Paul had become pretty good at working with the press. He made an official statement claiming that the Coca Beach house had been destroyed by Russian terrorists and that his staff had been away at the time the bomb went off. He was just glad that no one else had been harmed in the terrible explosion. Paul had Michael send the owner a check for damages. He knew the owner would double-dip and get a settlement check from his insurance company as well. The Shuttle training team stayed on Verron until after the Thanksgiving weekend then returned to Earth to finish their job. General Dorsey offered them housing on nearby Patrick AFB. The group would miss their fun in the sun, but decided to spend what recreation time they had to increase their training of the Shuttle crews so they could get out of there by years end. For some reason, it had stopped being fun when they had to constantly look over their shoulder. Patrick AFB was the temporary home of 100 Verron Marines in body armor. It was probably the safest military compound in America. Camil was awarded the highest honor for bravery available on Verron. Paul made a point to have plenty of people from Beriya-Haven at the ceremony recognizing someone they considered undesirable as one of Verron’s greatest heroes. For the first time in their lives, 2 dozen Shapeshifters were proud of who they are and proud to have Lieutenant Colonel Camil Verron as their commander.
Chapter 17
It was early Wednesday morning and Organized Crime Investigator Bartholomew C. Brown could stand it no longer. He had thought of nothing else but Major Katelyn Verron since the day he watched the surfing download with his little sister. He checked with Area 51 to see if she was still there and found she had not yet left for Thanksgiving break. He decided to confront the Major face to face and the sooner the better. He had to know if he was reading the whole situation wrong. He had no doubt that he could tell if he confronted her in person. Bart told his Mother that he had been called to work, such is life in the FBI, and that if he could make it back for the remaining weekend he would. He grabbed his always packed travel bag and caught the first Vegas shuttle out. He picked-up an agency car at the airport and headed out for the 100 mile ride across the Nevada dessert. After an hour of being checked at the security checkpoint, he was escorted to the office of the Chief of Security and questioned further on his reason for being there. With both General Johnson and Brigadier General Lawson gone, the Colonel had no one else to defer his decision to. He finally paged Major Verron to come to the Security office. He was not about to allow this man, FBI agent or not, access to any part of the facility. As soon as Katelyn was told who was there, she knew why he was there. The man had no proof, but he had somehow recognized her voice when she spoke to him, a foolish decision she had made that could ruin her entire operational plans.
Katelyn entered the office in a pair of cut-off jeans, a tank-top and sandals, with her hair pulled back in a ponytail. Bart couldn’t help but notice the long tanned legs and solid physic. She gave him her best and warmest smile and once again noticed how handsome he was. Before he could speak in front of the Colonel, she turned to the Chief and asked, “Sir, would you mind if we used your office for a few minutes. We won’t be in here long.” The Colonel rose from his desk and went down the hall for a cup of coffee. Katelyn turned to Agent Bart Brown and said, “Agent Brown, I have a pretty good idea why you’re here. Before you say or do anything, I believe there is something you need to see and someone you need to meet. Would you please come with me?” Bart walked with her toward the door and felt a slight blur in his vision and he was suddenly walking down an unfamiliar hallway of plush marble floors and silk wall-papered walls. Katelyn opened the gold-plated double doors at the end of the hall and asked a beautiful blond behind a desk, “Inga, is King Verron in his office.” Without waiting for an answer she opened the office door of King Paul Verron. Katelyn thought, “I’ve just added kidnapping a Federal Agent to my list of crimes, well, I did ask him to come with me.”
King Paul Verron was sitting behind his desk on a rare occasion of doing paperwork. He hated paperwork, but there were still decisions that only he could make and he didn’t like to procrastinate. He looked up and smiled at his niece and admired the casual relationship she maintained with her Uncle Paul. Few people would show-up at the King’s office in cut-offs and a tank-top, every member of the Dragon Guard felt the same level of comfort with him. The man with her did not however look quite as comfortable. Agent Bart Brown had on a typical G-man dark blue suit, white shirt and paisley burgundy colored tie and carried a briefcase. Paul rose and extended his hand, immediately asking, “And which Agency do you represent Mr. …?” “Brown, sir, FBI, Special Agent Bart Brown” Bart responded. Paul looked at Katelyn and she shrugged with a slight grin. Paul was incredibly quick on his feet, saying, “I was just speaking with FBI Director Comey earlier this week about the Organized Crime Team Katelyn is assembling. He suggested that she have one of his agents as a liaison and help feed her vital information so we work together toward the same goals and don’t butt heads with each other.” He turned to Katelyn and asked, “Is this the man for the job?” Katelyn was a quick study, she, after-all, had Paul Verron as a teacher, she answered, “That’s why I kidnapped him and brought him to Verron. I wanted him to meet the people he will hopefully decide to work with. I guess right now it’s up to Mr. Comey and Agent Brown.”
Bart had stood silently during this dialogue and finally spoke, asking, “Director Comey is aware of your operation?” Paul circled back behind his desk and spoke into his com-link, asking, “Inga, would you get Jim Comey on the phone, then go home. I know it’s not Thanksgiving here, but it is Saturday, now git.” In a couple of minutes FBI Director James Comey was on the speaker phone and obviously on the golf course. He answered the phone, “Well, hello Paul. Want to join me in Maui? To what do I owe the pleasure of this call?” Bart knew he was in trouble, he had never heard the Director being so nice to anyone. Paul got right to his reason for calling, saying, “Jim, you and I were discussing my plans to fight organized crime and gangs in the same way we are now assisting the CIA and Defense Department with the terrorist threat. I believe Princess Katelyn has found an agent from your Organized Crime Division that she would like to work with her.” Paul looked up and Bart replied, “Special Agent Bartholomew C. Brown sir.” Director Comey paused a moment and Bart could tell Comey was talking about him to someone. He came back over the speaker phone and replied, “According to Deputy Director Cole, he’s one of his best field agents. He’s all yours, just have him keep us informed on his activities and we will give you any field support you need.” Paul answered, “Thanks Jim, maybe next time you decide to vacation you can do it here. We’re opening up to tourism after the first of the year. We are just finishing our fourth golf course. You and your friends are welcome to come break it in.” Director Comey replied, “Just tell me when and where. I’ll be there.” Paul ended, “Thanks a lot Jim. We’ll take good care of your boy and try not to spoil him. Have a good game.” He then disconnected and looked at Bart and asked, “It looks like you now work for Princess Katelyn and me. If you don’t want the assignment for some reason it’s your choice. But I can assure you, you will learn things you never imagined before and soon realize we don’t do things the way the FBI normally does things. Are you in?” Bart looked at the smiling Major (Princess) Katelyn Verron and knew he had been totally outmaneuvered. He shook his head and smiled, saying, “I don’t see any way I can refuse an offer like this. Yes, Sir, I accept it.” Paul turned to Katelyn and declared, “He’s all yours. Bring him up to date on what we have planned and show him around.” He once again extended his hand to Bart and said, “Welcome to the team.”
As soon as Bart and Katelyn left the office, she looked at Bart and informed him, “If I’m going to be escorting you around Verron for the next few days, we have got to find you some other clothes. I have friends coming in for the weekend and around them you’ll stick-out like a sore thumb.” She looked him over again and added, “You’ll stick out anywhere you go on Verron dressed like th
at. Let’s go shopping.” Katelyn escorted Bart to the elevator and they took a long ride down to the hanger bay. Bart had never seen anything like it in his life. There were spaceships of every size and transports of several different designs. The people, he wasn’t sure if he should refer to them as people, were mingling around the area boarding ships and personal transport vehicles. Katelyn saw his puzzled look and told him, “Mountain City is the home of over 50,000 residents. As you can see, they represent all the Nations that we are allied with. You’ll get used to it after a while.” They walked over to one of the BMW styled transports and climbed in. Bart asked, “Why don’t you just do what you did in the Colonel’s office?” Katelyn smiled, “We do teleport over longer distances when necessary, but to simply cross the bay to go shopping, we try to travel like everyone else.”
As they crossed the Sabrina Bay to Capital City, Katelyn told Bart, “I have twenty friends coming for the weekend from Australia and someone I hope will join my team coming from Chattanooga. They will all be dressed more like me. I doubt any of them even owns a suit. I hope you like the beach and don’t burn easily, ‘cause that’s where we’ll be spending most of our time. I’ll show you around the planet and bring you up to speed after they leave. For right now just relax and try to pretend you’re having fun.”
After buying shorts, jeans, surfer style Hawaiian print shirts and a pair of baggy trunks, Bart actually looked like a different person. She was no longer embarrassed to walk through the Mall with him as they entered the food court for a Philly Cheese Steak Sandwich. Katelyn was beginning to realize that Mr. FBI agent was a person just like her. He told her about why he had joined the FBI in the first place and she shared her story about her friend Jenifer’s death and how she decided to do everything she could to eradicate drug dealers and their products from Earth. She openly admitted to the retribution killing of the 226 Gang members and told him she only responded to the MS-13 threat because they would have hurt a lot of innocent people had she not stopped them. Bart shook his head and asked, “Does this plan of yours include eradicating a lot more people?” Katelyn made a serious face and responded, “Only those who really need it and only those who endanger others. These people are no different than a terrorist. More people died of gang related homicides in the past five years than were killed by terrorists and drug related deaths, in the U.S. alone, for just one year, those who die of gang related causes will surpass the number of terrorist related deaths for a five year period. As you know, there are over 1,000,000 gang members in this country alone and they do whatever they think they can get by with and they all know that the same laws that they break are the laws that will protect them. I don’t intend to let the legal system, National borders or political powers stand between me and my objective. I can assure you, I will not be doing things by the book, but I will need your wisdom and experience to make sure I identify and eliminate only those at the top to begin with. You no doubt can access that information better than anyone else on my team. After this weekend, I will once again ask if you’re still game for what I’ve been planning. I will have no hard feelings if you decide that my methods are a bit too much for you to accept.”
Katelyn looked at her watch and told Bart, “I need to get you squared away and comfortable. It’s about time for me to go get my friends.” They took the transport across the city to the Klelta Palace and got Bart a room. Katelyn was smiling as she entered the lobby and saw Amber and Robert along with 275 of her closest friends from the Air Force Academy. One look at the long check-in line and she walked over to Amber, asking, “Will you make sure my friend Bart here gets a room. He will be working with me on my Anti-Drug and Anti-Gang Task Force.” She leaned over and whispered loud enough for others to hear, “Better watch yourself around him, he’s FBI.” Turning to Bart, she introduced her cousin, “Bart this is my cousin Princess Amber Verron-Hall, Colonel Hall is on the Dragon Guard with me and commands our Air Force. And this handsome man beside her is General Robert Lawson. You probably remember him from your first visit to Area 51.” Bart shook hands and Katelyn, smiled, saying, “This is going to be an interesting weekend at the Klelta Palace. In a little while I will be checking in 20 to 30 of my surfer friends from Australia. They are coming here to check out the area where Vlad and I plan to open the resort. Wonder how these Air Force types will mingle with them?” Robert grinned and answered, “As I recall most of your friends from the outback are tall, tan and gorgeous, I see no conflict with the cadets, just lots of lust.” Katelyn told Bart, “I’ll see you for dinner. Dress casual.” She turned and disappeared. Robert smiled at a bewildered Bart and informed him, “Don’t worry Agent Brown, if you stick around long enough you will eventually come to accept the things they do, but I doubt you’ll get used to it.”
Emily Stark still lived in the same house she had lived in when she and Katelyn went to school together. Her father had been killed in Afghanistan shortly after her younger brother was born. They moved back to Chattanooga to be close to family and bought the house off Highway 58 because it was in a good school district and a short drive to Mrs. Stark’s new employer Chattem Chemical. Like many older neighborhoods, this one had become a bit more rundown and now housed a rougher group of people than it did in the past. Basically 226 members were all over Chattanooga and this neighborhood was no exception. Katelyn arrived at the agreed time and knocked on the front door. No one had noticed the girl arrive in the fenced-in front-yard except the big Rottweiler lying on the front porch. He bared his teeth and was about to charge down the steps when Brutus realized he could not move, no matter how hard he tried. As soon as Emily opened the door Katelyn released Brutus. The big dog didn’t even bother to finish what he had hoped to begin. He just looked up at Katelyn wondering what had just happened. Emily shook her head in amazement, saying, “Most people yell from the other side of the gate. I can’t believe Brutus didn’t even bark or growl at you.” Katelyn entered the living room for her second surprise of the day, Bart being her first. Maria Gonzales, the seventeen-year-old girl she had saved at in the night club parking lot was standing there to greet her. She immediately embraced her and said, “I don’t care what Emily said, you’re still an angel to me.” Katelyn smiled at Emily and replied, “Of course I am, my Momma calls me one all the time. But I hate to disappoint you, I am not from Heaven. I was born right here in good old Chattanooga.”
Before Katelyn could say anything, Maria began to talk a mile a minute, saying, “Emily told me everything and I’m going to be a part of your crime fighting team. After all, they almost killed me. So I guess I have a right to get involved, besides, nobody can understand Mexican people better than another Mexican. Speaking the language is the easy part, but you’ll never understand how we think. I won’t take no for an answer. I make good grades and I’m really smart. I graduate this year and now I know what I want to do. How much does it pay?” Katelyn couldn’t help but be amused by the girls enthusiasm. And, she had never actually given any thought to how much the jobs she needed to fill would pay, she replied, “What if I told you it pays the same as I get paid, nothing.” She then grinned and added, “I get a lot of perks, being a Princess and all. I really have no idea how much I get paid, but I’ve never done without anything I needed.” Turning to her old friend and her energetic new one, she asked, “How much do you want to get paid?” Neither girl had any idea but Emily told her, “I make $33.00 an hour as a hygienist but I rarely get a forty hour week.” Maria looked embarrassed to say, “I get $7.25 an hour at McDonalds, but I work part-time.” Katelyn really didn’t know what to pay people on Earth. She knew Uncle Michael would support whatever she decided, she told them, “Well, we now have a real-life FBI agent on our team. A Special Agent makes probably $130,000 a year. He has a law degree and experience, how about I pay Emily $60,000 and you $45,000 a year, plus expenses. Does that sound like something you can live with?” Both girls laughed with excitement, but Emily was a bit more suspicious, and responded with, “Sure, like you can
decide that kind of stuff by yourself.” Katelyn didn’t get mad, she just told them, “Get your things. I’ll let you two decide just what I can decide after you’ve had a few days on Verron.”
Paul entered the insanity of the Klelta Palace just as a group of cadets and a dozen gorgeous surfer girls entered the lobby. The distinct Aussie accent was adorable as the guys from all over the U.S tried to get to know these sun-drenched beauties. Paul had actually come to tell Amber and Katelyn that they were to invite their friends to the Mansion for Thanksgiving Dinner. He didn’t want any of the guests to miss out on the good food they gave up to visit Verron. A short time later the remainder of the surfers arrived at the Klelta Palace carrying surf-boards, towels and beach accessories. While Paul watched, Katelyn landed a Marine mechanized troop transport ship in front of the hotel. She entered the lobby and whistled in her high-pitched ear piercing shriek and yelled, “Surfs up and it don’t get dark on Verron this time of year.” She was standing with an attractive, athletic black girl who was looking in wonder at the crowd rushing toward the door. There was a cute and obviously excited young girl with them that could pass for a young Jaylo. Following behind the 40 surfers who had decided to visit Verron was Agent Bart Brown. Paul couldn’t help but notice the baggies he was wearing and the tank-top. It was a refreshing change from the suit he wore that morning. The group was loading up their equipment when the final sun-lovers arrived. General Vladimir Zhdanov looked like a different man in his short cream-colored cargo pants and a muscle shirt. Jesserrica, Linsarius and Paulet were all dressed for a day at the beach. The envious cadets watched as no less than 25 of the best looking women they had ever seen departed for the beach. Amber knew she would distract them with her tour of the Spaceship Factory she had planned, but decided to give them the option of the beach or a space-flight the next day, she had a feeling by the ogling looks that more than a few would choose the beach. Robert could see the distressed look on her face and gently whispered in her ear, “Sweetheart, you need to learn how to have more fun. The stress and strain of life will still be there tomorrow if you happen to take a day off.” She knew he was right and turned, asking, “Who all wants to go to the beach tomorrow?” It looked as if space flight would have to wait another day.
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