Maria could make out a trace of the little green monster in her voice, and this green monster was definitely not alien in nature. “You’re going to do the nasty with Thumper?”
“I have to hand it to you Isabel,” Maria joined in. “Liz and I could never get him to blush deeper than pink. You’ve driven him all the way through red and it looks like he’s turning purple,,,”
“I’m fixing Thumper’s computer,,,”
“That’s what they call it now?”
“No,” Alex sighed in exasperation. “I’m going to upgrade her computer so it’s capable of working in her dorm when she goes to college next fall. I need you to invoice her for a copy of XP.”
Isabel realized that it was probably time to let him off the hook, so she turned towards Maria. “Are you done with him yet?”
In response Maria reached up and kissed him on the cheek. “Thanks for the help Stud.”
“Come on Stud,” Isabel said, taking his hands. I’ll let you play with my floppies,,,”
“Isn’t that going to set off Mrs. Whitman?” Maria challenged.
“Naw,” Isabel replied confidently. “I think we can sneak one more night at the Comfort before Mom demands that we come home,,,”
“Ahhmm, about that,” Alex demurred. “My Mom called your Mom and we’re expected at your house,,,”
“Well at least we have six hours or so before we need to be home,,,”
“Actually my Mom told your Mom that you were craving her tuna surprise. She’s expecting us in less than half an hour,,,”
“I hate Mom’s tuna surprise,,, fish just isn’t compatible with Tabasco,,,”
“I know. I think that was the idea. She’s probably getting back at us for sneaking out last night,,,”
“I hate your Mom,” Isabel whined as they went through the door. “I admire her,,, a lot. She reminds me of me, but right now, I hate her too.”
**********
The evening of the wake, Phillip followed Jim’s pick-up into the parking lot of the Shady Rest funeral home, parking besides him. As he stepped out of his wife’s Toyota, he reached into the back seat for his jacket while Jim stepped over. As he pulled his jacket on, he looked over to his friend who was just finishing buttoning his own. “You look good in that uniform Jim, blue suits you. It took Isabel fifteen minutes to alter mine so I could fit into it.”
“Too much of Diane’s good cooking,” Jim quipped back.
“I’m going to let you in on a little secret Jim,” Phillip chuckled. “Now that Diane isn’t trying to please the kids and their,,, unusual taste in foods, she’s gone back to her old recipes. She’s always been fantastic cook.”
“It shows,” Jim answered as he slapped Phillip’s amble stomach with back of his hand.
Isabel and Diane waited at the base of the stairway while Rachel escorted Gloria down from her room, and as soon as she reached the floor, both women gave her a warm and heartfelt hug.
While this was going on, Rachel turned to Tish, who had volunteered to with the children. “You have my cell number as well as the other emergency numbers?”
“Yes. It’s all right on the refrigerator door.”
“Good. Now you understand that they aren’t to leave the house for any reason whatsoever?”
“Yes. I understand.”
“Great,,,” Rachel said as she went into the front room and kissed her children goodbye. Moments later she was outside, where Isabel was holding the rear door for her mothers. Soon Rachel was settled in the shotgun seat while Isabel drove them to the funeral parlor.
Charles looked at Phillip’s uniform. “Frack sake Phillip. You’ve been holding out on us.”
Phillip held up the arm of his black dress jacket and looked at the sleeve. It was adorned with the gold star of a line officer centered above a narrow then wide stripe that wrapped around his sleeve, the mark of a Navy Lieutenant, junior grade. “Just a little something I did to put myself through law school.”
“Little, hugh?” Charles replied sarcastically, looking at Charles’ chest instead of his sleeve. “I’m going to have Juanita order a couple more special bottles and you’re going to tell me about that little adventure sometime.”
“Meanwhile, Jesse felt oddly uncomfortable in Phillip’s presence. Last night at the house he had been able to adjust, after several beers, to the fact that he was a lawyer, but an officer too? A Navy officer at that? And looking at his ribbons, it was almost too much for his simple Marine mind to comprehend.
Jesse continued to stare at the ribbon centered on the top of Phillip’s ribbon rack when Jim slid over. “I don’t recognize some of his ribbons.”
“Well that’s to be expected,” Jim said softly. “Combat arms is a young guys specialty, so most of the troopers you meet are probably too young to have spent enough years in combat to rack up a chest full of ribbons.”
“What are they?”
“Well lets see, the predominantly yellow ribbon with red and green, that’s a Viet Nam service ribbon. Two star means he served two tours. Blue and white, UN service medal. Purple heart with two stars, two combat injuries. The red and yellow as well as the white and green ribbons are for Republic of Vietnam awards, a couple of others I don’t know, they’re probably specific to the Navy,,,”
“Wait a minute,” Jesse interrupted. “Two stars indicates a double award?”
“That’s right.”
“Then what’s the wide white stripe in the middle of the ribbon?”
“You don’t recognize that?” Jim asked in amazement. Your father picked up on it the moment Phillip saw him.”
“I thought it was a purple heart.”
“No,,,” Jim drawled softly. “That, my good Marine, is a Navy Cross. The highest award the Navy can give for valor.” (A.N.: The next highest decoration can be awarded only by an act of Congress.)
“Frack me,,,” Jesse mumbled.
“You’ve heard of the Brown Water Navy?”
“The small boat operators in Viet Nam?”
“Yea, he was one of them. Deep in the Mekong delta, two PBR’s (Patrol Boat, River) stumbled into an ambush. Then they made about the biggest mistake they could have make under the circumstances, they gave up the advantage of being mobile and stopped to duke it out with a superior enemy. Within moments one boat was shot up pretty bad while the other boat was a flaming hulk, many of the men forced into the water.
“Ensign Whitman was in command of the only other boat in the area close enough to effect a rescue. He went in after them under overwhelming fire and with no hope of assistance. When his Boatswain’s Mate was hit, he took over the con and kept the boat moving. Despite the fact that he was totally exposed in the firelight, he went back a total of three times, not leaving the area until he had recovered every man. Dead, injured, or still fighting, every single of them came home. Now what do Marines say? Never leave a buddy behind?”
“Fracking A,” Jesse muttered under his breath. “He must have been a real operator in his day,,,”
“Still is,” Jim retorted proudly. “I’ve seen him in action. You don’t ever want to cross him or anyone that he considers to be family.” Knowing a little of the history of the Whitman boys he leaned in close and lowered his breath. “If he ever thought you would hurt Isabel, or for that matter Alex, he’d drop you like a dirty rubber.”
Reflecting on his still sore knee Jesse rebutted, “That girl doesn’t need her Daddy to watch out for her, she can take care of herself. In fact she’d make a good Marine,” which was about the highest complement he could make about anybody.
**********
Chief Montoya was cursing the inventor of the necktie as he headed back to his office for his Class A jacket when he noticed that the door to the utility room where the departments server was open. Looking inside he found the last person on the face of the planet that he expected to see at the station. “Whitman! What the frack are you doing here? Your brother’s funeral is in less than an hour.
“Oh hi Chief,” Alex replied, turning off the monitor and standing. “I have had several of the systems that have already been installed locally pinging the Albuquerque server and each other over the internet, and I got an error message that our firewall needed an adjustment. I couldn’t get the adjustment to take from home, so I just stopped in for a moment to take care of it,,,”
“You shouldn’t have done that,” the Chief said in a more reasonable tone of voice. “It could have waited.”
“No it couldn’t have,” Alex replied reasonably. “We’re still bringing the entire system live on Monday, and I need to have confidence that the network is secure,,,”
“No one would blame you if you postponed,,,”
“A commitment’s a commitment, Chief,” Alex explained patiently. “Aries is a small company, but we’re running with some of the big dogs. It’s important to me, to everyone, that we show we can be counted on to follow through on what we say we’re going to do.”
“No one who knows you will ever doubt your commitment, Alex,” the Chief said, looking at his watch. “But you’d better get home. Your family must be getting ready to leave. And if I know Isabel,,,”
“Say no more Chief.”
**********
High over the New Mexico Desert:
“~~Slingshot One, Roswell Tower, Flight of five Vipers. We’ll be conducting training operations five miles (8 km) off the departure end of runway Three.~~” (Authors note: Although the Air Force’s F-16 is officially designated as the Fighting Falcon, pilots have taken to calling the aircraft Vipers, and themselves Viper Pilots. This nickname is in honor of the Colonial Viper of Battlestar Galactica fame.)
“~~Roger Slingshot One, we have been briefed of your operations. Runway Three is closed and we have instituted the flight exclusion zone as requested. Notify Roswell Tower upon departure.~~”
“~~Gentlemen, systems check.~~”
“~~Five-by-five Skipper.~~”
“~~Three.~~”
“~~Four had a slight flutter in secondary hydraulics, but is fine now.~~”
“~~Slingshot Five?~~”
“~~Good to go.~~”
“~~Slingshot Four, R.T.B. (return to base) Slingshot Five, take position Four~~”
Slingshot One watched through his bubble canopy as the change of aircraft occurred before continuing. “~~The goal today is absolute perfection. Tighten up, stay sharp, and prepare to turn on my mark.~~”
**********
Charles and the rest of the bearers lined up about ten feet from the back of the hearse, for while their best efforts were sufficient at the funeral parlor and during the Funeral Mass, they could not be expected to have the time to learn, let alone the presence of mind to perform, the intricacies of a proper military graveside service. An honor guard from the Five Twenty-Second took their place at the back of the hearse.
Stepping up onto the platform around the grave, the honor guard gently lowered their precious burden and made several minute adjustments, making sure the casket was positioned precisely on the heavy nylon straps of the platform. As the honor guard finished their task and stood at attention, the Officer in Charge stepped forward to insure that the flag was perfectly stretched and leveled, precisely centered over the casket. Completing this task, they stood to attention as the Chaplain began the graveside service.
“Let us pray;
The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want.
He maketh me to lie down in green pastures.
He leadeth me beside the still waters.
He restoreth my soul.
He leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for His name’s sake.
Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil;
for thou art with me, thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.
Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies.
Thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life;
and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord for ever.
(The Twenty-Third Psalm)
After a moments silence the Chaplain continued;
“Oh, I have slipped the surly bonds of earth
And danced the skies on laughter-silvered wings;
Sunward I’ve climbed, and joined the tumbling mirth
Of sun-split clouds — and done a hundred things
You have not dreamed of —
wheeled and soared and swung
High in the sunlit silence. Hov’ring there,
I’ve chased the shouting wind along, and flung
My eager craft through footless halls of air.
Up, up the long delirious burning blue
I’ve topped the windswept heights with easy grace
Where never lark, nor even eagle flew.
And, while with silent, lifting mind I’ve trod
The high untrespassed sanctity of space,
Put out my hand, and touched the face of God.
(High Flight. John Gillespie Magee, Jr.)
“Lord God, whose days are without end and whose mercies beyond counting, keep us mindful that life is short and the hour of death unknown. Let your Spirit guide our days on earth in the ways of holiness and justice, that we may serve you
in union with the whole Church, sure in faith, strong in hope, perfected in love. And when our earthly journey is ended,
lead us rejoicing into your kingdom, where you live for ever and ever.”
“Amen.”
The Chaplain made a sign of the Cross, blessing the casket, and the family beyond. “May the peace of God, which is beyond all understanding, keep our hearts and minds in the knowledge and love of God and of his Son, our Lord Jesus Christ.”
“Amen.”
As the Chaplain stepped back the Officer in Charge took his place at the head of the assemblage. ‘Ten-hut!” he commanded softly.
The first of the three rifle volleys caught Gloria by surprise. She flinched so violently that she almost came up from her chair. She squeezed her eyes shut, and braced for the other two volleys, yet even forewarned, she flinched for those as well.
At the staccato crack of the second volley, Isabel clutched her husband’s hand tighter, but he did not notice. Alex was never more thankful for the depth of their connection, for he was depending on the love of his life to keep him going. He had been looking forward to his brother’s visit at Christmas, to show Isabel off. He truly wished that they had met under better circumstances, but he could feel Isabel’s respect for his brother, and he believed that Robert approved as well.
As the echoes of the third volley faded from the distant hills, the sharp sound of a military bugler playing taps. This was a turning point for Charles. This made it real. He had heard this dirge too many times to think otherwise. His son was dead, and would never be home again.
“~~Slingshot One, Two minutes,~~” the watcher whispered into his radio.
As the last note of the bugle faded the well rehearsed honor guard bent as one, grasping the sides of the flag that shielded their fallen comrade. As they stood, the flag snapped flat as they ritualistically folded the flag along it’s length, first in half, then again. As the quartered flag hovered, white gloves caressed it’s edges, insuring that the folds were sharp and straight. Then, starting at the foot of the casket, the honor guard folded the flag into it’s characteristic tight triangle, ending with eight stars showing on both the top and bottom. The Airman at the upper right took the folded flag, tucking it’s end under the edge of the top triangle before turning and presenting it to the Officer in Charge.
Knowledgeable that some military traditions dictate that once folded, a memorial flag never be unfolded, the young Captain inspected the flag, making sure that it was perfect and worthy of presentation to their fallen comrade’s loved ones. As he turned and marched towards the Chaplain, he discretely slipped three spent cartridges, emblematic of the three rifle volleys, into the top fold of the flag. He presented the flag to the Chaplain, and then his duty done, led the honor guard away from the burial site, leaving the lieutenant who had flown out from Maryland behind, who would remain on station until the internment was complete.
The Chaplain took the flag from the Officer in Charge, placing one gloved hand over the folded flag and his other hand under it. With the weight of the world on his shoulders, He turned and resolutely marched to the seated family.
“~~Execute!~~”
The Chaplain stopped in front of the seated family, directly in front of Gloria, in accordance with the wish that Charles had expressed earlier. With the straight edge of the flag facing the family he slowly dropped to one knee, presenting the flag to Gloria. “On behalf of the President of the United States, The Department of the Air Force, and a grateful nation, we offer this flag for the faithful and dedicated service of Lieutenant Robert Whitman. God Bless you and this family, and may God Bless the United States of America.”
**********
In downtown Roswell windows shook and traffic stopped as the shadows of four Vipers flying in a perfect Fingers-Four formation screamed down the length of Route 380. Seconds later they were over the cemetery where Slingshot Three broke formation and rocketed towards the heavens on zone-five afterburner. He carried with him the soul of a warrior, delivering him to his well earned rest while the thunder of his jet exhaust let one and all know, ‘There be Heroes Here’.
End Chapter
Please follow the link to a video of the Missing Man formation, filmed during former President Gerald Ford’s services. I am sure you will find it as moving as I do,
Authors note: One night while I slept, just ten miles (16 km) away from my house, the beltway sniper and his accomplice were captured by a contingent of Washington and Frederick County Deputies, the Maryland State Police, and the FBI. I am proud to say that the State of Maryland was gracious in allowing the Commonwealth of Virginia to try him first. (Virginia has the death penalty, Maryland does not.) He now sits in a cell, convicted and sentenced to die, awaiting his fate.
Photo links:
New Link:
21 ship Missing Man formation
http://youtube.com/watch?v=3M9BPE0DAlE& ... ed&search=
Charles’ AUG-A1
http://i76.photobucket.com/albums/j22/S ... AUG-A1.jpg
Firefighter Alex Taylor, Alex’s rescuer when he was shot at the Kettle’s
http://i76.photobucket.com/albums/j22/S ... Taylor.jpg
Isabel’s Floating Heart, a gift from Alex after Prom
http://www.kheigl.com/cgi-bin/view.cgi? ... t/kh34.jpg
Courtesy Khegil.com
Isabel’s Earrings, Alex’s present for her Eighteenth birthday.
http://i76.photobucket.com/albums/j22/S ... arings.jpg
Isabel’s Engagement Ring
http://i76.photobucket.com/albums/j22/S ... sring2.jpg
Chapter 24-I There be Heroes Here
By Stargazer MD
At the funeral home a somber Charles completed the plans for his son’s service. He was greatly appreciative of the assistance that the Air Force was providing, but he was somewhat surprised as well. As the meeting broke up, he pulled Lieutenant Colonel Jeffrey McDaniels to one side. “Colonel, permission to speak freely.” (As a military courtesy, a lieutenant colonel is usually referred to as ‘Colonel.’)
“You don’t have to ask that Major, you’re not in the service anymore,” Colonel McDaniels replied. “Speak freely, and please, call me Jeff.”
Although the comment on his military status wasn’t quite accurate, he would have been sent straight to jail if he admitted it, so he let it pass. “Thank you, and please call me Charles.”
“Charles. What is your concern?”
“Again, I appreciate the honors being extended,,,”
“Stop right there,” Colonel McDaniels interrupted. “You are asking why full military honors are being extended to an officer who was not killed in the line of duty?”
“Yes.”
“General Hayden (Commander, National Security Agency) feels that your son’s sacrifice brought honor and distinction to the service, therefore he ‘suggested’ that Lieutenant Whitman be treated with full honors. Now, how many times have you said no to a two-star? (general)”
“Never.”
“Neither have I, and I’m not going to start now.”
**********
Gloria took advantage of her employer’s rather liberal bereavement policy, which allowed her to stay home with Sarah and Sam while Rachel ran several errands alone. Over their morning coffee, Rachel had confessed that she had packed in such a hurry that she had given no consideration to the fact that she would reunited with her husband for the first time in eight months. Gloria had promptly sent her out with directions to Victoria’s Secrets at the mall and an appointment for a style and manicure at her hairdressers. This left her with the girls for the day, a situation she was most happy with.
“Okay girls, lunch time,” Gloria pleaded as she herded her rambunctious charges into the kitchen.
“Oh boy,,, cheeseburger,,, cheeseburger,,, cheeseburger,,,”
“I want a happy meal,,, chicken nugs,,,”
“Pop-Tarts and Fruit-Woops.”
“Meme? Can I have a milk shake?”
“Ya-hoo, Mountain Doo.”
“Kevo, Tacco-Swell,,,”
“Mommy makes Spegette-O’s for lunch,,,”
Gloria realized that if she didn’t reign in this stampede soon she’d have a kitchen full of out-of-control children, a situation she hadn’t faced since,,, actually she’d never faced that situation. “Girls! This isn’t Burger King. You don’t get lunch your way, you get it Meme’s way or you don’t get it all. Your choices are grilled cheese sandwiches, plain, or grilled cheese sandwiches with tomato,,,”
“Tomato? Ewww.”
“Okay, plain. Now Sarah, take Sam and go wash your hands.”
“Okay, Meme.”
Gloria quickly and efficiently gathered the materials for their lunches, white bread for the girls, oat-nut for hers, butter, and cheese. She put her griddle on her new range to preheat and then selected one of her own home grown tomatoes. While not quite as good as the ones she remembered growing back east, the Heatwave Hybrid variety she had found at the local nursery was still far superior to anything she could buy at the local Albertson’s grocery store.
Gloria was surprised to hear the back door open, and as she turned to see who was home, she found herself enveloped in a tight warm hug.
“I’m done classes for the day at West, and I have an afternoon session at Eastern,” Isabel explained, “So instead of hitting the Crashdown I figured I’d stop by and see if I could do anything.”
“You’re just in time for lunch. Grilled cheese with tomato on oat-nut,” Gloria replied warmly. “How do you want me to contaminate yours?”
Isabel quickly took a Habanero chili and a slice of Vidalia onion from the refrigerator. Placing them next to the tomato on the cutting board, she had just enough time to use her powers to slice and dice the vegetables before the girls made their way back from the bathroom.
“You’d better never let Jeff see you do that,” Gloria teased. “He’d never let you out of the kitchen.”
“Aunt Isabel, Auntie Izzy-bell,” the girls sing-sang as they ran and hugged their newest favorite relative around the legs.
“Actually anyone who has eaten at the Crash in the last year or so has eaten Czechoslovakian prepped foods,” Isabel teased. Max and Michael do it all the time. It gets Liz and Maria out of the kitchen a lot quicker.”
Gloria only shook her head as she began to assemble the sandwiches on the griddle.
“Look who’s here!” Isabel exclaimed in surprise as she turned her attention to the new arrivals. “My little helpers!”
She sat on her heels and faced them. “Who wants to help me set the table while Meme cooks your lunch?”
Used to being banished from the kitchen at meal time, the girls were happy to have an opportunity to help out, let alone the attention that went along with it. “Me!,, I want to,,, Me too,,,”
“Okay,” Isabel replied cheerfully, leading the girls away from the dangers of the range. “Sam, you take the place mats and Sarah, you take the plates.” Isabel grabbed a handful of silverware, and then they were back at the breakfast table. Isabel taught the girls how to make a simple place setting before reaching up into the cabinet for glasses. Their next stop was the refrigerator, where Isabel placed a finger over her lip, deep in thought. “I wonder what little girls like to drink now-a-days,,,” Before the girls could chime in she continued, “When I was just a itty-bitty girl my Mommy let me drink lots-and-lots of milk so I would grow up big and tall,,,”
“I want Kool-Ache,” Sam pouted.
“No!” Sarah whispered fiercely. “Aunt Isabel drank lots and lots of milk, and look. She’s taller than Mommy,,, In fact she’s pob’ly taller than Daddy,,,”
“Nobody’s taller than Daddy,” Sam protested, but she did look at her aunt with admiration.
“Aunt Isabel, can we have milk too?” Sarah pleaded.
Gloria looked up from flipping the sandwiches, giving Isabel a wink in the process.
“Milk it is,” Isabel exclaimed as she took a container of whole milk from the fridge. She took it over to the table along with a pitcher of iced tea for Gloria.
As Gloria scooped the sandwiches into plates, adding a handful of tortilla chips, Isabel poured the drinks.
“I want a big girl cup,” Sam pouted, causing Isabel to look to Gloria for advice.
Gloria placed the plates on the counter before bending next to Sam’s booster seat. “Meme’s going to give you a sippy cup this time, but if there are no accidents, you can have a big girl cup at snack time.”
“Okay,” Sam answered, her eyes wide.
Rising, Gloria nodded towards the counter, silently asking Isabel for help. “They need to go into the freezer a moment,,,”
“Mom would just let them sit on the counter long enough so that we wouldn’t burn our mouths,” Isabel teased as she held her hand over the girls sandwiches, cooling them just to the point where the girls wouldn’t burn themselves. “Our mouths would water so much while we waited, my way’s much quicker.
Gloria cut the sandwiches into strips and then slid the plates in front of the hungry girls with a flourish. “Wait!” she commanded, catching her charges by surprise, their hands in mid air. She reached out and took her granddaughter’s hands in her own, as did Isabel. “Would you say Grace, please.”
Isabel looked straight into Gloria’s eyes as she spoke from the heart. “Thank you God for this wonderful lunch which we are about to receive, and thank you for all the wonderful people who make sure that little girls are never lonely, Amen.”
With the formalities finished, the girls dug into their sandwiches and chips, while the adults continued to watch each other for a moment. “Oops, I forgot my juice,” Isabel exclaimed, and breaking eye contact, she headed for the fridge. Moments later she had stealthily laced her drink with Tabasco and was headed back to the table when she saw Sam knock her doll from the table.
“Bobo,” Sam whined as she looked down at her fallen friend. Isabel started to reach for it but stopped when Gloria spoke.
“No!” This is lunch time, and we are not going to play ‘make Meme and Auntie fetch.’ Finish your lunch and then you can play with Bobo.”
Expecting an outcry, Isabel was surprised when both girls settled down and took bites of their sandwiches, but the lull wasn’t going to last long.
“Auntie Izzy-bell, what’s you drinking?”
“I’m drinking tomato juice,,,”
“Like in Meme’s sandwich?”
“Can I try?,,”
“Me too,,,”
Gloria smiled at Isabel’s dilemma.
“Okay,” Isabel replied cheerfully as she stood and headed for the refrigerator. Reaching past her the bottle of Clamato that she was actually drinking, she took out the bottle of the V-8 Juice that Alex was fond of. She filled a small cup with V-8, and then shared it with the girls.
“That’s good,” Sarah exclaimed. “Does your sandwich taste like that?”
Now Isabel was in trouble, but Gloria immediately came to her aid. “You can both have a bite of my sandwich.”
Moments later the girls were liking grilled cheese on oat-nut with tomato, and were very vocal about saying so.
“Now stop that,” Gloria commanded. “You can not have my sandwich, what would Meme eat?” she teased. “Now finish up, but if you still want one at snack time I’ll make one for the two of you to split.”
Several minutes later lunch was finished and the girls stomped into the family room while Isabel helped Gloria clean up before heading out for her afternoon class.
“They are so wonderful, so full of life,” Isabel sighed, “Do you think I’ll ever be ready for them?”
“You will,,, someday.”
“Rachel has done a wonderful job.”
“She has, and she has the toughest job in the world.” Seeing a look of confusion on Isabel’s face, she continued. “She’s a military wife. Harry packs up and goes off on a deployment, and she’s got to take care of the kids. While he’s gone she has to be both Mom and Dad, she has to fix the broken washer hose, and pay too many bills with too little money, all the time trying to save enough money so there will be a vacation when he gets home. Then when he does get home, he wants to be in charge. He wants to fix everything and take the kids out and spoil them. That’s probably the toughest part of her job, the constant shifting of gears when your husband comes and goes. But considering all that, she’s been operating at a severe disadvantage.”
“Yea, what’s that?”
“She hasn’t been able to spend enough time with me,” Gloria teased. “I expect much better from you.”
**********
Later that night, as Charles passed by Alex’s room, he was surprised to find Jesse setting up residence. “What are you doing in here Son? Is the couch too uncomfortable for your Marine back?”
“Nothing like that Pops,” Jesse teased back. “I can sleep on a pile of rocks, but Alex told me to take it for the next couple of days,,,”
“Your Mother isn’t going to like that,” Charles sighed. “She wanted to keep the entire family together.”
“All I can tell you is that Alex has finally become comfortable with his place in the universe, which just happens to be deferring to his warrior god brother.”
“Well maybe,” Charles postulated as he backed out of the room, ‘But it’s much more likely Isabel dragged him to her place in the universe out at the Comfort Inn,’ he added silently.
Meanwhile, down the hall, Gloria hid her ire as she helped Rachel tuck her granddaughters into Isabel’s bed. “Night-night,” she murmured as she kissed their cheeks.
“Night-night Mommy, night-night Meme.”
“Actually Isabel had them all settled in her room before I got back from the mall,” Rachel explained once they got out into the hall.
“Tea?” Gloria offered.
“Ahhmm, no, I have plans,,,” Rachel demurred, pointing towards Harry’s old room with a touch of blush coloring her cheeks.
“So I understand,” Gloria teased. “Maybe it’s a good thing Isabel offered her room.”
“I like her,” Rachel answered with a smile. “She even cleaned out the bottom two drawers of her dresser so the girls would feel right at home in the ‘Princess Room’ as she called it, but I don’t know where she got the Cinderella sheets so fast, and for a full bed set no less.”
“You’ll find she’s very resourceful,,,”
“Listen, I know you wanted to have everyone under one roof, but I’m not going to say I’m sorry. It has been almost eight months, after all,,,”
“Say no more,” Gloria instructed. Having been a young wife with a deployed husband, she knew exactly what Rachel was talking about.
“At least she has her own home to go to, and I’m sure she and Alex will survive a night or two apart,,,”
“Apart?” Gloria challenged. “Not likely, especially after you got her mo-jo all worked up in the back yard this afternoon.” Seeing a look of confusion on her daughter-in-law’s face she explained, “Isabel gave Alex’s room to Jesse, and while they may show up at Diane’s tomorrow or the next day, I’d bet my new kitchen she’s got him at the Comfort Inn right now, and I’ll also be willing to bet that she’ll give you a run for your money in the ‘getting an itch scratched’ department.”
**********
Towards the end of fourth period Thumper excused herself and snuck out of study hall. The fact of the matter was that she really needn’t have bothered. Mister Renner, a retired gentleman who supplemented his social security pension as a teachers aid who monitored study halls had a long standing and well known policy. ‘You don’t bother me and I won’t make your life miserable.’ Thumper bypassed the girls room and headed straight for the music room where she caught Alex packing his stuff. She approached him slowly, but once she was in front of him, she didn’t know what to say.
Realizing that he wasn’t alone, Alex looked up. “Oh, hey Thumper.”
“Hi Alex,” she replied shyly. “I heard about your brother. I’m sorry. It must really suck.”
“I really don’t know yet,” Alex replied honestly, setting his guitar case down and taking a seat. “Bobby’s the oldest, and he left for the academy not long after we moved to Roswell. I don’t think I’ve seen him five times since he left, but I always knew he was out there.”
Thumper took the chair next to him, carefully keeping her knees together and tucking her tartan skirt in under her thighs as she sat. Settled, she looked over to meet his eyes. ‘He didn’t look,’ she thought in amazement. ‘Not that I would mind if he looked, but this guy is one-in-a-million.’ “It’s not that you think of him everyday, or even that often,,, My Grandmother died during the summer,” she hastened to explain.
“Sorry,,,” Alex interjected softly.
“It’s like you suffer the loss of a sense of family, but at the same time,,, I don’t know,,, it’s almost like I feel guilty because I wasn’t more upset than I was. Am I making sense?”
“Yea,” Alex agreed. “It’s not real yet, at least not for me.”
Both teens sat in silence, lost in their own thoughts, but after a moment Alex looked at her, and found an unasked question on her face. “Thumper, is there something else?”
Thumper’s brows shot up. “Man, you are good.”
“A lifetime with Liz and Maria. They’ve taught me well,” Alex explained. “Especially Maria. She jealously guards her independence, finding it hard to admit that she needs help. So she won’t ask me about a problem until it’s to late, and by then she’s subconsciously disappointed that I failed her.”
“But how can you disappoint her if she doesn’t ask?”
“I’ve given up trying to figure that one out because apparently I don’t have the right chromosomes to think like her, but she is my friend, so I won’t fail her,” Alex explained resolutely. “It’s much easier with Liz. She’s much more analytical. She relates a need, accepts help, and them moves on.”
“Well, it was Liz that told me to talk to you, but now’s not the time,,,”
Alex leaned forward and put his hand on top of hers. “Are you going to get me in trouble with Isabel?”
“God No!”
“Then shoot. Anything for a friend,” Alex replied cheerfully before looking down at his hand, his hand which actually belonged to Isabel, which was sitting on top of Thumper’s hand, which was sitting on top of her green pantyhose covered thigh. He snapped his hand back as if burned. “Sorry.”
Thumper smiled, again struck by his sense of personal honor. Realizing that her instinct to flirt would make him more uncomfortable, she bit back that impulse and instead pressed forward. “Actually it’s a computer problem. My father promised me a new computer for graduation, saying that the one I have now is getting too slow. But during the past couple of months they’ve spent so much on lawyers, I’d rather try to fix the one I got.”
“How old is it?”
“It’s a two year old Dell,” Thumper explained efficiently. “It’s a Windows Ninety-Eight machine. Pentium three, seven thirty-three processor. Two fifty-six memory. Three gig hard drive. Daddy installed Office Ninety-seven and Norton’s System Works. The hard drive’s almost full, and it’s running really slow. If you could fix it, I could save the rest of the money towards books and other stuff I’m going to need for college.”
“I’m impressed. Usually if I ask someone about the particulars about their computer they tell me the screen size of their monitor. It sounds like it’s still new enough to warrant an upgrade, but it will never set any speed records. What are you going to use it for?”
“Homework. Word processing, some spread sheets, e-mail, the internet. Sometimes some music, but I’m not a power user like you.”
“Okay, here’s what we could do. Increase the memory and install a second hard drive. Then I’ll move all your documents to the new drive and disk-wipe the old one. Install Windows XP, and your copy of Office. We won’t run Norton’s, it’s getting more and more bloated with every revision, so I’ll download a freeware anti-virus program and a couple of other utilities. That should take a couple of hours and cost you about a hundred bucks.”
“You can do all that for a hundred bucks?” Thumper gasped.
“Yea, I got connections.”
“Alex, I don’t want you to do charity. I can pay for what I need,,,”
“Thumper, this is business. Isabel will give you a bill from Aries. You’ll be paying for an OEM copy of XP, and as far as the hard drive and memory goes, I have boxes of them in my garage. I’m sure I can find everything else you need,” Alex explained as he stood to leave.”
“Alex, this means a lot to me,,,”
“Hey, don’t thank me yet. When this is all over you will owe me a Will Smith and rings,,,”
“And an orange soda, light on the ice. It’s a date,” she concluded, reaching up and pecking him on the cheek.
**********
Later, Alex was hanging with Maria at her mom’s shop, waiting for Isabel to finish at Eastern and pick him up. Ever the gentleman, he treated this as an opportunity to perform a lot of the pack out of the heavier cases of merchandise from the back room. He was just coming out with a box of life sized alien blow up dolls.
“Izzy,” Alex called out cheerfully, dropping the heavy box onto the counter. “Good, I need you to do something for me.”
Isabel thought she knew everything about her husband, but he still continued to amaze her. Here he was, just days after his brother was killed, car less, covered with dust and hauling heavy boxes, but with his friends, he stayed cheerful. She looked over at Maria and winked.
Maria loved times like this. Isabel could tease better than all of the rest of the group put together, and lately, more and more, Isabel was letting her inside.
“We’re not going to do that Alex, I already told you that.”
“What?” he asked in confusion.
“You’re only going to do me back there on our wedding night, and that’s only because it’s the last special gift I have left to offer you,,,”
“Hugh?”
“But we’re only going to do that once, because it’s nasty,,,”
“By now Maria was making strange gasping noises as she struggled to keep a straight face.
“Really, really, nasty,,,” Isabel continued, her eyes aglow as she bent her head down and pivoted on her hips as she stared at him intently from under her brows.
“Izzy!” Alex gasped as light dawned on Marblehead.
“Unless I like it, in which case we’re going to be doing it a lot,,,”
By now Alex had his hands over Maria’s ears, but he was doing little to protect her delicate sensibilities as she was squirming around so much he couldn’t keep his hands in place. “No! Nothing like that! I need an invoice for Thumper,,,”
“Thumper?” Isabel continued, keeping her voice light and teasing, but Maria could make out a trace of the little green monster in her voice, and this green monster was definitely not alien in nature. “You’re going to do the nasty with Thumper?”
“I have to hand it to you Isabel,” Maria joined in. “Liz and I could never get him to blush deeper than pink. You’ve driven him all the way through red and it looks like he’s turning purple,,,”
“I’m fixing Thumper’s computer,,,”
“That’s what they call it now?”
“No,” Alex sighed in exasperation. “I’m going to upgrade her computer so it’s capable of working in her dorm when she goes to college next fall. I need you to invoice her for a copy of XP.”
Isabel realized that it was probably time to let him off the hook, so she turned towards Maria. “Are you done with him yet?”
In response Maria reached up and kissed him on the cheek. “Thanks for the help Stud.”
“Come on Stud,” Isabel said, taking his hands. I’ll let you play with my floppies,,,”
“Isn’t that going to set off Mrs. Whitman?” Maria challenged.
“Naw,” Isabel replied confidently. “I think we can sneak one more night at the Comfort before Mom demands that we come home,,,”
“Ahhmm, about that,” Alex demurred. “My Mom called your Mom and we’re expected at your house,,,”
“Well at least we have six hours or so before we need to be home,,,”
“Actually my Mom told your Mom that you were craving her tuna surprise. She’s expecting us in less than half an hour,,,”
“I hate Mom’s tuna surprise,,, fish just isn’t compatible with Tabasco,,,”
“I know. I think that was the idea. She’s probably getting back at us for sneaking out last night,,,”
“I hate your Mom,” Isabel whined as they went through the door. “I admire her,,, a lot. She reminds me of me, but right now, I hate her too.”
**********
The evening of the wake, Phillip followed Jim’s pick-up into the parking lot of the Shady Rest funeral home, parking besides him. As he stepped out of his wife’s Toyota, he reached into the back seat for his jacket while Jim stepped over. As he pulled his jacket on, he looked over to his friend who was just finishing buttoning his own. “You look good in that uniform Jim, blue suits you. It took Isabel fifteen minutes to alter mine so I could fit into it.”
“Too much of Diane’s good cooking,” Jim quipped back.
“I’m going to let you in on a little secret Jim,” Phillip chuckled. “Now that Diane isn’t trying to please the kids and their,,, unusual taste in foods, she’s gone back to her old recipes. She’s always been fantastic cook.”
“It shows,” Jim answered as he slapped Phillip’s amble stomach with back of his hand.
Isabel and Diane waited at the base of the stairway while Rachel escorted Gloria down from her room, and as soon as she reached the floor, both women gave her a warm and heartfelt hug.
While this was going on, Rachel turned to Tish, who had volunteered to with the children. “You have my cell number as well as the other emergency numbers?”
“Yes. It’s all right on the refrigerator door.”
“Good. Now you understand that they aren’t to leave the house for any reason whatsoever?”
“Yes. I understand.”
“Great,,,” Rachel said as she went into the front room and kissed her children goodbye. Moments later she was outside, where Isabel was holding the rear door for her mothers. Soon Rachel was settled in the shotgun seat while Isabel drove them to the funeral parlor.
Charles looked at Phillip’s uniform. “Frack sake Phillip. You’ve been holding out on us.”
Phillip held up the arm of his black dress jacket and looked at the sleeve. It was adorned with the gold star of a line officer centered above a narrow then wide stripe that wrapped around his sleeve, the mark of a Navy Lieutenant, junior grade. “Just a little something I did to put myself through law school.”
“Little, hugh?” Charles replied sarcastically, looking at Charles’ chest instead of his sleeve. “I’m going to have Juanita order a couple more special bottles and you’re going to tell me about that little adventure sometime.”
“Meanwhile, Jesse felt oddly uncomfortable in Phillip’s presence. Last night at the house he had been able to adjust, after several beers, to the fact that he was a lawyer, but an officer too? A Navy officer at that? And looking at his ribbons, it was almost too much for his simple Marine mind to comprehend.
Jesse continued to stare at the ribbon centered on the top of Phillip’s ribbon rack when Jim slid over. “I don’t recognize some of his ribbons.”
“Well that’s to be expected,” Jim said softly. “Combat arms is a young guys specialty, so most of the troopers you meet are probably too young to have spent enough years in combat to rack up a chest full of ribbons.”
“What are they?”
“Well lets see, the predominantly yellow ribbon with red and green, that’s a Viet Nam service ribbon. Two star means he served two tours. Blue and white, UN service medal. Purple heart with two stars, two combat injuries. The red and yellow as well as the white and green ribbons are for Republic of Vietnam awards, a couple of others I don’t know, they’re probably specific to the Navy,,,”
“Wait a minute,” Jesse interrupted. “Two stars indicates a double award?”
“That’s right.”
“Then what’s the wide white stripe in the middle of the ribbon?”
“You don’t recognize that?” Jim asked in amazement. Your father picked up on it the moment Phillip saw him.”
“I thought it was a purple heart.”
“No,,,” Jim drawled softly. “That, my good Marine, is a Navy Cross. The highest award the Navy can give for valor.” (A.N.: The next highest decoration can be awarded only by an act of Congress.)
“Frack me,,,” Jesse mumbled.
“You’ve heard of the Brown Water Navy?”
“The small boat operators in Viet Nam?”
“Yea, he was one of them. Deep in the Mekong delta, two PBR’s (Patrol Boat, River) stumbled into an ambush. Then they made about the biggest mistake they could have make under the circumstances, they gave up the advantage of being mobile and stopped to duke it out with a superior enemy. Within moments one boat was shot up pretty bad while the other boat was a flaming hulk, many of the men forced into the water.
“Ensign Whitman was in command of the only other boat in the area close enough to effect a rescue. He went in after them under overwhelming fire and with no hope of assistance. When his Boatswain’s Mate was hit, he took over the con and kept the boat moving. Despite the fact that he was totally exposed in the firelight, he went back a total of three times, not leaving the area until he had recovered every man. Dead, injured, or still fighting, every single of them came home. Now what do Marines say? Never leave a buddy behind?”
“Fracking A,” Jesse muttered under his breath. “He must have been a real operator in his day,,,”
“Still is,” Jim retorted proudly. “I’ve seen him in action. You don’t ever want to cross him or anyone that he considers to be family.” Knowing a little of the history of the Whitman boys he leaned in close and lowered his breath. “If he ever thought you would hurt Isabel, or for that matter Alex, he’d drop you like a dirty rubber.”
Reflecting on his still sore knee Jesse rebutted, “That girl doesn’t need her Daddy to watch out for her, she can take care of herself. In fact she’d make a good Marine,” which was about the highest complement he could make about anybody.
**********
Chief Montoya was cursing the inventor of the necktie as he headed back to his office for his Class A jacket when he noticed that the door to the utility room where the departments server was open. Looking inside he found the last person on the face of the planet that he expected to see at the station. “Whitman! What the frack are you doing here? Your brother’s funeral is in less than an hour.
“Oh hi Chief,” Alex replied, turning off the monitor and standing. “I have had several of the systems that have already been installed locally pinging the Albuquerque server and each other over the internet, and I got an error message that our firewall needed an adjustment. I couldn’t get the adjustment to take from home, so I just stopped in for a moment to take care of it,,,”
“You shouldn’t have done that,” the Chief said in a more reasonable tone of voice. “It could have waited.”
“No it couldn’t have,” Alex replied reasonably. “We’re still bringing the entire system live on Monday, and I need to have confidence that the network is secure,,,”
“No one would blame you if you postponed,,,”
“A commitment’s a commitment, Chief,” Alex explained patiently. “Aries is a small company, but we’re running with some of the big dogs. It’s important to me, to everyone, that we show we can be counted on to follow through on what we say we’re going to do.”
“No one who knows you will ever doubt your commitment, Alex,” the Chief said, looking at his watch. “But you’d better get home. Your family must be getting ready to leave. And if I know Isabel,,,”
“Say no more Chief.”
**********
High over the New Mexico Desert:
“~~Slingshot One, Roswell Tower, Flight of five Vipers. We’ll be conducting training operations five miles (8 km) off the departure end of runway Three.~~” (Authors note: Although the Air Force’s F-16 is officially designated as the Fighting Falcon, pilots have taken to calling the aircraft Vipers, and themselves Viper Pilots. This nickname is in honor of the Colonial Viper of Battlestar Galactica fame.)
“~~Roger Slingshot One, we have been briefed of your operations. Runway Three is closed and we have instituted the flight exclusion zone as requested. Notify Roswell Tower upon departure.~~”
“~~Gentlemen, systems check.~~”
“~~Five-by-five Skipper.~~”
“~~Three.~~”
“~~Four had a slight flutter in secondary hydraulics, but is fine now.~~”
“~~Slingshot Five?~~”
“~~Good to go.~~”
“~~Slingshot Four, R.T.B. (return to base) Slingshot Five, take position Four~~”
Slingshot One watched through his bubble canopy as the change of aircraft occurred before continuing. “~~The goal today is absolute perfection. Tighten up, stay sharp, and prepare to turn on my mark.~~”
**********
Charles and the rest of the bearers lined up about ten feet from the back of the hearse, for while their best efforts were sufficient at the funeral parlor and during the Funeral Mass, they could not be expected to have the time to learn, let alone the presence of mind to perform, the intricacies of a proper military graveside service. An honor guard from the Five Twenty-Second took their place at the back of the hearse.
Stepping up onto the platform around the grave, the honor guard gently lowered their precious burden and made several minute adjustments, making sure the casket was positioned precisely on the heavy nylon straps of the platform. As the honor guard finished their task and stood at attention, the Officer in Charge stepped forward to insure that the flag was perfectly stretched and leveled, precisely centered over the casket. Completing this task, they stood to attention as the Chaplain began the graveside service.
“Let us pray;
The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want.
He maketh me to lie down in green pastures.
He leadeth me beside the still waters.
He restoreth my soul.
He leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for His name’s sake.
Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil;
for thou art with me, thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.
Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies.
Thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life;
and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord for ever.
(The Twenty-Third Psalm)
After a moments silence the Chaplain continued;
“Oh, I have slipped the surly bonds of earth
And danced the skies on laughter-silvered wings;
Sunward I’ve climbed, and joined the tumbling mirth
Of sun-split clouds — and done a hundred things
You have not dreamed of —
wheeled and soared and swung
High in the sunlit silence. Hov’ring there,
I’ve chased the shouting wind along, and flung
My eager craft through footless halls of air.
Up, up the long delirious burning blue
I’ve topped the windswept heights with easy grace
Where never lark, nor even eagle flew.
And, while with silent, lifting mind I’ve trod
The high untrespassed sanctity of space,
Put out my hand, and touched the face of God.
(High Flight. John Gillespie Magee, Jr.)
“Lord God, whose days are without end and whose mercies beyond counting, keep us mindful that life is short and the hour of death unknown. Let your Spirit guide our days on earth in the ways of holiness and justice, that we may serve you
in union with the whole Church, sure in faith, strong in hope, perfected in love. And when our earthly journey is ended,
lead us rejoicing into your kingdom, where you live for ever and ever.”
“Amen.”
The Chaplain made a sign of the Cross, blessing the casket, and the family beyond. “May the peace of God, which is beyond all understanding, keep our hearts and minds in the knowledge and love of God and of his Son, our Lord Jesus Christ.”
“Amen.”
As the Chaplain stepped back the Officer in Charge took his place at the head of the assemblage. ‘Ten-hut!” he commanded softly.
The first of the three rifle volleys caught Gloria by surprise. She flinched so violently that she almost came up from her chair. She squeezed her eyes shut, and braced for the other two volleys, yet even forewarned, she flinched for those as well.
At the staccato crack of the second volley, Isabel clutched her husband’s hand tighter, but he did not notice. Alex was never more thankful for the depth of their connection, for he was depending on the love of his life to keep him going. He had been looking forward to his brother’s visit at Christmas, to show Isabel off. He truly wished that they had met under better circumstances, but he could feel Isabel’s respect for his brother, and he believed that Robert approved as well.
As the echoes of the third volley faded from the distant hills, the sharp sound of a military bugler playing taps. This was a turning point for Charles. This made it real. He had heard this dirge too many times to think otherwise. His son was dead, and would never be home again.
“~~Slingshot One, Two minutes,~~” the watcher whispered into his radio.
As the last note of the bugle faded the well rehearsed honor guard bent as one, grasping the sides of the flag that shielded their fallen comrade. As they stood, the flag snapped flat as they ritualistically folded the flag along it’s length, first in half, then again. As the quartered flag hovered, white gloves caressed it’s edges, insuring that the folds were sharp and straight. Then, starting at the foot of the casket, the honor guard folded the flag into it’s characteristic tight triangle, ending with eight stars showing on both the top and bottom. The Airman at the upper right took the folded flag, tucking it’s end under the edge of the top triangle before turning and presenting it to the Officer in Charge.
Knowledgeable that some military traditions dictate that once folded, a memorial flag never be unfolded, the young Captain inspected the flag, making sure that it was perfect and worthy of presentation to their fallen comrade’s loved ones. As he turned and marched towards the Chaplain, he discretely slipped three spent cartridges, emblematic of the three rifle volleys, into the top fold of the flag. He presented the flag to the Chaplain, and then his duty done, led the honor guard away from the burial site, leaving the lieutenant who had flown out from Maryland behind, who would remain on station until the internment was complete.
The Chaplain took the flag from the Officer in Charge, placing one gloved hand over the folded flag and his other hand under it. With the weight of the world on his shoulders, He turned and resolutely marched to the seated family.
“~~Execute!~~”
The Chaplain stopped in front of the seated family, directly in front of Gloria, in accordance with the wish that Charles had expressed earlier. With the straight edge of the flag facing the family he slowly dropped to one knee, presenting the flag to Gloria. “On behalf of the President of the United States, The Department of the Air Force, and a grateful nation, we offer this flag for the faithful and dedicated service of Lieutenant Robert Whitman. God Bless you and this family, and may God Bless the United States of America.”
**********
In downtown Roswell windows shook and traffic stopped as the shadows of four Vipers flying in a perfect Fingers-Four formation screamed down the length of Route 380. Seconds later they were over the cemetery where Slingshot Three broke formation and rocketed towards the heavens on zone-five afterburner. He carried with him the soul of a warrior, delivering him to his well earned rest while the thunder of his jet exhaust let one and all know, ‘There be Heroes Here’.
End Chapter
Please follow the link to a video of the Missing Man formation, filmed during former President Gerald Ford’s services. I am sure you will find it as moving as I do,
Authors note: One night while I slept, just ten miles (16 km) away from my house, the beltway sniper and his accomplice were captured by a contingent of Washington and Frederick County Deputies, the Maryland State Police, and the FBI. I am proud to say that the State of Maryland was gracious in allowing the Commonwealth of Virginia to try him first. (Virginia has the death penalty, Maryland does not.) He now sits in a cell, convicted and sentenced to die, awaiting his fate.
Photo links:
New Link:
21 ship Missing Man formation
http://youtube.com/watch?v=3M9BPE0DAlE& ... ed&search=
Charles’ AUG-A1
http://i76.photobucket.com/albums/j22/S ... AUG-A1.jpg
Firefighter Alex Taylor, Alex’s rescuer when he was shot at the Kettle’s
http://i76.photobucket.com/albums/j22/S ... Taylor.jpg
Isabel’s Floating Heart, a gift from Alex after Prom
http://www.kheigl.com/cgi-bin/view.cgi? ... t/kh34.jpg
Courtesy Khegil.com
Isabel’s Earrings, Alex’s present for her Eighteenth birthday.
http://i76.photobucket.com/albums/j22/S ... arings.jpg
Isabel’s Engagement Ring
http://i76.photobucket.com/albums/j22/S ... sring2.jpg
My completed stories:
The Seekers, I&A with angst
http://www.majiksfanfic.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?t=282
Alex C Whitman SSAIC, (Supervising Special Agent in Charge) I&A with uber-angst
http://www.majiksfanfic.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?t=488
The Seekers, I&A with angst
http://www.majiksfanfic.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?t=282
Alex C Whitman SSAIC, (Supervising Special Agent in Charge) I&A with uber-angst
http://www.majiksfanfic.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?t=488