Stargazer Gets the Girl
Chapter 25-J All Good Things
By Stargazer MD
“Do I know you?” Justin Renner asked as he looked at the supposed student standing in the door to his classroom.
“Ummm,,, No,” Michael replied honestly. “But Isabel Evans and Liz Parker both recommended you,,,”
“Recommended me?” Mr. Renner stuttered in confusion. “What for?”
“I have an equation from a book I picked up at the city library and I don’t think I entered the variables correctly,” Michael explained as he placed a sheet of paper covered with carefully drawn out figures on the teachers desk.
The algebra instructor was momentarily perplexed at why an unknown student would be bugging him during his free period, at least until he took a good look at the problem. “This isn’t algebra,” he commented with rising interest, “This is calculus, and a rather advanced problem at that. What book was it in?”
“A civil engineering manual,” Michael commented offhandedly while pointing to the middle of the page. “This is where I think the problem is.”
“What is this value represent?”
“Road surface thickness.”
“And this?”
“Material weight per cubic foot.”
The instructor mulled this over for a moment. “Yes! These two variables are transposed,,,”
Michael snatched the paper from in front of the teacher and then started furiously scribbling for several minutes. Satisfied with the results, he folded the paper and stuffed it into his pocket. “Thanks, that looks a doable,” he said over his shoulder as he headed for the door.
“Wait! That’s a college level problem. How were you able to solve it?”
“I just read the book. Start at the front, keep reading until you run out of pages, it isn’t all that hard,” Michael explained patiently as he paused at the door, exhibiting far more courtesy than he was used to.
“But what class are you in? You should be taking one of my advanced classes,,,”
“Can’t,” Michael rebutted as he ran out of patience. “I’m practical tracked. The school says I’m not academically qualified to take courses like yours; besides, I don’t have the time. I’m carrying a full class load for the rest of the year so I can graduate with my girlfriend.”
“Not academically qualified,” the instructor mumbled at the now empty doorway. “If your not, who is?”
**********
Isabel and Maria took their paper plates from the window of the Taco Shack and headed for one of the far tables. Despite their loyalty for the food at the Crashdown, both women occasionally gave in to their cravings for hot spicy Mexican food that just wasn’t available at an establishment that catered to the tamer tongued tourist trade. Settling at the table farthest from the parking lot, which just happened to be the table farthest away from any of the other patrons, they dug into their food.
“Your work has been exceptional so far,” Isabel commented glowingly. “Alex agrees that you will get first crack an any outsourcing that we may have in the future.”
“That’s good to hear, I’m going to need all the help I can get with college cost, let alone with my share of an apartment in Albuquerque,” Maria replied happily, not so much at the prospect of continued employment, but more-so at the fact that praise from Isabel was hard won and rare, increasing it’s value ten-fold. “,,,And have you ever seen Michael eat?”
Isabel giggled. “Yes I have, in fact you should have seen him with a table full of Mom’s ‘pre-awareness’ cooking. Michael would sit there trying to strike a balance between eating the recipe-of-the-day versus the very real prospect that it would be a while before he got his next meal,,,”
“What’d he do?”
Noticing that Maria, not for the first time, scratched at the back of her scalp, Isabel was momentarily distracted. “He would ask Mom for something to drink, and while she was in the kitchen he would fill his plate and then cover his food with Tabasco, Worchester, Hot Sauce, or whatever new condiment we were trying out before she came back,,,”
“And your Dad never said anything?”
“No,,, For one thing he was used to seeing us do the same thing, and for another thing he was just adventure-adverse enough that he usually just took a small portion of Mom’s cooking before sneaking out to get something else before one of his many ‘meetings,,,’ What is it with your hair?”
“Michael gave me space lice,” Maria answered fearfully.
“Michael did not give you space lice,” Isabel snapped as she moved to the opposite side of the table, close to her friend. “For one thing there is no such thing as space lice, and for another thing if you had space lice they would be all through your hair, not just in that one spot,,,”
“How do you know there’s no such thing as space lice?,,” Maria rebutted as Isabel dug through her hair.
“I know,,,” Isabel rebutted coldly.
“Oh yea, just how do you know,,,”
“Who’s the alien here,,,”
“With the exception of your space-sluttyness, and I mean that with all the love in my heart, you’re just like me,,, born right here in Roswell,,,”
“Hatched, and Maideckenzie Rock isn’t in the city limits, it’s in Chavez County,,,”
I mean you didn’t even know where you came from until just a little while ago, and you come from this impossibly small section of space, just thirty-nine square degrees,,, you didn’t know about other aliens from your own planetary cluster, about Courtney, until she showed up,,, that slut,,,”
Isabel was impressed with her friends understanding of celestial navigation, but she wasn’t going to give an inch. “And now you’re comparing me to Courtney?,,”
“And when I’m talking about Courtney I don’t mean slut in a good way,,, ‘I’ve been a hottie for fifty years,,,’ Maria quoted the short-termed waitress in a sing-song voice before continuing her rant, “She’s probably single handedly gave the entire human race space herpes and space lice,,,”
“You have a tuft of hair missing on the side of your scalp,,,”
“Seriously?,, No way!”
“Seriously! It looks like it got pulled out. What happened?”
“I don’t know, nothing’s happened,,,”
“What do you mean you don’t know?” Isabel put her finger over Maria’s lips, silencing her for a moment. “Did you take your head off and leave it anywhere,,, no?,, Then you should know what happened to your hair,,,”
“That rat-bastard Michael, he must have done it,,,”
“How could Michael have done it?,,”
“When I get my hands on him,,,, You want to come with and watch?”
“No, I’ve got to get home and change for my meeting tonight,,,”
“Yea, that’s tonight?,,” Maria gasped, leaning forward on her crossed arms, once again scaring Isabel with just how fast her mind could change gears. “Going to wear your power suit and get all lawyered up?”
“Nope. I’m going for the vulnerable and innocent look,,,”
“You,,,” Maria gasped in amazement. “You don’t do vulnerable,,, I don’t think you’ve even been vulnerable, and you haven’t been innocent since you got your fingernails into Alex’s back,,,”
“Be that as it may,” Isabel countered, feeling just a little sting at the fact that her friend had never been able to see past her walls at just how vulnerable she once was, “It’s going to be a white blouse and plaid jumper night,,, not entirely Catholic School girl slutty,,, but more school girl than business woman,,,”
“I’d like to see that,,,”
“Stay up late tonight and you just may get to do so,” Isabel replied cryptically.
**********
Jim Cavanah was quite pleased with himself as he leaned forward and turned his monitor off. Already tasting the cold beer that awaited him at home, he grabbed his briefcase, threw his coat over his arm, and locked his office behind him. “The great Isabel Evans,” he cajoled as he made his way down the back corridor towards the rear parking lot, ‘I didn’t even have to threaten her, she just gave up,’ he continued silently. ‘Sure I had to give her some crumbs, but that will be worth it to get her and her freakish boyfriend out of my school for the rest of the year without a fight.’ “It was almost as if she had given up in advance,” he declared happily. “Guess she knows who rules the school.”
He never saw the lights from the TV truck in the front of the school as he headed for home.
**********
“No,” Diane stated softly but emphatically as she put a restraining hand on Phillip’s. “She said she’d call us if she needed help.”
Phillip sighed in frustration as he watched through the windshield of his Lexus. Minutes later the spotlights turned off and Isabel hurried over to the back of the car and climbed in.
“Phillip turned in his seat to look at his daughter while Diane asked, “Everything go as planned?”
“Yea,” Isabel replied, taking no joy in a nevertheless necessary move. “Checkmate.”
**********
Lucinda watched as the three-point field goal sailed in, nothing but net. In her exuberance she elbowed Ava in the side. “Kyle’s an animal today, I haven’t seen him play like this since JV. (Junior Varsity, usually the first two years for high school sports teams) And I didn’t hear one word about his Buddha Buddy on the bus. What’s gotten into him?”
“Actually it’s what he’s not getting into,” Ava teased back.
“Hugh?”
“Lets just say that he’s on a diet,,,”
“No,,,”
“Yea. I noticed that he vacillates between being an aggressive jock and a great thinker depending on how long since he’s gotten some, and since I want us to make it to State, he’s not getting any,,,”
“You better watch out, he’s always had a wandering eye. Besides, he can always make a fist,,,”
Ava didn’t think so, knowing how powerful a mind warp she had applied. “Nope, he’s tried the best, he don’t want the rest,,,” She didn’t see a need to add that since Kyle came home from a road game with a crotch full of crabs that he wouldn’t be getting any more play from her. In fact as soon as school was out she was going to blow this one-busted-ass-spaceship town.
“You are so bad,,,” Lucinda taunted, but having watched Kyle just score again while managing to get Carlsbad’s clutch player to commit his fifth foul against him, she wasn’t so sure.
**********
~~“,,,Now I have been told that you are one of the leaders in your class,”~~ Nicole Bradly of Eye Witness News Four probed.
~~“Yes I am, or rather I was,”~~ Isabel replied modestly. ~~”My class ranking was third, behind my brother Maxwell Evans and his girlfriend Elizabeth Parker, but this is not an issue about my class standing, it is an issue about my being a woman. It is about the fact that women have periods. That we have cramps. That we need to take simple over the counter medications like Pamprin. Pamprin contains aspirin, a mild diuretic, and a mild muscle relaxer. It doesn’t even contain caffeine, yet the school store does not sell over the counter period relief medications, nor does the school nurse dispense over the counter period relief medications. The sports teams can be given a number of pain medications, but we girls need to help each other out when we get caught unprepared.”~~
~~“About that, isn’t it the position of the school that girls should be prepared?”~~
~~“Be prepared? Why? Are we going back to the dark ages where our having our period was some vestige of Eve’s original sin? Are we going back to the days where we were unclean? Mister Cavanah suspended me because I gave a friend who was having her period a Pamprin. Should she have been sent home? Is that what he wants, that girls having their period go back to the days of a week’s confinement?,,”~~
~~“I understand that tonight’s meeting was to resolve your suspension?”~~
~~“Yes it was.”~~
~~“And what happened?”~~
~~“Faced with the prospect of expulsion,,,”~~
~~“Over a Pamprin?”~~ the reporter gasped in amazement, loosing all sense of objectivity. Her news director had sent her over to get the story about Isabel’s suspension. There had been no mention of an honor student being expelled.
~~“Yes, Mister Cavanah left me with no choice,”~~ Isabel said with a catch in her voice, the bright lights reflecting off a single tear that left a glistening trail down her otherwise perfect cheek. ~~“If I stay in school he promised to begin expulsion proceedings against me, as well as seek criminal charges,,,”~~
~~“Oh My God,,, Surely you will fight this?”~~
Isabel hid her satisfaction with just how well her interview was playing out. ~~“No, I can’t take that chance with college, with my future. Mister Cavanah,”~~ she continued, carefully laying all of the blame on the Vice Principal and leaving out any reference to the rest of the school staff as well as the school board. ~~“Promised that if I dropped any claim to class standing and withdrew from school effective the day of my suspension that I could apply for my diploma after graduation,,,”~~
~~“All because you friend got her period,,,”~~
~~“All because of the fact that women get periods, that we need Pamprin, and the fact that Vice Principal Cavanah,,,”~~
**********
At the end of the game Kyle and Lucinda both found themselves alone with time to kill. Several hours later, deep within her belly, two cells merged to become one, later splitting back into two, thus ending Kyle’s dreams of college and pro baseball. Instead he was now fated to a life spent working at Pete’s Lift Off to support his new family; but he wouldn’t know that for a couple of months yet.
**********
Mrs. Shaffer had seen enough and turned off her TV before turning out the light and rolling onto her side. “Three years,” she muttered as she punched up her pillow. “Three years I’ve been documenting every racist and sexist comment, his running interference for the sports teams, all of which led to naught, but Isabel Evans killed him in less than a week,,,”
‘Oh he wasn’t dead, but his career was,’ she thought. Years spent courting the members of the school board behind the scenes would be washed away in the cold light of Nicole’s camera. ‘Isabel had made the perfect choice to speak to Nicole Bradley.’ She had met the reporter several times while having dinner at Ellen Leigh’s and had found her to be deeply involved in woman’s issues.
**********
Phillip ignored the news story following his daughter’s performance, turning instead to give his critique. “You were imprecise Princess. He prevented you from going to school? You know enjoined would have been a much better choice of words,,,”
Isabel pulled her hair tight around her face. With her best pout and her little girl voice she replied, “I’m sorry Daddy. I’m just a poor little school girl who doesn’t know about big words like that. All I want is to make it so that the bad Mister Cavanah won’t pick on us anymore.”
“Do you think Joe-Six-Pack knows what enjoined means?” Diane interjected.
“Well I’ll tell you this,” Phillip cajoled as he caught onto his daughters plan. “I’d hate to be responsible for answering the phones at the school tomorrow,,,”
“Or at the School District Offices or at City Hall,” Isabel added with an evil grin.
**********
As the sports scores wound up the Eye Witness Four camera turned back to Nicole Bradley. ~~“Sounds like it was a good night for the Comets, led by Kyle Valenti, and it also looks like it’s going to be a good night for Isabel Evans, the West Roswell High School senior who was the subject of our lead story this evening. We have received a call from Judge Lewis about that story. As many of you know, Judge Lewis is the Mayor of our fine city, but what many of you may not know is that under the City Charter the Mayor is automatically the head of the School Board,,,”
Nicole paused as a sheet of paper was handed to her. “The following is from a faxed news release from Judge Lewis, Mayor of Roswell and Chair of the School Board.
~~“I would like to assure you that Vice Principal Cavanah has acted without authority in the matter of Isabel Evans. This young lady is known to me, and I can think of no greater example of the quality of our youth today. I assure you that I will be in contact Miss Evans in the morning, and I will make it clear to her that any negative action towards her will be vacated immediately.”~~
Nicole read only the passages highlighted by her editor. This was as much to cut out some of the self-serving election year banter of the judge as to shorten it’s length to a twenty second news bite, but the outcome was the same, devastating to the Vice-Principal. ~~“I can not be so reassuring with Vice Principal Cavanah future as he is currently under investigation by the Roswell Sheriff’s Department with charges pending for providing alcohol to various high school sports teams.
~~“Effective immediately, Vice Principal Cavanah is being placed on unpaid leave pending a disciplinary hearing. During that hearing he will be given a fair chance to defend himself, just prior to his employment being terminated.
~~“Miss Leigh, the current Guidance Councilor at West Roswell High, will fill his position, until a permanent replacement can be found,,,”~~
Isabel missed the last story of the late-night news. Instead she was snuggled tight to Alex’s side, doing things to his poor body in her realm that would be impossible in the daytime, or at least she thought they were impossible, she wouldn’t know for sure until she tried.
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
Re: Gazer Gets the Girl, A&I -Mature- Part 25-I 16 Nov
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
Re: Gazer Gets the Girl, A&I -Mature- Part 25-J 29 Jan
b]Stargazer Gets the Girl
Chapter 25-K All Good Things[/b]
By Stargazer MD
“So that’s what you want, a PT Cruiser?” Isabel asked levelly as she drew the collar of the shirt that Alex had been wearing yesterday across her lower face so she could drink in his scent.
“Yea,” Alex answered nervously as he brought up a picture of an electric blue car that defied easy description. “It’s not really a car, but it’s not a truck or van either. It’s got retro styling, but with the rear seats removed I could have carried Leprino’s entire shipment of laptops in one load,,,”
“I heard the Cruiser was underpowered.”
By now Alex was familiar with Isabel’s remarkable breadth of knowledge, but he was nevertheless impressed. He never figured that she would be ‘up’ on cars. “The stock Cruiser does have that reputation, though it’s really not that bad. A lot of people look at it and think ‘Hot Rod,’ and it clearly isn’t, but since we would use it for a lot of long highway trips, often with a load in the back, the new turbo version would be a welcome improvement,,,”
“It looks good,,,”
“A little bit hot, a little bit nerdy, and it’s a perfect fit for what we need. I really like it,” Alex sighed. “Too bad I can’t have it,,,”
“Why the frack not!” Isabel exclaimed.
“It’s just coming out now,,,” Alex explained.
“So?,,”
“You can only get it new,,,”
Isabel spun his chair so he was facing her and then with her hands on the chair’s arms, leaned down, “I like the idea of buying two-year-olds, someone else takes the initial hit on depreciation, but if this is the car we need, or more importantly if it’s the car you want, I’ll get it for you,,,”
“But Mom’s lease is up on her Focus. She has to return it to the dealership on Friday. There’s no way we can get one that fast,,,”
“Shouldn’t be a problem,” Isabel instructed; then seeing he was still skeptical, she continued. “Let’s face it, we’re not going to get anything by Friday. If we try we’ll be limited to whatever poor choices we could find on a lot. Instead I’ll research the dealerships in Albuquerque, pick one, and order exactly what you want, and it will come in when it comes in. Besides, Mom’s (Gloria) driving Pop’s car while he’s in Warner Robins (Air Logistics Center, Robins Air Force Base, Houston County Georgia) so she doesn’t need the Volvo back until she and my mom drive both cars to Ft. Belvoir (Fairfax County, Virginia) After that we’ve got by with just one car before, we will again, and if we have to I’ll get you a rental,,,”
“Sounds expensive,,,”
“Sweetie, you let me worry about that. You work your ass off, and as a result we have more money than any two kids our age have a right to expect. If this is what you want, this is what you’re going to get.” Isabel stood with a smile that turned pensive as she bit her lower lip. “Want to watch me take my shower?”
“Izzy, you know that if I watch you take your shower we’ll be late for school,,,”
“News flash Lover,” Isabel teased as she inched open her top revealing a tantalizing triangle of flesh from her neck to her waist. “We don’t have school.”
Alex’s eyes feasted on the snowy white skin of her inner breasts, revealed right up to a delicate pink spots where her nipples were barely covered, imagining how they would taste. With a shudder he dragged his eyes back to hers, “You’re killing me. We don’t have school, but we do have rules. No nookie under the parental’s roofs,,,”
“Sweetie, your parents won’t be back from Kirtland (Air Force Base, Albuquerque, NM) until this afternoon, besides rules are made to be broken,,,” Isabel said softly popping the bottommost button on his shirt, exposing her golden curls.
I can’t do that,,,”
“I can!”
“I can’t let you do that,” he groaned. Our moms have too much respect for you and your dad already wants to bury me in a shallow grave for defiling you, hell Pops hates me even more for the same reason,,,”
“He does not,,,”
“He does! Remember that ‘talk’ when your dad threatened to castrate me with a pair of hedge clippers?”
“Yea.”
“I heard Pops has a standing offer of a hundred bucks and a bottle of Jack Daniels if he’d do it again and let him watch,,,”
“Daddy thinks you defiled me?,, And you believe this?” Isabel chuckled. “If you think what we’ve done up to now constitutes defilement,,, you ain’t seen nothing yet,,,”
Alex may have had a lot of respect for Isabel and their parents, but he was only human, and an eighteen year old male at that. His willpower was fading fast, but before he could act Isabel stormed across the room and snatched his cell from the bureau top before leaning into his closet and grabbing a small gym bag. She tossed him the bag and then punched the speed dial. “Pack a change of clothes and your trunks for the hot tub. We’re taking the morning off.”
“Who are you calling?” Alex asked as he nevertheless scrambled to do her bidding.
“I’m calling the Comfort. (Inn) It’s a weekday and Ernesto should have at least one room prepared to my standards.”
**********
Meanwhile across town Maria found Max and Liz waiting in the Chevelle with her Jetta nowhere in sight. As she walked towards their car her mouth was opening and closing like a fish out of water. “Where’s Mom’s car?”
“Michael call and asked me to pick you up,” Max mumbled without meeting her eyes.
“That rat bastard,” Maria swore. “That car is the key to my keeping the peace with Mom, and if she knew half the things that have happened to it,,,”
“He said he had to bring something to school that he couldn’t bring on his bike and that your car would be waiting for you in the parking lot,,,”
“He’s got no right,,,”
“No he doesn’t,” Liz interjected. “But Michael’s Michael,,,”
Meanwhile Michael carefully entered Mr. Cowan’s room carrying a three foot long (91 cm) piece of rigid Styrofoam insulation supporting what appeared to be a bridge.
“Mister Guerin,” Mister Cowan exclaimed as he leapt from his chair to help.
“No! Don’t touch it,” Michael commanded. “You’ll break it, it’s unbelievably fragile.”
Moments later Michael’s art project was safely on a table at the back of the room while Mr. Cowen bent down to examine the details. “What’s it made of?” he asked as he reached to touch one of the towers of the suspension bridge.
Michael reached out and gently stopped his teacher before he could make contact. “The towers are made of a half sheet of printer paper rolled and glued. Each pair will only withstand about a half pound (1/4 kilo) of static force but any amount of dynamic force off their vertical axis will cause them to fail,,,” Michael leaned back and took a deep breath. “I spent a lot of time researching bridges and then trying to find materials for the model that would approximate the real thing.”
Seeing Mr. Cowen’s brows raised in question Michael explained. While this was unheard of for him his yearly grade not to mention his admission to college was at risk.
“Anyone could build a model utilizing packaging twine and fishing line, totally overbuilt to scale. I wanted to build something more challenging. What got me thinking this way was a show on the History Channel about the Mackinac Strait Bridge (linking the Upper and Lower Peninsulas of Michigan) and the fact that ninety-seven percent of it’s weight bearing ability is consumed by it’s own mass. Then when you subtract wind loading as well as snow and ice build-up, there isn’t much capacity left for cars and trucks,,,”
“Yet those cars and trucks are why we build bridges,” Mr. Cowen concluded. “But tell me, If the Mackinac bridge is barely functional at thirty eight hundred feet, (1158m) how do you explain the Pearl Bridge?”
Michael smiled, he knew his stuff. “The Akashi-Kaikyo bridge in Japan is a little over two-thirds longer than the Mackinac bridge, but it is also forty years newer which allowed for a lot of advancement in materials and design.”
“So tell me about what you used.”
“The main cables are made out of yarn. (Lopi, made of natural wool) Although the yarn will not break it will stretch if it’s overloaded causing the deck to fail. The deck itself is made of dried sugar water reinforced with fiberglass window screening,,,”
“Which is a pretty good approximation for reinforced concrete.”
“Yeah.”
“The deck is supported by girders made of angel hair pasta, with rim girders of fettuccine.”
“What are suspension cables made of, they seem to glisten.”
“That's the most expensive part of the model. They’re strands of my girlfriends hair.”
“Maria’s?”
“Yea, she'll kill me if she ever finds out.”
“She doesn't know?”
“Well I guess it doesn't matter she's going to kill me soon or later anyways. So, ready to break it?”
“Break it? You just brought it in.”
“It's made of sugar water and dried pasta. It's not designed to last more than a day you two. Besides I want to see how accurate my calculations are.” Michael reached to the back of the Styrofoam platform and grabbed several wooden dowels that were taped there. “If I'm correct it will support two dowels, a third will crack the road deck, and six will bring the towers down.”
Michael carefully inserted one dowel between the towers and gently lowered it onto the road deck. Nothing happened, but as he placed the second rod the road deck audibly cracked. “Frack!” Michael muttered as moments later the road deck split in half along it’s length, the only thing keeping it rods from falling to the Styrofoam below was the fiberglass screening that reinforced the broken deck.
“Keep going,” Mr. Cowen commanded as he bent down and stared intently as Michael slowly guided the third rod between the two towers. The bridge held this one, but as he applied the next, the road deck sagged towards the eastern side. He thought it was going to stay there, but after a shudder the main cable attaching the north-east tower parted. Next the unsupported tower folded, and with the loss of support the north end of the deck fell until it hit the ground. With the north end down, the south end of the road deck rose up into the air, shuddered, and then also fell.
“Frack!,,”
“Extraordinary!,,”
“Extraordinary? Did you see what I did? It broke,,,”
“No Michael, it failed,,,”
“What’s the difference?’’
“Vandals break things, engineers experience failures,,,”
“So what’s so extraordinary about my bre,,, failure?”
“I don’t think you understand, everything failed,,,”
“Wonderful,,,”
“Yes,,,”
“How?”
“You designed every component so it was just as strong as it had to be, and as light as it could possibly be,,,”
“It failed earlier than I wanted it to,,,”
“I expected it to,,,”
“Great,,,”
“The best model can only approximate the real thing Michael, it’s a limitation of scale. The deck you built has no flexibility, while your main cables had too much. It’s not your fault, it’s the nature of a model, but the real problem was with your suspension cables. You had no practical means of adjusting them. Now, do you want to know just how your bridge failed?”
“Yes,” Michael answered tersely.
“First, lets look at the loading. On a real bridge the weight is distributed evenly by the very nature of the cars and trucks that cross the bridge. As the road deck changes elevation due to weather or if it undulates in the wind, the load follows the changing contours. You couldn’t do that, not with a solid rod the length of the bridge. By the very nature the rod concentrated all of it’s weight on just two high spots, and as those two spots failed, the next two high spots picked up the load.”
Michael bit back a retort, while he usually would usually attack anyone who aimed the least bit of criticism at him, he had growing admiration for this teacher, and with that came the realization that constructive criticism used as a teaching tool could be a good thing. With this thought in mind, he did something he never could have done before he opened himself to Maria. “I had trouble with the suspension cables,” he admitted in a soto voice.
“I suspect that you did,” Mr. Cowen admitted. “You did a fantastic job considering what you had to work with.”
Michael started to think he was getting smoke blown up his ass until he was asked, “Do you want to know why I say that?”
“Yea,,,”
“A real cable on a bridge can be hundreds of feet long, yet it’s length can be set to within inches. That way the tension on every single cable can be set to the engineer’s specifications. You can’t do that with a model, especially since you’re working with a single strand of hair. No matter how careful you are, some of those hairs are going to be tighter than others, and those tight strands are going to fail first,,,”
“How do you know all this?” Michael challenged.
“I wasn’t always an art teacher, it’s not what my degree is in,,,”
“What is it?”
“Engineering,,,”
“So how did you end up here?”
“It’s a long story.”
“I got nowhere to be.”
“Okay, when I was about your age I was getting ready for college. I was pretty good at art, pen and ink and charcoal mostly, in fact I got a partial scholarship to UNM. Our class trip that year was to New York City for a week, Midtown Manhattan. The Portland Hotel. It was a small place, the rooms were tiny, they had the most uncomfortable beds I’ve ever slept in, but it’s just two blocks from Time’s Square, and if you’re in New York for only one week, how much time are you going to spend in your room,,,”
“So who spends time in bed, right?”
“I fell in love with the buildings. I skipped out on the museum tours we were scheduled for, and started sketching.” He pointed towards a drawing on his wall.
“What is it?” Michael asked bluntly.
“It’s a gargoyle from the Chrysler building at Forty-Second Street and Lexington Avenue,,,”
“From that trip?”
“Yea. I sketched the Empire State, the World Trade, cast iron storefronts in SOHO, I came home with my future decided. I was going to be an architect,,,”
“So what happened?”
Mr. Cowen took a moment to compose his answer. “Do you know how many signature buildings actually get built? Two or three a decade, maybe five at the most. And those projects go to the most famous of architects. The rest of us, them, we get to design the plumbing, or the clips that hold on the glass skins, or maybe the electrical distribution system.
“I couldn’t see myself spending the next ten years, possibly the rest of my life, specifying the marble to be used for the vanity tops in the women’s power rooms. With this,” he said, holding up a pencil, “I can build any building I want. I can build a castle on a mountain top, I can build a hotel in space,,,”
“And me?”
“You can be an engineer,,,”
“Seriously?,,”
“Why not, you’re a natural,,,”
“I never thought,,,”
“Think about it Michael. You’re worried about how you’ll support Maria? An engineer can make a good living. Think about it hard.”
**********
Later that evening Alex and Isabel sat at the table with her parents for a rare quiet dinner. It may have been a sign of just how rare an occasion this had become was the fact that Diane had made Phillips favorite dinner, stuffed pork chops. As he started cutting into his second one he looked at his daughter with a twinkle in his eye. “What are your plans for the week, Princess?”
“Meetings and more meetings. We’re flying out tomorrow afternoon for Texas Memorial in Amarillo, from there to Leprino’s headquarters in Denver on Thursday, and a quick flight down to Pangborn in Alamogordo on Friday,,,”
“Three meetings in three states in three days?” Phillip stated disbelievingly. “Sounds like a lot, even for you,,,”
“At the time I had to scramble to take advantage of our time out of school while we were suspended,,,”
“I’m not looking forward to sitting next to her on that nine-seater on the flight to Pangborn’s,,,” Alex teased.
“Why not? Air New Mexico’s new Cessna Grand Caravans have a more powerful Pratt and Whitney PT6A-114A turboshaft engine producing six hundred seventy-five shaft horse power and a glass cockpit,,, What, you didn’t think I’d get on another plane without knowing everything about it, did you?”
“You seem to be getting over your fear of flying,,,”
“It’s not so much my fear of flying as my fear of landing. Remember, on our trip to Boston I was oh for one. Now I’m twelve for thirteen.”
“But don’t you have to stop by the school?,,” Diane started to ask before getting cut off by a smug Phillip.
“I think Isabel’s got something to say about their going back to school,” Phillip admitted with a smile. “Don’t you Iz?”
“What, that they’re not going back to school?” Diane interrupted. “She still needs to pick up her grades for the AP classes she took. She’s going to need them for UNM.”
Phillip looked shocked that he wasn’t the first to have divined his daughter’s plan.
“You do realize they’re moving,,,”
Phillip was suddenly struck with just how fast she was growing up, and hung onto the fact that he still had a couple of months before he had to give her away. “In June,,,”
“Daddy, we’re both registered for the spring semester,” Isabel said tentatively. “We start classes a week from Monday. We decided to start there once our time here was up,,,”
“How are you,,, how many days a week are you going to have class?,, It’s a four hour drive,,,” Phillip stammered.
“We’re not going to commute Daddy,” Isabel said softly. “We’re still going to be spending some time here,,, but for the most part we’re going to be living in Albuquerque,,,”
Alex braced himself. He had been fearing this conversation almost as much as Isabel, but while she didn’t want to hurt her father, he didn’t want to get hurt himself. He just knew that the day he showed up to take Isabel away, Phillip would drag him out to the garage and castrate him. Maybe,,, just maybe, if he kept quiet, he could survive the meal and be able to sneak out to his meeting at the Sierra Fire station tonight.
“Well,” Phillip sighed, “I guess your Mom and I’ll have a place to stay after the next Bar (attorney’s) meeting in Albuquerque,,,”
“Thank you Daddy,” Isabel cried out as she jumped out of her chair and hugged him. “I was so scared,,,”
“Well, it’s time to let you go,,,”
“You’ll never have to let me go Daddy, I’ll always be your little girl.”
The reunion was interrupted with a strident knock on the back door. Before anyone could move to answer, Gloria swept into the room. “Change of plans!” she announced in her usual no-holds-bared tone.
“What?” Diane gasped as she headed to the cabinet for wine glasses.
“I was really looking forward to going back to being a military wife. Do you know that behind ever successful officer there is a successful wife who is working as hard on his career as he is? We live on base in a semi-closed community with a single sense of purpose. The O-Club, (officers) the officer’s wives groups, the PTA, junior officer’s wives to mentor, the NCO’s (non-commissioned officers [sergeants]) families to watch over and support,” Gloria waxed wishfully. “Not going to happen.”
“What went wrong?”
“The only housing Sandy could find for us on such short notice was a townhouse in Springfield, north of the mixing bowl,,,”
“What’s the mixing bowl?”
“It’s one of the worst intersections in the country, and they’re ripping it up to make it worse. Even though it’s only a fifteen mile drive to the base, it would take an hour each way. So with being so far from the base and with Charles spending all of his time in the air I’d have nothing to do. I’d end up dusting knick-knacks and collecting cats,,,”
“Mom, you hate cats,,,”
“I know, so I’m staying home. Besides, I have a new project,,,”
“What’s that?”
“Harry’s new squadron’s already has their pre-deployment warning, so as soon as he gets home from Aviano, (Aviano Air Base, Northern Italy) he’s going right back to the Middle East. Rachel and the kids have to move out of Edwards (Edwards AFB, Los Angeles County, California) within thirty days of his transfer to Kirtland, and since they don’t know anybody in Albuquerque, they’re coming here.”
“Hey!” Isabel protested. “I’m looking forward to living near Rachel and the kids.”
“Sorry Isabel,” Gloria stated without an ounce of regret in their voice. “Meme overrules Auntie every time.”
**********
Isabel sat in the corner of her booth, looking out over the various activities going on in her daytime realm. Her brother was sitting at the counter watching Liz’s every move, a situation that reminded her of the simpler times before the shooting. The only difference was that Liz was now an active participant in this little game, as every time she passed by him she paused and whispered promises in his ear.
“So what’s with Gidget and Moondoggy over there?” Maria asked as she slid a special stir fry in front of her friend. “Seems like the more things change the more they stay the same.”
“Well, something’s changed,” Isabel replied. “I think things are getting to the point where Liz is going to have to break down and follow through on one of her promises to Max. She doesn’t seem to be able to shock him anymore, and as a matter of fact I think it’s been a while since I’ve seen her able to get him to blush.” As she said this she glanced over at Alex, who was sitting at a table by the door with Steve and Vicky, along with Lucinda and her project of the week. Alex was telling them about the music scene at the University of New Mexico, but it was plain for all to see that he was having no luck convincing his new friends that Albuquerque was going to be the next Seattle.
“She’s going to have to start?” Maria gasped in amazement as she leaned into the booth for a moments gossip. “Man, are you out of the loop,,,”
“If this is about the two of them,” Isabel warned while holding up her hand. “I don’t want to know.”
“All I’m going to say is that Friday night the Chevelle was parked out in the alley, and when I took out the trash, I had a hard time figuring out where Liz ended and Max started,,,”
“Ewww, ewww, ewww,” Isabel complained, closing her eyes while bending her head down and covering her ears.
“One thing I got to say though, great asses seem to run in your family.” Figuring that she had pushed her friend about as far as prudent for any one encounter, Maria headed for the kitchen.
“Hey Maria,” Isabel called out to the departing waitress.
Maria turned impatiently, but seeing the expression on Isabel’s face, knew that what was going to be said was for her ears only. She returned to the booth.
“Thanks for the visual of my brother’s ass,” Isabel said, her sarcasm matched only by the lack of volume in her retort. “So as far as that whole ‘Barbie and Ken’ dreamwalk thing goes, we’re even.”
“Oh no we’re not,” Maria rebutted with an evil voice. “We’re not even close. I haven’t completely paid you back yet for the ‘I Dream of Genie’ incident”
As the kitchen door closed behind Maria, the front door opened as Brody entered the cafe. He walked right past several empty spots in Maria’s section and stopped by Isabel’s booth. “May I?” he asked, indicating the empty bench.
Isabel nodded and Brody settled down. “My Lady,” he said softly.
“Brody?” Isabel replied in shock.
“Larek, I need to speak to you privately.”
“Lets go back to your office,” Isabel replied, reaching for her bag.
Once she was sure that they were alone in Brody’s private office at the UFO Center she leaned back against one of his workstations. “Okay, what’s up?”
“The Council of Regents has commanded me to set up a meeting with you. There have been,” he paused for a moment, searching for the right word, “‘Developments,’ on Antar that you need to be apprised of.”
“What developments?” Isabel demanded, clearly agitated that just as her current life was falling in line her past life was threatening to frack it up, again. “And how am I supposed to meet with the Council?”
“All will be answered, three days hence. Five PM here, in my office.”
“No!” Isabel snapped. “Now!”
“Vilandra,” Larek answered softly. “I am only here in fulfillment of a command. I do not have the answers you seek.”
Isabel figured that if Larek thought of her with Vilandra’s temper it would work in her favor, so she let it slip. “Please advise the Council of Regents that the Royal Four look forward to meeting with them on Saturday at five,” Isabel replied diplomatically. “Myself and the Keeper of the Granolith will be on a plane for the rest of this week and we regret the delay.”
“As you wish,” Larek replied subserviently. “And my Lady, Rath and Lonnie must be present as well.”
“That is unfortunate. Michael will never consent to allow Rath or Lonnie into the city where we may not be able to control them with the necessary discretion. Instruct the Council that we will meet at the Pod Chamber, not here.”
“By your command.”
**********
~~“Warning!!! VHF radio transmission detected. Frequency analysis indicates presence of Santa Fe County law enforcement equipment approximately six miles (10 km) ahead. Reduce speed immediately!!!”~~
Isabel looked at her Granolith enhanced radar detector. In addition to the ability to detect K-band, Ka-band and the older X-band as well as police LIDAR (laser) at unbelievable distances, it also monitored the police communications frequencies to track the locations of police vehicles in order to keep it’s charges safe. Seeing a clear display she checked her speed and then looked back out the windshield, straining to see anything in the distance. “Confirm.”
~~“Confirmed. Second transmission indicates transmitter is moving in your direction. At your current speed and closure rate you will enter maximum detection range in one minute and thirty seven seconds. Reduce speed immediately!!!”
Isabel took her foot off the gas, allowing the Volvo to cross below the hundred mile per hour (160 kph) threshold, coasting down to a more reasonable speed. “I’m in the middle of the desert in the middle of the night, and all I want to do is get back to Roswell, I don’t need this crap.”
~~“You will only be in Santa Fe county for another ten minutes. After that if the roadways remain empty you may resume your nominal cruising speed.”~~
“Resume monitoring, and notify me when I am one half hour from home.”
**********
At precisely 1201z (7:01 am local time) Lieutenant Colonel Charles Whitman, United States Air Force, personal troubleshooter for Defense Logistics Agency Director Vice Admiral Keith Lippert, marched into building 1602 of Robins Air Force Base, the office of DRMO (Defense Reutilization and Marketing Office) Warner Robins. He stopped in front of the first desk he came to, the only desk occupied at such an early hour. “Bubba Smith, please.”
The young man behind the desk dropped a handful of papers onto his desk before replying, “Bubba is usually scheduled from eight to four-thirty. He usually gets here at eight,,,”
Charles picked up the phone and placed it in front of the young man. “Call him.”
“Can I help you,,, Colonel?” a new arrival asked.
“Bubba Smith?”
“The one and only,” the man replied cheerfully, reaching for Charles’ hand. “Bubba Smith, my parents were bayou folks, they thought Bubba was a proper name,” he added with a shrug. “Have you come down to unconstipate us,,, begging the Colonel’s pardon.”
“Maybe. I need to see the ‘Plains of a Thousand Rains’.”
“It’s more swamp than plains this time of year Sir,,,”
“That’s okay, I left my garrison uniform back at the barracks,” Charles cajoled while pointing to his boots. “I’m dressed to work,,, and don’t call me sir. You’re a civilian and I work for a living.”
“Could have fooled me, I don’t see any stripes on that uniform.” Seeing a smile in response to his professional jive Bubba continued, “Come on Colonel, I have my truck out front,,,”
“Charles,,,”
“Semper Fi, Sir. That’s not going to happen.” (Translation: “I am an ex-Marine. I am incapable of calling an officer by his first name.”)
After a fifteen minute drive they had passed through a locked gate and entered a large fenced in enclosure with black shrink-wrapped pallets of military property that covered several acres of near swampland. As they watched a crew of two men cut several tattered scraps of plastic from a pallet several rows away and efficiently over-wrapped it with fresh stretch wrap.
“How much time do you spend just trying to keep this trash dry?”
“Two men, full time,,,”
“There’s a war coming Bubba, we need them elsewhere,,,”
“There’s over a hundred million dollars of property out there Colonel, and it’s my responsibility to keep it from getting into any worst condition until we get a chance to refurbish it,,,”
“Refurbished? Morse code practice set, J?38 variant. (NSN: 6940?99?219?2848, an ‘assigned’ designation as this property pre-dates the current identification system.) They were functionally obsolete fifty years ago, yet we still have twenty seven of them in inventory.” (Actually DRMO Warner Robins only had twenty five of them with an additional two cartons marked ‘Space Keeper - Empty Box.’ When this property was sent for destruction the discrepancy was found. The official finding was that the original packing list for the pallet showed that twenty five sets had been received from the manufacturer, and that during an inventory taken in the late eighties the count had been changed to twenty seven. The investigation concluded that an unknown clerk had looked at the shrink wrapped pallet, counted three boxes wide, three high, and three deep, and assumed that there were twenty seven sets.)
“They’re the exception to the rule Colonel, most of the property here is current,,,”
“Then lets try something a little more current Bubba, Prick?77’s. (A rather crude but widespread nickname for the AN/PRC?77 radio telephone, man portable, NSN: 5820?01?930?3725.) You have five thousand one hundred and eighty four of them, and every one of them has been flagged as inexpedient to repair,,,”
Bubba was a little disconcerted at the depth of this visitors knowledge, but he had survived many of these ‘site visits.’ The Colonel was scheduled for a two week visit. Soon he would be gone and then they could get back to their comfortable existence. “Even if those trainers are fifty years old, they are still classified DEMIL-D. (demilitarization required, total destruction) If you want to get rid of them we’re going to have to find ‘em, dig ‘em out, drag them down to headquarters, and prepare a challenge against their classification. Maybe we can get them changed to DEMIL-A, (no demilitarization required) DEMIL-B (no demilitarization required, but Trade Security Controls required at disposition) or maybe the best we can get is DEMIL-C (demilitarization required, key point or lethal part removal or destruction required) because of the training manuals, but at any rate, we have a process to follow,,,”
“Or we can send it all to Maryland,,,”
“Maryland?,,”
Options Upload attachment Disable BBCode Dis“Yes, Maryland. Why waste time on a challenge for property that’s going to be destroyed anyways? We have a forty-one-sixty (DoD 4160.21?M?1 Defense Materials Disposition) contractor that can take anything you can send them,,,”
“A civilian contractor?,,”
“They have contracts within the intelligence community, and as a result they can handle DEMIL-A through D property as well as DEMIL-P (security classified) and Q (demilitarization not required, CCL [Commerce Control List] property) that your Service can’t accept, and utilizing a civilian contractor frees you,,, all of us, to look forward instead of backwards,,,”
able smilies Do not “Listen Colonel, I know A-76 (privatization of services) is popular right now, but this property is valuable. Take your Prick?77’s for example, I bet at least half of them still have a battery in them and that’s hazardous waste. (Actually federal law classifies spent batteries as universal waste, but Maryland doesn’t have a universal waste statute, so we were forced to go through the expense of manifesting them as hazardous waste.)
“Radio’s are shipped with batteries in them every day, you know that’s not an issue,,,”
“Some of those batteries have never been used, we need to,,,”
“Don’t say it Bubba!” Colonel Whitman ordered. “Don’t say that you’re going to recover those batteries,,,”
“Colonel! Those batteries are worth more than a hundred dollars each,,,”
“Bubba. Let me start over again. My name is Lieutenant Colonel Charles Whitman. I am Admiral Lippert’s personal errand boy slash motivator slash ass kicker. Do you want to know why Keith picked me Bubba? Oh,,, Have you ever known anyone who calls an Admiral by his first name Bubba? Now you do.
“Keith picked me because he has to get this Service ready for war, and he knows that I’m motivated to help him. He knows this because I just buried my son, Air Force Lieutenant Robert Whitman, and two of my other sons are getting ready to go into harm’s way.” Charles took a step forward, invading Bubba’s personal space and continuing in a low menacing voice. “If you think I’m sending my sons, or anyone else’s loved ones, into combat with a battery that’s been sitting in a junkyard for ten years, you’ve got another thing coming,,,”
One of Charles personal philosophies was that the only difference between a prick and an asshole was that a prick knew what he was talking about, and a successful prick knew when he had got his point across. One look at Bubba’s face told him that it was time to back off.
“No Colonel,” Bubba rebutted softly. “We’re certainly not going to be doing that. Just tell us what you need and you’ll get it.”
“Thank you,” Charles said with an equally softened voice. “Battle Creek (Michigan, DRMS headquarters) is going to send you two task orders per week, one for Monday, one for Thursday. Each task order will be for two truckloads pf property. Start at the front of this pile and work your way to the back. Build a manifest for twenty four pallets per truck, ship them to Maryland, and don’t look back.
“Listen, I know you all take pride in your jobs, and believe me, we are going to place demands on you that are going to have you working harder than you’ve ever worked before. But those demands are going to involve moving forward and supporting our troops.”
“You can count on us Colonel. Consider our asses kicked ,,,”
Charles chuckled at this. “Oh no Bubba. You’ve been receiving coaching and counseling. If I’d been kicking your ass you’d know it. You’d be missing about ten pounds of ass and this office would be missing a number of employees.” Charles turned and looked at his watch as he started back to the truck. “Then my job here’s done. If I’m lucky I can get up to Tobyhanna (Tobyhanna Army Depot, Pennsylvania) before nightfall,,,”
“You’re done here Sir? I thought you were going to be here for two weeks?”
“No need. I have a feeling you’re going to become my own personal ass kicker down here; so, what do you think Bubba, do you think I’ll be able to get a good look at the real lay of the land there if I show up a week early?”
“With all due respect Sir, I’m willing to bet that the Colonel will see whatever-the-hell he wants to see.”
**********
Morning came to Roswell several hours later finding an unlikely pair sitting in the vacant parking lot of the Taco Shack munching on crullers and coffee from the bakery in Dexter.
“So what’s so important you had to drag me out of bed at such an ungodly hour?”
“You’re always up at this hour.”
“Not if I’m not getting paid I don’t.”
“Alex beat me at Jeopardy,,,”
“You got me out of bed an hour early because Alex beat you at Jeopardy,,, wait,,, I’ve seen you get perfect scores. That has to be what, a hundred thousand dollars?”
Isabel happily bought into this distraction. “The maximum possible score is five hundred sixty-six thousand, four hundred dollars, but that is only a mathematical total,,,”
“How the frack could he beat you? You shout out the questions before Alex Trebek is able to read the first word of the answer,,,”
“While it may be possible to get all sixty one answers correct the resulting score would depend on where and when the Double Jeopardy answers are found. In order to get to the mathematical maximum the Double Jeopardy answers would have to be found in the least valuable row as well as the thirtieth, fifty-ninth and sixtieth answer. Since that’s impossible,,,”
“Between your Czechoslovakian eyesight and your Czechoslovakian recall,,,”
“Maria, you’re babbling again.”
Maria had only seen Isabel this upset a couple of times, so she let the babbling comment pass. “Okay, I’ll be quiet.”
“He played with my hair,,,”
“He played with your hair? Every time I’ve watched the two of you watch TV he’s brushing your hair,,,”
“Not that hair,,,”
“Oh,” Maria replied with a smirk as she figured out how Alex had overcome her, ,, abilities. “So he brought out the slut in you, and I mean that in a kind and loving way, but he turned on your mo-jo, and that’s why you denied me my beauty sleep?” Watching her friend take a deep breath and gather he composure, she stayed silent, waiting for it,,,
“We had a fight,” Isabel admitted offhandedly as if it were of no consequence. “Actually we had two, and we’re probably going to have a third,,,”
“I knew you were going to frack him to death,,,”
“I’m not going to frack him to death. It’s got nothing to do with that; besides, he’s rather enjoying my wide range of seductions,,,”
“Seduction,” Maria replied gleefully, getting into the zinging contest with a close friend who would not take it personal. “It’s not seduction if you tie him up and zap his prostate in order to get him to perform.”
“I don’t need to tie him up to get him to perform, he’s an eighteen year old guy. Once he got over the fact that he wasn’t going to hurt me, he’s become quite,,, willing,,, accomplished in fact,,,”
“Okay, enough of that. I don’t want to have to bleach out my ears. So if you’re not fighting over the goodies, what are you fighting about?”
“Computers,,,”
“Computers? You fought over computers? Don’t you have like fifty of them?”
“We do. In Albuquerque. We only have eight left here, the eight that I was going to install this morning at the Community Center’s new after school computer lab. Last night he stole them,,,”
“Stole them, aren’t they his? Don’t you mean he got a chance to do a deal and make you some shoes and pantyhose money,,,”
“I don’t wear pantyhose,,, hot, sweaty, too short legs. Nope, never have, never will, but that’s not the point. He should have checked with me first. I would have told them they were already committed,,,”
“Why would he? He’s doing whatever he can so you’ll have a place to drop your demon spawn,,,”
“Don’t push me,” Isabel growled menacingly. “My indulgence has it’s limits.”
“Maria ignored Isabel’s opening salvo, “What was the second fight about?”
“Once I realized I didn’t have the computers I needed I decided to go to Albuquerque and get them. Alex didn’t want me to go alone,,,”
“And my guess is that judging by your loaded car,,,”
“Alex’s car,,,”
“Okay, Alex’s Mom’s loaded car, that you went anyways,,,”
“I curled up next to him, got the two hours of rest I need, then I put him into a deep sleep and went to Albuquerque, hence, fight three.”
“You’re going to pick another fight with him?,,”
“Me!” Isabel gasped as her brow’s dropped in disbelief, but moments later she had schooled her features and had her cold demeanor back in place.
Maria lifted her coffee to her lips and took a slow sip, all the while calming watching her friend over the top of the cup. If Isabel thought her Ice Princess routine would still work on her, she had another thing coming.
“He’s going to dump me,,,”
“What!!!”
“He’s going to get rid of me and go out and find himself a nice normal girl,,,”
“Alex has been in love with you since the first time he saw you. He is not going to dump you,,,”
“I treated him like a rag witch,,,”
“You didn’t treat him like a rag witch,,, you can’t treat him like a rag witch,,, You’re not,,,”
“What, I’m not human?”
Maria’s eyes opened wide in surprise. “You can’t think I think that! I was going to say that you can’t still feel like that after all the two have been through together,,,”
“No, I don’t think that,” Isabel admitted softly. “I don’t think you think that way about me,,, I don’t think Alex is going to dump me. I feel it. I know it’s not true, but I feel it, here,” she said, pointing to her heart.
“And you’re telling me this because?,,”
“Because I need you to be my friend.”
Maria reached across the table and took Isabel’s hands in her own. “Well girlfriend, that’s the first smart thing you’ve said today.”
“I can’t let him see me like this.”
“Iz,” Maria said softly, “We didn’t raise him like that, you don’t have to hide from him anymore. He’s changed,,,”
“I changed him,,,” Isabel stammered as she ground her floating heart back and forth on it’s chain.
“Yes, for the better. We raised a wonderful quirky boy, you made him a man. He’s not going to back down from you, but he’s not going to let you go either.”
A small smile broke out on Isabel’s face.
“We all have our weak moments, do you remember when his brother was killed, he couldn’t even go into his own house,,,”
“You’re not comparing my hissy fit with his brother,,,”
“No, I’m not. Where is he?”
“He’s at his home, working. He’s been cracking open out connection and checking up on me, but other than that he’s been ignoring me,,,”
“No,,, he’s been treating you like an adult, letting you do what you need to do.” Maria drained the last of her coffee, grabbed the last of her cruller and stood, holding out her hand. “Keys.”
Isabel started to protest, but then again she had asked for help, so she settled in the passenger seat and handed over the keys.
Minutes later they were at the Whitman’s, a house where Maria had been welcomed for years. Not seeing Alex’s Mom’s Focus in the yard, she walked in without knocking. “Honey I’m home,” she shouted out as she headed up to Alex’s room. Moments later she was sitting on his bed next to a very nervous Isabel, while a curious Alex looked on. Like Maria before her, he decided to wait for it.
“I hear you had a fight last night,,,”
“Noooo,,,” Alex replied slowly and honestly.
“So you’d agree with me that you could have told her you were taking the computers, I mean with your Vulcan mind-meld you could have told her in seconds,,,”
“Yea,,,”
Maria turned back to Isabel, “And you could have told him or left a note taped to the top of the stack,,,”
“You’re not helping,,,”
“So fight one is a stalemate,,,”
“It wasn’t a fight,” Alex sighed. “It was just an oops.”
“And then the second fight,,,”
“That wasn’t a fight either,” Alex replied to his friend while his eyes were locked with his wife’s. “I’m the luckiest guy on the planet to be in love and more importantly loved back by an Alien Goddess who’s abilities far surpass my own. She could fix a problem I couldn’t, and while I don’t like that, I’m working on it. We all have our quirks,” he said softly, “And in addition to working on them we also have to realize that our loved ones are okay with them, and in fact we may like them.”
“Like them?”
“Oh yea,” Alex said as he stood and moved to stand in front of his wife. “I love it when Izzy goes all commander. It’s amazing to see how her mind works, how she can put all the pieces of a puzzle together and execute before I can even find the card table,,,”
“So there going to be no fight three?”
Alex took Isabel’s hands in his own. “No, no fight three.” Pulling gently on her hands he didn’t stop until she stood in front of her. “You know,” he said softly as he leaned into kiss her neck, “One of these days you’re going to cut yourself with that chain.”
“I know,” Isabel replied. “I’m working on it.”
“I figured we’d go install your network together then we’ll swap the Volvo for your Del Sol. That would get us on the road to Albuquerque earlier than if you did it alone, and that will let us get an early dinner and a chance to chill for the evening before we have to start our road trip tomorrow.”
“Sounds good to me,” Isabel whispered as she held her hand over his heart.
“Okay, then lets get this done and go home.” He kissed his now calm wife’s forehead and then looked at their friend, “Maria, school or the Crash?”
“School, but home? I thought you said you were going to Albuquerque?”
“I did,” Alex answered as Isabel took his hand and they headed out of his room. “Effective today, Albuquerque’s home.”
TBC
Chapter 25-K All Good Things[/b]
By Stargazer MD
“So that’s what you want, a PT Cruiser?” Isabel asked levelly as she drew the collar of the shirt that Alex had been wearing yesterday across her lower face so she could drink in his scent.
“Yea,” Alex answered nervously as he brought up a picture of an electric blue car that defied easy description. “It’s not really a car, but it’s not a truck or van either. It’s got retro styling, but with the rear seats removed I could have carried Leprino’s entire shipment of laptops in one load,,,”
“I heard the Cruiser was underpowered.”
By now Alex was familiar with Isabel’s remarkable breadth of knowledge, but he was nevertheless impressed. He never figured that she would be ‘up’ on cars. “The stock Cruiser does have that reputation, though it’s really not that bad. A lot of people look at it and think ‘Hot Rod,’ and it clearly isn’t, but since we would use it for a lot of long highway trips, often with a load in the back, the new turbo version would be a welcome improvement,,,”
“It looks good,,,”
“A little bit hot, a little bit nerdy, and it’s a perfect fit for what we need. I really like it,” Alex sighed. “Too bad I can’t have it,,,”
“Why the frack not!” Isabel exclaimed.
“It’s just coming out now,,,” Alex explained.
“So?,,”
“You can only get it new,,,”
Isabel spun his chair so he was facing her and then with her hands on the chair’s arms, leaned down, “I like the idea of buying two-year-olds, someone else takes the initial hit on depreciation, but if this is the car we need, or more importantly if it’s the car you want, I’ll get it for you,,,”
“But Mom’s lease is up on her Focus. She has to return it to the dealership on Friday. There’s no way we can get one that fast,,,”
“Shouldn’t be a problem,” Isabel instructed; then seeing he was still skeptical, she continued. “Let’s face it, we’re not going to get anything by Friday. If we try we’ll be limited to whatever poor choices we could find on a lot. Instead I’ll research the dealerships in Albuquerque, pick one, and order exactly what you want, and it will come in when it comes in. Besides, Mom’s (Gloria) driving Pop’s car while he’s in Warner Robins (Air Logistics Center, Robins Air Force Base, Houston County Georgia) so she doesn’t need the Volvo back until she and my mom drive both cars to Ft. Belvoir (Fairfax County, Virginia) After that we’ve got by with just one car before, we will again, and if we have to I’ll get you a rental,,,”
“Sounds expensive,,,”
“Sweetie, you let me worry about that. You work your ass off, and as a result we have more money than any two kids our age have a right to expect. If this is what you want, this is what you’re going to get.” Isabel stood with a smile that turned pensive as she bit her lower lip. “Want to watch me take my shower?”
“Izzy, you know that if I watch you take your shower we’ll be late for school,,,”
“News flash Lover,” Isabel teased as she inched open her top revealing a tantalizing triangle of flesh from her neck to her waist. “We don’t have school.”
Alex’s eyes feasted on the snowy white skin of her inner breasts, revealed right up to a delicate pink spots where her nipples were barely covered, imagining how they would taste. With a shudder he dragged his eyes back to hers, “You’re killing me. We don’t have school, but we do have rules. No nookie under the parental’s roofs,,,”
“Sweetie, your parents won’t be back from Kirtland (Air Force Base, Albuquerque, NM) until this afternoon, besides rules are made to be broken,,,” Isabel said softly popping the bottommost button on his shirt, exposing her golden curls.
I can’t do that,,,”
“I can!”
“I can’t let you do that,” he groaned. Our moms have too much respect for you and your dad already wants to bury me in a shallow grave for defiling you, hell Pops hates me even more for the same reason,,,”
“He does not,,,”
“He does! Remember that ‘talk’ when your dad threatened to castrate me with a pair of hedge clippers?”
“Yea.”
“I heard Pops has a standing offer of a hundred bucks and a bottle of Jack Daniels if he’d do it again and let him watch,,,”
“Daddy thinks you defiled me?,, And you believe this?” Isabel chuckled. “If you think what we’ve done up to now constitutes defilement,,, you ain’t seen nothing yet,,,”
Alex may have had a lot of respect for Isabel and their parents, but he was only human, and an eighteen year old male at that. His willpower was fading fast, but before he could act Isabel stormed across the room and snatched his cell from the bureau top before leaning into his closet and grabbing a small gym bag. She tossed him the bag and then punched the speed dial. “Pack a change of clothes and your trunks for the hot tub. We’re taking the morning off.”
“Who are you calling?” Alex asked as he nevertheless scrambled to do her bidding.
“I’m calling the Comfort. (Inn) It’s a weekday and Ernesto should have at least one room prepared to my standards.”
**********
Meanwhile across town Maria found Max and Liz waiting in the Chevelle with her Jetta nowhere in sight. As she walked towards their car her mouth was opening and closing like a fish out of water. “Where’s Mom’s car?”
“Michael call and asked me to pick you up,” Max mumbled without meeting her eyes.
“That rat bastard,” Maria swore. “That car is the key to my keeping the peace with Mom, and if she knew half the things that have happened to it,,,”
“He said he had to bring something to school that he couldn’t bring on his bike and that your car would be waiting for you in the parking lot,,,”
“He’s got no right,,,”
“No he doesn’t,” Liz interjected. “But Michael’s Michael,,,”
Meanwhile Michael carefully entered Mr. Cowan’s room carrying a three foot long (91 cm) piece of rigid Styrofoam insulation supporting what appeared to be a bridge.
“Mister Guerin,” Mister Cowan exclaimed as he leapt from his chair to help.
“No! Don’t touch it,” Michael commanded. “You’ll break it, it’s unbelievably fragile.”
Moments later Michael’s art project was safely on a table at the back of the room while Mr. Cowen bent down to examine the details. “What’s it made of?” he asked as he reached to touch one of the towers of the suspension bridge.
Michael reached out and gently stopped his teacher before he could make contact. “The towers are made of a half sheet of printer paper rolled and glued. Each pair will only withstand about a half pound (1/4 kilo) of static force but any amount of dynamic force off their vertical axis will cause them to fail,,,” Michael leaned back and took a deep breath. “I spent a lot of time researching bridges and then trying to find materials for the model that would approximate the real thing.”
Seeing Mr. Cowen’s brows raised in question Michael explained. While this was unheard of for him his yearly grade not to mention his admission to college was at risk.
“Anyone could build a model utilizing packaging twine and fishing line, totally overbuilt to scale. I wanted to build something more challenging. What got me thinking this way was a show on the History Channel about the Mackinac Strait Bridge (linking the Upper and Lower Peninsulas of Michigan) and the fact that ninety-seven percent of it’s weight bearing ability is consumed by it’s own mass. Then when you subtract wind loading as well as snow and ice build-up, there isn’t much capacity left for cars and trucks,,,”
“Yet those cars and trucks are why we build bridges,” Mr. Cowen concluded. “But tell me, If the Mackinac bridge is barely functional at thirty eight hundred feet, (1158m) how do you explain the Pearl Bridge?”
Michael smiled, he knew his stuff. “The Akashi-Kaikyo bridge in Japan is a little over two-thirds longer than the Mackinac bridge, but it is also forty years newer which allowed for a lot of advancement in materials and design.”
“So tell me about what you used.”
“The main cables are made out of yarn. (Lopi, made of natural wool) Although the yarn will not break it will stretch if it’s overloaded causing the deck to fail. The deck itself is made of dried sugar water reinforced with fiberglass window screening,,,”
“Which is a pretty good approximation for reinforced concrete.”
“Yeah.”
“The deck is supported by girders made of angel hair pasta, with rim girders of fettuccine.”
“What are suspension cables made of, they seem to glisten.”
“That's the most expensive part of the model. They’re strands of my girlfriends hair.”
“Maria’s?”
“Yea, she'll kill me if she ever finds out.”
“She doesn't know?”
“Well I guess it doesn't matter she's going to kill me soon or later anyways. So, ready to break it?”
“Break it? You just brought it in.”
“It's made of sugar water and dried pasta. It's not designed to last more than a day you two. Besides I want to see how accurate my calculations are.” Michael reached to the back of the Styrofoam platform and grabbed several wooden dowels that were taped there. “If I'm correct it will support two dowels, a third will crack the road deck, and six will bring the towers down.”
Michael carefully inserted one dowel between the towers and gently lowered it onto the road deck. Nothing happened, but as he placed the second rod the road deck audibly cracked. “Frack!” Michael muttered as moments later the road deck split in half along it’s length, the only thing keeping it rods from falling to the Styrofoam below was the fiberglass screening that reinforced the broken deck.
“Keep going,” Mr. Cowen commanded as he bent down and stared intently as Michael slowly guided the third rod between the two towers. The bridge held this one, but as he applied the next, the road deck sagged towards the eastern side. He thought it was going to stay there, but after a shudder the main cable attaching the north-east tower parted. Next the unsupported tower folded, and with the loss of support the north end of the deck fell until it hit the ground. With the north end down, the south end of the road deck rose up into the air, shuddered, and then also fell.
“Frack!,,”
“Extraordinary!,,”
“Extraordinary? Did you see what I did? It broke,,,”
“No Michael, it failed,,,”
“What’s the difference?’’
“Vandals break things, engineers experience failures,,,”
“So what’s so extraordinary about my bre,,, failure?”
“I don’t think you understand, everything failed,,,”
“Wonderful,,,”
“Yes,,,”
“How?”
“You designed every component so it was just as strong as it had to be, and as light as it could possibly be,,,”
“It failed earlier than I wanted it to,,,”
“I expected it to,,,”
“Great,,,”
“The best model can only approximate the real thing Michael, it’s a limitation of scale. The deck you built has no flexibility, while your main cables had too much. It’s not your fault, it’s the nature of a model, but the real problem was with your suspension cables. You had no practical means of adjusting them. Now, do you want to know just how your bridge failed?”
“Yes,” Michael answered tersely.
“First, lets look at the loading. On a real bridge the weight is distributed evenly by the very nature of the cars and trucks that cross the bridge. As the road deck changes elevation due to weather or if it undulates in the wind, the load follows the changing contours. You couldn’t do that, not with a solid rod the length of the bridge. By the very nature the rod concentrated all of it’s weight on just two high spots, and as those two spots failed, the next two high spots picked up the load.”
Michael bit back a retort, while he usually would usually attack anyone who aimed the least bit of criticism at him, he had growing admiration for this teacher, and with that came the realization that constructive criticism used as a teaching tool could be a good thing. With this thought in mind, he did something he never could have done before he opened himself to Maria. “I had trouble with the suspension cables,” he admitted in a soto voice.
“I suspect that you did,” Mr. Cowen admitted. “You did a fantastic job considering what you had to work with.”
Michael started to think he was getting smoke blown up his ass until he was asked, “Do you want to know why I say that?”
“Yea,,,”
“A real cable on a bridge can be hundreds of feet long, yet it’s length can be set to within inches. That way the tension on every single cable can be set to the engineer’s specifications. You can’t do that with a model, especially since you’re working with a single strand of hair. No matter how careful you are, some of those hairs are going to be tighter than others, and those tight strands are going to fail first,,,”
“How do you know all this?” Michael challenged.
“I wasn’t always an art teacher, it’s not what my degree is in,,,”
“What is it?”
“Engineering,,,”
“So how did you end up here?”
“It’s a long story.”
“I got nowhere to be.”
“Okay, when I was about your age I was getting ready for college. I was pretty good at art, pen and ink and charcoal mostly, in fact I got a partial scholarship to UNM. Our class trip that year was to New York City for a week, Midtown Manhattan. The Portland Hotel. It was a small place, the rooms were tiny, they had the most uncomfortable beds I’ve ever slept in, but it’s just two blocks from Time’s Square, and if you’re in New York for only one week, how much time are you going to spend in your room,,,”
“So who spends time in bed, right?”
“I fell in love with the buildings. I skipped out on the museum tours we were scheduled for, and started sketching.” He pointed towards a drawing on his wall.
“What is it?” Michael asked bluntly.
“It’s a gargoyle from the Chrysler building at Forty-Second Street and Lexington Avenue,,,”
“From that trip?”
“Yea. I sketched the Empire State, the World Trade, cast iron storefronts in SOHO, I came home with my future decided. I was going to be an architect,,,”
“So what happened?”
Mr. Cowen took a moment to compose his answer. “Do you know how many signature buildings actually get built? Two or three a decade, maybe five at the most. And those projects go to the most famous of architects. The rest of us, them, we get to design the plumbing, or the clips that hold on the glass skins, or maybe the electrical distribution system.
“I couldn’t see myself spending the next ten years, possibly the rest of my life, specifying the marble to be used for the vanity tops in the women’s power rooms. With this,” he said, holding up a pencil, “I can build any building I want. I can build a castle on a mountain top, I can build a hotel in space,,,”
“And me?”
“You can be an engineer,,,”
“Seriously?,,”
“Why not, you’re a natural,,,”
“I never thought,,,”
“Think about it Michael. You’re worried about how you’ll support Maria? An engineer can make a good living. Think about it hard.”
**********
Later that evening Alex and Isabel sat at the table with her parents for a rare quiet dinner. It may have been a sign of just how rare an occasion this had become was the fact that Diane had made Phillips favorite dinner, stuffed pork chops. As he started cutting into his second one he looked at his daughter with a twinkle in his eye. “What are your plans for the week, Princess?”
“Meetings and more meetings. We’re flying out tomorrow afternoon for Texas Memorial in Amarillo, from there to Leprino’s headquarters in Denver on Thursday, and a quick flight down to Pangborn in Alamogordo on Friday,,,”
“Three meetings in three states in three days?” Phillip stated disbelievingly. “Sounds like a lot, even for you,,,”
“At the time I had to scramble to take advantage of our time out of school while we were suspended,,,”
“I’m not looking forward to sitting next to her on that nine-seater on the flight to Pangborn’s,,,” Alex teased.
“Why not? Air New Mexico’s new Cessna Grand Caravans have a more powerful Pratt and Whitney PT6A-114A turboshaft engine producing six hundred seventy-five shaft horse power and a glass cockpit,,, What, you didn’t think I’d get on another plane without knowing everything about it, did you?”
“You seem to be getting over your fear of flying,,,”
“It’s not so much my fear of flying as my fear of landing. Remember, on our trip to Boston I was oh for one. Now I’m twelve for thirteen.”
“But don’t you have to stop by the school?,,” Diane started to ask before getting cut off by a smug Phillip.
“I think Isabel’s got something to say about their going back to school,” Phillip admitted with a smile. “Don’t you Iz?”
“What, that they’re not going back to school?” Diane interrupted. “She still needs to pick up her grades for the AP classes she took. She’s going to need them for UNM.”
Phillip looked shocked that he wasn’t the first to have divined his daughter’s plan.
“You do realize they’re moving,,,”
Phillip was suddenly struck with just how fast she was growing up, and hung onto the fact that he still had a couple of months before he had to give her away. “In June,,,”
“Daddy, we’re both registered for the spring semester,” Isabel said tentatively. “We start classes a week from Monday. We decided to start there once our time here was up,,,”
“How are you,,, how many days a week are you going to have class?,, It’s a four hour drive,,,” Phillip stammered.
“We’re not going to commute Daddy,” Isabel said softly. “We’re still going to be spending some time here,,, but for the most part we’re going to be living in Albuquerque,,,”
Alex braced himself. He had been fearing this conversation almost as much as Isabel, but while she didn’t want to hurt her father, he didn’t want to get hurt himself. He just knew that the day he showed up to take Isabel away, Phillip would drag him out to the garage and castrate him. Maybe,,, just maybe, if he kept quiet, he could survive the meal and be able to sneak out to his meeting at the Sierra Fire station tonight.
“Well,” Phillip sighed, “I guess your Mom and I’ll have a place to stay after the next Bar (attorney’s) meeting in Albuquerque,,,”
“Thank you Daddy,” Isabel cried out as she jumped out of her chair and hugged him. “I was so scared,,,”
“Well, it’s time to let you go,,,”
“You’ll never have to let me go Daddy, I’ll always be your little girl.”
The reunion was interrupted with a strident knock on the back door. Before anyone could move to answer, Gloria swept into the room. “Change of plans!” she announced in her usual no-holds-bared tone.
“What?” Diane gasped as she headed to the cabinet for wine glasses.
“I was really looking forward to going back to being a military wife. Do you know that behind ever successful officer there is a successful wife who is working as hard on his career as he is? We live on base in a semi-closed community with a single sense of purpose. The O-Club, (officers) the officer’s wives groups, the PTA, junior officer’s wives to mentor, the NCO’s (non-commissioned officers [sergeants]) families to watch over and support,” Gloria waxed wishfully. “Not going to happen.”
“What went wrong?”
“The only housing Sandy could find for us on such short notice was a townhouse in Springfield, north of the mixing bowl,,,”
“What’s the mixing bowl?”
“It’s one of the worst intersections in the country, and they’re ripping it up to make it worse. Even though it’s only a fifteen mile drive to the base, it would take an hour each way. So with being so far from the base and with Charles spending all of his time in the air I’d have nothing to do. I’d end up dusting knick-knacks and collecting cats,,,”
“Mom, you hate cats,,,”
“I know, so I’m staying home. Besides, I have a new project,,,”
“What’s that?”
“Harry’s new squadron’s already has their pre-deployment warning, so as soon as he gets home from Aviano, (Aviano Air Base, Northern Italy) he’s going right back to the Middle East. Rachel and the kids have to move out of Edwards (Edwards AFB, Los Angeles County, California) within thirty days of his transfer to Kirtland, and since they don’t know anybody in Albuquerque, they’re coming here.”
“Hey!” Isabel protested. “I’m looking forward to living near Rachel and the kids.”
“Sorry Isabel,” Gloria stated without an ounce of regret in their voice. “Meme overrules Auntie every time.”
**********
Isabel sat in the corner of her booth, looking out over the various activities going on in her daytime realm. Her brother was sitting at the counter watching Liz’s every move, a situation that reminded her of the simpler times before the shooting. The only difference was that Liz was now an active participant in this little game, as every time she passed by him she paused and whispered promises in his ear.
“So what’s with Gidget and Moondoggy over there?” Maria asked as she slid a special stir fry in front of her friend. “Seems like the more things change the more they stay the same.”
“Well, something’s changed,” Isabel replied. “I think things are getting to the point where Liz is going to have to break down and follow through on one of her promises to Max. She doesn’t seem to be able to shock him anymore, and as a matter of fact I think it’s been a while since I’ve seen her able to get him to blush.” As she said this she glanced over at Alex, who was sitting at a table by the door with Steve and Vicky, along with Lucinda and her project of the week. Alex was telling them about the music scene at the University of New Mexico, but it was plain for all to see that he was having no luck convincing his new friends that Albuquerque was going to be the next Seattle.
“She’s going to have to start?” Maria gasped in amazement as she leaned into the booth for a moments gossip. “Man, are you out of the loop,,,”
“If this is about the two of them,” Isabel warned while holding up her hand. “I don’t want to know.”
“All I’m going to say is that Friday night the Chevelle was parked out in the alley, and when I took out the trash, I had a hard time figuring out where Liz ended and Max started,,,”
“Ewww, ewww, ewww,” Isabel complained, closing her eyes while bending her head down and covering her ears.
“One thing I got to say though, great asses seem to run in your family.” Figuring that she had pushed her friend about as far as prudent for any one encounter, Maria headed for the kitchen.
“Hey Maria,” Isabel called out to the departing waitress.
Maria turned impatiently, but seeing the expression on Isabel’s face, knew that what was going to be said was for her ears only. She returned to the booth.
“Thanks for the visual of my brother’s ass,” Isabel said, her sarcasm matched only by the lack of volume in her retort. “So as far as that whole ‘Barbie and Ken’ dreamwalk thing goes, we’re even.”
“Oh no we’re not,” Maria rebutted with an evil voice. “We’re not even close. I haven’t completely paid you back yet for the ‘I Dream of Genie’ incident”
As the kitchen door closed behind Maria, the front door opened as Brody entered the cafe. He walked right past several empty spots in Maria’s section and stopped by Isabel’s booth. “May I?” he asked, indicating the empty bench.
Isabel nodded and Brody settled down. “My Lady,” he said softly.
“Brody?” Isabel replied in shock.
“Larek, I need to speak to you privately.”
“Lets go back to your office,” Isabel replied, reaching for her bag.
Once she was sure that they were alone in Brody’s private office at the UFO Center she leaned back against one of his workstations. “Okay, what’s up?”
“The Council of Regents has commanded me to set up a meeting with you. There have been,” he paused for a moment, searching for the right word, “‘Developments,’ on Antar that you need to be apprised of.”
“What developments?” Isabel demanded, clearly agitated that just as her current life was falling in line her past life was threatening to frack it up, again. “And how am I supposed to meet with the Council?”
“All will be answered, three days hence. Five PM here, in my office.”
“No!” Isabel snapped. “Now!”
“Vilandra,” Larek answered softly. “I am only here in fulfillment of a command. I do not have the answers you seek.”
Isabel figured that if Larek thought of her with Vilandra’s temper it would work in her favor, so she let it slip. “Please advise the Council of Regents that the Royal Four look forward to meeting with them on Saturday at five,” Isabel replied diplomatically. “Myself and the Keeper of the Granolith will be on a plane for the rest of this week and we regret the delay.”
“As you wish,” Larek replied subserviently. “And my Lady, Rath and Lonnie must be present as well.”
“That is unfortunate. Michael will never consent to allow Rath or Lonnie into the city where we may not be able to control them with the necessary discretion. Instruct the Council that we will meet at the Pod Chamber, not here.”
“By your command.”
**********
~~“Warning!!! VHF radio transmission detected. Frequency analysis indicates presence of Santa Fe County law enforcement equipment approximately six miles (10 km) ahead. Reduce speed immediately!!!”~~
Isabel looked at her Granolith enhanced radar detector. In addition to the ability to detect K-band, Ka-band and the older X-band as well as police LIDAR (laser) at unbelievable distances, it also monitored the police communications frequencies to track the locations of police vehicles in order to keep it’s charges safe. Seeing a clear display she checked her speed and then looked back out the windshield, straining to see anything in the distance. “Confirm.”
~~“Confirmed. Second transmission indicates transmitter is moving in your direction. At your current speed and closure rate you will enter maximum detection range in one minute and thirty seven seconds. Reduce speed immediately!!!”
Isabel took her foot off the gas, allowing the Volvo to cross below the hundred mile per hour (160 kph) threshold, coasting down to a more reasonable speed. “I’m in the middle of the desert in the middle of the night, and all I want to do is get back to Roswell, I don’t need this crap.”
~~“You will only be in Santa Fe county for another ten minutes. After that if the roadways remain empty you may resume your nominal cruising speed.”~~
“Resume monitoring, and notify me when I am one half hour from home.”
**********
At precisely 1201z (7:01 am local time) Lieutenant Colonel Charles Whitman, United States Air Force, personal troubleshooter for Defense Logistics Agency Director Vice Admiral Keith Lippert, marched into building 1602 of Robins Air Force Base, the office of DRMO (Defense Reutilization and Marketing Office) Warner Robins. He stopped in front of the first desk he came to, the only desk occupied at such an early hour. “Bubba Smith, please.”
The young man behind the desk dropped a handful of papers onto his desk before replying, “Bubba is usually scheduled from eight to four-thirty. He usually gets here at eight,,,”
Charles picked up the phone and placed it in front of the young man. “Call him.”
“Can I help you,,, Colonel?” a new arrival asked.
“Bubba Smith?”
“The one and only,” the man replied cheerfully, reaching for Charles’ hand. “Bubba Smith, my parents were bayou folks, they thought Bubba was a proper name,” he added with a shrug. “Have you come down to unconstipate us,,, begging the Colonel’s pardon.”
“Maybe. I need to see the ‘Plains of a Thousand Rains’.”
“It’s more swamp than plains this time of year Sir,,,”
“That’s okay, I left my garrison uniform back at the barracks,” Charles cajoled while pointing to his boots. “I’m dressed to work,,, and don’t call me sir. You’re a civilian and I work for a living.”
“Could have fooled me, I don’t see any stripes on that uniform.” Seeing a smile in response to his professional jive Bubba continued, “Come on Colonel, I have my truck out front,,,”
“Charles,,,”
“Semper Fi, Sir. That’s not going to happen.” (Translation: “I am an ex-Marine. I am incapable of calling an officer by his first name.”)
After a fifteen minute drive they had passed through a locked gate and entered a large fenced in enclosure with black shrink-wrapped pallets of military property that covered several acres of near swampland. As they watched a crew of two men cut several tattered scraps of plastic from a pallet several rows away and efficiently over-wrapped it with fresh stretch wrap.
“How much time do you spend just trying to keep this trash dry?”
“Two men, full time,,,”
“There’s a war coming Bubba, we need them elsewhere,,,”
“There’s over a hundred million dollars of property out there Colonel, and it’s my responsibility to keep it from getting into any worst condition until we get a chance to refurbish it,,,”
“Refurbished? Morse code practice set, J?38 variant. (NSN: 6940?99?219?2848, an ‘assigned’ designation as this property pre-dates the current identification system.) They were functionally obsolete fifty years ago, yet we still have twenty seven of them in inventory.” (Actually DRMO Warner Robins only had twenty five of them with an additional two cartons marked ‘Space Keeper - Empty Box.’ When this property was sent for destruction the discrepancy was found. The official finding was that the original packing list for the pallet showed that twenty five sets had been received from the manufacturer, and that during an inventory taken in the late eighties the count had been changed to twenty seven. The investigation concluded that an unknown clerk had looked at the shrink wrapped pallet, counted three boxes wide, three high, and three deep, and assumed that there were twenty seven sets.)
“They’re the exception to the rule Colonel, most of the property here is current,,,”
“Then lets try something a little more current Bubba, Prick?77’s. (A rather crude but widespread nickname for the AN/PRC?77 radio telephone, man portable, NSN: 5820?01?930?3725.) You have five thousand one hundred and eighty four of them, and every one of them has been flagged as inexpedient to repair,,,”
Bubba was a little disconcerted at the depth of this visitors knowledge, but he had survived many of these ‘site visits.’ The Colonel was scheduled for a two week visit. Soon he would be gone and then they could get back to their comfortable existence. “Even if those trainers are fifty years old, they are still classified DEMIL-D. (demilitarization required, total destruction) If you want to get rid of them we’re going to have to find ‘em, dig ‘em out, drag them down to headquarters, and prepare a challenge against their classification. Maybe we can get them changed to DEMIL-A, (no demilitarization required) DEMIL-B (no demilitarization required, but Trade Security Controls required at disposition) or maybe the best we can get is DEMIL-C (demilitarization required, key point or lethal part removal or destruction required) because of the training manuals, but at any rate, we have a process to follow,,,”
“Or we can send it all to Maryland,,,”
“Maryland?,,”
Options Upload attachment Disable BBCode Dis“Yes, Maryland. Why waste time on a challenge for property that’s going to be destroyed anyways? We have a forty-one-sixty (DoD 4160.21?M?1 Defense Materials Disposition) contractor that can take anything you can send them,,,”
“A civilian contractor?,,”
“They have contracts within the intelligence community, and as a result they can handle DEMIL-A through D property as well as DEMIL-P (security classified) and Q (demilitarization not required, CCL [Commerce Control List] property) that your Service can’t accept, and utilizing a civilian contractor frees you,,, all of us, to look forward instead of backwards,,,”
able smilies Do not “Listen Colonel, I know A-76 (privatization of services) is popular right now, but this property is valuable. Take your Prick?77’s for example, I bet at least half of them still have a battery in them and that’s hazardous waste. (Actually federal law classifies spent batteries as universal waste, but Maryland doesn’t have a universal waste statute, so we were forced to go through the expense of manifesting them as hazardous waste.)
“Radio’s are shipped with batteries in them every day, you know that’s not an issue,,,”
“Some of those batteries have never been used, we need to,,,”
“Don’t say it Bubba!” Colonel Whitman ordered. “Don’t say that you’re going to recover those batteries,,,”
“Colonel! Those batteries are worth more than a hundred dollars each,,,”
“Bubba. Let me start over again. My name is Lieutenant Colonel Charles Whitman. I am Admiral Lippert’s personal errand boy slash motivator slash ass kicker. Do you want to know why Keith picked me Bubba? Oh,,, Have you ever known anyone who calls an Admiral by his first name Bubba? Now you do.
“Keith picked me because he has to get this Service ready for war, and he knows that I’m motivated to help him. He knows this because I just buried my son, Air Force Lieutenant Robert Whitman, and two of my other sons are getting ready to go into harm’s way.” Charles took a step forward, invading Bubba’s personal space and continuing in a low menacing voice. “If you think I’m sending my sons, or anyone else’s loved ones, into combat with a battery that’s been sitting in a junkyard for ten years, you’ve got another thing coming,,,”
One of Charles personal philosophies was that the only difference between a prick and an asshole was that a prick knew what he was talking about, and a successful prick knew when he had got his point across. One look at Bubba’s face told him that it was time to back off.
“No Colonel,” Bubba rebutted softly. “We’re certainly not going to be doing that. Just tell us what you need and you’ll get it.”
“Thank you,” Charles said with an equally softened voice. “Battle Creek (Michigan, DRMS headquarters) is going to send you two task orders per week, one for Monday, one for Thursday. Each task order will be for two truckloads pf property. Start at the front of this pile and work your way to the back. Build a manifest for twenty four pallets per truck, ship them to Maryland, and don’t look back.
“Listen, I know you all take pride in your jobs, and believe me, we are going to place demands on you that are going to have you working harder than you’ve ever worked before. But those demands are going to involve moving forward and supporting our troops.”
“You can count on us Colonel. Consider our asses kicked ,,,”
Charles chuckled at this. “Oh no Bubba. You’ve been receiving coaching and counseling. If I’d been kicking your ass you’d know it. You’d be missing about ten pounds of ass and this office would be missing a number of employees.” Charles turned and looked at his watch as he started back to the truck. “Then my job here’s done. If I’m lucky I can get up to Tobyhanna (Tobyhanna Army Depot, Pennsylvania) before nightfall,,,”
“You’re done here Sir? I thought you were going to be here for two weeks?”
“No need. I have a feeling you’re going to become my own personal ass kicker down here; so, what do you think Bubba, do you think I’ll be able to get a good look at the real lay of the land there if I show up a week early?”
“With all due respect Sir, I’m willing to bet that the Colonel will see whatever-the-hell he wants to see.”
**********
Morning came to Roswell several hours later finding an unlikely pair sitting in the vacant parking lot of the Taco Shack munching on crullers and coffee from the bakery in Dexter.
“So what’s so important you had to drag me out of bed at such an ungodly hour?”
“You’re always up at this hour.”
“Not if I’m not getting paid I don’t.”
“Alex beat me at Jeopardy,,,”
“You got me out of bed an hour early because Alex beat you at Jeopardy,,, wait,,, I’ve seen you get perfect scores. That has to be what, a hundred thousand dollars?”
Isabel happily bought into this distraction. “The maximum possible score is five hundred sixty-six thousand, four hundred dollars, but that is only a mathematical total,,,”
“How the frack could he beat you? You shout out the questions before Alex Trebek is able to read the first word of the answer,,,”
“While it may be possible to get all sixty one answers correct the resulting score would depend on where and when the Double Jeopardy answers are found. In order to get to the mathematical maximum the Double Jeopardy answers would have to be found in the least valuable row as well as the thirtieth, fifty-ninth and sixtieth answer. Since that’s impossible,,,”
“Between your Czechoslovakian eyesight and your Czechoslovakian recall,,,”
“Maria, you’re babbling again.”
Maria had only seen Isabel this upset a couple of times, so she let the babbling comment pass. “Okay, I’ll be quiet.”
“He played with my hair,,,”
“He played with your hair? Every time I’ve watched the two of you watch TV he’s brushing your hair,,,”
“Not that hair,,,”
“Oh,” Maria replied with a smirk as she figured out how Alex had overcome her, ,, abilities. “So he brought out the slut in you, and I mean that in a kind and loving way, but he turned on your mo-jo, and that’s why you denied me my beauty sleep?” Watching her friend take a deep breath and gather he composure, she stayed silent, waiting for it,,,
“We had a fight,” Isabel admitted offhandedly as if it were of no consequence. “Actually we had two, and we’re probably going to have a third,,,”
“I knew you were going to frack him to death,,,”
“I’m not going to frack him to death. It’s got nothing to do with that; besides, he’s rather enjoying my wide range of seductions,,,”
“Seduction,” Maria replied gleefully, getting into the zinging contest with a close friend who would not take it personal. “It’s not seduction if you tie him up and zap his prostate in order to get him to perform.”
“I don’t need to tie him up to get him to perform, he’s an eighteen year old guy. Once he got over the fact that he wasn’t going to hurt me, he’s become quite,,, willing,,, accomplished in fact,,,”
“Okay, enough of that. I don’t want to have to bleach out my ears. So if you’re not fighting over the goodies, what are you fighting about?”
“Computers,,,”
“Computers? You fought over computers? Don’t you have like fifty of them?”
“We do. In Albuquerque. We only have eight left here, the eight that I was going to install this morning at the Community Center’s new after school computer lab. Last night he stole them,,,”
“Stole them, aren’t they his? Don’t you mean he got a chance to do a deal and make you some shoes and pantyhose money,,,”
“I don’t wear pantyhose,,, hot, sweaty, too short legs. Nope, never have, never will, but that’s not the point. He should have checked with me first. I would have told them they were already committed,,,”
“Why would he? He’s doing whatever he can so you’ll have a place to drop your demon spawn,,,”
“Don’t push me,” Isabel growled menacingly. “My indulgence has it’s limits.”
“Maria ignored Isabel’s opening salvo, “What was the second fight about?”
“Once I realized I didn’t have the computers I needed I decided to go to Albuquerque and get them. Alex didn’t want me to go alone,,,”
“And my guess is that judging by your loaded car,,,”
“Alex’s car,,,”
“Okay, Alex’s Mom’s loaded car, that you went anyways,,,”
“I curled up next to him, got the two hours of rest I need, then I put him into a deep sleep and went to Albuquerque, hence, fight three.”
“You’re going to pick another fight with him?,,”
“Me!” Isabel gasped as her brow’s dropped in disbelief, but moments later she had schooled her features and had her cold demeanor back in place.
Maria lifted her coffee to her lips and took a slow sip, all the while calming watching her friend over the top of the cup. If Isabel thought her Ice Princess routine would still work on her, she had another thing coming.
“He’s going to dump me,,,”
“What!!!”
“He’s going to get rid of me and go out and find himself a nice normal girl,,,”
“Alex has been in love with you since the first time he saw you. He is not going to dump you,,,”
“I treated him like a rag witch,,,”
“You didn’t treat him like a rag witch,,, you can’t treat him like a rag witch,,, You’re not,,,”
“What, I’m not human?”
Maria’s eyes opened wide in surprise. “You can’t think I think that! I was going to say that you can’t still feel like that after all the two have been through together,,,”
“No, I don’t think that,” Isabel admitted softly. “I don’t think you think that way about me,,, I don’t think Alex is going to dump me. I feel it. I know it’s not true, but I feel it, here,” she said, pointing to her heart.
“And you’re telling me this because?,,”
“Because I need you to be my friend.”
Maria reached across the table and took Isabel’s hands in her own. “Well girlfriend, that’s the first smart thing you’ve said today.”
“I can’t let him see me like this.”
“Iz,” Maria said softly, “We didn’t raise him like that, you don’t have to hide from him anymore. He’s changed,,,”
“I changed him,,,” Isabel stammered as she ground her floating heart back and forth on it’s chain.
“Yes, for the better. We raised a wonderful quirky boy, you made him a man. He’s not going to back down from you, but he’s not going to let you go either.”
A small smile broke out on Isabel’s face.
“We all have our weak moments, do you remember when his brother was killed, he couldn’t even go into his own house,,,”
“You’re not comparing my hissy fit with his brother,,,”
“No, I’m not. Where is he?”
“He’s at his home, working. He’s been cracking open out connection and checking up on me, but other than that he’s been ignoring me,,,”
“No,,, he’s been treating you like an adult, letting you do what you need to do.” Maria drained the last of her coffee, grabbed the last of her cruller and stood, holding out her hand. “Keys.”
Isabel started to protest, but then again she had asked for help, so she settled in the passenger seat and handed over the keys.
Minutes later they were at the Whitman’s, a house where Maria had been welcomed for years. Not seeing Alex’s Mom’s Focus in the yard, she walked in without knocking. “Honey I’m home,” she shouted out as she headed up to Alex’s room. Moments later she was sitting on his bed next to a very nervous Isabel, while a curious Alex looked on. Like Maria before her, he decided to wait for it.
“I hear you had a fight last night,,,”
“Noooo,,,” Alex replied slowly and honestly.
“So you’d agree with me that you could have told her you were taking the computers, I mean with your Vulcan mind-meld you could have told her in seconds,,,”
“Yea,,,”
Maria turned back to Isabel, “And you could have told him or left a note taped to the top of the stack,,,”
“You’re not helping,,,”
“So fight one is a stalemate,,,”
“It wasn’t a fight,” Alex sighed. “It was just an oops.”
“And then the second fight,,,”
“That wasn’t a fight either,” Alex replied to his friend while his eyes were locked with his wife’s. “I’m the luckiest guy on the planet to be in love and more importantly loved back by an Alien Goddess who’s abilities far surpass my own. She could fix a problem I couldn’t, and while I don’t like that, I’m working on it. We all have our quirks,” he said softly, “And in addition to working on them we also have to realize that our loved ones are okay with them, and in fact we may like them.”
“Like them?”
“Oh yea,” Alex said as he stood and moved to stand in front of his wife. “I love it when Izzy goes all commander. It’s amazing to see how her mind works, how she can put all the pieces of a puzzle together and execute before I can even find the card table,,,”
“So there going to be no fight three?”
Alex took Isabel’s hands in his own. “No, no fight three.” Pulling gently on her hands he didn’t stop until she stood in front of her. “You know,” he said softly as he leaned into kiss her neck, “One of these days you’re going to cut yourself with that chain.”
“I know,” Isabel replied. “I’m working on it.”
“I figured we’d go install your network together then we’ll swap the Volvo for your Del Sol. That would get us on the road to Albuquerque earlier than if you did it alone, and that will let us get an early dinner and a chance to chill for the evening before we have to start our road trip tomorrow.”
“Sounds good to me,” Isabel whispered as she held her hand over his heart.
“Okay, then lets get this done and go home.” He kissed his now calm wife’s forehead and then looked at their friend, “Maria, school or the Crash?”
“School, but home? I thought you said you were going to Albuquerque?”
“I did,” Alex answered as Isabel took his hand and they headed out of his room. “Effective today, Albuquerque’s home.”
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
Re: Gazer Gets the Girl, A&I -Mature- Part 25-L 15 July
Stargazer Gets the Girl
Chapter 25-L All Good Things
By Stargazer MD
Isabel flitted about the kitchen, cleaning up after their dinner. While Alex’s plan had been going out to eat, the moment she had entered their house, she knew that they weren’t going out again until they left for the airport the next morning. Chicken Enchiladas with rice and beans had been a manageable challenge thanks to her well stocked pantry, and her husband’s happy face as he ate was reward enough.
Now with Alex in front in the TV she was cleaning her kitchen. Despite the fact that she could have accomplished this in seconds with a minimal use of power, she reveled in doing the simple task around her house the old fashioned way, with a dish cloth, soap, and her own two hands. She loved the sound of it, her kitchen, her house, her husband. Most of all she loved her Alex, the man who gave her all this. She looked in on him, finding him on the left side of her love seat, watching Wheel of Fortune on the tube with the sound muted. Tuning into him, she heard him talking softly to himself, working through a problem. Turning back to he sink she glanced at the clock display on her microwave. ‘Eleven minutes and forty-three seconds to the start of Jeopardy,’ she thought. She started an internal timer and dipped her hands into the hot soapy water. ‘Plenty of time to finish.’ She would be curled into his side before Alex Trebek introduced the first contestant.
Alex fitted his Bluetooth headpiece as he organized his thoughts. Although the headpiece was a cutting edge technology with a limited list of compatible equipment, he was confident that the Granolith enhanced device was totally secure. He loved the fact that it allowed him total hands-free access to all his toys.
“Computer, stand by for new tasking.”
~~“State scope of project.”~~
“Aries capital project. Maximum effort.”
~~“Stand by. Working,,, local server farm online. Working,,, availability, one hundred percent. Working,,, Evans server farm online. Working,,, availability, one hundred percent. Working,,, Whitman server farm online. Working,,, availability one hundred percent. State level of communication security necessary.”~~
“End user of project is an Aries client. Standard Aries protocols are to be utilized. Maximum commercial encryption required for all transmissions between Aries servers. Under no circumstances are any extraordinary protocols to be imbedded in the code of this project.”
~~“Compliance.”~~
“Job One. Create an inviolate back-up of all Amarillo Memorial raw data on both Roswell servers, full RAID (Redundant Array of Inexpensive Devices) protocols.”
~~“Compliance, job in queue. Warning, Roswell storage drives approaching seventy percent capacity.”~~
“Stand by.”
~~“Standing by.”~~
Alex reached and touched his Bluetooth headset, muting it. “Izzy!”
“Yea Sweetie,” Isabel replied, leaning through the doorway.
“Can you make a mental note that we need more storage in Roswell?”
Isabel thought a moment. “Current planning is that we switch to IBM Ultrastar drives,,,”
“SCSI hot swappable?”
“Yea. They’re designed for the Blades (servers) we use. They’re currently have one hundred forty-six gig of capacity, how many?”
“Eight. Two for each Blade. That way we won’t have to worry about it for a while.”
“I’ll order them tomorrow, UPS Blue. (two day delivery) That way we’ll be sure to have them in time to install next weekend when we’re in Roswell. By the way, that will leave us with just two empty slots in each of the server farm’s external drive racks. The next time you add drives you’ll have to start thinking about either upgrading them to a 16 slot (half-height) c7000 enclosure or adding a second 8 slot c3000,” she said as she went back to putting the dishes away.
“Timeline?” he asked of her retreating form.
“Six months, unless things really start picking up,” she called out over her shoulder.
“I’ll keep that in mind,” he answered mentally, not wanting to shout at her.
“You won’t think of it until you’re standing there with no place to put a new set of drives, but I’ve made a note of it. I’ll remind you in plenty of time to research options and get something shipped in before it becomes an issue.”
“That’s why I love you,,,”
“Really,,, I thought you loved me because I bring you to the heights of ecstasy every night,,,”
“Oh, that was you? I thought I’d been working too hard and went to bed totally exhausted every night,,,”
This comment earned him a wet dish cloth to the face before they both went back to work.
Alex tapped his headset, “Computer.”
~~“Awaiting instruction.”~~
“Job Two. Create an Aries Database for Amarillo Memorial, standard fields for a central master database. Name the database ‘Amarillo Memorial Master Database’.”
~~“Compliance. Job in queue.”~~
“State number of files in the Amarillo Memorial’s purchasing folder.”
~~“Working,,, there are eighteen thousand six hundred and seventy-four files in the Amarillo Memorial purchasing system.”~~
“Job Three. Open Aries ‘Amarillo Memorial Master Database’. Open Amarillo Memorial purchasing folder. Analyze folder contents. Open file one. Create new record in ‘Amarillo Memorial Master Database’. Transcribe data from the open Amarillo Memorial file into the ‘Amarillo Memorial Master Database’. Verify data. Next. Repeat. Continue until all Amarillo Memorial files have been entered into the ‘Amarillo Memorial Master Database’. Verify. Create inviolate back-up of ‘Amarillo Memorial Master Database’. Name back-up file ‘Amarillo Memorial Master Database beta one-dot-zero-dot-zero.’ Copy ‘Amarillo Memorial Master Database beta one-dot-zero-dot-zero’ to all server locations. Create working copy of ‘Amarillo Memorial Master Database beta one-dot-zero-dot-zero’. Rename working copy ‘Amarillo Memorial Master Database beta one-dot-zero-dot-one.’ Open ‘Amarillo Memorial Master Database beta one-dot-zero-dot-one.’ Open record one. Verify the presence of data in critical fields. Flag any record with missing data in critical fields. Close record. Next. Repeat. Continue until all records have been analyzed. Create exception report containing flagged records. Verify. Save report as ‘Amarillo Memorial Invalid Data Report One’.”
~~“Compliance. Job in queue.”~~
“Job Four. Open ‘Amarillo Memorial Invalid Data Report One’. Create working copy. Name new file ‘Amarillo Memorial Invalid Data Report Two’. Open record one. Analyze data. Identify missing data fields. Perform internet search to ascertain missing data. Append the record with newly discovered data. Save record. Next. Repeat. Continue until all records have been appended. Verify. Save file.”
~~“Compliance. Job in queue.”~~
“Computer. How long will these jobs take.”
~~ “Stand by. Working,,, creating sample records. Working,,, analysis of one hundred recently accessed files connotes a five percent incidents of missing data. Working,,, analysis of one hundred inactive files connotes a forty percent of missing data. Conclusion,,, Estimating twenty-eight hours until completion. Confidence of accuracy of estimate is moderate at best due to small sample size and the unknown availability of additional data on the internet.”~~
“Execute,” Alex commanded as he took his headpiece off and made room for Isabel.
“Done?” she asked as she burrowed into his side.
“Done, just in time.”
“Not yet, there’s two more commercials to go, not counting the one running now, and then that’ll be Johnny Gilbert’s introduction.”
Alex stayed silent for he knew that if she was tracking time that accurately that she had something on her mind to be brought up before the show started.
“About the juke box software we have on Aries Shareware, I got the contract back from ‘i-DJ’.”
“They agreed to our changes?”
“Yea, they jumped at the chance to pay us a lump sum licensing fee instead of ongoing royalties.”
“They think they’re pulling one over on us.”
“There’s no way for us to verify how many copies of our software they’ll bundle with their drives,,,”
“Actually the jokes on them. In two years or so hard drives will have enough capacity that DJ’s won’t need a big CD changer anymore. All they’ll need is a laptop with an external drive, hell before too long a laptop with an accessory drive in their expansion bay will be enough.”
“And as per our agreement Aries DJ will still be available for sale to our shareware customers who don’t have access to multi-disk drives,,,”
“So, sign it.”
“Already did,” Isabel admitted in a soto voice.
“What? You didn’t wait on me?,,”
“Sush, Jeopardy’s started,” Isabel admonished, but a moment later she had a proposition for him. “I bet I can beat you.”
Alex knew that he could not possibly beat her even on his best day, but he had to respond to the teasing lilt in her voice. “I don’t know, I’d put my money on an enhanced human over an alien hybrid every time.”
“I’ll take my chances,” Isabel replied laughingly.
“Terms?”
“Hairbrushing, five strokes per question.”
“And if I win?”
Isabel turned to face him. “If you ever have the gall to beat me I’ll take you over my knee and warm your cute little tush with my oak brush,” she exclaimed indignantly before settling back on his shoulder in a huff. “I don’t feel like keeping score,” she sighed. “Spot me forty correct questions and concede defeat.”
“Now why would I do that?”
“Because if you do I get two hundred strokes. My hair will glisten like spun gold and the rest of me will be purring like a kitten,,,”
“Deal!” Alex interjected. Good things happened to him when she was purring like a kitten.
**********
Meanwhile back in Roswell, Ava’s cell rang. “Hello?”
~~“Ava, where the frack are you?”~~
“Home, why,,,”
~~“Because your Buddha Boy’s ruining Steve’s party, that’s why. He’s running around going all eastern lovey-dovey, except when he talks about Max Evans. He says the next time he gets his hands on Max he’s going to kill him. Claims Max ruined his party-ability,,,”~~
“Vicky, we broke up. I’m not responsible for Kyle if he gets drunk,,,”
~~“No, Kyle’s not just drunk,” Vicki interrupted, “He’s cocked-off-his-ass,,,”~~
“Frack,,, What’d he get into?” Ava asked, her ire coming through in her voice loud and clear.
~~“Just Mexican-Joy-Juice, (a potent mixture of LimeWarp, a local type of soda-pop, and cheap tequila) and I don’t think he finished his first shot. Either he came here already wasted or he got into some serious shit,,,”~~
“Great, just great,,,” ‘What a time for him to start changing,,,’
~~“Listen, I know he’s not your problem anymore, but you are staying with him and his dad, and if Kyle gets fracked up, his dad’ll come down hard on all of us,,,”~~
“Yea, where’d you say you are, Steve’s? I’ll be there in five minutes.” Ava jammed her phone into her pocket and abandoned the small collection of art books that she had checked out of the library. ‘I got to get him out of there before he does something stupid, then I gots to get out of this cornball town.’
**********
As a car commercial came on TV, Isabel settled her head on Alex’s shoulder while she racked her brain to figure out why it took her over a second to come up with a question on Central European Monarchies.
Alex meanwhile had his own issue to bring up. “In the interest of not having another fight,,,”
“We don’t fight!”
“Okay,,, in the interest of preventing another misunderstanding,,,”
“We didn’t have a misunderstanding,” Isabel insisted with more than a little ice into her voice as she sat up straight and turned to face him fully. “Fights and misunderstandings are for couples that are less perfect than ourselves. Your only shortcoming is your tardiness in realizing the brilliance of any conclusion I may have reached,,,”
‘Geeze, isn’t she going to let me get a word in sideways?’ he thought.
“I heard that!”
“Hey! Knock first!”
“Sorry, I know you have something on your mind, so I took a peek.”
Alex paused a moment, and then as Isabel settled back on his shoulder he continued, “There’s a pile of equipment in the Aries suite. I’m saving it for a project.”
“Really? What’s up?”
“I’m going to write a program for Amy, Aries POS.” (Point Of Sale)
“Don’t worry, I don’t have any other projects in the loop, and next time I’ll tell you if I do,” Isabel sighed as she ran her hand into his shirt, resting it over his heart. “You know how she values her independence, she’s not going to let you do that. She still has mixed feelings about the laptops we gave her,,,”
“We didn’t give her anything,” Alex insisted. “Those are Aries laptops, issued to them so they could work for us,,,”
“And it took her all of three seconds to see through that.”
“Izzy, they’ve had life so hard, Amy carries her entire business in her head, it limits what she can do. If I could make a system easy enough to use, intuitive enough so she didn’t have to spend a lot of time to learn how to operate it, it could make things so much easier for her.”
“So Amy, a valued partner of Aries Technologies, will Beta the new Aries POS system. Her insights will be invaluable to it’s development,,,”
“Think she’ll go for it?”
“Maybe, as long as she feels that she’s earning her way.”
“Good. With Maria leaving for school, she’ll need the help.”
Isabel moved to lie on the couch with her head in his lap, but he wasn’t finished trying to help his friends. “Izzy, when I finish Aries POS do you think Mr. P. will help us with Aries Hospitality?”
**********
For their meeting at Pangborn, Isabel had again booked their stay at Executive Suites in Alamogordo, but unlike their last several visits this was not a working evening. The plans for the Pangborn project were completed and tomorrows meeting was to inspect the progress that the Pangborn staff was making on the installation of the office furnishings that Isabel had specified. Due to her phenomenal attention to detail and the thoroughness of her plans there had not been a single snag to date, and as a result the couple was able to enjoy the evening in the facilities hot tub, an amenity that they had not had time to explore on their previous visits.
Isabel noticed that her husband face was becoming flushed, indicating that they had just about reached the limit on the amount of time that they could spend in the swirling water, and stood. “Come on Sweetie,” she enjoined holding her hand out to him, “Lets go back to our suite and you can help me wash the chlorine off.”
His eyes took in her beauty, enthralled by the red one piece suit that while of modest cut, had the consistency of tissue paper, hiding nothing. “I can’t believe you wore that suit,” he gasped as he stood and kissed her gently on the mouth.
“Save it for later,” she answered breathlessly. “I’m just happy no one else came over. I didn’t have to ‘thicken up’ my suit,” she added as she pulled her cover-up on.
Minutes later they were back in their living room and Alex couldn’t help but notice that as she closed the door she added a burst of power to the lock. He gulped as her robe slid down her arms, pooling at her feet while revealing the still wet suit that struggled to contain her heaving breasts. “Don’t you want to take a shower?,,”
“Frack the shower, I’m thinking of something more fun to do. We’re here all alone,,, we have this nice room,,,” she continued, her eyes gleaming.
Alex didn’t know quite what she had in mind, but he knew that look. It was like a hungry lion staring at a steak, and he was the steak. He grinned like the horny eighteen year old guy that he was as he realized that he was going to enjoy the next hour or four. “What do you have in mind?”
“I’ve been thinking about some of the dreams we’ve shared,,,”
“You mean like the one where you gave me a big forked tongue and big floppy bunny rabbit ears that you used as handles to hold my head between your thighs,,,”
“No,,,”
“Or the time you made me a space pirate and you were a kidnapped green skinned Orion Slave Girl with three boobs and two cunnies, all of which needed equal attention,,,”
“I was thinking of something more earthbound,,,”
“There’s the one where I threw you over my shoulder and carried you up the side of the Empire State Building so the whole world could watch,,,”
“No,,,”
“Or the time you were part of the chorus line practicing your high kicks during the Great Panty Shortage,,,”
“You do realize that the Rockettes don’t wear black back-seamed lace-top thigh-highs and thongs,,,”
“Actually, although I usually don’t like thongs the tan lines it left uncovered were an interesting touch,,, oh I know,,, the one where I was flat on my back on the painter’s scaffolding and you were tied to the ceiling fan,,,”
“We don’t have any scaffolding,,,”
“I still can’t believe you didn’t get dizzy when you kicked it up to high speed, nor did I think I could get a friction blister there,,,”
Despite Alex’s levity, she could tell by the bulge in his trunks that he was definitely interested. She took his hand and led him towards the bedroom. “I was thinking we could reenact one of our first,,,”
“The Plumber and the French Maid?” Alex asked excitedly.
“Oui Monsieur. Madame has commanded that I assist you in every possible way,,,”
“Don’t hurt me,” Alex squeaked as she stopped and ripped off his trunks.
“I’ll try not to,” she sighed as she began to nibble his neck while digging her nails into his opposite shoulder, “But I make no guarantees.”
Several hours later Alex was on the floor, flat on his back and gasping like a fish out of water while Isabel snuggled into his side. “Sweetie, do you know what ‘Ria told me?”
“That you were going to frack me to death?”
Isabel giggled at this, “No, that the only thing better than good sex was more sex,” and without warning she sent a burst of power straight into his prostate.
“Holy Fracking Shit!” Alex yelled as his ass flew into the air. “You’re not going to frack me to death, you’re going to zap me to death.”
“Awww, quit your bitching,” she cajoled. “You know every guy still in school would give their left nut to be where you are right now,,,” and with that she grabbed Fred, pulling him into the air.
“Izzy!”
“I just want to try something I saw in an encyclopedia a while ago,” (truthfully it could be best described as a woodcutting of ancient Asian pornography) she explained as she practically pulled Alex’s unit out by it’s root while she shoved a couple of pillows under his ass.
Alex felt more than a little uncomfortable being bent upwards in the middle but Isabel was impressed. “Fracking aye,” she muttered as she wrapped her hands around her favorite plaything. Finding more to enjoy than she was used to, all thoughts of preparation fled her mind. She planted her feet on the floor close to his hips and squatted down. “Mama need some of this, and if Cosmo’s right about this position, we’re going to venture into unexplored depths,,,”
Isabel’s body is difficult to describe accurately. The words big and large invoke unflattering images that could not be farther from the truth. Isabel’s body is trim for her frame, but that far from petite frame carried a lot of power at a weight that while right for Isabel, was nonetheless well above that of the average woman. Isabel released her hold on her knees and hips, allowing her appropriate yet still substantial weight to settle onto a two inch cylinder, a fleshy cylinder that her body was designed and eager to accept.
“Ooohhh,” she gasped as she took him to the root, running out of depth herself, causing him to contact her ectocervix. While most women equate this with a kick to the stomach, some find it to be immensely stimulating. Isabel’s ‘deep spot’ instantly spasmed, bring on her first release of their fourth joining.
Alex watched his wife wobble atop him and he reached for her, taking her hands he interlaced their fingers, lending support as her body writhed in ecstasy. “Are you okay?”
Isabel did not have the presence of mind to respond, instead she opened their connection to share her pleasure. The only thing that kept his poor, short-fused, teenaged body from joining her in release was the fact that it was also his fourth of the evening.
Isabel recovered quickly, but Alex was still hard, and as long as he was between her legs, her insatiable desire demanded more; besides, she still had to get her husband off. She started slowly, lifting herself off him and dropping back down, grinding her button into his course short hairs. Gradually she increased her efforts, rising higher, faster, and dropping down harder. As she reached the limit of this single axis of travel, she elaborated, flexing her knees and rotating her body on her single point of contact while leaning forward and backwards, generating the small sounds that drove Alex crazy.
Next she imagined that she had just finished drinking an entire bottle of Lime Warp, causing her to have to pee. She clamped down every muscle below her waist, resisting that urge, and triggering her second release.
Alex bit down on his lower lip, trying to delay the inevitable by performing navigational trigonomic equations in his mind. In doing so, he solved an age-old question, finding that the source of the Nile River was actually in the middle of the Australian Outback, but the distraction worked, he made it intact through his wife’s second peak. Without her noticing he snuck his knees up tight to her back and waited,,,
Isabel took a deep breath as her awareness window quickly expanded back to the point where she could again feel her husband between her legs. She gave him a little grind, finding to her amazement that he was still rock hard. ‘Fracking aye,’ she thought. ‘He’s going to kill me with that thing, but at least I’ll die as a woman, a human woman who knows she’s loved.’ But this thought passed quickly. Her desire had always been to frack him to death, albeit many years in their shared future. But all this faded in her mind. Right now she wanted to give her husband pleasure, more pleasure that his poor puny human mind could handle. Tightening her fingers to the point where her nails started to dig into the backs of his hands she lifted her hips until he was just barely inside of her. She locked her eyes with his and asked in a gravely voice, “Sweetie, you ready for this?,,” while expanding their connection.
“Oh yea,” Alex replied as he tensed every muscle in his ass and the back of his legs. The moment he sensed her relax her legs so she could sink down onto him he exploded, driving up off the floor and burying himself into her soft and slick center.
Isabel was caught completely buy surprise, a fleeting sensation as her mind blanked and her body took over. She felt him come up into her, the lengthened Fred bottoming out deep within her as their pelvises ground together. Alex continued driving, lifting her feet several inches off the carpet before reversing course, bouncing his ass off the pillow and slamming up into her again.
Isabel was already done for. Her poor body was no match for the continuous explosions happening below her waist and the ecstasy of their super connection, both of which combined to push her over the edge. Alex was no better. He lifted her into the air, holding her there as Fred did what Fred was known to do, before his resolve collapsed and he sank back down.
While Alex peaked and faded fast, Isabel’s lasted longer. As he sank down she ended up on her knees, her legs no longer able to support her, she fell onto his chest. The moment she settled on him, she peaked again, but this time she had him in her clutches. Before they calmed and she snuggled into his side, she marked him with a deep bite to his neck and deep scratches to his shoulders.
Nothing on Earth could wipe the grin off Alex’s face. His wife was snuggled into his side making little happy noises as she doodled on his chest with her finger tip, and he had given her that contentment. “Iz,,,” he gave up on oral communications. “Izzy, I don’t think I’m going to be able to move for a week.”
“That’s okay by me,” she replied as she gently scratched his sternum with a perfectly manicured nail. “I got you right where I want you.”
“Maybe, but I was hoping to give my wife more than a hotel carpet,,,”
“Well at least I made sure it was a clean carpet,,,”
“For us to sleep on,,,”
“Well luckily for you, you married an Alien Princess,” Isabel teased as she reached over him and placed her hand flat on the floor, coincidently onto one of the covers that they had pulled down in their play. Using a burst of power she morphed the micro fiber blanket into a plush mattress. “Comfy?” she asked softly.
“I’ve never felt better in my life,” Alex replied honestly.
“Good, I made it a Kluft Royal Standard ‘Cashmere Embrace’ mattress, just like at home,,,”
“Oh that? I didn’t notice. I was referring to you.”
“Oh,” Isabel whispered in pleasure as she drifted off to sleep.
**********
At five minutes to five on Saturday afternoon Isabel looked around the pod chamber, assessing the success of her preparations. Rath and Lonnie were seated on a couch that she had provided, but despite their comfort, they were visibly upset at their circumstances. Opposite of them stood Alex, Michael, and Max, who were ready to blast them into oblivion at the first sign of resistance. Backing them up were Jim, Phillip and Charles, all armed with AUG bullpups.
“I’m getting sick and tired of having guns pointed at me,” Lonnie complained.
“You came into my house and threatened my family,” Phillip countered. “You’re lucky to be alive.”
“What are you going to do about it?” she challenged.
“I’ll kill you, go home, enjoy my dinner, and then get a good night’s sleep without a moment of remorse,” Phillip deadpanned.
“You never going to learn to keep your mouth shut,” Rath muttered, admonishing his podmate.
“Frack you!”
Isabel ignored the squabbling dupes, turning to Maria instead. “Did you talk to Brody?”
“Yea, but as much as I hinted around, I didn’t get any impression that he knew anything more than he told you a week ago. In fact, I didn’t even get an impression that he realized that he had been possessed.”
“So now what do we do?” Michael challenged of Max as he began to loose patience.
“Keep me out of this,” Max replied. “I don’t have the seal anymore,” he continued as he pulled Liz close. “Isabel seems to be thriving with it while it almost ruined my life. I don’t want anything more to do with it.”
“Larek said to be here at five p.m. and we’ll just have to wait a bit longer to find out what he wants.”
As Isabel finished the chamber started to vibrate as the Granolith spooled up, building power.
“Du-du-du-du, du-du-du-du,” Alex hummed the theme to the Twilight Zone.
“Now what?” Michael snapped fearfully as he pulled Maria to him protectively.
Lonnie started to stand, but she froze for several seconds and them melted back into the couch when Phillip raised his weapon into battery.
“Has that ever happened before?” Ava asked softly.
“I don’t think so,” Kyle answered. “Even when one of them came here and talked to it, it never seemed to radiate the power it is now.”
“Everyone just settle down,” Isabel commanded. “Larek asked us to be here for a reason, so we’ll just have to wait and see what he wants.” She moved to a position between the pods and the others. “But just to be safe, Alex, Max, take my flanks sides and be ready with your shields.”
With no further warning the air began to ripple in front of the group, between where they were gathered and the front of the pods, behind which the Granolith hummed with power. The air coalesced into a transparent figure of the head and shoulders of an ancient man who floated in front of them. “Lady Isabel,” the black eyed figure said respectfully as he bowed in greeting.
“Lord Larek,” Isabel replied as she matched his gesture. “You grace us with your visit.”
“I must be brief. This communication is consuming enormous recourses, and we can maintain this connection for only a few minutes, but there have been significant developments here that I have been ordered to relate to you.”
“Then I will not delay you,” Isabel replied politely. “Please speak freely.”
“The war is over,” Larek related tiredly. “Kivar is dead,,,”
This pronunciation caused an uproar within the pod chamber, glee from the Roswellians and dismay from the Dupes.
“Wait!” Isabel commanded. Once the uproar had abated a bit she turned back to Larek. “Please, how did this happen.”
“Kivar made a critical mistake. As usual he was arrogant and foolish, but this time his folly led to his downfall.” As his audience calmed and paid attention, he continued. “At the Summit meeting he called for the Leaders of the Royal Houses of Antar Prime and the Antarian Planetary Cluster Nicholas foolishly admitted to Zan and all that Kivar did not have control of the Granolith, refuting a claim that usurper had been making for decades. Then when Prince Zan refused to cede control of the Granolith to Kivar, his enemies and his supposed allies became emboldened.”
“He lost his ace?in?the?hole,” Isabel interjected.
“What?”
“His power base,” Alex supplied.
“Yes. The Council of Regents gathered the dregs of the Palatial Guard and whatever other forces they could find for one last push against Kivar and after an epic struggle, we were successful.”
“It’s over?” Isabel asked hopefully.
“Yes, the civil war on Antar is over,,,” Larek answered evasively.
Cheers erupted within the pod chamber, almost drowning out Larek. “Lady Isabel,,, Lady Isabel!,, Please, time grows short!”
“Wait!” Isabel shouted. “There’s more?”
“Yes,” Larek replied. “The Matriarchal Heads of the Seven Houses of the Imperial Royal Court of Antar Prime, comprising the Council of Regents of Antar Prime, has established a citizen legislature as an interim government, but at the same time there is a great fear that the future of the Antarian Planetary Cluster, or even Antar Prime itself, is at risk.”
“You don’t need us to return, do you?” Isabel gasped, a chill running up her spine.
”Where you go, I go,” Alex promised.
“No,” Larek answered. “The actions of the Monarchy, first the whims and petty decrees of Zan, second past, (Max’s father) and then the inaction in the face of dissent of Zan past, (Max) combined with the tyrannical perversions of Kivar have convinced the Council or Regents that absolute power should no longer be concentrated in one person, especially when the only qualification that person possesses is the luck of a royal birth.”
“So Antar is now a democracy?” Max asked.
“Err,, yes,” Larek answered after taking a moment to evaluate the word, “Or it is on it’s way to being one, but the Council of Regents still need one last act of benevolence from the Keeper of the Royal Seal of Antar,,,”
“And what is that?” Isabel asked, her voice trembling despite a wide open connection with her husband.
“The return of the Granolith.”
“How do I know this isn’t some kind of trick?” Isabel challenged.
“Ask the Granolith,” Larek answered helpfully. “I must end this connection. The Council ask that they have your answer soon, the Granolith will convey your response. They ask that, should you agree, the Granolith be returned in one week’s time. They also advise that should any of you wish to return to Antar, you may do so at that time, but they warn that this is not the same planet that you left. Many of the citizens blame the Royals for the war, and your return may not be,,, pleasant.”
“I will consult with the Royal Four and convey my answer,” Isabel advised, her confidence returned now that she knew she was staying with her families.
“Thank you Lady Isabel,” Larek said respectfully as his image faded.
Lonnie was the first to speak. “I’m going back.”
“Word,” Rath agreed.
“You’re not going anywhere but over the state line,” Isabel commanded. “IF we decide to return the Granolith, I’ll contact you and give you safe passage back, but until then, your banishment stands.”
Lonnie tried to stare Isabel down, but unlike their first encounter, she failed miserably.. Instead she turned to the fathers. "Going to run us out of town, Five-Oh?"
“It’ll be our pleasure,” Jim replied, speaking for Charles and Phillip as well.
As soon as their ‘guests’ departed, Isabel turned to the others. “I think we should take tonight, if not the rest of the weekend, to think and talk about this,,,”
“I don’t need any time to decide,” Michael declared. “Good riddance.”
“I agree wholeheartedly,” Isabel said passionately. The Granolith doesn’t belong to us, especially if we’re not going back to our past lives, but it’s an important decision and it deserves careful consideration,,,”
“Fine, I’ll consider it, then tell you the same thing,” Michael said as he took Maria’s hand before heading up the ramp towards the entrance.
“Max?” Isabel asked.
“We have to remember how powerful it is,” Max said with concern. “We owe them to make sure we’re doing the right thing.”
“Ava?”
“Hey, this whole Royal Four Square thing is new to me,” Ava said nervously. “The biggest problems I’m used to are what I was going to eat, or where I was going to sleep. I don’t want to have any part of this.”
“Alex?” Isabel asked next.
“Not for me to say,” he answered.
“The Granolith has chosen you to be it’s keeper, and you were the first one of us to be able to communicate with it. You’re closer to it than any of us, so don’t for a moment think that you don’t have a say.”
“Okay then,” Alex replied levelly. “If we know it’s going to the right place I’d be happy to be rid of it, and Rath and Lonnie are welcome to go with it. I’ll feel a lot safer if they were gone.” He reached for her hand. “But this decision sounds irreversible. Are you going to be happy here?”
Isabel took one look into his eyes. “Yes. Lets go home.”
“Mom and Dad’s or Alex’s?” Max answered naively.
“Ours,” Isabel answered confidently while reaching for Alex’s hand. “I’ve got my rice-rocket and a Granolith enhanced radar detector that can see over the horizon. We’ll be in Albuquerque in just over two hours.”
**********
Later the following week Isabel found herself back at the Granolith chamber, her third such consolation in as many days. “Greetings Granolith,” Isabel intoned as entered.
“Greetings Isabel. Royal Four Square. Sister of Zan. Keeper of the Royal Seal of Antar. First in the line of succession to the Throne of Antar Prime and the Antarian Planetary Cluster. Wife of Alex. Have you rendered a decision to be related to the Council of Regents?”
“Yes. You will be returning to Antar and both Lonnie and Rath will be returning with you,,,”
“They understand the attended risk?”
“Yes. They have made their decision. I support it.”
“By your command.” The Granolith paused a moment, but when it saw that Isabel wasn’t moving to leave it asked, “My Lady, is there more?”
“No,” but before she could leave Isabel contradicted herself. “Chair!”
A chair silently arose from the floor, one of comfortable design, a design that had evolved over her last several visits. “I will miss your council,” Isabel said softly.
“As I will miss you.”
“How can that be so?” Isabel queried. Despite commanding the Granolith to make conversation easier by speaking of itself in the first person, it was still a machine.
“As I experience certain sensory input patterns, my mental pathways become accustomed to them. The inputs are anticipated and even missed when absent.”
“And I will miss your council. What news of Antar?”
“Conditions on Antar are tenuous at best. The Council of Regents is doing it’s best, but with a total lack of a leadership structure to provide for the needs of the populace their efforts are slow to roll back the effects of civil anarchy,,,”
“Tell me of this anarchy. There is nothing remaining of the old realm or of Kivar’s empire that can be used to serve the populace until a new government can be out into place?” What Isabel left unasked was if it would be helpful for her and the other Antarians to return.
“The conflict between the Royalist and Kivar has been going on for more than a half of an Earth’s century. There is only one person within the Royalist movement with any credibility,,,”
“Lord Larek?”
“Yes. Lord Larek,,,”
“And of Kivar’s people, can anyone be trusted? What of his successor? What kind of plans had he made for after the war?”
“Kivar was a tyrant, and like all tyrants he didn’t have a succession plan. He feared that any successor would think like he did, and as such may attempt to take over while he was still alive, so anyone who showed promise was eliminated before they could become a threat.”
“So it all depends on Larek. Is he up to the task?”
“He is old, he was your tutor in your early life at the palace after all, but there is no one on Antar as pure of heart and without self ambition as he. With the affirmation of the Council of Regents and the presence of the Granolith he will succeed.”
“Hence your return.”
“Yes, hence the return of the Granolith, the ancient artifact of the Architect of the Universe.”
“And what of us left behind? What of our families? What of those of us without powers to defend ourselves?”
“Kivar is dead. Nicholas is dead. We have detected no skin activity in almost a year. Charles and Alex have altered the governments records of your existence. The security perimeters around Roswell and Albuquerque are complete and the devices for Boston are ready for installation. The replicator devices I have provided for you will serve you for at least a decade before the orb powering it fails. In conclusion, presence or absence of the Granolith will not have a significant influence on your families safety.”
“And what of my children? Are they real,,, will they be real, or are they just a dream.”
“Your future is yet unwritten Lady Isabel, but I would never doubt your ability to get that which you most desire,,,”
“You don’t have any last minute advice?” Isabel asked nervously.
“Just that your children’s lives will easier and safer than yours,,,”
“How so?”
“They will be totally human,,,”
“Why!??” she demanded.
“There is no Gandarium to parse your Antarian and Human DNA, so your contribution to your children’s genetic make-up will be totally human. Now rest assured that they will be superior examples of the human race, but they will be human none the less.”
“No powers?”
“No powers.”
The moment she heard that her children would be different than she was, she thought that she would be upset, but instead she felt nothing but relief. Her children would be able to live without secrets and fear. They would be able to go to a doctor’s office, make friends, and do whatever they wanted to do with their lives. Instead of being upset, she was happy with the news. The next thought that came to her mind was that she wanted to share this news with Alex.
She bounded up and hopped from leg to leg, impatient to leave. “Anything else we need to know before we send you back?”
“I am assembling information that you may need or otherwise want to have. I will have an orb programmed for you when we are ready to leave.”
**********
Six Weeks Later
Isabel slowly walked through the house, performing her own security check before retiring for the evening. She was much happier then she had been for the past several days, having Alex home from a three day trip to Leprino’s two Lemoore California plants. Despite the fact that she had insisted that he go alone, leaving her behind to integrate Amy’s and Maria’s recent efforts into the now complete Aries database being created for Pangborn Industries, she hoped that the demands of their company didn’t cause them to separate too often.
Isabel finished her inspection of the first floor and climbed the stairs to the Aries suite, where she stood in the doorway analyzing the status LED’s on the various pieces of equipment, assuring herself that the UPS’s were fully charged and that the servers, firewalls and the Codex modems were functioning properly. Her duties complete and her families safety guaranteed for the night, she headed for her bedroom to which she had banished her husband after seeing how tired he had been when she picked him up at the airport.
Isabel confidently strode into their bedroom, shedding her clothing as she crossed the room without a bit of self consciousness. Leaving a trail of discarded garments on the bedroom floor, she stood naked next to the bed as she pulled down her side of the covers. In her mind lingerie was for lazing around the house and foreplay, when she was in bed with Alex nothing was going to come between them. Interestingly enough, if Alex had been awake, he would have commented on her newfound ability to control many of her compulsive behaviors, in this case how casually she treated her clothing at the end of her day.
Isabel settled into the bed with her back to Alex who, without waking fully, reached his arm around her. Feeling his slow gentle breath on her neck, she found another reason to love her new shorter hair. She pushed back against him while his hand instinctively snaked down to cup her breast and as soon as it was in place, she relaxed, holding his hand between herself and the bed, where it belonged.
Isabel gently entered Alex’s dream orb, careful not to disturb the scene that was already playing out in his mind. She found herself downstairs in their living room, not their current living room, but a room in the future where the coffee table had been pushed to the side and a newspaper had been abandoned in a messy pile on the floor. Having settled ‘Rion in his crib for the night, she settled on the arm of his recliner at the edge of her favorite oriental rug and watched as an epic battle of fart wrestling unfolded.
Alex broke free from Cassiopeia’s clutches and launched an attack on Andromeda. He pushed her down onto her back and then placed his mouth against her soft belly and blew a long sloppy raspberry. “Pffffffffttt.”
Andy giggled uproarishly as she flailed her arms and kicked her legs, struggling to escape her father’s clutches.
“I’ll rescue you,” Cassie cried as she attacked her father. She jumped on top of him, causing Alex to have to brace himself so as not to put too much weight on Andy. Alex listened to Andy’s giggles and detecting a note of breathlessness he decided that she had had enough, for the moment. He submitted to Cassie, allowing her to roll him onto his back, rescuing her sister. Fast as lightning, Cassie pushed the tail of his shirt to one side and laid a big sloppy raspberry on his belly. It didn’t count of course, both girls had to pin their father to win, same as the rules stated that in order for him to win he had to pin the both of them at the same time.
Andy leapt up and ran to Isabel. “Mommy, Mommy,” she cried out as she grabbed her mother’s hand and pulled her into the fray, “You got to help us with Daddy, he’s too big for us.”
“Okay,,,” Isabel said laughingly as she pulled her blouse out of her slacks and unfastened the bottom two buttons before tying her shirt tails into a large sloppy knot. “I’m ready.” She couldn’t play fart wrestling without having her belly available.
Alex worked his way out from under Cassie and attacked his wife. “Help me,,, Help me,,,” Isabel cried as she flailed happily. This caused both of the girls to charge in, rescuing their mom and starting an epic battle where no quarter was asked for and none given.
Minutes later Alex saw Cassie stifle a yawn while Isabel couldn’t hold back a smile as Andy struggled to keep her eyes open. With a wink to his wife, he allowed himself to be pinned. “Now!” Isabel cried, and with three sets of lips on Alex’s belly, he conceded defeat.
“Okay, time for bed,” Isabel instructed as Alex boasted of the horrible things that he would do to them next time. Cassie and Andy just giggled as they helped their mother restore the living room, having heard their father’s empty boasts many times before.
Isabel stepped close to her husband and gave him a chaste kiss of congratulations. “Tuck the girls in,” she
whispered, her breath hot on his cheek, “And I’ll be waiting for you.” ‘I’ll wear the red and black lace teddy I bought for our Houston trip,,,’ she added silently through their connection.
‘The one with the neckline that plunged down to your navel, and with the legs cut up past your hips? We wrecked that one,,,’
“You wrecked it you mean, if I remember right, and I’ll remember that night for the rest of my life. You tore it off me piece by piece with your teeth before you,,,’
‘And you saved the pieces?,,’
‘Pieces? Oh-no-you-silly-boy! After your,,, inspired,,, performance that night I fixed it. It’s good as new, in my treasure chest, right next to my First Time nightie, waiting for our next special occasion,,,’
‘And tonight is,,,’
‘Oh yea. Daddy’s been very good tonight,,,’
“Ride Daddy,” Andy pleaded, holding her arms up and breaking into their banter.
“Okay,” Alex replied softly as he bent and scooped up his daughter.
Cassie watched Andy’s face glow as she settled into her father’s hip, unable to totally keep the look of disappointment off her face that they were getting to big for him to carry them both. She was the oldest after all, and her parents had taught them to be responsible. She would sacrifice her ride for her little sister’s benefit.
Alex easily read Cassie’s look. “Daddy’s good for another ride,,,”
“No Daddy, I’m getting too big, and last time you bent to pick me up you almost couldn’t stand again,,,”
“That’s okay Princess, Daddy’s been working out. Besides, when you’re too big to carry together, Daddy’ll make two trips.”
“Wait Daddy!” Cassie cried out as she bounded up onto the couch before climbing up onto it’s arm. “You can pick me up without bending down! See!” As she settled on his hip she added, “I wuv you Daddy,” then with a wink to her sister they both leaned in and gave him a fart raspberry on his cheeks.
Alex’s heart overflowed as he carried his daughters to their room, tucked them in, and then read to them from the book The Princess Bride. Five pages later they were sound asleep. He returned the book to their nightstand, pulled their covers up, and kissed their cheeks. Hand on the switch, he hesitated at the door, not wanting to turn out the light on such an idyllic scene, but he did. The he headed down the hall towards his wife. Despite his love for his daughters, he loved Isabel more, for in addition to blessing him with a family that filled his heart to overflowing, she was a part of him.
**********
Graduation Eve
Isabel gently slipped from under Alex’s arm and turned to kiss him, adding a small burst of power to insure that he remained asleep. She crept to the dresser in her old room at her parents house, past the presentation materials that they needed for their meeting in Amarillo Texas the following morning, then quietly pulled on a pair of jeans and a warm sweater. Moments later she was in Alex’s PT Cruiser and was headed out of town.
Isabel parked next to the motorcycle on the edge of the bluffs overlooking the bends in the Pecos river, right where they had come so many times before in times or crisis, or whenever they needed a private place to talk. She wanted to catch up with Michael to tell him how proud of him she was for his decision to apply for the civil engineering program at the university, but as usual with Michael, he cut right to the chase. He didn’t even turn towards her, instead acknowledging her presence with a characteristic grunt.
“You felt it too, didn’t you?” she asked softly.
“Yea,” he replied as he finally turned to face her in the cold moonlight, “But I don’t have any idea what ‘it’ is.”
“They’re dead,” Isabel replied gently. “Lonnie and Rath. They were the last of their kind, but they still had parts of what made us, us. It’s only natural that we’d feel their passing.”
“The Granolith warned them that this could happen, that after so many years of fighting that they might not be accepted,,,”
“I don’t think so, I don’t think they died at the hands of our earlier selves. They weren’t the victims of violence,” Isabel tried to explain as she struggled to understand what her feelings were trying to tell her. “I think they could not adjust to Antar,,, The atmosphere or pressure or temperature,,, whatever. It feels like they went back to the wrong place, in the wrong time, in the wrong bodies.”
“Then it’s true. One can never go back.”
“Don’t you mean we can never go home again?”
“No!” Michael said emphatically, shaking his head. “I meant back to that place, the time of our former lives. Home is here. Home is with Maria. Home is here in Roswell with Amy and Jim, or with you and Alex in Albuquerque. Antar is someplace I would have loved to have seen, but I now I’m more sure than ever that it could have never been home.”
Isabel stepped into her brother’s arms, giving as well as taking comfort in his strong embrace. “Come on, lets go before our homes wake up and find us missing.”
END
Chapter 25-L All Good Things
By Stargazer MD
Isabel flitted about the kitchen, cleaning up after their dinner. While Alex’s plan had been going out to eat, the moment she had entered their house, she knew that they weren’t going out again until they left for the airport the next morning. Chicken Enchiladas with rice and beans had been a manageable challenge thanks to her well stocked pantry, and her husband’s happy face as he ate was reward enough.
Now with Alex in front in the TV she was cleaning her kitchen. Despite the fact that she could have accomplished this in seconds with a minimal use of power, she reveled in doing the simple task around her house the old fashioned way, with a dish cloth, soap, and her own two hands. She loved the sound of it, her kitchen, her house, her husband. Most of all she loved her Alex, the man who gave her all this. She looked in on him, finding him on the left side of her love seat, watching Wheel of Fortune on the tube with the sound muted. Tuning into him, she heard him talking softly to himself, working through a problem. Turning back to he sink she glanced at the clock display on her microwave. ‘Eleven minutes and forty-three seconds to the start of Jeopardy,’ she thought. She started an internal timer and dipped her hands into the hot soapy water. ‘Plenty of time to finish.’ She would be curled into his side before Alex Trebek introduced the first contestant.
Alex fitted his Bluetooth headpiece as he organized his thoughts. Although the headpiece was a cutting edge technology with a limited list of compatible equipment, he was confident that the Granolith enhanced device was totally secure. He loved the fact that it allowed him total hands-free access to all his toys.
“Computer, stand by for new tasking.”
~~“State scope of project.”~~
“Aries capital project. Maximum effort.”
~~“Stand by. Working,,, local server farm online. Working,,, availability, one hundred percent. Working,,, Evans server farm online. Working,,, availability, one hundred percent. Working,,, Whitman server farm online. Working,,, availability one hundred percent. State level of communication security necessary.”~~
“End user of project is an Aries client. Standard Aries protocols are to be utilized. Maximum commercial encryption required for all transmissions between Aries servers. Under no circumstances are any extraordinary protocols to be imbedded in the code of this project.”
~~“Compliance.”~~
“Job One. Create an inviolate back-up of all Amarillo Memorial raw data on both Roswell servers, full RAID (Redundant Array of Inexpensive Devices) protocols.”
~~“Compliance, job in queue. Warning, Roswell storage drives approaching seventy percent capacity.”~~
“Stand by.”
~~“Standing by.”~~
Alex reached and touched his Bluetooth headset, muting it. “Izzy!”
“Yea Sweetie,” Isabel replied, leaning through the doorway.
“Can you make a mental note that we need more storage in Roswell?”
Isabel thought a moment. “Current planning is that we switch to IBM Ultrastar drives,,,”
“SCSI hot swappable?”
“Yea. They’re designed for the Blades (servers) we use. They’re currently have one hundred forty-six gig of capacity, how many?”
“Eight. Two for each Blade. That way we won’t have to worry about it for a while.”
“I’ll order them tomorrow, UPS Blue. (two day delivery) That way we’ll be sure to have them in time to install next weekend when we’re in Roswell. By the way, that will leave us with just two empty slots in each of the server farm’s external drive racks. The next time you add drives you’ll have to start thinking about either upgrading them to a 16 slot (half-height) c7000 enclosure or adding a second 8 slot c3000,” she said as she went back to putting the dishes away.
“Timeline?” he asked of her retreating form.
“Six months, unless things really start picking up,” she called out over her shoulder.
“I’ll keep that in mind,” he answered mentally, not wanting to shout at her.
“You won’t think of it until you’re standing there with no place to put a new set of drives, but I’ve made a note of it. I’ll remind you in plenty of time to research options and get something shipped in before it becomes an issue.”
“That’s why I love you,,,”
“Really,,, I thought you loved me because I bring you to the heights of ecstasy every night,,,”
“Oh, that was you? I thought I’d been working too hard and went to bed totally exhausted every night,,,”
This comment earned him a wet dish cloth to the face before they both went back to work.
Alex tapped his headset, “Computer.”
~~“Awaiting instruction.”~~
“Job Two. Create an Aries Database for Amarillo Memorial, standard fields for a central master database. Name the database ‘Amarillo Memorial Master Database’.”
~~“Compliance. Job in queue.”~~
“State number of files in the Amarillo Memorial’s purchasing folder.”
~~“Working,,, there are eighteen thousand six hundred and seventy-four files in the Amarillo Memorial purchasing system.”~~
“Job Three. Open Aries ‘Amarillo Memorial Master Database’. Open Amarillo Memorial purchasing folder. Analyze folder contents. Open file one. Create new record in ‘Amarillo Memorial Master Database’. Transcribe data from the open Amarillo Memorial file into the ‘Amarillo Memorial Master Database’. Verify data. Next. Repeat. Continue until all Amarillo Memorial files have been entered into the ‘Amarillo Memorial Master Database’. Verify. Create inviolate back-up of ‘Amarillo Memorial Master Database’. Name back-up file ‘Amarillo Memorial Master Database beta one-dot-zero-dot-zero.’ Copy ‘Amarillo Memorial Master Database beta one-dot-zero-dot-zero’ to all server locations. Create working copy of ‘Amarillo Memorial Master Database beta one-dot-zero-dot-zero’. Rename working copy ‘Amarillo Memorial Master Database beta one-dot-zero-dot-one.’ Open ‘Amarillo Memorial Master Database beta one-dot-zero-dot-one.’ Open record one. Verify the presence of data in critical fields. Flag any record with missing data in critical fields. Close record. Next. Repeat. Continue until all records have been analyzed. Create exception report containing flagged records. Verify. Save report as ‘Amarillo Memorial Invalid Data Report One’.”
~~“Compliance. Job in queue.”~~
“Job Four. Open ‘Amarillo Memorial Invalid Data Report One’. Create working copy. Name new file ‘Amarillo Memorial Invalid Data Report Two’. Open record one. Analyze data. Identify missing data fields. Perform internet search to ascertain missing data. Append the record with newly discovered data. Save record. Next. Repeat. Continue until all records have been appended. Verify. Save file.”
~~“Compliance. Job in queue.”~~
“Computer. How long will these jobs take.”
~~ “Stand by. Working,,, creating sample records. Working,,, analysis of one hundred recently accessed files connotes a five percent incidents of missing data. Working,,, analysis of one hundred inactive files connotes a forty percent of missing data. Conclusion,,, Estimating twenty-eight hours until completion. Confidence of accuracy of estimate is moderate at best due to small sample size and the unknown availability of additional data on the internet.”~~
“Execute,” Alex commanded as he took his headpiece off and made room for Isabel.
“Done?” she asked as she burrowed into his side.
“Done, just in time.”
“Not yet, there’s two more commercials to go, not counting the one running now, and then that’ll be Johnny Gilbert’s introduction.”
Alex stayed silent for he knew that if she was tracking time that accurately that she had something on her mind to be brought up before the show started.
“About the juke box software we have on Aries Shareware, I got the contract back from ‘i-DJ’.”
“They agreed to our changes?”
“Yea, they jumped at the chance to pay us a lump sum licensing fee instead of ongoing royalties.”
“They think they’re pulling one over on us.”
“There’s no way for us to verify how many copies of our software they’ll bundle with their drives,,,”
“Actually the jokes on them. In two years or so hard drives will have enough capacity that DJ’s won’t need a big CD changer anymore. All they’ll need is a laptop with an external drive, hell before too long a laptop with an accessory drive in their expansion bay will be enough.”
“And as per our agreement Aries DJ will still be available for sale to our shareware customers who don’t have access to multi-disk drives,,,”
“So, sign it.”
“Already did,” Isabel admitted in a soto voice.
“What? You didn’t wait on me?,,”
“Sush, Jeopardy’s started,” Isabel admonished, but a moment later she had a proposition for him. “I bet I can beat you.”
Alex knew that he could not possibly beat her even on his best day, but he had to respond to the teasing lilt in her voice. “I don’t know, I’d put my money on an enhanced human over an alien hybrid every time.”
“I’ll take my chances,” Isabel replied laughingly.
“Terms?”
“Hairbrushing, five strokes per question.”
“And if I win?”
Isabel turned to face him. “If you ever have the gall to beat me I’ll take you over my knee and warm your cute little tush with my oak brush,” she exclaimed indignantly before settling back on his shoulder in a huff. “I don’t feel like keeping score,” she sighed. “Spot me forty correct questions and concede defeat.”
“Now why would I do that?”
“Because if you do I get two hundred strokes. My hair will glisten like spun gold and the rest of me will be purring like a kitten,,,”
“Deal!” Alex interjected. Good things happened to him when she was purring like a kitten.
**********
Meanwhile back in Roswell, Ava’s cell rang. “Hello?”
~~“Ava, where the frack are you?”~~
“Home, why,,,”
~~“Because your Buddha Boy’s ruining Steve’s party, that’s why. He’s running around going all eastern lovey-dovey, except when he talks about Max Evans. He says the next time he gets his hands on Max he’s going to kill him. Claims Max ruined his party-ability,,,”~~
“Vicky, we broke up. I’m not responsible for Kyle if he gets drunk,,,”
~~“No, Kyle’s not just drunk,” Vicki interrupted, “He’s cocked-off-his-ass,,,”~~
“Frack,,, What’d he get into?” Ava asked, her ire coming through in her voice loud and clear.
~~“Just Mexican-Joy-Juice, (a potent mixture of LimeWarp, a local type of soda-pop, and cheap tequila) and I don’t think he finished his first shot. Either he came here already wasted or he got into some serious shit,,,”~~
“Great, just great,,,” ‘What a time for him to start changing,,,’
~~“Listen, I know he’s not your problem anymore, but you are staying with him and his dad, and if Kyle gets fracked up, his dad’ll come down hard on all of us,,,”~~
“Yea, where’d you say you are, Steve’s? I’ll be there in five minutes.” Ava jammed her phone into her pocket and abandoned the small collection of art books that she had checked out of the library. ‘I got to get him out of there before he does something stupid, then I gots to get out of this cornball town.’
**********
As a car commercial came on TV, Isabel settled her head on Alex’s shoulder while she racked her brain to figure out why it took her over a second to come up with a question on Central European Monarchies.
Alex meanwhile had his own issue to bring up. “In the interest of not having another fight,,,”
“We don’t fight!”
“Okay,,, in the interest of preventing another misunderstanding,,,”
“We didn’t have a misunderstanding,” Isabel insisted with more than a little ice into her voice as she sat up straight and turned to face him fully. “Fights and misunderstandings are for couples that are less perfect than ourselves. Your only shortcoming is your tardiness in realizing the brilliance of any conclusion I may have reached,,,”
‘Geeze, isn’t she going to let me get a word in sideways?’ he thought.
“I heard that!”
“Hey! Knock first!”
“Sorry, I know you have something on your mind, so I took a peek.”
Alex paused a moment, and then as Isabel settled back on his shoulder he continued, “There’s a pile of equipment in the Aries suite. I’m saving it for a project.”
“Really? What’s up?”
“I’m going to write a program for Amy, Aries POS.” (Point Of Sale)
“Don’t worry, I don’t have any other projects in the loop, and next time I’ll tell you if I do,” Isabel sighed as she ran her hand into his shirt, resting it over his heart. “You know how she values her independence, she’s not going to let you do that. She still has mixed feelings about the laptops we gave her,,,”
“We didn’t give her anything,” Alex insisted. “Those are Aries laptops, issued to them so they could work for us,,,”
“And it took her all of three seconds to see through that.”
“Izzy, they’ve had life so hard, Amy carries her entire business in her head, it limits what she can do. If I could make a system easy enough to use, intuitive enough so she didn’t have to spend a lot of time to learn how to operate it, it could make things so much easier for her.”
“So Amy, a valued partner of Aries Technologies, will Beta the new Aries POS system. Her insights will be invaluable to it’s development,,,”
“Think she’ll go for it?”
“Maybe, as long as she feels that she’s earning her way.”
“Good. With Maria leaving for school, she’ll need the help.”
Isabel moved to lie on the couch with her head in his lap, but he wasn’t finished trying to help his friends. “Izzy, when I finish Aries POS do you think Mr. P. will help us with Aries Hospitality?”
**********
For their meeting at Pangborn, Isabel had again booked their stay at Executive Suites in Alamogordo, but unlike their last several visits this was not a working evening. The plans for the Pangborn project were completed and tomorrows meeting was to inspect the progress that the Pangborn staff was making on the installation of the office furnishings that Isabel had specified. Due to her phenomenal attention to detail and the thoroughness of her plans there had not been a single snag to date, and as a result the couple was able to enjoy the evening in the facilities hot tub, an amenity that they had not had time to explore on their previous visits.
Isabel noticed that her husband face was becoming flushed, indicating that they had just about reached the limit on the amount of time that they could spend in the swirling water, and stood. “Come on Sweetie,” she enjoined holding her hand out to him, “Lets go back to our suite and you can help me wash the chlorine off.”
His eyes took in her beauty, enthralled by the red one piece suit that while of modest cut, had the consistency of tissue paper, hiding nothing. “I can’t believe you wore that suit,” he gasped as he stood and kissed her gently on the mouth.
“Save it for later,” she answered breathlessly. “I’m just happy no one else came over. I didn’t have to ‘thicken up’ my suit,” she added as she pulled her cover-up on.
Minutes later they were back in their living room and Alex couldn’t help but notice that as she closed the door she added a burst of power to the lock. He gulped as her robe slid down her arms, pooling at her feet while revealing the still wet suit that struggled to contain her heaving breasts. “Don’t you want to take a shower?,,”
“Frack the shower, I’m thinking of something more fun to do. We’re here all alone,,, we have this nice room,,,” she continued, her eyes gleaming.
Alex didn’t know quite what she had in mind, but he knew that look. It was like a hungry lion staring at a steak, and he was the steak. He grinned like the horny eighteen year old guy that he was as he realized that he was going to enjoy the next hour or four. “What do you have in mind?”
“I’ve been thinking about some of the dreams we’ve shared,,,”
“You mean like the one where you gave me a big forked tongue and big floppy bunny rabbit ears that you used as handles to hold my head between your thighs,,,”
“No,,,”
“Or the time you made me a space pirate and you were a kidnapped green skinned Orion Slave Girl with three boobs and two cunnies, all of which needed equal attention,,,”
“I was thinking of something more earthbound,,,”
“There’s the one where I threw you over my shoulder and carried you up the side of the Empire State Building so the whole world could watch,,,”
“No,,,”
“Or the time you were part of the chorus line practicing your high kicks during the Great Panty Shortage,,,”
“You do realize that the Rockettes don’t wear black back-seamed lace-top thigh-highs and thongs,,,”
“Actually, although I usually don’t like thongs the tan lines it left uncovered were an interesting touch,,, oh I know,,, the one where I was flat on my back on the painter’s scaffolding and you were tied to the ceiling fan,,,”
“We don’t have any scaffolding,,,”
“I still can’t believe you didn’t get dizzy when you kicked it up to high speed, nor did I think I could get a friction blister there,,,”
Despite Alex’s levity, she could tell by the bulge in his trunks that he was definitely interested. She took his hand and led him towards the bedroom. “I was thinking we could reenact one of our first,,,”
“The Plumber and the French Maid?” Alex asked excitedly.
“Oui Monsieur. Madame has commanded that I assist you in every possible way,,,”
“Don’t hurt me,” Alex squeaked as she stopped and ripped off his trunks.
“I’ll try not to,” she sighed as she began to nibble his neck while digging her nails into his opposite shoulder, “But I make no guarantees.”
Several hours later Alex was on the floor, flat on his back and gasping like a fish out of water while Isabel snuggled into his side. “Sweetie, do you know what ‘Ria told me?”
“That you were going to frack me to death?”
Isabel giggled at this, “No, that the only thing better than good sex was more sex,” and without warning she sent a burst of power straight into his prostate.
“Holy Fracking Shit!” Alex yelled as his ass flew into the air. “You’re not going to frack me to death, you’re going to zap me to death.”
“Awww, quit your bitching,” she cajoled. “You know every guy still in school would give their left nut to be where you are right now,,,” and with that she grabbed Fred, pulling him into the air.
“Izzy!”
“I just want to try something I saw in an encyclopedia a while ago,” (truthfully it could be best described as a woodcutting of ancient Asian pornography) she explained as she practically pulled Alex’s unit out by it’s root while she shoved a couple of pillows under his ass.
Alex felt more than a little uncomfortable being bent upwards in the middle but Isabel was impressed. “Fracking aye,” she muttered as she wrapped her hands around her favorite plaything. Finding more to enjoy than she was used to, all thoughts of preparation fled her mind. She planted her feet on the floor close to his hips and squatted down. “Mama need some of this, and if Cosmo’s right about this position, we’re going to venture into unexplored depths,,,”
Isabel’s body is difficult to describe accurately. The words big and large invoke unflattering images that could not be farther from the truth. Isabel’s body is trim for her frame, but that far from petite frame carried a lot of power at a weight that while right for Isabel, was nonetheless well above that of the average woman. Isabel released her hold on her knees and hips, allowing her appropriate yet still substantial weight to settle onto a two inch cylinder, a fleshy cylinder that her body was designed and eager to accept.
“Ooohhh,” she gasped as she took him to the root, running out of depth herself, causing him to contact her ectocervix. While most women equate this with a kick to the stomach, some find it to be immensely stimulating. Isabel’s ‘deep spot’ instantly spasmed, bring on her first release of their fourth joining.
Alex watched his wife wobble atop him and he reached for her, taking her hands he interlaced their fingers, lending support as her body writhed in ecstasy. “Are you okay?”
Isabel did not have the presence of mind to respond, instead she opened their connection to share her pleasure. The only thing that kept his poor, short-fused, teenaged body from joining her in release was the fact that it was also his fourth of the evening.
Isabel recovered quickly, but Alex was still hard, and as long as he was between her legs, her insatiable desire demanded more; besides, she still had to get her husband off. She started slowly, lifting herself off him and dropping back down, grinding her button into his course short hairs. Gradually she increased her efforts, rising higher, faster, and dropping down harder. As she reached the limit of this single axis of travel, she elaborated, flexing her knees and rotating her body on her single point of contact while leaning forward and backwards, generating the small sounds that drove Alex crazy.
Next she imagined that she had just finished drinking an entire bottle of Lime Warp, causing her to have to pee. She clamped down every muscle below her waist, resisting that urge, and triggering her second release.
Alex bit down on his lower lip, trying to delay the inevitable by performing navigational trigonomic equations in his mind. In doing so, he solved an age-old question, finding that the source of the Nile River was actually in the middle of the Australian Outback, but the distraction worked, he made it intact through his wife’s second peak. Without her noticing he snuck his knees up tight to her back and waited,,,
Isabel took a deep breath as her awareness window quickly expanded back to the point where she could again feel her husband between her legs. She gave him a little grind, finding to her amazement that he was still rock hard. ‘Fracking aye,’ she thought. ‘He’s going to kill me with that thing, but at least I’ll die as a woman, a human woman who knows she’s loved.’ But this thought passed quickly. Her desire had always been to frack him to death, albeit many years in their shared future. But all this faded in her mind. Right now she wanted to give her husband pleasure, more pleasure that his poor puny human mind could handle. Tightening her fingers to the point where her nails started to dig into the backs of his hands she lifted her hips until he was just barely inside of her. She locked her eyes with his and asked in a gravely voice, “Sweetie, you ready for this?,,” while expanding their connection.
“Oh yea,” Alex replied as he tensed every muscle in his ass and the back of his legs. The moment he sensed her relax her legs so she could sink down onto him he exploded, driving up off the floor and burying himself into her soft and slick center.
Isabel was caught completely buy surprise, a fleeting sensation as her mind blanked and her body took over. She felt him come up into her, the lengthened Fred bottoming out deep within her as their pelvises ground together. Alex continued driving, lifting her feet several inches off the carpet before reversing course, bouncing his ass off the pillow and slamming up into her again.
Isabel was already done for. Her poor body was no match for the continuous explosions happening below her waist and the ecstasy of their super connection, both of which combined to push her over the edge. Alex was no better. He lifted her into the air, holding her there as Fred did what Fred was known to do, before his resolve collapsed and he sank back down.
While Alex peaked and faded fast, Isabel’s lasted longer. As he sank down she ended up on her knees, her legs no longer able to support her, she fell onto his chest. The moment she settled on him, she peaked again, but this time she had him in her clutches. Before they calmed and she snuggled into his side, she marked him with a deep bite to his neck and deep scratches to his shoulders.
Nothing on Earth could wipe the grin off Alex’s face. His wife was snuggled into his side making little happy noises as she doodled on his chest with her finger tip, and he had given her that contentment. “Iz,,,” he gave up on oral communications. “Izzy, I don’t think I’m going to be able to move for a week.”
“That’s okay by me,” she replied as she gently scratched his sternum with a perfectly manicured nail. “I got you right where I want you.”
“Maybe, but I was hoping to give my wife more than a hotel carpet,,,”
“Well at least I made sure it was a clean carpet,,,”
“For us to sleep on,,,”
“Well luckily for you, you married an Alien Princess,” Isabel teased as she reached over him and placed her hand flat on the floor, coincidently onto one of the covers that they had pulled down in their play. Using a burst of power she morphed the micro fiber blanket into a plush mattress. “Comfy?” she asked softly.
“I’ve never felt better in my life,” Alex replied honestly.
“Good, I made it a Kluft Royal Standard ‘Cashmere Embrace’ mattress, just like at home,,,”
“Oh that? I didn’t notice. I was referring to you.”
“Oh,” Isabel whispered in pleasure as she drifted off to sleep.
**********
At five minutes to five on Saturday afternoon Isabel looked around the pod chamber, assessing the success of her preparations. Rath and Lonnie were seated on a couch that she had provided, but despite their comfort, they were visibly upset at their circumstances. Opposite of them stood Alex, Michael, and Max, who were ready to blast them into oblivion at the first sign of resistance. Backing them up were Jim, Phillip and Charles, all armed with AUG bullpups.
“I’m getting sick and tired of having guns pointed at me,” Lonnie complained.
“You came into my house and threatened my family,” Phillip countered. “You’re lucky to be alive.”
“What are you going to do about it?” she challenged.
“I’ll kill you, go home, enjoy my dinner, and then get a good night’s sleep without a moment of remorse,” Phillip deadpanned.
“You never going to learn to keep your mouth shut,” Rath muttered, admonishing his podmate.
“Frack you!”
Isabel ignored the squabbling dupes, turning to Maria instead. “Did you talk to Brody?”
“Yea, but as much as I hinted around, I didn’t get any impression that he knew anything more than he told you a week ago. In fact, I didn’t even get an impression that he realized that he had been possessed.”
“So now what do we do?” Michael challenged of Max as he began to loose patience.
“Keep me out of this,” Max replied. “I don’t have the seal anymore,” he continued as he pulled Liz close. “Isabel seems to be thriving with it while it almost ruined my life. I don’t want anything more to do with it.”
“Larek said to be here at five p.m. and we’ll just have to wait a bit longer to find out what he wants.”
As Isabel finished the chamber started to vibrate as the Granolith spooled up, building power.
“Du-du-du-du, du-du-du-du,” Alex hummed the theme to the Twilight Zone.
“Now what?” Michael snapped fearfully as he pulled Maria to him protectively.
Lonnie started to stand, but she froze for several seconds and them melted back into the couch when Phillip raised his weapon into battery.
“Has that ever happened before?” Ava asked softly.
“I don’t think so,” Kyle answered. “Even when one of them came here and talked to it, it never seemed to radiate the power it is now.”
“Everyone just settle down,” Isabel commanded. “Larek asked us to be here for a reason, so we’ll just have to wait and see what he wants.” She moved to a position between the pods and the others. “But just to be safe, Alex, Max, take my flanks sides and be ready with your shields.”
With no further warning the air began to ripple in front of the group, between where they were gathered and the front of the pods, behind which the Granolith hummed with power. The air coalesced into a transparent figure of the head and shoulders of an ancient man who floated in front of them. “Lady Isabel,” the black eyed figure said respectfully as he bowed in greeting.
“Lord Larek,” Isabel replied as she matched his gesture. “You grace us with your visit.”
“I must be brief. This communication is consuming enormous recourses, and we can maintain this connection for only a few minutes, but there have been significant developments here that I have been ordered to relate to you.”
“Then I will not delay you,” Isabel replied politely. “Please speak freely.”
“The war is over,” Larek related tiredly. “Kivar is dead,,,”
This pronunciation caused an uproar within the pod chamber, glee from the Roswellians and dismay from the Dupes.
“Wait!” Isabel commanded. Once the uproar had abated a bit she turned back to Larek. “Please, how did this happen.”
“Kivar made a critical mistake. As usual he was arrogant and foolish, but this time his folly led to his downfall.” As his audience calmed and paid attention, he continued. “At the Summit meeting he called for the Leaders of the Royal Houses of Antar Prime and the Antarian Planetary Cluster Nicholas foolishly admitted to Zan and all that Kivar did not have control of the Granolith, refuting a claim that usurper had been making for decades. Then when Prince Zan refused to cede control of the Granolith to Kivar, his enemies and his supposed allies became emboldened.”
“He lost his ace?in?the?hole,” Isabel interjected.
“What?”
“His power base,” Alex supplied.
“Yes. The Council of Regents gathered the dregs of the Palatial Guard and whatever other forces they could find for one last push against Kivar and after an epic struggle, we were successful.”
“It’s over?” Isabel asked hopefully.
“Yes, the civil war on Antar is over,,,” Larek answered evasively.
Cheers erupted within the pod chamber, almost drowning out Larek. “Lady Isabel,,, Lady Isabel!,, Please, time grows short!”
“Wait!” Isabel shouted. “There’s more?”
“Yes,” Larek replied. “The Matriarchal Heads of the Seven Houses of the Imperial Royal Court of Antar Prime, comprising the Council of Regents of Antar Prime, has established a citizen legislature as an interim government, but at the same time there is a great fear that the future of the Antarian Planetary Cluster, or even Antar Prime itself, is at risk.”
“You don’t need us to return, do you?” Isabel gasped, a chill running up her spine.
”Where you go, I go,” Alex promised.
“No,” Larek answered. “The actions of the Monarchy, first the whims and petty decrees of Zan, second past, (Max’s father) and then the inaction in the face of dissent of Zan past, (Max) combined with the tyrannical perversions of Kivar have convinced the Council or Regents that absolute power should no longer be concentrated in one person, especially when the only qualification that person possesses is the luck of a royal birth.”
“So Antar is now a democracy?” Max asked.
“Err,, yes,” Larek answered after taking a moment to evaluate the word, “Or it is on it’s way to being one, but the Council of Regents still need one last act of benevolence from the Keeper of the Royal Seal of Antar,,,”
“And what is that?” Isabel asked, her voice trembling despite a wide open connection with her husband.
“The return of the Granolith.”
“How do I know this isn’t some kind of trick?” Isabel challenged.
“Ask the Granolith,” Larek answered helpfully. “I must end this connection. The Council ask that they have your answer soon, the Granolith will convey your response. They ask that, should you agree, the Granolith be returned in one week’s time. They also advise that should any of you wish to return to Antar, you may do so at that time, but they warn that this is not the same planet that you left. Many of the citizens blame the Royals for the war, and your return may not be,,, pleasant.”
“I will consult with the Royal Four and convey my answer,” Isabel advised, her confidence returned now that she knew she was staying with her families.
“Thank you Lady Isabel,” Larek said respectfully as his image faded.
Lonnie was the first to speak. “I’m going back.”
“Word,” Rath agreed.
“You’re not going anywhere but over the state line,” Isabel commanded. “IF we decide to return the Granolith, I’ll contact you and give you safe passage back, but until then, your banishment stands.”
Lonnie tried to stare Isabel down, but unlike their first encounter, she failed miserably.. Instead she turned to the fathers. "Going to run us out of town, Five-Oh?"
“It’ll be our pleasure,” Jim replied, speaking for Charles and Phillip as well.
As soon as their ‘guests’ departed, Isabel turned to the others. “I think we should take tonight, if not the rest of the weekend, to think and talk about this,,,”
“I don’t need any time to decide,” Michael declared. “Good riddance.”
“I agree wholeheartedly,” Isabel said passionately. The Granolith doesn’t belong to us, especially if we’re not going back to our past lives, but it’s an important decision and it deserves careful consideration,,,”
“Fine, I’ll consider it, then tell you the same thing,” Michael said as he took Maria’s hand before heading up the ramp towards the entrance.
“Max?” Isabel asked.
“We have to remember how powerful it is,” Max said with concern. “We owe them to make sure we’re doing the right thing.”
“Ava?”
“Hey, this whole Royal Four Square thing is new to me,” Ava said nervously. “The biggest problems I’m used to are what I was going to eat, or where I was going to sleep. I don’t want to have any part of this.”
“Alex?” Isabel asked next.
“Not for me to say,” he answered.
“The Granolith has chosen you to be it’s keeper, and you were the first one of us to be able to communicate with it. You’re closer to it than any of us, so don’t for a moment think that you don’t have a say.”
“Okay then,” Alex replied levelly. “If we know it’s going to the right place I’d be happy to be rid of it, and Rath and Lonnie are welcome to go with it. I’ll feel a lot safer if they were gone.” He reached for her hand. “But this decision sounds irreversible. Are you going to be happy here?”
Isabel took one look into his eyes. “Yes. Lets go home.”
“Mom and Dad’s or Alex’s?” Max answered naively.
“Ours,” Isabel answered confidently while reaching for Alex’s hand. “I’ve got my rice-rocket and a Granolith enhanced radar detector that can see over the horizon. We’ll be in Albuquerque in just over two hours.”
**********
Later the following week Isabel found herself back at the Granolith chamber, her third such consolation in as many days. “Greetings Granolith,” Isabel intoned as entered.
“Greetings Isabel. Royal Four Square. Sister of Zan. Keeper of the Royal Seal of Antar. First in the line of succession to the Throne of Antar Prime and the Antarian Planetary Cluster. Wife of Alex. Have you rendered a decision to be related to the Council of Regents?”
“Yes. You will be returning to Antar and both Lonnie and Rath will be returning with you,,,”
“They understand the attended risk?”
“Yes. They have made their decision. I support it.”
“By your command.” The Granolith paused a moment, but when it saw that Isabel wasn’t moving to leave it asked, “My Lady, is there more?”
“No,” but before she could leave Isabel contradicted herself. “Chair!”
A chair silently arose from the floor, one of comfortable design, a design that had evolved over her last several visits. “I will miss your council,” Isabel said softly.
“As I will miss you.”
“How can that be so?” Isabel queried. Despite commanding the Granolith to make conversation easier by speaking of itself in the first person, it was still a machine.
“As I experience certain sensory input patterns, my mental pathways become accustomed to them. The inputs are anticipated and even missed when absent.”
“And I will miss your council. What news of Antar?”
“Conditions on Antar are tenuous at best. The Council of Regents is doing it’s best, but with a total lack of a leadership structure to provide for the needs of the populace their efforts are slow to roll back the effects of civil anarchy,,,”
“Tell me of this anarchy. There is nothing remaining of the old realm or of Kivar’s empire that can be used to serve the populace until a new government can be out into place?” What Isabel left unasked was if it would be helpful for her and the other Antarians to return.
“The conflict between the Royalist and Kivar has been going on for more than a half of an Earth’s century. There is only one person within the Royalist movement with any credibility,,,”
“Lord Larek?”
“Yes. Lord Larek,,,”
“And of Kivar’s people, can anyone be trusted? What of his successor? What kind of plans had he made for after the war?”
“Kivar was a tyrant, and like all tyrants he didn’t have a succession plan. He feared that any successor would think like he did, and as such may attempt to take over while he was still alive, so anyone who showed promise was eliminated before they could become a threat.”
“So it all depends on Larek. Is he up to the task?”
“He is old, he was your tutor in your early life at the palace after all, but there is no one on Antar as pure of heart and without self ambition as he. With the affirmation of the Council of Regents and the presence of the Granolith he will succeed.”
“Hence your return.”
“Yes, hence the return of the Granolith, the ancient artifact of the Architect of the Universe.”
“And what of us left behind? What of our families? What of those of us without powers to defend ourselves?”
“Kivar is dead. Nicholas is dead. We have detected no skin activity in almost a year. Charles and Alex have altered the governments records of your existence. The security perimeters around Roswell and Albuquerque are complete and the devices for Boston are ready for installation. The replicator devices I have provided for you will serve you for at least a decade before the orb powering it fails. In conclusion, presence or absence of the Granolith will not have a significant influence on your families safety.”
“And what of my children? Are they real,,, will they be real, or are they just a dream.”
“Your future is yet unwritten Lady Isabel, but I would never doubt your ability to get that which you most desire,,,”
“You don’t have any last minute advice?” Isabel asked nervously.
“Just that your children’s lives will easier and safer than yours,,,”
“How so?”
“They will be totally human,,,”
“Why!??” she demanded.
“There is no Gandarium to parse your Antarian and Human DNA, so your contribution to your children’s genetic make-up will be totally human. Now rest assured that they will be superior examples of the human race, but they will be human none the less.”
“No powers?”
“No powers.”
The moment she heard that her children would be different than she was, she thought that she would be upset, but instead she felt nothing but relief. Her children would be able to live without secrets and fear. They would be able to go to a doctor’s office, make friends, and do whatever they wanted to do with their lives. Instead of being upset, she was happy with the news. The next thought that came to her mind was that she wanted to share this news with Alex.
She bounded up and hopped from leg to leg, impatient to leave. “Anything else we need to know before we send you back?”
“I am assembling information that you may need or otherwise want to have. I will have an orb programmed for you when we are ready to leave.”
**********
Six Weeks Later
Isabel slowly walked through the house, performing her own security check before retiring for the evening. She was much happier then she had been for the past several days, having Alex home from a three day trip to Leprino’s two Lemoore California plants. Despite the fact that she had insisted that he go alone, leaving her behind to integrate Amy’s and Maria’s recent efforts into the now complete Aries database being created for Pangborn Industries, she hoped that the demands of their company didn’t cause them to separate too often.
Isabel finished her inspection of the first floor and climbed the stairs to the Aries suite, where she stood in the doorway analyzing the status LED’s on the various pieces of equipment, assuring herself that the UPS’s were fully charged and that the servers, firewalls and the Codex modems were functioning properly. Her duties complete and her families safety guaranteed for the night, she headed for her bedroom to which she had banished her husband after seeing how tired he had been when she picked him up at the airport.
Isabel confidently strode into their bedroom, shedding her clothing as she crossed the room without a bit of self consciousness. Leaving a trail of discarded garments on the bedroom floor, she stood naked next to the bed as she pulled down her side of the covers. In her mind lingerie was for lazing around the house and foreplay, when she was in bed with Alex nothing was going to come between them. Interestingly enough, if Alex had been awake, he would have commented on her newfound ability to control many of her compulsive behaviors, in this case how casually she treated her clothing at the end of her day.
Isabel settled into the bed with her back to Alex who, without waking fully, reached his arm around her. Feeling his slow gentle breath on her neck, she found another reason to love her new shorter hair. She pushed back against him while his hand instinctively snaked down to cup her breast and as soon as it was in place, she relaxed, holding his hand between herself and the bed, where it belonged.
Isabel gently entered Alex’s dream orb, careful not to disturb the scene that was already playing out in his mind. She found herself downstairs in their living room, not their current living room, but a room in the future where the coffee table had been pushed to the side and a newspaper had been abandoned in a messy pile on the floor. Having settled ‘Rion in his crib for the night, she settled on the arm of his recliner at the edge of her favorite oriental rug and watched as an epic battle of fart wrestling unfolded.
Alex broke free from Cassiopeia’s clutches and launched an attack on Andromeda. He pushed her down onto her back and then placed his mouth against her soft belly and blew a long sloppy raspberry. “Pffffffffttt.”
Andy giggled uproarishly as she flailed her arms and kicked her legs, struggling to escape her father’s clutches.
“I’ll rescue you,” Cassie cried as she attacked her father. She jumped on top of him, causing Alex to have to brace himself so as not to put too much weight on Andy. Alex listened to Andy’s giggles and detecting a note of breathlessness he decided that she had had enough, for the moment. He submitted to Cassie, allowing her to roll him onto his back, rescuing her sister. Fast as lightning, Cassie pushed the tail of his shirt to one side and laid a big sloppy raspberry on his belly. It didn’t count of course, both girls had to pin their father to win, same as the rules stated that in order for him to win he had to pin the both of them at the same time.
Andy leapt up and ran to Isabel. “Mommy, Mommy,” she cried out as she grabbed her mother’s hand and pulled her into the fray, “You got to help us with Daddy, he’s too big for us.”
“Okay,,,” Isabel said laughingly as she pulled her blouse out of her slacks and unfastened the bottom two buttons before tying her shirt tails into a large sloppy knot. “I’m ready.” She couldn’t play fart wrestling without having her belly available.
Alex worked his way out from under Cassie and attacked his wife. “Help me,,, Help me,,,” Isabel cried as she flailed happily. This caused both of the girls to charge in, rescuing their mom and starting an epic battle where no quarter was asked for and none given.
Minutes later Alex saw Cassie stifle a yawn while Isabel couldn’t hold back a smile as Andy struggled to keep her eyes open. With a wink to his wife, he allowed himself to be pinned. “Now!” Isabel cried, and with three sets of lips on Alex’s belly, he conceded defeat.
“Okay, time for bed,” Isabel instructed as Alex boasted of the horrible things that he would do to them next time. Cassie and Andy just giggled as they helped their mother restore the living room, having heard their father’s empty boasts many times before.
Isabel stepped close to her husband and gave him a chaste kiss of congratulations. “Tuck the girls in,” she
whispered, her breath hot on his cheek, “And I’ll be waiting for you.” ‘I’ll wear the red and black lace teddy I bought for our Houston trip,,,’ she added silently through their connection.
‘The one with the neckline that plunged down to your navel, and with the legs cut up past your hips? We wrecked that one,,,’
“You wrecked it you mean, if I remember right, and I’ll remember that night for the rest of my life. You tore it off me piece by piece with your teeth before you,,,’
‘And you saved the pieces?,,’
‘Pieces? Oh-no-you-silly-boy! After your,,, inspired,,, performance that night I fixed it. It’s good as new, in my treasure chest, right next to my First Time nightie, waiting for our next special occasion,,,’
‘And tonight is,,,’
‘Oh yea. Daddy’s been very good tonight,,,’
“Ride Daddy,” Andy pleaded, holding her arms up and breaking into their banter.
“Okay,” Alex replied softly as he bent and scooped up his daughter.
Cassie watched Andy’s face glow as she settled into her father’s hip, unable to totally keep the look of disappointment off her face that they were getting to big for him to carry them both. She was the oldest after all, and her parents had taught them to be responsible. She would sacrifice her ride for her little sister’s benefit.
Alex easily read Cassie’s look. “Daddy’s good for another ride,,,”
“No Daddy, I’m getting too big, and last time you bent to pick me up you almost couldn’t stand again,,,”
“That’s okay Princess, Daddy’s been working out. Besides, when you’re too big to carry together, Daddy’ll make two trips.”
“Wait Daddy!” Cassie cried out as she bounded up onto the couch before climbing up onto it’s arm. “You can pick me up without bending down! See!” As she settled on his hip she added, “I wuv you Daddy,” then with a wink to her sister they both leaned in and gave him a fart raspberry on his cheeks.
Alex’s heart overflowed as he carried his daughters to their room, tucked them in, and then read to them from the book The Princess Bride. Five pages later they were sound asleep. He returned the book to their nightstand, pulled their covers up, and kissed their cheeks. Hand on the switch, he hesitated at the door, not wanting to turn out the light on such an idyllic scene, but he did. The he headed down the hall towards his wife. Despite his love for his daughters, he loved Isabel more, for in addition to blessing him with a family that filled his heart to overflowing, she was a part of him.
**********
Graduation Eve
Isabel gently slipped from under Alex’s arm and turned to kiss him, adding a small burst of power to insure that he remained asleep. She crept to the dresser in her old room at her parents house, past the presentation materials that they needed for their meeting in Amarillo Texas the following morning, then quietly pulled on a pair of jeans and a warm sweater. Moments later she was in Alex’s PT Cruiser and was headed out of town.
Isabel parked next to the motorcycle on the edge of the bluffs overlooking the bends in the Pecos river, right where they had come so many times before in times or crisis, or whenever they needed a private place to talk. She wanted to catch up with Michael to tell him how proud of him she was for his decision to apply for the civil engineering program at the university, but as usual with Michael, he cut right to the chase. He didn’t even turn towards her, instead acknowledging her presence with a characteristic grunt.
“You felt it too, didn’t you?” she asked softly.
“Yea,” he replied as he finally turned to face her in the cold moonlight, “But I don’t have any idea what ‘it’ is.”
“They’re dead,” Isabel replied gently. “Lonnie and Rath. They were the last of their kind, but they still had parts of what made us, us. It’s only natural that we’d feel their passing.”
“The Granolith warned them that this could happen, that after so many years of fighting that they might not be accepted,,,”
“I don’t think so, I don’t think they died at the hands of our earlier selves. They weren’t the victims of violence,” Isabel tried to explain as she struggled to understand what her feelings were trying to tell her. “I think they could not adjust to Antar,,, The atmosphere or pressure or temperature,,, whatever. It feels like they went back to the wrong place, in the wrong time, in the wrong bodies.”
“Then it’s true. One can never go back.”
“Don’t you mean we can never go home again?”
“No!” Michael said emphatically, shaking his head. “I meant back to that place, the time of our former lives. Home is here. Home is with Maria. Home is here in Roswell with Amy and Jim, or with you and Alex in Albuquerque. Antar is someplace I would have loved to have seen, but I now I’m more sure than ever that it could have never been home.”
Isabel stepped into her brother’s arms, giving as well as taking comfort in his strong embrace. “Come on, lets go before our homes wake up and find us missing.”
END
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