Teela’s Apartment:
Charity couldn’t believe her cousin called her and asked if she could come over and assist her. She balances the tray she is carrying. She stopped by Starbucks and bought her cousin her favorite cup of coffee. She also picked up her cousin, her favorite pastry from the pastry shop next door.

Charity pressed the call button to let her know she was at the entrance. She knew her cousin liked the fact that the apartment had a security system, to keep her safe.

“Who is it?” Teela had managed to walk over to the monitor to see who was buzzing her apartment.

“It’s me, cuz.”

The next thing Charity hears is the door buzzing. She opens the door and heads towards the elevator. She presses the button her cousin lives on. She feels the elevator start heading upwards.

When the elevator stops and the door opens. She turns left into the hallway and makes her way towards her cousin’s apartment. She stops at the door and lightly knocks on it.

After a few minutes, Charity hears the chain and several locks click as her cousin unlocks the door. She wonders why her cousin hasn’t invented a new lock for her place. A smile appears on her face when the door opens.

Charity looked at Teela and couldn’t believe how she looked.

“You look like shit, cousin.” Charity walks past her cousin into the apartment.

“Thanks.” Teela shuts the door behind her cousin.

Teela follows behind her cousin. She watches as Charity sets the drink carrier down on the coffee table, along with a bag she recognized from her favorite pastry shop.

“I see you stopped at Lacey’s Pastry.” Teela loved that place.

“What’s coffee, without a good pastry?” A smile appears on Charity’s face.

She pulls out the large pumpkin muffin she bought for herself first. Then she pulls out the Boston crème donuts she bought for Teela. She knew her cousin loved the cream-filled donuts and eclairs. She places them on some napkins from the bag.

“So, how are you feeling this morning?” Charity takes a sip from her coffee.

“Sore. My chest is still feeling the effects from the grenade that hit me and I can only lift my arms only so much.” Teela shows her cousin how
high she can lift her arms.

“Man, that sucks. So, tell me again how did you get those injuries?” Charity wanted to know how her cousin got hurt like she did.

“You know I’m doing the stunt work for the new Blue Falcon movie. Well, while we were shooting a scene, a group of masked men were supposed to attack me. Well, the other stuntmen who were playing the goons had been replaced by real crooks. Somehow they found out that their illegal weapons had been accidently mixed in with my shipment of fake weapons.”

“Why were a bunch of illegal weapons mixed in with your fakes?” Charity was confused about that.

“I don’t know. That is still being investigated. Anyway, the fake goons must have thought I would have the weapons with me. So, they broke into my truck and took it. Just before they managed to close my truck up, I swooped down out of the air and knocked one of them down inside the truck.”

“You swooped down? How?” Charity found that hard to believe.

“My wings allow me to fly like those superheroes you see in the comic boots.”

“No way. How?” Charity almost choked on her coffee.

“I’m not exactly sure how it works, but the skeleton of the wings is made of a strange metal I found out in Minnesota. I had never seen anything like it before and the mine itself wasn’t being used anymore. So, I bought the property.” Teela couldn’t believe what she found and was curious. She knew it wasn’t from Earth, because of its atomic structure.

“So how did you discover you could use it to fly?” Charity was curious. She knew her cousin was smart and creative.

“You do know I have physics and engineering degrees, right?”

“Yeah, I know. And I have an MBA degree in business. So, how did you discover what the metal could do?” Charity wanted to know more about the metal and how it allowed her cousin to fly.

“I conducted experiments on it and discovered that when I send an electric current through the metal, it floated. So, after several tests. I constructed a small drone made of the metal and tested it.” Teela stood up and walked over to her desk picked up a small flat disk and carried it back over to where her cousin was sitting.

“Here.” She hands the disk to her cousin.

Charity took the disk and couldn’t believe how light it felt. It also had a cold feeling to it. She turned it upside down and saw the battery compartment and a switch. She flicks the switch to the on position and watches as the disk hovers above her hand.

“How is it doing this?” Charity couldn’t see any blades or jets to cause it to hover.

“The energy from the battery has energized the metal. That’s a solid piece of metal with only a battery compartment and a small circuit broad in it.”

Charity sat there amazed at what the disk was doing. She couldn’t believe what she was seeing for herself.

“Are there any side effects from handling this metal?” Charity looks up at Teela.

“Nope, none whatsoever. I ran several tests to determine if it had radiation or if it produced any radiation when you sent electricity through it.” Teela performed every test she could think of.

“Man, you could make a fortune selling this to aircraft companies and such.” Charity was thinking of the marketing aspects of it.

“That’s the thing. There isn’t a large amount of it.” Teela turns the disk off.

“How do you know?” Charity looks at her cousin.

“Because I dug up all I could find of it. I found just enough of it to make three sets of wings. Plus, I think it came from outer space a long time ago. It’s not native to Earth.”

“Are you sure?” Charity knew her cousin was into comics and sci-fi.

“Yes, I’m sure. Once I purified the metal. I found out that it had other compounds bonded with it, that weren’t from this earth, but were known to come from space.”

“Well, you better not let the military find out. They would want this metal and everything else you have on it.” Charity knew the government would love it.

“Yeah. I agree.” Teela had thought about it.

“So, this metal allows you to hover/defy gravity. So, how do you fly with it?” Charity wonders if Teela used hidden jets or something.

“Like a bird does. I can use the air currents and after studying birds as long as I have. I know how to use the wings to turn and such.” Teela loved studying birds. It’s been her hobby since she was little. She had a bunch of drawings she had done from watching birds.

“That must be neat. So, what are you going to do when the filming stops?” Charity could see how the movie allowed Teela to use her wings.

“I don’t know. I might move my company from New York to someplace out in the country so I can learn more about how birds fly and such.” Teela hasn’t figured out what she is going to do yet after filming.

“So, okay, you answered my question about swooping into the truck. What happened after that?” Charity wanted to know more.

“Well, I tried to stop the goons from stealing my truck. We got in a fight and the guy I was fighting put two spears through my shoulder blades and tossed a strange-looking disk towards my chest. As soon as it exploded, I was sent flying backward out of the truck and into a car behind the truck. I don’t remember anything after that except waking up in the hospital.”

“Man, that sounds like something out of an action flick. I hope your director caught all of that.” Charity would love to see all of that in a movie.

“I think he did. Mr. Hudgins is an amazing director and does amazing work.” Teela liked working with him.

“So, do you know who those goons work for?”

“Nope, but agent Amos has some idea. He’s keeping me in the loop.” Teela received an email from him just the other day.

“So, did those goons get the weapons they were after?” Charity was curious.

“Nope, they are locked up in my weapons safe back at the office building. The place used to be a bank, so they are safe there.” Teela was glad the building she rented an office at, had a safe.

“How about the wings? Are they safe?” Charity knew if someone could get their hands on those wings, they could use them.

“Yes, they are safe as well. I have a set here in my apartment and the other set is at my office in its storage locker. The third set hasn’t been completed yet, but they are safe as well. They are in a specially designed locker. I hope you’ll keep what I told you, secret.” Teela knew her cousin was trustworthy.

“Yes, haven’t I always kept your secrets safe?” Charity knew a lot of things about Teela.

“Yes, you have and I’m glad I have you as a trusted confidant.” Teela takes another sip from her coffee.