Hello there! Well, here in the greater Philadelphia area, the smoke from the Canadian forest fires is quite oppressive. I hope everyone in the great north is coping as well as they can and I pray the fires will be under control and out soon. In the mean time, everyone be careful.
Now that the serious stuff is settled, lets see what the gang on Solum is up to!
If you're younger than 18 or find these kinds of stories offensive, please close up now and have a great day! If you are of legal age and are interested, by all means keep going. I'll be glad to have you along for the journey. Please donate to Nifty. This is a great resource for great stories and a useful outlet to authors like me and readers like you.
Crown Vic to a Parallel World: Stolen Love The third and final installment of the ongoing adventures of Church Philips
38
The Plan
The sun was over the horizon between the sky and the sea as Neb shoved the partially rolled sleeves of her overshirt up passed her elbows. She was dressed for a day out in the heat, with neon yellow, hip-rider, short shorts and a hot pink, skinny strap halter top that showed off the lower half of her taught midsection. Over top of the beach outfit, she wore a grey overshirt that looked like she'd saved it from her military fatigues. I assumed, until she was ready to look the part of a beach goer, she'd keep something on with sleeves just so she could shove them passed her elbows.
Everyone was dressed for the beach. Even Joe, though I couldn't imagine where he'd gotten the clothes. I assumed Andy had pulled some strings and didn't trouble myself about it. The Dux brothers looked very `muscle beach' in road crew orange fishnet tank tops and second skin white shorts that fully displayed their chiseled bodies. Even Leah embraced the vacation look with a bikini top that barely contained her ample breasts and a pair of shorts that looked even tighter than paint, if such a thing was possible.
The four of us, Andy, Comet, Paul, and I, settled around the table with the rest of the group and got ready to hear whatever Neb had to tell us. I was anxious to get going and hoped she'd keep her instructions short. "I'm going to keep this short." She announced to my relief. "The bus is downstairs. We're going to board it and one of us, either Cy, Vulp, or myself will drive it.
"The bus we procured is not a luxury bus like Bem indicated yesterday. It is a tourist bus. We are tourists and we will have a tourist bus. It has open sides, and we will be exposed to view. I made this change because a closed luxury bus, in this setting, would attract more attention than an open tourist bus."
Neb seemed to sense several objections coming from various people present and addressed them preemptively in a lump, without having to hear them out. "I don't think we will be recognized as the context is wrong for any of the celebrities here.
"No one will expect a member of Divided Light to be driving a tourist bus in Litus Descendit, or a fashion mogul to be riding around in the off season, or the fabulously wealthy Dux brothers to be in the same place, or Leah Ecclesia, stunningly beautiful daughter of the extremely wealthy Bem Ecclesia to be anywhere without her twin, or Church Summas, husband of the nephew of the most powerful political figure in the world, also fabulously wealthy, to be `slumming' with the rest of us.
"We will have weapons and armor with us, in case we find Shawn and decide to extract him without backup." Neb pointed to a grey duffle bag heaped by the room door that I hadn't noticed when I'd entered. "Our first effort will be a quick test to see how far Leah and Andy can penetrate a crowded city with their powers, and our second effort will be to use that distance to create a grid to search the city.
"We will drive the bus into the city and will let people off at intervals known only to me. When I say so, Church will provide the power for Andy and Leah to see which of our friends they can reach. The furthest friend will be the distance we use to search. I'm well aware of the amazing feat of distance achieved on the plains, but I suspect the teaming humanity in this city will reduce that distance exponentially."
Neb issued a warning to all of us, but she seemed especially focused on me. "This city is vast, and it has Domus properties spread unevenly over sixty square miles of both beachfront residential areas and the inland commercial districts. All that space will take time to search, and we must be mindful of the limits of our searchers. Church," Neb addressed me directly, "your capacity for magic is basically limitless, but we have to assume that the ability of your niece and nephew to handle that magic is limited.
"I know you love your husband, and I know you love your niece and nephew. You would never want to hurt one for the other. We have no idea what channeling your power through a third party will do to them. We must be careful. As for you, young people," Neb directed her words at Leah and Andy, "no heroes now. Think of how sad Shawn would be if he found out one of you were injured trying to find him. He would blame himself. Remember that and listen to your bodies. When you say you've had enough, we'll stop and that's all there is. Does everyone understand me?"
Everyone nodded or made affirmative noises. Neb seemed satisfied with that and asked if anyone had anything to add. When no one did, she adjourned the meeting and guided us down to the bus.
The vehicle that waited for us could best be described as a jitney. It was twenty feet long, as tall as a city bus, and had open sides with a fabric canopy roof. Inside, it had bench seats that ran along both sides, facing front, with a narrow aisle between. The bus was the same purple plastic as all other Solum vehicles, but the canopy roof was orange, blue, and white in a streaky pattern that reminded me of pulled taffy. We all entered the vehicle except for Met. Neb asked him to wait in front of the hotel as he would be the furthest subject for the distance test.
The rest of us found seats while Neb took the wheel. As I boarded, and let my eyes wander over my friends and relations, I was forced to concede Neb's earlier point. None of us looked like what we were. I let that thought remind me that Neb knew what she was doing and moved to the back of the bus where I took my seat next to Paul. He was on the outside and I was on the aisle. Andy and Comet took the seat in front of us, and Leah sat by herself on the opposite side.
"Are you OK?" I asked my niece as Neb drove us out of the hotel's driveway and onto the road.
"Sort of." She said with a tilt of her head and a lift of one shoulder. "We talked last night, the three of us, but I miss them. Altus said those old Vicina women are driving him crazy. They gave him a servant's apartment to stay in and they won't let him out of it, but they also won't leave him alone. They keep coming in and asking him what he's doing. Since he's not really doing anything, he tells them `nothing,' but they don't believe him. Hannah's just bored. She hasn't been able to sleep...I haven't either."
I felt bad that they were suffering because of me, because of who my husband was and who his father was. I felt bad that my problem was spilling over onto them. I wished I would have opened Verpa's goddamned letters when I got them instead of letting them pile up. I would have happily given away a billion credits to avoid the nightmare I was trapped in. I wanted to apologize, but I knew Leah wouldn't accept an apology from me. She'd been brought up very well by my sister and my friend. She was a fine young woman. I opted to thank her instead.
"I know this isn't the summer vacation you thought you'd have, but it means so much to me that you're here...helping me with this. I am so proud of you and Hannah and...if I'm honest, of your arrogant fuck boyfriend too."
Leah smiled at me, at my characterization of Altus. "He's a little arrogant, but he's OK."
"I know he is. If he wasn't, you wouldn't have picked him."
"We'll find him, Uncle Church." Leah tried to reassure me. I appreciated her confidence.
The bus stopped to let Cy off, then proceeded along the road. I broke off conversation to look around. The city was busy but didn't bustle the way I remembered it from sixteen years before. We'd been there at the height of the season, Shawn and me, so that was to be expected. Litus Descendit a fairly standard resort town. As Solum people were nature oriented, their beach communities were focused on sun, sand, and ocean water. This meant that shore resorts were just that, large residential areas focused on the shore itself.
The carnival-style attractions that were the staple of many Earth beach resorts were conspicuously absent from our surroundings. There was also no boardwalk or promenade at the shore's edge; no row of tourist traps and the like to pander to vacationers. The buildings and businesses simply marched their way toward the sea and stopped when the beach started. There were more restaurants, and places to stay, closer to the water than farther inland, but that was the only nod the town gave to the great natural wonder it was built against.
Litus Descendit was a low-rise sprawl of white- and pastel-colored buildings, all less than four stories except for the hotels. All were smooth sided and had the appearance of tinted and polished cement. Flat roofs were standard with the occasional mansard to make a business stand out from its neighbors. The buildings were wide spaced, with shifting sand in between, white paved sidewalks that had the same, locked-in shimmer as the sidewalks in the capital. The vehicles that moved along the blue tinted streets were the same purple eggs that were universal on Solum, while jitneys, like the one we rode, served as public transportation.
People promenaded the sidewalks, in spite of, or perhaps because of the early hour. It was already hot out, at least eighty degrees, and I assumed many of the pedestrians were taking care of their daily errands before the heat of the day came on, probably near eleven. Most of the pedestrians wore light, airy clothes in bright colors or pastels and the few hats that I saw were broad brimmed and white, almost like young umbrellas.
I wouldn't characterize Solum people as `sun-worshipers,' but they didn't battle nature like Earth residents did. When they were at the beach, they tended to soak up the rays. Not all, but many of the people we saw strolling the street, wore deep bronze tans. As skin cancer was easier to cure on Solum than a sunburn was on Earth, the Solum residents were free to tan to their heart's content with no fear. It was clear they took advantage of the opportunity.
The bus halted again, and Neb called for Comet to get off. He gave Andy a kiss that was somehow lingering and rushed at the same time and got off to stand on the street corner. Neb told him he was welcome to look around a little, but to watch for the vehicle's return and to not move farther than one block from where he stood. Once her instructions were issued and understood, Neb set off again.
We'd been driving a straight line toward the ocean since we left the hotel. The closer we got to the water, the more `down the shore' I felt. The hot morning and the screaming seagulls and the chattering of the people blended together into something nostalgic and distant and charming.
My overwrought mind seemed to circle like a dog looking for a comfortable spot in the shade and flop down. It quieted long enough for me to enjoy the simple pleasure of riding along and people-watching while the bus stopped two more times to drop off Vulp, then Joe. After it let Joe off, it trundled its way to the edge of the beach and steered into a parking lot with just a narrow spit of sand between us and the water.
I didn't think Neb had traveled nearly far enough. Out on the plains, Andy and Leah had achieved huge distances with their respective powers. I didn't think we'd driven even a fraction of what the cousins could do, especially with a helpful boost of my magic power. I was long used to the idea that Neb knew what she was doing, so I held my tongue and waited to see what would happen. I assumed it would quickly be proven that she'd underestimated the youths and we'd add miles to the test. Until then, I let my thoughts drift with the morning.
A gentle breeze blew the hot, humid day through the open sides of the jitney as the first clammy feeling of perspiration bloomed on my skin. I looked over the ocean towards the completed sunrise to see the blue stretch out, seemingly to infinity. Nothing moved on the calm water and white sea birds hung on the breeze like they were mounted on wires as part of a diorama in an aquarium. The ocean was as flat as a pond and reflected the sun like a mirror. Some early swimmers and sunbathers took advantage of the morning and added their murmur to the gentle lapping of the water on the honey blond sand.
"I can hardly believe it's the sea, as calm as it is." Paul observed with a voice that sounded like he didn't want to disturb the water with too much volume.
"No moon." I commented.
Paul turned his eyes to mine, pure confusion on his expressive face. I tried to explain as much as I knew. "When we were here before, Shawn and me, we reasoned out that with no moon and no tides, the water would only have the wind to push waves into it, so the ocean here is very calm and flat. I guess there are currents and stuff out there, but I don't know anything about them. It would be interesting for a real scientist to compare the oceans here and on Earth."
"This truly is a wonderous place." Paul breathed and cast his eyes across the sand and water. Neb parked the bus and came back to where I sat with Paul and Andy and Leah. We were the only ones left in the vehicle after the drop offs. Neb shoved her sleeves up and said it was time to start the test. Andy shuddered at the sight of the rolled sleeves and opened his mouth to say something he could no longer contain. "Miss Neb...please...that outfit could look very good on you without that grey thing over it."
Neb shed the overshirt without comment and tossed it on one of the unoccupied seats in front of Leah. Without her sleeves to push up, she seemed at a loss for what to do with her hands, so she propped her fists on her slim hips and addressed herself to Andy and Leah. "You both know who is here with us and I know the distances between them and us. I want you to reach out with your natural abilities to see who you can reach, if anyone. After that, I want Church to boost you both. Reach out as far as you can toward the others and let me know who you can sense without having to search."
Neb paused, like she wanted to make sure the young people were listening to her, then she resumed her talk. "The point of this is to see how far you can broadcast without needing to really `work' for it. We're going to be conducting this search on the move, which means the more work you have to put in, the slower we'll have to go. I'd rather make more passes, closer together, than make fewer passes at a crawl. We can't hold up traffic and expect to remain anonymous. If you're ready, please get started."
The young people activated their powers in their own way. Andy closed his eyes to focus while Leah didn't do anything visible. I supposed if one watched her closely enough, there would be a tell of some kind when she was using her power, but I didn't know what that would be. We gave them a few moments to work before Neb interrupted them with a "well?"
"Nothing." Andy admitted.
"Me neither." Leah agreed.
"I didn't expect anything to happen, but we had to try." Neb exposed her thought process to the group. "Leah, sit next to your cousin so your uncle can boost you both at the same time."
Leah shifted her seat to join Andy and I leaned forward over the seatback to put a hand on each of their young shoulders, my right on Leah's right shoulder and my left on Andy's right shoulder. I started to concentrate on making my power available to them when Neb stopped me. "Church, keep your touch very gentle. The temptation here would be to push as much power as possible into them to try to find Shawn immediately. I don't want you to do that. I suspect the lighter the touch, the longer their systems will be able to handle the extra power."
I nodded my understanding at Neb, but that didn't seem to satisfy her. I voiced what I'd nodded. "I understand. I'll be careful." Saying it aloud seemed to placate her, so I went back to my concentration.
I felt my magic run down my arms and gather at the surface of my palms. A little push from both hands bridged the gap between my body and theirs. I felt the magic flow into them, into their respective abilities. Both Andy and Leah took the magic in and broadcast it out.
The feeling was different in the city than it was on the plains. On the plains, the magic reached out, almost like a vast net, until it found what it was looking for. In the city, with all the people around, it seemed to spread from its source into repeating and expanding rings, like ripples that would radiate from a stone tossed in a pond. The rings spread wider and wider as they flowed around many minds, like the pond ripples would break around protruding rocks. It touched those minds but did not affect them. Like the ripples on a pond, the rocks did affect the rings.
The other minds seemed to rob the energy of the rings as they expanded outward. The more minds that the ring broke against, the smaller the ring became as it spread. I worried about what this would mean for the size of our search. I worried that Neb had traveled far enough for the test, perhaps too far. I was in the middle of worrying more and more when one of Leah's rings struck a target that they sought. Her success took place a split second before Andy's did. I felt the rings of both the searchers collapse into a laser line that flowed directly to the target.
"Uncle Joe." Leah said.
She was barely a half a breath ahead of Andy's voice murmuring, "Dad."
No one said anything and I felt the magic reach out again until it touched the next target, this time both powers seemed to arrive together. "Vulp." The cousins said almost in unison. The magic reached out again and located Andy's boyfriend. Andy was ahead of his cousin this time, but that made sense given their relationship. As the magic reached out again, I felt a change. The cousins went from accepting magic from me, to demanding it. I felt their abilities go into `high gear,' for lack of any other way to express it. They both reached out again until they located Cy.
After Cy, the magic draw increased to the point I had to focus on holding my power back from the cousins. Their ravenous abilities gulped down the magic and succeeded in locating Met. "How clear?" Neb asked them both as they tried to `tune in' the connection.
"Not very." Andy admitted with a note of frustration in his tone.
"No." Leah agreed. "I think he's the limit, maybe just beyond."
Neb told them both to release their powers and asked if the cousins had any other feedback to offer. Neither did, so Neb checked her phone for the distance to each person. I interrupted before she started reading them off. "Something changed between Comet and Cy. It seemed to change the same for both of them. The magic draw went up...enough for me to notice."
Neb thought about that, then asked me several questions about how much I felt through the abilities of my niece and nephew. Andy and Leah were surprised at the change in magic demand as neither of them had noticed it.
"Perhaps because you were not consuming your own magic." Neb reasoned. She thought it logical that we should use the distance between the bus's current location and Comet as the distance limit of the search radius and we should stay out of that `next step' area of greater magic consumption. Neb felt that would give us the best chance of maximizing the use of the cousins' abilities and avoiding burnout.
She checked her phone and announced the distances. Joe was a half-mile away, Vulp was a mile and a half, Comet was three miles, Cy was just under four, and Met was four and a half miles away. That was a far cry from the massive distances we'd achieved on the plains. The cousins were very disappointed, but Neb was philosophical. "It's still an amazing feat to reach that far, to non-telepaths, with all the interference. Remember, you both are performing at ten times what you should be capable of. That's huge."
Neb said she needed a few moments to plan the search route based on the results of the test we'd just completed, then she'd drive us to pick up the others, then we could start the search. I offered to drive the bus while she worked out the search grid and she agreed. I wedged myself into the undersized driver's seat and Neb sat immediately behind me. I piloted the jitney slowly along the return route, picking up our friends as I went. When I reached the hotel, and picked up Met, I parked in the curved driveway then returned to my seat at the back of the bus. I sat next to Paul to wait for Neb to explain the plan for the search.
Neb was working almost frantically on her phone, tapping away like she was texting someone. I assumed she was doing calculations, but she'd been tapping away like that for a while, and I couldn't imagine that a simple grid layout would require that much math. She called Cy and Vulp to her and had a conversation in low tones, none of which I caught.
I wasn't actively trying to listen in on her conversation, but I was anxious to get the search started. I reasoned that, the sooner we started, the sooner we'd find Shawn. Neb and the Dux brothers broke up their chat and directed all the passengers on the bus back into the hotel.
"What's up?" I asked as Neb came down to talk directly to me.
"We need to go back upstairs for just a moment before we set out." Neb explained without actually explaining anything. She alternately gripped her forearms and shoved imaginary sleeves above her elbows in an uncharacteristically nervous gesture.
I couldn't imagine what she had to be nervous about, but I wasn't worried. I knew with Neb in charge, everything would be fine. I felt very serene as I accompanied my friends and relatives to the top floor of the black glass hotel. As we rode the elevator, I saw Neb try to get Leah's attention without anyone else noticing. Neb tapped her temple at my niece, then deliberately looked away. I wondered what was going on, but the feeling of complete serenity continued inside me. I felt so good, I couldn't focus on wondering or worrying about anything for very long.
We exited the elevator in the corridor of our floor. Neb moved close to me while the Dux brothers herded the rest of the group, including Paul, into the conference room. Neb guided me into an unused guest suite and had me sit on the wide sofa in the sitting room. She stood opposite me and asked me to put a box around she and I. I complied without wondering why.
"Church," Neb addressed me and seemed to premise what she had to say. She shoved her imaginary sleeves up again and finding no sleeves, she propped her fists on her narrow hips. I noticed that Neb was a good-looking woman, as women go, with her slim figure and haystack of reddish-brown hair piled on her head.
I made a wager with myself that I could drop a quarter on her flat stomach from any height and it would return to my hand without losing any energy in the bounce. I knew she had a lovely singing voice that complimented her husband's by being the exact opposite of it. I loved her singing and her music almost as much as I loved her as one of my dear friends, the second oldest friend that I had on Solum.
"Church," Neb said again and hugged herself to rub her upper arms with the palms of her hands. She propped her hand on her hips again and stared at me. She was only a little taller standing than I was sitting.
`Such a small, serious woman,' I thought.
"Church, something happened this morning and you need to know about it." Neb blurted in a rapid, breathless sentence.
My right hand went to my left wrist and gripped my bracelet. A trace of pain ran up my arm from my palm and reminded me how often and how hard I'd been holding onto that gold band. It was still there to provide what comfort it could. As long as it was around my wrist, I knew Shawn was alive. It was small comfort, but comfort that I needed.
Neb went on talking. It suddenly occurred to me that the serenity I was feeling was from her. She was pouring calm into me to keep me from reacting to whatever it was she needed to tell me. That realization worried me more than the words she'd said thus far. I tried to focus on listening to her, but my heart had started to pound in my chest as panic rose inside me and forced the serenity out.
Neb explained. "Verpa exposed that he'd been in contact with us. Primis alerted Altus as soon as it happened. Altus proceeded to Verpa's residence in parallel with contacting Hannah and requesting she reach out for instruction. Hannah immediately contacted Bem for instruction and proceeded to where Altus was standing by at the edge of the property. Bem told them to secure Verpa and Primis and detain the guards if possible, or to kill them, if necessary, but on no account to let them escape. Bem also activated the local police barracks using the temporary authority conferred upon him by the Steward.
"As of this moment, Altus and Hannah are safe, Verpa and Primis are secure with them, and the guards have been arrested and detained by the local police. They, the guards, are being held incommunicado pending the resolution of our search and Shawn's extraction from confinement. We don't know if the guards had time to contact Domus, but we suspect they did."
I waited until Neb was finished before I reacted. "I'LL KILL HIM!" I roared and jumped to my feet, my fists clenched in impotent rage. I felt Neb trying to push calm into me and I fought it off. "GET OUTTA MY FUCKING HEAD!" I screamed at her and shook my right fist in her face. "SHAWN," I cried, "YOUR FATHER IS FUCKING DEAD!"
The implications of what Neb had told me hit me like a brick to the face and my rage collapsed inside me like a star in supernova turning into a black hole. "My God, Shawn. What if...what if..." I thought it, but I couldn't say it. I couldn't say what I feared the most. I couldn't face the idea that, because of the selfishness of a man I cared nothing for, the person I cared most about might be taken from me.
"Church," Neb addressed me like I hadn't screamed at her, "no amount of whatever you're about to do will help at all. We need to find him. We need to be on the street right now. The Steward has alerted the local police here to be on the lookout at all commercial airports and to inspect the passengers of all private planes attempting to depart this precinct. They're watching all the city cameras. They're doing everything they can short of a house-to-house search.
"We don't want to be too overt on the slim chance that the entirety of the Domus organization doesn't yet know what happened at Verpa's this morning. That's what our team is for. If they try to move him, the police will find him. If they don't, we have to find him. I need you to stop shutting me out, and I need your help. Help me. Help me, help him."
I did as Neb told me. I opened myself up to her and felt the calm flow in. "I'm still going to kill him." I said and managed to sound like I was announcing the weather on a nice day.
"He deserves it." Neb agreed. "Come on, let's rejoin the others."
I got up but stopped Neb before she could lead us from the room. I had something to tell her, something that Neb's announcement about Verpa had driven to the forefront of my mind. The calm she was pushing into me made it possible for me to see this thing clearly. It...what I had to say had to do with something that was as true as the old adage about death and taxes and far more serious than either.
"Neb, if something happens, if the worst comes to pass, you're going to have to kill me. You need to know that I love this place, this world. I love it for being my salvation from the miserable existence I had before, but...but I only love it because it's where Shawn lives. I won't live the way I did before him. I can't. I'm telling you...warning you maybe, that if something happens to him, you or Cy or Vulp will need to kill me. I'm sorry to lay that on you, but...for the safety of everyone here..."
"Don't you think you're..." Neb interrupted in an obvious attempt to minimize the worst-case scenario I was warning her against.
"NO!" I barked through the calm the woman was pouring into my psyche. I looked my friend directly in the eye and explained how it was. "No...I love you, Neb. I love you all, and I don't want to hurt you...any of you. That's why I'm telling you this. That's why you need to understand how it is.
"I saved this world for him and it's safe from me as long as he's in it. Even if he would decide he didn't want me anymore, this world would still be safe from me because it's his home. If something happens, something...if this world is no longer his home, it will no longer be safe from me. Please Neb...please," I begged, "I don't want to hurt anyone, but I will. I might not be able to destroy the world, but if it comes to pass that I no longer have anything to lose...I'm telling you now, kill me and do it as quickly as you can. Please."
Neb didn't seem like she knew what to do with the information I'd just given her. She seemed to bridle under the responsibility I'd laid on her shoulders. Still, with no fanfare or additional discussion, Neb seemed to come to a decision that she didn't share with me. Her face set with determination.
She didn't address what I'd said, but I had faith that she would do what needed to be done. She was a professional and I counted on that fact. "Come on, Church." She coaxed me toward the door. "By now Leah will have told the others what happened, and they'll want to get moving as badly as you do."
"That's what you were doing in the elevator." I realized aloud. "Getting Leah to activate her power, so you could tell her what you knew, so she could tell the group."
"A telepath is a useful thing to have around. Your niece is a good one."
I took a step toward Neb. I had a half an impulse to hug her but didn't execute it well. She never seemed much like the hugging type so what started out as a grateful embrace ended up as an awkward lean in, half-hug, with a pat on the back. I tried to thank her for her help, both in finding Shawn, and in keeping me from `shattering into little emotional pieces,' to quote Bem.
Neb wouldn't accept my thanks. She echoed Paul's thoughts from earlier with a dismissive, `what are friend's for' style statement. I realized, in that moment, that I loved the woman as I would love a member of my family, but more because I loved her without any biological imperative. I told myself I'd have to show her what she meant to me. Once everything was over and done with, I owed that caring lady some kind of great, big display of love and gratitude. I made a mental note to ask Shawn what we should do for her and everyone else.