The Big Ten: The First Ten Books of the Beginnings Series

by Jacqueline Druga

  “El.”

  “Watch out.” She shoved by him only to be snatched back and picked up. “Frank!”

  Frank laughed as he set her back down a few feet down the hall. “Why are you running away from me?”

  “I have to get to the mobile and relieve your son before he has a fit. He has to work for you now, Frank.” She walked backwards. “Why are you here?”

  “I have to talk to your boy.” Frank pointed to Danny. He saw Ellen hesitate before going out, and then he saw Ellen step closer the more he backed up to Danny.

  Danny saw Frank pointing to him. “Hi, Frank, what’s up?”

  “Danny. Do you ...” Frank looked to his left to Ellen who had snuck back and peeked her head into the circle of Frank, Dean, and Danny. “Danny, do you ...” Frank placed his hand on top of Ellen’s head and shoved her out. “Do you know anything about fixing helicopter motors?”

  Danny fluttered his lips. “You’re kidding right? You’re not kidding?”

  “Nope.”

  “Shit. I’ve never even seen a chopper motor. Why?”

  “I need someone to leave the walls with a small crew to go pick up two helicopters. The batteries will have to be put in them, and the engines we’ll need fixed up, hopefully only cleaned and such. Robbie and my son can assist, but the mechanical aspect they may need some help. I thought maybe you knew.”

  Danny lifted his shoulders and dropped them. “I’m sure if I spent a good eight hours with a motor, looking at it, and learning it, I could be of use. I’m pretty good with motors.”

  “Good,” Frank said, “then I’ll get you out of here to ...”

  Henry’s ‘no’ shut them all up and surprised them all, except Dean, who actually heard the Henry-shuffling of steps before he spoke.

  “No.” Henry walked to the group, pausing to look at Ellen. “He doesn’t need to go. I’ll go. It’s only for a day.” He stepped into the circle of men. “I know what I’m doing. I’ll go.”

  Frank nodded pleased. “Even better. You still want me to get Danny out of here to give you a hand with ...”

  “No,” Henry said strongly. “I can do it. I’ve done it. That’s OK. Thanks, Danny, for offering.” Henry stepped from the group and turned around, hoping to see Ellen, hoping to pull her aside, but he didn’t see her.

  Danny saw that he was looking for her. “She went in her office.”

  “Thanks.” Henry walked a few feet down the hall and looked in Ellen’s office. He saw her standing by her desk. He knocked on the archway. “El? Can I talk to you?”

  Ellen turned around and looked at him. She walked to him. “No.” And with her word, she slammed the door shut in Henry’s face.

  Henry’s head dropped and his hands immediately gripped the outer doorway. “Shit.” He shook his head. When he swayed it to his right, he saw he had an audience. Not wanting to make any more of a spectacle of himself, he decided to try later, when no one would see him. Henry gave a half wave and walked slowly down the hall. He was surprised to see, as he went to buzz himself through, that Forrest walked in at the same time. “Hey, Forrest, Bye, Forrest.”

  “An-ray.” Forrest moved perky down the hall. “Ah, Frunk and Don. Have you sun El-loon?”

  “Uh Yep.” Frank moved to Ellen’s office door. “Why you need her?”

  “Un woo luck very mooch ta speck with her.”

  “Sure.” Back-knuckling the door in a knock, Frank called out, “El.”

  “What!” she blasted as she opened the door and sent everyone back a step. “What, Frank?”

  “Forrest wants you.”

  Ellen let out a breath and decided Forrest did nothing to deserve her bad mood. So, she placed on a smile and walked out of her office. “Hi, Forrest.”

  “El-loon, Uh um hop-pay dat uh hef fund you. Uh woo luck ta speck with you.”

  “Sure, Forrest. What’s up?” Ellen crossed her arms.

  Forrest looked a bit nervous, but he was also full of confidence in himself. “El-loon, Uh wuss wondering ef you wooed bay in-trees-dead en huffing a det with may.”

  Ellen heard Dean’s snicker. She knew he understood but, unfortunately, she didn’t. “Could you repeat that?”

  “Oui.” Forrest tried to stand taller as he looked slightly up to Ellen. “Wooed you luck ta huff a det with may?”

  Ellen really didn’t want to be rude. Obviously Frank did, because he burst into laughter right then and there. “Frank,” she scolded. “Stop it.”

  “Answer the man, El. He wants to have a date with you,” Frank informed her. “Go on.” He raised his eyebrows so sarcastically.

  “A date?” Ellen asked Forrest, and saw him nod.

  “Oui. An-ray tod may et es ah-rut.”

  “He did, did he?” Ellen folded her arms tighter. “Sure, Forrest, I’d love too. When?” She hid her snicker at the synchronized gasps of Dean, Danny, and Frank.

  “Woo you luck ta do et Friday?”

  “Sure, Friday after my meeting.”

  “Ah-rut, et es a det.” Forrest reached forward and tapped Ellen on the cheek. “Uh woo speck ta you latter a-butt tit? Oui?”

  “Yes.” Ellen nodded and watched Forrest, so bubbly, walk back down the hall. She spun her body to face Frank and Dean, who laughed. “What?”

  Frank laughed the hardest. “How can you be so mean, leading the man on like that?”

  “I’m not leading him on, Frank. I’d like to go out with him. I have to go. Bye, Dean, good luck.”

  “No-No.” Frank chased her. “Why would you want to go out with Forrest?”

  “Perhaps I want to see what the other women are talking about with the older gentlemen, a kinder, gentler lover.”

  “We aren’t talking George Bush here, El. We’re talking about a four-foot French guy.”

  “Frank.” Ellen shook her head and moved to the door.

  “El.” He followed her out. “You really aren’t doing this, are you?”

  “Yes, Frank, I am. Quit following me.”

  “El.” He grabbed her arm and stopped her before she left the building entirely. “What are you going to do when he touches you for real? Huh? When he makes a pass at you?”

  “Frank, stop.” Her hands lay on the Containment door, pushing it open slightly.

  “Reaches his old hands for your ...” Frank stepped behind her, “... your breast. What if, El? What are you gonna do if he ... gets naked?” Frank shuddered. “Then what? You’ll be stuck.”

  “Then,” Ellen turned just a little to face him, readying to make an exit, “then I’ll imagine he’s you, and I’ll ... I’ll screw the hell out of him. Bye, Frank.” She darted out the door.

  Frank smiled with a wide-mouth grin, staring at that closed door. He turned back to go into Containment and saw Huey, the guard with the broken ankle, staring at him. “What?”

  “Getting back together with Ellen, Frank?” Huey lifted his eyes from the book he read. “You got that little ‘Frank and Ellen’ flirtatious thing back.”

  “Yeah.” Frank smiled. “Yeah we do. Buzz me in. I’m going back with Dean for a while, if anyone is looking for me.”

  “Helping him out in there?” Huey asked.

  “Fuck no.” Frank listened for the buzz and opened the door. “Blind jokes.”

  <><><><>

  Contrary to what Dean said he had done, Ellen knew better. It was a good thing she checked the box at the clinic before she took it with her to the mobile, or she would have been missing several files she needed. Dean chalked it up to the fact that he couldn’t see. Ellen, she chalked up anything missing to the fact that Dean got lazy. Because as far as the blindness went, Dean was doing pretty good at handling things.

  She pulled up the jeep, parking it at the end of the make shift road right outside of Jason’s quantum lab. Ellen did what she did every day. She got out of the jeep, debated on going in to say hello to Jason, reminded herself that he stopped Os-Oscar from stuttering, and then flipped off his quantum lab building. It didn’t feel
quite as rewarding on this day because it just didn’t hold the same effect when she knew Jason wasn’t in there.

  She carried the box of supplies close to her as she walked to the mobile. Ellen knew she was in trouble when she saw Johnny walking out. “Sorry, Johnny.”

  “No problem, El. I finished the new agents.”

  “How are they working?” she asked.

  “Results are still cooking. I felt it was safe to leave.”

  “I would have been here sooner but your father held me up. He’s such a jerk.”

  “That’s my dad,” Johnny commented. “Sorry to hear about you and Henry.”

  “That’s OK. You know me. I move on, just like I’m going to move on to the mobile.”

  “El,” Johnny tried to talk to her, “do you think you and Henry will get back together?”

  “No, Johnny. There isn’t a chance.”

  “You’ve given my dad many second chances.”

  “Johnny.” Ellen winked subtly. “That’s your Dad.”

  “Are you getting back with my dad?”

  “Probably not.”

  “Dean?”

  “I honestly think I’m giving up on all three.”

  “Be Ellen, the free spirit.”

  “Maybe.”

  Johnny began to walk away. “Oh hey, El? Can I ask you something?”

  “Sure.”

  “Why aren’t we working with our agents on the host virus sample we have? We’re trying our agents on everything else, strands two and three. Why not one?”

  “One word. Dean,” Ellen stated. “He doesn’t think we should. You know him. Just because he used to be one of the top minds in his field, he thinks he knows everything. Go figure. I have argued with him.”

  “Keep arguing because I think it’s a mistake ignoring that host virus.” Johnny stepped back. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

  “See ya, Johnny. Thanks for helping today.”

  Trotting the rest of the way to the mobile, Ellen hoped that Johnny didn’t lock the door. The last thing she wanted to do was balance a box and reach for a keypad, but Johnny didn’t. The door was open.

  Taking a second to enjoy the cool air-conditioned air, Ellen felt the heat of the day leave her, and she laid the box on the counter to her left. When she did, she saw it, a single wild flower. She lifted it up and brought it to her nose.

  “It’s from me.”

  Ellen’s head quickly turned to Henry who stood by the trailer door. She turned away.

  “I knew you were coming, so I came up.”

  Ellen set down the flower and proceeded to unpack her box. “I’m very busy, Henry, so unless you came up here to fix something, please leave.”

  “I did come up here to fix something.” He walked to her. “Us.”

  “We can’t be fixed.”

  “Anything can be fixed.”

  “Not if enough damage is done, it can’t.” She continued reaching into the box. “Trust me, there’s been damage done.”

  “Ellen.” Henry grabbed her hand and pulled it out of the box. “Listen, if I had told you that next morning about what happened, would you have been mad at me?”

  “I would have been surprised that you took advantage of me.”

  “But would you have believed me when I said I didn’t know you blacked out.”

  “I believe you now, Henry, if I didn’t. You wouldn’t be standing here.”

  “So all we need to get over is the fact that I didn’t tell you.”

  Ellen’s voice squeaked with emotions, “Why aren’t you getting this? I have a valid reason, Henry, for being mad. For not trusting you. For never wanting to deal with you again. Do you not get that?”

  “I don’t want to lose you.”

  “You have, and should have thought of that a long time ago when you chose to not tell me the truth.”

  “I’m human, El. I make mistakes.”

  “This was a doozy.”

  “Any bigger than Frank mentally abusing you? Any bigger than him using you for sex and telling you that you can go.”

  “It’s all bad, Henry.”

  “But you forgave Frank. What about me?”

  “You’re not Frank.”

  “No one is.” Somberly he began to walk away. He paused at the work counter and looked at the wild flower he had stopped and picked for her. His peace offering. So simple, so natural, just like he thought he and Ellen were. Henry grabbed the flower and walked to the mobile lab door. Before he left, he stared down at it then turned slowly back around to face Ellen who watched him. “Can’t we try to work on this? Can’t we at least try to be friends again, and get beyond this?”

  Ellen swallowed. “One day, Henry, maybe, but that one day won’t be soon.”

  Henry closed his eyes momentarily, took a step back while clutching the flower, and moved quickly from the lab. But before he left, he crushed the wildflower and tossed it in the trash, not looking back as he walked out the door.

  <><><><>

  If there was one thing George truly missed about Beginnings and vowed to keep the same when he returned, was the alcohol. The moonshine recipe brought to Beginnings by a farmer named Stan, an Original, when they arrived, was kept up even after Stan’s death. Unlike any moonshine George had ever tried in his entire life, Stan’s batch was sweet and tasted more like bourbon than anything else. Stan said it was his secret ingredient that he would take to his grave. Fortunately for Beginnings, Stan got entirely too drunk one evening and he boasted that secret ingredient. Not one person thought twice about taking advantage of his drunkenness. They quickly questioned him all about making it and wrote it down.

  George sipped his chemist’s equivalent to moonshine. George said it had to be sweeter and with a hard kick. But the more George sipped it, the more he felt like one of those women in the old world who wanted to be one of the guys and do a shot, but only did schnapps.

  But if he drank enough, it usually would have a soothing effect. In fact, as George sat upon the front porch of his home, sipping his alcoholic beverage, he actually became giddy. Giggling and chuckling to himself, he made those who passed him on the street wonder if he was in control of his own faculties. To some people, the moonshine he drank had a drunken effect. George could hear the hooting and chanting coming from the bar down the street from his home, in that small town located in the center of Former Quantico. With all the people moving about Quantico, it sometimes took a second for George to realize the old world wasn’t back, at least not yet. It wouldn’t be long either, contrary to what Beginnings thought. Thinking of Beginnings’ newest move made George laugh even more.

  Every time their so-called tracking system popped into George’s head, he laughed. Beginnings hadn’t a clue that the new radar equivalent system they were going to create would be useless. George thought ahead about that one. When trying to create the perfect army, he knew one way to do it would be to make them radar-invincible. A Stealth Soldier. George did it. The microchip in the CMEs made it impossible for them to be detected at all, and the soldiers he had that weren’t CMEs could benefit by it too. All they had to do was carry a microchip and they too could not be seen. That was exactly what George was going to have them do when he sent his wave of invasion Beginnings’ way. He had his labs working to create more.

  It almost seemed to George like an unfair advantage over Beginnings. But it brought George enjoyment, sitting on his front porch, thinking of his preparations, picturing Beginnings thinking that they’re so high-and-mighty with a brand new radar system. A radar system that would fail them before they would realize it never would have worked. Like a child, George kept thinking to himself that he knew something Beginnings didn’t know, and he laughed when he thought about that. But what George was unaware of was that Beginnings knew something he didn’t know, and for that, they could very easily have the last laugh.

  CHAPTER TEN

  JULY 31

  So chipper and perky, Ellen called out as she walked into the bedroom, hol
ding a mug of coffee, “Let’s go, Dean!” She walked over to his side of the bed. “Get up.” She set the mug on the nightstand next to him. “Boy, are you lazy today.”

  Dean grunted, “Go away. What time is it?”

  “Seven. Let’s go,” she spoke annoyingly high pitched and chipper. “Dean, get out of bed.”

  “El, I will.”

  “Dean.” She flung off his covers.

  “El!” He pulled them back up then rolled onto his stomach.

  “You’re missing the day, Dean.” She walked to the window.

  “It’s seven in the morning, Ellen. How much of the day can I be missing?”

  “A lot. I made breakfast, Dean. I’ll hold it until you get out of the shower. Kids are dressed. Let’s go.”

  “El ...” Dean started to lift his head but stopped, he listened. “Do not tell me you’re opening the blinds.”

  “I am.”

  “Why?”

  “For you. It’s a beautiful day.”

  “El, it’s dark to me. Why are you so perky.”

  “I’ve been up since five.” She walked over to the bed and sat on the edge next to him. “I brought you up coffee.”

  “Is that mine? I smelt it.”

  “Yep, on your nightstand.” She stood up. “You need me to pick out your clothes?”

  “No. Frank has my drawers all arranged by ...” Dean sat up. “Could you just look to see if he lied to me?”

  “Sure.” Ellen walked to the dresser. “How are they supposed to be?”

  “Jeans on the bottom, the more faded they are the more on the right they are.”

  “Check.”

  “Third drawer should have my sweats on the right and tan pants on left.”

  “Check.”

  “Second drawer should have my tee shirts arranged by ...”

  “Dean, I just thought of something.” Ellen said as she peered into the drawer.

  “What’s that?”

  “What does it matter? Jeans go with everything and so do tan pants.”

  “I’d like to know what I’m wearing. El, can you check my closet for me? He’s supposed to have them tagged in a Frank-system.”