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Ben showed the two couples to their rooms, somehow knowing without being told that Maureen and Josiah, and Jonas and Harry, each couple would want to share a room. The rooms were luxurious, with king-size beds, overstuffed loveseats against one wall, and built-in entertainment centers including television and a wide selection of music on what was evidently a very high-tech, broad-storage system.
Jonas motioned Harry to sit while he fiddled with the selection of music available. Finding what he wanted, he cued it up, and came to sit beside Harry, pulling him to him:
How can I convince you what you see is real
Who am I to blame you for doubting what you feel
I was always reachin', you were just a boy I knew
I just took for granted the friend I have in you
I was living for a dream, loving for a moment
Taking on the world, that was just my style
Now I look into your eyes, I can see forever,
The search is over, you were with me all the while
Can we last forever, will we fall apart
At times it's so confusing, these questions of the heart
You followed me through changes and patiently you'd wait
Till I came to my senses through some miracle of fate
I was living for a dream, loving for a moment
Taking on the world, that was just my style
Now I look into your eyes, I can see forever,
The search is over, you were with me all the while
Now the miles stretch out behind me, loves that I have lost
Broken hearts lie victims of the game
Then good luck it finally struck like lightning from the blue
Every highway leading me back to you
Now at last I hold you, now all is said and done
The search has come full circle, our destinies are one
So if you ever loved me, show me that you give a damn
And then you'll know for certain, the man I really am
I was living for a dream, loving for a moment
Taking on the world, that was just my style
Then I touched your hand, I could hear you whisper
The search is over, love was right before my eyes
"The Search Is Over" is from Survivor's 1991 album "Vital Signs."
It appears to be Copyright (c) 1991 by Frank Sullivan.
"Harry?"
"Yeah?"
"I've been thinking about today, and this past week ... a lot."
"Look, Jonas, it's over and done with. It's in our past. Forget it."
"That's just it, Harry. I can't. Look, if this is going to work, we're going to have to be honest with each other, right?" Jonas's eyes were sincere and loving.
"Well, yeah, but...."
"But nothing. I need you to hear me out.
"You know how very close things were today. If Mom hadn't bought those windows, if Pastor Friendly hadn't tried an ambush through them, I'd be sitting and grieving right now -- for my mother, for the man who's been like a father to me, and for the man I never got to tell how sorry I am and how much I realized I loved him. I've hurt you twice now...."
"Twice?"
"Twice. Second time was when I started hanging out with Tanya, but the first time was taking you for granted and never being the friend you could trust to know how you felt. I know I can be a cast-iron idiot at times...."
"Jonas, stop that! You're not."
"Honesty, remember? I'm telling you the truth, and you know it. I'm the handsome jock that could have almost any girl -- and I let it go to my head, and never stopped to realize where love really was. That's what I meant by that song -- I made a fool of myself, and I know it."
"Yeah, well, all that's over now. I've been on a high since you came downstairs this morning and gave me that three-word apology. Heck, except for being down about Tanya, I've been on a high since you made love to me that Tuesday night, the day before the funeral." Harry didn't need to say which funeral; they both knew.
"Yes and no, Harry. I had my eyes opened yesterday and today, and I'm committed to you, as committed as you'll let me be. But I also know that nobody changes overnight. What this relationship's strongest point is has nothing to do with me: it's Harry Johnson's constant love and loyalty, through it all. I need that in my life. And I need to depend on you to be honest with me, to tell me when I'm fucking up, not being the Jonas you love. That's not a fair burden to place on you, but it's what it takes. I promise you I'll be who you want me to be ... but I've got to know who that is."
Harry bent over, placed the most feather-light of kisses on Jonas's lips, and then it was his turn to walk over to the music selection. He found what he was looking for quickly, turned back to Jonas, and in his best imitation of a preacher's unctuous tones, said, "Brethren, the lesson today is from the Book of Joel." He grinned, and sat down on Jonas's lap, singing along as the song played:
Don't go changing, to try and please me
You never let me down before
Don't imagine you're too familiar
And I don't see you anymore
I wouldn't leave you in times of trouble
We never could have come this far
I took the good times, I'll take the bad times
I'll take you just the way you are
Don't go trying some new fashion
Don't change the color of your hair
Harry paused and grinned. "Cyna," he said. Jonas giggled.
You always have my unspoken passion
Although I might not seem to care
I don't want clever conversation
I never want to work that hard
I just want someone that I can talk to
I want you just the way you are.
I need to know that you will always be
The same old someone that I knew
What will it take till you believe in me
The way that I believe in you.
I said I love you and that's forever
And this I promise from the heart
I could not love you any better
I love you just the way you are.
(Billy Joel - Just The Way You Are. From the CD "The Stranger" © 1977-1998 Sony Records)
Jonas squeezed Harry to him, then looked off into the distance, his gaze going unfocused. "Harry..." he said.
"Yeah?"
"This part isn't going to be easy, but it goes along with what we've already said." Jonas looked worried. Harry's expression reflected his own nervousness at what Jonas was going to say.
"I just committed to you, for now and forever," Jonas continued. "That doesn't erase what happened; it says we're moving on from there." He drew a deep breath.
"But tell me, Harry, what could you have done to change what happened this past week?"
"What?" Harry was defensive. "Nothing, bro. There's not a thing I could have done to change what happened."
"Harry, if I told you what I'm driving at, it'd be like a slap in the face. And that's something I never want to do. But if I can lead you to see it, it says, better than anything else, that I love you. Do you believe that I really love you, Harry?"
"Of course, Jonas."
"Well, then... when Rache came to confront me with what Tanya was up to, and what I'd been doing to you, she was afraid that you were just going to lose it, And I was too blind to see it. That's my fault, that I didn't see you hurting." He sighed. "Harry, what didn't you do?"
"There wasn't anything I could do, Jonas."
"Harry... you've been my best friend since we were little. You know me better than anyone else in the world. That week we called the Clan in to save Jed and C.J., you gave me your body, your soul, and your heart... and I took them. I accepted that gift, of all you had to give. Then I went haring off like a dog in heat, after a pretty face and a nice set of tits. What didn't you do? "
"I didn't do anything, Jonas. I couldn't."
"That's just the point, Harry. One word from you about how you felt would have knocked me back to my senses, made me realize what I was doing to you, kept you from going through all that hurt. And you kept it bottled up inside, just like always."
"I'm promising you it's you and you alone for me, from now on, till forever. What you've gotta do, babe, is tell me. Let me know how you feel. It matters to me ... more than I can say. I can't read your mind; I don't know what's going on in there, unless you tell me. Well, I suppose I could ask Kyle, or Jamie or Jacob... but that sounds like a heckuva way to run a love affair." He grinned. "So... I promise to stop hurting you, to love and cherish you instead. What you've got to do in exchange is to be open and honest about how you're feeling, to give me a chance to not fuck up and hurt you. I told you that I loved you. I meant it." He smiled, and added in a singsong voice, "I meant what I said, and I said what I meant..." The old Dr. Seuss line had been a catch phrase between them in their childhood, and Jonas knew what it would say to Harry now.
Harry smiled, and joined him for the second half: "An elephant's faithful, one hundred percent." His eyes were watering, and his smile broadened. "Love ya, bro."
"Me too."
"Then let's go over to that bed there, and you show me." Harry's smile broadened to a leer, and Jonas matched it.
"You're on, bro." Jonas stood up and started stripping. Harry licked his lips and joined him.
Two sets of red-blond twins sat solemnly around a campfire. Not a word was spoken, but the two older were busily showing the two younger how to segment off the things they had received or experienced that would cause emotional distress, and how to gather and process logically only the data they would be called on to testify to.
A hundred feet away, Kyle and Tyler were equally busy, exploring the limits of what they now could do, and getting a relaxing cuddle in the process. Most of their attention was turned to a nearby chunk of coral rock -- at least, it was usually a chunk of coral rock. Every so often, however, it turned into, well, Something Else. "Make it a mini-dragon again," Tyler giggled. "That one was kewl, especially when it breathed out the purple fireworks!"
Kyle obliged, transforming the coral rock into a simulacrum of a dragon about the size of a Shetland pony, and they watched the mini-dragon contentedly for a minute or so. Then he turned it into a pup tent suitable for sleeping six pre-teen boys. "Hey, guys, start wrapping it up," he called out to Jacob, Jamie, Drew, and Randy. "I've got sleeping quarters set up over here."
"Sounds good," Jamie said. "To test out what you've learned, why don't you check in on your Dad before we quit. You've got his mental 'signature'; you ought to be able to read him easy."
Randy focused, emotionless Vulcan-like mindset firmly in place, then abruptly broke into tears. Jamie and Jacob quickly scanned his thoughts, then called out, "Hey, Kyle, Ty! We got a problem. Their big brother's dying, and nobody can help!"
Kyle read them easily, followed by Tyler. "Mikey!" he sent. "We need a miracle here."
A warm affectionate thought came back to them all. "You two can handle it, Kyle. You don't need me for this."
Tyler's eyes opened wide. "C'mon over here, guys! We're headed out!"
"Surely there must be something you can do?" George's voice showed his pain and strain.
"I'm afraid not," the bald emergency-room physician said. "The most we can do is to make him comfortable while he awaits the end. I've never seen burns so bad or with so much deep tissue involvement. It's a miracle he's still alive at all." He paused. "I'll leave you alone with him for a while, give you a chance to say goodbye. He's comatose, but I gave him some painkiller intravenously earlier, just to be sure." He walked briskly away.
"Oh, God!" George grieved. "Save my boy! Philip's been through so much, and through it all he protected the twins. When he got shot, he was trying to save us all! He doesn't deserve to die!" He collapsed in tears. "I can't help him. Please, do what you can!"
Six tall young men in medical whites walked into the emergency room cubicle where Philip lay dying, with a weeping George at his side. "Mr. Wentworth?" the dark haired one said.
"Yes?" said George brokenly.
"I'm Dr. Richardson. My colleagues here are Dr. Short, Dr. Dodds, and Dr. Stewart, and our trainees Dr. Andrew and Dr. LaVigne." 'Dr. LaVigne' giggled, strangely like a small boy.
'Dr. Short,' a platinum blond, turned his full attention to Philip, quickly doing a mental scan of the deep burns all over his body and having cooked some of his internal organs. He looked up and nodded yes. "We are going to try a non-invasive experimental technique on Philip," he said. "Essentially, it will reverse the effect of the Phaser beams." As he said the last two words, he got a chagrined look on his face, but George didn't notice. "Dr. Richardson, your assistance please. Dr. Stewart, Dr. Dodds, will you please monitor us? And you two kindly observe," he said to 'Dr. Andrew' and 'Dr. LaVigne.'
It would be difficult to explain what they did. You might say that Tyler repneumated the cytoplasm, while Kyle transmogrified the mitochondria, but I'm sure that won't clear things up that much. As they rested their hands on Philip, they worked together, cell by cell, head to foot, restoring each cell to its condition before Philip had been hit by Pastor Friendly's fatal-strength Phaser beam. As Kyle began to sag, Jamie stepped forward and rested his hand on Kyle's shoulder, lending him strength -- a movement copied a moment later by Jacob with Tyler. Ten minutes passed, and Philip began to stir. At Jacob's nod, Randy and Drew stepped forward and laid their hands on his head, calming him.
Kyle looked up and smiled; Tyler returned his smile. 'You can let him come to now,' he sent to Randy and Drew, as he and Tyler stepped back.
As Philip sat up, Tyler transformed himself and Kyle back into their normal form, and removed the illusion of being a young-adult doctor from Jacob, Jamie, Randy, and Drew, leaving them the naked young boys they had been at the beach.
"Father? What am I doing here?" Philip asked.
"Philip! You're all right!" George exclaimed. Then he noticed the boys. "Randy, Drew, what are you doing here? And why don't you have any clothes on?"
Drew giggled. "We had to come with these guys to help save Philip. We were on the beach with them, is why we're nakey."
"What are you doing here? Who are these other boys? And what happened to the doctors?" George demanded.
Kyle carefully ignored George and instead spoke to Philip. "Feel up to going back to La Casa?"
"Yeah, I'm hungry," Philip answered.
"That's not surprising; we had to repair half the cells in your body, and it drained you," Tyler said warmly.
"Okay, let's get out of here!" Kyle added. And the man and all seven boys vanished from the ER.
Pen sat morosely, picking at a too-greasy cheeseburger. A talented chef and almost anything he could ask for were available at his home, but it was what wasn't there that was eating at him. No one his age ever came to the mansion; he had effectively no friends, and certainly no boyfriend. He grimaced at his businesslike, propriety-oriented father's probable reaction to his bringing someone home and announcing they were gay and in love.
Not that the bowling alley was much improvement. Two teenage couples were on one alley, a family with preteen children on another, and three workmen from his father's factory on a third. The other five sat unused.
The telltale whoosh of the entrance door caught his attention. He looked up. It was Doug Murdock, who walked in and went quickly to the men's room. Pen had a momentary flashback of Thursday, when Doug had intervened to help prevent Pen's being gay-bashed. As Doug emerged, he went for the snack bar's counter. Pen motioned him over.
"Hey, I've wanted to get a chance to talk with you, and thank you for Thursday!" he said. "I thought for sure I was gonna get beat up."
Doug pooh-poohed it. "Hey, it wasn't much. You were getting bullied, and I was there. Besides, I kind of had to step in -- I got ordered to do it."
Pen's look asked a question. Doug continued, "I was picking on two gay kids for kissing, and Jonas basically threatened to burn my dick off for doing it. He told me never to do it again, and to step in if I saw anyone else gay-bashing. And I got to thinking, and realized that I was just trying to be a show-off, which is something I hate other people doing, and that he was right. So when I saw them bullying you, I knew I had to do something."
"Well, I just want you to know I appreciate it," Pen said. "Want something to eat?"
"You don't have to do that," Doug said. "I've got a couple bucks to spend."
"No, and you didn't have to step in either," Pen answered. "I've got plenty of money; what I don't have, or didn't, is a friend that would stand up for me like you did. Order what you want, my treat. It's a way I can say thanks, and show you I mean it."
"Murdocks don't take charity," Doug said.
"It's not charity, it's a friend wanting to do something for his friend," Pen said. "It'll make me feel good to know I did something for you, just like you did for me. Now shuddup and tell me what you want." He grinned.
After a bit more hemming and hawing, Pen got up and ordered a cheeseburger, nachos, and a Coke for Doug. "So what're you up to tonight?" Pen asked.
"Not much of anything," Doug answered. "Just hanging out, looking for something to do. Ma 'n' her friends are playing cards and drinking, and I wanted to get out and kill some time until they're done."
They kept on talking ... things going on at school, what had happened Thursday, and general BSing ... for several minutes, when Tony walked in. Pen's gaze immediately snapped to him; he walked over towards them. "Hey, Pen," he said, "I need a lift. Can you help out?"
"Sure," Pen said excitedly. "Be back in a few, Doug!"
"Don't you live just a block away...?" Doug started to ask Tony, but he and Pen were already on their way to the door.
As they walked out the door, Tony started explaining. "I took Lisa to the movies, and we were necking. Then we got home, and the house was dark. We walked in and started making out in her living room. And we'd got each other really hot ... her legs spread and panties down, and she was wet, and I was hard as a rock ... when her father walked in. He copped an attitude and sent me home. And I'm horny as hell, and I want your ass," he finished as they climbed in Pen's car.
Pen had gotten turned on just hearing this. He quickly drove down behind an abandoned factory. "Get out the KY; it won't take me long to open myself up."
Tony undid his pants. "Fuck that," he said. "I need you now!"
Jed wore a smug look as he led the three McKendrick boys through C.I.C. It would be anyone's guess whether he was more excited by showing off Clan HQ to them, or them to his Clan brothers. I suppose technically he was only "leading" Jared, by virtue of the hand he wouldn't let go of; Mickey followed in his wheelchair, pushed by Raffy and an equally excited C.J., who was bouncing around pointing things out to Raffy.
At one computer, Ryan Watson sat looking at a skateboarding website. C.J. noticed and pulled Raffy over to see the pictures and videos of boys stunting on their boards. Then Ryan clicked on one link, to a page devoted to Aaron Fotheringham.
Something clicked in Raffy's mind, and he heard in the back of his mind Chief Tecumseh saying, "Your brother will need your help as he fights his demon." He called out, "Hey, Mickey! Over here!"
Mickey wheeled himself over, and looked on at the video of the boy in the wheelchair on the halfpipe. Something melted inside him, and he began to smile. He pulled Raffy to him, and gave him a great, warm hug. "How'd you know?" he asked.
"I didn't -- it just felt right," his little brother said, hugging him back.
George was angry. He took a sip of his morning coffee, and looked at the twins with strictness written across his face. "I don't know where you vanished to last night after we got back from the hospital, but there will be no more of it. If I cannot trust you to stay with adults, you're forbidden to have anything more to do with these boys," he said, gesturing at the four they had camped out with, and who had come back to La Casa with them.
"You might have thought of that," Maureen said, "when you left them with us while you vanished to take care of Philip. How is he, anyway?"
"A near miraculous recovery," George said. "These six doctors came in and performed some sort of treatment on him, then disappeared on me before I could even thank them." Kyle rolled his eyes. "He's resting up in his room now. But that still doesn't excuse the twins -- and you four are clearly a bad influence on them!"
Jonas spoke up. "Remember, before all this started, we were taking you to Orlando so the twins could be trained to use their telepathy and become Vulcan-certified witnesses?"
"Yeah, what's that have to do with it?" George was unmollified. Maureen, catching a hint of where this was going, exchanged a wink with Jacob.
"Well," Jonas said, "Captain Spock is away with the Enterprise at the moment, and Ambassador Sarek usually doesn't take the time to handle that training -- he's got plenty on his plate without that."
"So?"
"That leaves two people on Earth who are qualified to train and certify telepaths as Vulcan witnesses," Harry interjected, backing Jonas.
"Your point being...?" George was becoming irritated at this apparent turning of the conversation from his attempts to impose proper discipline on his boys.
"This," said Jonas. "You just forbade the boys to have anything more to do with them." Jamie and Jacob solemnly raised and waved their hands.
"Those two kids are the people you wanted to have train my boys?"
"Those two kids," said Maureen, "pulled together the evidence in two days to convict Scordo and the crooked cops, when you couldn't pull it off in two years. Don't judge them by looks. I don't know Jamie that well yet, but Jacob has a big and compassionate heart as well."
Harry spoke up again. "Something else you need to take into consideration, Mr. Wentworth. We gave you those boys to adopt under Vulcan law. And you need to realize what that means. In Vulcan, you can't apply the possessive to words that mean people, just like in Spanish they can't be direct objects. You have to use the periphrastic construction that we usually translate as 'he who is my son' or 'he who is my father' and so on. And even that is a bad translation; it is literally 'he who stands as father to me.' It's impossible to claim ownership or domination over another person in Vulcan; all you can do is express relationships, some of which entail some authority, like Patriarch or Ambassador. Under the law, they are not 'your sons' -- instead, they're people -- very young people, but people -- who stand in the relationship of son to you. And it's a real psychological difference. It speaks of love and responsibility, not of dominance and authority."
"Harry's right," said Jonas. "If I had thought you were going to take the attitude you have with them, I'd have never consented to the adoption."
Randy and Drew's eyes went unfocused. "You go ahead," Randy said. "You picked it up faster."
Drew stepped forward. All emotion vanished from his face as he spoke directly to Jonas. "He who is our father has been consistently acting towards us out of a sense of love and responsibility for us. His behavior is consistent with how he was taught that a father should behave towards his sons. He is not at fault that he has not yet learned some aspects of how to be an effective parent; there has been inadequate time and opportunity to do so. It would not be logical to remove us from his custody." Jamie and Jacob gave him thumbs-up; Drew acknowledged them gravely. George stared at his son.
"You're picking that up really fast," Harry said. "George, you've just seen evidence of Vulcan witness techniques, used, you might note, in defense of you as a father. Do you seriously want to forbid them to continue that training?"
"That was remarkable, Drew," George said. "That's what you've been doing while I was with Philip?"
"That, and having some fun swimming," Randy said, "and then we helped Tyler and Kyle" (gesturing at them) "heal Philip."
"What? It was six young doctors," George said.
Kyle got an evil grin, and transformed himself and Tyler into 'doctors', again casting the illusion over the four young telepaths. "We turned into them because the hospital staff wouldn't believe that kids could do that," said 'Dr. Richardson.' 'Dr. LaVigne' said, "Hi, Dad!" and giggled.
"You boys healed Philip?" Maureen said. Tyler nodded, as they reverted into their normal selves. "He looked nearly dead when Neil picked him up."
"He was," Tyler said. "We had to repair nearly every cell in his body."
"It's a shame you couldn't do that for Peter," Maureen said. "The poor little waif was in so much pain, and tried to be so brave."
"Peter?" said Kyle. He quickly scanned Maureen's and then Jonas's memories. Tyler nodded, and said, "Tomorrow?"
"You got it," Kyle said determinedly.
Pen walked back into the bowling alley, wincing. He stepped up to the snack bar counter, and ordered a Coke. "Can I have a packet of aspirin, too, please?" he added.
Doug looked at him. "There's blood on the butt of your pants and legs. We need to call 9-1-1 for you!"
Pen got a panicked look. "No! Father will find out!"
"You need help," Doug said seriously.
"I'm all right," Pen said.
"Bull feathers!" Doug answered. "You need to be seen by a doctor." Pen made as if to bolt for the door. "Hey, how about if I get Skipper to check you over; he's cool, and will keep a confidence." He walked over to the pay phone, and called.
The sound of explosions interrupted the tense conversation at La Casa. As one, they rushed out the front door. A Zeppelin with the emblem of a Bible bearing wings painted on the side of the nose was bombing the nearby area. Kyle threw Jamie to the ground and stood over him, a determined, angry look on his face.
"You bastards tried to kill my brothers over in our timeline, and you failed. You don't get to try again!" he screamed, and lifted his arm. A burst of energy erupted from his outstretched hand, and engulfed the nose of the Zeppelin in flame. Seconds later, it exploded. "Heh, used hydrogen, did they?" he said with satisfaction.
He turned to see Ben standing in the door, open-mouthed. As Ben started to speak, a raucous BRAAZZT from inside made him turn abruptly, and hurry in. The entire party from the CSU followed him, to find him activating the television in the main lounge. An announcer at an anchor desk, disheveled and in shirtsleeves, was saying, "The Holies are on the move. Zeppelin attacks on the Conch Republic and Delmarva appear to have been synchronized with an attempt to blow up the aqueducts in the Sierras that provide water to the south of the Bear Flag territory, and the bulk of the Holies' army appears to be moving on the Big Sky Republic, targeting Missoula." A woman stepped on camera long enough to hand him a slip of paper. "Unconfirmed reports indicate that the Zeppelin attacking the Conch Republic has exploded, cause unknown as yet. This is the Free America News Service; stay tuned for further developments."
"They're hitting us in the stomach," Ben said. The only two caretaker states that export food are Bear Flag and Big Sky."
Jamie and Jacob were pale. Kyle caught Tyler's attention. "Yep, we can do that. It'll be a strain, but we can pull it off.," Tyler said. "But afterwards, you're taking a day of complete rest."
Kyle turned to Ben. "Can you get someone from Naval Aviation here as soon as possible? Also someone from intelligence who knows the Holies' strongholds?"
"I can do that," Ben said. "But what reason should I give?"
"Tell them I'm going to give them the tools to fight back!"
As Ben made the call, the slender eight-year-old took charge. "Jonas, would you run up and get your communicator, please?"
Ben interjected, "There's nobody here for him to call."
"Yet," said Tyler. Jonas jogged up the stairs. Tyler asked Harry, "Who knows you from the Lafayette?"
"Ensign Romero of Security has helped us a couple of times now," Harry answered. "But that's off in another timeline." Tyler got a mischievous grin.
"Ready?" asked Kyle. Tyler nodded. They joined hands, and got a faraway look on their faces for a few seconds.
Jonas came back carrying his communicator. Kyle held out his hand; Jonas handed it to him.
"Kyle Richardson of Clan Short to Lafayette," he said firmly.
"Lafayette bridge here," came the alto professional voice. "We're on red alert here; how may we help you?"
"Would you kindly ask Captain Simmons to beam down to these coordinates, along with the officer in charge of weapons systems and Ensign Romero of Security?" Kyle asked in a tone that was not so much request as courteous order.
"I hope this is important," Simmons' voice came over the communicator.
"Sir, it has to do with a serious attack on the United States by the same sort of group that occasioned the red alert," Kyle answered.
"Reason enough," Simmons answered."We'll be right down. Lafayette out.
"Richardson out," Kyle responded, and clicked off the communicator.
"I'm going to the hospital," Jacob stated. "Something's weird here; Jamie was attacked and then I lost contact with him; now Kyle's saying Jamie's okay and Jamie don't remember none of it."
Seth glanced over at Justy, who was burying himself in work to overcome his worry about Dean. "I think that might be best; I'm not gonna allow you to go out on the field after what happened to Jamie."
"We're goin' with you," Jed announced. "Ceej just told me he thinks we might be able to help some of the hurt kids."
Jacob nodded. "You're probably right. Ark, could you please take us to join Jamie and Kyle?"
< Yes I can, Jacob. Just tell me when. >
"Go ahead, Ark."
As the two Navy men beached their launch and walked up from the shore, Josiah and Maureen gasped. The older of the two looked like a younger version of Captain Kirk His companion was a crewcut towhead in his late twenties.
"Mr. Cowley? I was told to report here, that you had some information on the Zeppelin attack." He addressed Ben.
"That's correct, uh...?" Ben prompted for his name.
"Oh, sorry. I'm Lt. Commander William A. Shatner, Jr. And this is Lt. Joshua Grissom."
"I don't know how much you've been briefed on the Conch Innkeepers work. But suffice it to say that our guests are sometimes more than they appear, and the present company is included in that. This young fellow here" Ben gestured at Kyle "brought the Zeppelin down with an energy burst of some sort."
"Preposterous," Shatner said. "Even the big guns on our cruisers are lucky to score a hit on them, and unless it does direct damage to the frame, they simply fly back for repairs. You expect me to believe a small boy shot one of them down?"
Kyle was visibly irritated but keeping his cool. At that moment, the telltale shimmer of a transporter beam came into existence across the room. Seconds later, it resolved into three men. Captain Simmons looked grim; Ensign Romero nodded professionally but affably to Harry and Jonas. The third man looked elfin, slender of build but with broad shoulders. His skin was pale blue, and tiny antennae sprouted from the sides of his forehead. Shatner and Grissom stared at him. "Good afternoon," Simmons said. "I gather at least some of you know Oliver Romero," gesturing at him; "May I present Commander Traafin n'Eutheulioo, second in Engineering and chief of weaponry..Which one of you is Kyle?"
Kyle raised his hand and waved, with an element of shyness. "Thank you for beaming down, Captain. Pleased to meet you Mr. Romero, Mr. New Thooloo."
Traafin winced at the mispronunciation of his toponymic. "Just Traafin, if you please. n'Eutheulioo is my grandfather's estate, which my family uses to fill the human need for a surname."
"I think almost everyone here is unaware of part of the situation," Kyle said. "So let me fill you all in, without interruptions. Then I'll let you each convince the others of what parts you find impossible to believe. First, we're on Sugarloaf Key, in the Conch Republic. Commander Shatner and Lieutenant Grissom here are from the loyalist portions of the U.S. Navy, combating the so-called Free Holy Republic that is in control of most of America." Simmons and Romero looked startled and began to interrupt; Kyle waved them down. "Captain Simmons, Commander Traafin, and Ensign Romero are from the U.S.S. Lafayette, a starship of the United Federation of Planets. Tyler and I just fabricated an exact duplicate of her in orbit around this Earth, and teleported the Bridge and Engineering crew aboard. Essentially, gentlemen, you're in another world, a different timeline, in which the local parallel to the FCC won. Local units of the Army and Navy have been helping small parts of the country stay free.
"The time has come to fight back," Kyle continued. "One of their Zeppelins attacked us earlier; I destroyed it, with an energy burst from Fuzzy More here." He held up his arm. "The Lafayette alone has the firepower to wipe out most of the force the Holies have used to keep their theocratic totalitarian rule over America. What I'm proposing is that Lt. Grissom show you and Cdr. Traafin, Captain, where their armies and strongholds are, and you take them out. The Army and Navy can then clean up the rest and restore the United States -- and Canada and the other things the Holies have conquered."
The four human officers began scoffing at various elements of what Kyle had said: "Starships? That's Sci-Fi crap!" "Alternate timelines? Rubbish!" Traafin leaned back, a look of wry amusement on his face.
Ben stood up. Looking Grissom square in the eye, he said, "Melara n'ha Thendara." Grissom started visibly, and answered, "d' Nevarsin, z'par servu." "Shaara ten'io Aldaran." Ben completed the formula. "Gentlemen, the boy is telling the truth. Captain, you are in an alternate timeline, where most of America is under a fundamentalist dictatorship. Commander," he continued, turning to Shatner, "these gentlemen are from a place where starships exist, and apparently have one here."
Grissom turned to Shatner. "He is a valid agent; he knows the password and countersign. I find it as hard to believe as you, but we need to accept his word, and look to these men for help. Besides, " he said, pointing at Traafin, "how do you explain him? "
Jamie spoke up. Addressing Simmons, he said, "Grandfather Sarek would not find it logical for you to refuse them your help."
Simmons smiled. "Only a real Clan Short member would use the idea of something being illogical to a Vulcan as a threat. I guess I have to believe you."
At that point Philip came walking downstairs. George ran to him and wrapped him in a big hug. "How are you feeling?" he asked with tears of joy in his eyes.
"Tired," he answered. "Where are we, anyway? Last I remember, they shot Harry and I ran to get his Phaser and help fight back and protect you guys."
"You got shot too," Jonas said. "Then we got brought here to rest up from it -- though it's been an eventful 'rest.'"
"Oh," Philip said. "I dreamt something about being in a hospital, then I was..." he blushed. "I was with a couple of rabbits and a bird boy in, uh, a nice place."
"You needed that," said Randy. "You always gave us cuddles and snuggles when we needed 'em. It was your turn." Philip looked sheepish; Randy and Drew went over and snuggled up to their big brother.
Tyler spoke up. "You two take your Dad and big bro down to the beach, and show them how to have some fun. That's what you need to do right now. The rest of us have a world to save."
He glanced over at Kyle, who nodded. Suddenly the entire party found themselves on the bridge of the Lafayette. Kyle gazed intently up into Captain Simmons' eyes for a few seconds, then Simmons briskly strode to the Captain's command chair and began giving orders. "Now hear this. All hands. This ship is on Red Alert; assume battle stations. This is not a drill. We are aiding United States forces in eliminating a terrorist army.
"Mr. Grissom, would you kindly join Lt. T'yaran," he gestured at a composed young Vulcan woman, "and aid her in identifying the Holies' forces, first in Montana, then in Southern California. Mr. Traafin, ready main Phaser banks to fire at coordinates which Lts. T'yaran and Grissom will provide you. Cdr. Shatner, would you please go to the Communications Station and establish contact with loyalist forces in Montana, and tell them to pull back, out of contact with the enemy, so we have a clean shot at the Holies troops; without subjecting them to friendly fire. Then kindly join me here.
"Ensign Ribeiro, please establish a feed from the Bridge to the Forward Lounge. Mr. Romero, would you courteously escort our guests there, to allow them to observe in more comfort than standing here? Mr. Richardson, Mr. Short, you are free to join them or remain here, as you like, but I'd suggest making yourselves comfortable -- I know you can let me know anything I need to know." Kyle nodded.
"Arkham E.M.T. service; is this an emergency?" Bobby's voice was as professional-sounding as his 14 years could make it, as he answered the telephone strategically placed next to the kitchen-living room arch in his mother's home.
"Bobby? This is Doug Murdock. I need you and Skipper to meet me and ... a friend ...outside the bowling alley! It's an emergency!"
"Doug Murdock? Aren't you the bully that goes around gay-bashing?"
"Yeah, I was, but I'm changing my ways. Please come. He's bleeding badly, and I think he's been raped!"
"Hang on." Bobby was clearly holding the phone away from his mouth, but his effort to mute it with his hand wasn't successful. "Skipper! I got Doug Murdock on the E.M.T. service phone, and he wants us to meet him outside the bowling alley. Claims it's an emergency, somebody's been raped, but I think something may be fishy."
A pause. "We'll be right there. But this better not be a prank, or a setup!"
"It's not -- you'll see." Doug's feelings were mixed: a little anger at being doubted, honest chagrin that what he'd used to do deserved it, and over all, worry for Pen, who was now slumped on the booth's bench. He hung up the phone, walked over, and helped Pen walk outside.
In the mobile unit, Skipper pointed out a button. "See this? Don't push it now, but be aware of where it is. That puts out an emergency transponder signal to the Sheriff's Office. Deputy Winfield and I installed it, so I could call for police help if it looked like I needed it. We don't ever turn down a call for help, but if it sounds like something might not be on the up-and-up, that's what that button is for. They'll scramble a car to us the moment they get that signal."
They pulled in the bowling alley parking lot just then -- it was less than two blocks from Grace's house -- and saw Doug waving them over, holding up a slightly shorter, thinner figure with his other arm.
"Jeezum," Bobby said, "that's Pen Throxton! What the hell did he do to him?"
"We'll find out," Skipper said, tight-lipped, as he pulled the mobile unit up to the two boys.
Caroline walked into the treatment room smiling, carrying a glass of orange juice and a plate of scrambled eggs and toast. Peter looked up drowsily, tentatively stretched, and broke into a grin. "It doesn't hurt! Wow! This is awesome!"
"Glad you like our work," she said with a grin. "Care for some breakfast?" She set the glass and plate down on a small table alongside the bed.
"Sure!," Peter said. "But don't I have to eat it up here?"
"Not unless you insist," she said. "You've been in a biobed-induced coma for three days, healing, and what you need right now is, first, food, and second, some gentle exercise to get your muscles back into shape. Oh, and 'Tonio wants to talk to you; he'll be here in a couple of minutes."
"He'll be here right now," Antonio said as he walked in, also smiling. "How're you feeling, Peter?"
"Like I could lick my weight in wildcats," Peter said, making a muscle. "Well, in rabbits," as his biceps twinged with weakness. "Baby rabbits," he corrected again.
"Yep, you lost a lot of muscle mass lying in that hospital bed, and the biobed didn't exactly help with that. Good food and some play time will help build that back up in a hurry. I want you to take it easy, though," Antonio cautioned, "for the first day or two. If you start to get tired, sit down and have a snack." Caroline helped Peter to the chair alongside his breakfast, then slipped out of the room.
"As the saying goes," Antonio went on, "I have good news and bad news. The good news is, the treatment went almost as we'd hoped: you're not dying, the cancer is going into remission, and you've got some time to be a boy, without pain, ahead of you. The bad news is, the remission is nowhere near as complete as we'd hoped. Instead of every year or two, you're going to have to go through this three-day biobed bit every five or six months, until the researchers get off their dead behinds and develop a cure for your cancer."
"I can handle that," Peter said with a smile. "It's a lot better than expecting to die next week, like I was doing." He sipped his orange juice, then fell to on his scrambled eggs. "Moop," he said.
"What?" 'Tonio asked.
"I said, these are good " Peter answered. Caroline walked back in carrying a tall glass full of white foamy fluid.
"Oh, god, not another barium X-ray," Peter said, looking askance at it.
Antonio giggled, looking even more than usual like a small elf. "No, Teri would probably invoke the Safe Haven Act against me for torture if I gave you one of them," he said laughingly. "What that is, is a McCoy milkshake -- a way to restore the nutrients your body needs that tastes good."
"I made it vanilla," Caroline said apologetically, "because I had to have it ready before you came to, and nobody knew what flavor you would prefer. You can have chocolate, strawberry, banana, or a couple other things for your next one, though."
She popped a straw into it, and handed it to Peter, who took one long sip through the straw, and burst into a grin. "It's terrific!" he said.
"Okay," said 'Tonio. "Eat up, and I've got some of the guys from the Camp here to show you around, and maybe get you into a game of catch or frisbee if you feel up to it." He walked to the door of the room, and waved.
Jed, Jacob, and C.J. popped into existence in the Emergency Room, and looked around aghast at the carnage. Jacob took off running in the direction of Noah, calling out, "Where's Jamie?" At that moment, Kyle and Jamie popped back into existence. A second later, Kyle's voice resounded inside their heads: "Jamie's ALIVE and OKAY!!!!!!!"
"Woah!:" said C.J., then looked up at his brother. The too-familiar distant, panicked look on his face shocked him. He reached out and slapped Jed hard on the side of his face.
"Hey, why'd'ja do that?" Jed said.
"You were starting to lose it again," C.J. answered, with tears in his own eyes. "There are people dying here; nobody has the time to nurse you back from another breakdown today. They need our help."
"Oh.... Yeah.... Thanks," Jed said slowly as he realized what had happened.
"This is what it was like, seeing Mom and Dad, right?" C.J. asked, compassion in his voice.
"Yeah," Jed said softly.
"Thanks for keeping me from it," C.J. said shyly. "I don't think I could have handled seeing them like this." Jed smiled wanly and draped an arm over his little brother's shoulders.
Jed looked around. Over in a corner sat a boy in a wheelchair, a lost expression on his face. "Hey, what's wrong?" he asked as he walked up to the boy.
The boy looked up at him for a moment before looking away and softly saying, "We had just got home and they started shooting at us, then all of a sudden I was here, and now I can't find my new dad or m' brother."
The boy paused, looking up at Jed, and he could see the pain and fear in his eyes as he stuttered, "I… I think… I think they're all dead," before the tears began to flow.
Both brothers reached out hands to grasp the shoulder of the young boy to try and reassure him, as C.J said, "Hey, we'll help you look, okay?"
The wheelchair-bound boy looked up at him and asked. "You would?" as C.J. said, "Yeah, we would. So what's your name?"
"Brian, Brian Thompson, ah I mean Reynolds now," Brian answered before adding, "I hope."
"Hey, don't think like that. We'll help you look, and I'll bet they're all right," Jed answered as he began to push the wheelchair.
"You don't havta do that," Brian muttered, adding, "I can move myself."
"It's okay," Jed said. "I got practice doing it for my boyfriend, er… uh… I mean...." he finished, stammering as anyone looking could see the bright red suffusing his face from some distance.
Brian let out a small laugh for the first time as he said, "I used to be afraid of it, but Sammy, he's my new brother, well, he helped me see that's it's not bad or nothing. So don't be embarrassed about it, 'cause I kinda hope that SamSam is gonna be my boyfriend ... if he's all right," he added at the end.
Jed didn't know what to say to that, but C.J. just smiled and said, "I hope so too," as they began walking away looking for Brian's missing family, only this time the lost look was replaced with a small smile on the boy's face, a smile of hope.
"Ark?" Jed said. "Where's Brian's family?"
< In the cafeteria, Jed. > came back on his sub-vocals.
"I don't know where that is, here. Do you think you could transport us there?" Jed asked.
The Ark didn't answer in words but immediately transported them to where Ronnie, Nikolai, and the others were in the cafeteria.
"So what will happen now?" Josiah asked.
"Watch," Kyle answered, gesturing at the screen, which suddenly came to life. The Lafayette's sensors were scoping the land below at a fairly close-up view; infantry companies, squads of tanks, and self-propelled artillery were everywhere, all moving doggedly towards the upper right of the screen. The winged-Bible emblem and other strange symbols were everywhere; Harry gagged at what appeared to be a picture of Jesus with a sword projecting from his mouth, painted on the side of one tank. "A sharp two-edged sword..." Romero quoted to himself.
Voice-over from the Bridge came on. "Coordinates locked in," an emotionless Vulcan alto stated, followed by the melodious Andorian tenor, "Target acquired."
"Fire at will," Simmons commanded. Seconds later, the image on the viewscreen dissolved into a rose-white wash. As the image again resolved, what had been a powerful army was now a mass of half-melted tanks and artillery, and dead or dying men, most badly burnt.
"Right wing, coordinates locked in," came Grissom's voice, followed again by "Target acquired." The view on screen again showed armed forces, this time troops in armored trucks and a bearded man standing in an armored assault car, pointing forward. "Fire," Simmons said. Again the white-rose wash, and again the carnage after. The bearded man was rolling on the ground, his beard and hair on fire.
"My God," said Maureen. "Those are people you're killing down there."
Kyle's young treble voice was hard. "They had their choice, Mrs. McConnaghay. They could have run off and joined the freedom fighters in one of the caretaker republics. They could have stayed home, and lived under the dictatorship. They chose instead to fight for a government that dominates by force, preaches hate, and cloaks it in a piety that claims to be doing God's will. Sarek pronounced their lives forfeit; all I'm doing is making that possible here, as well as in our world."
"Somehow it seems wrong, just burning them down from orbit like this," Jacob said.
Harry spoke up, a serious look on his face. "Mom and I went there for Christmas Eve service one year. They had an apocalyptic vision of God sending fire from heaven to smite what they considered the ungodly. In fact, they were praying for it. Well, they asked for it, and they got it."
"Left wing, coordinates locked in," came T'laran's voice again. Maureen and Harry looked away.
"What will happen next?" asked Jonas.
Tyler spoke up. "They'll target the forces trying to bomb the aqueducts in California, and the troops hidden in the desert to move in and take advantage of the disaster. Then the headquarters of the Holies and the strong points where their troop reserves are. That's what Grissom is doing -- learning the controls T'laran is using, and showing her what the loyal caretaker forces know of where the Holies' strongholds are."
"Admiral Morrow will be upset if you leave one of his starships over here," Jamie said.
"This isn't the same Lafayette that's beamed us around, and took Cory and them to Rigel," Kyle answered. "Tyler and I made this one using solar energy and a few loose pieces of the Moon nobody was using at the moment. We're going to leave this one here, with Cdr. Shatner in charge. After the worst of the attack on the Holies is over, Captain Simmons is going to go over the ship's operations, normal complement, and how to use the on-board online ship's manual with him."
"Wonder why he looks so much like Captain Kirk?" Jacob piped up.
"It is a bit strange, isn't it?" Ensign Romero said. "Looks enough like him to be his son!"
"What about the crew?" Romero added after a moment's thought.
"We'll be teleporting you back -- it'll seem like you were only gone a few seconds, from the point of view of those left on board the real Lafayette," Kyle answered. "You guys too, unless you have other ways of getting home," he said to the Arkham group.
"They were supposed to go home by Mikyvis," Ben volunteered.
"That'd be us," Tyler said with a grin and an airy wave.
"What'd you do to him?" Bobby asked Doug angrily.
"I don't blame you for doubting me," Doug answered, "but I didn't do anything. We were sitting in the snack bar talking, he left to give, uh, someone a ride home, and when he came back he was like this."
Skipper meanwhile had opened the rear door to the E.M.T. mobile unit, and now half-guided-half-lifted Pen into the compartment. Slipping up inside, he helped Pen onto a patient transport surface, and motioned Bobby to join him. Doug stood at the door. "Get up in here and close that door," Skipper said gruffly.
As Skipper de-pantsed Pen, Bobby briskly cleansed his buttocks with cotton batten and an alcohol wipe. Pen winced. "Fuck, that's a nasty tear," Skipper said. "We need to get you down to the hospital for stitches and an internal exam, to see if there's torn tissue inside."
Pen tensed in panic. "No!" he said. "Father and everyone will find out!"
"Find out what?" Bobby asked. "There's no shame or blame to having been raped -- the fault is with the evil bastard that did this to you."
"He's right, Pen," Doug said. "You need medical help; that's why I called them. Then let the cops arrest the S.O.B. that did this to you."
"You guys will despise me," Pen said brokenly.
"Despise you? For being raped?" Doug said. "Don't be a dingwad; we won't, your father won't, nobody will. The guy they'll despise is the one who raped you."
In an almost inaudible voice, Pen said, "It wasn't supposed to be rape. He just wouldn't wait."
The faces of all three registered shock. "You'd better explain," Skipper said. "And don't worry what we think, we're not going to judge you."
"Was it Tony?" Doug asked.
"Why d'you think that?" Bobby said.
"Because that's who he left with."
"Yeah," said Pen. "He did it, but he didn't mean to rape me."
"Right," scoffed Bobby, "he just accidentally shoved his dick up your ass, by sheer chance. Sure!" Sarcasm was dripping from his voice.
"It's all over for me," Pen said. "You should have let me bleed to death."
"In a pig's eye," Doug said. "I l..., uh, like you as a friend too much." Skipper didn't miss the quick stutter there, and smiled to himself.
"Okay," Skipper said, "Truth time. What happened?"
Doug spoke up. "Like I said, Pen was sitting in the bowling alley snack bar when I came in. He motioned me over, and insisted on treating me to a burger and stuff. Then Tony came in, and asked Pen for a ride. Since he lives behind his dad's pizzeria, on the next block over, I thought that was strange, but Pen jumped up to give him a ride. He told me he'd be back, and I stayed there and waited. Then he came in walking like a cowboy, wincing, and with blood all over the ass of his pants. So I called you."
Pen had his eyes closed and his head turned away, giving the three a good view of his ravaged behind. "C'mon, Pen, out with it," Bobby said.
"What's the use?" Pen said. "I'm good as dead anyway. I'll be disowned, and what the heck can I do?"
"Yeah, Tony wanted me to give him a ride. He'd been over to Lisa's, making out with her, and her dad came home, and tossed him out, still horny. So he came looking for me."
"Because he was horny?" Skipper asked.
"Yeah," Pen said in a low voice. "Because he knows I love his cock."
"Go on," Skipper said encouragingly. "I haven't heard anything that would make me think the less of you yet."
Pen turned and looked at Skipper. "I'm a fag," he said. "I like to give him blowjobs. I like to have him fuck me in the ass. Now are you disgusted with me?"
"He's not disgusted with me," Bobby said. "And I like the same things." Doug looked startled.
"So how did this turn into something that tore you open?" Skipper said.
"When Tony's horny, he's hot to trot," Pen said. "He rams it in as soon as I've got it open enough to accommodate him. Tonight he was even hornier than usual, and more impatient. And he didn't give me a chance to open myself up."
"I want to pound that sonofabitch into the ground, cut off his dick, and stick it up his ass," Doug said vehemently.
"Can't say as I blame you," Skipper said. "But that just ends up with you going to prison. I've got a better solution.
"Okay, first things first. Pen, you don't want to go to the hospital because you don't want your father or people generally to find out, right?"
"Yeah." The voice was barely above a whisper.
"So you come back to Grace's with us. You call your father and tell him you've been invited to a sleepover. I'll use my Navy medic training to do emergency repair on your rear end -- I'll need you to ask me to do it, since it's not something included in my E.M.T. license, but I did have some training to handle wounds like that.
Tomorrow, we get hold of Jonas or Harry, and they've got contacts with people that can finish the job, checking you for internal damage to your rectum and making more permanent repairs. And I think they'll keep it cool for you."
"What about him ?" Bobby gestured at Doug.
"Don't worry about him," Skipper said. "Whatever shit Doug may have done in the past, he's on our side, yours, mine, and Pen's, this time. Right?" this last directed at Doug.
"Damn straight," Doug said "I got a past to live down, and the last couple days have been the start of that. Thanks for the vote of confidence, Skip."
"You let something slip earlier," Skipper said. "I know where your true feelings are. No sweat!" He smiled at Doug.
Doug got a chagrined look and said, "Thanks."
Raffy went running excitedly to the window as he heard the sound of a car's engine pulling into the driveway. "It's Sylvia," he called out to Mickey, who wheeled his chair in to look out alongside him.
"Hey, Rina, bring our coffees in here, would you?" he called out. "Sylvia's back."
Rina came in moments later carrying a tray with their coffee cups, a carafe, sugar bowl and creamer, and a third empty cup for Sylvia.
Seeing Sylvia opening the trunk and pulling out her luggage, Mickey called again. "Jared! C'mon out here and go give Sylvia a hand, please. Looks like she brought everything back with her."
Jared came walking out of his room with a bit of a pout on his face. Rina noticed, and stopped him. "Hey, look. Jed and C.J. have duties with the Clan. You know as well as I do they both want you three to join, too, but I guess there's a process of bringing you in at a Clan meeting, and this week's been so crazy that they postponed having one. He'll be back in a few hours. You know, I worry about them too when they're off with the Clan -- I may have only been their guardian for a couple of weeks, but they're my sons in here already," she said, raising hand to heart as she finished.
"Yeah, I know -- but I hate it when he's away from me," Jared said, showing a wan smile. He headed out the door to help Sylvia.
"I wonder what's up; she didn't expect to come back except to pack up her personal stuff," Rina said. "I hope everything's all right up at her daughter's."
"We'll soon find out," Mickey said, as she and Jared came in, loaded down with luggage.
"Here, let me help," Rina said, taking the heavier suitcases from Sylvia. She set them efficiently in a corner, and Jared piled his burden atop them, then the garment bags that Sylvia had carried in along with the two big suitcases.
"Coffee, lady?" Mickey asked, reaching for the carafe. "Rina and I were just about to fix some lunch, if you're hungry too."
"I'd love some, on both counts," Sylvia answered.
"I'll go put some sandwiches together," Rina said. "I know you're having fun with a kitchen you can work in, Mickey, but let me wait on you for a change."
"Just hold off on lunch for a bit, if nobody objects," Mickey said. "Let's find out what brings Sylvia back -- if I know her, there's a story to tell." She nodded gravely; Rina took her coffee cup and sat back down.
"Well, you know I left here Thursday, intending to spend some time with my daughter and son-in-law and my granddaughter. I got in there Thursday night, and very tentatively broached the subject of moving in with them, like I'd planned, the next morning. Dotty said she'd talk it over with Patrick. Thanks for the coffee," Sylvia interrupted herself to say to Mickey, taking a long sip.
"They brought it up at the dinner table last night. More or less, it boils down to, I'm always welcome there, but as a guest, not as resident family. And I have to admit that Patrick has a point -- he and I can rub each other the wrong way if we're around each other for an extended period. The time we vacationed together before Robert died, we were ready to chew each other up and spit out small pieces. And we both love Dotty too much to put her in the middle of a mother-vs.-husband squabble.
"So I guess I'll just have to find a retirement community around here that won't bore me to tears, pack my stuff, and move there instead. I did agree to sell this place to you boys, and I won't go back on my word." Sylvia caught her breath.
"But why?" Raffy asked. "When Mommy and Daddy went to heaven, I hoped that you'd be my new grandma. My other grandma died when I was little, so I never really got one."
"It's not that simple," Sylvia started to say. "You boys won't...."
Mickey interrupted. "Sylvia, wait a minute. I know you'd made your plans to live with your daughter. But you don't have to vacate.
"Look at it from my perspective. I'm a 16-year-old boy who's been declared a legal adult and guardian for my two brothers. I don't know diddly squat about raising kids. Rina and I were just talking about that very thing. She's 22, and has two sons now. And we both agreed that it's scary, playing it by ear to do the right thing for kids you love.
"I think my little brother has been taking wise pills, because he's been saying and doing just the right thing lately. But I think he's struck again. I sure could use your help if you're willing to stay. I can't speak for Rina...."
"Yes, you can," she said. "You've given me more good advice, Sylvia, since I took that apartment, than anybody had in years before that. It may be selfish, but I don't want to lose my favorite neighbor."
"I like her too, a lot," Jared said. "But the question is, does she want to put up with the bunch of us in her life?"
Sylvia stood up, walked over to Jared, and wrapped her arms around him. "You bet I do!" she said. "Jed and C.J. and Rina, and then the three of you, have been like a new lease on life for me, especially when Robert died. It feels good to know I'm still needed for something."
"Then you're staying?" Mickey asked hopefully.
"Couldn't get rid of me with a bulldozer," Sylvia grinned back at him.
"Hey, it's time for the news," Rina said. "There was a tropical storm out in the Atlantic that looked like it was going to become a hurricane."
Raffy ran over and clicked on the TV. "...from the terrorist attack," the announcer was saying. "Unconfirmed reports suggest there is a pitched battle outside Missoula, Montana, between fundamentalist elements and forces believed to be from Clan Short, with casualties believed to be heavy. Several state governors have declared a state of emergency."
All five occupants of the room had ghost-white faces and expressions of worry.
A car pulled up out front, the door slammed, and footsteps could be heard walking briskly to the door.
"Well, that pretty much cleans up the Holies' armed forces," Ensign Romero said, with hand to one ear listening in on traffic at the station T'Laran and Lt. Grissom were sharing. "Now for their headquarters."
Jamie caught Jacob's eye. Both twins got the distant look that meant they were scanning telepathically. Tyler and then Kyle "listened in."
"I won't risk you again," Kyle said out loud. "You're not going."
"We'll go to the Captain and beam down if we have to. But can't you and Fuzzy More shield us?"
"Well, yeah," Kyle said. "But it's too dangerous."
"There are abused kids down there," Jamie said, with Jacob echoing, "They need our help."
"I don't want to risk losing you again," Kyle insisted.
"It's what we're in the Clan for," Jacob said.
"They're right, Kylebear," Tyler said. "It's what we promised to do."
"Then I'm going, to protect you," Kyle said. Seconds later the four of them vanished from the Lounge.
I don't no where to start this time; D&B have done a wonderful job intertwining two very separate stories that at the same time are the same story. I find that simply amazing as I know I could not pull it off as nicely as they have.
The interactions between all of the characters continue to demonstrate D&B's ability to craft lifelike and lovable characters.
I found it very satisfying to watch Jonas and Harry actually work at there relationship; they showed that if you want something to last it takes a little work. Too many individuals take their relationship for granted and the relationship suffers and usually dies. Jonas also seems to understand that a relationship truly needs both partners help to flourish.
I do feel sorry for George he was thrown in the deep end with without a life preserver but his 'kids' proved to be that. Although George was doing what he thought was the right thing it was the wrong thing in that situation; yet he was doing it out of love. His 'children' were smart enough to see that and saved the day for him.
How D&B can keep all of their myriad of subplots in order and still remain seamlessly connected to the CSU is a truly amazing feat.
I do have to apologize to you the reader; ACFan was not the only one who decided that this was the place to end the chapter. I agreed with him; D&B are completely innocent in this manner; this was a good spot to end this chapter.
TSL Clan Short Archivist