“You ready?” He asked, patting her hand gently and reassuringly.
“No, not really.” She glanced out the window to the quaint bungalow home. The number of the mailbox matched the directions Flip had given her. He’d offered to pick them up at the airport, but Alp wanted to prove to her father that she could handle the trip from D. C. to Lionel’s home all by herself...well, accompanied by Damba. It was important to her that her father and his friends saw Damba and her as equals, or at least as close to that as possible. But now, suddenly, she was nervous about meeting them, even though over the past two weeks they’d had numerous conversations by phone. She felt like she knew each of the other members of the rescue team pretty well. Still, meeting in person was another matter entirely.
“It’ll be all right, Alp,” Damba said as he gave her hand a final squeeze. “I’ll be with you the entire time, and I won’t let you out of my sight. Remember, we’re in this together.”
He opened the taxi door on his side and walked around to help her out. In the meantime, the taxi driver had retrieved their sparse luggage from the trunk and set it on the curb; one medium size suitcase for each of them, compliments of the last minute purchase at a nearby Walmart by Chunk and Lucinda Robinson.
Damba picked up the two bags, and with a nod to Alp, they strolled up the sidewalk to Lionel's front door. Alp stood in front of the door for several more seconds as she took a few deep breaths to slow the rapid beating of her heart. These are my friends, she told herself. They’re going to help me get my sisters back. There; that felt better.
“Well, here goes,” she said as she pushed the doorbell.
As she stood there waiting for the door to open, her heightened hearing picked up a few soft voices and rustling on the other side. She'd noticed lately that all her senses seemed to be more sensitive: her hearing, her sight, even her taste buds seemed to pick up nuances of flavors that she'd previously not recognized. Was this part of her growing into an adult? Did all people experience such changes or just those born as the Kindred? For that matter, were her sisters undergoing a similar transformation? She wanted to reach out to them and ask, but so far she’d been unsuccessful reconnecting with any of them psychically, which made this meeting today that much more important.
Then the door opened, and Lionel stood before her. She recognized him from their previous meeting at Bio Vita Tech. It had only been a few weeks ago, but in some ways, it felt like a year or more had passed. So much water had passed under the bridge in such a short time. Still, it felt good to see a familiar face.
“Hello, Alp. It’s so good to see you again,” Lionel said. “Welcome to my home. Please, come in, and this must be your friend, Damba. Here, let me help you with those bags. My, you two travel light.”
It was apparent to Alp that Lionel was at least as nervous as she was, which strangely made her more comfortable.
“We’ve all been looking forward to this,” Lionel said as he took one of the bags from Damba and escorted them through the small foyer area into the living room. “Let me make the introductions.”
He pointed to two young women who'd been sitting on the overstuffed sofa together, who were rose as one and walked over to her. "This is Bridgette Baisley, Heather's mom," he said pointing to the attractive blonde. The introductions were hardly necessary. Alp could see the strong resemblance of both women with her two sisters, Heather and Mia.
"It's so good to meet you, finally," Bridgette said as she hugged Alp.
“And as you’ve probably already guessed, this is Denise Cabbot; Mia’s mother.”
“Yes, I see where Mia gets her beautiful eyes,” Alp replied as she accepted a hug from Denise as well.
“And this is my friend, Damba.”
As pleasantries were exchanged, Alp glanced around the room. It was a small house and was obviously set up more for a bachelor, although there were a few touches that suggested that Bridgette was already starting to influence their shared space.
Alp was about to ask about her father when she heard a clunking sound coming from the other room, and then a door swung open as Flip made his way clumsily through the doorway, leaning heavily on a cane. He shuffled through the door, dragging his right leg with a pronounced limp.
“Hello my dear,” he said as he slowly made his way towards her. “I so wanted to be able to meet you again without that infernal wheelchair, but I’m afraid, this cane isn’t much better.”
“Don’t be silly,” Denise said as she rushed over to give him a hand. “You’ve made tremendous progress in the last couple of weeks. Healing takes time.”
“Well, not where this young lady is concerned,” Flip said with a smile as he reached out with his free hand and embraced Alp with a strong arm. “It might be time to schedule another session with you soon, Alp.”
“I’m sure that can be arranged,” Alp replied with a warm smile. “I’m at your service.”
“Let’s all take a seat,” Lionel said as he winked at his old friend. “I told you she’d be happy to help out.”
“Pat’s just finishing up a few dishes,” Flip replied as he took a seat in the wheelchair next to the sofa, and patted the sofa arm so that Denise would join him. “She shooed me out of the kitchen. Said you couldn’t afford me breaking any more dishes. I told her I had a new set on order for your wedding present, but she shooed me out anyway.”
"I know we're a bit cramped here, but I felt like it was the safest place to meet. I just don't think it's safe for us to meet at Bio Vita Tech these days. Too many snooping eyes and ears. Pat has assured me that we're bug-free here."
"That's right. I scanned the area late last night just to be sure," an attractive older lady said as she entered the room still drying her hands with a dish towel. "Hello, Alp. Pat Vogt here. A pleasure to meet you." She stuck out her hand, and the two shook. Alp felt the firm, steady grip of a woman who knew her strengths, both physical and otherwise. Alp instantly liked her. Here was a woman who knew how to get things done; a mighty woman of action.
“And who might you be?” Pat asked looking intently at Damba.
“I’m Damba,” he replied as he held out his hand to shake hers. “I’m Alp’s friend.”
"Oh yes, of course, you are. My apologies. I'd forgotten you were coming. Well, let's get down to business. Our last team member should be here shortly."
As everyone found their seats, Pat returned to the kitchen and brought back a straight back chair for Damba. Within a few minutes, there was a firm rapping on the door. Lionel opened it and escorted James into the living room.
"Hello, James. It's good to see you again after so many years," Pat said as she strolled over to him and gave him a big hug.
“It's great to see you again, also, Pat," replied James as he returned the hug. "Boy, the years sure have been good to you."
“I wish I could say the same for you, old friend; but you know I don't believe in building friendships on lies, even small ones. I had heard that you had gone over to the dark side. Was that rumor true?"
“Well, my wife developed breast cancer a while back and the dark side, as you call it, was willing to pay a lot more for my services,” James replied.
“Oh, I'm sorry to hear that. How is she doing now?"
“She died a few years ago,” James answered.
“Way to go Pat. Open mouth and insert foot."
“Don't worry about it. It's in the past. Life goes on."
“Well, at least this is an opportunity for you to return to the light side," Pat said.
“The light side?"
“Yeah, you know the dark side versus the light side. Oh, never mind," Pat said as her face grew even redder. “Let’s get this meeting started before I completely blow it."
“Everyone, this is James Stepp. As you know, James and I go back several years, but then we lost track of each other. This mission has brought us back together. James and I have spoken several times on the phone to work out the best plan that has the greatest chance of gettin
g your children home safely. I'll let James fill you in on the details."
James looked around the room and was about to start speaking when he noticed Alp and Damba sitting in the corner next to each other.
"Oh, hi guys. Good to see you again, Alp. I'm sorry the situation isn't better. Well, here's the plan in a nutshell. There will be two teams: One team to get us into the Sheik's Falcon Lair, the other team to get us back out and home safely. I'll lead Team One since I'm familiar with Falcon Lair and up to this point have been on good terms with the Sheik. I'll use you, Alp, as the cover by telling the Sheik that I'm bringing in another one of the Kindred. Pat, you'll accompany us as we discussed."
Pat nodded.
“Wait a minute,” Damba spoke up. “I’m sorry, but that sounds way too dangerous. That would simply be compounding the problem by having one more person to have to rescue.”
James stared at the young boy for a minute before replying. “Let me back up for a minute and explain a couple of things. First, this is a very dangerous mission, no matter how you cut it. Our chances of success aren’t more than 50:50 under the best of scenarios. The Sheik is a devious man who will have no qualms about using violence if he suspects I’m not on the up and up, but he’s much more likely to kill me in a dozen different brutal ways for double-crossing him than he is to harm Alp. She’s a precious commodity as far as he’s concerned.”
James let this first point sink in while everyone sat in silence for several seconds.
Finally, Lionel spoke up. “And what’s the other point you wanted to make?”
“These plans are not negotiable. Pat and I have looked at this situation from every conceivable angle, and in this matter, we’re the experts, not you...” he said as he motioned to the four adults, “...and certainly not you,” he said as he turned back to Damba.
There was a long pause as the two stared at each other. Finally, Damba nodded. “Okay, I got it with just one small change. I go with Alp.”
James smiled and glanced over at Pat, as he shook his head. “What does he think the phrase ‘not negotiable’ means?”
"Well, it might not be such a bad idea to include him in some way," Pat replied. "His darker skin will make it easier for him to fit in once we get to Dubai, and having him along will help put Alp’s mind at ease.”
James thought about her comments before replying. “Okay, I’ll consider your request.”
Damba smiled as he reached up to his throat and rubbed a gold medallion around his neck.
Alp had noticed him performing a similar motion before. She leaned over and whispered, “What’s that around your neck?”
Without breaking his gaze from James, he whispered back, “It’s my lucky charm.”
“Okay, as I was saying,” James continued, “We’ll need an extraction team.” He turned to Pat. “I did some scouting around for who’s available that we could count on. There’s one particular guy I've worked with in the past. He's well trained, plus it seems like every time I've worked with him, the mission has gone smoother than expected. I've talked with him, and he's willing to head up the second team. We'll keep it small so it won’t attract too much attention. I’d rather go in with quality than quantity.”
“I agree,” Pat replied. “I trust you’ll hire the best, and if he’s your lucky charm, so much the better.”
Alp and Damba looked at each other and smiled as Damba once more rubbed his charm.
James paused for a minute as he mentally checked off the different parts of the mission.
"This second team's job will be to help us get out of Falcon Lair and out of the country with the children. After that, I plan to enter a Tibetan monastery as far away from Dubai and the Sheik as I can get."
“Any questions?” James asked as he looked around the room at each of the adults and then to Alp, avoiding Damba.
No one spoke but instead looked at each other. Finally, Flip cleared his throat and stood up.
"First, I want to thank you and Pat for all the hard work you've already done to help us get our children back. I know such a mission isn't easy and that it puts your lives in jeopardy, not to mention your career and reputation, James. We do not take such a sacrifice lightly, and I can assure you that I will make it well worth your time. We can speak about that later, just the two of us. However, I do want to address one thing you said a few minutes ago. May I?"
“Sure,” James replied. “Go ahead.”
“You mentioned that the chances of a successful mission are at best only 50:50. I believe, no, I know I can significantly improve those odds."
"How so?" James asked, leaning forward, naturally interested in what the man with the cane had to say. After all, he was also the one holding the purse strings.
“I happen to have a few financial connections in Dubai myself...well, at least my family has had some in the past that I’m sure I could easily re-establish. I would like to propose, for your consideration, that Damba and I travel to Dubai in the next few days. From what I understand, Falcon Lair is part of Falconcity of Wonders. Now that's a pompous name if I ever heard one, but from what I understand it also accurately describes what they're building."
“Yes, that’s correct,” James agreed. “Upon its completion, Falconcity of Wonders will revolve around replicas of the Seven Wonders of the World including the Tower of Pisa, the Pyramids, the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, and the Eiffel Tower. It's quite an amazing undertaking."
“And they are actively searching for investors, right?”
“Correct again,” James said. “So, are you suggesting you might be one of those investors?”
"Yes, well, at least as far as they need to know. That will be my cover. That way you will have a legitimate, trustworthy person in-country that could help with any logistical, communication or other issues you might have. I could probably use the services of Damba as he would fit in nicely,” he said as he smiled at the young boy.
Damba smiled back.
James chewed on his lower lip as he considered Flip’s suggestion. Finally, he replied, "Yes, I could see this working, and you're right. It could improve our odds. But are you really up for this?" He pointed to Flip's cane.
“Yes,” Flip replied promptly and with conviction. “And I’ll be even more ready for it by the time I leave for Dubai...with a little help from Alp.”
Alp nodded enthusiastically. “We can get started on your healing sessions anytime you’re ready.”
“Tomorrow will be soon enough,” Flip replied. “I’ll let you get settled in, first.”
Capture
AS THE DOOR TO THE cabin swung open, Kristin and Tabitha turned to watch as a young lady with short red hair and matching face entered, followed closely by Mel, who pointed the shotgun at her back. He’d taken the gun from the mantel before slipping out through the rear window of the cabin.
“Who do we have here?” Kristin asked as she stepped away from the cook stove where she’d been finishing up scrambling eggs for their breakfast.
“Don’t know,” Mel replied. “But I’m about to find out.” He motioned with the end of the shotgun to the small table and chairs in the corner of the room where the three customarily ate their meals.
"Sit there." As Mimi did so, he asked, "Who the hell are you and what are you doing snooping on us?”
Mimi gazed around the room taking in every detail, including taking a good look at the two young girls and ignoring Mel's question. She'd learned early in her journalistic life that questions were invitations to be answered, but only when it was in her own best interest. Often, such issues could be deflected with her questions.
"Hello, ladies," she said smiling as warmly as she could as her heart continued to pound. While she'd been raised around guns, she wasn't used to having a loaded one pointed at her. She wasn't interested in getting used to having a gun pointed at her.
"You must be Kristin," she said as she nodded toward the young girl with red hair and a striking resemblance to Rachael. A confused look grew
on Kristin's face as she slowly nodded, but before she could ask her question, Mimi continued.
“And who are you?” She asked as she nodded to Tabitha.
“ I’m Tab...“
“That’s none of your business,” Mel interrupted. “Tabitha,” she finished despite his efforts to stop her.
Mel pointed the gun at Mimi’s head for emphasis. “I’m the one asking the questions, and you’re the one answering them. Now, one last time, who are you and what are you doing snooping on us?”
"Oh, I'm sorry," Mimi replied as she tried to maintain a pleasant smile and demeanor even though she felt like her heart might leap out of her throat. "No problem. It's just my nature to ask questions." And my job, she thought, but decided to reveal that she was a reporter for Global Inquiry was probably not a good idea, not while someone was pointing a loaded shotgun at her. But she had to give him something.
"My name is Mimi Rogers. I'm a, uh...a friend of Rachael Phillips." When the name didn't prompt a look of recognition on the boy's face, she added, "Kristin's mother."
Kristin looked startled by the news. She opened her mouth as though to comment but then shut it again as she stared at the boy.
"What the hell?" Mel asked. "What would she want with you?" He asked as he turned his attention to Kristin.
“I don’t know, Mel,” she answered with a tremble in her voice.
“And how would she know where you are?”
Kristin shrugged.
“Something fishy is going on here,” Mel said, “and I’m going to get to the bottom of it.”
“I think I know,” Tabitha spoke up for the first time. “Remember, the other day while we were in the ski lodge, Kristin said she had to go to the bathroom. She was gone a lot longer than usual.”
“Yeah, that’s right,” Mel replied as he slowly turned the muzzle of the gun in Kristin’s direction. “What was that all about? What were you doing?”
Kristin backed away from him, a look of fear mixed with anger growing on her face, but before she could answer, there was a strange blonk-blonk sound. Mimi watched as two canisters rolled across the floor from the opened rear window through which they’d been thrown, noxious gas spewing out of them filling the small room in a matter of seconds. It was the last thing Mimi remembered before losing consciousness.
New Earth Page 3
