Blink of an Eye: Beginnings Series Book 8

by Jacqueline Druga

  “Oh, I’ll talk to Robbie all right, after I beat his fuckin ass.” Frank pounded his fist once into the side of the filing cabinet, adding yet another Frank-dent.

  “Yeah it’s a real shame. I go walking in there. Imagine my shock.”

  “Fuck. I should have known. I know what she gets like when she gets drunk. I should have just slept with her like she asked me to.”

  “Frank.”

  “What?”

  Joe motioned his head to his office door that had just opened and Henry entered.

  “Hey.” Frank cleared his throat, placed the stack of reports he held on top of the file cabinet, and closed the drawer. “Let’s uh, start this meeting.”

  Henry watched Frank walk away from that cabinet and to a chair by his father’s desk. “She asked you to sleep with her?”

  “Did I say that?” Frank looked at his father. “I didn’t say that, did I?”

  Henry sat down. “Yeah, you did. What made you turn her down, Frank?”

  “Well, you know, she was drunk, she was on the rebound.” Frank looked at Henry. “What the hell happened to your arm? You have a huge welt.”

  Henry rolled his eyes. “Steve, your guard, flicked a cigarette off the tower and burned me.”

  “He’s an asshole,” Frank commented. “Anyhow, as I was saying before Henry rudely interrupted, Danny is working on this tracking system. He said it will take a week or two to get it up and running once he gets out of Containment and gets his supplies. Now I have a security plan. In fact, I’d like to put it into motion as soon as possible. It goes along with our new First Defense System.”

  “Which is?” Joe asked.

  “More choppers,” Frank stated. “Two more birds.” He heard Henry moan. “What?”

  “We went through this before, Frank,” Henry said. “We’d have to take a truck to wherever they are, repair them, charge the battery, and gas them. It’s too much of a risk.”

  “Dad.”

  “We did discuss this before, Frank.”

  “I know,” Frank nodded, “but things are different now. We haven’t any idea how many of those SUTs, or even people working for George, are out there now. Dad, you know as well as I do, if a hundred are at that back gate perimeter, four can be the suicide squad and hold back the beams while the others storm us. It’s a fear I have, and what will we do? We’re done. With Danny’s tracking system, we get them by air and we take them out beforehand.”

  “And you don’t think two is enough?” Joe asked.

  “Two is enough,” Frank said, “but we depend on both of them. We should have backup, like everything else here. We should be prepared for something to happen. We have four pilots. I’d like to start training four more, and I have the four picked out. Look, I have the route all planned.” Frank lifted up and pulled a wrinkled piece of paper from his back pocket. He laid it on the table. “We pack up a small tanker, four men. We send them out to Minot Air Force Base, a six hour trip tops from here and you know it. Seven if they piss around. We send them out at five a.m. they get there by noon. We spot out two birds. Come on, last time we did a spot-check of the place, no one had touched it. No one even attempted to take the padlocks off the gates we set up. It’s buried under five feet of jungle. Dirt, bugs, yeah, but we’ve done it before. We’ve picked up a second chopper. How long did it take you, Henry? Four hours. What did we do? We brought the battery from the chopper we had running and used that to help power the new one home. Then we took it out and gave it its own battery. We can do the same here. Take two batteries with us from our birds and take them back out once we land them.” Frank looked at his father. “Dad, we can have our men back home by ten p.m. that night. Hell, let’s do one better. Let’s take one of the spare tankers, a little one, and just leave it there. We can pick up another tanker a hell of a lot easier than we can pick up a bird. Our men will fly home. Home by five, dinner time.” Frank was so certain.

  “Who’s the crew?” Joe questioned.

  “Bart will drive. He won’t be missed in Security. Robbie and Johnny to fly. Robbie especially because he’s canvassing for missiles, while ... while Henry fixes the choppers.”

  “No,” Henry stated. “No, Frank. I can’t go.”

  “One day.”

  “My life is in shambles right now. No I can’t.”

  “Yes you can,” Frank argued. “Don’t be such a wuss.”

  Henry gasped, “Why don’t you go?”

  “Because I can’t fix the fuckin choppers, that’s why. I don’t claim to be the ‘Head Mechanic’ around here. I’m not the one who boasts and brags that I put together an entire helicopter engine when it lay in pieces last year. Am I? No.” Frank pointed at him. “You will go.”

  “Joe.” Henry looked to Joe.

  Joe tossed his hands up. “I wish you would go, Henry. But, Frank, you know our established rules. We can’t make a man go if he has children.”

  “Yeah.” Henry folded his arms.

  “Oh that’s bullshit. Henry wouldn’t have even of thought about that. Look at Greg. He went out for weeks and he had a child.”

  Joe shook his head with so much sarcasm on his face. “Greg’s dead, Frank. Good example.”

  “Yeah,” Henry pointed out, “his son is an orphan now.”

  Frank grunted and stood up. “Dad, can I have this trip if I find someone who can fix the choppers?”

  Joe nodded. “Sure, Frank. Lay it out. I’ll authorize it as soon as you’re ready.”

  “Good.” Frank walked to the door. “We’ll leave Thursday.”

  “Where are you going?” Joe called out.

  “To get the person that can fix the choppers. Obviously it’s not Henry ...” Frank flung open the door.

  “Who, Frank?” Joe yelled.

  “Danny.” He slammed the door angrily and stood outside trying to calm down before heading into town. He patted his chest pocket and twitched his head in disgust. “Fuck.” Spinning around he opened his father’s office door, walked in, walked up to Joe, reached in Joe’s chest pocket, and grabbed a cigarette. “Thanks.” He placed it in his mouth and lit it as he walked back out.

  With his mouth hanging open, Joe pointed to the door. “Did he just ...”

  “No.” Henry shook his head.

  “But I just saw him.”

  “No you didn’t.”

  “No I didn’t?”

  “Oh no, Joe. That wasn’t Frank,” Henry told him. “It’s never Frank who smells like cigarette smoke or is smoking. Didn’t you know that? It’s Robbie, so just keep in mind when you get really frustrated while asking him about it, that he’s gonna tell you that wasn’t him that walked in here, stole a cigarette, and lit it. It was Robbie.”

  <><><><>

  “Come on, Dean. Relax.” Ellen held on to his arm as they walked slowly down the hall of Containment. “You’re so tense I can feel it shooting from you.”

  “I can’t do this.”

  “Sure you can.” Ellen brushed into him. “Bentley and Danny and the cable guy are all gonna help you with the rough six.”

  “Rough six?”

  “Yeah, they’re a little rough. They fight all the time so just ignore them. Danny said he’ll handle them for you.”

  Dean sniffed predominantly. “Why am I smelling an overabundance of Hair Hold in this place?” Dean stopped, grazed his hand up to Ellen’s head and felt. “Your hair is soft.”

  “Thanks.” She messed up his. “So is yours. Bentley is practicing women’s hairstyles in the skills room. I gave him some old magazines. Oh, Dean, he said he’ll cut your hair.”

  “Swell.” He started walking again with her. “Are there women here now?”

  “Don’t be silly. Women aren’t safe here. Well, I am.”

  “Then who is Bentley practicing on?”

  “Who else? The men. They look really funny, Dean, with their hair in rollers. Too bad you can’t see them.”

  “El.”

  “Sorry.” She brought him into the sk
ills room. “You should see Os-Oscar, Dean. He is wearing a flip.” Ellen giggled. “Of course he isn’t Os-Oscar anymore. Jason cured him, the dick.” Ellen smiled. “Oh, here’s Danny. He’s approaching you with an extended hand, Dean. He’s about six foot tall.” Ellen guided Dean’s arm up. “Danny, this is Dean.”

  “The first ex-husband.” Danny shook his hand. “I’m Danny Hoi. Nice to meet you. So you’re ... you’re ... you’re blind.”

  Dean raised his head. “You didn’t know?”

  “Holy shit, no,” Danny said. “Ellen failed to mention the man she bragged about being the brilliant scientist was blind. Whoa. She should have bragged more.”

  Dean was curious. “Danny, if you didn’t know I was blind, why did you think Ellen asked you to help me out in here?”

  “To be honest?” Danny chuckled. “I just thought maybe you were ... you were a pansy?”

  Dean’s mouth dropped open.

  Frank’s loud ‘he is’ bellowed at them.

  Ellen hunched. “Oh shit, it’s Frank. I’m out of here. Danny, you know what I told you? Dean, is all the stuff at the clinic?”

  “El ...” Dean tried to talk.

  “Good. Danny will help you read the schedule. See ya.” Quickly she kissed Dean on the cheek and faced the end of the hall to see Frank walking her way. Debating on whether to run, or face him, Ellen decided to run. She charged forward down the hall to make her escape but Frank blocked her. “I have to go.” She moved to her right.

  “Nope.” Frank moved again to stop her.

  “Frank.” She moved to her left.

  “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.”