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 Twenty-Six

Meanwhile, back with Sara, Kevin, Maggie was keeping the journey from being routine, with her seemingly endless questions about, "where were they headed next? What were they going to do when they got there? How long will it be? Can I have an ice cream? Are we there yet?" With Maggie's bouncing around, Sara and Kevin could swear they already had a young child in the back seat, if they didn't turn around.

Maggie's antics only endeared her to her future parents as they patiently answered her as best they could. Maggie's antics might have been due partly to some unconscious need to test her future parents, to see if they could cope with the boundless energy that her inner self seemed to have in spades. The adult in Maggie knew she was being a pain in the neck, literally, as Sara kept looking over her shoulder to answer Maggie's questions. Despite all the questions, Sara showed only boundless patience with a quirky smile as she tried to reconcile the sight of an adult exhibiting the childlike wonder that comes with the innocence of youth.

Maggie learned of Sara's and Kevin's past lives and was particularly interested in Sara's and Julies fence jumping. The bonding that was going on between them was rudely interrupted with the cell phones ring. Sara answered it.

"Hi Kim, how are you?"

I'm fine, but we have a problem," Kim answered.

Sara grew worried, if Kim was having problems, what use were they to help out.

"Oh? What's up?" she asked, hoping it wasn't anything major.

"You know that chat room that Maggie told us about, where HER and some other transgendered meet?"

"Yes, what of it?" replied Sara.

"They won't talk to me and there's some concern over Maggie's whereabouts, seems she has a lot of friends there that check in with her, some by phone. Now that line is down and Maggie has been absent from the net. Things are stirring, I even got accused of doing something to her."

"You want her to go there and tell them she's okay?" Sara asked.

"Yes, I don't talk the lingo, we need these people on our side, maybe you can expedite things on your end, with Maggie as your go between."

Okay, I'll see what we can do."

"Thanks, I'll be in touch. Byeeeeeeeeee..."

"Byeeeee Kim..."

Sara hung up and told Kevin to find a place to stop. Sara filled the others in, as she got into the back seat with Maggie, as soon as Kevin had stopped the car. Handing the laptop to Maggie, she told her to visit the chat room that she used to frequent, when she was using the libraries computer.

"But it's not connected, is it?" Maggie asked puzzled, as she examined the sides of the laptop.

"This is special, Maggie, it interfaces directly into the Internet without cords or a server.

"Coolies," smiled Maggie, quickly typing in the address she knew from memory. Sara watched fascinated as the screen opened to a room where several people were listed as being in the room. Maggie logged in as Maggie the kitten, her usual Nick. There was a flurried response as the others greeted her excitedly. Some were more reserved, seeking assurance that she was indeed their Maggie. One, a person with a Nick of "twisted," questioned the fact that there was no IP address or server listed when she joined. Maggie tried to explain she was on something new and that she was travelling in a car at the moment. Twisted seemed to accept that the more Maggie 'talked,'

Sara was amazed, Maggie typed in a Pidgin English that everyone seemed to understand, although as people continued to 'speak' it was obvious the Maggie had a style of her own that couldn't be counterfeited. It was this, more than anything, which convinced the others she was indeed Maggie. Sara watched, as the greetings came thick and furious, along with questions about where she had been. Maggie gave them a pocket history, leaving out about her injuries and subsequent transformation, telling them she had bumped into friends who were going to give her the one thing she had wished for, all her life. At this point, she introduced Sara, showing how to change the nick from Maggie to Sara, on the screen.

At once, the chatters in the room could see the different typing style and word choice that showed there was another person at the keyboard. Sara tentatively greeted the people, mentioning that she was heading west from Indianapolis and taking Maggie to her new home. This bought out a flurry of questions that showed the true concern and love that this people had for their 'Kitten,' a name that they used for Maggie. Sara got another call from Kim, on the cell phone while this was going on. Somehow, Kim was able to monitor the room via whatever link the laptops used. Kim told her that there was nobody spying on the chat if she wanted to mention the Krin, and that each person in the chat room had been located, just in case there was trouble.

Sara asked the people gathered what their wish was, in terms their fantasy body, if it was possible to achieve it. Some wanted female bodies. Some just wanted to be able to change back and forth, as many had wives or partners. Sara heard of the tales of woe from those suffering from everything up to the big C. some had sick spouses and a few were truly happy as they were. Sara laid a bombshell, when she offered a way to give them what they so desperately needed. Of the Americans in the chat, the only one that was closest and in the general direction that they were headed, was a person called TyrificGal. He or she agreed to meet Sara and Maggie the following day, as it would take that time to reach her place. Maggie showed Sara how to initiate a private chat to get the address and work out a rough ETA.

Sara was going to tell her more, but TyrificGal had to leave for a few minutes to attend to her sick spouse. When she signified her return, with the obligatory,' back,' Sara told her that what she had to offer could cure her spouse as well. Obviously, this claim was meet with some scepticism, but Sara insisted it was true and would prove it tomorrow. She put Maggie on and let her confirm that they had the power to do the things they claimed. Maggie didn't elucidate too much in case they came off sounding like nut cases, instead, saying she would show TyrificGal her own changes tomorrow.

Sara allowed Maggie to sign off, and had her urge. The others to meet this time tomorrow and to tell as many of the others not present to be there. Sara contacted Kim and let her know what they were doing.

"We'll need to drive most of the night to get there by tomorrow, I think," Sara explained. "We could do with more Krin, or whatever you were going to make to give these people," she added.

"Okay, it's not a problem; we have built a new option for the car and will stock it with everything you need. Please access the panel for the extra cars and push the blue button next to upload. This will give the car access to a new vehicle stored in what you called non-space. I've left you some instructions with the new Krin, as they work slightly differently to your own."

"Thank, I'll talk to you later," replied Sara as she hung up.

Sara gave Kevin the instructions, seeing it was too much of a stretch to reach through from the back to do it. Once the blue button was depressed, another light flickered on and off, showing that something was happening. A soft ding about a minute later and the flickering light extinguished itself, having finished its task. Looking at the option list, Kevin could see that an extra one was listed under SRV. After relaying that fact to the others, debate as to what the letters stood for began. Assuming the RV meant recreational vehicle, only the S remained in doubt. Was it Shelke, as Kevin suggested, or special, as Maggie offered? Sara thought it might be sleeper. The friendly dispute only lasted till they were clear of traffic, so they could test it out. It turned out that they were all pretty much correct in their guesses.

Once Kevin was out of view from any traffic, he pressed the new option. Sara and Maggie felt themselves moving away from Kevin as the interior enlarged. When the car stopped evolving into the final shape, Sara was a good ten feet away from Kevin, and was sitting on a bed. Maggie was squealing as she found herself sitting on another bed, inside the huge RV. Kevin had to stop, before his craning head caused an accident, as he tried to check out the new interior.

The Shelke special sleeper, as they nicknamed it, was huge. It had two beds, side by side, with a bunk over the drivers cab. Two bucket seats fitted at the front had an aisle to let one step into the back section. There was a kitchen and fully stocked cupboards with food and other essentials. A small fridge and a toilet and shower, were also installed. A fold away table could fill the space between the beds, making them double as a seat for the table.

A TV and a DVD player were also part of the deal. Sara and Maggie played search and discover, while Kevin started driving again. Both the girl's kept Kevin informed of each new discovery as they ummed and ah’d, so that he wouldn’t feel left out. Maggie found a mini freezer, which contained semi frozen meat, which must have been placed there only a few hours ago. Sara didn't find the Krin, so she had to ring Kim for help.

"See the cupboard next to the fridge, well there's a button just inside at the top. Press that and you'll see the secret drawer," Kim informed her on the phone.

Sara thanked her profusely for the RV, before hanging up, and checking said drawer. Inside were about twenty thin bracelets. The only distinguishing marks on them, were two small in dentations that Sara assumed were the on and off switches for the owners ideal wish form. She saw the instructions, for them, but at the moment, she was too interested in the RV to bother reading them right then.

She was surprised as she moved around the interior, that the movements of the vehicle on the road didn't have her swaying around or having to hold onto something to keep her balance. She smiled as she saw Maggie claim the bunk bed over the cab as her own. Maggie squealed in delight when a overhead locker, revealed her stuffies. Leaving Maggie to arrange her pets, Sara went forward to talk to Kevin.

"How's it ride?" she asked, seeing they were moving along at a decent clip.

"It's weird, it should be a bitch to handle with all that weight behind, and the wind resistance," Kevin stated. "It handles just like a car."

"Power steering?" Sara asked, hazarding a guess.

"No it's more than that, power steering makes the wheel light, but tends to take the responsiveness out of the steering. This feels like normal rack and pinion configuration, I can feel the road but without the leaden feel, that you're pulling a multi ton RV behind you."

"So I'll have no problem driving it?" Sara grinned, poking Kevin in the side.

"Hey less with the poking, I'm the one that does the poking round here," Kevin tried to sound indignant.

"Promises, promises," giggled Sara, poking him again for good measure.

"Just you wait, till I get you alone, you tormenter, you," Kevin grumbled good-naturedly.

Sara pecked him on the cheek, causing him to swerve sharply. Sara noticed that she wasn't thrown around with the movement, and mentioned it to Kevin.

"I don't know why that is, more Shelke technology?" he speculated.

Sara decided to annoy Kim again with another call. Kim laughed and said well done, obviously expecting this very question. Apparently, it was the latest Shelke technology, borrowed from their spacecraft. Inertial damping, she called it. This prevented anyone in the interior from being thrown around despite the exterior movement. If Kevin had to slam on the brakes for an emergency, or if he deliberately drove into a brick wall, the G forces that would normally affect the occupants, and fittings, get converted to heat that is vented out of the rear. That meant they were safe to stand in the back and even a cup of tea on the table wouldn't become an instant missile, should Kevin do a sudden 360.

After letting Kim get back to whatever she doing, Sara decided to make a sandwich and a coffee for them all. Maggie bounced down from her bunk and offered to help. Sara got her to butter the fresh bread that had been stored in a built in bread bin, while Sara found some shaved ham in the fridge. Adding some sliced tomatoes and lettuce; Sara built up sandwiches for them all. Maggie took Kevin's to him, while Sara poured a coffee and had Maggie place it in the cup holder that folded out from the dashboard.

Knowing that they had to drive all night, Sara decided to lie down and catch some zzzed's. Maggie went forward to keep Kevin company and to make sure he stayed alert. Maggie and Kevin bonded, swapping stories, while Sara slept.

Sara woke, feeling refreshed. She checked with Kevin and found Maggie sitting in the passenger seat dozing while Kevin drove. Getting assurances that he was fine, Sara helped Maggie stumble to her bunk to snooze, while Sara prepared dinner in the kitchen. An hour later, Kevin moaned as his stomach rumbled, the appetising smell that was wafting forward didn't help either.

"Kevin, find someplace to stop, so we can have dinner," Sara called, as she roused a weary Maggie.

Soon, all three of them were tucking into a grilled steak, with grilled tomatoes and oven fries. Fresh bread accompanied the meal, with a beer for Kevin. Maggie had a can of coke, as did Sara, as she was going to take over driving, while Kevin rested. They all took a short walk to the river that Kevin had stopped near. It helped stretch their legs, and settle their meal. Kevin showed Maggie the fine art of stone skipping, helping her throw the flat pebbles across the placid water, trying for the maximum amount of bounces before the stone sank.

Back on the road, Kevin and Maggie washed the dishes before settling down for a nap. Sara drove into the deepening dusk, as the light faded to black. With the lights spearing the darkness ahead, her thoughts turned to their future and what it might hold. She didn't see any problems accepting Maggie as their child, which was the least of their problems. Tomorrow was the start of something new; she hoped things would go smoothly.

The cell phone chirped. Sara answered it, hearing Kim's voice on the other end.

"Sara, I know that if you're driving at the moment, I’ll need to tell you about the headlight option. If you push the dipping switch down to high beam and then rotate the end, you'll find it will be a lot better, but only if there's no traffic, those actinic beams will blind oncoming cars, there is an auto dip mechanism which detects on coming light, but it's best used when there's no houses or public to see them."

Sara experimented, while still on the phone, gasping as the extra light gave her a 30 degree angle of light to each side of the road and stretched forward about 4 times as far as normal lights, rotating the knob either spread the light to a fan shape or focused it to a narrow beam straight ahead. It was like having those huge carbon arc searchlights that you see in the old war movies. Every detail was lit up, giving her perfect visibility. She talked to Kim for a while, before hanging up to concentrate on driving.

About 3 hours later, around midnight, Maggie stumbled sleepily forward to sit on the passenger’s seat. She had her teddy bear in one hand, clasped tight to her chest.

"I couldn't seep," she murmured childlike, at Sara's enquiringly raised eyebrow.

The interior of the cab was lit by a subdued glow emitted from the array of instruments on the dash, so each could see the other reasonably well. Watching Maggie fiddle with the seat, in her long brushed cotton nightgown, Sara could imagine it was a child sitting there, having woken by a bad dream.

Sara let her sit there, welcome for the company on the long drive ahead. Maggie found a lever that allowed the passengers seat to swivel, so that it could face the passengers door or rotate 190 degrees to face the narrow walkway between the seats that led to the rear. Sara smiled, as Maggie began to play, spinning the seat back and forth like some amusement park plaything. Getting bored with the unending monotony of the night clad land, Maggie said she was tired and gave Sara a hug, before heading off to her bunk. Sara drove on into tomorrow with a faint smile on her face.

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.