Episode II –The Calm Before the Storm
Have you ever watched a storm develop?
Have you ever seen a fluffy fair weather cumulus cloud
build and develop into a fearsome cumulonimbus thunder cloud.
Sometimes we are so caught up in other things that we loose sight of things above, and then the storm hits. Just like the economic down turn. People were carrying on as if there was no tomorrow and then it hit.
Calm periods are therefore deceptive, and can knock us off guard.
For those involved in the affairs of relations between Earth and the Mystical Realms, it seems like the storm has hit already.
The secret of the Mystical Realms has been blown apart by the Venezuelan government, who have paraded before the world the number one ally of the Inter Dimensional Entity Control organisation, the Troll clan Chief of the Manjura. They have also revealed the existence of the Inter Dimensional Entity Control organisation.
But this is nothing, for in the Mystical Realms, a new player is emerging from the shadows, seeking vengeance. As the members of the IDEC get ready to deal with the situation as they see it, although they do not realise it, this is just a calm period, before the real storm hits.
+ + +
An apartment building
On the outskirts of Washington DC
United States Of America
Five days after the appearance on Television of the Clan Chief of the Manjura
It was the early morning as the sun crept into the apartment. Celeste sat naked and cross legged on the floor of the lounge. She closed her eyes and concentrated, but nothing was happening.
She shook her head and started to shudder, the frustration built up inside her and tears started to stream down her face.
”Please” she whimpered
But nothing was happening.
Celeste was the daughter of the Spirit of Death and Lachesis one of the fates. The offspring of two major spirits of necessity. As a result, Celeste was a major spirit of virtue, the Spirit of Second Chances. She was supposed to be the living embodiment of when someone faces certain death, and yet survives, in human form. Like any major spirit she should be able to teleport herself to anywhere on the planet, but now she found she could not teleport even one metre. When she had been tricked into working for the British industrialist, Sir Sidney Gerald, she was teleporting all over the place, but since she had almost died teleporting to Earth’s Moon and back to get rid of a dangerous magical item that had been triggered, her ability to teleport had gone away.
When she had first discovered she had lost this ability, whilst she was still in Dublin hospital recovering, a leprechaun by the name of Shamus McTuckle had told her it might be only temporary.
But what if it were permanent?
Celeste tried again to teleport, but nothing happened apart from a painful feeling one might get if they tried to use a limb that had been badly strained.
Celeste was on the point of bursting into tears with frustration.
“WHAT ARE YOU DOING” a voice came from behind her.
It was Sophie Mitchell, the personal assistant to Kathryn Cooper, the Chairman of the executive oversight committee of Inter Dimensional Entity Control. Sophie had just come in, wearing a bathrobe over her night dress.
Celeste did her best to turn round quickly as she continued to sit on the floor.
“Sorry Sophie” Celeste whimpered, “I was trying to see if my teleport ability had come back”
Sophie shook her head, and briefly went to the bathroom. Celeste slowly stood up, not making any effort to cover her nakedness with her hands. What if anyone saw her naked, she deserved the shame and humiliation for what she had done at the bidding of her former employer, Sir Sidney Gerald. That was the rule of the Halfling village she grew up in. Anyone who had caused any problems forfeited their right to wear clothes and had to go around naked until they were allowed to wear clothes once again.
When she was assigned by her parents to work with the humans at the Inter Dimensional Entity Control organisation, she had offered to work naked as part of her penance for working for what she had done for Sir Sidney. The offer had been turned down flat by Kathryn Cooper, the chairman of the executive oversight board, and she was told that in the human culture she was working in, it was not the done thing. Even so, her upbringing in that Halfling village had left its imprint on her and it did take some getting use to.
Sophie came back into the room with another bathrobe, walked quickly up to Celeste and made her put it on, and then made sure it was done up so she was fully covered and then placed both of her hands on Celeste’s shoulders. “What if Kevin had been staying over?” Sophie asked with mild anger in her voice
Celeste did not answer.
Sophie assumed that Celeste was still having hang ups about wearing clothes still believing she had forfeited that right. “You’re not in that Halfling village now” Sophie chided Celeste, “Miss Cooper told you and I’ve told you, in our society we do not force people to go naked as a punishment like they did in that village, and what ever you may have thought you did for that man, you more than made up for by saving all those lives in Ireland”
Celeste looked briefly at the floor, and then up at Sophie with tears in her eyes, “It’s not that Sophie” Celeste replied and then explained, “When I teleport, any clothes I wear will disintegrate if I try and take them off normally, and the things you got me are so nice, I didn't want to ruin them in case my teleport ability had come back” Then Celeste broke down, “But I still can’t teleport, I’m useless Sophie, I’m useless”
Sophie hugged the weeping Celeste in her arms and gently stroked her hair, “You’re not useless Celeste” Sophie reassured her, “You still have other powers, for instance you can still go invisible and heal people” Sophie then looked Celeste in the eyes, “Celeste, when you teleported with that talisman to the moon, that was equivalent to travelling about nine times round the Earth, and then the same distance to get back from there while suffering the effects of exposure to vacuum, no wonder that ability was burned out”
“But Sophie” Celeste protested, “The Clan Chief of the Manjura is rotting in that prison cell and it’s all my fault he’s still there”
“Celeste, how do you work that one out” Sophie asked
“If I could still teleport” Celeste went on, “Maybe I could have gone and rescued him and teleported him back with me”
“Even though he’s small for a troll Celeste” Sophie responded, “He would still be too big for you, you barely managed to take the colonel to Belfast from London remember”
“I could have taken one of those worm-hole generator things” Celeste whispered between sobs
“Do you know where they are keeping him?” Sophie asked
Celeste shook her head
“Well how could you teleport to somewhere you do not know” Sophie told her, “Now get dressed while I have my shower; and then we will go to the diner for breakfast before work”
“Yes Sophie” Celeste replied and went to Sophie’s spare room where she had been staying since reporting for duty at the IDEC, and started to put her clothes on. This time instead of her clothes being themed on black as she used to have them, they were now themed on green and brown, and they looked good on her. They even matched her hair which was also no longer its natural jet black as it was now bleached and dyed red.
+ + +
Offices of G2 Special Section
Dublin – The early hours of the morning
Captain Gregory O’Doyle, the head of the G2 special section, suddenly awoke. He had fallen asleep at his desk. Before him stood Shamus McTuckle, the leprechaun from the Irish Special Diplomatic service.
“Any news Shamus” Gregory asked as he stifled a yawn.
“Not a lot” Shamus replied, “Our friends across in Washington are still pretty much in the hot seat”
“I’m surprised our existence has not been blown as well” Gregory told the leprechaun.
“That is a mystery” Shamus agreed,” because we know the Clan Chief of the Manjura knows of both our organisations here in Ireland. I can only surmise they tortured him to get details of our American counterparts because the situations between those two countries”
“But why tell the world like that” Gregory asked, “From what I have read on the internet, a lot of people are refusing to believe the evidence of their eyes”
“Well especially after seeing what you humans called Hollywood produces” Shamus replied, “It’s hardly surprising, and I’m glad in a way”
“Well I suggested to Miss Cooper to get them to declare the footage to be a hoax” Gregory went on, “But their president there over ruled her, since he believes in openness and is preparing some kind of announcement”
“Politicians drive me mad” sometimes Shamus sighed, “But declaring it to be a hoax would not do us much good, because Mr Chavez has shown the clan chief to experts from Cuba, Uruguay and Russia
“But the Russian already know of the Mystical Realms through the pact they made with the Drow High Council” Gregory answered.
“I know that and you know that, but this Mr Chavez, I doubt he knows that” Shamus told the captain.
“So any word from either the Russians or the Drow?” Gregory asked
“From what I got through the special diplomatic channels, Gregory, is that the Drow and the Russians are just as much in shock as the Americans are”
“Could we get them to press for his release” Gregory ventured
“I tried Gregory as soon as I saw the broadcast” Shamus responded, “I spoke to a drow at the Russian’s own IDEC in Moscow, but since then I have not heard anything back”
“Maybe you should try again” Gregory suggested, “In the mean time I could get some leprechauns to see if we can put together some kind of rescue plan”
“That would not work Gregory” Shamus told the captain, “Somehow the Venezuelan government have got hold of the ability to block our scrying attempts to locate the clan chief”
“So we are stuck with the diplomatic solution?” Gregory asked with disbelief
“Unless the Americans can come up with something” Shamus replied, “Anyway, as I said, not much of an update on the situation in Venezuela. I better be off now, Good night”, and with that, Shamus teleported out.
Gregory looked at his watch and saw the time. He powered down his computer and opened the door. To his surprise and horror, there was his absolute double, but before he could react the double thrust a long blade through his ribs and into his heart with considerable force. Within seconds, Gregory was dead.
+ + +
Sue-Lim Wang sat on her bed in her white pyjamas and dressing gown as she watched the sunrise from her room. She was still recovering from her nervous breakdown that had been precipitated by a number of horrors.
It started when she had returned to Earth on the USS Endeavour after helping to save both Earth and the Mystical Realms she had been detained due to a bureaucratic mix up in an immigration detention centre in Miami. Then while she was held there, she had been assaulted and raped by two guards on the instruction of an older guard who had also assaulted her. This older guard had taken exception to Sue-Lim, because she had a Vietnamese mother and the older guard’s brother had died in the Vietnam war.
More recently, she had been framed for being a terrorist and arrested by the FBI. It was whilst she was being held in the FBI building, that she had tried to commit suicide by hanging herself with an enchanted scarf unwittingly brought to her by Celeste.
There was a knock on the door to Sue-Lim’s room
Sue-Lim assumed it was one of the medical staff come to see her. They had said she was making good progress. Being the early morning she did not think it would be her fiancé Pete Smith, he was also one of the British IDEC technicians brought across to the US. Sue-Lim had grown up with Pete and loved him very much and he had been very understanding and she looked forward to his visits every day and was doing her very best to recover the intimacy they had before she had been attacked by those guards.
“It’s ok I’m decent” Sue-Lim shouted to the person knocking on the door and turned round to face the door
To her surprise it was not a member of the medical staff as she had expected. It was a man in his mid to late sixties. She recognised him as a man she hated for abandoning her and her mother in England. It was her father.
“You” she said tersely
“You know what I look like then” the man replied
“My mother had an old picture of you and her together” Sue-Lim replied
The man shook his head, “I never realised your mother managed to keep a copy of that photograph. I thought I had destroyed them all”
“What do you want Dad?” Sue Lim asked, suddenly seething with anger. This was the man who had used her Vietnamese mother during the cold war, who had later had an affair with her resulting in Sue-Lim’s birth. He had then left her and her mother in England to return to the US. This was the man who never told people his real name and was referred to by others as Mr Vee.
Mr Vee sighed, “I heard you might be anxious about the trial in Miami of those sorry excuses for detention guards who assaulted you and raped you”
Sue-Lim looked at the floor, and started shaking her head, “The hospital said that someone might go with me, but I have to be off of medication before the trial”
“There’s not going to be a trial Sue-Lim” Mr Vee interrupted, “Not one you have to attend anyway”
“What did you do?” Sue-Lim asked with a tone of horror in her voice
“Before you ask Sue-Lim”, Mr Vee went on, “They are still alive, I have not killed them or had them killed, even though I would dearly like to do so with my bare hands, I merely got them and their lawyers to realise that it would be in their best interests to plead guilty at the prelims”
“I won’t have to testify?” Sue-Lim responded weakly as tears started welling up in her eyes.
“That’s the idea” Mr Vee replied, and then he went on, “Sue-Lim, I realise you have every reason to hate me for not appearing to be there while you were growing up”
“Well mum was your bit on the side wasn’t she” Sue-Lim interrupted, “Once you got what you wanted from her, you dropped us. Isn’t that how you spies work”
“Not true, and I prefer to use the term intelligence operative” Mr Vee countered, “I so wanted to take you and your mother back to the states, but it was not possible. From a distance I did what ever I could”
“Apart from financial support” Sue Lim spat back, “Mum worked all hours as a cleaner at the Soviet Embassy in London. Sometimes she was working so late I had to help out”
“And that was the best cover she had” Mr Vee said without thinking.
Sue-Lim was stunned into silence, shaking her head, “You mean my mother was a spy as well”
“I still prefer the term intelligence operative” Mr Vee said in a matter of fact way, “One of our best as nobody ever suspected her”
“No, no” Sue Lim kept saying, “You’re lying. My mother was just a cleaner scraping by to make a living to keep a roof over our heads because you deserted us”
“If that’s what you want to believe” Mr Vee quietly replied, “But it’s not true” he added
“Ok then, so what was I” Sue-Lim said angrily and in tears, “Was I just some part of your cold war cover to make my mother fit in, make her a single parent? Is that all I am, some part of your sick and twisted spy game”
“No” Mr Vee responded firmly, “I loved your mother and you; you were a blessing in her life and mine. If I could have changed things so we were a normal family, I would have done, but that was the time of the cold war and the rise of international terrorism. It couldn’t be. If I had been around, your mother could not have operated as she did. She knew that and she agreed”
Sue-Lim was silent for a moment and then told him “So you believe you can waltz right back in to my life after all this time”
There was another knock on the door, and then it opened. It was one of the nursing staff. “Is everything alright?” she asked, “I heard raised voices”
Mr Vee showed the nurse an ID badge, “Everything’s fine Miss Jenkins, I was just delivering my daughter some important news about a forth coming trial in Miami and she was a bit upset. I will be speaking with her doctor after I have finished here”
The nurse looked at the pair sceptically, “OK, but I’ll just be outside if you need me” she said and left the room closing the door.
“Like I said Sue-Lim” Mr Vee continued, “I realise you must still hate me, but I still love you Sue-Lim. You are my daughter after all” Then he added “It’s not true to say I was never interested in you or your mother or involved in your lives. I regularly monitored your progress and intervened on your behalf when ever I could from behind the scenes”
“I guessed you got me my job with IDEC UK” Sue-Lim cut in
“Yes Sue-Lim I did, as well and positions for Jason Turner and Pete Smith” Mr Vee replied back.
“What?” Sue-Lim said with incredulity
“I knew all three of you were inseparable at University, so I arranged for your recruitment to the IDEC UK.”
“And now you are fixing things for me behind the scenes with this trial in Miami” Sue-Lim asked.
Mr Vee nodded, “Like any father would, I want you to get well Sue-Lim and the last thing you need is some hot shot Miami lawyer cross examining you and bring up your recent medical history”
For a moment Sue-Lim was stunned. She had been dreading the court hearing in Miami, and now, even though it was at the hands of her farther Mr Vee, it was in fact a great weight lifted from her shoulders.
“Thank you” Sue-Lim whispered, “I never really wanted to say anything about the rape. I just wanted to put it behind me, but I was frightened it would affect my relationship with Pete” she added, not realising she had dropped her guard.
Mr Vee thought for a moment then said “Mr Smith’s a good man, and I would like to see you and he married, you are so well suited”
Sue-Lim then remembered her anger at her father’s absence from her life. “Why? So you can walk me down the aisle” Sue-Lim said angrily, “Just as if we had been a normal family?”
Mr Vee looked at his daughter with weary sad eyes. “I probably forfeited that right long ago Sue-Lim. So long as you are safe, well and happy, that’s what matters to me. Miss Cooper knows how to get in touch with me if you want to get in touch.”
And with that, Mr Vee slipped out of the room leaving a stunned Sue-Lim. After a few moments, she lay down on her bed and sobbed.
+ + +
A Diner
Washington DC
[img=600x400]http://i228.photobucket.com/albums/ee100/dinerman2/diner034.jpg[/img]
Sophie sat down with the breakfast tray at the table opposite Celeste. Celeste was still subdued from that morning’s failure to teleport.
In the corner of the diner was a television set, playing the local news. The mundane news of traffic jams in to DC, and other local issues was a relief from the sudden interest in this possible new world called the Mystical Realms. A number of people kept saying it had to be a hoax, but a few people were believers and they were the ones to be wary of.
When she could Celeste had watched some of the media reports, and the most distressing parts were those groups who promised to hunt down any inter dimensional entity they could, after all a lot of them in the fairy stories were dangerous. Celeste was thankful that she had physical human form and could blend in just about. The only thing foreign about her was her accent, it had what Celeste was told was a South western English accent. Even so she felt scared in the presence of people outside of the IDEC, especially without her ability to teleport away from danger.
Sophie handed a bowl of oatmeal to Celeste along with a small pot of honey and a mug of coffee.
Celeste thanked Sophie and slowly set about eating her breakfast. Oatmeal was Celeste’s favourite breakfast food, but this morning she was eating slower than normal, and Sophie noticed. “What’s wrong Celeste?” Sophie asked
Celeste just looked sadly at her oatmeal eating slowly
“Is this about that ability you seem to have lost that you tried this morning” Sophie asked in a whisper. Then a thought hit Sophie, “Why were you trying today?”
“Because this was the first morning Kevin was away” Celeste explained, “And because of the issue with the clothes if I could do it, I felt I could not try until this morning, especially after what you said when you first put me up”
“Well it would have been awkward given your age” Sophie replied as she munched on her breakfast bagel.
“Age?” Celeste queried, slightly confused, and then added, “I’m almost an adult on this. . .”
Suddenly Celeste realised what she was about to say in a public diner and for a moment went white with terror. “I mean in this country” she hastily corrected herself.
“That’s where you’re wrong” Sophie calmly told her
“I don’t understand?” Celeste responded, still confused
Sophie then explained, “In our culture we measure age by how many years you have lived. In your culture and places like Korea, age is determined by the year you are living through. In your culture the age of a new born baby would be declared to be one”
“Because it’s living its first year” Celeste chimed in, as if Sophie was stating a completely obvious fact.
“But in our culture and by our laws, the baby would only be declared one, after it had lived one year” Sophie continued
“You mean I’m” Celeste began
“Sixteen going on seventeen” Sophie interrupted, “Your parents confirmed when you were born. Celeste as you are only sixteen and technically in the eyes of the law, you are still classed as a minor or a child”
Celeste thought back to when she had still been working for Sir Sidney Gerald and after messing up an attempted assassination of Colonel Samuel Peters, she had disintegrated all of her clothes and offered her body to Sir Sidney for what ever sexual delights he wanted as recompense. Sir Sidney had turned her offer down, citing employment law and then had got a coat and wrapped it around her. Maybe he had rejected her offer at the time, because she was in their eyes a child, with all the associated taboos across the various societies, even her own on the Mystical Realms. If so that had been the only shred of decency that man ever had.
“Celeste?” Sophie asked, “Are you ok? I mean learning you are still classed as a child must be quite a shock I guess”
Celeste suddenly came back to the present, shook her head briefly and then nodded and then asked “Is that why you took me in?” Celeste then asked
“Partly” Sophie replied, “Because of your age we could not get you accommodation at Quantico, Miss Cooper pulled some strings when we heard your father was sending you to us to get Kevin and I registered as foster parents with the local authorities. As far as they are concerned you are an overseas student on a college exchange programme”
The two then finished their breakfasts in relative silence, listening to the TV as it went back to the debate whether the creature the Venezuelan government was holding was real or a giant hoax. The TV station had as a guest one of the reporters from the pool, and he was adamant, what he saw was real. It was referred to as a troll and called itself the Clan chief of the Manjura tribe. Other guests were sceptical and were trying to work out how Hugo Chavez had faked it and how he was trying again to humiliate the US
After they finished, they left the diner and got into Sophie’s station wagon and headed off towards the IDEC
“Sophie” Celeste asked
“Yes Celeste” Sophie responded
“Would it be possible to work with Simon today rather than Doctor Henshaw”
“I suppose so” Sophie replied, “Why?”
“Doctor Henshaw hates me” Celeste answered
“Why do you think that?” Sophie asked
“She blames me for her friend Sue-Lim trying to hang herself” Celeste answered, and then in a choked voice, “And she’s right, I gave her that scarf with the spell of despair on it” A tear rolled down her cheek. “I tried to save her” Celeste tried to get out
“But you did Celeste” Sophie reassured her, “You blasted the door and screamed for help”
“Doctor Henshaw doesn’t see it that way” Celeste sniffed, “She says I should never have given it to her and I was doing the bidding of a man who wanted her dead”
“You have to give her time Celeste” Sophie told her, “Charlene and Sue-Lim are close friends given their shared fields of expertise”
“I suppose Sophie” Celeste sniffed as she gazed out of the passenger window and wiped her eyes with the back of her hand, “If I had known Sophie, that scarf was enchanted I would never have given it to her” she added
“Anyway Celeste” Sophie went on, “in that case surely it should be up to Sue-Lim to forgive you, not Doctor Henshaw. Celeste you remember when I took you to see Sue-Lim the other day. She understood that Sir Sidney had deceived you as well and thanked you for getting help, then she gave you the biggest hugs I’ve seen and we were all in tears that day. If Sue-Lim is ok with you I can not see why Charlene should have a problem, and I will tell her that to her face if I have to”
“Thank you” Celeste uttered in a barely audible voice
Sophie thought for a moment and then asked, “Is that the only reason you want to work with Simon”
Celeste blushed, “Well he is kind of cute, we both get on really well and I really kind of like him, even though he is a bit odd compared to other humans I have met”
Sophie sighed wistfully, “It’s a tragic case that one”
Again Celeste was confused, “What do you mean tragic case?” she asked, “Does he have something wrong with him?” Celeste added with concern in her voice
“Some would put it like that” Sophie replied, “Others would just say he’s different”
“What’s wrong with him” Celeste pressed, “He’s just three years older than me by your system and he seemed perfectly fine to me, just a little odd and quirky, which I quite like”
“You’ve got quite the hots for him haven’t you” Sophie teased
“Ok I like him a lot Sophie, but please, what’s the matter with Simon” Celeste pleaded
“Celeste, he has what we call
high functioning autism He has had it since he was a baby. Miss Cooper knows his family and got him his job”
“Does he have to take potions or treatments?” Celeste asked
“It can’t be treated that way” Sophie answered
“Is it going to kill him” Celeste asked almost in tears
“No Celeste, it’s just a condition he has to live with for the rest of his life”
“Is there a cure?” Celeste pressed
“Not that I know of”
”I bet I have one” Celeste thought to herself
After about twenty minutes in traffic, the car approached the non-descript building that housed the secret agency. Outside were a group of ten to fifteen people with placards. They were protesters who had seen the broadcasts from Venezuela and had believed them.
Some of the placards said hostile things about the entities, asking if they would be as evil and dangerous as how they were depicted in fantasy literature. Others demanded the government tell the truth. One mentioned some place called Roswell. Needless to say, Celeste was very nervous. Now was not a time to be an inter-dimensional entity.
Sophie drove past, and found a special street, that had an entrance to an underground parking lot, where she parked the station wagon.
The two of them then got out of the car, and Sophie put on her security pass and handed Celeste a visitor’s pass. Celeste’s own security pass was still being processed by human resources. (Oh the irony of the name of that department)
As they walked from the car to the security door, a thought occurred to Celeste, in the way odd things occur to people. “Sophie”
“Yes?”
“I know what Miss Cooper said about me not working naked, but if I do regain my teleport ability; I will have to work naked won’t I? I mean they can’t afford to buy me new clothes every time because of what happens to them if I teleport. Not that I mind”
“Celeste, I think we will cross that bridge should we come to that” Sophie replied, slightly distracted
Just as they got to the main security door, to their shock a shabbily dressed elderly lady, carrying two plastic bags of dirt clothes appeared to come from nowhere.
“How did you get in here” Sophie asked her, as she surreptitiously reached for the small handgun she kept in her purse.
“Can’t you spare a few dimes for a cup off coffee miss” the old woman said in an east European accent
Sophie rolled her eyes; somehow this vagrant must have inadvertently breached security while looking for shelter, especially if they had to monitor the demonstration out the front. Sophie pulled out two ten dollar bills and handed them to the elderly lady. “Take this and get out of this parking lot, it’s restricted”
“Oh I’m sorry” the lady replied, “I didn’t know, I was just looking for a place to sleep”
“You shouldn’t have to do this” Celeste chipped in, “I mean sleeping rough like this” then Celeste looked at Sophie with pleading eyes, “Can we take her in as well”
“I’m sorry, we just don’t have room” Sophie replied, “Anyway all she has to do is ask a police officer and he should be able to find her something”
“That’s ok dear” the elderly lady butted in, “You have been more than generous Miss Mitchell”
A chill went through Sophie’s spine, “How do you know my name?”
“It’s on your badge” the lady replied pointing to Sophie’s security pass.
For a moment it was Sophie’s turn to blush
Then the elderly lady put her bags down and walked up to Celeste, a strange expression came over her face, and then she whispered, “Child of death and child of fate, your soul will come and you will fulfil the prophecy”
This time a chill went down Celeste’s spine,
this woman knew who her parents were. Then the elderly woman’s face went back to normal. “What was I saying?” the elderly woman asked a shocked Celeste, “I have these moments when I seem to go into some kind of waking dream”
“Nothing much” Celeste lied.
The elderly lady, picked up her bags and headed towards the exit
“Celeste, are you ok?” Sophie asked
Celeste looked up at Sophie with terror in her eyes, “She knew who my parents are Sophie; and she mentioned something about a prophecy”
“Something’s not right here, I’ll call security” Sophie said and pulled out her mobile phone, and then both of them noticed that the elderly woman was nowhere to be seen, and there was no way she could have left the parking lot in that time.
She had completely vanished.
+ + +
Outside a house in Tynemouth
North East England
The small hours of the morning
Commander Mark Johnston of the US marines lifted the two suitcases into the taxi, while his fiancée Jenny Green said one last good bye to her father.
It had been a long week visiting Jenny’s parents, mainly because they were trying to stick to their cover story of why they had apparently returned from the dead. The story was that they were in error initially declared to be among the victims killed when The Facility in north London was destroyed by a lorry bomb.
(Although as far as the rest of the world knew it was a special forensic laboratory leading the fight in the War on terrorism) The rest of the story they had been given was that they were out of contact on a long romantic holiday, lasting over two months, which was also how Jenny had fallen pregnant by Mark.
Jenny’s parents could not decide if they were relieved that their little girl was still alive, or angry at her for not contacting them and letting them think she had been killed in a terrorist attack.
As for her becoming pregnant out of holy wedlock, well they knew it had happened elsewhere in the extended family,
but to their little girl???
Now after meeting their prospective son in law, and father of their forthcoming grandchild, they were saying goodbye again.
As for Mark and Jenny, when they had seen the news report of the Clan Chief of the Manjura captured in Venezuela, they had been so tempted to come clean, but her father was an ardent sceptic as was her mother, and the word from DC was not to comment until a decision had been made on whether or not to confirm what the Venezuelan government had said was true.
But now after what seemed like a short family reunion, Jenny’s visa for the US had come through on some fast track process, and this morning, she and Mark were leaving to ultimately fly out to the US to start their lives together. But first they were taking a detour via Ireland, to visit one last time with her former boss from when she worked as an assistant manager in a coffee shop.
“We need to go darling” Mark said to Jenny as she stood in the doorway of her parent’s house.
“Stay in touch this time” Jenny’s father butted in
“Yes sir” Mark responded before Jenny could speak, “And don’t worry about the flight to US for the wedding, I will be picking up the tab”
“But Mr Johnston” Jenny’s father replied, “It’s our tradition here that the father of the bride pays”
“Come on Dad” Jenny cut in, “It’s the least we can do after putting you through so much”
“Yes Frank” Jenny’s mother also interrupted as she came to the door in her dressing down, “You know that this is the modern way now, so stop being so old fashioned”
Then Jenny embraced her father and then her mother
“Look after yourself and that grandchild of ours” her mother whispered
“Yes Mum” Jenny whispered back.
And then they left the house, got into the taxi and headed of for
Newcastle International Airport. Because their flight was so early, they were not able to use the
Metro that ran through out Jenny’s native Tyneside.
It was one of Jenny Green’s longest drives, leaving home to go and start a new life in a foreign country with her beloved Mark, awaiting the birth of their son. It was like an end of an era, even when she was living in London, she could easily take the train up to Newcastle for weekends. Once she and Mark were married next month, it would be a lot harder to visit home from married quarters on the Quantico Marine base.
Mark was even getting a promotion to colonel, although it meant leaving the IDEC sort of, as he was being seconded to the Pentagon as a special liaison officer.
As for Jenny, she was being assigned a new role, whatever that would be, one that would be light during her pregnancy, and then one she could do part time after maternity leave, should she choose to come back. Mark of course had told her, she would not need to work again if she wanted to be a full time mother, Jenny knew he meant well and just said she would have to see how she felt once their child was born.
Of course once she got to the US, Jenny would have to do something more terrifying than facing down the Magnus Timor, meeting Mark’s parents.
Her mind wondered to how her troll friend, The Clan Chief of the Manjura was holding up down in Venezuela, but in the video conference with Kathryn Cooper, just after they had finished dealing with mopping up after Sir Sidney Gerald’s attempts to rule the world, Kathryn made it quite clear, she would not be taking part in any further field operations.
It was obvious to Jenny that it was because she was pregnant, but taking overseas secret agencies whose very existence is denied to an employment tribunaral would not be an option. On the bright side it would mean she and Mark would be together, and she loved the way he would hug her and put his hand on her stomach. When they were alone, she always insisted on lifting her top, so he could feel her abdomen directly, as she loved the touch of his hand on her skin. Sometimes the pair of them would sit stripped to the waist as he caressed her abdomen, something they could not do while they were staying at Jenny’s parents
As the taxi dropped them off at the airport for their flight to Cork, there to greet them was Stephanie from the coffee shop chain that Jenny used to work for. Stephanie had been in her coffee shop when a doppelganger assassin had attacked a second time and Jenny had killed it single handed. Stephanie was lucky to have survived and of course did not remember it as her memory of the event had been wiped and as far as she knew the attacker was some thief who was never caught.
Stephanie, like Jenny was pregnant, except she was near to full term.
“What are you doing here Stephanie” Jenny asked her.
“I could not let you go without one last goodbye” Stephanie told Jenny
“But in your condition and at this time of the morning” Jenny protested
“Well I don’t have much else to do Jenny since Derrick kicked me out of his flat” Stephanie replied “And as I am now on maternity leave”
“Kicked out? I missed that bit” Mark cut in, “Is this from your meet up at your old coffee store yesterday?”
“Oh” Stephanie said, “You must be the gorgeous US Marine that has swept our Jenny off of her feet and put her in the club as well”
“Er you could put it that way” Mark replied nervously
“Derrick was Stephanie’s boyfriend” Jenny explained
“But when he got me pregnant, he told me to get an abortion, which I wouldn’t do, so he kicked me out of his flat and said I could only come back once I got rid of the baby”
Mark shook his head in disbelief
“So you’re staying with Hanna in Cramlington?” Jenny asked
“Ai,” Stephanie replied, “She dropped me here on her way to work, but I can only stay with her until the baby is born then, I don’t know.”
“What about your parents?” Mark cut in
“I’m sorry Stephanie” Jenny interrupted, “Mark doesn’t know”
“Know what?” Mark said quizzically
“I was brought up in the care system” Stephanie explained, “That’s also why I didn’t dare apply for a council house, I might come under the radar of social services and they might take my baby away, just like some of the newspapers have said they did to other mothers”
“Stephanie” Jenny said firmly, “I’ll call my parents as soon as we have checked through security, you go and stay with them”
“But Jenny they won’t” Stephanie began
“Don’t be silly Stephanie, They know you and Mum would love to have a surrogate daughter and grandchild around” Jenny insisted, “Get yourself over there this morning and call Hanna to bring your stuff into work tomorrow and I will ask Dad to take the Metro in to collect it”
“You were always trying to take care of us” Stephanie replied, and then the tears welled up in her eyes, “I so missed you when we thought you were dead”
Jenny hugged her friend, and forced back the tears, then when they released from the hug, Jenny took from her wallet a number of pound coins and gave them to Stephanie, “Now get on that Metro and go to my parents, you know the address”
Stephanie nodded and gave Jenny another hug and then headed off to the airport Metro station.
When Stephanie was out of sight, Jenny hugged Mark, still trying not to break down, “Thanks for letting me keep him” she whispered
“I wouldn’t have it any other way Jenny, I’m so excited about being a father” Mark whispered, “Now come on, we have a flight to catch and you have that call to make”
With that Mark and Jenny went to check in for their flight to Cork
+ + +
IDEC Headquarters
Washington DC
United States of America
[img=600x400]http://www.solarnavigator.net/geography/geography_images/Washington_DC_Monument_White_House.jpg[/img]
Celeste looked through the window of the office as Sophie booted up her computer, while calling someone on the telephone. Celeste could see the demonstrators in the distance, how they had found out where the IDEC head quarters were was unclear as the Clan Chief of the Manjura had never been here, assuming that was where the information had come from. It was uncertain how much information the Venezuelans had extracted from him, probably by torture.
“She saw it here well” Sophie said to someone on the telephone. “Ok she will be working with Simon until Miss Cooper gets back from her meeting with the State Department”
Sophie hung up.
“Who was that?” Celeste asked
“My friend in the the Irish Special Diplomatic Service” Sophie replied, “They are more experienced in identifying some entities and so I was trying to find out exactly what that entity was that approached us in the underground parking lot”
“I’m sorry I could not recognise who she was” Celeste apologised, “I thought she was human and I could not detect any other thoughts she might have”
“That’s ok Celeste” Sophie reassured her, “They are going to ask one of their experts as soon as he wakes up, after all they are about five hours behind us”
Just then Charlene arrived into the outer office. She fixed her gaze on Celeste, “Oh you’re here” she said icily.
Celeste just looked at the ground, feeling very ashamed and for a moment wondered if she should disintegrate her clothes to show how contrite she felt in Doctor Henshaw’s presence, but then remembered what Miss Cooper and Sophie had told her. Anyway, with Doctor Henshaw such a gesture of shame and self humiliation would not do any good.
“You have a problem?” Sophie retorted back to Charlene.
“Yeah” Charlene replied, “I hear you took her to see Sue-Lim” Charlene said to Sophie pointing at Celeste
“So what?” Sophie spat back, “Why shouldn’t she visit Miss Wang”
“You know why” Charlene said darkly, “I don’t want her bothering my friend again is that clear?”
“I better go” Celeste whispered, “I’m sorry to cause so much trouble”
“Your not going anywhere yet Celeste” Sophie responded, “Charlene, when we were there Sue-Lim did not have a problem with Celeste, which is her name if you had forgotten. Why can’t you accept that Celeste works for us now? Sue-Lim accepts Celeste, Pete accepts Celeste, The colonel and Miss Cooper both accept her as part of the team, why can’t you?”
“Why don’t you realise she worked for a killer and almost lead to the death of my friend” Charlene replied.
Sophie spotted Celeste’s demeanour, as she switched gaze from Charlene to Celeste, “Celeste don’t you dare disintegrate your clothes, you have not done anything wrong”
“Apart from deliver her the means to kill herself” Celeste whispered, before breaking down.
Sophie quickly got up and hugged Celeste and then fired off an angry look at Charlene, “Doctor Henshaw”, Sophie said deliberately, “Celeste is still a child and like a lot of other people she was used by a scumbag, now why don’t you go back to your lab until Miss Cooper get’s back from the State Department briefing” Then she briefly turned her attention to the weeping Celeste, and kissed the top of her head.
Charlene just stood there momentarily, seething with rage. Sue-Lim was her friend, and this entity had worked for the man that had framed Sue-Lim and had taken a cursed scarf to Sue-Lim, which caused her to try and hang herself in an interrogation room in the FBI building. She even heard that this entity had almost helped in the assassination of the colonel, and now they were saying she was a member of the team? It was outrageous.
“You still here?” Sophie asked and she looked at Charlene standing there.
At that Charlene left
“She hates me” Celeste sobbed.
“I’ll speak to Miss Cooper about her” Sophie told her, “Now promise me you won’t disintegrate your clothes because of her”
“Yes Sophie” Celeste replied.
“Now Miss Cooper and the Colonel are going to be a while” Sophie told Celeste, “She is trying to put together some kind of rescue plan to get our troll friend out of prison, so why don’t you run along to Simon’s lab” she suggested, then Sophie asked, “By the way, what do you do with Simon down there”
“He tests my powers” Celeste replied, “To try and do something he called reverse engineering” she added with a confused look
“That means to see if we can duplicate some of your powers to benefit our world” Sophie explained
“Well after what I did for Sir Sidney, I need to make amends” Celeste said with sadness in her voice.
Nervously Celeste crept out of the outer office, hoping not to meet with Doctor Henshaw and headed downstairs to Simon’s lab.
What was it that Sophie had said Simon had wrong with him?
Celeste knocked on his door
“Come in Celeste” Simon yelled through the door
Celeste pushed open the door, “How did you know it was me?” she asked
“You’re the only one who knocks” Simon replied in his abrupt manner, still looking at a computer work station he was working at. “And I saw you on the CCTV”
Celeste sidled up to him, “Miss Mitchell told me you had a condition called High something Autism”
Simon looked up at Celeste, “
Aspergers” he replied in a matter of fact manner.
“Why didn’t you tell me?” Celeste asked him.
“We got on so well with out you knowing” Simon replied, “I did not think it was relevant”
“But I can heal you” Celeste insisted, and then her eyes began to glow with a bright green light.
To her amazement Simon started to back off violently shaking his head and repeating the word “No”
Celeste, stopped her healing power and the green glow vanished from her eyes. “I don’t understand” she whined, “I only want to help?” Then Celeste broke down in tears, “I suppose you hate me too now” she sobbed, “I can’t do anything right”.
Simon came up and put his right arm around Celeste’s shoulders, “No I don’t” He told her
“But why don’t you want me to heal you?” She cried
“Because I would not be me if you could” He replied
“Huh?” Celeste replied
“Celeste” Simon went onto explain, “My condition is to do with the way my brain is wired. It’s not wired like normal people. If it were, I would be a different person, I would not be me”
“I’m sorry I didn’t mean to upset you” Celeste Sniffed, “I like you the way you are” Celeste found herself saying.
She almost had to stop herself saying that she loved him, as she fancied Simon like crazy
“I like you too Celeste” Simon reciprocated, “You weren’t to know. A lot of humans don’t understand autism that well, I don’t suppose you have even heard of it”
Celeste shook her head
Then to her surprise and delight, Simon gave her a hug around her waist and instinctively they rested their heads together and Celeste put her arm around Simon.
It felt so good
“I can tell you have a good heart” Simon gently told her
“But I don’t have a human soul” Celeste replied, for the moment forgetting what the mysterious old lady had told her.
“That doesn’t matter to me” told her and kissed her on the top of her head
Simon was being so nice to her, after she had almost inadvertently destroyed his essence. Maybe this was just his character, so a thought struck Celeste, “Do you have someone special?” she asked
“I don’t have a girlfriend” Simon whispered, “If that is what you mean”
“I could be your girl friend?” Celeste suggested before she realised what she was saying.
“I don’t know, it would be nice but I’ll have to ask Miss Cooper if I am aloud” Simon replied, “She told my parents she would look out for me”
“Let’s not tell her” Celeste ventured.
“Can’t do that, can’t do that” Simon repeated.
“Why not?” Celeste asked
“I always ask her help with everything” Simon admitted, “My parents told me to ask her about important things. Wouldn’t having a girl friend count as being important?”
Celeste squeezed her arm around Simon’s waist “Why not let this be our little secret for now”
“Ok” Simon said nervously
“I love you Simon” Celeste whispered into his ear
“Love you too Celeste” Simon replied in a nervous tone, that any outsider would think was unconvincing, but to Celeste was the most wonderful thing she had ever heard.
Then Simon glanced at the clock and abruptly got up, “Oh, Oh, we have to get on” he said
Celeste was getting used to his abrupt manner, but this time she had wished they could have stayed for a while; maybe even holding hands, but Simon was right. “What do you want me to do?” she asked.
“We did force blast yesterday” Simon went on, “And invisibility and phasing the day before?”
“Healing?” Celeste suggested, “It’s what I do best”
Simon thought for a moment, “I would have to hurt something first. I don’t want to hurt anyone”
“Is that why we have never covered that one yet” Celeste asked
Simon nodded.
“You have a good heart too” She told Simon, “As well as a beautiful human soul”
“Thank you” Simon said quickly and nervously
“I wish I had a soul” she mused, “Then we could be what you humans call soul mates”
Celeste wondered what she could try. For the moment she was so happy that her Simon wanted her probably as much as she wanted him. Then she had a cheeky thought, she would do something that Simon as any red blooded human male would appreciate. “Teleporting” She suggested.
“I thought you could not do that any more?” Simon asked her
“Mr McTuckle said it might come back, “My trip to the Moon and back may have just over taxed it”
“Ok” Simon said with bemusement and disappeared somewhere to begin getting various items of equipment ready.
“And I’ll get ready” she said softly
Celeste then started to undress in the middle of the laboratory. First she kicked off her shoes and placed them on a bench. Then she removed her brown hooded zip up jacket, and then she unbuttoned her green shirt and took that off and placed them with the shoes.
Simon was still busy getting something in the lab, so she pushed down her brown skirt so now she was standing in the lab in her bra and panties. She reached behind and unclipped her bra and started to remove it. Just then Simon returned.
“Why are you getting undressed?” He asked confused and then coving his eyes with his right hand.
Celeste quickly removed her bra, placed with the other clothes and gently pulled Simon’s hand down, “its ok, I don’t mind if you look.” she said gently, and then with her free hand hooked it to start removing her panties. “If you want to film me that would be fine by me as well” she added.
“Why are you getting undressed? Simon repeated, still more confused and starting to panic.
Celeste saw his confusion in his eyes. She had misjudged him. She had heard that some men liked to see females on Earth unclothed, but she had also been told by Miss Cooper and Sophie that sometimes it made people uncomfortable, especially those with a certain moral upbringing and some of them were taught that sort of thing was for only between married people. Simon obviously belonged to one of the last two categories and that inner sense of decency made him all the more attractive to Celeste. Plus she suddenly remembered, as she was considered to be only sixteen, in their eyes some would still consider her a child, and in this part of Earth that carried certain taboos. As Simon was classed as an adult, she could inadvertently get him into trouble. She did not want to do that to her beloved Simon.
Celeste stopped undressing for the moment and crossed her arms and used her hands to cover her breasts. The man she loved deserved an explanation, “Sorry Simon” she apologised, “when I teleport, if I am wearing clothes, the moment I try to take them of, they disintegrate” She explained, “These clothes cost such a lot, that I did not want to destroy them if by some chance I could get my teleporting ability back”
“Why don’t I get you a lab coat” Simon suggested, “They don’t matter if they are destroyed and you can keep your clothes safe and still be decent”
Celeste looked deep in his eyes and then said “ok”. What she wanted to do, was to there and then hold Simon in her arms and give him a passionate kiss, but that would have to wait for when she was a bit more dressed.
As Simon went for a spare lab coat, Celeste pulled off her panties so she would be ready for when he came back and put them with the rest of her clothes, then she stood using both her hands to cover herself as best she could.
“What’s going on here?” a male voice said from behind.
Celeste turned around, and stood to attention with her arms by her sides. It was Pete Smith, Sue-Lim’s Fiancé
Celeste looked at the floor; she had been avoiding him just like she had been avoiding Doctor Henshaw.
“Sorry sir” she bleated out, “I’m here to help Simon with some experiments”
Just then Simon arrived with the lab coat and hastily did his best to wrap it around Celeste’s naked body.
“What kind of experiments are you running Simon?” Pete asked with astonishment in his voice
“Teleport” Simon quickly replied, “She said it destroys her clothes if she teleports in them”
“Oh really?” Pete replied with incredulity
“Its true sir” Celeste responded, “Whatever clothes I wear when I teleport disintegrate if I try and take them off normally. I didn’t want to spoil the ones that your organisation bought for me, so I got undressed before trying to see if my teleport ability had returned”
“Couldn’t she have done that behind a screen?” Pete then asked Simon
“Please sir” Celeste interrupted, “Simon didn’t know I was going to take them off, I just thought it would be ok.”
“Whatever” Pete replied, “Remember in future Celeste, if you have to do any experiments which might cause any problem to clothing, let us know in advance and we can find you something to wear which does not matter if it is destroyed and assign you a changing room. It looks like you embarrassed poor Simon here”
“I’m Sorry” Celeste replied as tears rolled down her cheeks, “And I’m sorry about Sue-Lim” she added.
Pete sighed, “Celeste, Sue-Lim was at breaking point before you gave her that scarf, she told me. If it had been someone else and another scarf which was not enchanted, she would still have tried to kill herself”
“But Doctor Henshaw” Celeste began.
“Forget about her” Pete insisted, “You got help for Sue-Lim and you helped save her, and I will be forever grateful to you for that. Now Simon and I will wait outside while you get dressed. Miss Cooper and the Colonel are back and they want to see you in her office pronto”
“I’ll just go to them now” Celeste said without thinking, “I don’t want to keep them waiting, I can put my clothes back on later”
“NO!” Pete insisted, “I heard from Sophie about this working naked rubbish, they can wait for you to get dressed”
Simon left the room with Pete and Celeste got dressed as fast as she could. Then she went as quickly as she could to Kathryn Cooper’s office.
When she got to the outer office, there was Charlene. Celeste said nothing.
“They’re waiting for you” Sophie told the two of them.
Charlene entered the office ahead of Celeste.
In the office were Kathryn and Colonel Samuel Peters. In addition there was Shamus McTuckle the leprechaun from the Irish Special Diplomatic Service.
“Are Celeste” Shamus opened with, “I hear you and Miss Mitchell encountered some kind of apparition”
“Is that what she was?” Kathryn said
“Aye Miss Cooper”, Shamus replied, “They are not exactly corporeal beings, they appear to those who may be pure of heart as either a warning or a test, yours sounds like it came from the former category. Its appearance at this time is disturbing”
“As if that weren’t enough” Kathryn retorted, I’ can’t believe the State Department wanted us to disavow our troll ally”
“Anyway” Colonel Samuel Peters cut in
“Yes Samuel” Kathryn replied, “Charlene, Celeste I have been with the State Department, and I finally managed to twist a few arms to get them to support our a back up rescue plan”
“What do you mean back up?” Charlene asked
“The President” Samuel began, “is planning on giving a conference admitting our existence and the existence of IDW01”
“Huh?” Celeste thought, but for some reason Samuel caught her confusion.
“Sorry Celeste, That’s what we call The Mystical Realms” Samuel explained, “He is hoping to appeal to Hugo Chavez’s better nature”
“Good luck with that one” Charlene commented
“Yeah I am with you on that one” Samuel replied, “I’m afraid our new administration is a bit idealistic and naive”
“Never the less” Kathryn cut in, “We have been putting in a plan of action, and part of it is thanks to you Celeste”
“Me?” Celeste replied with confusion
“Remember that young child you healed in London when you went to cut his life thread?” Kathryn asked
“I couldn’t do it Miss Cooper” Celeste said quietly, “I saw how his mother and sister loved him so much and I could not do it” Tears started to flow down her face, “He didn’t deserve to die so I healed him.”
“Well Celeste” Kathryn went on, “He is the son of a Mexican diplomat in London, and thanks to you we obtained their co-operation, since they are on better relations with the Venezuelan government”
“You and Charlene will be leaving on a flight to Mexico” Samuel cut in.
“From there, the Mexicans will put you on one of their flights to Caracas”
“You mean I am going to have to travel with her?” Charlene objected.
“Do you have a problem Charlene?” Kathryn asked
“Only that this entity was almost responsible for the deaths of two IDEC personnel, one of them being my friend” Charlene replied
“One of those people was me Charlene” Samuel interrupted, as he walked over and put an arm around a quietly weeping Celeste, “I have the fullest confidence in her loyalty and commitment to do the right thing, so what’s your problem”
“Maybe Celeste should go with me” Shamus interrupted, “Internal problems are the last thing we need now”
“That suit’s me” Charlene replied, “She can’t even teleport, so why are you taking her”
“Because” Kathryn said slowly, “The Mexican diplomat wants to thank her personally in Mexico”
“And she has other powers” Samuel interjected.
“This is not open for debate” Kathryn insisted, “Charlene and Celeste, you are flying to Mexico and then onto Venezuela. Mexican intelligence will help locate the Clan Chief of the Manjura since magical means are being jammed, and Celeste can use her ability to phase through objects invisibly to get to him”
“At which point” Samuel told the group as he held up something looking like a calculator, “If it is clear to do so, you will activate this GPS locator and Shamus will teleport in with a dimension jump orb and all of you will travel to the Mystical Realms.”
“So why do you need me?” Charlene asked
“Celeste here, in spite of her abilities is a minor so she can not be seen to be travelling on her own” Kathryn went on. “You are British and she has a British accent. Your cover is that Celeste is your niece and you are on holiday together. It’s the only way, since Americans are more likely to be watched by the Venezuelan secret service”
“Isn’t the Colonel coming Miss” Celeste piped up.
“A US Marine colonel” Samuel cut in, “Will be persona non grata in Venezuela. Shamus and I will be flying out to the
USS Bataan. It has orders to leave the
Sixth Fleet in the Med and head out for the Caribbean”
“Its cover” Kathryn spoke up, “Is that it is going to assist in dealing with drugs and weapons smugglers”
“The Bataan will anchor off the Venezuelan coast in international waters and will be our base of operations” Samuel explained
“Now I know” Kathryn went on as she addressed Celeste and Charlene, “That there are issues between you two over what happened to Sue-Lim, well they end here and now. Charlene is that clear?”
Charlene glowered at Kathryn, Celeste had almost caused her friend’s death and she was being made to work with her. “Crystal” Charlene replied curtly.
“I’m so sorry about what I did” Celeste wept, “I didn’t know that scarf was enchanted”
“We know” Shamus piped up, “And even Sue-Lim and Pete know that, now let’s not disintegrate those pretty clothes over this”
“When are we leaving?” Charlene asked icily
“In two hours” Kathryn replied
“Well I better go and pack then” Charlene replied
“See you back here in one and a half” Samuel told her
With that Charlene left
Celeste looked up at Kathryn, her eyes still red from crying. “Please can Sophie come along instead”, she pleaded “Doctor Henshaw hates me”
“Sorry Celeste” Kathryn replied gently, “Like I said, relations between our two countries make it impossible for an American citizen to operate and Sue-Lim is still in the hospital and She still needs Pete to be there for her”
Celeste then thought for a moment, about her packing for the trip. With the DC traffic, there just would not be time for Sophie to get to the apartment and back.
“Miss, there isn’t time for me to get back and pack” Celeste told Kathryn, “It looks like I’ll have to...”
“You’re not working naked” Celeste Kathryn interrupted, “Apart from appropriateness issues it would attract too much attention”.
“But these are the only clothes I have with me” Celeste protested.
“No problem” Shamus cut in, “I teleported there myself and packed a few things for you” Then he handed Celeste a small black wheeled travel case.
“Thank you” Celeste replied.
“So that’s settled” Samuel remarked, “its Venezuela here we come”.
#
A blue Ford drew up to the front of the building housing Inter Dimensional Entity Control where a number of demonstrators were picketing the building.
One of the men demonstrating about the government concealing the existence of the Mystical Realms left the group after telling them his brother-in-law was picking him up to visit his sick wife at the hospital, and got into the car.
The car pulled out in to traffic. The driver was wearing a hooded jacket.
“You were right” the passenger opened with, “Thanks to that little creature of yours I can confirm that this building is definitely that government organisation dealing with your world”
“So the captive apparition of warning found someone from our world in that building?” The driver asked
“Yes” replied the passenger, “It latched onto the entity just like you said it would” Then the passenger pulled from his pocket a yellow orb, “I’ve got the apparition here” he added.
“You could have let it go” the driver told his passenger, “They are relatively harmless”
“I figured if it stayed around too much” the passenger replied, “They might link it back to us”
“I appreciate your concern” the driver told his passenger, “But they would not have got anything from it anyway. You can leave the orb on the back seat of this motor vehicle and I will release it later”
The passenger turned round as best as he could and tossed the orb onto the back seat, then he twisted his arm and took hold of a black attaché case and brought it round to the front.
“Two million US dollars as agreed” the driver said, without glancing at the passenger.
The passenger opened the case on his lap and looked at the money, and then closed the case. “It’s good to do business with you” the passenger told the driver.
The driver did not reply but drove to down town DC where he parked the car to let his passenger out. Before the passenger got out, the driver turned to face him. The passenger caught sight of the driver’s darkish complexion and pointed ears, but said nothing. “A little bit of advice for free” The driver told his passenger
“Ok?” the passenger asked
“Get as far from this city as you possibly can”
“With this” the passenger replied referring to the money, “I intend to go to Tahiti”
“That would be a good plan” The driver answered
With that the passenger got out of the car and watched while the driver vanished into the DC traffic
To be continued