Absolute Power 7
Incognito
By Joan Banks
“Mr.
Collins, Colorado Child Welfare is on the phone again.” The secretary
announced through the speaker. The little girl rushed over to the desk and hit the button
that activated both the microphone and the voice changing circuit.
“Tell
them I’m unavailable!” she squawked.
“Sir,
they claim that you have custody of Sarah Jean illegally. She is officially a
ward of the state and should be in an approved foster home.”
“Are
they claiming I provide an unfit home?” The little girl was furious.
“No
sir, they just want to talk with you.”
“Not now.” She severed the connection. The child sat back in the oversized chair and peaked her fingers to her lips. This could get messy, she thought, and inconvenient. She keyed the microphone again.
“Mr.
Simmons. How many teams do we have
deployed?”
“Seventeen.
Two more by next week.”
“That
is not acceptable. Deploy ten more teams by Monday morning.”
“That
is stupid, Casper! They require training and....”
“Simmons,
do not question me. I know what
they have to deal with. I don’t
care how, just make it happen.” She
muted the circuit, which left an audible shut off to the connection.
“Crazy
old coot.” She heard the man say. She
smiled and severed the connection completely.
Excellent,
she thought, he is even fearless of me! Father
was much too nice in his approach. This
is a war, and I need warriors.
The
relaxed atmosphere of Miami was a relief. Sarah
and Debby wandered the streets to the campus, where they hoped to find Professor
Al-him. A noted expert on Middle Eastern legend, he might just hold
the key to finding the Djinn.
Debby
acknowledged the need for disguise. Both
of them now appeared to be in their early twenties and their features had been
altered slightly to take on a more Cuban look.
Each of them had long black hair and did not feel out of place in the
community at all. Except for the
fact the neither of them spoke Spanish they blended quite well.
Debby
was still nervous about submitting to transformations.
Larry had been stuck as Sarah for seven months now, and Debby was nervous
about a similar occurrence happening to her.
This time it was vanity that won her over.
She was tired of being the thirty-something.
Sarah tightened up her body and slimmed her down in such a sexy way that
she thought she must have been crazy before.
“Which
building?” Debby asked her friend.
“How
should I know? Let’s just find
the history department, okay?” Sarah replied, “Just relax.
No dramatic rescues or adventures, just a simple talk with a
knowledgeable man.”
Sarah
was reveling in this body. She had
been in the body of an eleven year old for the last month and any kind of
adulthood was a relief.
Shortly,
they reached the campus. It was
definitely home of the beautiful people, that was for sure.
Young, healthy students were everywhere but few of them seemed interested
in classes. They lounged about the
campus, talking, flirting and generally goofing off.
Sarah went right up to one group of young men.
“Hi
guys.” She said, smiling “Where’s the history department?”
“You’re
kidding, right?” one of them, a tall blond man said, “I’m Carl.
A hot babe like you shouldn’t be spending a day like this in a class. Party with us!” The
entire group agreed. “And bring your cute friend, too.”
“Maybe
later.” She dropped the smile “History building?”
“Over
there.” He pointed across the quad. One
of them stuck a flier into Debby’s hand.
“Thanks.”
Sarah’s smile lit up again as they walked away.
“...it
is vitally important these women be captured.” The videophone announced.
Instead of a moving picture, there was just a photo of Casper Collins to
go with the old mans’ voice. “Do
not kill them. You will find that
very hard to do. Be wary, they are
strong, and slippery. Do not be
fooled by their appearance. They
must be captured at all costs. “ The
old mans’ monologue stopped abruptly. The group stared at each other.
It wasn’t a very polished group that was for sure. Two of the four had been released from prison due to a
certain amount of political pressure. The
other two didn’t appear to be happy with what they had for teammates.
“What
is it?” Robert fairly shouted at the speaker.
His secretary had paged him with the ‘urgent’ signal.
“Colorado
Child Welfare....” she started to say.
“I
don’t have time for them! Put them off!”
There was a moment of silence.
“I
was trying to tell you, sir.” She said slowly “Is that they are here, right
now. They have a warrant for Sarah
and to arrest you or anyone who gets in their way.”
“Just
a moment!” If he could just
finish this call, he could get out the back. He keyed the videophone again.
“Good hunting. Mr. Simmons will
give you any further details.”
He
dropped off the chair and started for the back door.
The door opened before he got there, simultaneously with the front office
door. Huge, burly policemen barged into the room.
One of them dived for her and scooped her up in his arms.
The police officer didn’t use a restraining grip on the child, at
first. But he soon found that the
girl to be a fighting, squirming little demon.
He handed the child to a female social worker that deftly controlled the
child with a firm hug that precluded any movement at all.
“He
should be in here.” His secretary (read as ex-secretary) said. “He
wouldn’t leave her alone, I’m sure.”
“These
people can get a little crazy, Ma’am.” One of the officers was saying “he
obviously thought more about his own welfare than for this child.”
The
social worker started to leave, flanked by officers.
She held the little girl tight. She
must be so scared, the social worker thought, he must have really traumatized
her.
“There
there, baby.” She pat the tiny Robert on the back “Everything is going to be
all right now.” Robert wanted to kick and scream but he could barely move in
the woman’s grip. He satisfied
his fury by screaming, hoping he could at least rupture her eardrums.
“In national news, outbreaks of the Whisperer Flu have been taking place all over the country. Doctors have been trying to find a cause but apparently even the trace elements found in the Denver outbreak are no longer present. The manhunt continues for the known whisperers Larry Jacobs and this unknown woman.” The picture changed to a split screen of Larry and Sarah. “Any news as to where their whereabouts should be reported to authorities immediately.”
The
Professor’s Office was on the top floor of a three-story building with no
elevator. There was no air
conditioning and the temperature was stifling.
The
professor seemed surprised to see anyone at his office.
He opened the door wearing a sport coat and tie.
Debby and Sarah were sweating. The
professor appeared very comfortable.
“Can
I help you?” he asked, not opening the door fully “Office hours are over for
the day.”
“We’re
not students.” Debby said. “But we would like to ask you a few questions.”
“I’m
a busy man, young ladies.” He said. “If you aren’t students then you can
schedule time from the secretary. If
you’ll excuse me.” He began to close the door.
“Have
you ever heard of a Djinn named Omar?” Sarah said quickly.
The door stopped closing.
“What
a totally ridiculous name for a Djinn. Where did you hear such a thing?” there
was a hint of anger and skepticism in his voice.
“He
told me.”
“Who,
exactly?” he opened the door a little further.
“Omar,
who was once my Djinn and my friend.” With
no further words, the professor opened then door and let them inside.
So
he actually told you that he couldn’t hurt anyone?
The professor poured coffee for the three of them,
“It is most unorthodox for him to say such a thing.”
Do
you mean he lied? Debby asked.
“I
think,” he took a sip of coffee “that he was trying to allay your fears.
If a Djinn couldn’t harm anyone then they would be essentially
powerless. Any change can be
construed as harm; it is a concept that is too vague.
The Djinn are very literal in their applications of power.”
“Where
do Djinn go when the last wish is used?”
Debby asked.
“But
how do I....” Sarah started asking at the same time.
“Solve
your problem? As I said, they are
very literal. It seems that Omar
wasn’t one of the trickster variety of Djinn, he gave you what you asked for,
very specifically.”
“I
asked for this?”
“Literal,
my dear, an exact interpretation of wording.
If you want to find why you are trapped.” He smiled and snickered a little
“Then look to the wording of your wish.”
He
stood.
“I
am sorry to cut this short, but I do have a class.”
He apologized. Debby and
Sarah stood. “I do hope you find
the solution to your problem.”
“Thank
you, professor.” Debby shook his hand. “We
do really appreciate it.”
“Oh
yes, as to your question ‘Where does a Djinn go after the last wish’?
The lamp is transported out of the immediate area.
Presumably this is to avoid re-use by the same master.
Possibly it would avoid a new master giving conflicting wishes. Contrary to popular belief, he does not live in the lamp; he
is merely summoned to it. A Djinn
cannot remain voluntarily with a previous master.
By the rules, he must hide from a prior owner. But Omar probably isn’t hiding very hard, it sounds like he
bends the rules quite a bit. But
there is a simple answer to your question.”
He
held the door for them as they walked out.
“A
Djinn goes anywhere he wants.”
“Dammit,
if you re going to smoke the roll down a damn window!”
Pete Carlisle yelled to the back of the van.
The fumes were everywhere. Apparently
smoking was encouraged in prison and these two were bucking for the title of ‘
top consumer ‘. Tom wasn’t any
help at all, he was afraid to even talk to them.
Tom was a doctor, almost. In
the last year of med school he had taken to prescribing his own uppers. GeronTech hired him anyway, promised him an exorbitant
salary, and then went back on the deal. Tom
spent all of his earnings before he ever saw them. The company was only too happy to cover his debts, at a
price. He was the
company’s’ bitch now, a whore for a paycheck.
The
two in the back looked like a bad characterization of bounty hunters.
‘Bud’
wore torn jeans, t-shirt and a leather jacket.
He looked so out of place riding in this van that Pete was tempted to buy
him a bike with his own money, just to keep him away a bit.
Tony (spelled with a ‘ y’) was the weird one.
She was a tiny woman, weak looking, really. She dressed like a man and cut her hair down to a short buzz
cut. She sat in the back splay
legged as if trying to take up more space.
She claimed she used to be a man until mysteriously changing into this
dyke-looking chick. She said it all
happened after being arrested for a bogus rape/assault (so what if there were 5
eye-witnesses and DNA evidence). The
two in the back were the chimney twins, and Pete was getting sick of it.
“Hey
Petey?” Bud called from the back.
“ I know you have this great ‘plan’
and all. Wanna let us in on it?”
“All
you need to know right now is we are heading east.”
Pete coughed “I’ll fill you in as you need to know.”
Tim
Simmons stood in the status room. There
had been no word from Casper so he continued with his own plan.
The map of the US was dotted with blue circles, the location of every
operative team he had. If there was
a hint anywhere then he could have someone there almost instantly.
“Get
me a Dr. Pepper.” He told the aide at his side.
It wasn’t her job, but she wasn’t about to piss off the new boss.
She left.
“What’s
the status?”
“No
hot spots that we can confirm.” The
tech in the left seat said.
“What
does that mean?” Tim snapped at him. “We
can confirm? What’s really
happening? What can or can’t you confirm?”
He looked around and yelled “And
where the hell is my Dr. Pepper?”
“We
show 15 cities with supposed cases of the ‘Whisperer
Flu’” the tech told him “The strange thing is that we have not distributed
the serum to those cities and we don t have operatives there.”
The
Whisperer Flu was a bogus illness that GeronTech had engineered and subsequently
blamed on the Whisperer threat. It
couldn’t be carried by anything other than the serum, which they distributed
as inoculations to schoolchildren. There
was no reason for these outbreaks.
“Better
check them out.” He said, taking the soda from the aide without even a word of
acknowledgement. “Send in the teams.”
Robert
was not pleased.
The
social worker locked him into a child seat in the back of her car.
The belt buckle was just out of his tiny reach.
He kicked and struggled to get out.
He screamed at the top of his lungs.
His guards ignored him but at least he had bruised this horrible woman
and at least one cop.
“She’s
out of control.” The cop said, outside her car window. “Looks like some kind of seizure.”
“It’s
fairly common.” The woman
explained, “She wants to go back to what she knows.
Horrible as it must have been in there.
She KNOWS it.” She looked into the car at the hyper child; the little girl
was struggling to release her bonds as if her life depended on it “Calm down
Sarah!” The woman tried to say in
a soothing tone. Robert quieted enough to listen. “All Mr. Collins has to do is come down to the office and
sign a few papers. If he can show
you have a good life with him, you can go back.”
She turned back on the child to speak with the officer.
“I
swear if he sends another lawyer down, he will never see this little girl
again.” She said quietly, Robert stayed very silent to hear “All we have to
do is see him in the office for a short interview and it would have been done.
She would have been his. Now,
who knows?”
Robert
began his screams anew, this time in true panic.
“A
party?” Sarah was incredulous “You actually want to go to a party?”
“Yes,
Sarah, a party.” Debby was explaining, “After everything we’ve been
through we need to let our hair down a bit.” She set the flier on the table.
“At least I do.”
The
party was at a local amusement park. The
fraternity arranged to have a portion of the admission fee of everyone with a
flier to be donated to charity. They
passed out a lot of fliers.
Bull
and Mr. Z had provided them with numerous fake ID’s.
Most of them would pass inspection without any problem.
They picked out two of them that looked enough like their current form
and they were allowed in.
“Dude!”
Carl came up to them using a California surfer accent. “Didn’t think you’d
come. Welcome babes.”
He put his arm around Sarah. She
firmly took his arm off her shoulder. He
went over to Debby and tried the same move.
Debby let his arm stay, and they walked over to the keg.
Each of them got a large plastic cup of beer and they continued on.
“No metabolizing!” was Debby’s admonition to her. Debby wanted Sarah to get the full effect of the drink. Sarah nodded as Carl led her Debby away.
Debby
got into the dancing almost immediately. Apparently
this is how she forgets her troubles, thought Sarah.
She
made her way to a semi-quiet corner and sat down.
The
crowd was going wild. The music was loud and fast and everyone seemed to be having
a great time. Nothing altruistic
about this bunch, Sarah thought, just out for themselves.
She sat back and drank her beer.
“Wanna
dance?” a young looking guy asked.
He looked so nervous that he just might be about to cry.
“I
don’t dance.” She said.
“That’s
okay. Sorry to bug you.”
He started to walk away, heartbroken.
Off in the distance Sarah noticed a group of guys pointing and laughing
at him. She put her beer down.
“Wait.”
She said. He stopped. “You
didn’t tell me your name.”
“Marcus.”
He said. He started to walk away
again. The guys were snickering.
“Marcus,”
she said, “Want to sit down for a minute?”
In the distance the party was getting wilder.
Young women were flashing their breasts at the men and the noise was
getting deafening. Sarah picked up
her beer again and motioned for him to sit next to her.
“Uh....sure.”
Marcus made his way back and sat where she motioned.
He maintained a decent distance from her.
“Not
your kind of party, is it?” she asked.
“Not
really,” he replied “They let me in the frat ‘cause my Dad used to be.
Now he’s rich. He kept
telling me that it would make a man out of me.” He looked back at the crowd. The men were groping the women, stealing some of their bikini
tops. Many of the girls didn’t
think it was very funny and it looked like things would get out of hand quickly.
The park security was eyeing the crowd and talking into their radios.
Something was going to happen soon.
“Looks
like the party’s gonna end soon anyway.” Marcus told her. “Wanna check out
the rest of the park before everyone gets busted?”
“Sure,
that sounds lik....”
“Sarah!”
Debby was winded, “We need you.” She
put her hands on her knees and panted. She
had run here very fast. She
couldn’t speak for a moment.
“Rested.”
Sarah said. Debby stood up.
“Carl
passed out back there.” She said, “Alcohol poisoning, I think.”
“Fine,”
she stood to take care of him, “Marcus....” Marcus was gone.
Debby was dragging Sarah quickly back towards the crowd.
“Conscious,
Vomit.” Sarah said. Carl moaned,
turned to the side and heaved his guts out.
She turned to her friend “I’m leaving him drunk and with a
hangover.” She said, “I don’t want him getting any ideas that alcohol
doesn’t affect him. Blood alcohol, headache.”
“I
reduced his blood alcohol to a reasonably safe level and given him a mother of a
headache.” Sarah told her friend. Both
of them stood away from Carl and they were speaking quietly. “I won’t be
here to save him next time.” Sarah
left, annoyed. She had better
things to do than sober up a bunch of partying college kids.
“I’ll catch you later.”
Sarah
wandered into the park. After a few
minutes of searching she found Marcus in line for a roller coaster.
“I
can’t believe you ditched me.” She said to him, arms across her chest “You
just disappeared.”
“Sorry,”
he actually looked contrite “I thought your friend was trying to rescue you
from the dweeb.”
“Real
nice.” She said, “You really don’t think much of yourself, do you?”
“I
do okay.” He told her. Even he didn’t seem convinced. “It’s just not my
element.”
“Right.”
She took a place next to him in line. They
stood quietly as the line slowly moved forward.
The line was moving incredibly slow.
When they were in sight of the end of the line, they saw why.
There
was a line that ran parallel to the main line.
People in wheelchairs were being taken to the front of the line and put
on the coaster. A small, frail
child was being loaded onto the coaster. Sarah
was within speaking distance of the girls’ escort.
“It’s
the ‘Miracle Events’ program.” The woman said, before Sarah had a chance
to speak. “Terminally ill children are given a free pass to the park.”
She had obviously said this line hundreds of times before.
“What’s
wrong with her?” Marcus asked.
“Leukemia.”
The woman said, “If you’ll excuse me.”
She handed the wheelchair over to a park employee who moved it to the
exit area of the coaster.
“Leukemia.”
Sarah said, the child still barely in sight.
She smiled; maybe the day wasn’t a total waste after all.
“Now
Sarah, Doctor Mary is going to talk to you for a while, okay?”
Without waiting for acknowledgement, the social worker let a heavyset
woman into the room. She sat on the floor next to the girl and grabbed the blocks
the child had been ignoring.
“So,
what are you doing, Sarah?” The woman asked.
“Waiting
to go home.” The little girl said calmly, “You people kidnapped me.”
Both
the venom in the child’s tone and how coherent she sounded took Mary aback.
“No
dear, we didn’t kidnap you. We
just thought you would be better off in a more nurturing environment.”
She tried to build something with the blocks, trying to interest the
child.
“Is that what you call this?” Robert gestured to the room in a very adult way “A nurturing environment? More like a looney bin, if you ask me.”
“You
sure talk grown up.” Mary said in a condescending way.
“You
don’t.” The child quipped,
“Maybe you should be the one trapped here?”
The
conversation degraded from there.
Dr.
Mary, disheveled and humiliated by the child, wrote her report.
‘The
child, Sarah Jean Doe, is severely disturbed.
She exhibits paranoid behavior and is firmly dedicated to returning to
Mr. Collins. She is precocious,
demanding, and thoroughly uncontrollable. Her
IQ is extremely high, even off the chart leading me to believe she is some kind
of Savant. She should remain under
close examination and the board should seriously consider some of the more
powerful Psychoactive Depressants.’
Sarah
decided that she didn’t need drinking to let her hair down.
She and Marcus went to every roller coaster they could find.
There was no one chasing her right now, and she was getting to do a
little good here and there.
Apparently
there were four ‘Miracle Events’ kids in the park that day.
Sarah cured them all. She
said nothing to the escorts and families after finding out the infirmities. They would discover the truth later.
A
group of bullies tried to push their way to the front of the line at one
coaster. It was a large group and
they looked like they would rather fight than ride anyway.
Sarah
fixed them with a simple phrase ‘motion sick’. They
puked dramatically after the coaster and they all looked miserable for the next
hour. An hour after whispering at
them, Sarah didn’t see them again. Debby
found them eating at one of the overpriced hamburger places in the park.
“I’ve
been looking everywhere for you.” Debby said.
Sarah and Marcus were smiling and joking.
“Why?”
Sarah definitely looked more relaxed now.
“We’ve
got to go.” Debby said, “Or we’ll be late.”
“What
now? Another keg?”
“No,”
she said with a sly grin, “it’s a surprise.”
Sarah
and Marcus said their goodbyes and the two women left the park.
“So
what’s this surprise?” Sarah was asking, sounding like a ten year old before
her birthday.
“Bull!”
Sarah squealed happily. She rushed
up and hugged the man ferociously. Bull
was sitting on the hood of a car. Despite
himself Bull smiled.
“When
you act like that,” he said, hugging her back “I forget that you’re really
a guy.”
Sarah
broke the hug and cooled off considerably.
“What
brings you here?” she asked in a level tone.
“Christmas,”
he said, knowing he had put a damper on the reunion “Mr. Z and I whipped up a
couple things for you. You guys
being sisters now?” He looked at
the two women. They really did look
alike, dark hair tan skin and only the most obscure of features hinted as to who
they really were.
“How’d
you know it was me?” Sarah asked.
“Come
on.” Bull replied “I had that face for a while, remember?”
“Oh
yeah.” She said. Then her face
lit up like a little girl again. “What did you bring?”
Bull
was amused by the change in attitude. It
really was hard to tell that this bubbly girl was ever a guy.
“This
car for one.” He tapped on the hood. He
handed a thick envelope to Debby “These are for you.” He said.
Debby took the envelope from him and greeted him with a kiss and a hug.
“Thank
you.” She said, “More ID?”
“You
got it.” He said, “Maybe we
better talk inside.”
They
went into the hotel room that had become their local base of operations.
Bull hauled two suitcases up the stairs, not letting either woman help.
He
set the suitcases on the floor and sat in the chair while he opened one.
He had a smile on his face that was a mile wide.
Inside was a black mass of cloth and low-cut boots.
“Your
weakness, the way we see it,” Bull said, “is that you can’t use your power
quick enough. If a bullet breaks
your spine or scrambles your brain, you’re done.”
He started taking the cloth out of the case and laid it flat on the bed.
It was a long sleeve unitard; similar to the one she wore when she
rescued Debby from Casper.
“I’ve
tried this before.” Sarah said “I ended up naked in the face of the enemy,
remember?” Bull blushed furiously
and tried to concentrate on the suit. Debby
giggled at his distraction.
“This
isn’t the same,” he said, “Take a look.”
She picked it up as he explained. “Feel
those small lumps on the spine? Those
are armor, light and nonmetallic. They
are in these pockets so you still have full mobility.
The entire suit is made of a lycra-polymer blend that is a non-ripping
material. It will get a hole in it
but it shouldn’t shred like before.” He turned red again.
Sarah was impressed. She
looked into the suitcase.
“What’s
the rest?” she asked. She picked
a rigid hood up.
“It’s
a little like batman.” He said “Sorry, it was the only solution we could
come up with.”
She
slipped the cowl over her head. It
was a good fit. Her hair came out in a ponytail hole in the back.
“Crash
helmet.” He said, “The front part comes off, if you want.” He grabbed at
her face and snapped the eye and nose cover off
“But it looked kind of funny. The
whole thing is made of a Kevlar-like material and it has padding to try to help
you if you fall on your head. The
eye piece helps you keep a secret identity, if you want.”
“Very
thoughtful.” Sarah said. The
protection would be helpful but she would feel like an idiot running around in
this getup. Bull grabbed the next
thing out of the case.
“These
boots,” he continued, “Have improved traction and durability.
They won’t fall apart on you.”
Debby
grabbed the next item. It was belt with a metal device on it, about the size of a
lipstick that extended on a small cord. When
she hit the switch, it buzzed like a tiny vibrator.
Bull and Sarah instantly turned red and Debby dropped the device, it
retracted into the belt and shut off.
“Don’t
ask,” Bull said, “Z can be a pretty sick guy.
I didn’t even ask him about it.”
“Where
did you get the money for all this?” Sarah asked.
“Z,”
said bull, “When you fixed his eyes and hands, he became a hot commodity.
Everyone is coming to him for gadgets and gizmos.
He’s rolling in it.” Bull
kicked the suitcase closed.
“Wait
a minute.” Sarah said, “There’s something else.”
She opened the case and took out the remaining item.
It looked like a strapless swimsuit, but it was definitely armor.
It looked like some kind of dominatrix costume.
“I
told you he was a sick guy. I think
he watched too much Wonder Woman or Xena.” Bull said, blushing more than
anyone thought possible “That is your breastplate.”
He didn’t say more. It’s
purpose was obvious, and armored undergarment.
“I
don’t know how to thank you.” Sarah said, “You’ve done so much.”
Inwardly she wondered if she could ever wear this getup, or even part of
it. The boots were okay, she thought.
“What’s
in the other suitcase?” Debby asked, hoping to find more treasured gadgets.
“My
underwear and stuff.” He smiled “You didn’t want me to go around naked,
right?”
“So
you say that your daughter has the Whisperer Flu?” Pete asked the woman.
She was 35 (going on 45) and carefully kept a look of concern on her
face.
“I
don’t say anything of the kind.” She told him, indignant that her diagnosis
would be challenged. “She has all the symptoms.”
This
Tallahassee hospital felt hot and sticky. The
air conditioning helped but it just didn’t do a complete job.
Pete just wanted to get back into the known air conditioning of the car,
smoke and all.
“Would
you mind if we spoke to the doctor?” Tom asked. “There is some information
we have that might help.”
She
had to think for a minute. Clearly
there was a decision to be made.
“Of
course,” she said with a shaky smile, “I would like to be present as
well.”
“Of
course.”
“Fine,”
Pete said abruptly “We can talk to him in half an hour.
Thank you ma’am.”
“Just
make my poor little girl well.” She said melodramatically,
“This is taking such a toll on all of us.”
Pete
and Tom stepped outside the small hospital.
“What
do ya think?” Pete asked.
“Munchausen
by Proxy.” Tom said matter-of-factly “She’s making her own child sick.
I don’t know how but she is obviously trying to get attention for
herself through a glamorous disease in her child.
Nothing we can do here. Great,
here comes ‘the beast’.
“Hey
Petey!” Bud looked uncomfortable in the sport coat that he was wearing “We
got a call from the boss.”
“Simmons?”
Pete wasn’t expecting this kind of attention “What’d he want?”
“Said
we should check out a couple of ‘spontaneous emissions’ in this place.”
“Do
you mean ‘spontaneous RE-missions’?” Pete asked.
“That’s
what I said.”
“So
doctor, you say that there is no explanation for this sudden change of
events?” Pete and Tom were sitting across the desk from a local physician who
dealt with the young girl.
“None,
whatsoever. I would have sworn that
that child only had months to live. Now
she is as healthy as a horse.”
“Has
anything like this happened before?” Pete asked.
“Spontaneous
Remission? Sure, it happens once in a while. Usually not in so advanced a case as this.”
“We
understand. This is truly a
blessing.”
“Blessing,
sure. Personally I think it
was the water.”
“Excuse
me?” Tom broke in “The water?”
“Down
in Miami.” The doctor laughed, “Three of those kids on one of those grant a
wish things all had spontaneous remission.
Quite a coincidence, eh?”
Pete
and Tom looked at each other, stood up without any indication whatsoever, and
left. The doctor was still sitting
at his desk.
“Thanks
for coming by.” He said to no one in particular.
Might
as well be in prison, Robert thought, at
least there they don’t humiliate you.
He was wearing a frilly pink shirt and shorts. His hair was tied up with ribbons. The family they stuck him with, the Robinson’s, were sickeningly nice. He was well fed, well rested, and totally miserable.
Mrs.
Robinson insisted that he spend a good portion of the day playing with dolls and
doing ‘girlie’ things. She even pierced his ears!
He was monitored closely, he couldn’t move anywhere in the house
without someone noticing. Even the
dog acted as an alarm if he got within five feet of the front door.
He
tried to tell them off. He told them how idiotic they were being.
Couldn’t they see that he didn’t need all this supervision?
Mrs. Robinson left the room in tears and he ended up with a mouthful of
soap and a timeout.
If
he spent his entire life trying to design the perfect hell, hell could never
have developed one as evil as this.
“Sarah
dear!” Mrs. Robinson called out in a singsong voice, “Your timeout is over.
Time for dress up!”
Just
kill me now, he thought, put me out of my misery.
Bull
was a happy man. Walking through
the streets of Miami with two gorgeous women, he was the envy of many.
The
streets were full of people. Apparently
there were no ugly people in this city. It
was either that or they kept them locked in their basements.
Sarah
and Debby wore similar short sundresses and sandals.
There were only minor differences on how each one was cut but Sarah’s
looked slightly fuller than Debby’s. Debby
assumed it was because Sarah had ‘enhanced’ herself for some reason.
Was it to impress Bull? No, it couldn’t be.
Suddenly
there was a loud CRACK ahead of them. Some
woman screamed. CRACK CRACK, there
was more screaming and people started running towards them.
The three of them pushed through the crowd to where the source was.
There was a small park, packed with people.
People ran every direction and no one seemed to be getting anywhere.
People hid behind cars, trees, and anything they could find. CRACK, there
was a flash at the top of an eight story building adjacent to the park.
Sarah pulled her companions behind a car.
“You
should go get the armor!” Bull was saying. “That’d shake these guys up.”
“It
looks silly.” Sarah said, “I’m not going out there looking like some guys
wet dream.”
Bull
looked crestfallen. He had been pretty excited about the idea of a costume of
some kind.
“At
least use this.” Debby was handing a slightly curved piece of material at her.
It was the cowl.
“Fine.”
She said. “Paralyze.” she said up towards the roof of the building.
It was nearly five seconds before the next shot.
“Give
me the cowl.” She said. She
slipped it over her head and felt utterly ridiculous. “Stay here.”
The
police scanner in the van crackled to life.
“All units, attention all
units, we have a sniper in Henderson Park, NW 3rd and 9th
Ave. Subject is at the roof of the
Amsouth bank. All units proceed
immediately to assist.”
“Break
out the map.” Pete told Tom, “If nothing else, it sounds interesting.”
Bud and Tony laughed hungrily as if waiting for some action all day.
“Aim
for the Orange Bowl Stadium.” Tom said “Off of Highway 836.”
The
tires screeched as Pete hit the gas.
Sarah
ran toward the building at a blinding speed.
As a bank, it didn’t have very good roof access from the street.
A retractable fire escape ladder was almost thirty feet off the ground.
“Who
the heck is that?” Debby heard someone else in hiding ask.
She couldn’t see them but she guessed they were behind a large stand of
bushes at the edge of the park “Some girl in a ski mask?”
Sarah
stood below the ladder. If she
jumped too fast she would knock herself out on the cage that surrounded the
ladder to the top of the building.
“Strong,
Fast.” She said. She leaped. A
face peered over the edge of the roof as she rocketed upward. Just as she grabbed the ladder she saw the gun.
It went off before she could even think about reacting.
She
felt a slap on her head and she started falling downward.
The falling was the strange part as she still had a powerful grip on the
ladder.
The
latch on the fire escape ladder released and it extended towards the ground.
Sarah looked surprised as she started a quick retreat to the ground.
Before she remembered the snipers (she was now sure there was more than
one) another shot hit her in the shoulder and she fell to the ground.
After
she hit, three more shots tore into her side.
She
wasn’t moving.
Traffic
was stopped. Looking next to the
freeway, dozens of police cars were streaming towards the park.
“Come
on, man.” Bud whined, “We’re missing it!”
“Shut
up.” Pete pulled the van onto the shoulder and started taking it through the
shrubs and bushes next to the road. People
were honking their horns and yelling obscenities at them.
When
they reached the off-ramp, even his cross-country approach wouldn’t help them.
Stopping the van in the middle of the street, they all piled out and ran
towards the park.
“She’s
dead.” Debby was screaming. Bull
comforted her the best he could while hiding behind the car.
“If
anyone else,” a bullhorn sounded from the roof “has any big ideas of being a
hero, then they will join this little chick.
No more police!”
“Bring
a helicopter to the roof, right now!” Debby
and Bull looked at each other. Who
was he talking to?
“Look!”
Bull said, pointing to where Sarah had fallen.
She wasn’t there.
Sarah
was standing next to the building, but nowhere near the fire escape.
“She
looks pissed.” Debby said, noting her friends’ stance. “God help them
now.”
The
sirens were getting louder but no one had arrived yet.
The wounded were being cared for in various pockets around the park.
Thankfully the snipers were leaving the people that were helping alone.
Sarah’s
arms and legs started moving at a rate so fast they could barely be seen.
There was a vague blur as she pushed up against the wall.
The
white stucco of the building turned a hazy pink as slowly Sarah started to inch
upward. There was a sickly sweet
smell of burning meat in the air. Using
the friction of her hands and feet, she climbed inch by inch up the side of the
building. Before she had a chance to fall, she gained a quick purchase
for the next incremental climb. Within
thirty seconds, she was grabbing the edge of the roof.
“Flesh,
skin and bone.” She said quietly, “Burns.”
Bare
feet hanging down (her sandals had only lasted a few seconds of climbing), she
readied for the next assault. She
pulled with her arms and threw herself into the air.
She somersaulted forward and landed on her feet.
She felt a chill. The
remains of her dress were hanging from the side of the building.
As
they watched the shreds of cloth waft down to the street Bull turned to Debby.
“I
sure hope she’s wearing underwear.” He said.
Pete
and Tony were the first at the scene. It
was eerily quiet. People were
hunched down in groups, hiding. The
four GeronTech employees walked around the crowd as if the rest were crazy.
Fanning
out, they looked for some kind of ‘whisperer’ evidence.
None of them knew exactly what they were looking for, just something
weird.
“Check
that out.” Tony said to him, pointing at the building.
The pink smear on the side of the building stood out like a sore thumb.
“Worth
checking out.” Pete said. He walked toward the building.
“Hold
it right there!” a shout came from beside them “Police!”
Bud
was standing closer to the building. Pete
gave him a nod and turned to talk to the officer.
One
of the snipers was visible. He was
leaning over the edge of the roof and was lining up another shot.
“Hey!”
Sarah called. Shocked, the man
turned. He started to laugh.
“What
the hell are you supposed to be?” he snickered.
He regarded the woman in a black mask and strapless swimsuit with
derision.
“A
distraction.” The man raised the
gun to point at her. She wasn’t
there. Within a matter of seconds
the man was disarmed and tied up with his own shirt.
She heard a clank from the other side of the roof.
There
was a rope tied to a metal clamp. The
rope was jiggling slightly. She
knew where the second gunman was.
She
peered over the edge. The man was only down about two floors down.
She smiled.
She
untied the rope and held the end with one hand.
She held that hand over the edge and showed it to the man.
“Don’t....”
he said, panicked.
“Would
you like to come back up here?” she asked.
The man nodded frantically. A
helicopter was approaching from the north.
“Okay
then...” she started running towards the opposite side of the roof.
The man flew up the edge of the building and bumped his head badly on the
edge. He skid to a halt at her
feet.
“Brain
damage, internal bleeding.” The
helicopter was nearly overhead. “You won’t die, yet.” She said.
Inside the copter she could see a video camera.
“Get
this.” The pilot said on the intercom “We’re talking Emmy here.
You better no miss this shot.” The
cameraman never lost his focus.
“More
like the Twilight Zone.” He said. But
the shots were perfect.
“Damn.”
She ran at top speed back across the roof towards the fire escape.
Bud was just poking his head over the edge of the roof when he saw this
woman running at him at full speed.
Bud
lost his grip and started falling towards the ground, screaming.
Sarah jumped over the top of the fire escape and landed on the building
next door. Not stopping there, she
continued to the next building and the next.
The helicopter was still behind her, chasing her.
But she was losing it.
A
small apartment building was her sixth jump.
She opened the door and went inside.
The
crisis averted, Debby went into nurse mode.
Tending to the nearest victim, she sent Bull to find medical supplies.
She
started barking orders like an ER doctor. People
didn’t want to listen to this child giving orders but she sounded like she
knew what she was talking about. The
first patient was quickly stabilized and she went to the next.
She
was elevating the patients’ wounded arm when an old woman came up to her.
“Can
I help you dear?” she said. There
was something oddly familiar about the voice.
“I
don’t think so Ma’am.” Debby said, “She’s been shot in the arm and may
have internal bleeding. We need the
paramedics.”
“Gun
shot, internal bleeding?” the old woman asked and actually smiled, “She looks
fine to me.” Debby wanted to
start screaming at this idiotic old woman.
Obviously there was a....she turned back to the patient.
The wounds were gone. The
patient was resting comfortably. The
old woman was beaming. Debby looked
down, the woman was barefoot.
“Nice,
real nice.” Debby stood and started looking for the next patient. “You were
just gonna leave me hanging there.”
“Of
course not.” Sarah said, her smile recognizable even in this aged, wrinkled
face. “But you should have seen your face.
I’ve already checked the other victims.
They’ll all be okay. Let’s get out of here.”
They
walked in the direction of the hotel. It was time to leave.
Bull saw Debby from a distance.
“Excuse
me Ma’am.” He said to Sarah, he turned to Debby “Should
we be looking for....” He did a double take and looked into the old woman’s
eyes. “Sarah?”
“Took
you long enough.” She smiled “To think you know a person, geez!
Oh, Bull, about the costume?”
“Yeah,
it looks silly. I know.” He
relented “But on my behalf, it did save your life.”
“Yeah,
it’s okay. I wouldn’t wear it
to dinner or the theater but....”
“What?”
He was slightly offended. “You want another color?”
“I
was just wondering,” she said, a little embarrassed, “Could I have some
gloves?”
“Hey
Bob, get a load of this!” One of the officers interrupted Pete’s
conversation. The crisis averted,
the cop left Pete and went to see what his partner was pointing at.
Bud
was clinging to the ladder and the side of the building.
His face was cut and bruised, but he looked essentially unharmed. His
grip was so tight that his knuckles were bone white.
“That
with you?” The cop (Bob) asked Pete.
“Yeah.”
Pete said dejectedly “It’s mine.”
“Maybe
you can get him down.” The other cop suggested, “We’ve been trying for ten
minutes.”
Together
they worked at bringing the tough-man ex-con down the ladder.
It wasn’t an easy job.
“A mysterious costumed
woman foiled two snipers today at the AmSouth bank adjacent to Henderson Park,
near the Orange Bowl Stadium. The
woman exhibited extraordinary strength, speed, daring and apparently the ability
to climb sheer walls. Thanks to her
there were no serious injuries and no casualties.”
“In National news the case
of People Vs......”
Nothing
in the office worked right. Montgomery
couldn’t even turn the television on without the proper password.
Within 24 hours of Robert accessing the system for the last time
everything had reset to the off position.
The
secretaries barely listened to him and the guards laughed behind his back.
What was he gonna do now?
The
sun was going down and the room was getting dark.
He reached up to turn on the lamp over the couch.
Nothing. A grown man, a
giant of a man, Montgomery couldn’t even turn on a light without permission of
the stupid computer. He had to get
his brother back, somehow. If he
could only think, then it would be okay. He
slumped back onto the couch.
The
light turned on.
Monty
looked up, confused. There was a shuffle at the desk.
“Who?”
Monty asked. The shuffling continued. “Wha....”
The
desk chair squeaked as it leaned back. There
was a flash of fire and Montgomery got the hint of a face, a woman’s face lit
up as she started a cigar. She
turned and entered a password into the computer.
It started.
“Who,
my dear boy?” the woman laughed scornfully, “Why I’m the friendliest ghost
you know.”
End
Part 7
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