Chapter Chapter Twenty-Two: Wake-Up Calls

“I thought it was girls who took a long time!” Sharon whispered as she joined Imogene, Javier and Milania across the street from Cullen’s apartment complex. She carried a military-style backpack and was dressed in a black tank top, cargo pants and combat boots.

“Don’t tell me you went home,” Imogene said.

“What?!” Sharon shot back. “And risk a sequel to the Bloodhound Chronicles? No way! Shaking Dad once is enough; I can die happy knowing I accomplished the near-impossible.”

“In his defense, he was a little distraught,” Imogene said.

“You want to throw any more rain on my parade?” Sharon jested, but she noticed that Imogene did not return her smile. She instead looked at the apartment building. Sharon huffed and looked at her new watch. “What is taking this boy so long?”

“Will you calm down?” Imogene said as she turned and placed her back against the wall of the building they were using for cover. “It’s not everyday you say goodbye to your life.”

“Is that what you think we’ve done, Genie?” Sharon asked, very surprised to hear the tone in her best friend’s voice. “You think we’ve said goodbye to our lives?”

“C’mon, Sharon! Are you trying to tell me you’re not going to miss waking your father up at the crack of dawn so you guys can go play war games? How about the next season of soccer? Or growing up around your friends?” Genie jumped when Sharon’s hand slapped her hard across the face. She put her hand to the place she was struck and fought against the tears already forming in her eyes. There was no way anyone could have measured the amount of shock registering on Imogene’s face.

“

!” Sharon thought as she kept her eyes locked on her best friend’s. “

”

“Now that was to wake you up and get you out of blonde mode!” Sharon hissed. “I cannot believe you! The freakin’ universe opens up for you, hands you Dorothy’s shoes, and you want me to join in your pity party? Suck down some ‘woe is me’ tea and nibble on angst muffins?

“News flash, Genie!” Sharon said, taking a firm grip of Imogene’s arm; the girl jumped, not knowing if she was going to be struck again. “The line about the world not being perfect is a load of bull! It’s just fine! You, me, any of us go away, and the world will still be here! What isn’t perfect is , Genie! We’re not perfect and we’re not fair. So don’t you dare start looking to anyone or anything else trying to find something to blame! You want closure in the blame game, find a mirror!

“Now you’ve been given this chance to study abroad, but you want to take home with you. That’s not going to happen!”

“Study abroad?” Imogene said, refusing to whisper. “You call this studying abroad, Sharon?”

“Keep it down,” Sharon insisted.

“No!” Imogene yelled. “I will not k-” Sharon kicked out and knocked Imogene’s feet from under her. Javier and Milania looked on, not knowing what to do or say. The girls wrestled, but it was clear Sharon had the advantage at prone fighting. She quickly got to Imogene’s back and put her into a tight arm lock and choke hold.

“

,” Sharon assessed. “

!

?”

“Okay, Genie,” Sharon whispered, locking her legs around Imogene’s waist. “I was wondering if this was going to happen. Shoulda known with Mr. Diva taking all night, you’d have nothing but time on your hands, and eventually the world would shrink down to you.”

Imogene gasped for air and Sharon let her have enough to breathe. The loosening cued a burst of energy from Imogene who pulled harder at Sharon’s grip, but she was not strong enough to break the girl’s hold.

“

,” Imogene thought. “

-”

“No,” Nollie answered flatly. “Even if you knew how, I wouldn’t let you use any power against Sharon. And why does the thought of leaving without this Cullen hurt you so?”

“

!” Imogene argued.

“Doesn’t it?” Nollie pressed.

“Genie!” Sharon whispered, shaking her friend. “Baby, there is no endgame to doubt and indecision. The stronger we get, the more we learn how to doubt ourselves. You try something for the first time, you’ve got first-timer’s shakes. You succeed and try again, well then you’ve got to worry if you can do it as well as you did the last time.

“You’re scared and you have every right to that fear. Right now you’re thinking Why did I get this? Who am I to glow in the dark and talk to energy-people? What gives me the cojones to talk to Vey and her tribe and tell them what’s what?’ But face it, girl. Don’t call it something else and hide behind that. This isn’t about me or Cullen or anyone.

are scared!” Sharon said as she released her friend. Imogene began to weep. “And you’d be a fool not to be!”

“I’m not strong like you,” Imogene said in a garbled voice and Sharon wrapped her arms around her again, only this time she ran her fingers through Imogene’s hair and caressed her friend’s shoulders.

“I can see we’re going to argue that for the rest of our lives,” she chuckled. “You’re the strongest person I know. But you don’t have to stay there twenty-four, seven!”

“I don’t? Sure feels that way.”

“I know,” Sharon whispered, fighting back tears of her own. “But when you want to take a step down, you tap your Sharon. I’ll do the dance while you take a pit stop.”

Milania looked up at her brother who sat just behind her. But he did not look back at his little sister; he was too engrossed in what he was witnessing. Milania’s smile grew much brighter as she leaned back on her brother and watched the two girls sit up in the alley. As they did, Javier gave them their privacy and resumed his watch.

“We, uh…” Imogene said as she wiped her eyes with her shirt. “We’re just going to just… uhm, forget this, right?”

“Can’t forget what never happened, Genie,” Sharon smiled.

“I am so going to lose it when you get shaky,” Imogene admitted.

“Well then, I won’t get shaky.”

“You see, that’s why I don’t like you!” Imogene said.

“What?!”

“You’re a Spock, man! You play second fiddle, but everyone likes you more!” Sharon put her face in her hands to keep her laughing muffled.

“You’re certifiable!” Sharon giggled.

“Hey, here he comes,” Javier said. Imogene wiped her eyes even harder and then ran her hands through her hair. Sharon’s eyes flared wide as she witnessed the immediate change.

“

,” Sharon thought, shaking her head.

“He’s not alone,” Javier added.

“What?!” Sharon said as she took a look. “You have got to be kidding me!”

Cullen ran up, toting his duffle bag and leading his dog across the street and into the yard where the others were waiting. The bright-eyed Golden Retriever female kept up with her master and bolted forward the moment she saw more things to smell. Cullen kept a strong grip on the leash as he smiled at the others.

“Okay, I’m ready,” he said and Sharon could smell the body spray. It also became clear that he had showered, washed his hair and changed clothes.

“Did you let the conditioner stay in for five minutes before you rinsed?” Sharon asked.

“What?” Cullen asked.

“Never mind her,” Imogene said quickly. “She gets cranky when she’s hungry.”

“Funny how I wasn’t hungry three hours ago,” Sharon muttered as she got up. Milania covered her mouth as she laughed.

“Oh, I brought you guys some fruit,” Cullen said, taking a plastic bag out of the duffle. Sharon caught sight of his hands and noticed the barbecue sauce that remained under his fingernails.

“Yeah, good lookin’ out,” she said, taking an apple before tossing it to Milania.

“This is Rosebud,” Cullen said, gesturing to the dog.

“She’s beautiful!” Imogene said, dropping down to her knees to reach out for the dog. She received a low growl in response. Cullen pulled the dog back as she started to show teeth.

“She sometimes gets like that around new people,” Cullen explained. “But once you get to know her, you’ll love her!”

“The dog?” Sharon asked. “You’re bringing the dog?!”

“Sure, why not?” Cullen asked, but Sharon was not in the mood to deliver an answer. She picked up her backpack and started walking. Javier was quick to join her, pulling his sister with him.

“Can you believe that?” Sharon said softly. “You see, this is why people don’t like Americans! Presumptuous little prima donnas, the lot of us.”

“Well, I think she’s cute,” Milania said in defense.

“That’s not the point, Lani,” Sharon replied. “Nobody’s asked Rannis if he’s cool with dogs. We don’t know if bringing that thing could set off an epidemic of allergies, or nothing! You just can’t go around assuming what’s cool with you is cool with everybody else.”

“Did you think about that when you slapped Genie?” Milania asked. Javier gave an extra squeeze of his little sister’s hand as Sharon looked down on her.

“It’s cool, Javier,” Sharon smiled, surprising both of them. “No, I didn’t. Guess that makes me an American, huh?”

“Nobody’s perfect,” Milania answered and Sharon laughed.

“Did I mess up or something?” Cullen asked Imogene as they walked behind the other three.

“No, not really,” Imogene smiled. “Sharon’s just a little inside the box when it comes to plans. It’s great when we go shopping. She keeps me from making too many impulse buys.”

“She also likes being in charge,” Cullen said.

“Well, she’s good at it,” Imogene shrugged her shoulders as she spoke. “She’s the captain of the soccer team, and she usually plans the beach parties. I mean, she doesn’t fall over herself taking the lead, but if no one else is making a decision, look out!”

“Come to think of it, she did plan the beach party we met at,” Cullen recalled. “That was a good time. I mean, up to a point.”

Imogene giggled. “Yeah, up to that. So you remember the fight?”

“I remember watching you own that wave!” Cullen said with a big smile. “… and then Sharon and Gordon on the beach, and then… nothing… everything goes black after that.”

“Wow!” Imogene sighed, reeling at what Wilma had done to so many minds and at the time, making it seem so easy.

“Yeah, that’s what I said. You were sick on that wave, Genie. Sorry for ever implying you couldn’t bring it.”

“Hey, we’ve both seen our fair share of wannabes,” Imogene said quickly. “You never know what you have until they show you something.”

“You showed me plenty,” Cullen replied and Imogene looked into his brown eyes. Her mouth opened, but nothing came out, and she tried her best to turn the stammering into a soft laugh. She faced forward and kept walking.

“Excuse me, but are we walking to this dimension?” Cullen asked and Sharon stopped. “I mean, is the doorway out to sea?”

“We’re just going to make sure we don’t make too much of a mess here when we leave,” Sharon said.

“We’re trying to be…” Milania collapsed to the ground. Sharon saw a small dart on the left side of the young girl’s neck.

“Milania!” Javier yelled before he too fell.

Sharon dove toward Imogene, throwing her bag just past Imogene’s right shoulder. The top of the bag caught a dart as Sharon could hear something hiss behind the back of her head. Imogene was still looking around when Cullen fell. She was immediately tackled to the ground by Sharon. Imogene looked at her best friend and smiled.

“You almost pulled it…” Imogene lost consciousness.

∞∞ ∞∞

Samantha Vey considered all the ways she could have his smile removed, permanently, from his incredibly attractive face. She despised the way he smiled at her, forcing her to smile back. But Miguel was perhaps the best Physical Therapist she could get. She closed her eyes and silently thanked Makeen for his range of contacts. She more deeply wished his back felt worse than her leg.

“Five more,” Miguel said and her eyes shot open.

Samantha jumped when her internal operations line rang. Maybe the lead of her personal security team had developed a psychic connection with her and wanted to know if he could kill Miguel now.

“This is Vey. Go for network.”

“This is the network and I have a priority call coming from Laboratory Seventeen,” the computer voice alerted her.

“Receive… ow! Watch it Miguel!” she warned and Miguel surprised her with a look that let her know he was not frightened of her.

“You want these head-turners of yours to work right, don’t you?” he shot back very quickly. “I don’t know how you broke one of them, but hey, you did the crime, now you have to pay the time. Six more!”

“

!” she thought. “

.”

“Receive call,” Samantha said through gritted teeth.

“I hope I am not intruding,” Dr. Putzkammer said as he cleared his throat. Samantha could tell from the tone in his voice he was agitated. While she toyed with the notion of saying he had indeed intruded and quickly disconnecting the line, she knew she could only keep berating him for so long before things would come to a sticky end.

“What can I do for you, Doctor?” Samantha said.

“I was wondering if you are done with my code key,” Heinrich answered. “I know this is your business, but I am going to need that code key before I go to Denver.”

“Network,” Samantha said, grabbing Miguel’s shoulder sternly to get his attention. “Verify the facility where the Putzkammer code key was last used.

“Put the cast back on now!” she commanded, but Miguel was already into the action before she could give the order.

“The Putzkammer code key was last used to secure the security door at the Newport-News Facility, Sub-Level Three.”

“But you told me you were in Sacramento!” Heinrich exclaimed.

“Network, mute Putzkammer,” Samantha commanded as she grabbed her robe. She swung her feet over and tried to stand. But the pain that shot through her body made it lock; only Miguel’s presence prevented her from falling. Samantha quickly wrapped an arm around his shoulders and he walked her over to the partition. “What is the timestamp on that application?”

“Twenty-two hundred, forty-four hours, local time,” the computer responded.

“

,” Samantha thought as she quickly donned her clothes. Heinrich’s flight to Denver was not until nine in the morning. “

!”

“Network, alert Makeen and initiate a system-wide lockdown alert with passage exceptions listed as myself, Makeen and Akondalatti.”

“Acknowledged,” the computer voice replied as subtle flashing lights went off over every door.

“I need a line with the security exceptions,” Samantha said as she hopped around from the partition. Miguel had her cane but she waved it off. “Your legs are faster than mine,” she said as she jumped toward Miguel, wrapping her arms around his neck. Miguel caught her and easily carried her to the elevator.

“This is your Goddess,” Princess answered and Samantha was happy she had caught the young woman in a good mood.

“Makeen here,” her Security Chief announced himself.

“Guys, with Solomon in custody, this sort of thing should not be happening,” Samantha said. “We’ve got someone impersonating me to get Heinrich’s code key and they just hit the Newport-News facility. Makeen, what did we have on Sub-Level Three?”

“The Mark Five,” Makeen quickly answered and Samantha’s eyes slowly closed. She put her face in Miguel’s chest as he hit the elevator call button. He knew she wanted to go down to Makeen.

“Well, the Mark Five to be there,” Princess said and Samantha’s grip on Miguel’s clothing tightened.

“You did try to brace for it,” Miguel said softly and Samantha patted him on the shoulder.

“The Mark Five is online and active, moving like a bat out of hell,” Princess reported. “Due east and already out of broadcast range. We can track it, but we cannot issue override commands.”

“Someone needs to tell me what I did to deserve this week!” Samantha sighed.

“Mistress,” Makeen said in a very strong voice. “I just received a communiqué from the clean-up team we dispatched.”

“

?” Samantha thought.

“They have the Schultz girl!” he reported. “She has been sedated and her body retrieved, but the team is on the run.”

“On the run?” Samantha asked. “From what?”

“Sharon Thaxton,” Makeen reported.

“What is the status of Alpha and Beta Teams?” Samantha asked.

“Beta Team is still out of action,” Makeen said and Samantha could hear him hitting keys on his desk. “Boronovich of Alpha Team is responding.”

“Beats a blank,” Samantha concluded.

“I will try coordinating a rendezvous,” Makeen continued. “But the speed of the chase is not making it easy.”

“Do what you can, Makeen,” Vey replied, accepting that the clean up team was trained to do exactly that, clean up. There were six of them and they carried only light weapons and armor. From what Samantha had read on the Thaxtons, she did not like her team’s chances.

“

!” she thought as the elevator doors opened. Miguel stepped out and turned toward the security office. Samantha tapped his shoulder again and he stopped.

“No need to keep running, Miguel,” she explained. “But I appreciate the lift.

“And despite what my eyes might have been saying, thank you,” Vey said with a slight nod of the head as she took her cane.

“Hey, when I get that look, I know I’m doing my job,” Miguel answered. “I will see you tomorrow.” He waved as he walked off and Samantha feigned a smile.

“I can hardly wait,” she said through gritted teeth. She turned and started walking with her cane. “I am going to fire Makeen and kill Miguel, and in that order! Then I can re-hire Makeen without him feeling guilty for having one of his contacts die on his watch.”

“

,” she considered. “

.” Samantha stopped just in front of Makeen’s door and looked down. “

.”

Makeen was just closing one of his screens when she opened the door. “Thanks to Princess, I have managed to locate the particular mode of travel being used. The Mark Five is on a plane bound for London. It is a commercial flight, but the airline is exclusive, charging upwards of $5,000 per seat.”

“The plane explains the speed,” Samantha commented.

“I decided not to exercise any manipulative resources we have with the United States Navy, since we know when and where they are going to land. I can have a reception waiting at Heathrow an hour before the plane touches down.”

“Glad you’re on my side, Makeen,” Samantha said, taking his chair. “How’s your back?”

“I considered killing Miguel too,” Makeen said as he punched up a map of the area in San Diego where the chase was taking place. The computer then brought up an icon to represent the vehicle the clean-up team was driving. Apparently the police had not yet been invited to this little party.

“Eighty-nine miles per hour?” Samantha said. “Have you advised the clean-up team that if they harm Imogene Schultz, coming in will only make their deaths painless?”

“They seem confident in their ability to maintain possession of the girl until they reach Boronovich,” Makeen reported.

“Makeen, I’ve been in contact with Pel’Tierre,” Samantha said softly and Makeen closed his eyes. His head dropped as he leaned over on his work table. “And I think it might be time to do more than just talk to them. I’ll understand if you wish to remain outside of that.”

“They cannot be trusted,” Makeen whispered.

“I’ve got a revolving door where a portcullis used to be, Afzal!” Samantha said as she stood up. “And believe it or not, that is not a reflection of your ability. We’re running out of options, but we’re chock full of enemies here! Now I am going to ask you to park your attitude and maintain your watch over Optimum and me, and help me get through this. I think we could use an ally that actually brings something to the table.”

“My opinion of them is moot,” Makeen said as he stood up.

“Hardly,” Samantha disagreed.

“In all fairness, my ability to ‘maintain my watch’ has always been bested by your vision, Mistress.” Makeen said as he turned to face her. “I will take your instincts over my most confirmed thoughts! One does not come away from the Shard unchanged.

“If we are going to do this, you will need to establish leverage up front,” Makeen calculated. “I will need to be updated on your talks with them.” Samantha smiled brightly as she limped toward the door.

“They’ll be on your desk within the hour,” she said.

“And my plan on how to proceed will be on yours an hour after that,” Makeen replied. “Provided our position does not change.”

“Why are we both planning on the clean-up team to fail?” Samantha asked. Makeen’s eyes were all that she cared to receive as an answer, sparing him the need to attempt any meaningful explanations. She resumed her trip to her office. Makeen did not bother to tell her he had already ordered Boronovich to abandon the rendezvous plan and try to intercept the clean-up team.