Synopsis:

Scott was on his way west to meet up with his friends to start a new life in L A. What he came across in the desert after his car broke down would change him forever. He wondered if his friends would recognise him once they finally met again. He didn’t think this was what his friend’s intended when they said, "start a new life."

Chapter Forty-Two

"I think you have a long story to tell me," sighed Amelia, once the emotional Julie calmed down.

"Have I ever," muttered Julie, wiping her eyes.

"You said your name is Julie now?" prompted Amelia.

"Yes I'm living as a female full time with my boyfriend... oops."

"You have a boyfriend?" Amelia asked incredulously, her voice sounding shocked.

"Um you remember William from down the road? Well we sort of hit it off, after my change." Julie explained, blushingly.

"Not William O'Toole?"

"Yes mom," Julie answered, knowing what her mom thought of William's drunkard father.

"Wait a second, he and his friends Scott and Kevin, were all being sought after by the FBI, along with you... well Daniel, at least. Said you were in some sort of trouble with the air force. Is this why you're now a girl?"

"Sort of, but not what you think. Let me start from the beginning," Julie insisted, trying to calm her mom down.

While Julie told Amelia everything from the moment Daniel left home, back at the condo, everyone was in bed. Sarah and Kevin were in a nexus; having made sure Maggie was fast asleep first. They hovered over the sleeping child before heading southeast to Julie's home. There, they watched as Julie told her mom about the Shelke and about the threat to earth in the near future. Seeing that Amelia was taking things pretty calmly, they flew back home and checked on William.

William was tossing and turning, seeming unable to sleep without Julie at his side. The nexus of Sara and Kevin hovered near, seeing a fitful glow of what seemed to be Nexi energy. Not having it's opposite to join nearby; it flickered as if searching for it's other half. The full nexus drew nearer and extended a feeler out to the Nexi. At once, it latched on. They fed it images of what they had seen at Amelia's, and it seemed to withdraw, as if knowing Julie was okay. They watched as William slipped into a more peaceful sleep. Before they returned to their own bodies to fulfill the promise Sara had given Kevin earlier. Needless to say, they both finally succumbed to sleep with satisfied looks on their faces.

Julie talked almost through the night, being kept awake with the help of the constant stream of coffee that Amelia supplied them both with. Finally, all was said, and Julie looked at Amelia expectantly.

"So Scott is getting married to Kevin, as Sara," Amelia grinned. "I suppose you and William will be married soon after?" she asked, speculatively.

"That is, if Mr O'Toole doesn't find out about me," answered Julie worriedly.

"Oh I think Tom O'Toole will not be objecting, any time soon," laughed Amelia.

"Oh? Why not?" asked Julie, seeing a twinkle in Amelia's eyes.

"After the FBI came looking for William and his friends, Amanda went ballistic. She finally stood up for herself after all those years. She accused Tom of getting her son in trouble, by throwing him out in the first place. She really went to town; she threatened to send him to jail for his numerous abuses against her when he came home drunk. You'll find Tom O'Toole a different man now. She smashed every bottle of booze in the house and made him go on the wagon. Luckily he’d let her control the purse strings in the past, thinking she was a pushover. He now obeys her every command, otherwise, she will throw him out without a penny. She has him by the balls, and he knows it, so don't worry your pretty head about him."

"Wow, won't William be surprised." Julie grinned, feeling a load lift off her mind.

"If you decide on a similar wedding to what Sara has planned, I'm sure Amanda will have Tom in a dress that fast, the zippers will smoke.

The next day at breakfast, Kim was making noises about heading out.

"I need to check up on how things are progressing elsewhere. You need to explore the way your nexus works a lot more, I don't want to tell you what to do, in case my ideas limit you to the extent of my knowledge. By testing your own limits, you could surpass us."

"You think so," asked Sara incredulously.

"I know so," Kim assured her. Your youthful vitality as a race is the key to your success, unlike our older staid one. You have already passed our expectations, and I expect you'll be one of the key races in the universe. Try using your nexus to explore your talents, you might find you can enhance or share with others that are linked with you. Don't blind yourself to the possibilities, just because it’s never been done. Push the envelope as far as you can, and even try for a bit further."

"What if we need you, will you be around?" Said Sara, looking concerned.

"If it's not an emergency, I can be here in less than 14 hours, depending on what country I'm in. If it's an emergency, I can be here in one. I'll be kept informed of your movements by others, so I might be able to anticipate problems, should they arise. Don't worry, your privacy will be respected, but we do need to protect our star players, and for that, we need a light discrete surveillance. You can contact me by phone, day or night." Kim finished, hugging Sara warmly.

Kevin and Maggie said their goodbyes, Maggie first extracting a promise for Kim to return soon.

William had long gone, having left at first light, so the three said goodbye to Kim, as she got into a white limo that had appeared a few minutes earlier with a driver. The three went inside to finish clearing away breakfast, feeling somewhat subdued with the responsibilities that Kim given them to explore.

The phone rang soon after, and Sara answered it swiftly, thinking it might be Julie. Instead, she heard Leanne's anxious voice on the line.

"Thank god you're back. I need help that only the bracelet can fix," came Leanne's strained voice.

Sara mind linked with Kevin, urging him to pick up the phone upstairs, telling him, it was his cousin Leanne.

"What's up cous?" Sara heard a breathless Kevin answer, moments later.

"Somebody's after me, Kevin. I need help to disappear for a while," Leanne cried.

Kevin wasted no time asking questions. His, "where are you?" and "we'll be there in ten minutes," showed how seriously he was taking the threat to family.

"I'll be back soon honey," was all he offered Sara, as he gathered the keys for the car.

"Hey I'm coming too, you might need me to act as decoy," insisted Sara.

"What about Maggie? We can't bring her along. Who will look after her, while we're gone?"

"She'll be okay, don't forget she's not just a little girl." Sara threw back, determined to go with Kevin.

"Maggie, we have to go out for a while," explained Sara as she knelt down to explain why Maggie had to stay behind. "Don't open the door for anyone, and be a good girl for mommy okay?"

"Yes mommy, can I watch Telebision?"

"Sure honey, bye now," Sara kissed Maggie on the cheek and followed Kevin outside, locking the front door behind her.

Kevin was lucky that no police intercepted his race to where Leanne was holed up, as he exceeded the speed limit whenever he could do it safely. They pulled into an industrial area, where they found where Leanne had driven her car between stacks of wooden pallets that hid her car from the casual observer. Leanne jumped into Kevin's car where Sara used her Krin to exchange bodies with her. They exchanged clothes and Sara, now looking and dressed as Leanne got into Leanne's car.

"Will she be safe? These people are dangerous, I already got shot at once, and I don't want to get her killed too." Leanne asked fearfully.

"Sara has the Krin. She can look after herself, she's stronger that she looks you know." Answered Kevin, as they watched Sara drive off in Leanne's car, before moving off themselves.

"What's this all about?" asked Kevin curiously, as he looked in his rear vision mirror for signs of trouble.

"I'm in real estate right? Well I was looking over a property, prior to getting it ready for the market, when I found something in it. Something that the mafia think I still have. Apparently, it was a mobster's house and the guy had records showing lists of blackmail links between some prominent politicians and their mobster connections. I'm not sure whether it's the mob or the others that want those lists back, and me out of the way, preferably dead, I think."

Kevin knew he could lose any tails by changing the car setting, but Sara didn't have that luxury, driving Leanne's car. He tried warning her with a mental message, but either she was too far away, or he wasn't able to drive and maintain the concentration needed to communicate with her while she was out of visual range.

"I don't suppose you left your phone in the car?" Kevin asked hopefully.

"No, sorry," Leanne shrugged apologetically, showing him her phone still clenched in her hand. "She left hers in her bag, I take it," Leanne added, holding up Sara's handbag for Kevin to see.

"Damn, oh well, she'll have to take her chances." Kevin said, trying again to warn Sara with a mental message. Kevin spotted a likely tail, and started some cautious manoeuvres to confirm it. He took a spare Krin from the glove box and handed it to Leanne.

"Here, use this setting to change your body form until I can get somewhere that I can alter the car and us with it," offered Kevin.

Leanne was soon somebody else, a young 15-year-old male, with what looked like punk styled hair with assorted coloured streaks running through it.

The tail continued to pursue them, despite having no female occupants inside. Kevin assumed they were interested in the car, not who was in it. Maybe they knew Leanne had made a call for someone. They may have known the general area she had holed up and were waiting and watching anyone she may have contacted or been seen leaving the general vicinity. Kevin doubted it was the mob, more likely it was one of the politicians trying to protect his ass. The mob would just shoot first, anyone who might have the information they wanted. The politicians might have the clout to have Leanne's calls monitored, and would want to keep things discrete. They couldn't just rely on killing Leanne, they would need to silence anyone involved, before the information became public knowledge.

Kevin managed to get far enough ahead of the tail to duck into a side street. He altered the car into the Volvo, causing them to become Steve and Margaret Ellery. He stopped the car and waited, hoping that the tail had seen them turn right. Sure enough, the dark grey sedan tooled past, picking up speed, as it's quarry was nowhere in sight. Kevin, now Steve, pulled back into the traffic, trying to follow the car ahead. He knew it was a dangerous game, but he was playing a hunch.

Sara saw a car pull out behind her, as soon as she left the industrial estate. She kept a wary eye out, but didn't increase speed. She belated realised her phone was back in the car, as the car behind, closed on her. She hoped the tail had missed the others, but knew Kevin could shake pursuit if necessary. The direction she'd taken was opposite to Kevin's, knowing, he'd be travelling towards the city and back to the condo. Unfortunately, it meant she was leaving the bustle of the city for the quieter country roads.

This gave the car following the chance to do some panel beating, trying to rearrange her back bumper. Sara had the car going as fast as it could, but it was old and long past its use fast date. She couldn't shake the more powerful car behind, and the engine was protesting this unaccustomed pace by raising steam. Sara knew by the temperature gauge, that she couldn't keep going long. Her only defence at this stage was the Krin, and she wasn't sure just how she was going to get out of this one.

Kevin saw the car finally give up, and reduce speed, as the driver realised he'd lost his quarry. Kevin followed, hoping he wasn't doing something stupid. He just wished he knew where Sara was. Then he had a brain wave. Maggie could sense anyone wearing the Krin. Kevin phoned the condo, hoping Maggie was still inside and not asleep.

"Maggie, this is Kevin, I need you to tell me where Sara is," he asked, as he heard Maggie's voice answer the phone.

Maggie knew by the anxious tone that Sara wasn't with Kevin, and her, "she's with you," answer wasn't what Kevin wanted to know. She concentrated, getting into mental state that allowed her to sense the Krin enhanced aura of Sara. She then found the distinctive pattern that represented Kevin's location.

"She's north of you, about 20 miles." She told Kevin.

"There's a map in the top drawer in our bedroom, can you use that to pinpoint the location?" Kevin asked.

Maggie left the phone dangling, the noise of it banging the wall, making Kevin wince, as the sound clanged in his ear. He heard running footsteps and the rustle as the phone was picked up again.

"Mommy is moving north on Sutton road," Maggie panted into the phone as she saw the aura of Sara overlaying the open map of the area.

"Thanks honey, I'll call you again in a few minutes. Just keep track of her, while I get closer."

Sara desperately looked for any place she could that might serve to shake off her pursuer. The car struggled to maintain its present speed, as the punishment from the car behind, continued. Sara was pushed to control the car and keep it pointed in the right direction. She saw a sign, announcing that up ahead, was a turn off to a scenic lookout. She hoped that she'd be able to slow her pursuer on the narrower road, especially if it was a dirt one, like so many of the ones off the main road. She hoped her skills, racing as Scott in the back roads of home, were still with her, as she prepared to make the sudden left turn.

Tires squealed, as she flung the abused car in drift across the road. The other car missed the turn, giving her some breathing space, as she changed gear to make the most of her escape route. The dust from the road obscured the view she had of the car behind. She knew that it would be on her tail, and the dust left a clear indication of where she was heading. At least the dust meant time out for playing bumper cars, as the other car dropped back 50 yards. Unfortunately, the climb to the lookout killed what was left of the engine, and it was making grinding noises as she topped out on the small car park. Sara tried to brake, but the pedal just went to the floor with no response.

"Shit," she gasped, as the car careered out of control towards the light barrier where the edge of the cliff ended.

Sara managed to open the door, and jump out, before Leanne's car became another cliff ornament. She rolled in the dirt, getting slightly bruised and scratched in the process. She heard the car crashing over the cliff, making tearing metal sounds that slowly subsided. The car that was following arrived, just as Sara was getting to her feet. She started to get angry, her body filling with adrenaline, as she watched the car stop and two men get out.

The posture of the two men, as they advanced, showed that they weren't going to commend her on her driving skills. The guns they carried and were pointing her way showed that the likelihood of her walking away was remote.

Sara had no weapons, no glasses either. She realised that this was the end of the road. Still clad in Leanne's form, she stood waiting for the inevitable. Her thoughts turned to Kevin and Maggie realising all of what she had to live for. As the men stopped and raised their weapons, she felt something primal begin to boil up inside. How dare these people come along and try and take her life just when she getting to love it.

She raised her arms with her hands facing towards the men, as if she could ward off the death that was about to spew out at her, shouting "NOOO!" as the men fired their weapons at her.

Kevin was driving as fast as he could and was closing in ob where Sara was supposed to be. Time for Maggie to use her GPS on Sara again. He had Leanne ring Maggie.

"Hi Maggie, we need to know where mommy is now," Leanne asked, gently when Maggie answered.

"She's at the centennial lookout," answered Maggie, having already traced Sara's route on the map. "Hurry, cos something's happening," Maggie pleaded, sensing a change in Sara's aura.

"Why? What's happening?" asked Leanne, having relayed Maggie's message to Kevin.

"Her aura's changing," Maggie supplied, knowing something bad was happening.

To be continued.

  

*********************************************
 © 2005 by Prudence Walker. All Rights Reserved. These documents (including, without limitation, all articles, text, images, logos, and compilation design) may be printed for personal use only. No portion of these documents may be stored electronically, distributed electronically, or otherwise made available without the express written consent of the copyright holder.