“Will Jakes go down in history as one of the greats?”
“Unquestionably, she will. It has taken me a long time to understand her influŹence, and mine, as a role model.”
“Is that the biggest achievement of Brenna Lanigan to let people know that women can do anything they set their mind to?”
“I’ve taken my influence on young women seriously. I’ve tried to be vigilant about it, to share as much as I can of myself and my philosophy with them so that they understand that the sky’s the limit.”
The two left Makeup; their voices softened as they neared one of the soundstages. Peregrine prodded, “How has it been as an actor? Seventeen-hour days for the birds?”
“The work has clearly been a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. I will always treaŹsure the relationships I’ve developed in this foxhole.”
“That sounds like you’ve been in the trenches of a war zone.”
“Trenches?” She contemplated the intensities of filming. “That’s a good metaŹphor.”
“So when the series is over, do you expect to suffer post-traumatic stress?”
“That kind of let-down is very specialized, so I’d have to say no. I’ve left other jobs before…” Brenna gave her answer some thought. “But this one is special.”
The reporter looked at her in puzzlement. “Aren’t all roles ‘special’ until the next one comes along? What do you see happening after this?”
Passing the warehouse set, Brenna did not answer the question but stopped and listened to the actors’ exchange.
Chris was trying to get Creighton to believe he wasn’t insane and that she would get him out before the lynch mob got there. Brenna listened to Cassidy’s voice, rounded by Hanssen’s careful diction caring while being simultaneously urgent. Mindful of the fact that sound levels were very sensitive, Brenna caught Cassidy’s eye across the distance and mouthed, “Nice Job,” and smiled broadly before ducking her head and walking out of view.
The action surprised Cassidy and she stumbled over her next line, causing a break in the action. A grip checked their poses, and Cassidy once again grasped Creighton’s arm and delivered her line. As soon as the director called cut, she left the set and followed Brenna. She held her breath, watching Brenna perform her own stunt for a chase through a darkened building.
Standing next to Peregrine, Cassidy focused her eyes on a catwalk over the stage. Rushing forward, Brenna limberly vaulted the railing and dropped about eight feet, the fall being filmed in front of an aqua green screen. Post-production would make the drop look like a considerably greater distance. When Brenna finally rolled to her feet and Cassidy could draw breath, the young woman flashed a thumbs up before ducking away.
Brenna chuckled as she caught her breath. She looked up at the collection of stunt actors that had been chasing her and flashed them the same thumbs up. “Good work, Brenna,” called the second unit director. “Ready to do it again for the reverse shot?”
“Again?” She groaned in disbelief. The evil look she shot at the director
prompted laughter from somewhere beyond the lights. Shielding her eyes, Brenna identified Rachelle leaning casually against a set wall. “You want to do this?” She-gestured to her position. “Come on. I’m sure a wig’ll be enough to let you pass as me from behind!”
“I’m smaller than you,” Rachelle shot back, chuckling.
“Not many people can say that.” Brenna laughed and stepped off the soundstage toward Rachelle. She found herself next to Cassidy, who had returned with a bottle of water she offered to Brenna. With a grin she took a healthy gulp just as they were cornered by the Sci-Fi reporter.
“Are you hoping for any particular developments before things completely wrap?” Peregrine asked, catching Brenna’s attention again.
Brenna passed back the water bottle with a mouthed “thank you” to Cassidy before answering. “I’d like to see some of the interpersonal stories wrapped up.” She nodded toward the nearby set. “I think we’ve certainly discovered that messing around with time, even if you have completely altruistic reasons, doesn’t let people really live. I mean if someone can come along, a grandchild maybe, and arrange it so that his grandfather doesn’t just not die in the battle but becomes a decorated hero, it diminishes the sense of success in the ordinary trials of life. That young man isn’t living his life, he’s living someone else’s.”
“So you don’t think Susan Jakes has been one of the good gals?” Peregrine asked.
“Oh, undoubtedly, but it hasn’t been because of things she’s done with the timeŹline. Her real contribution has been how she’s affected the people she met.”
“Jakes certainly did a lot to reshape Chris’ outlook on both the Time Squad’s mission and her own life,” Cassidy interjected. “She was not exactly a fan when they first met.”
“And vice versa. Susan likes a tight team, and Chris did her best to be outside of that most of the time,” Brenna pointed out, catching Cassidy’s hand as it swept across her shoulder.
Looking up from her pad, Peregrine asked, “What are biggest issues that remain for Commander Jakes?”
“The characters have grown, but we haven’t managed to reveal much of that in close scenes. There’s always so much action…” Brenna hesitated, trying to find the best way to explain. The squeeze of Cassidy’s hand on her shoulder gave her a moment of peaceful clarity. She smiled and looked back at Peregrine. “It’s hard to say, other than Luria and Jeremy, whether any of these characters would want to stay together if the Time Squad were to lose its mandate.”
Cameron Palassis leaned in around a corner. “Heard chatter. Interview?”
“Mr. Palassis, I’m Melissa Peregrine, Sci-Fi magazine. What sort of stories do you have on tap? The kind Ms. Lanigan was describing?”
“It’s an action show. There’s at least one last big showdown coming. A familiar enemy will reappear.” Cameron shook his finger at Brenna, and she frowned.
Peregrine caught the reaction and jumped on it. “Not thrilled?”
“If the action has a science fiction heart, it’s all right. But stories have to have emotional connection to the audience. And the characters have to mean something to each other. We have what amounts to six lonely characters. A few recent episodes explore what they are like inside when they are out of the uniforms. I like Susan. I think we should give the audience a sense that these characters will live beyond ‘the end’.”
Cassidy pressed Brenna’s shoulder and grinned toward Peregrine. “Triumphant
into the sunset.”
“With a threat or an unsettlement looming.”
“In other words, an opening for a movie plot.” With another grin, the tall blonde squeezed Brenna’s shoulder, and the smaller woman reached up and squeezed back.
Clearly sensing something from the two women, Peregrine asked a more directly pertinent question. “What of Hanssen’s dedication to Time Squad? From rogue ne’er-do-well to respected officer. Jakes has had a definite hand in that.”
“Hanssen’s almost all the way in, I think,” Cassidy said quickly. “All that remains, I guess, is for her to believe in the value of her own life as much as she has believed in that of others.”
“Jakes could help her with that,” Brenna added. “It’s one way to show how their relationship has matured her progression from stern leader to friend.”
Peregrine tapped her pad with her pen. “I’m seeing a friendship between the two of you. Which, if rumor is to be believed, is quite a change. Things weren’t easy on the set when you first arrived, Ms. Hyland.”
“No,” Brenna admitted before Cassidy could speak. “It was…a very uncertain time.” She cast a wry glance at the blonde, who nodded in understanding. “As actors, we’re thrown together in many situations that can force revelations of ourselves, maybe even parts we don’t like and never share with anyone else willingly. It’s a presŹsure cooker. Adding new ingredients upset the whole balance.”
“And now?�
��
“From the beginning, Chris and Susan weren’t set to be friends.” Brenna looked at Cassidy, recalling some of their conflicts. She wondered if she could ever make up for some of it. She felt she wanted to say more as her gaze intersected Cassidy’s. HesŹitating over exactly what to say, she suddenly heard Peregrine’s pen scratching on pad. Brenna jerked back to the reporter. “But that’s the nature of the beast,” Brenna concluded quickly. She disregarded the shiver that ran down her spine at Cassidy’s smile.
Clearly frustrated by the half-response, Peregrine asked a more direct question. “Would you work together again?”
“I’m game.” Cassidy smiled.
“Maybe after a short break.” Brenna shook her head. “I need to find more time for my personal life. I haven’t managed it very well.”
“Do you like Ms. Hyland’s suggestion about a movie?”
“Not right away. I’d like to do a play, maybe. But I want to just take some time. I’d like to give my time, my heart, and my life to my loved ones.” She looked toward Cassidy, who slowly let out a breath.
“We’d all like that, I think,” Cassidy said. She nodded and left for her set.
“I’d like to be little Brenna Lanigan for a while, remember who she was. Jakes has become bigger than life. At least bigger than my life.”
“Everyone’s smaller than the bigger-than-life Commander Jakes,” Will said, stepping out from behind the opposite wall from where he apparently had been watching. Surprised, Brenna caught the teasing in his tone and put her hands on her hips, smiling as she saw another camera flash go off.
The interview was concluded when the director called Brenna back for a secŹond take. Pulling herself up an access ladder behind the set wall, she stepped back out onto the catwalk. The stunt actors crowded just off the walk behind her, and the second unit director called, “Action!”
One breath, then a second, and Brenna bounded forward, grasped the railing,
ittul threw herself over. She was thankful for her rock-climbing experience, which had cleared her of any inhibitions or vertigo. Once down on the ground, she remained sacked out on the air mattress, arms splayed and eyes closed, waiting until her heart started again and the director called, “Cut.”
Stagehands pulled away the mattress, and she took her mark directly beneath her jump point and completed filming the end of the jump. On cue, she crouched, then stood. Spinning clockwise, she ran off stage left, ducking imaginary attacks from above.
She ran into Cameron coming around a corner of the soundstage. The two tumbled together until she could recover her feet. “Sorry,” she said, reaching down and grasping his hand to haul him up. More flashes went off, and she sighed.
Cameron dusted himself off and straightened his pants and oxford shirt. “HavŹing a good time?”
“Just dandy,” she drawled. “If you have a chance later, maybe you could explain about the big returning enemy you dropped like a rock in my interview.”
“The ideas are only just beginning to form. A lot of the staff is working on it.” He glanced up and spied Branch, who was also mingling with off-set cast and crew. He waved to him. “Victor?”
“Yeah?” The producer offered Brenna a smile; she nodded back. “What’s up?” He directed the question at Palassis.
“Are we set with the finale yet?” Cameron asked.
“Of course not.”
Cameron turned back to Brenna. “We’ll cover a lot of ground over the next sevŹeral episodes, Brenna. Those interpersonal relationships you were talking about? They’ll get covered.”
“Ms. Lanigan?” A set grip located her standing between the two taller men. “You’re needed on your mark.”
“Thanks.” She glanced at Cameron, offering a final word concerning the one thing that had continued to bother her since the previous week. “Listen, I don’t know what Chapman asked you to do, but I want you to reconsider. For Cassidy’s sake.” She returned to the soundstage, setting for another angle on the stunt shot.
Cameron frowned and then sighed. “I guess she overheard.”
“Funny that she’d come to Hyland’s defense like that, though,” Victor comŹmented. “Certainly a lot of changes in the last several weeks.”
“Yeah.” Cameron ruminated on it for a moment longer and then looked around. “Have you seen Cass?”
“Just came from there. She’s back on the set. She was in Lanigan’s interview for a while,” Victor said with a shrug. “You sure you want to talk to her right now?”
“Damn straight.”
As Branch watched Palassis stalk off, Will Chapman walked up, patting his sweating face carefully with a soft towel. “What’s with him?”
Branch shook his head. “Brenna and he squared off about something. Finale, I think. But there’s something else going on with him. I wish to hell I knew what. He can’t even manage to concentrate on the new series pilot at the moment.”
“Really?” Will raised an eyebrow in question.
Seeing Cameron leaning against a set break watching the soundstage where Cassidy was among the filming cast, Branch confided, “Cassidy’s got him not knowŹing if he’s coming or going, and I don’t think she knows it.”
“She doesn’t,” Will said, patting Branch on the shoulder. “But I’ll change that.”
Chapter 19
Cassidy completed her stunt and heard the second unit director call, “Cut.” She stood and stretched to the little extent she could. Though the dress was less binding than her Time Squad jumpsuit, it was still a dress. Like those women detectives in the TV shows in the 80s who ran after crooks in high heels because some studio execs felt that sneakers were too “manly”. She sighed.
Despite the wall of activity that separated her senses from what was happening in the off-stage area, Cassidy got the distinct impression she was being watched. She tried to shrug it off. It was a curious reporter, perhaps. But the sensation persisted, and she turned, aware of a flutter as she hoped to see a specific face. She stifled a surŹprisingly strong wave of disappointment when she spied Cameron leaning against a set wall. Hoping the lighting angle concealed her response, Cassidy looked around once, still hoping to spy Brenna. She slowly stepped down from the slightly elevated decking of the soundstage.
“Hi, Cass.” Cameron crossed the three steps separating them and grasped her arms just above the elbows, leaning forward with obvious intent to kiss her.
Cassidy could not put her finger on why the attention felt wrong, but she was uneasy as she broke off the touch of their lips.
Cameron lightly squeezed her elbows a warning? then dropped his hands. His smile was forced, surprising her and causing her a little alarm. His voice came over the uneven thudding of her heart.
“I thought we could talk over a late lunch,” he said. “You don’t have another set call today. Wanna go someplace off site?”
“I have interviews.” She intently watched his expression, which only twitched briefly, adding to her confusion.
His composure broke slightly as they moved aside to allow a stagehand bearing props to pass. Struggling to regroup, he smiled suddenly. “What about this weekend? We could take Ryan and go up the coast, maybe to Napa. I…” His voice trailed off as he shrugged.
Cassidy sipped in a breath slowly and let it out just as carefully. Cameron took a step back. “It sounds like that would be a nice trip.” She had a previous commitŹment that she preferred to keep. “But Ryan and I already have plans.”
Cameron straightened and, though he wasn’t an imposing figure, she had to quell the dismay roiling in her stomach. His gaze narrowed, and she fought her impulse to look away. Cameron seldom was ever truly angry with her, an appealing trait after the white-hot flash point that had been Mitch.
Cameron’s voice was low and deliberate. “Where?”
“I told you we had a camping trip.”
“When?”
“This weekend.”
“No. When did you tell me?”
She searched her mind for a date reference, then answered, “Two, maybe three weeks ago. Do you remember when Mitch called me at work? That night.”
He looked puzzled for a long moment, then shook his head. “Well, would you like some company? Maybe I could go with you.”
Cassidy shook her head. “Cameron, you couldn’t stand having that many kids
around.”
After a moment, he nodded. “When do you leave?” His tone was flat.
“Saturday at dawn.”
“Dawn. When will you be back?” Cameron was squeezing his hands repeatedly.
“Look, I have to go.” Filled with unease, Cassidy backed away. When he remained focused on her, she looked away, ostensibly adjusting the fit of her cosŹtume. She spotted a reporter standing about five feet away, patiently waiting for his interview. Thankful for a reason to cut short their exchange, Cassidy called, “I’m ready.”
The reporter was a thin man in his mid-to late-thirties, with dark hair; his smile was clearly admiring. “Any place you’d prefer to do this?” He stepped back to let her move away first. As she passed Cameron, she felt the reporter’s notepad genŹtly touch against her lower back.
Behind her, Cameron stalked away.
Cassidy tried to relax, but Will was edging into her personal space at the conŹference table. Still, she had to admit he was interjecting supportive additions to her answers to the reporter’s questions. The reporter had already, in her opinion, covŹered the typical questions. The appearance of her co-star fueled a change in the direction. One she hadn’t expected.
“Do you think your character has made any connections with the other team members? Do they still resent being bunked with a screw-up?”
“Resentment? No, I…think we’ve gotten past that.” Cassidy caught a raised eyeŹbrow from Will and added, “With most of them.”
Turning Point Page 17
