Epilogue
So that's the story of how we defeated Enclave's first attempt to conquer the Earth. It has been about three months since then, and it has been a terrific summer.
After that final non-debrief, the eight of us spent some time talking about what we wanted to do with our time off. One of the things we decided was that we ought to get to know each other outside of HQ. Angie and Padma persuaded Trina to take them to Paris to see the sights, and they invited Lin-fa to come along with them. Personally, I thought that was a pretty good idea. They wouldn't have to pay for lodging because they were able to teleport home any time they wanted. Ditto for meals. It seemed like a pretty cheap vacation to me.
I mentioned something like that to Angie, in fact, and she stared at me as if I had suggested that eating out of garbage cans would be a good way to save money. Was I crazy? Of course they wanted to stay in a Paris hotel, she declared, and of course they would eat as many of their meals there as possible. Why else would they even go to Paris? That left me scratching my head; I guess I don't always understand girls too well.
Us guys decided to spend that time backpacking and camping out. Bill suggested a wilderness area he knew well, a spot just north of the US/Canadian border. It was extremely remote, nearly impossible to get to except by air (or teleportation). He had spent a number of vacations there by himself when he had been a Prime.
So Mike, Nicolai, Toby, and I spent a fortnight roughing it -- just the four of us, tents, sleeping bags, and whatever food we felt like scrounging from HQ. I had been a Boy Scout for a year or two when I was younger, so I thought I would be one of the experts out there in the wilderness. Ha! Foolish me! Nicolai, it turned out, had regularly gone on weekend hunting and fishing trips in Poland with his father and was quite the outdoorsman. Of course, Mike had lived on that sheep ranch in Australia for a while, and even Toby had spent many a summer in the countryside with his friends. Once again, Trevor was the low man on the totem pole.
It was still a lot of fun, though. We hiked (a little), fished (enough to feed ourselves), and just generally loafed (a lot). I know I lost track of the days, so I was a little surprised when Mike, after checking in with Wizzit like he did every morning, beckoned us over.
"He says Trina wants to talk to us," he said.
After a moment, we heard Trina's voice issuing from Mike's belt speakers. "It has been two weeks," she said. "Do you miss us?"
Mike looked around at our grinning faces and said, "Of course we do, love. Would you like to get together?"
"We'd love to."
He scratched at the fourteen-days-old growth of beard on his jaw. "I have an idea. We've a lovely little lake here, practically on our doorstep. The water's quite warm and clear, perfect for swimming. How about if you girls come on out? We could grill some fish and maybe even do some skinny-dipping."
My grin dimmed. I wasn't too thrilled at the prospect of swimming naked with my sister present, but Nicolai and Toby obviously had no such qualms, so I didn't say anything. Besides, I thought, there would be plenty of other lovely young ladies to look at besides Angie.
There was a whispered conference on the other end -- I got the impression that Padma wasn't too clear on the whole skinny-dipping concept -- and then I'm pretty sure I heard some nervous giggling. "As tempting as that sounds," Trina eventually said, somehow managing not to sound tempted at all, "we have a counter-offer -- a gourmet dinner for eight in a lovely little restaurant here in Paris. I know the owner, and he owes me a favor."
I had no idea what kind of favor someone like that might owe Trina, but I enthusiastically nodded my approval when Mike looked around at us. "All right," he said, "we accept. What time would you like us there?"
"If you can be here -- showered, shaved, and in coats and ties -- within, oh, two hours from now, then we will not be forced to look for other escorts. Wizzit will know where to send you."
Angie's voice came over the speaker then, almost on top of Trina's. "And believe me, we've had plenty of other offers from plenty of cute French guys. You wouldn't be that hard to replace."
"You wound me, Angela," Mike said with a laugh. "It might take us a little while to break camp, but we'll be there."
We raced through tearing down the tents, putting out the fire, gathering up our gear, and generally cleaning up. When our campsite was as pristine as we had found it, Mike said, "Whenever you're ready, Wizzit," and we teleported back to HQ.
I still had my suit and tie in my closet from Commander Windham's funeral, so I was ready half an hour early. I sat in the lounge and drummed my fingers, tapped my foot, and generally fretted for the next twenty-five minutes. Finally, Toby, who was the last one of us to be ready, came down the hallway. "I hate wearing ties!" he declared, fighting with the knot of cloth at his throat. "Can you help me with this, Trevor?"
"Have my sister do it," I said, waving him off with a laugh. "Girls love that sort of thing, especially if you make sad puppy-dog eyes when you ask."
"I don't know how to make sad puppy-dog eyes."
"Then just act helpless. It'll work, trust me."
Wizzit teleported us into what must have been the girls' hotel room. It was a little crowded with eight of us in there, but given the delightful company, I didn't mind. They must have blown Wizzit's budget just on clothes; each of them had on a beautiful new French frock that accentuated curves, eyes, hair, and complexions to perfection. I had to admit that even my sister was quite an eyeful, even though I'm not supposed to notice stuff like that.
Angie burst out laughing at the mess Toby had made of his tie, which caused him to give me the evil eye. She made him sit down on one of the beds while she and Padma and Trina fussed over it and him.
Lin-fa took hold of my hand and drew me over into a corner, positioning me in front of her as if I were a human shield between her and everyone else in the room. "Is everything all right, Lin-fa?" I asked her in Cantonese.
She nodded, although not as enthusiastically as I would have hoped. "I find I am not accustomed to being around people," she replied softly in the same language.
I looked around at my friends. Angie had shooed Trina and Padma away and was working on Toby's tie with a decidedly proprietary air. "They have not done anything to upset you, have they?" I asked anxiously.
"Oh, no!" she replied hastily. "They have been very nice. The problem is with me; I have been alone for so long that I have forgotten how to behave in a crowd. I am sure they think I am strange, but I have asked Wizzit every night to send me back so I can sleep in my cage. I need to spend time by myself, and I find it comforting there."
"Do you want to leave now? We do not have to stay if you are uncomfortable."
She gave me a heart-melting smile. "I want to stay as long as you are here. You make me feel safe. And if I am truly to become a member of this team, I need to overcome my shyness."
By now, Angie had managed a passable four-in-hand and was patting Toby's collar into place. Trina glanced at a clock beside one of the beds and declared that we should head for the restaurant.
I had never eaten in a place that served "gourmet" food, and I was afraid that we might be served hummingbird tongues or eel gizzards or something equally weird. I needn't have worried; the food was great, and the company made it better. There was only one dish I wasn't sure of. I mean, it tasted okay, but there was kind of an odd texture to it. When I asked Trina about it, she gave me an amused look and told me it was better if I didn't know what was in it.
A few men strolled over from time to time during the meal, evidently intrigued by one or more of the attractive young women at our table. These, Trina brushed off without a second glance. I got the impression this had been happening pretty regularly throughout their stay in Paris.
We stayed at the restaurant for far longer than the owner wanted us to, I'm sure, just talking and enjoying each other's company.
Finally, though, we left for the girls' hotel. We exchanged hugs all around as us guys prepared to take our leave. The girls -- or at least Trina, Padma, and Angie -- would be spending one more night in Paris.
Padma murmured something to Nicolai and gave him a soft, tender kiss goodbye. Mike turned to Trina and said, "Now why can't you ever give me a send-off like that, love?"
"Perhaps it is because you have never asked me," she replied tartly.
He looked surprised. "Really? You mean that's all it would take, just me asking you for a kiss?"
"I don't know," she replied, giving him a serene smile. "It might depend on how nicely you ask. Why don't you give it a try sometime?"
Nicolai chuckled. "I think I recognize a challenge when I hear one."
"Well, I'm not going to wait to be asked," Lin-fa declared softly. She placed her hands on my shoulders, raised up on her tiptoes, and brushed her lips against mine. "I hope to see you at HQ tomorrow, Trevor," she said. She stepped away. "Wizzit, if you please?"
Toby shook his head as the light from her teleportation faded away. "I still say she's an awfully queer duck, and that's a fact," he said.
"Maybe," I replied, "but considering all that she's gone through, all the ways JB Swift screwed around with her mind, I'd say she's remarkably sane."
"All right, I think I'm ready," Mike said suddenly to Trina.
"Ready?" Trina asked, taken aback. "Ready for what?"
"Ready for this." He took Trina's hand and bent over it. "Miss Katarina Balakleets, loveliest flower of the beautiful city of Omsk, it would make me the happiest of men if you would consent to add to my memories of a delightful evening spent in your company by bidding me goodnight with a kiss."
Trina's eyes widened. "I am impressed," she said. "I had no idea you were capable of such flowery language."
He grinned at her. "You bring out the poet in me, love."
"I'm not sure I believe that, but I must confess I am flattered. Very well, I grant your request."
She stepped into the circle of his arms. I won't describe the kiss, mainly because I was staring at my feet or the ceiling or anywhere else but them the entire time, feeling decidedly like a fifth and sixth and seventh wheel. I will say, though, that it lasted about twice as long as mine and Lin-fa's and Nicolai and Padma's combined.
Trina was more than a little flushed when Mike finally released her, which is always a good look for her. "You, um, you have added to my memories as well," she said, sounding flustered. She smiled at him, stars shining in her eyes. "Good night, Michael."
Her gaze then drifted over to where Toby and Angela were standing side by side, and everyone else's did, too. Realizing suddenly that the two of them were now the center of attention, Angie started and gave Toby a quick sideways glance. "Well, I'm certainly not going to cave in to peer pressure," she declared, crossing her arms.
"What? Oh, no, definitely not! I wouldn't ask you to," he agreed quickly. "Nope, no way. I definitely concur. Wouldn't dream of it!"
But then, while he was looking at her, his face gradually assumed an odd expression. It took me a moment to figure out what he was doing, but when I did, I struggled not to laugh out loud. Toby, in fact, resembled nothing so much as a very young Great Dane whose favorite toy had been taken away.
Angie watched him for a moment longer. "Oh, all right, come over here," she said, laughing. "I mean, if you're going to go around making sad puppy-dog eyes at me . . ." She flung her arms around his neck and gave him a peck on the cheek. "Good night, Toby," she said, sounding almost fond of him.
Toby's grin was a mile wide. "Good night, Angela."
After that night, the eight of us decided we would go our own separate ways, at least for a while. Angie and I took Lin-fa home with us to Ohio so that she could meet my folks and my Aunt Min. Min isn't really my aunt, just an old friend of my parents. She is, however, the main reason I grew up speaking Cantonese, since that's her primary language, so I felt obliged to introduce her to Lin-fa.
I guess I should have expected it, but when I introduced Lin-fa to my folks, explained that she was the Lily Lee whom I had thought dead, and admitted that, yes, we were romantically interested in each other, my mom actually got all teary-eyed. I think it was the fruition of a long-held dream of hers, finding me a serious girlfriend. She called Min over to the house right away, and the two of them made a great fuss over how "presentable" Lin-fa was, a word my mother prefers instead of "pretty". Lin-fa, in turn, seemed happy to meet someone who had grown up in the same region of China as she had, and soon she was telling Aunt Min all about her village, while Min tried to work out exactly where it was in relation to Shanghai.
While they were talking, Angie and I took our parents into another room and told them about our final battle with Enclave. To my surprise, they already knew something about it; apparently Wizzit had published some of the details on the Prime Channel website days ago.
"To be honest," I said, "I do not know what I am going to do with my time. Wizzit says it could take as long as a year for them to start attacking again. I will continue to practice my fighting skills, and of course I want to spend time with Lin-fa, but beyond that . . ." I shrugged.
"Your father and I have been discussing it," my mom said, "and we think you should take some college classes." Her eyes flicked between me and my sister. "Both of you."
Angie was nodding. "That is a good idea, I suppose, although I have not given much thought to what I would major in."
"You can decide that later," my mom told her. "There is plenty of time to consider it."
"Is it too late to apply?" I asked. "I thought college applications had to be in months ago; it is nearly July."
"It is too late for most universities," my father admitted, "but I have friends in the admissions department where I teach. We can get you in there. Now, since you may be in school for as little as one term, it is important for you to get as many credits as possible within that time. Later, you may decide to transfer those credits to some other college or university."
"So we should take as many classes as we can?" Angie said.
My father smiled. "I was thinking more in terms of credits by examination. Both of you have extensive knowledge of both Mandarin and Korean, for example. It would be easy for you to get college credit in those languages. Your brothers did, and so did your older sister."
I nodded. In case I haven't mentioned it recently, my dad is practically the entire East Asian languages department at the college in our home town. "But would it not seem suspicious if you granted your own children a large number of credits as soon as they are enrolled?"
"It would," he agreed. "However, I will be traveling down to Columbus next week to attend a seminar. Your mother will come with me to see Nick and Jerome. You two can come, too. I can ask some of my colleagues at Ohio State to examine the two of you in whatever languages you would like to try. That will ensure that everything is done in the proper way."
"And it is not only languages," my mother added. "Angela, you should take an examination in mathematics as well. Algebra, certainly, and possibly calculus. Trevor, I do not know how much math you remember . . ."
"It has been a long time," I said, "but I can study for the exam on my own." Or ask Padma to tutor me, I thought.
"We want you both to get as good a start as possible in your college careers while you have the time," my dad said. "After that, perhaps you can continue with some sort of internet-based school."
Lin-fa appeared in the door then. We had been speaking Mandarin the entire time, and she asked in the same language, "Trevor, are you going to college?"
I grinned at her. "I suppose I am. But I did not know you spoke Mandarin, Lin-fa."
"Of course I do," she replied with a shrug. "We spoke Cantonese at home, but Mandarin is the official language, after all. I learned it in school." She sighed. "I woul
d like to go to college some day."
I looked at my dad, but he shook his head. "I am afraid there is nothing I can do for her, son. From what you have told me, she is a citizen of China, with no official presence in this country. She has no passport or other documentation; she is, in essence, an illegal alien."
"Oh," I said, surprised. "I had not thought of that."
"It is not important," Lin-fa said hastily. She came over and took my hand. "Right now, I am happy simply to be free and to have friends."
The news about our going to college traveled pretty quickly, it appeared. Joy had already heard it by the time I took Lin-fa up to Oberlin to meet her, and so had Nick and Jerome when we met them in Columbus. And just a few nights after we got back, Grandmaster Park called me into his office after Tae Kwon Do class was over.
I had begun going to every Tae Kwon Do class I could at Grandmaster Park's studio to help out with training and to keep my own skills honed. In addition, that was just about the only place I could be guaranteed to run into Angie. She was doing a lot more globe-trotting than I was, and I hardly ever saw her anywhere else, not even at HQ.
Grandmaster Park left the office door open so that he could keep an eye on the students who had not left yet, so to keep our conversation private, he spoke in Korean. "Trevor," he said, "it has been a pleasure to have you practicing with us again. Your parents have told me that you are going to start college this fall. I must say, I'm very pleased to hear this."
I bowed respectfully. "Thank you, sir."
He folded his hands across the desk. "How long have you been a Junior Master?" he said thoughtfully.
"Nearly five years, sir. You promoted me when I was seventeen."
"Five years? So long? You are overdue for a promotion, and yet I have not heard you asking me when I will allow you to test for fifth Dan. How curious."
I smiled. We both knew that he had told me months ago that he would never promote me to fifth Dan, the master rank, until I had given up my "Tae Kwon Do demonstration team" and enrolled in college somewhere. It was his way of punishing me for not following my parents' wishes. "I must have forgotten, sir."
"Quite so. This is a situation which we must remedy. I will decide soon when we can schedule a promotion test for you."
I bowed again. "Thank you, sir, but before you make your decision, there is something you should know." He raised his eyebrows inquiringly, and I went on, "I have not quit my demonstration team. It has . . . temporarily disbanded. I am going to college only in the interim; I fully expect to rejoin the team within a year." Then I added, "I respect you too much to allow you to labor under any false impressions."
His face clouded over. "I see," he said, his voice sounding disappointed. "And your parents? Are they laboring under any false impressions?"
"They are not. I have been as open with them as I am being with you."
He looked at me for a moment, then shook his head. "Trevor, I do not know what to do with you. You show every sign of being a young man with great strength of character, and yet you persist in making your parents so unhappy . . ."
"Perhaps if you would speak with them on the matter," I replied, "you would find that they are not as unhappy as they once were."
He looked sharply at me. "Have you discussed your punishment with them?"
"I have not, sir, because you instructed me not to."
He looked past me into the main room. "I received a telephone call not too many days ago from your sister Joy." He smiled, remembering. "She was always one of my favorite students. I have always regretted that she did not pursue Tae Kwon Do past the third Dan."
I nodded. It was kind of a running joke in our family, the way Grandmaster Park always favored the Chiao girls over the Chiao boys. The things I had seen Angie get away with in his class . . . if I had been caught doing them, it would have meant a hundred knuckle-pushups outside in the asphalt parking lot.
"She wanted to talk with me about you," he went on. "It was an odd conversation; she seemed to want me to understand that, in her opinion, you were making a valuable contribution to the world and that I ought not judge you too harshly. I did not understand the purpose of her call, coming from nowhere as it did." He leaned back in his chair, arms crossed. "Now it occurs to me that you might have been talking out of turn."
"I . . . may have discussed the subject of my punishment with her," I admitted, feeling a flush creep up my cheeks, "but you did not forbid me to do so. And I certainly did not ask her to intercede on my behalf."
He searched my face for a full minute before he finally nodded and said, "I believe you." He frowned at his desktop for another minute. At last he roused himself. "I have made a decision," he said. "I will speak with your parents again regarding this Tae Kwon Do demonstration team of yours. If their feelings on the matter remain unchanged, then my decision will remain unchanged; I will offer you a promotion test only after you have quit the team permanently.
"If, however, they are satisfied with the way you are living your life, then I will reconsider my position. It may be that I will offer you a promotion test after only one term of college." He laid his hands flat on the desk, indicating that he had said all that he would say on the subject. I got to my feet, bowed, and thanked him.
After I had introduced Lin-fa to everyone in my family, she and I spent some time just getting to know each other. I found to my delight that the more I learned about Lin-fa, the better I liked her. She's beautiful and sweet-tempered and intelligent and . . . well, I don't want to bore you with how I've got the world's most perfect girlfriend, but I do have to add that she rocks a bikini like no one else.
But it hasn't all been surfing at Byron Bay, picnics in Portschach am Worthersee, and romantic nights on Martinique. On average, I have also spent probably one sleepless night a week just holding her in my arms while she shivered and sobbed her way through nightmares and flashbacks of the ordeals JB Swift had put her through. That isn't such a big deal for me, though. That's just what you do for someone you care about.
And of course, I didn't spend all my waking hours with Lin-fa. She still required a lot of time by herself, and I respected that, because I do, too. And she also spent time with the other members of the team. Angie in particular made a special effort to befriend her, bless her heart, and the two of them went out together quite often.
I traveled to India in August with Padma for her third-Dan test, and I met her parents. It's funny, her mom seemed a lot like mine; as soon as she saw the two of us approaching the house, laughing and holding hands, she immediately assumed that we were dating and that Nicolai was out of the picture. Watching Padma squirm out of that one -- and explain away her new, shorter hairstyle -- was a lot of fun.
Now, though, summer is coming to a close, and my parents are hosting an end-of-the-season pig roast at our house tonight for the Primes and Primes Emeriti. This is the type of thing the Windhams used to do, except that they can't any more. In fact, anyone and everyone who is publicly associated with Shelley these days is subjected to intense scrutiny by the intelligence departments of several large countries.
That type of attention kind of sucks. For one thing, it means that Shelley and Bill won't be able to come out to the party tonight, lest they be seen with us. And we Primes won't be able to attend their wedding, either, which they've scheduled for next May. Well, not unless we went there with our force shields activated, which would call way too much attention to ourselves.
We'll just have to make do somehow, I guess. Shelley and Bill will be at HQ tonight, and Wizzit will be teleporting people (and food!) back and forth throughout the evening, I'm sure. It should be a lot of fun; I'm looking forward to it.
###
Acknowlegements
I would like to thank the following people, who contributed greatly in making the Attack Doll series come to life:
Master Richard Evans and
Kazuko Evans – for their knowledge of Tae Kwon Do and the Japanese language
Grandmaster Choon Mo Yang – for giving me a model for how a traditional Ji Do Kwan studio is run
Pi-chu Chiao and David Fang – for their help with Mandarin words and phrases
Balakrishna Nallanagulagari – for information on various Indian words
###
The Attack Doll Series
by
Douglas A. Taylor
Twenty-one-year-old Trevor Chiao is Prime Blue; he is a member of the fabulous Primes, a group of seven men and women whose mission is to protect the Earth from Enclave, an alien organization bent on taking over the world.
Protected by a blue force shield that enhances his strength and speed and keeps his identity secret, he travels all over the world with his fellow Primes, battling monsters, Zoinks, and the mysterious Lily Lee, a beautiful Asian woman who refers to herself as . . . the Attack Doll.
Attack Doll 1: Violet Lost
Trevor becomes the mentor of Padma Reddy, a young woman from India who has joined the team as their new Prime Violet. When Padma is kidnapped by Enclave during her first mission as a Prime, Trevor must risk his own life to infiltrate the Enclave base and rescue . . . Violet Lost.
Attack Doll 2: Junior Prime
Trevor usually gets along pretty well with his younger sister Angela, but when the two of them are taken prisoner by Enclave and Angie discovers Trevor's secret identity, he doesn't quite know how to handle it. What's a guy to do when his kid sister wants to tag along as a . . . Junior Prime?
Attack Doll 3: Protocol Black
The death of Prime Commander has dealt a heavy blow to Trevor and his fellow Primes. And when the team is threatened by government forces intent on discovering their secrets, things go from bad to worse. To hold the team together, the Primes must enlist the aid of an old friend and implement . . . Protocol Black.
Attack Doll 4: Primes Emeriti
There are times when seven Primes just aren't enough. When the Earth's problems with Enclave suddenly triple, it's looking like this is one of those times. Fortunately, a new class of heroes stands ready to help Trevor and his friends shoulder their burden. They are the . . . Primes Emeriti.
Attack Doll 5: The End of Lily Lee
Nothing lasts forever. Even attack dolls eventually outlive their usefulness, but what happens to them then? When Trevor and his friends are menaced by a new threat, one which strikes to the very heart of their powers, they face a difficult choice. Is it finally time for the Primes to say goodbye to the attack doll? Is this . . . The End of Lily Lee?
Attack Doll 5: The End of Lily Lee Page 34
