by Neal Goldy
I rose to my feet excitedly, “You mean, if we indulge ourselves in this expedition, we’ll be clear of all of charges and can return to our normal lives.”
Richard regarded me skeptically, “Normal life for you and a new life for Neil. Your hands would have been all clear of blood if not for the demise of four deputies in Disneyland. But the success of this mission will certainly ensure your freedom.”
My head spun a full swing like an agitated ammeter. Neil jolted out of whatever trance he was in and stiffened, “What do mean deputies in Disneyland! They were Mckoy’s goons.”
Richard took out a cigarette and relaxed. “Now, now folks. Let’s gear up for a story-ride. Long story short: as soon as Carl suspected Neil’s involvement in my abduction, he did some digging and got to know about the Disneyland venue. Several agents and deputies waited long enough and when Majestic finally did not show up, they ventured to secure us. But being bad-ass and exhilarated, we did not wait and retreated. Carl lastly tracked Neil’s sources and followed us to Mckoy’s. We were looking forward to capturing Storm in his own ranch house red-handed with you. But you two being warm-blooded and emotional fools ruined our golden opportunity by running away.” Richard paused.
I closed my eyes earnestly. “You mean to say that we risked our dear lives -- I almost drowned -- for nothing at all. Our lives were not even at stake in the first place, damn it!”
Neil cleared his throat, “Let bygones be bygones. Now, what’s the plan?”
The third agent, who was all silent until now rose to his feet and marched outside. Neil and I exchanged a dreaded glance.
Chris coughed slightly, “Don’t mind Mr. Bornel. Being the commander of the mission, he’s the most devastated by Carl’s loss and, um, the idea of you two tagging along.”
Richard patted Chris and gestured something. “You have a moment to sort your heads out and then join us outside.” With that the two of them imitated their commander.
As soon as they were out of earshot, I scooted my chair closer to Neil and took his hand, “Neil! Are you alright?”
His head hung so low that I thought he was counting the tiles. “Yeah”, he murmured.
“Neil, look at me please”, I caressed his hair.
“I…I don’t know what to say. I don’t know what to think, Angel. Carl…he…I thought he loved his parents.”
“He loved you, Neil.
He was aware that his parents wouldn’t redeem themselves; they had gone beyond redemption. But you were like his baby brother, Neil. All he had done and hoped to achieve was to pull you out of this endless black hole someday.”
Neil did not react, just closed his eyes.
“Do you know how to swim Neil?”
His eyes snapped open. “You know I can.”
“If you’ll see someone drowning, won’t you save him?”
“Janet, this is not the time…”
“Just answer it.”
“Yes.”
I stroked his chin gently. “Carl did the same for you, Neil. I know what it’s like to be drowning. I know that one hand, just one hand, is enough to pull you out of eternal darkness. For me that one hand was my Dad, for you it was Carl.”
But some part of you is withdrawing from that hand. Why?
You don’t know how to swim, Neil. You don’t know.
You’re drowning.
Chapter 20
“Absolutely not! This is your plan of action? Putting Janet’s life in jeopardy!” Neil shook his head for the umpteenth time.
“This is the only feasible option now that Carl’s gone”, explained Chris for the umpteenth time.
I held my hands up. “Wait! Neil, what is your problem? There’s no need to bash the plan. It’s perfect. They want my pendant. We’ll make them take the bait. End of story.”
“And end your life in the ordeal. Right!!”
Chris cleared his throat, “If you two keep tugging at your fickle minds every two minutes, we better sublet our plan to someone who’ll listen.”
That was the politest way to proclaim “shut up and obey”. I squirmed around the little garage office we were using as a temporary haven. Neil looked like crap.
“Tell me again what Majestic is up to? I lost track of the story in between”, said Neil trying to elude more squabbling.
Chris glanced at Richard, who was straightening his coat, “Okay, for the last time, I’m going to elucidate it all.
Four months ago, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in Livermore, California had undergone the most notorious treachery of all time. One of the most confidential scientists in the Nuclear Weapons section very skillfully infiltrated a newly invented highly perilous arsenal of nuclear warheads and took them out of the institution.
Later when interrogated, he admitted remembering nothing of that night. Of course no-one believed him, and he’s in detention right now. After a little digging, Carl confirmed the culprit behind the theft was Majestic. She’s in possession of the most dangerous weapons of all time and is in the process of planning something big.”
“But as far as it is publicly known, nuclear testing has not been done for decades in America. So, what’s this about ‘newly invented’?” I asked.
Mr. Bornel looked interested in the conversation for the first time as if it was a miracle that someone asked a sensible question. “Scientists have planned for this new warhead for years now. It was secretly squelched to attract negligible attention for obvious reasons.”
Neil raised an eyebrow and asked with shrewdness, “The million-dollar question is: if Majestic has acquired it, why hasn’t she used it until now? What’s with the delay? Is she waiting for an auspicious moment?”
Richard brightened up, “Finally, a question actually worth a million dollars. According to Carl’s latest report, she desperately wants to unleash her plans, but the scientist who tipped her off about the weapon actually forgot to mention about the trigger. Without a key, the lock is as useless as bullshit.”
Neil’s eyes took a detour to all of our faces and finally landed on mine. “Okay, I don’t speak science. Do you mind a little translation?”
I simpered, “The moral of the story is: the weapon can’t be activated unless triggered by a special key code, which amazingly enough Majestic has failed to acquire.”
“That’s correct”, confirmed Chris. “According to Carl’s recent discoveries, Storm was assigned to deal with this ‘key’ famine and he was close, but apparently he lost it.”
I processed the entire information, “Okay, but you guys must have at least a little heads up about what she actually wants to achieve by this?”
“She wants war. As per our deductions, she won’t annihilate the US, but she would bring disaster somewhere else and the blame ultimately would be on us. I don’t know if these terrorist have definitions of wrong and right deeds?”
Neil pinched his eyebrows together, “There’s still a billion-dollar question: what the hell is she planning on accomplishing with Janet’s pendant? I’m sure it’s not just a maniac’s fling for a rare piece of jewelry.”
“That was a confusing blow for us. We heard about it yesterday only and we have just one theory: either Storm was dragging personal disputes into this mess, or the whole abduction thing has been just a distraction to keep us as far away from their actual mission as possible. Majestic’s not a fool. By now, she must have deducted a perfidy in her inner circle; she just didn’t know that it was Carl.”
No, this was not it. I had this gut feeling that the pendant was an important artifact in Majestic’s big tapestry. The picture was almost clear; I just could not connect the last few dots.
“So, what’s next? Are we going for the weapon or the key? I suggest we go for the key. Without the key, the weapon might as well be some scrap of metal,” I finally voiced after an elongated silence.
Richard smiled amusingly, “Great mind! But Miss Janet, there’s this little flaw in your plan: we have no idea where the key is? Or what it looks
like? But we certainly have a crystal clear picture of the warhead,” and he showed us some pictures. “So, for now, we’re going after the weapon only, and your theory very much applies but in vice-versa.”
Neil sighed loudly, “So that puts us again back to square one where you are planning to use Janet as a sacrificial lamb, and when you actually doubt Majestic wants her pendant.”
“That’s our best shot. Now here’s what you’ll be doing.”
The strategy had no flaw, obviously, Federal agents and all. But Neil was still skeptical, and he was damn right about the risk factor. One mistake and the risk factor would ascend like a logarithmic curve with only infinity as the upper cap. But still, as Richard quoted, that was our best shot.
“It’s settled then. So, what’re we gonna do tonight? Pre-battle bonfire? Telling war-stories? I bet you lot have endless ones? I’m the amateur one here,” I beamed excitedly. Oh yeah, declare me crazy or something, I was excited that all would be ending tomorrow. I’ll rescue mom, avenge Carl, and return to my old, boring life. Enough with adventures already.
Chris chuckled, “Of course, but I guess we’ll be having two different bonfires. We three need to dictate the schedule to our conclave, and you two”, he gestured at us, “will not be leaving the 500 meter perimeter. Is that clear? And if you try to run away…You know what the consequences might be?”
Neil opened his mouth to reprimand, but Richard interrupted, “Save it, Neil, Carl might be fond of you, but we have no reason to be all cuddly to you; we’ve endured your presence just in respect to Carl’s memory.”
Mr. Bornel raised his hand in peace, “We are a team, and we have a mission to accomplish. I hope we won’t regret recruiting you two into our elite group”, and just like earlier, he darted out of the office.
What’s with this man: he resembles a humanoid robot. Chris and Richard left as well, and for the first time, I wanted to stay clear of Neil. Judging from my total inability to think straight in his proximity, I followed the other three and breathed the cold night air outside. Of course, Neil followed me.
“Janet…..”
“Don’t!! Just don’t!! There’s nothing I wanna hear from you right now. Everything is just too much messed up to add another one to the list.”
He just stood there, close, so close, his eyes speaking what he wouldn’t. I stepped a few paces back, I was so not going to let his talkative eyes hamper my resolution.
“What do you want, Mr. Monster? Why follow me? You abandoned me, remember!”
“I did it for you!”
“For God’s freaking sake, everyone just needs to stop doing that!” I practically woke a few peacefully sleeping birds in the nearby trees. They crooned their strong disapproval and flew away. I wish I were a bird, capable of fleeing any vile situation.
“My birth parents abandoned me for my own good. My mom left me alone for our relationship’s own good, and Carl gave his life away for my sake. Did anybody ever wonder what I wanted for my own good? No!! They, including you, just decide what’s good for me and bail on me, never looking back, never once considering what I’d feel. I’m not a puppet god damn it!! I have a heart, a dainty one, that gets hurt when someone else decide my own good for me and abandons me to deal with the heartbreak.”
Neil stood stunned, even I was stunned at my elongated outburst. But he did hurt me, and as you’ve already guessed, I was not one of easily forgiving types. And somehow there’s this prick in my heart that keeps reminding me that if Neil hadn’t left, Carl would still be alive.
Neil still did not budge; he was fixated in place as if some external force field was keeping him in its center. A lone tear escaped his eyes, and I realized that he, too, was in pain. He just lost his pal and was way too vulnerable right now.
Something tightened in my chest. I so wanted to hug him, like right this moment, but a centrifugal force was refraining me. He looked straight into my eyes, and more tears bursting out, “You said I am drowning. You said one hand is enough to pull me out of the eternal darkness that is encompassing my life. But for me, one is not enough. Carl was not enough.”
He stretched his trembling palm forward, “Will you lend me your hand? Will you pull me out of the misery, the darkness? Will you be my guardian Angel?”
Chapter 21
“Will you shine for me??”
His eyes expressed his grief, his loneliness, and his infinite faith in me more eloquently than any words could. Those ocean blue eyes begged me, and the tightening in my chest increased. I froze, right then; it was like there was nothing going on in this world except his extended palm and heartfelt confession of needing me to shine for him.
Somehow I remembered how to think and move again, but by then Neil felt hopeless, his hand dropped lifeless by his side, and his legs averted away from me. No way was I going to see him turn his back on me again.
I came out of my shell and hugged him, hugged him so strongly that it made him falter backward. But when he rested his hand on my lower back, I thought I would faint from happiness. That simplest of touches was without any act of mischief, compassion, pity, or consolation; but just it was just because he wanted to touch me. It induced thousands of sensations.
“Thank you, thank you so much for walking into my life.” His lips were almost in my hair. He pulled back slightly to look at me, his eyes so blue and deep that I could dive in and gladly drown in its pools.
“So now are we discussing war stories?”
He laughed, “Sure, which one do you wanna hear? The territorial gang war or the confrontation between us and the Taliban?”
Respecting our 500 meter deadline, we rummaged for a trapdoor in the attic of the garage, and perched ourselves on the uneven terrace. We sat with our backs fully touching, staring at the clear night sky.
“Are you even gonna tell me any real war stories? Everything you was complete exaggeration. I mean, in the twenty-first century, who uses whips for torturing?” I nudged him annoyingly.
“Okay, you tell me then!!”
I clapped my hands excitedly, “You know this semester, I got the most difficult experiment to perform for my finals: To observe the ‘Newton’s ring’ interference pattern created by a planoconvex lens illuminated by 500 mm red Laser light. You know, when viewed with monochromatic light, it appears as concentric circles …”
Neil nudged my head with his, “Whoa there, Angel, we’re telling war stories, not horror stories.”
I elbowed his stomach, “Fine then, I won’t talk. We’re just so much different. We don’t even have a common topic to gossip about!”
Then I realized what I had done. We had just moved up a step in the epic “define the relationship”, and I was bitching about our differences.
Neil was spectacularly silent for a few moments and then relaxed beside me. “Ok, tell me about your ultimate fantasy?”
I rummaged my brain for a moment; there were several fantasies I would have liked to turn into reality…“Yeah, I want to actually measure the 3.99 degrees tilt in the ‘Leaning Tower of Pisa’ with my own instruments, personally,” I proclaimed.
Neil’s nervous cough was precious. I leaned my head against his shoulder, “No, I was just pulling your leg. If you’re seriously curious, I have always fantasized about kissing a freakishly hot guy passionately on the top of ‘Great Pyramid of Giza’.”
He unexpectedly turned around and pulled me in the circle of his sexy arms, “How about kissing a totally hot guy on the top of a deserted garage?”
Not waiting for my response, which obviously would be positive, he kissed me. The kiss was so passionate and fierce that my whole body burst into flames in spite of the cold weather and I inched myself closer. I practically leaned on his thighs, his hands being the only thing supporting me. His hands found the hem of my shirt and tugged inside to caress the hollow of my navel intimately. I clutched his neck, with a complete shudder, twining my fingers in his hair, unable to steady myself as a result of the intensity and electricity
seizing us.
I gasped for air realizing how much breathing is essential for survival; a moment ago that kiss was all I needed to survive. Neil steadied me and scooted me closer, our foreheads touching. I realized how stupid my fantasy would sound now. The place never matters, the person does.
“One fantasy down, what’s yours?”
His expression grew serious. “I won’t lie to you, but it’s not what’s expected. You don’t wanna hear it.”
“Of course I do! And I promise it’ll stop the earth from rotating if I have to in order to fulfill it.” He smirked. “You don’t believe me. I can do that, really, or at least in theory. The earth’s core has several – um – how to say it, fluids, which contribute to the magnetic field lines. If we could just stop that fluid from flowing or reverse its course…”
That made him smile. “To dedicate white orchids at the feet of the Statue of Liberty.”
I eyed him warily, “But that’s not a problem at all! After this expedition, we’ll just go to New York and pay tribute. But I wonder why it’s a fantasy at all? You could have visited New York anytime?”
Neil lowered his gaze and played with my bracelet, “I couldn’t.”
“But why? I didn’t know you had a crowd-o-phobia!!”
His voice thickened, “Because I vowed not to!”
I waited patiently for him to open up; the matter had to be taken care of with the utmost delicacy. Judging my silence to be approval, he continued, “The Statue of Liberty epitomizes freedom from slavery and bondage, ‘Liberty Enlightening the World’. Lady Liberty lightens the path to freedom through peace and non-violence. But am I at liberty to make my own decisions? Am I actually worthy of standing in front of the Lady? The answer’s no! It has been no for years now. I have been trapped in an endless abyss surrounded by high ramparts. I have been entrenched in a culture too ingrained to ditch. Crime, the underworld, the darkness never cease to reign. Everybody is just sailing the same boat for centuries amidst the old rancorous gang war. Nobody questions the system, I never once questioned what I was doing. We are implicitly born into it. But Carl did question. When I was thirteen, he elucidated the significance of the emblem and made me promise sanctimoniously to never ruin its virtue until I decided to actually redeem my soul. That day, I just feigned the conversation talking nonsense into thin air. But as I grew older, I understood the gravity of his words and promised myself to never vandalize its significance.”
