by Randal Sloan
Time snapped back to normal as Miranda turned back toward Emily. “Are you ok?” Thomas had pushed Emily behind him before he made his move, telling her to duck behind a car. Seeing everything was ok, Emily stood up again.
She nodded. “I’m fine. Thomas stood between them and me. He told me to hide behind that car, which I did. Then you threw that rock and he rushed the second man.”
Sheepishly, Thomas nodded. He hurried back over to stand next to Emily. “I’ve had a little training, and I know how to take care of myself, but that gun looked huge. I’ve never seen anyone move like you just did or throw like that. How did you do that, knocking that gun out of his hand?”
Miranda smiled. “Let’s just say I’ve had a little practice throwing things at a target. I just didn’t want anyone else to get hurt.”
About that time the police showed up. “A little late,” Miranda said.
“Sorry, I called them,” Emily told her. “I wasn’t sure what to do and I hit the panic button on my VR about the time you threw that first rock.”
Two officers came up to them. “What just happened here?” they asked, seeing the two guys laying on the ground. The lead was a woman officer and Miranda was rather impressed with her. She seemed confident but not overbearing.
They had more or less directed their question at Thomas, so he answered first, pulling Emily even closer. “It was those guys. They more or less ambushed me and the girls. They wanted the money from the club deposit for the night. The first one had a gun, which I think is in that garbage bin over there.” Pointing at Miranda, he went on, “You probably need to talk to her first. She is the one who took care of the one with the gun. It was really unbelievable. I was able to knock out the second one while he was distracted.”
“Ok, you two wait over there by the police car. I may need to talk to you in a few minutes. Right now, I need to get her statement.” She turned to Miranda, speaking in a gentle voice. “I’m Officer McAvoy and this is Officer Watson. You are not in trouble, but we are here to help. Tell us what happened.”
Miranda realized that she really wasn’t doing very good protecting her cover. “As Thomas told you, the two accosted us when we came out of the club, demanding money that we didn’t have. I didn’t trust what the man with the the gun would do, so when he looked away for a second, I used one of the rocks at my feet to knock the gun out of his hand. I play as a pitcher in softball and learned how to throw a fast pitch. I’m pretty good at hitting the target, so I used my best pitch on him.” She didn’t tell the officer that her pitching had been years ago in a summer little league, or that she was the pitcher because she had gone to a training camp the week before and was ahead of the other girls at the time. “It was the only thing I could think of. We had to get the gun away from him. I was afraid if I didn’t do something, someone would get hurt.”
McAvoy just looked at her for a moment. She wanted to tell her that was a stupid thing to do. What would have been the consequences if she had missed? But she figured the girl was scared enough as it was, although she appeared to be quite composed now. Anyway, who could argue with success? So she didn’t say it.
Officer Watson had been checking out the two guys. He had already cuffed the first man with his hands in front of him in obvious pain. He was standing by the second man, who still hadn’t moved other than to moan softly. “Both of these are going to the hospital. The first one definitely has a broken hand. This one may have a concussion.”
“Sorry about the broken hand,” Miranda told him. “I had to make sure I got the gun with the first throw. The way he was waving it around, I didn’t trust him not to shoot someone accidentally. Thomas took care of the second guy. I guess he has had some martial arts training.”
Watson just shook his head. “I understand. I wouldn’t want to face a gunman without a gun of my own. I gotta say, it is absolutely astonishing what you did, though.”
McAvoy looked at Miranda. “We’ll get it sorted out. We may need your testimony later, but it looks pretty cut and dried. I expect these two will plead guilty rather than try to go to trial.” She laughed. “They probably will, just to keep it from getting out they were bested by a girl. Not a good reputation to have if you are a muscle man.”
She looked at Watson, who had donned gloves to carefully retrieve the gun. “We’ve got ambulances on the way.” She gave Miranda another gentle smile. “Give us a moment, and we’ll get it all taken care of. Why don’t you go wait with your friends and we’ll be done as soon as we can.” As she was speaking, Miranda could hear the sound of the ambulance sirens in the distance.
Miranda nodded and walked over toward where the other two were standing. She could tell the two had been talking. With her hearing, she was able to hear what they were saying while she was walking toward them.
“Your friend is something, isn’t she? She was so fast I couldn’t see anything but a blur.”
“You did pretty good yourself. You should know, Miranda is my best friend. She’s like the sister I never had.”
About that time, Thomas looked up to see Miranda coming toward them. “I’m so sorry about these guys. I had no idea they were waiting out here. If I had, I would have brought Jimmy.” He was still keeping an eye on Emily. Seeing her shiver, he put his jacket on her. “Are you ok?” he asked her.
Emily gave him a little smile. “Thank you. I think it’s just hitting me now. It’s mostly just got me shook up.”
When Miranda reached the two, she told them. “It looks like they are taking the two of them to the hospital, but they should have it wrapped up soon. We may have to testify later, although they expect the two will go for a plea bargain. McAvoy thinks they will rather than admit that they were beaten by a girl.” She gave a little laugh. If they only knew how lucky they were.
Emily nodded, “It’s ok with me. I didn’t know what to do, so that’s why I called the police.” Turning to Thomas, Emily asked him. “Is it ok if I keep your coat and send it back to you? I’m nowhere near as used to this as Miranda here.”
“Sure, you can bring it back later,” he told her. “Anything I can do to help you, I will be glad to do.”
Miranda could see that something was going on with Emily from the look in her eyes. She would have to get her to explain after this was all over, but for now, they just needed to get done here. She told Thomas, “Walk her to the car, if you will, please. I’m going to go finish up with the police.”
Once everything was done and the two of them were alone in the car, Miranda looked intently at her friend. She had to ask her. “So I knew you liked him, but what just happened with you back there?”
Emily gave a laugh. “Yes, I think he’s alright. And a while ago, he really did try to protect me. I’ve never had anyone do that for me before.”
Miranda smiled happily at her near sister. “I think I’d better keep an eye on you. Someone has been bitten.” Laughing, she pulled up her VR. “So do you want to spend the night with me in my Dad’s cottage? That’s where I’m staying right now when at Space Tech. It’s really close to where we are right now. It’s kind of neat, if I say so myself. Beats the heck out of an apartment.”
“Cool. Let me send the folks a VR, so they will know where I am.”
#
The two were able to spend a couple of hours chatting, just like old times at school, although Miranda had changed back to Julie before they passed through Space Tech security to get to the cottage. Since the two girls were of a similar size, they both changed to lounging clothes, something that Caitlyn had sent over as soon as she knew Julie was going to be staying in the cottage. The two relaxed in the large sitting room, taking advantage of the very comfortable oversized chairs in the room.
Rather than face the inquisition, Emily gave details on her relationship with Thomas. “I met him and the band a few weeks ago at a school function. I really enjoyed their sound, and when they mingled with everyone after the show, we just sort of hit it off. He invited me to come hear them at
this new venue they were going to try out, which turned out to be the place where we went tonight. I think I surprised him when I showed up the next weekend to hear them, and so I got a personal invitation backstage. I’ve been going back there when I can ever since, usually once or twice a week.”
“We haven’t been in a formal relationship or anything, but I’ve known since the first meeting that he was something special.” Emily had gotten quieter the more she talked. She knew Julie understood because she had had the same thing happen with her as Miranda with Zeke. Finally, she went on, “Tonight, though, it was more than that. I think he triggered my ‘Knight in Shining Armor Syndrome’, when he tried to protect me from those men.”
Julie couldn’t help but laugh quietly at her phrasing. “Life and death situations do tend to make you look at your feelings. So, do you think you want to see if you can take your relationship to the next level?”
Emily nodded. “We talked a little while we were waiting for you. We’ll have to wait and see where it goes. But I knew you would understand.”
Julie looked at her near sister. She knew what her emotional response had been to Zeke saving her from that evil man. Among other things, a strong feeling of security, that someone cared enough to risk themselves for her. In her case, it was tempered by Zeke’s condition that she was still worried about. The six weeks had been torture so far. But she had one more fear. “Em, you know how I feel about Zeke, but I have this worry that I have been struggling with. At first I wouldn’t even admit it to myself, and I’ve told no one else.” Seeing she had Emily’s full attention, she went on. “What if Zeke doesn’t like me as Julie? He has only known me as Miranda. What if he blames me for him being deceived?”
Emily could tell that her friend was serious. She was really worried about this? She marched Julie over to a mirror and pointed at her reflection. “What do you see?” she demanded.
“Me, of course,” Julie told her.
“That’s exactly what Zeke is going to see. You are also not too hard on the eyes. He’s going to think you are you, and that you are beautiful.”
“My head knows that but my heart is not so sure.”
“You’ll see. I know my brother and if anything, he’s going to be thrilled with the new you. You can always change back and forth to give him both of you.”
“You are one crazy girl. That’s just too messed up to even give you an answer.”
“Just saying. He’s going to love it.”
“You keep this up, you’re going to need your knight in shining armor to come rescue you. Because I’m going to beat you up.”
“I’m not worried. You wouldn’t even hurt a mouse as long as it didn’t bother you.”
Julie finally had all she could take. She grabbed a pillow from the chair beside her to throw at Emily. Of course, Emily just caught it and threw it back. By the time they were finished, Julie was glad that Space Tech contracted a cleaning crew to keep the place clean. They probably would charge overtime this week.
CHAPTER TWELVE
Another Rescue
The only thing that Julie had changed about her father’s cottage was that she had added a coffee service. So the next morning, she and Emily enjoyed a leisurely breakfast with pastries and coffee before Emily had to go to school and Julie to Space Tech. As soon as she got into the office that morning, Julie checked for an update on Carla’s team and found that they had missed their last scheduled report. Their last message said they were going to attempt to take the warlord compound with the team two men short and two days behind schedule.
Terrified that something bad had happened to her friend, Julie immediately went to Uncle Ted’s office, where she showed him the VR message. Julie knew she had to be strong, so she tried her best to push her fears and worries behind her.
When he finished watching the VR, Julie told him, “My friend in Kinza is in trouble. The team has not reported back since yesterday and I am going to go get her.” She didn’t give her uncle time to react. “The mercenary teams, did you get them on contract like I asked?”
When Uncle Ted nodded unhappily, Julie went on, “I want the best of the mercenary teams ready in six hours. Oh and I need the X-plane. We want to get there right after the moon sets.” Seeing the look in his eyes, she knew he was about to argue with her. “And yes I am going, no argument.”
Ted sighed, looking very unhappy. He knew how she was when she got like this. His only chance was to try to get a few qualifications. “Only if you get fitted with our best armor,” he finally said. “No argument.”
It was Julie’s turn to sigh. “Fine! How long does it take? I have a lot to do, and I won’t hold off on the start time.”
Ted had that one. “One hour. It’s the only way I will agree to let you go. It’s not that much to have a little insurance. Even you don’t have total control over what might happen.”
Julie gave him a smile. “Ok, dear uncle. But it had better not slow me down, or I’ll chunk it when I get on the plane.” She knew she wouldn’t really do that. Her uncle was right, she should wear armor. Before he could come up with more limitations that she might not like, she started to leave.
At the door, Julie turned back to him. “We’re going to need the very best maps and satellite pictures Space Tech can get. We’’ll look at them in one hour in my conference room.”
Her uncle smiled, a sad smile but at least it was a smile. “You’ve got it. I’ll get you as much information as I can get.
“Send the leader of the mercenary team here to meet me after that hour. We might as well get it worked out who is in charge.” Julie gave him a smile of her own. She had a pretty good idea how that was going to go and from her uncle’s expression, so did he. At least she got the last word in this time. “I’m going to get my armor fitted.”
#
One hour later, Ted and the mercenary team leader, Captain Christopher Newsome, came into the conference room. The mercenary captain stopped in surprise when he saw Julie sitting there with a detailed view of the compound on display. “I was supposed to meet the person in charge of our mission,” he told her.
Julie laughed. “That would be me. And you are going to have to get over your dumb, weak blond stereotype. That used to be me, without the dumb.” Pulling her sleeve back to show him her knives, “And I am no longer weak either. Here, hold this up over on the other side of the room. I suggest you not hold it in front of your face.” She tossed him a chunk of wood she had brought into the room with her.
Not quite sure what to do, Chris walked to the far side of the room. He very reluctantly held the block out to the side as far away as his arms would reach. In a motion too fast for the eye to follow, Julie pulled a knife out of the sheath, throwing it across the room to bury it in the piece of wood. The knife was buried in the wood up to the hilt, with the point sticking out of the other side.
Julie was impressed that the man didn’t even flinch. “I can outshoot anyone on your team, including your sniper. I am deadly in hand-to-hand fighting, and you just saw what I can do with a knife. One of my friends is in trouble, and I am going to rescue her, with or without you.”
Ted couldn’t keep from laughing at the expression on the man’s face. “I just had the same argument with her, which I lost by the way. Despite the fact that the first thing I want to do is protect her,” Ted told him, his expression returning to the unhappy look he had fought for the last hour.
Ted had thought he had a pretty good idea of her capabilities, but the knife thing had surprised him. Before Captain Newsome could raise any more objections, he tapped on his VR interface. “Take a look at her file when you leave here, and that’s only the stuff we are willing to risk having in a file.” He flicked a finger at his VR, and the file appeared in the captain’s VR.
Again Julie was impressed with the mercenary’s response. “Ok, I will accept that, but only on the qualification that I have to lead the team. And, if you want us to do something crazy, I need to be able to say no.”
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Julie gave him a real smile this time. “Agreed. Now that we have that out of the way, tell me how we can go get my friend.” She paused a moment, her countenance darkening, “And one more thing, I want this warlord taken out. He works for the Organization, and therefore, he gets no mercy.”
Chris didn’t bat an eye. “Not a problem for me.” Although he had never seen a VR as large as the one she had in her conference room, he immediately saw the usefulness of it. He pointed to a large warehouse building in the VR display. “Based on the sat coverage, they’ve got to be here. We go in hot but dark with a chopper from the south. No idea why the idiots went in the way they did. That has to be the dumbest op plan I have ever seen. We should be able to get within a couple of miles. No moon when we arrive, if you can get us to the area on time.”
Julie nodded. “Oh I can get us there with the X-plane.” She pointed to the VR. She had flagged several spots on the display. “Based on the infrared overlay from the last week, they have guards here, here, and here. And a two man rover team that consistently follows the path in red. Can you and your men covertly take them out?”
“We can. Are you really as good a sniper as you claim? According to your file you’re fully certified, but have you used it other than in training?”
Julie nodded. The man continued to surprise her. He had to have scanned that file while they were discussing the mission. They couldn’t put any of her time using her sniper rifle in the file since she had done all her sniper stuff as Miranda. Plus, shooting out the lasers to stop the terrorists at the Space Academy was still classified, as well as her shooting in Kinza.
“I may use you as a sniper then. I’m hoping we won’t need that based on this VR image, but I always want to know my options.”
Julie smiled again. “I don’t miss. Ever.”
“Ok, I want you set up on high ground here, just in case. You can keep overwatch with your scope. Let me keep my team together. We’ve worked and trained together, and it’s not the time to add someone new to the mix. When we’ve cleared out the guards, I will signal you to come in.”
