List of People and others needed for
Book 3: The Rescue Mission

****This list is subject to change****

Both families lived near Columbia, SC
Moore Family
Father — Robert
Mother — Allison
Sons — Kenny, Michael and Richard

Wilson Family
Father — Larry
Mother- Helen
Sons — Allen, Brian, Charles
Daughter— Brianna.

Babysitter — Karen

Knoxville, TN
The Wilson Family moved here
Scott Mac Donald - Police Detective

UT, Knoxville
Kelly Branson: Brianna’s roommate. Family lives in Huntsville Alabama.
Medical students David - Craig, Brandon and Terry

Charlottesville, NC
The Moore Family moved here
Ron Johnson - Police Detective
Melinda Weber— police station receptionist
Anna Dawson — The Moore’s Lawyer.
Sarah Mitchell — Richard’s doctor
Johnny and Allen — employees where Robert Moore worked at

NC State, Raleigh
Mr. Weldon — Engineering Department Administrator

NC State Penitentiary
Inmates - Tyrone

Jacksonville, FL
Melissa — Richard’s apartment manager
Dan Torres - City Police Detective
Stephen Russell - City Attorney General
Karen Walker — AG Secretary

Secure-Sys, Inc.
Robert M. Bryson — CEO
Linda Thompson — CEO Secretary
Cheryl —Secure-Sys front receptionist
Dave Parker - Human Resources
Ben Hawkins — Security Chief
David McGuire- Security Staff
Doug Reynolds — R&D Department
Beth Pearson - R&D Department
Brent Morgan — Programming Assistant Manager
Darrell Reynolds — Programming Staff
Michael Pearson — Programming Staff
Darren McIntyre — Web Site
Carol — Publishing and Documentation
Jennifer — Publishing and Documentation
Bruce McClendon — Shipping Department Manager
Brian Dixon — Shipping Department
Debbie Sheraton — Accounting Department
Brenda McClure — Legal Department
Mitch Williams — Legal Department

Jacksonville Hospital
Mr. Frank Thornton — surgeon

Charleston, SC
Charter Boat Captain (no last name given yet)
First Mate - Peter Goodwin

George Weisenthall - CEO of the Eastern Seaboard Fishing, Inc.

Jewelery Store Employees
Margaret
Sam
George

FBI branch office
Mr. Morrison - field agent

Secure-Sys, Charleston office
Randy - Engineer

==============<<<<>>>>==============
Gorgonstan
Vice President - Mr. Wainwright
Army Captain Borghess

==============<<<<>>>>==============
Eastern Cherokee Nation
Fairies. . . . . . . . yi-ne-hi, nv-ne-hi
Butterfly. . . . . . . ka-ma-ma
Man. . . . . . . . . . a-s-ga-ya
Pearl. . . . . . . . . da-gv-na
Silver . . . . . . . . delvnegv
Gane . . . . . . . . . hammer
Inali. . . . . . . . . black fox
Receptionist . . . . . Silver Fox, Running Dear
Chief Elder. . . . . . Crouching Bear
Atali Unega. . . . . . Mount Blanc
Shaman . . . . . . . . Red Fox
Planting Moon. . . . . A-na-a-gv-ti — month of May
Student . . . . . . . . Raven Claw

==============<<<<>>>>==============
The Assassination Clan
The Jackal - Qiang (Chang)

==============<<<<>>>>==============
Fairies
Richard Moore's Fairies
Amber and Cobalt . . . . . . from Avel the Unicorn
Tiger and Tigress . . . . . . . tiger tail swallowtail butterflies
Bianca and Lavan . . . . . . . white morpho butterflies
Victor and Victoria . . . . . viceroy butterflies
Ruby and Rubio . . . . . . . red wing butterflies
Esmeralda and Emeril . . . . emerald butterflies
Shiri and Levi . . . . . . . dragon wing butterflies

King Oren and Queen White Dove fairies
Traphel and Rose Lace
Brushwind and Blud Lace

==============<<<<>>>>==============

This is a partial list of characters from the planet Twainor. The full list is found there for Book 1 and 2.

Thryson
Colors Red, Purple, Yellow
King - Tierion
Queen - Shiranna
Prince - Teliesen
Duke Traylor - brother of King Tierion
Duchess - Clarienelle
Prince - Garret
Master Wizard - Renard
Master Sorceress - Trianna
Escort Guard - Sir Halgren - also an Elite Guard
Legion Cmdr. - Sir Trenton
Army Cmdr. - Sir Valmar
Navy Cmdr. - Sir Leland
Unicorn - Avel
==============<<<<>>>>==============

Star Wars
Luke Skywalker - Jedi
Kalbek - Sith Knight

The Rescue Mission
Chapter 1
Written by rachel76m
Edited by Don Kaufman

Last week, Mr. Parker, their Human Resources manager, gave me a call that I will be staying in a hotel on the north side of Charleston International Airport. Secure-Sys, Inc., is located to the west of the airport in an industrial park.

So, I did some searching on the internet to see what the hotel property looked like. I see it has trees for the hotel property alone. The rest of it is concrete and buildings all around the property. I quickly do a phone call to the hotel. Once I got my question answered, I quickly decided to drive back to Mt. Blanc to pickup the potted plants before I left. I put them in several boxes that can fit in my car.

I am now driving down the interstate on I-95 into South Carolina. I left at 9 AM and my car is full of clothes for three weeks and food for the fairies. The fairies are glad that I’m taking the plants along with me. I see the exit for I-26. I take the ramp for it and drive toward Charleston.

Mr. Bryson requested I meet them at the hotel first to unload the car. I arrive at the Residence Inn near the airport at about 2 P.M. I get out of my car to shake hands with them. The fairies stay hidden inside the car.

“Welcome to Charleston, SC, Richard.”

“Thank you, sirs. I am surprised by the trees surrounding the place. I really like it. I know it is an oasis here among the other buildings.”

“There are other hotels and B&Bs in town. But they are too far away and cost more than this one. The closest one is the Inn at Middleton. That one is not really designed for one month stays. This is Dave Parker, my Human Resources manager. I just hired him a month ago.

I shake hands with Dave Parker. I see no reaction from him.

“We’ll take care of the paper work this afternoon, then come to the plant at 8 A.M. sharp tomorrow morning. We have your system still in the crates. We want you to unload it and do a simple demonstration first.”

“That’s fine, sir. I went over the documentation that I created. I will print them out so your engineers can start taking a look at it.”

“That’s fine, Richard.”

“Well, let’s get me moved in, Mr. Bryson.”

I bring out the boxes. They contain small pots of flowers and some small fruits. There are three or four fairies inside the boxes.

“What are in these boxes, Richard?”

“I have a bit of a green thumb, Mr. Parker. They are flowers and herbs. When you described this place the last time, I looked it up on the internet to get an idea of the place. I thought I would try and see if I can do it. They will be sitting on the balcony and out of the way. I already called management here. They are allowing it.”

“That’s fine, Richard.”

It takes two trips with the dolly to get the boxes and luggage to the second floor room using the elevator. I lock up the car when I’m done.

“Meet us down here in a half hour, Richard. Have a suit and tie on for the photo ID.”

“Yes, Mr. Bryson.” I close the door. I walk up the stairs again and walk into the apartment. I whisper kind of loud, “Okay, you can come out now.”

Then three boxes are pushed open on the top side. The fairies fly around the place real quick to get the apartment understood.

“This not too bad, father. At least we get a balcony like the last time.”

“Yes you do, Lavan. Let’s slide open the glass door to the balcony so you can check out the area. As soon as I unlock it and open it, they change into butterflies and immediate fly out to check the property. I then move the boxes of pots to the balcony. When I open them, several other butterflies and flying insects come by to check out the colorful offerings and get a drink of nectar. I smile when I see that. I walk back
inside and bring my luggage into the bedroom. I open it and immediately transfer the clothes to the drawers. I also put the stone carving on top of the dresser as well. I put my toiletry items in the bathroom. My armor is still in the trunk space of my car.

I bring a package of paper bowls I bought recently, along with the nuts and fruits in a bag with me while I check the kitchen. I place the bags and bowls on the counter. I turn down the refrigerator to start cooling it down. When I open the cupboards and drawers, I see an assortment of standard plate ware, glasses, eating utensils and cook ware. I then turn around and open the bags of nuts, seeds and small fruits. I pour them into the paper bowls. I check the temperature of the AC in the apartment. It is okay for now. I go back into the bedroom to change my clothes to a coat and tie.

Then I see the butterflies fly back into the living room and change into fairies. You’re right Omega, this is a small piece of green in the middle of the buildings. There are several different kinds of birds out there who have nests there. We were able to thwart their attacks easily.

Will I be needed to show them I’m the Omega Unicorn. Traphel?”

“I think your breath will be able to do it this evening. I think they got word from the other birds flying through the area, the Omega Unicorn is now back once they realized who we are.”

Okay, it can wait until then. I’m going to leave the curtains closed to the apartment. The blinds can stay where they are. They are easy to move aside. Does the screen door work?”

It does, father. We can close it and lock it ourselves. We’ll practice with the glass door a little bit more. I think it will take at least three of us to close it shut.”

“But, can you do it in butterfly mode, Bianca?”

“We’ll certainly try, mother.”

“When will you be back today?”

“I don’t know, Victor. I still have to buy food tonight. Hopefully, I’ll be back by 6 P.M. or after. The sunset will be late tonight fortunately. Okay, I’m going to lock up the place now. I’ll have Croin with me just in case. I already put out some of your food out already.”

“Thank you, father.”

They all come up to me. To get close to me. We’ll miss you until you get back later today.”

“I’ll miss you too, my fairies. I’ll check the place out to see if there are outdoor eating areas, trees and gardens near the building.”

“We can only hope, Omega.”

They touch my ear and smell my hair one more time. Once they remembered me, they still check the tuft of my hair inside their clothes. I turn around and leave the apartment and lock the door. I walk down the stairs to where Mr. Bryson and Mr. Parker are in the parking lot. I get in their car. It takes about thirty minutes to get there. I see they have a gated entrance with a guard. They are waved in automatically.

“Richard, you’ll be getting a sticker pass and a transponder on your car to ID you when you come in. It is also a GPS. We’ll install it in the car tomorrow morning when you get here.”

“We have a garden area inside the complex. Some of our employees use it during their lunch break.”

“I understand, sir. Thank you, sir.”

I remember seeing two very large buildings that are ‘Lâ’ shaped on the internet. In the middle of it are trees, benches and a water fountain. This is nice, Creator. Thank you very much.

Mr. Parker drives for another five minutes and looks for his spot near the front. We get out of the car and walk into the building. I sign in at the front desk. I’m given a badge to pin on my shirt. We then walk down some hallways until he opens a door. The three of us walk into a conference room. I see a stack of papers and pen on the table. We all sit down in chairs around the table.

“We already did a preliminary security check on you. You are clear for Level 1 for right now. It will be finalized after you fill out these forms. We expect a lot of the answers to be ‘no’ since this is your first job like this.”

“Yes, Mr. Bryson.”

I proceed to fill the application out. It is easy to fill out the previous jobs section. I didn’t have any at all while in college. Not even a part-time job during the summer. It doesn’t take me long to fill the rest of it out either. Since I don’t have any parents, I use my aunt, uncle and Anna Dawson as my primary emergency contact.

I then go through the security questionnaire. I see most of my answers are ‘no’ like he said. There are a few yeses. I sign the documents and where I want my check deposited. I look on my cell phone and access the database on it to get the numbers. Right now it is with the bank back home with Anna Dawson. I sign where I need to sign it on the various forms and put the pen down.

“That was fast, sir.”

They smile, “For now it is. Mr. Parker will you please escort Richard to get his photo taken and sign out a transponder. Generally we are 8 to 5 PM. In the other building is our manufacturing facility. Their hours are dictated by what is being made and how many units are ordered.

“Yes, Mr. Bryson.”

“Welcome to Secure-Sys, Richard.”

“Thank you, sirs.” I shake hands with each of them as we smile at each other.

Mr. Parker picks up my application documents. I get escorted to another room. I get my photo taken and sign out for the transponder. I also sign out for a sticker ID # for my car.

“You,ll need this label on the driver side, front glass, top corner. This will get you in tomorrow morning. Sign in at the gate. Now we are going to give you a tour of the places where you can go for now. Put the sticker on before you leave tomorrow morning.”

“I understand sir. You do realize my invention will cross over to other applications.” I put the sticker into my shirt pocket.

“We understand that, Richard.” We walk down the hallway. He then opens a door into a larger room. I see about seven cubicles arranged in the space.

“Engineers, I would like to introduce our new employee, Richard Moore. He just graduated from NC State with honors.”

Four men and two women get up to greet me.

“Welcome to Secure-Sys, Richard.”

“Thank you.”

“Did you just sign your life away?”

I answer back with a smile, “Didn’t you do the same thing?”

They all chuckle and giggle. “Touche, Richard. Yes we did.”

“weren’t you posted all over You Tube just recently?”

“I was.”
“Oooh. . . It looks like we have a protector here to keep your hands off of me.”

The men chuckle at the lady’s remark.

“I can teach you some moves, ma’am. I have taught the police department in Raleigh for a few years while I was in college.

The men look a little more straight forward when they see the ‘look‘ on Mr. Parker and Mr. Bryson.

“I’ll take you up on it, Richard. Besides it will help add to our reputation as being a security company.”

“Okay, that’s enough bantering. Tomorrow morning at 8 AM, Richard will do a demonstration of his invention. He is going provide his documents on what he did.”

“We looked at that rebroadcast of the ceremonies, Richard. That is fantastic how you were able to transfer the images from the back room to the main stage.”

“Apparently you did something new to achieve those results.”

“Yes, I did. Thank you for the compliments. When I get done showing how it works, you will get an idea how my brain thinks. I like to think in 3D all around me and using all of my senses.”

“Well, however you did it. We’ll need to find a way to duplicate it and to make the manufacturing easier.”

“I did use what is available. There are some new designs that I built from scratch like the CPU core, the cameras and the transmitters. Then there is the programming of the core itself.”

“We’ll leave you on that note, people. Richard has get back to his apartment and buy some food. He is here for three weeks, then he will be at our Jacksonville office with our software division. He’ll make his travels to be here when he needs to.”


“Yes, Mr. Bryson.”
I shake hands with each them as I smile. I see no reaction in any of them. However, the two ladies do give me a little hug.

One of the ladies whisper to me, “I definitely need those lessons.

Did she just make a pass at me, Creator?

No, Richard.

The three of us then leave the room together. We walk around pointing out the other rooms like the break room and the larger conference room for all of the employees. We walk out to the garden area and see it is really nice and beautiful. There are plenty of flowers in the courtyard.

“What’s nice about this property, we are near the woods to the west of here. It is a lot quieter here than the other locations we looked at.”

I see a water fountain in the center. There are walkways and benches between the two buildings. There are some concrete benches and tables under some trees scattered about the area.

“Do you have any big animals come into the courtyard, Mr. Parker?”

“There is a barb-wire fence around the property to keep the alligators, deer and bobcat out. The fence is electric with cameras. There is a clearing around the outside part of the fence of twenty-five feet. The bear and cougar will be in the mountain area.”

“So, in other words, it is like every where else in the Southeast.”

They smile, “Yes it is, Richard.”

We continue walking around the walkways until we see the second building. We stand before it while we look at the building.

“This is our manufacturing facility. Once you are up to speed in what we do, we’ll give you a tour then.”

“Yes, sir. I’m sure you have several white rooms in there?”

“Yes we do, Richard. Come, let’s walk back to my office.”

We walk back into the first building and down the hallways to Mr. Bryson’s office. We sit in chairs opposite from his main chair behind his desk. “Richard, there was one piece of information we had trouble finding about you.”

“What is it, sir?”

“We called Anna Dawson your attorney and Dr. Sarah Mitchell to confirm it. It seems you are dual gender. How do you classify yourself?”

“Well, I grew up a boy and treated as such; That is what I checked on the application. I have no desire to transition at all. I like the way I am now. I didn’t know I was dual gender until the plane crash in the mountains that killed my family earlier this year. So, imagine my surprise when I found out.”

“I see, it would be a surprise to you. How come you learned about it so late?”

“When I was eight, I was walking home with my next door neighbor girlfriend. A block before we got home, four boys came out to hurt us. I stepped in the way to stop them.”

“Why did they do that?”

“They were in the sixth grade, we were in the second grade. Our grades were tops in the entire school, they were just below us. They wanted to be tops, but they felt insulted a bunch of second graders had better grades than they did.”

“Ah, the vanity of people.”

“There is more to it. When I was rushed to the hospital, it was then they discovered I’m dual gender. Even my parents didn’t know at the time.”

“What?”

“When I was born, my birth doctor kept that information from them. I think I ended up in a book of his for medical oddities.”

“That wasn’t nice of him to do that.”

“No, it’s not, sir. It took time for me to heal. The four boys were arrested and sent to juvenile hall. When they got out, they found out both of our families have moved. They went into a life of crime after that. They caught up with me and found me at NC State. However, by that time, I had earned the Shaolin purple sash with the third degree.”

“That explains your connection with the Raleigh police department. You helped them in your spare time, then.”

I smile, “Yes it does, sir. But my parents didn’t know how to deal with my dual gender at the time. They had planned to tell me when I turned eighteen in August. But I had to go to NC State early in August to get moved in. At least they made a video recording for me to see.”

“That’s good, Richard. With what happened during your graduation ceremony, do you think that assassination clan from China will come after you?”

“I don’t know, sir. Right now, I just began earning my first degree in the black sash. My sensei knows it won’t be accomplished here with all ten degrees. There will be some trips to China eventually.”

“Well, let’s hope the political and military atmosphere will be better by then. They were even not immune from the troubles forty years ago.”

“The last thing for you is what we’re going to pay you while you are employed with us. Since you don’t have any work history, this is the best we can offer you. The rest you will have to earn on your own. You will also get a percentage in commission when these units are sold.”

“Yes, sir.”

Mr. Parker slips a piece of paper to me. I look at it and smile. “Thank you sirs. I know it seems a lot right now to me. I’ll have to weigh it against my living expenses and being in a real apartment. My martial art classes at the dojo in Charlotte are being paid by my dad’s inheritance fund he left behind.”

“Well, let’s hope you don’t get into serious debt. The apartment life is what you are used to now. Don’t worry about getting a house yet.”
“The only two properties that are in my name are my parent’s house in Charlottesville and the cabin in Mt. Blanc. Those are already paid for. My dad did really well at the company he was at.”

“Yes, he was a mechanical engineer at the company he worked for. He came up with some good designs for the company.”

“Yes, he did, Mr. Bryson.”

“Well, we’ll let you go now.”

“How is the time accounted for payroll around here?”

“That’s a good question, Richard. When you come in through the doors, there will be a scanner to swipe your ID badge. It will be at the front desk when you come in tomorrow morning.”

“You don’t have to come in coat and tie like you did today. A nice pressed shirt and dress slacks will do.”

“I’ll be here before 8 AM.”

Then we all get up from the chairs. We shake hands again. They escort me back to the front desk. I sign out and leave the building with them. We get in Mr. Parker’s car and drive back to the hotel.
When we get there, I get out by myself. I wave my hands to them as they drive off.

~~~000~~~

“Richard is a very smart man, Dave. He is the best security programmer that has graduated in a long time.”

“We are fortunate to hire him. Why did he pick us, Robert?”

“I think the events of the companies going after his project and making sure it didn’t get made is why he chose us. He wants to get it built. He is right, there are too many holes in the current network out there. All it takes is one bad programmer to wipe out what we worked for. That nuclear bug that was launched ninety years ago in the Middle East is just the tip of the iceberg, Dave.”

“I agree, Robert.” I also think he has another secret he is hiding as well.”
“Does it have to do with China?”

“No, that’s a separate incident dealing with his sensei. We’ll eventually learn what it is. What do you think of his choice for our first two customers?”

“The installation at the Air Force base is good. They do get the hackers who try to disrupt their communication network. If a rogue group could shut down their satellites and radar, it will create a hole in our air space for a strike.”

“That’s my thought as well. The police are another good choice as well. They are the front line ground forces if something should happen unexpectedly.”

They need to have their networks protected as well.”

“So will the banks and other financial institutions. We’ll just have to keep at it and provide the best security in software and hardware for our customers, Robert.”

“That we will.”

They continue driving back to their manufacturing headquarters.

~~~000~~~

I walk up the stairs to my apartment. I unlock the door and walk inside. I get greeted by the fairies immediately.

“So, what is the place like?”

“There is a central courtyard with gardens, water fountain, tables to eat at under the trees and benches. It is near a forested area and it is really quiet.”

All of the fairies cheer that their prayers are answered.

“That’s great, father. Now we can be near you when you have your lunch.”

“That’s true. But we’ll have to watch the weather. If it is raining and storming then I’ll be inside their break room having my lunch.

“Then we’ll just have to watch the TV in the morning or get a live update on the internet.”

“That’s right, Cobalt. They do have an electric fence with cameras around the property. I think they use it to keep out the large animals we know about. But, birds and flying insects are no problem over head.”

They all smile, “Yes it is, father.”

“Well, I need to buy some food for three weeks. Who is staying and who is coming with me?”

We’ll stay, Omega.”

“So will we, father.”

“That’s very good, Tiger, Tigress and Traphel. I’ll take Victor, Victoria, Lavan, Bianca, Amber and Cobalt with me. But, first let’s see if there are any open produce markets here.”

“Yes, mother. We need to know that.”

I open my laptop and turn it on. Once I give the password to logon, I then access the internet here. I soon find three open markets in the area. “It looks like there is one nearby and the other two are downtown.”

“So, let’s go to the nearest one, father.”

“Yes we will, Lavan.” I write down the address and do a rough map drawing to get there. I also check for supermarkets as well. I noticed several are nearby as well. I take out my car sticker in my pocket and put it on the dining table. “That sticker will be going on my car tomorrow morning. So, leave it there for now, Tigress.”

“Yes, mother.”

The six fairies fly into my two front shirt pockets and get nice and comfortable. Soon I feel their heartbeats in rhythm with mine. I leave the apartment and lock the door. I get in the car. They change into butterflies and sit on the front passenger seat. I buckle up, turn on the engine and drive to the nearest open market.

Once I get there, they fly out as soon as I get out of the car and lock it. While I wander around to see what is available, they are fluttering high in the rafters of the building following me where I go. We see a good assortment of fresh food available. I pick out what I want for the next several weeks and for them. Once I paid for it, I walk back to the car. The fairies continue to flutter around me as I put the bags into the back seat floor board. They fly in quickly and take their rest.
I open a bag of nuts and small fruits for them to eat. I sense they are tired from their flying around.

“Thank you, father. Yes, we are hungry after that flight.”

I drive to a local supermarket that I know is good in the area. The fairies fly quickly into my shirt pocket again before I get out of the car and lock it up. I walk through the supermarket with a cart. They see I pick out some fresh chicken and fish for my meals. I also get some powdered milk, spices, butter, napkins, cans and frozen goods and other things I need in the apartment. I pay it with my debit card.

I get the purchases loaded into the car like before. I drive back to the Residence Inn and park in the parking lot. The fairies change into butterflies and fly around to find the balcony to the apartment. It takes me several trips to bring the groceries to the apartment and where they belong in refrigerator and the cupboards.

I walk out to the balcony and stand there. Soon some birds fly by to check me out. They soon verified what they heard is true from the other birds. The Omega Unicorn is on Earth. I blow some of my breath into the air. They chirp and squawk with delight. Then they leave to go back to their nests or find their next meal.

I make my first meal in the apartment. The fairies are gathered around on the table surface. Once I give the thanks to the Creator, we have our evening meal. We get done in time for me to take a drive to the nearest park to watch the sunset. We watch the clouds change colors as the sun sets in the West. Then we see the stars come out for the evening. We clap our hands and give thanks to the Creator for another day. I drive back to the apartment for all of us to get a good night’s sleep. The fairies find their places in the apartment. Traphel with his fairy escort are sleeping the living room area. My six fairies are in my bedroom. I
set the clock for 6 AM to wake us up. In case your wondering, I left the board I made displaying the twelve unicorn mane hairs back at the cabin in Mt. Blanc.

All of our dreams are peaceful. I don’t feel any ill will from the ones I met earlier today. I have encountered those types of male engineers before on campus.

All you have to do is teach a few moves to the ladies. Once they get the nerve pinch done right on the elbow, the men back off with no problems.

We wake up in the morning when the alarm goes on. I turn it off. I get up and see them slowly getting awake. I open the sliding glass doors and the screen door open four inches. I grab several bowls and fill them with the mountain water from my satchel, I recite the spell to refill it. I make sure there is enough pieces of the flower scented soaps I brought with me from the cabin are set out for the fairies. Once I see their towels and wash cloths are placed there, I go in to take my hot shower. I get myself nice and clean for the day. I walk back into my room and see
them getting dressed for the day. I get myself dressed with a nice buttoned shirt, slacks and dress shoes.

I go out to the kitchen to get my breakfast and lunch together. For lunch I put a salad together, apple and a cup of yogurt. I put a blue ice pack into the cooler and some utensils. I then make my breakfast of cereal, milk and some apple juice. The fairies get their meal as well this morning. I give a quick morning thanks to the Creator. Once we get done eating and cleaned up.

Traphel and his fairy escorts are staying behind to watch the apartment. My six fairies change into butterflies and flutter around to my car. I make sure to bring the car sticker with me, my laptop, pens, a notebook with my hand written notes and a some blank paper and the lunch cooler. I walk out of the apartment and lock it up.
I step down the stairs and walk out to my car and unlock it. The fairies flutter into the car quickly. I put my things on the passenger side front seat. I put the sticker on the inside part of the windshield as I was told yesterday. I get in the car and turn on the engine. I leave by 7:15 AM.

I arrive there by 7:45 AM. I sign in at the front gate and drive into the parking lot. I look around to see if there is shady spot for the car. I see most of them already taken. So, now I find the nearest spot to the front. When I get out of the car, the butterflies fly out of my car. They search for the court yard and the woods to the west. I lock the car and bring my things with me. I walk through the front doors and up to the front desk. I show the guard my drivers license.

“Thank you, Richard. Here is your ID card. I’ll let Mr. Bryson know you are here.”

“Thank you, sir.”

I swipe the card on the scanner, then I put it around my neck. The guard calls for Mr. Bryson. Then he puts the phone down. “He’ll be here shortly.”

“Thank you, sir.”

Two minutes later, Mr. Bryson shows up in the front lobby. “Good morning, Richard. It looks like you are ready for class.”

“In a way it is, sir. I have everything with me.”

“Good, follow me please.”

We stop by the break room to drop off my cooler that has my lunch in it. I follow Mr. Bryson down several hallways. He then opens a door that leads to a loading bay area. I see my crate there, sitting on a pallet.
Two men take off the lid to the crate. I look down in the crate and see everything I put in there.

“Where are we going to set this up, Mr. Bryson?”

“We have a room already set up. It is in one of our teaching rooms.”

I put my stuff down on the floor. A four wheel cart with two shelves is brought in closer. I undo the wrapping and put the box of finger pointers, speakers, cameras, cords and cabling and the transmitters on the bottom shelf. The PC unit is placed on the top shelf.

A worker asks me a question, “Richard, where is the keyboard and monitor?”

“I used my laptop for the initial interface when I started building it. Once I got it built and running, the laptop is no longer needed.

“If you say so.”

Mr. Bryson and I smile at each other. I pick up my things as we walk back to the offices. A worker pushes the cart as we follow Mr. Bryson back through the doors and down the hallways. He opens a door and we all walk inside. I see about fifty people there. Each row of tables is higher than the one in front of the other row. They quiet down as we walk in.

I smile at the crowd. “Yes, it is just like in college. Now I’m the teacher.”

We hear a round chuckling and giggling at my remark. We put the pieces on the table on the main floor. I start assembling the 3D System. I walk around the room and put the cameras on the walls in various locations. They have a sticky surface so I can stick them to the walls. I put the holo-transmitters on another table to the right as I face the audience. I hook my laptop to the overhead projector system. I see Mr. Bryson, Mr. Parker, the worker who brought in the equipment from the loading bay area. I also see manufacturers, secretaries, engineers and other people in the room. I then look at the audience to begin my
speech.

“I think before we begin. Who has kept up with the news about my 3D System?”

I see all of the hands go up.

“That’s good. First question, what happened at the first trial?”

An engineer speaks up, “You have a five-password system, if given correctly it will recognize your voice and revolve it to the next sequence when you logon. You also put it into your folders and programs.”

“That’s right. Why did I do that?”

“Because the current password models are known and breakable.”

“That’s right. Now my inspiration for the 3D System came from several sources. The first one is the special effects that we have seen on TV and the movie theaters.” I look at Mr. Bryson momentarily. “There was another experience you might say was an out of this world experience. I then look around the room again.

Mr. Bryson smiles to himself. I knew it. My contact with the Colonel at the air base is right. The Creator is right about Richard.

“I knew that we were progressing to a holographic interface. I also knew the photon CPU is the way to go. It transcends the electron by leaps and bounds. The heat generated by the photon based motherboards and the chip sets are very small. I looked at the current technology in holographic projections, again a lot of heat is produced by the devices. The idea for the frame stop and multiple cameras employed in the classic Matrix movies is a step in the right direction. I need to
create a true 3D interface and there has to be multiple CPUs involved. How many CPUs are needed to do it?”

Then some people speak up. “Five.” “Eight.” “Three.”

“Six.” “Four.”

“Who said six?”

“I did Richard. There are six sides to a cube.”

“I chose six for the same reasons. But if there are six CPUs in here, where or how would I begin in joining the connections together so they all work together in harmony and have no conflicts with the boards and wiring paths?”

“That is a problem, Richard. How did you do it?”

“Let’s open it up.” I remove the side panel and lay it on the table.

“Whoa!!”

“That’s incredible. I see a six sided CPU core. You created a frame to support it. There are six mother boards and six power supplies.”

“This is too much. What are your hard-drives?”
I used the latest ones on the market. The total is in the Tera-Byte range.”

“What about your DVD drives, did you change that?”

“I created my own DVD’s. It still uses the current DVD laser writers.”

“I see you use fiber optic cabling between CPUs and the motherboards.”

“Yes, I did. The hard part was to create a true 3D interface. I had it pictured in my mind what I wanted to do. I just needed to find the materials to do it. The cameras are a wireless system. It is programmed that they can’t be hacked. The power supply for the cameras is a wafer based designed. You can increase the range of them by changing the element wafer combination. It is based on the conductivity in the water vapor in the air.”

“No way!”

“Yes way. These transmitters are actually holo-transmitters. The key ingredient is the magnetic rocks that produce our Aurora Borealis display in the sky.”

“Why did you use that, Richard?”

“That is the only part there that provides the magnetic field. When the laser inside the unit passes through the magnetic ore field, it displays the results I want. It is because they are photon sensitive. It is controlled by the CPU core by a set of sub-routines I wrote .” I open the small box on the table and pick up a metal pointer.

Some of the men snicker and laugh. Some of the ladies giggle.
“What is that, Richard? Are you making a fashion statement?”

“No, it is not fashion wear. These are my pointers to do the programming without a monitor. I designed a 3D keyboard to replace the use of the laptop once it is programmed.”

“All right, Richard. You wasted our time. I doubt it really works.”

“Oh it works, sir.” I put on the metal pointers on my finger tips.
I take my index finger and point in space in front of me. Then a 3D keyboard appears like magic with a five line display above it.

The people murmur among themselves. “What?!”

“How did you do that?”

“It is reverse projected from the cameras. This is the only time you can use this feature from the cameras. If the holo-transmitters are set further apart, I can transfer the 3D keyboard to them. Now I need to turn on the microphone.”

I type a series of commands on the display and hit enter.
I see the response on the display that the microphone is turned on.

“Computer, the password is theron-gramerton-physer-niner-vectron.”

Recognize password sequence and Richard Moore’s voice. Revolving password to the next sequence.

I then make the keyboard disappear by hitting a button on the image. “It is now a voice activated system. I will still need to keep these pointers on for some features. Computer, record images in this room for fifteen seconds. Then play back recording. Stop frame on last image.”

Recording images in the room for fifteen seconds.

After fifteen seconds, the space between the holo-transmitters shows a static cube. Then the scaled down image of the room is displayed within the four holo-transmitters.

“This is too much, Richard.”

“Now watch this.” I put my hands into the space and grab the image. Then I rotate the image so the other side is seen.”

“Now you have me really wondering what is going on.”

“This is the most fantastic piece of electronics ever.”

“How did you program the CPU core?”

“I’;l show you.” I move the transmitters further apart.

“Computer, display CPU core. The password is lychos-terraine-ashraet-polyther-kilomon.”

Recognize password sequence and Richard Moore’s voice pattern. Revolving password to next sequence. Displaying CPU core.

Then the image changes and the CPU core is shown in 3D in the space. They see virtual lines connecting the various ports on the CPUs. For some of the engineers they see a pattern emerging. They also see some icons connected by a line to a CPU port. I use my hands to turn the image.

“How did you draw those lines?”

“With these metal tip pointers. The power is based on induction from my own body. There is light sensor chip on the end of these tips. It too is sensed in the 3D space.” I take my finger and draw a line in a corner of the 3D space.

“This is incredible, Richard. What are those icon tags in hanging in space?”

“I created a short hand notation for each of the six CPUs. Within the Icon contains the code that points to where it will connect with another part of the CPU. Hence you get a cleaner look of the CPU core. Now some of you might remember I used gates with this system.”

“That’s right, Richard. I know of least two gates you mentioned during the trial. How many gates are there?”

“There are four gates to get in. All of the ports are accounted for and going through the gates. If you are adaptive enough with a virus to get through all four and the fire wall, then you can access the hard-drive to get the information. The problem now is that your virus has been added to the virus database, then you go through four different gates on the way out. Now the gates will know what is coming. You will now be blocked and can’t get out.”

“Can I overload it and push what I want?”

“No, you can’t. Once the first gate determines an overload of either data or energy. The gates will turn into dams to block the onslaught. If any of it gets by, then the fire wall will snuff out the rest of it. Then it will automatically reboot and dump the overloaded data or energy. Also the core program is protected by the four gates as well.”

“If I’m a regular user. How is it used?”

“If you are accessing accounting for example, you would logon with your voice and password. Then you have access to the accounting program.”

“Do we have to use your five-password program or can we use the old password we have been using?”

“You will have to use your voice to say the password. If the password is correct, then your voice print gets added to the system for future reference. If you use the one word for the password, you will get a reminder to change the password every thirty days. If you use the five-password system, you will need to know the formula so you will know what it will revolve to. The five-password will be for the CPU core programmers and myself. It is imperative all ports are accounted for
in the gate system. If you leave one open and unaccounted for, then it is your fault when that system gets hacked.”

“How are the images recorded?”

“I experimented again.” I pick up a DVD and show it to them. It has a new has new substrate on the surface. I found a way to grow a crystal layer onto the surface. Then the images and data can be recorded. The memory of this DVD is now much larger. That is not all my friends. Now I will make this CPU box disappear.”

I move the four holo-transmitters around the PC box. I point in space to bring up the 3D keyboard again. I type some code. Then I press a button on the keyboard. With each hit, the PC slowly becomes invisible.

“Are there any other questions?”

Everyone looks around at each other. They can’t believe what they have seen. We then hear a thunderous clapping of hands from everyone.

The crowd quiets down when Mr. Bryson steps up front. “Now we have an opportunity to do something new. I think we can rework those motherboards and power supplies and get them down to three of each. The nice thing about these parts, it is current technology.”

“I agree, Mr. Bryson. That cooling system is one of the best units on the market. You must have optimized the balance between the heat, the air movement and the temperature of the air, Richard.”

“I did. Once I learned the max heat output I started to adjust the cooling system so it will kick on sooner. The only warm spot is the air space within the CPU core.” I go to my laptop and open my design folder. I page through the documents, soon they see my notes and drawings that I created. “That is the cleaned up version. Inside this notebook are my hand written notes and drawings.”

“Okay, Secure-Sys, this is our new challenge. Richard will now teach our engineers how he did this. Hopefully he can show us how he created the virtual images in space here. Remember, he used his laptop as the initial interface until the 3D version is up and running.”

Everyone claps again. They stand and walk to the front of the room. I shake hands with them as they leave the room. The ones who stay behind are the engineers.

“Richard, before we get started. We need to get that transponder into your car. There is a loading bay on the right hand side as you came in this morning.”

“Yes, sir. Engineers, you might as well start taking a look at my notes. While I do this.”

“That is no problem, Richard. It will give us time to talk it out and come up with more questions when you get back.”

“Okay.” I leave the room with Mr. Bryson.
The engineers start going over my hand written and printed out notes in my notebook. They take notes in their notebooks on what I did.
I walk out through the front doors of the building and out to my car. I get in and drive it around to the right side of the building. I see a garage door rolling up. As soon as the opening is high enough I bring in the car into the bay. I get out of the car and see several workers there. The transponder is sitting on a cart.

“Where is this transponder going to be installed?”

“In the trunk space.”

“I’ll have to clear out my trunk. There are some things still in there.”

“Okay.”

When I open the trunk, they see my armor.

“What is that, Richard?”

“That is my armor.”

“We better get Mr. Bryson here to verify this.”

A message gets sent to Mr. Bryson. He soon shows up in the loading bay and sees my armor in the trunk. “I remember you wearing this under your graduation robe.”

“I did, Mr. Bryson. The police and I were playing it safe on that day.”

“That was good thinking ahead. It is no problem, men, continue with the installation. Richard also has a Shaolin brown sash as well.”

“Yes, sir.”

We take the armor out of the trunk. It takes about an hour to install the transponder in the trunk. It is located in a space behind a panel in the trunk space. Then the armor is put back in the trunk. I then drive the car back out to the parking lot area. This time I find a further spot away from the building.

I walk back inside to the building and into the classroom. I see the engineers are ready to ask me some more questions. It takes the rest of the morning to answer half of their questions. We then break for lunch. I walk back to the break room to pick up my cooler. I then walk out to the garden area. I see butterflies and my fairies in butterfly mode going from flower to flower. I walk to a bench and table under a tree. I get out my lunch. My fairies see me and flutter to where I’m sitting down. Some land on the table, some sit on a tree branch. We whisper to each other to discuss how the morning went.

“This area is really nice, father. We definitely have our fill of nectar here. The woods eventually lead to a nearby river.”

“That’s good.”

“How did your morning go?”

“They were very surprised by the invention, Cobalt. They put a transponder in the trunk space.”

“Did they question the armor?”

“They did. But, Mr. Bryson confirmed it I wore it at the graduation ceremonies.”

Then I see a couple of people walking toward me to have their lunch. The butterflies take off from the table and flutter up to the tree branches.

“Hello, Richard.”

“Hello. What are your names again?”

He smiles, “my name is Randy.”

The lady speaks up, “my name is Sharon. That is the most fantastic piece of electronics I have ever seen. We can easily imagine several different applications with it.”

“I’m sure you have. If you take a Yugioh playing card and have it scanned by the cameras, it will display the character in full form.”

“That would be something to see. I can see it used in the medical field to put the slices from the CAT scan together.”

“I thought that too, Sharon. We’ll have to come up with a new menu so the items can be deleted and see further into the body.”

“That is a great idea to use those metal pointers. It beats having a glove on or wearing a helmet to view the images.”

“It certainly does.”

We continue eating our lunch. When we get done, we go back into the building and continue in the classroom. By the time it becomes 5 PM, my brain is exhausted. I answered a bunch of questions this afternoon. The engineers agree the main task is to make another copy of what I have created. That way they understand what is going on. Getting the parts is no problem, it is how the new technology is put together and understood.

We leave at 5 PM. As soon as I open the door, my fairies flutter in quickly into the car. I get in as well.

“Oh, my head. I almost forgot what it is like to be in college.”

“Well, you will feel better after the evening meal.”

“Yes I will, Bianca. Croin, what do you think of the day so far?”

“It is not too bad. This is a new experience for me as well. So, far I don’t sense any problems here.”

“I don’t either, Croin.” I arrive back at the Inn. I get out of the car, the butterflies fly out quickly. They fly around to the balcony and wait for me to open it up.

Once the balcony is opened, they fly in quickly. I get out of my clothes and get into some more comfortable clothes and tennis shoes. I make a nice evening meal with some chicken. I also cook up the rest of the chicken breasts I put the cooked chicken in plastic bags and put them in the freezer.

The fairies get their meal put together as well with the paper bowls provided for them. I sit down at the table and give the evening thanks to the Creator.

Once we get done eating and cleaned up, I drive out to the nearby park to see another sunset and see the stars come out. I drive back to the Inn and get ready for
bed.

“It is going to be like this again tomorrow my fairies. I’m just taking it day by day. Right now I need to go to bed. My head is pounding from all of the thinking and talking I did today.”

“We feel your exhaustion, father.”

Lavan sets the alarm clock to be on. I get to bed at about 10 PM. Some of my fairies sing a restful melody to help ease my mind and get to sleep quicker. The dreams were all from the past. I saw family, the friends I made on Twainor. I even found myself sitting on the bench in the flower garden in heaven. However, no one came to me this time. All I see is the beauty of the place and smell the flowers.

The rest of the week continues at the same pace. I taught everyday this week. By the time Thursday comes, they start to understand how I think and in creating the new pieces and 3D virtual drawings for the keyboard, the CPU core, the cameras, the holo-transmitters, etc.
Friday, I get invited into the manufacturing building. I am shown several white rooms. All of the engineers, Mr. Bryson are showing me around the facility.

Once the frame is constructed for the core, it will be put together there. It will be the same for the cameras and the holo-transmitters. I did the same thing back at NC State in assembling those components there, Mr. Bryson. Once I got the static cube to display, I had to use my laptop to make the adjustments until the flashing cursor appeared in the corner of the cube space.

“Did you use an existing keyboard template for yours, Richard?”

“I did, George. The five line display above the keyboard is my own idea.”

“That’s good, then we can put several different kinds in there for the user to choose from.”

After seeing the different stages of manufacturing we see what else they are making there. I see they are constructing alarm systems for windows and doors along with cameras as well.

“This can easily be added to your system to make it more comprehensive.”

“I think it should be an either or system, Mr. Bryson. If one part gets compromised, you still have a back up in place.”

They all smile at each other. “Yes, it should have a back up system, Richard. But what about the 911 stations? Shouldn’t they get this as well?”

“They should, Randy. It will provide a live feed to them for an additional video recording. I was even thinking of putting this in my attorney’s office for backup. Then my parent’s house can be monitored better. Ms. Dawson said that most people only have one camera on the front door with sensors on the doors and windows. Even then, the thief will do a smash and grab before the police shows up. They know how to disable the current video systems.”

“I agree, Richard. More angles are needed around the property. Engineers, figure out how to put both systems in place and work them together.”

“Yes, Mr. Bryson.”

We leave for the weekend and enjoy a nice restful time to wind down from the first week. When Monday approaches again, I begin in earnest in helping them build another 3D System. Slowly the pieces come together in the PC box and with the peripheral devices. They picked out several different kinds of keyboard layouts to choose from. They soon see the trial and error I did in making sure the pieces work. Some of the pieces came easier than others.

During one afternoon, I do some self-defense sessions with those who want it. Most of the ladies do and a few men. I show them several pressure points to get someone off of them if they get grabbed from behind. They all giggle and laugh at seeing my reaction when they learned it the right way.

The next day, one of the male engineers tried to do a butt grab on a lady engineer. She immediately turns around and grabs his wrist bending it back. Then she quickly pinches him in the elbow.

“Owww!”

“Now keep your hands of me, Thadeus! That’s just a warning. Just do your job like you’re supposed to before you get fired for harassment.”


“Yes, Carol. I get the message. Oooh . . . that really hurts.” He continues to rub his elbow as he walks away.

When we did our first trial hook up, they get the static cube. They are laughing and giggling that they get this far with it. Then I show them the subroutine I wrote to get that static cube to disappear and get the cursor flashing in the corner. They put on the metal pointers and draw some virtual lines in space. They see it drawn within the cube space of the holo-transmitters.

They went through each step I did to create the 3D System. There were some more long and exhausting days there. My fairies gently prodded me to eat and do things before I went to bed each night. We were able to get a copy made during the three weeks I’m there. We have a nice little celebration in the break room with cake.

“Congratulations team, you did that a lot faster than I did it back in college.”

“Like you said, Richard. It is a team effort. Now we know what to do to make it more streamlined and efficient. We can see how we can reduce the pieces to three motherboards and three power supplies. We’ll still keep that cooling system. There is no need to change that.”

Mr. Bryson informs me I will be here two months from now to see how you are doing in the mass production design stages.

“Yes, you’ll need to be here for that. We’ll get some preliminary designs made up for the new boards, the peripherals and the documentation you created.”

After we have our fun on Friday. I get to drive back to the Inn to get packed up over the weekend. I leave the Inn on Sunday morning and drive down on I-95 southbound to Jacksonville. We now expect a little more routine in our lives now. Mr. Bryson gave me three apartments to look at. They all have similar landscapes and two story balconies not far from the main office. I look at each one for a half hour. I then decide on which one with the help from my fairies. Once our decision has been made, we go back to the apartment complex to make the deposits on the apartment. I chose a two bedroom apartment with a second storym balcony. The balcony is open to the air and not screened in.

The other two apartments had their balconies screened in. I then call the movers to arrange a day to bring my stuff down. I spend several nights in a local hotel until the stuff arrives. Pay the deposits for the electric and phone. I transfer my drivers license to the State of Florida. Set up my personal bank accounts with the local branch from North Carolina. By Thursday, everything is done. Mr. Bryson gives me the weekend to get myself settled in the apartment and calm downed. My fairies enjoy the natural atmospheric setting of the apartment complex. I am about a half hour from the office on the west side of Duval County.
During the weekend I take a drive to the office with my fairies. We wanted to take a look at the place and get familiar with it. I park in the empty parking lot and get out. My fairies follow me in butterfly mode as we take a walk. We see several flower gardens, trees, benches and a tables under several trees. We really like what we see.

Soon some birds take notice of me and the butterflies. I introduce myself to them and blow some of my breath into the air. They chirp and squawk with delight and fly away.

There is no river nearby this time, but there is a large natural pond on the edge of the property. We really like it. They take a sip of nectar from the nearby flowers to get their energy restored before getting into the car. I then walk back to the car and drive back to the apartment, my fairies flutter into the car to get their rest.

I arrive at the office on Monday morning at 7:45 AM. My fairies flutter out of my car and fly to the flower gardens and the trees. I walk into the front lobby area. I use my ID card to swipe it under the reader.

The front desk secretary greets me. “Welcome to Jacksonville, Richard.”

“Thank you, Karen.”

“Mr. Bryson will be here soon.”

“Thank you, Karen.”


Mr. Bryson appears in the foyer area. “Good morning, Richard. Is everything settled down in the apartment?”

“It is for now. At least I have my own laundry room. I went for the two bedroom apartment and the second floor balcony that is not screened in.”

“hat is about a half-hour from here. Excellent. Well, let me give you another tour here of your new home away from home.”

We smile at each other.

“Yes, the library on campus is like that as well.”

I follow Mr. Bryson and shown the various offices and employees of the two story building. I drop off my lunch cooler in the break room before we begin the tour. There is a printing facility to publish the software products. I greet each one in turn. There is one employee in particular that unsettled me.

In this room, we have our Senior Programmer. He opens the door. He looks up from his desk. “Brent Morgan, I would like to introduce our latest employee, Richard Moore from NC State.”

“I’m pleased to meet you. So you are fresh from college. You will soon realize what you learned in college doesn’t apply here.”

“That might be true. But it is always helpful to have a fresh set of eyes to look at a problem and solve it.”

I shake hands with him. Then I get a very unsettling feeling from him. I look at him eye to eye as we feign our smiles at each other.

He’s trouble, Richard.

I think your right, Croin. I have a very bad feeling about him. Not just for me, for the company as well.

We’ll have to keep an eye on him.

We all will, Richard.

Then he increases his hand strength in my hand as if to intimidate me.

I keep my hand strength hidden from him.

He shows a stupid smirk smile on his face as we let go of our hands.

Mr. Bryson then takes me from his office to meet some more people. I sense there is something brewing underneath about four more people in the company. He then steps up to a door and takes his card and swipes on the reader nearby. The door unlocks and we walk inside. I greet their R&D Department personnel.

“Doug Reynolds and Beth Pearson, this is Richard Moore. He is our new employee here at Secure-Sys.”

“I read some news about you, Richard. That was a good show for your graduation ceremony.”

“Thank you, Doug.”

“What is your position here?”

I look to Mr. Bryson for an answer.

“Richard is very talented in security programming. He will be verifying the security programs before they get burned to the DVDs, along with Brent. He’s one of the best I have seen for several decades. You need to check with our Charleston office to see what he is doing there for us there.”

“I’ll definitely look it up, Mr. Bryson.”

After we have our small talk, we leave the R&D Department. We walk down the hallway and arrive at another secure room. Mr. Bryson takes his card and swipes it on the reader. The door unlocks and we walk inside. I see several very large computer systems that are intended to run 24-7 a week. “This here is our Security Chief, Ben Hawkins and one of his assistants David McGuire.”

“We are please to meet you, Richard. Welcome to Jacksonville.”

“Thank you, sir.”

Mr. Bryson gives the same information them in what my job is here at Secure-Sys. Once we have our small talk again, I’m escorted out of the room. Mr. Bryson walks down the hallway until we get into a larger room with about ten people in the room.

“This here is our programming staff. They churn out the programs. This empty cubicle is yours, Richard.”

“Welcome to the jungle here at Secure-Sys, Richard. My name is Michael Pearson. I’m no relation to Beth in R&D.” He smiles at me.
I shake hands with each of them. “What is your job here?”

“From what I heard from Mr. Bryson here. I will be verifying the security programs before they get burned to the DVDs.”

“Wow, you must be very good if you just graduated from NC State. Mr. Bryson, can we give him a program to debug to test him out?”

I look at Mr. Bryson and smile, “I’m game, Mr. Bryson.”

“Then let’s see you can find the problem.”

I sit down at my chair of my cubicle. I am handed a lengthy printout of the program. It is five pages long. I start at the top and do a fast read of what is printed there. From the comments it is for a check of authorization before it is sent to accounting.

I then go through the program again more carefully as I follow the path of data. I see five errors in the program. Three of them are typos, I circle those in pencil.

For the two remaining errors, they are syntax errors. I write in pencil off to the right what I think it should be. Once I mull over it some more, I turn around in my chair to face them. It took fifteen minutes to do it. I hand the printout to Mr. Bryson.

“This is good, Richard. Here you go, Darrell. What do you think now?”

Darrell takes a look at the printout. “He’s right, sir. The three typos are very significant but it throws it off the sequences. The two syntax errors are definitely evident now. He’s good, Mr. Bryson.”

Out of the corner of my eye I see Brent Morgan listening in. Once we make eye contact, he turns around and leaves the room.

The printout gets passed around for everyone to look at it. Everyone agrees with Darrell that I found the problem. I was then given more programs to go over the rest of the day. Some took a little longer than others, but by the end of the day I get all of them done. When I get done with each one, I put the printout in Brent Morgan’s inbox near his door.

When I break for lunch, I take my lunch cooler out to a bench and table under a tree. My fairies flutter around and join me. We
whisper to each other and talk about the day. There is something wrong here, my fairies.

“What is it, father?”

“My horse sense is giving me a very bad feeling from Brent Morgan. I think there are four more who are unsettled here as well.”

“We’ll keep an eye out for them.”

My fairies tell me they really like this area with the pond. We do some small talk again. When I get done with my lunch I walk back inside to do some work this afternoon. After doing some more proofing of the programs by 5 PM. We all leave the building.

The next day I am given a chance to write my own program and compare it with the others. It takes me about two hours to write out the flow diagram and subroutines I want to use. I then type in the program on the monitor and do a debug check. I get four typos and three syntax errors. I soon find them and correct the errors. I then rerun the program and get no errors. I printout the program for others to see and read.

“This is incredible, Richard. This is very good programming. You’ve made it more protective with those permissions. I doubt anyone will be able to hack that.”

Once it is passed around, I take the printout and put it in Brent’s inbox. I see the stack of printouts in his inbox with about four left.
I continue through the day. One time as I walked past Brent’s closed door, I hear some controlled yelling as Brent tries to stifle his anger.
“Grr . . . this guy is too good. He’s making me look bad. I need to do an emergency email to my associates.”

I continue walking down the hallway to the break room to get a drink of water. Once I drink the cup of water, I walk back to my desk to continue to work.

The end of the day comes again. I go back home with my fairies inside my car. I check my emails from our South Carolina branch. I read they are doing real good in getting the boards redesigned. They can’t wait for me in two months to see their progress.

In the middle of October I get a surprise visit from the North American fairies. They all settle around the apartment complex and the balcony garden I created. While King Oren, Queen White Dove and I have our talks, we notice Victor and Victoria are talking deeply with two fairies in King Oren’s troop.

King Oren looks at me. “Omega, they are falling in love with them.”

“Sigh . . . I see it King Oren. They will be going with you when you fly south in a few days.”

“Have no worries, Omega. They will be safe with us.”

“I know Queen White Dove. It is part of the life cycle. Amber and Cobalt explained it to me one day while I was back at the cabin.”

A few days later, we said our goodbyes and look forward to see each other next year. Victor and Victoria give me some long hugs and tears.

“Be at ease you two. Your hearts are now tied to your soul mates. You have grown up and are now part of King Oren’s clan. We still have our bond that I gave birth to the both of you.”

“We know father. We’ll both miss you. As long as we have a tuft of your hair in our clothes, we are reminded where we are from.”

“As Traphel and the other three fairies are with you representing King Oren. We are with King Oren representing you.”

“Thank you for saying that Victoria. It has helped eased my heart when you said that.”

They hugged my cheeks and kissed it. We look at each other, eye to eye. They touch my tears with their hands and tasted it. “It is salty and sweet, mother.”

They touched their tears and bring it to my lips.
“Those tears are sweet, Victoria.”

“Let this taste of our tears be a good memory, mother.”

“I will Victoria. I will.”

Then they fly away from me. They change into viceroy butterflies and leave my apartment. They join King Oren’s troop and fly south for the Winter in Florida.

Two weeks later on a Saturday night after we had dinner, I drive out to the nearest park to watch the sunset. After our clapping our hands for seeing a great
sunset, I look at the night sky and give a heavy sigh. “Sigh . . .”

“What’s on your mind, father?”

“Is it for Victor and Victoria?”

“It is Bianca and Lavan. I miss them very much. Their wings are from the viceroy butterflies.”

“You know where they are at. They are with King Oren and Queen White Dove. They aren’t alone.”

“I know, Bianca. There with me for five months when they came by to fly south to Florida. I gave birth to them in the cabin before the trial. It is something I will have to get used to my fairies.”

When the two months come, the company already has my room ready at the Residence near the airport. I pack what I need this time. I bring one box of potted
flowers and herbs this time. Traphel is sending one of his fairy escorts with us while they remain behind to watch the apartment. The fairy’s name is Brushwind. When we arrive in Charleston, we are greeted with a surprise. Brushwind’s soul mate is there to welcome us, along with two other fairies. Her name is Blue-lace. She has a gorgeous set of blue tint in her wings for a zebra swallowtail butterfly. They immediately give each other a long hug as they miss each other so much.

I spend the next month again in seeing what they have accomplished. They made a third copy of my 3D System on their own successfully. I am shown the drawings for the new boards and components. They were able to get those registered for patents as well. When it comes to the CPU core, I see they haven’t done anything new there. They did register the frame to support the six CPUs. The cameras and holo-transmitters proved there was no changes needed there.
They did find some new element combinations to increase the range of the cameras. They were able to create a selection for the homeowner and the business versions. Each one covers a certain footage area for each application.

I checked their attempts of programming the CPU core. I found a few lines they missed. They did agree that using the icons is easier to program it that way.

The rest of the year proved to be the same plan of action. I would be in Jacksonville for two months, then one month in Charleston. By the end of the year, the 3D System is in full production. The first two orders are sold to the Raleigh Police Department and the radar installation where Colonel Lawson is stationed. A week after installation at the air force base, all hackers got stopped from trying to take down the system. Soon more orders are made for the 3D System. My commission checks from selling the devices increases dramatically. Soon, Anna Dawson starts investing some of my earnings to help diversify my money. Her
income picks up as well when her clients and new ones requesting the 3D System for their new security system.

I get a system installed at my parent’s house two months after full production. They also created a gaming version for the system. Soon there is a renewed interest in playing the Yugioh card games and the other popular card games. None of the units sold have the capability to make the units invisible. That sub-routine was immediately removed from the core program.

My first full year ends quietly at Secure-Sys in August of 2102. I have just given birth to two more fairies. They are red winged butterflies. Their names are Ruby and Rubio. Just when I think things are going smoothly, I get a call on my cell phone from Anna Dawson in September while at work.

“Richard, you need to come home. Someone broke into your parent’s house.”

“What? I’ll be right there as soon as I can. Where will I stay?”

“I’ll put you up in a hotel. Come to my office first when you get here tomorrow.”

“Okay.” I get up and walk to Dave Parker’s office. I knock on the door.

“Enter.”

I open the door and walk inside.

“Hello, Richard. What can I do for you?”

“I just got a call from Anna Dawson. Someone broke into my parent’s house.”

“That is not good news at all. How long do you think it will take to resolve the matter?”

“I don’t know. I will probably be there for a week at least.”

“I would think so too, Richard. Okay, you can take seven days of your vacation time for this. You can clock out for the rest of the day.”

“Thank you, sir. I’ll be leaving tomorrow morning.”

“Give me news if you need to stay there longer.”

“Yes, sir. Thank you, sir.” I step out from his office. I walk back to my cubicle to pick up my things and laptop.
“Where are you going, Richard?”

“I going back to my parent’s house, Darrell. I just got word someone broke into it.”

“That’s too bad, Richard. Take care until we see you again.”

“See you, everyone.”

I walk out of the building and towards my car. My fairies see me coming out early. They flutter to me quickly. I whisper to them.
“Get in the car. I have to do an emergency trip to the house in Charlottesville.”

They all fly in quickly. I get in the car and turn on the engine.

“What happened, father?”

“I just got word somebody broke into my parent’s house. I think there is more to it.”

“Oh, no. . . What will you do?”

“I don’t know yet, Ruby. Right now, I’m going home early to pack up for the week. We’ll take it day by day.”

“Yes, we will, mother.”

I drive back to my apartment and get myself cleaned up and packed up for the week. Traphel and the other fairies are disappointed in hearing the news. They will stay behind to watch the apartment, while I take my own fairies with me.

I try to get a good night of sleep. It was a little rough for the first hour being so wound up. But eventually I fell asleep by 11 PM. I wake up in the morning at 7 AM this time instead of 6 AM. I plan to be on the road by 8 AM. It is going take about six hours to get there. I give Anna a call telling her when I should be there.

She appreciates the phone call ahead of when to expect me.
I get my luggage into the car. I also bring several bags of nuts and small fruits for the fairies. They all settle in where they want to sit in the car. They are all out of sight behind the front seat. Sometimes they come to the front passenger seat to be near to me.

I continue down the road and drive to Charlottesville and Anna Dawson’s office. It will be interesting to see where this investigation leads.

I arrive at Anna Dawson’s office by 2 PM. My fairies are fluttering around the building staying near the flower gardens while I talk with Anna.

I open the door to her office. I see Brenda at her desk.

“Hello, Richard. I’m sorry you are here for this kind of situation.”

“I’m sorry, too.”

“I’ll let Anna know you are here.”

“Okay.”

“Is your extended family with you?”

“They are, Brenda. They are outside near the flower gardens.”

“That’s nice.” Brenda pushes a button on the intercom of the phone center on her desk.. “Richard is here.”

“He can come in, Brenda.”

I walk to the door and open them up and walk inside. “So, what is this about the house?”

“We will need to wait a bit, I am expecting some other people to be here; it is the police and the fire departments. Not only the house was broken into, it was also set on fire.”

“No, how much was burned up?”

“I do not know; I wanted to wait until the police detective is here with the fire marshal to give us a report on the situation. Then we will all go out to the house and survey the damage.”

On the speaker phone, “Miss Anna, the police and fire department are here as requested.”

Pushing down the button, “Yes, please show them in.”

The door opened and in walked a police detective and a fire marshal. The police detective spoke first, “Please to meet you. I am Detective Johnson. You are Richard? The one who installed the security setup for your house?”

“Yes, sir.”

“I understand there is a recording of this security breach? Where is it?”

“There is a wireless feed to this office and to the system at the 911 station here locally. If you do not mind we can review it here if you like.”

“That we would be great, go and please access it,” said the detective.

I walk to the storage space that houses the wireless set up. I open it up and set out the projectors on stands to project into the office space. I ask that the chairs and table be moved to the walls to make room for the image. When the system booted up; I swiped the magnetic-key card and entered the five-password. All of a sudden a 3D image appears of the house from the outside from a ground view. It even showed the time stamp in 3D near the corner of the viewed area.

“This is incredible Richard, where are the cameras located on the property?”

“I put them in protective shells just under the grass level, in the lamp-post, the bird feeder and other sites around the house. The camera heads are about 5 millimeters across. The bird feeder for example has its own power source and sends it signal wireless to the central server in the house. What you are seeing is a composite of all of the images put together to get a 3D look. We can take a look at any side view like watching a movie; we can pan it and zoom in closer for
details. There are cameras inside the house as well in various locations to do the same thing.”

“That is a great tool you designed, Richard,” said the fire marshal.

“Thank you. Let me get to the index to play the day before and hit play and see what we get.”

“Can you quick scan for the prior weeks and to focus on the street? I want to see if we get lurkers from traffic patterns there,” asks the detective.

“Sure, let me pan around and I will play it from the beginning, I will put the speed a little faster instead of real time; then slow it down to where we need the audio.”

Sure enough there was a vehicle that repeatedly stopped in front of the house for several days in a row; during the day and at night. The detective also picked out the make, the model, and the license plate of the van. It even had some lettering on it. The detective was shaking his head in disbelief on how dumb these criminals were. They even got to look around the house to see how they were to break in. They did not even notice the hidden cameras. I printed out pictures at certain points for the detective to take back to the station when he is done here.
Then the break-in arrived right at 2 PM.

The thieves broke in not realizing they set off the silent alarm. That is pretty daring to do it during the day. But it was a good time when nobody was out and about. The school buses were not due to arrive for another hour. They went right through the front door blasting out the door knob and where the hinges are located with a special air gun, it did not make too much noise. This was a serious duo; they have some sort of expertise.

I then switch to the inside cameras. It is amazing watching them going through the house in 3D in the lawyer’s office. Not only this software had video it had audio as well. The detective was able to get more clues from their talk. The thieves were not just looking for valuables, which they did not find any, except for the paste
objects I left as bait. They also each had a sensor to track. The real valuables were put into the bank vault when I buried my family. They were also looking for something else. They were tearing the place apart like crazy, the walls, the cushions, books everywhere looking for something.

<<<>>>

“It has to be here somewhere, come on Johnny where did you say he might hide it?”

“I know it is here somewhere, Allen. I remembered he bragged about it at work. He said it would be a real safety and time saver if incorporated at the company. He said it was small and simple enough to put into a bread box.”

“I can not believe it. What did you say, a bread box? Get to the kitchen.”

I switch to the kitchen cameras. You see them searching for the bread box.

“There is no bread box here Johnny. But that roll-up you see there.

“Roll up!?!” Allen goes over to the roll up and sees some appliances in there. Allen did not see anything right away, but he looked harder, “Hey, there is something taped on the inside here, I think I can reach it. Got it!!” He pulls out an envelope with a piece of paper folded up inside it. He opens it up and scans it. “This is it, this is his idea. Great I will take this home turn it around declare it my,| I mean our idea, and we will both get the reward money for the idea of the year. Come on Johnny let’s cover up our trail.”

The two thieves took one can of gasoline and poured it out everywhere, on the walls, the floors, everywhere. They lit the matches and rushed out of the home and sped away. The last images seen was the house engulfed in flames in the living room area. Then the projected room becomes a static cube when the power cable was burned by the fire.

<<<>>>

I then turn off the system; the room returns to normal. I then copy the recording and give a copy to the detective and the fire marshal.
Everyone sits there and ponder about what they saw. It was like watching a thriller type movie. When everyone calmed down, the detective spoke up.

“Well we know who, what, where, why and when. So, George what do you think,” asks the detective?

“It is very compelling. At least we know what to look for and where when we get to the house and the business,” said the fire marshal.

“I should say so, when we get there you three will have to remain outside the cordoned off area. It is still a dangerous place. I do not want anything falling down on you,” said the detective.

“That is no problem sirs. My assistant here will get the paper work going on her end to expedite the prosecution. You will have it on your desk after you get the two responsible for this.”

“Thanks again. You have a great system Richard; I am very impressed by it. I am glad we have it installed at the 911 station. I will make sure we get other cameras installed at other locations around town that need better security,” said the fire marshal.

“That is no problem. It is the least I could do to return the favor after I lost my family.”

“I am sorry for your loss. If there is anything you need done; please let us know, okay,” asked the detective.

“Uh, sirs to just let you know, I’m working for a company in Florida. They have a branch facility in Charleston where they are making the 3D System. Here are some of their cards if you need to get a hold of me.” I also hand a few cards to Anna as well.

“Thanks, Richard,” they both responded at the same time.

“I see that you are not far from here, Northeast part of Florida,” said the detective.

“Well I want a little warmer weather and to be closer to the beach like I was in college.”

“We understand that. Well let’s get to the house. You do have insurance on the place do you?” asked the fire marshal.

“You better believe it,” said Anna.

“Good, let’s go then,” said George.

We all caravan out to the house. It was stunning to see the loss that took place. Sure it had some memories. Some of them were good, some were bad. The entire living room is gutted with damage. Fortunately the fire trucks arrived to get it under control before it reached the second floor. They knew I wanted to find some sort of mementos to remember the place by, but I had most of them already in storage in the bank vault. But, they said I can comb through it afterwards once it is declared safe. There was not much to find.

There was a van that went by the scene that we did not notice while we were there. I just caught it out of the corner of my eye. I mentioned it to the detective. He appreciated the tip. He called on his radio and notified his team to be on the look out for the van. It turned out to be the same van from the 3D video. They followed the van back to the home owner’s house. Another dumb move by the thieves; it was not needed anyway. We knew who they were and where they worked.
Well, the story made the local news. The owner of the business met me and Anna and apologized for his employees’ bad behavior; because the next day they were fired and arrested. The owner promised that the money made from my dad’s idea would go to a charity that would benefit families who lost their homes as well.

Just to let you know, my dad worked at a manufacturing company that built tools and other assorted equipment. His idea was to make a tool that allowed the user to be safer and be more productive in making other tools. I guess I took after my dad in some way. His approach was mechanical engineering, mine was electronic and computer engineering.
I had to stay at a local hotel during this time. Kind of like living in the dorms; but it is a lot more comfortable. I met with Anna a few times more. I contacted Dave Moore that I will be back in the office come Monday. Before I left, I purchase a brand new car, free and clear. It is a hybrid with low miles, but at least it is a gas saver.

I said my goodbyes to Anna and her staff. I give her permission to start putting the calls in to contractors in getting the damage to the house inspected, appraised and rebuilt.

We promised to keep in contact from time to time. She is a good lawyer and friend. Friend . . .hmm . . . I sure do miss Brianna. I wonder how she is doing with life. I hope hers was easier than mine.

.

The Rescue Mission
Chapter 2
Written by rachel76m
Edited by Don Kaufman

I arrive back in Jacksonville on Sunday and start another week of work. The second year proved to be rather interesting. About four months ago, I see something odd in my programs that I have written. When I do a security check on the burned DVD copy. I find a backdoor that bypasses the security check protocol I wrote. I then access the EXE program and reverse the conversion process. I see some additional code that I certainly didn’t write there.

I then check all of the DVD copies of several different programs we publish to our top clients. I see the same set of code in them as well. What is going on here? Who put that in there, Croin?

I don’t know, Richard.

I need to double check this out. I need permission from Mr. Bryson before he goes on his trip to Washington in a few weeks.

I call the secretary to make an appointment to Mr. Bryson. She said I can see him tomorrow morning.

“Thank you, Linda. I’ll be sure to be there at 8 AM.”

“You’re welcome, Richard.”

The next day, I arrive early to work to see Mr. Bryson. I’m sitting in his office discussing the issue.

“Mr. Bryson, I need your permission to review your accounts and some DVD copies for our top clients. I think there is a compromise in the programs.”

“What are you saying, Richard?”

“When I did my random security check on a burned DVD, I found a backdoor that went around my security measures. It bypasses it and you get direct access to the hard drive.”

“That’s a serious charge. You don’t know who is doing it?”

“Not at this time, sir.”

“Why do you want to look at the accounting data?”

“I want to see if someone is being paid off or if someone is stealing money from the company.”

“I see. You have my permission to do this independent audit. It will help our regular auditors as well.”

“Thank you, sir.”

Mr. Bryson accesses the accounting program. He copies the data logs to the Accounts Receivable and Accounts Payable ledgers and burns them to several DVD’s for me. He then hands the copies to me.

“Thank you, sir.”

“You’re welcome, Richard. How is it going otherwise?”

“It’s going fine, sir. I have been experimenting on something new with my 3D System back in my apartment. When I get it finalized it will be another feature available to use.” I smile at him.

He smiles back at me, “I look forward to seeing it in action.”

“Yes, Sir. Good luck in Washington, Sir.”

“Thank you, Richard. A lot of agencies are very interested in your 3D System. They would like to see it ramped up to a larger scale to be used in the Pentagon and the other National security agencies. Even Interpol is interested in it as well.”

“Will I be needed in Charleston for a month like last time?”

“I would think so, Richard. You will need to make sure it scales out properly.”

“I understand, sir.”

I get up and shake his hand.

“You know, Richard. Ever since I heard the Creator’s Voice, it has been easier to make some decisions around here. I know we’ve had our private talks, but it is going to take time to get Earth ready for the Emissaries. I hope to be here when contact is made. At least I get to thank you privately for being our representative to Twainor.”

“You’re welcome, sir.”

I leave his office and return back to my desk. I look at my shelf and see the products we use. I walk down to publishing to have a talk with Jennifer.

“Hello, Jennifer.”

“Hello, Richard.”

“Jennifer, I need the recent copies from our products.”

“Why do you need them?”

“I just got permission from Mr. Bryson to do an independent audit of the products.”

“That’s fine, Richard.” Jennifer walks over to the shelves and picks one of each from the products we publish. She hands me four DVD disks in their cases.

“Thank you, Jennifer.”

“You’re welcome, Richard. Richard, I have a question to ask you.”

“Yes, Jennifer.”

“Some of us girls and guys are getting together for a trip to the beach during Labor Day weekend. We would like you to join us.”

“Thank you very much, Jennifer. I’ll definitely make plans to be there.”

“You’re a sweetheart, Richard.”

She comes up to me and gives me a quick hug. I don’t see Brian Dixon and Darren McIntyre walk behind me past the open door to publishing. We then break apart. I see her a little red faced. I turn around and leave the room.

In the second week of August, I did a Rabbit Trails search on Brent to see where it goes. When I see the results, I see three names I don’t recognize. I check with Interpol to see if they are there. To my amazement, I see they are high on their interdiction list. I print out those names and take a walk down to R&D to see Doug. I use my ID card to swipe the reader, I hear a click and open the door. I walk inside to see Doug there, but not Beth.

“Hello, Richard.”

“Hello, Doug. I have three names I came across in doing some background search on Brent.”

“Let me take a look, Richard.”

I hand the printout sheet to him. He looks at it carefully. “Where did you find these names?”

“I used my Rabbit Trails program to see if there are any external connections to Brent. I found these three names. They are from Europe and on Interpol there.”

“Hmm . . . I don’t recognize them right away, Richard. I’ll double check my transcripts from the chat rooms.”

“That’s fine, Doug. Well, I need to get back to my desk. I think Brent is circumventing my security measures in the programs to some of our clients.”

“Can you prove it?”

“I think I can, Doug. But I need to double check that.”

“Do you have an idea what they are after?”

“It seems to be pointing to the banks especially.”

“That has been done before, Richard.”

“I know, Doug. But I think this time it is to wipe out the US Dollar and make the Euro the currency of choice.”

“Hmm . . . can it be done?”

“It will have to be a very sophisticated virus to do that.”

“Can it be thwarted?”

“I think so, Doug. I have thought of creating a little virus of my own to wipe out the world wide debt.”

He smiles at me, “That would be something to see, Richard. See you later.”

“See ya’ later. Well, take care, Doug.”

“You do the same, Richard.”

I leave the R&D lab and walk back to my desk. I continue working through the day as ususal.

In August is my two year anniversary in working with Secure-Sys. It is time to do the yearly review. Also, I’m about six months pregnant with another set of fairies.

I turn in my time sheet at work. The HR Director asks me to come in for the job review. Of all of the meetings to attend, this job review is the toughest; because they tell you if you are up to par in producing good quality work. What I do for the company is pretty complex and detailed. I write security software programs, do data entry, I help take care of the network, etc. everyday is a busy day here.

I knock on the door, “Sir, I am here for the job review.”

“Come on in Richard, you are on time,” said Dave, head of Human Resources for the company.

I take a big breath and breathe it out, turn the door knob and enter into the office. I take a seat in front of the desk and look at Dave hoping everything will be alright.

Looking up from his desk, he scans me over. “Well, as you know it is time for your job review. You have been here 2 years so far. I know you were hired to fill in a tough demanding spot. You have written some very good programs without many bugs in them. You have kept up with the other multitasking jobs as well. But, ….”

Oh great, here comes the ‘but’, I thought.

“It seems there are some areas you are lacking. We have given you time to get up to speed, but you have not met our expectations in some areas,” said Dave.

“Could you please tell me what they are so that I can improve on that sir?”

“Sure, I will tell you what you need to do to get you better prepared for your future. We know it is none of our business, but your personality does not seem to fit the profile of what we expect in our employees. We know you are a quiet type person that does not make waves, which is fine for you. But, we need a Type ‘A’ person that has that ‘go get them’ attitude. Your work ethic is great; in making sure the programs have the bugs removed. You have even improved some of our standards to a degree; and also the presentations with your flare. But, I am afraid is that your personality is bit too, how should I say it, too mousy and quiet sometimes. It should be more aggressive in getting things done.”

“So, you are telling me that you like my work to a degree, but my quiet attitude is not what you expect? If you want to know, that quiet and slow attitude allows me not to stress out and make more mistakes if I was faster and more aggressive, sir.”

“Well it needs to be both ways, Richard. You need to be faster, more accurate and aggressive to get things done right the first time. You are getting it right the first time, but the overall time is slow. I appreciate the accuracy. But, if you can not change that speed aspect about you, I think you will need to leave our company and find employment elsewhere that will hire you.”

“If I remember right Dave, the programs that I wrote belong to the company. This is fine, I can always rewrite them and rearrange them to be different and still do the same task at another company. I appreciate your willingness to hire me and to give this chance to grow and plan a future. Is there anything else sir?”

“Yes, there is. You need to continue and get your certifications for one thing. There are only two left for you to earn. You did fine by getting your Masters degree and what you accomplished there. It also has come to my attention from other employees that they are very uncomfortable around you, especially some of the men. It seems that you have a better rapport with the women then they do. They are resenting that you seem to have an inside track on how to make friends with the ladies than you do with the men.”

“What? You're kidding me? I was wondering where those post-it notes were coming from. Getting those certifications are important, but finding the time to study up is tough. I was hoping to get more work experience to answer those questions better on the tests.”

“What post-it notes, Richard?”

“It seems they are accusing me of being a sissy and a fairy for making friends with the ladies. Just to let you know, I learned a long time ago while I was growing up on how to appreciate girls. I wouldn't be surprised if these men are just jealous and are trying edge me out.”

“Well, I am sorry to hear that. You are a good employee otherwise, but I am looking out for the company.”

“Perhaps you are. But you better have a good look and a good set of ears to hear what they are saying behind your back. This was probably a case of getting even and getting me out of the company, because I was disturbing their territory on the ladies or for some other reason. Plus, I bet I was writing better programs than they were. But, I will go as you say. When I get the chance, I'll contact the SC division of this company. That is where I started with this company. I'll see if they want me back.”

With both of us getting up, we shake hands and said our goodbyes and good lucks. I still don’t see a reaction from him.

Richard might be right about some of the male employees. They are a bit territorial with the female staff. Some of the ladies have complained to me about some of them as being rude and obnoxious. I have even seen some of the ladies get cornered by some of the men. Those looks on their faces have the look of retreat and even fear sometimes. But these men are some of our brightest minds in the company. I knew Richard would be a good addition; I have seen some of his work before. The programs are neat, reliable, and easy to understand, troubleshoot and expand. I might need to get the proof and present the evidence to Robert. But, it was Robert who recommended that we let Richard go in the last email from him. Does he know something I do not? Something is going on here. I better make plans for myself, if I see my number is up. I am going have to wait and give this info to Robert, he just left for week long Security Conference in DC. Wait a second, Richard said he started at our SC division? I came here one month before he just started there. I better check his employment history again and his credentials.

“It states here Richard graduated in the top one percent in his class as Salutatorian for the ceremonies. His senior project was developing a new security software and hardware system that hasn't been done before. He continued that while getting his Masters. I was there for one day only. No, that can't be the same one at our SC division. Is it?” I better double check that. If Richard did create that, then our company could be in trouble, big time. Someone pulled the strings to get Mr. Bryson to sign that release. He never would have done that.

~~~000~~~

I drive back to my apartment. My fairies try to comfort me. They stay in butterfly mode while they sit on the back seat.

“You know it's Brent and his cronies.”

“I know it is, Cobalt. But I need to prove it he's sabotaging my programs.”

I stop by the office to see the apartment manager to inform her of the situation. My fairies fly out of the car, I then lock the car. They fly to the back porch on the second floor where my apartment is. They take their rest in the garden that I built there.

“Hello, Melissa. I have some sad news to give. I was let go at the company there,” said Richard.

“Hello, Richard. I am sorry to hear that. How much money do you have saved up before it gets desperate,” asked Melissa?

“I have about 2 months to hopefully find a new job. Plus my nest egg that I vow not to touch unless it is needed by all means.”

“Well, you better get cracking, that time flies fast. You have been here about 2 years. That is not much of a reference, but it is a start when you need it. You will need some other references.”

“Thanks, Melissa. I will get cracking on that job hunt again. Hopefully all goes well by then. Have a good weekend, Melissa.”

“You too Richard, good luck.”

I arrived in my apartment. Well, time to look for another company. I do have a few leads to work on. At least I saw the writing on the wall with this company. I thought for sure this would be the company for me. The Creator even told me so. I even met the CEO who said he was impressed with my work. He even purchased a copy of my invention and had it installed in his office on a weekend. I wonder why the change of heart? So, in my spare time at home I combed the internet for job leads and from personal contacts with companies that I knew about. Hopefully I will not be out of work too long. The Charleston office should welcome me back with no problems. Well, let’s check the mail today.

Going down to the mailbox, I open it and find a few pieces of mail. Rats, just junk mail. Oh well, let’s check the email account to see if anything is there.

Going back into the apartment. I open the screen door. My fairy family flies inside and change back to their normal selves. I walk up to my PC and turn it on. I log on and check the email. hmm… Not too much. Some are from classmates. Some are the idiotic Spam from those Yahoo groups that I belong to. I wish those group owners would be more active to clean up their groups. Well, I better update my resume and create my introduction letter to the Charleston office.

After sending a copy of the updated intro letter and resume to Charleston, I get in the shower and get ready for bed. Lying on the bed, I stare at the ceiling. My fairies fly into my room. I can not believe it. I am making friends with the ladies and some of the men there get jealous. Someday they might learn their lessons, but then again some will not. I hope the ladies there are smart enough to leave before they get hurt. Hurt…hmm….I sure do miss Brianna. We had a great friendship going. But, I will never forget that time she asked me for something special when we played house one day. She has three older brothers in the family. Sure she identified with her mom. Brianna asked her if she could get a sister. Mom said no, she could not. Me? I had only brothers as well, no sisters. But, I was the baby of the family. Mom doted on me that is for sure. But since we were neighbors and the same age, we knew we would get along fine. I did learn a lot from her on how to treat girls. She even appreciated the time I protected her when some of the local bullies at school whom tried to hurt her. Sure I took a beating. But, it was worth it. Those instances just drew Brianna and me that closer together. But, then it was discovered that I was not normal on the inside. When they took the X-rays the doctors were surprised. They informed my parents of the discovery. They said if it was not interfering with my growth they said to leave it be. It will be decided upon later. I wished they told me, they never did have that chance. I had to find out for myself later.

“Sigh.....”

“It will all work out, Richard.”

“I know, Tigress.”

“I'm just remembering my times with Brianna.”

“You might still find her, someday.”

“I hope so Amber, I hope so and soon. My searches have come up empty so far.”

“Yes, the Wilson name is a very common last name here.”

“Yes, that's the hardest part, Tiger.”

Then the fairies start to hum a restful melody to ease my soul. I start to think of the times I had with Brianna.

~~~000~~~ Flash Back ~~~000~~~

Then one day Brianna planned something special the next time we played house. Usually I played the husband, she would play the wife, both of us would act out scenes of having children with the toy dolls she had or other events that we see our parents do. I came over at the usual time; she sat at the table waiting for me to arrive. I sat down and poured for both of us a cup of water. We both took it and sipped from the cups. We put our cups down, I placed my hands on the table, and she reached over and held them saying…

“Richard, I have a special request for a day that’s needed to be planned. We have been best of friends these last several years. For this play session to work; I want to do something special. You know that when I told mom I would like to have a sister, she said no.”

“I remember that day, Brianna. You were heart broken. You cried to your room. We met later that day and you told me all about it. What do you have in mind, Brianna?”

“It is not a far stretch from our play acting. Hmm, how can I say this … I want you to dress up and be my sister. There, I said it!”

“Wow, you are asking a lot; your sister, huh. What will your parents think or even my parents if we are caught doing this? You know how traditional our parents are in thinking being in the Deep South here in SC.”

“I know, Richard. I am hoping we can do this when one or both of our families are out all day and we are here by ourselves.”

“It could work. But we are both ten. They still see us as needing a baby sitter.”

“True Richard, but we might be able to convince the baby sitter that we are play acting to get ready for a play at school or something. I will need you to act like my sister in the play so I have someone to practice my lines with.”

“That’s a good plan. We will have to talk with each other and determine when that will happen. Are there any special days that you know that are coming up, Brianna?”

“You remember that party they went to awhile back last year, both of our parents went? They sent the boys to summer camp that year. We were here by ourselves because we were too young to go their summer camps. We had a baby sitter then on some nights.”

“I do remember that last year. It was neat that we could play all the time. That baby sitter was cool. You think we can get her again?”

“I will ask my mom when the time comes. I will let you know.”

“Okay, Brianna, sounds good. Wow, I am going to dress up to be your sister. This will be fun. I will get to know you better. You are my best friend Brianna.”

“Yes, Richard, you are my best friend. Well, look at the time. We better clean up here; I have some homework to do.”

“Sure, I will help clean up. I have some homework to do as well.”

The days went by. At the end of May was the end of the school year. Everybody looked forward to the summer vacations and trips. Brianna and I, well we learned this year is going to be a repeat of last year. Our brothers are off to summer camp, Brianna and I get to stay home again. Sure our parents looked forward to this time of peacefulness around the homes. Our older brothers sure create a lot racket and noise, but hey, they are teenagers.

As expected; the parents decided on a full day and night that they would plan together as friends, coming home around 10 PM. Our baby sitter arrived on time about 9 AM. Our parents are off to the county park at the lake, dinner and a movie. Yes, it will be a long day for them. Once we said our goodbyes, and the baby sitter got the emergency instructions, they left for the day.

“All right you two, you are not going to give me problems today are you?” Asks Karen, who is our favorite baby sitter.

“No, Miss Karen, we will not be any problems. But, I do have something special to ask for today,” said Brianna.

“Something special; what is it Brianna?”

“Well,” Here it goes. “You know how it is just Richard and I when we are with you. You are just a like an older sister sometimes which I would like to learn more about with. But, Richard is left out of the fun and games that we do. I was wondering if (gulp) Richard could join us and be a sister with us today so that he will not feel left out. Besides, it might be good for him to know some of the things we do. He is a great friend already. But I do not want him to be like our obnoxious brothers.”

I sat there flabbergasted when she said that. She changed the story from a play at school to this? Wow!!

“I will have to think about this one Brianna. Hmm... it is a neat idea. It is not too often that I get a chance to help a boy out to be a better person. I have had some bad dates, even your brothers tried to pick me up sometimes. Some of them are nice, but most of them are rude, but you both know that already. Well, for this to work out, we will need some clothes for Richard. Fortunately both you and Richard are the same size about. But we need a girl’s name for you Richard.”

“You want to give me a girl’s name? Well, you might not know this, but I heard mom talked to my dad that she was hoping for a daughter and she would be named Rachel.”

“Rachel, that’s a very good name. I like it,” said Brianna.

“Okay Rachel, you are Brianna’s sister today,” said Karen.

“If I am going to be Rachel, I guess my first question is what sisters do when they are together, Karen. So, how do sisters act?”

“Well they act like friends, but they talk about different things than you would normally do with your brother.”

“I do know that is very true. One time when mom asked me at the dinner table what Brianna and I did one day. I told her what we did.”

~~~000~~~

She gave me praise which was very nice. But my brothers and even my dad snickered and laughed that I was playing ‘girly games’ with Brianna. But, I responded back with a smile and asked dad, “Isn’t that what you do? Raising a family like us?” (I raise my voice on the word ‘do’).

Mom gives a smile and looks at dad, “We . . .ll?” with a rise her voice.

“Ahem, I am sorry; I didn’t realize what you were both doing. Isn’t that right Mike and Kenny?”

“Uh, no, we didn’t mean anything by it, honest.”

Kenny snickers behind his hand again.

“Well he is your younger brother; he just might turn out to be a better husband than you two will be if you do not learn how to treat your girlfriends better.”

“Uh, right mom. We will treat our dates better and with more respect.” Again Kenny snickers again with a smile.

~~~000~~~

“Look at the time, Brianna, we need to get busy and get Rachel all ready to be your sister. So, let’s get her cleaned up and dressed up,” said Karen.

“Right, okay Rachel, time for a shower and washing your hair. Go into my bathroom, you will see I have laid out the soap, shampoo and a towel for you to use.”

“Okay Brianna, I’m going.” Upon entering her bathroom I stripped down and step into the shower. I have used her soap and shampoo before. There was one time we were playing out in the nearby playground, it started to rain before we entered her house. Her mom insisted we get cleaned up properly. We were both dirty and smelly from that quick run home. I really enjoyed her stuff. I sure wish my mom would let me have some of this. But mom said no, because I am sharing the bathroom with my older brothers. She thinks they would not appreciate those aromas wafting around the bathroom. I finished cleaning up and washing my hair, as soon as I turned off the shower, I hear Brianna.

“On the shelf in there you will see a pair of panties, put those on and come on out.”

I put them on and stepped out into her bedroom. Wow, these panties are nice and soft. I will have to remember this when I get older. Brianna and Karen directed me over to the bed and I see some clothes that I will be putting on.

“Okay, here we will help you get dressed up.”

They proceeded to put a bra on me, a blouse on and stepped into a skirt. Then they had me sit at Brianna’s makeup table.

“We are just going do to this lightly like Brianna here. Comb out your hair; we are going to put this wig cap on. Since your black hair is not long enough you will have to wear this blond wig.”

After they were done, I looked into the mirror. I could not believe how I looked; they put some socks and shoes, jewelry, etc. on me. There was no perfume put on me though. It was incredible, I looked like a girl. “Wow, girls this is neat. So what do we do now?”

“Well, we get to do a lot of things today. We will get you cleaned up before your parents come by to pick you up. We left off the perfume so that your family will not become suspicious,” said Karen.

“Oh, we can put the perfume on him, Miss Karen. His parents and his brothers will then know if he has been here or not,” she giggles.

“Well if that’s the case, Brianna. (I started to blush as I nodded my head up and down.) …we will put a little on, but not too strong.” She smiles as she sprays a little on my wrists and my neck.

The day went great. We played all kind of games that girls played. Playing with the dolls was easy and doing some play acting there. But, this time I get to play the mommy. It was very interesting to learn it from her perspective. We had a nice tea party for lunch. I acted my best as they taught me. When it was time for dinner, we set up the dinner that Brianna’s parents had set aside for us. Afterwards we cleaned up and watched a movie they both liked. It was new to me, but I really liked it. After the movie, I went to Brianna’s room and bathroom to get cleaned up and get changed back to being Richard.

“I am sorry to see Rachel go home. I really enjoyed today,” said Karen.

“Me too, Miss Karen. Perhaps we can do this again during the summer. I know there will be a few Saturdays left before our brothers come home from summer camp.”

“Yes, Miss Karen and Brianna. I really enjoyed it. It was neat playing some of things you both do. That makeup was incredible; I just looked like a girl when you got me made up.”

“Sure, no problem Brianna and Richard, I will make sure that I am available when that happens, just let me know a few days in advance. Well, you two better get some shut eye. Richard you are on the couch while you Brianna go back to your room.”

“Okay Miss Karen. Thank you for a wonderful day.” I go to the couch and lay down on the pillow. Brianna went to her room. It was about another hour before our parents showed up. My mom and dad wake me up and take me home after we said our goodbyes and thank you.

When we get inside the house, mom asks me a question, “Well, did you have wonderful day Richard?”

“Yes, we did. We really like Miss Karen. She is a good friend. Can we have another get together when you are all out again? Can we mom and dad, please?” I pleaded.

“Well, I will have to think about it and do some planning, son. We really enjoyed our day out too. Your mother and I have discussed that we will be taking a few more days off before your brothers come home,” said dad.

“That is great dad. I really like Brianna and Miss Karen. It sure makes up not having a sister in our family, right mom?”

“Well, dear (looking over at dad with some sad eyes), you know we have been fortunate to have such great neighbors. I see no reason to stop Richard from seeing her.” You are too young to know why the Wilson and Moore families are really good friends. Hopefully you’ll understand someday in the future.

Well a week goes by; our brothers will be home from their month long summer camp in a few weeks. Mom and dad felt it was necessary to take these days before the madness returns of raising three boys. Saturday comes again and I find myself at the Brianna Wilson’s home again to spend the day with. Miss Karen is to be our baby sitter again.

We were able to do this for two more Saturdays. It was the last Saturday that everything changed between our families.

We had gotten into a pretty good routine of having our fun. But that last Saturday, it rained very hard that afternoon. I was still dressed up when they showed up at the door wet looking to get dry. When they saw me dressed up as a little girl, I thought my whole world disappeared.

Of course they demanded to know what is going on. Miss Karen and Brianna tried to explain the play acting they were doing. But both sets of parents wanted no part of it. It was decided that we will never see each other again. I cried when I heard that ultimatum.

They took off the clothes I was wearing and threw them down in a heap. They grabbed Richard’s own clothes and took me home after I got dressed, I sobbed like crazy. I tried to explain it to them; but they would not listen.

To make matters worst, a week after the brothers came home from summer camp, word came down that both of our dads were reassigned to new locations for the companies they work for. To them they saw it as opportunity to keep us apart. Mom and dad laid down the law about cross-dressing and how sinful and wrong it was.

But, I could see some reservation in mom’s eyes, but she went along with it. We moved to another town near Charlotte, NC. We stayed there until I graduated from high school and went to college. They never spoke of the Wilson’s again.

One time I took a sneak into mom’s address book. I saw the Wilson family erased out of the book. What am I going to do now? Well, take it day by day. Sure I still got the butt end of the jokes from my brothers for dressing up like a girl, plus some other stuff about me. They kept that up for years. All, it did was just remind me of the loss I had with Brianna.

It turns out once that I focused on school my grades; which were always very good. I was able to earn a scholarship to a university which was on the other side of NC. I had to move into the dorms to do so; my major which I really liked was in the field of computers and electronics; especially designing security software. I also earned the purple sash with the third degree at the dojo where my dad had me to attend.

~~~000~~~ End of Flash Back for Richard Moore ~~~000~~~

[In the Wilson Home]

As soon as Richard and his family left that evening; my mom and dad came down on me hard.

“Why mom? Why dad? We were just play acting. I wanted to know what it is like to have a sister!! Richard is my best friend my age here.”

“But Richard is a boy not a girl. Besides boys do not wear girl clothes,” said mom.

“Well, for some reason he is like a girl as well. I can not put my finger on it. But he is more caring than most boys at my school. Besides, do you remember he stood up for me and protected me from some of those bullies?”

“I remember that day well. Richard did do a good thing that day. I was very impressed by it,” said Brianna’s dad, Larry. But, they told me some upsetting news about Richard when they took those X-rays after getting beat up. I am going to have to keep that info between Helen and me. Besides we promised each other to not tell the children about it. It would make things worse for Richard. I thought Richard was too soft, he seems such a nice boy, and he did act girlish sometimes. What is going on with me here? No, boys should not wear girl clothes; besides Helen agrees with me on this point. We thought for sure Richard would be the one to carry on the legacy of our homeland and Brianna would be by his side. Ughh . . . this is so confusing. Help me, Creator!

“Uh, earth to Larry? Is there anything wrong?”

“Uh, uh, no there isn’t my dear. I agree with you no boy should be wearing girl clothes. And you little girl need to get to bed now. You will not be seeing Richard anymore. Got that? And make no buts about it either!!”

“No mom, no dad.” I picked up Rachel’s clothes and I cried all the way to my room and cried on the bed and onto Rachel’s clothes. I made a promise to not forget Richard and Rachel. I took her clothes and had them washed with my next laundry. Afterwards, I folded them up neatly and put into a box for safe keeping.

A week later, my brothers came home from summer camp. They were telling jokes about the fun they had. They even had some girls come over from another camp to have a social. From the way how they described it, I am sure they had a good time, some did not. If I went to that social I sure would have not danced with them. They are so rude. They have no clue how to act around us girls. At least Karen and I were able to teach Richard a thing or two on how to do it. I hope Richard will not forget me.

The next week, I received the worse news yet at the family meeting.

“I have some sad news to give. My company has assigned me to another branch office to get them up and going.”

“What and leave our friends here and start over, that’s not fair.” Everybody whined and cried over it.

What!?!?! Oh no, I will be separated from Richard and Karen!! No, this is worst day of my life!!

“Oh and one more thing; the Moore’s will be moving as well. They will be moving somewhere else altogether,” said dad.

No, no, it can not be!!! Lose contact with Richard!! I will miss him dearly. No, I will not forget him! I run to my room and I cried on my bed again. Without my knowing, mom crept in and sat on the corner of my bed. I turned around and cried on her shoulder.

“There, there, I do not like it anymore than you, but you are going have to forget Richard.”

“Forget Richard? He is my best friend. We had lots of fun. Playing games, we even played house.”

“Yes, you did, but you got him dressed up in your clothes. Boys do not wear girl clothes.”

“But I wanted to know what its like to have a sister near my age. The ones that I do know are either too old or too young. Most of the ones at school want nothing to do with me. Most of them are just too cliquish; they don’t want me in their inner circles. They think I am too smart and nerdy. There is nothing wrong with me mom, right?”

“No there is nothing wrong with you. You just happen to be a very smart girl for your age. You just keep getting those grades and you will be off to college and have a great time there. You will see. Just be patient about it.”

“But I was hoping that Richard…”

“Now no more talk about Richard, he is in the past now. You just forget him. There will be other boys in your life. You are a very pretty girl. I am sure you will get some dates.”

Well true to their word, we moved to another state. I did not even know where the Moore’s moved to. I sneaked in one time when mom and dad were not around to check mom’s address book. I looked to see if there is a forwarding address from them. What?!?! The name is erased!! No!! It can not be!! I will never forget Richard. I vow to find him some day!!!

Well the years went on. I went to a new school; I had to start all over finding new friends. My brothers were not much help. Being that the three of them are 6 years older than me at least. They moved out of the house, one by one and started their new lives. When I got into middle school and high school; I had a few dates. But, most of them were too grabby and aggressive for me. So, I kept to myself and keep the grades up for college like mom and dad wanted. The oldest, Allen, was able to get to college on a football scholarship, but he was not good enough for the pros. Even his major did not prepare him for the real world. He got a degree in athletics? All he was good for was to be a coach. He might make it someday if he keeps at it. The middle brother, Brian, was always getting into trouble; trying to find the easy way to make fast money. He was our black sheep. He eventually moved into an apartment near Knoxville to make it. We have contact with him about a couple times a year. My youngest brother, Charles just graduated from high school. At least he took those industry classes to find honest hard work.

Me? My grades turned out real good. I was able to get some scholarships for college at UT in Knoxville. One of the gifts from mom and dad was a computer. Of course it came with an internet account. I would be up late at night on weekends doing the homework, plus looking to see if I can find Richard. Then during my junior year in college I read the news about the Moore family being lost in a plane crash during the summer vacations. It broke my heart when I read that. But, it also stated that Richard was away in college in NC when that happened. Well at least I know he is safe for now.

So, when the news came about the crash; I approached mom and dad with the news. “Uh, mom, dad, I have some sad news to give. You remember the Moore’s who used to live next door to us?”

“Yes, dear I remember them. Is there anything wrong, why do you look so sad dear?”

“The Moore’s took their summer vacation as usual with their two oldest boys. They were all killed in a plane crash during a bad storm. They were heading to that small town that you like going to sometimes.”

“What? Are you kidding me Brianna? All of them got killed?”

“No dad, I am not kidding. In fact according to the story, Richard was away at college when it happened,” as I started to cry.

Mom and dad came over and hugged me. “There, there, everything will be all right. I will check with the company if I can use some vacation time to get to the funeral.”

“Thanks dad; that would be great,” sniffed Brianna.

Well it turns out that dad or our family could not make the trip. Mom saw to it to at least send flowers to the funeral home. Strange; how did she know where to send the flowers? She must have their address in another place; but I never saw the address on the box once it was shipped out. Darn it. Mom is still playing games with me. Fine, I will find Richard on my own. At least I know which university he is going to now. They know something that they do not want tell me; but what is it? And it is not the cross-dressing problem anymore. It is something else.

During my junior year, I decided my major was going to be in pediatrics. That means a medical school and about two more years. I also decided to do the fast track and end a semester early in December. I just like working around kids and helping them through their problems. Maybe I am not doctor material; but getting to that professional post as an assistant will be close enough. It makes me feel good that I am doing something positive; liked I helped Richard out to be a better boy. Richard…hmm… I sure do miss him.

I graduated with my bachelors with no problems. I continued on with my Masters Degree in Pediatrics in Medical School. I did not think too much about Richard as the next year and half went focusing on medical school; besides there was not too much news anyway. I did decide to spend another year in Medical School to earn specialty courses while I have the chance.

When I got close to graduation next year, I caught a big article in the science journal. It seems that Richard has developed the first generation of holographic security systems. Neat, I knew he was a smart boy. There is even a picture of him in the journal. Well, will you look at that! He has not changed much since I knew him last. He still has that young looking face. I printed out the article and saved it.

During the summer break there were some construction projects going on. One in particular was an upgrade to the security system. It was put into the campus newspaper that certain areas would receive the upgrade. We were not told the details, but it was improvement to the video system. It was also installed in the dorms at key junctions to monitor the hallways. Some of the girls requested that it should be put in the rooms as well. There has been reported of former rogue boyfriends who would violate the dorm curfew for a late night meeting. When I entered in my last semester, I requested one of those special rooms.

I was able to continue my education with the scholarships because they were dependent that I continue with my schooling. My grades are above average. I love it. Then during that last fall semester someone tried to get my attention.

“Hey Brianna, how are the classes going for your last semester? You have your thesis ready?”

“Oh, hi David, I am sorry, I did not realize you were talking to me. I was focused on my notes for my next class.”

“No problem. I was just wondering if you want to go out somewhere. You have been cooped up in your cage a long time. You do need a break out once in awhile you know.”

“Yes, I know that. Let me check my schedule here, hmm… how does next Thursday afternoon sound at the Student Center. We can meet there for a drink. Will that do?”

“Sure, Brianna, that we will be great, I will be there at 2 PM. Is that good enough?”

“That is fine David; see you at 2 PM on Thursday. See you later David.”

Yes, I have a drink date with that hot Brianna girl! Some of us guys have been trying to find a way to get a date with her. She is so stuck up with these classes. She just has to get loose now and then. But, I can not knock her grades. She is a smart cookie. I am going have to watch my P’s and Q’s when I am around her. Well I better get off to class. Besides her major is into kids; we are going to have come up with something to get her attention on that. David goes onto his next class and muses some fantasies about Brianna.

David and I meet at the Student Center as planned. We talked about various different subjects from classes, professors, campus sports, and even the weather.

Wow, David seems to be a nice guy. Well, I will take it slow. The odd thing is that we have had some classes together for the last several years; and now he has the guts to come up to me and ask for a drink date? He must be one very shy guy. But I will go on easy on him, but still be wary.

“So Brianna, I see that our time is up; how about we arrange another afternoon social?”

“Sounds good David; but I hardly know you. Even though we are on a student level here; we do have other priorities. You know I am planning to graduate this December ahead of most of you.”

“That’s true, but I figure that I least spend some time with the prettiest and smartest girl in our class.”

“Thank you David, that is sweet of you to say that. But, the way I see it right now; we are just friends. Is that okay?”

“Sure, that is no problem. Well time for us to go. See you in the classroom; and see you next week here. Bye Brianna.” David hummed a tune from a movie as he went on his way.

“Bye David.” Well that went interesting. Well I better get back to my room to change and get to the library. I still have that thesis to put together.

I step into my dorm room. “Well, how did it go Brianna? Isn’t that David a hunk? So how was your drink date?”

“Oh, it went fine. Yes, he is cute. But what I can not believe; is that it took him over a year to come up and ask for one. There is something odd about him. He hummed a song from a movie that I did not like. It was creepy if you ask me. I think it was one of those Scary Movie sequels, I am not sure.”

“Oh I really like those movies. It would scare the jeepers out of you. It was nail biting to see who was going to get it next while trying to figure out who was behind the mask.”

“Oh great, just my luck I get a room mate who likes horror flicks. Well I can throw those sweet and lovable movies back at you from the kids that I counsel, so take that Kelly!”

“Ewww, all right a truce is needed.”

“All right a truce then. So, how is it going with your classes, Kelly?”

“They are going all right. The professors sure have me challenged in writing good reports on police protocols.”

“They should, they want to make sure you make a good police detective that you want to be.”

“Well, I need to split to the library. Are you coming?”

“Yes, I will join you. Let me get freshened up and change my blouse to be more comfortable.” I change my blouse and freshen up my makeup.

So off we went to the library to continue our studies and getting the homework done. But at least for me it is winding down; I am glad to see the end of the tunnel with this education trip to med school.

This continued on, for Thanksgiving Break I went to see my parents again. It was great to be home and relax get ready for the final push. All in all it went well. My parents told me they are proud of me for setting my goals high and to reap the reward afterwards. It was all they could ask. I was the only sibling who achieved this goal. I just heard from mom and dad that Allen went back to college, to get that teaching degree so he could coach. Good for him. No word from Brian lately, but Charles is doing fine with the construction company that he is with. They promoted him to foreman on some projects. He will make it someday. I told mom and dad about David. They were surprised and pleased to hear that I am dating once again. Of course they hope he is the one for me. Well, I am not counting anything until after I graduate. Graduation…hmm... I wish Richard was here, I sure do miss him.

The Finals, the presentation of the thesis went well. I was approved for graduation and to receive at least Magna Cum Laude. At least I am in the top percentile, not perfect, but close enough. At the ceremonies, everybody was there. My parents even found Brian to show up on time with the rest of the family. It was great to see them altogether. Of course they were ribbing me for being the smart one in the family. At least I returned the favor and pointed out Allen and Charles accomplishments. Of course that left Brian miffed. He vowed to do something about it so that everybody will be proud of him as well. It was a great day, we had our hugs. I told them that I will see them later today after I finish up here and check out of the college and the dorms. They took my big stuff already and left me with my suitcase and personal items that I will need just in case for one more night.

When I got to my room, it was very quiet. Kelly had gone to the library to return the books she checked out. She will be going home for the Christmas break tomorrow. It is just me. I unlock the window for some fresh air. I open the window a crack when I hear something down the hallway.

Then all of a sudden I hear a bunch of guys walking down the hallway. Some of them sound familiar. It can’t be. They are even singing that Scary Movie song. I immediately pick up my cell phone and dialed 911.

“Hello you have reached the 911 center. May I have your name, phone number and address?”

“Yes, my name is Brianna Wilson; my cell phone number is 123-xxx-xxxx. I am at the Beta Hall, room number 200 here on campus.”

“How can I be of service?”

“I have some intruders who are coming to my dorm room. In fact some of them are my classmates from college; I am sure of it. They are singing a song from that Scary Movie. Hurry, send a squad car now!”

“Do not worry, we will have everything recorded. You are in one those special rooms that have the updated video equipment?”

“Yes, hurry!!” I screamed.

“I will send a police cruiser to your location just hang in there.”

As soon as I closed the cell phone at down; then I hear someone use the key at the door and then the door burst wide open. They were even wearing that ghastly ghost mask from the movie!!

“Hello, Brianna. I am glad to see that you graduated. Some of us would like to come by and personally thank you for the wonderful time we had.”

“Thanks, but who are you? Wait a second, you sound like David. But, why do I get the feeling that this is not it what seems,” nervously asked Brianna.

“See guys I told she was smart.” Taking off his mask, “Oh don’t be so nervous, we are here to calm you down. Isn’t that right guys,” asks David. The other three come in and surrounded me on all sides and started laughing with a laugh that would make your skin crawl.

“Uh, would you all please leave now; you are not allowed to be here. This is the women's dorm.”

“There is nobody here but just us. That crazy room mate of yours is off to the library. She won’t be back for 30 minutes or so. This will give us more than enough time to do what we need to do,” said one of them.

“Hey guys remember her major? What was it? Oh yes, Pediatrics. Taking care of kids; well let’s give her some kids to remember us by,” said a member of the group.

“You wouldn’t!!!” screamed Brianna.

“Oh yes, we will. This is for the times we had to eat your dust while you climbed to the top!!” yelled a ghost faced creep.

Then all of them grabbed me.

“Why you two-faced hypo-twit . . . mmphh . . .” then David takes a small diaper and force it into my mouth while laughing.

I could describe what they did to me. But I do not remember too much of it. David is about to rape me first without a condom, but I did not give him the satisfaction as I collapse to the ground. Then I get passed on to another guy who sounded like Craig. I scream when he takes off my pants. “Richard!!!” I screamed in the diaper, and then I pass out.

~~~000~~~

I awoke with a startle. I am napping on the couch. It is Monday afternoon using one of my vacation days for Christmas. “I could have sworn I heard Brianna in my dream. It sounded so real. She sounded she was being hurt badly. What can I do? I do not know where she is. From some of the images it appears to be on a college campus somewhere. It could be any college campus. She needs prayer that is for sure.”

“We’ll pray with you, mother.”

“Yes, my fairies. Let us all pray together.”

So I turn around and get on my knees before the couch, and I started to pray, “Oh God, please hear my prayer, I sensed that my dear friend is being hurt. Will you please help her …..”

My fairies do the same thing as well.

~~~000~~~

Just about when they get their pants down, they hear an unusual series of noises.

“What's are those clicking noises, David?”

“I don't know. It sounds like it is from the window. I’ll go over and check it.”

He walks over to the window and looks. He sees something strange happening there.

“It's a bunch of butterflies, dragonflies and birds. They're tossing pebbles at the window and poking at it.”

“That's odd. Is the window cracked yet?”

“The window has small cracks and chips.”

“Well get over here and get her pregnant, Craig.”

“Okay, David.”

“We’re wasting time, fuck her mouth.”

“Okay.”

Then all four of them masturbated into her mouth.

They yell expletives at me and so on while each one took a turn and did the unspeakable act.

“Oh, she's good. Too bad she is not sucking.”

Once they are done with that Craig gets on his knees and pulls her pants and panties down. They stuff her mouth one more time.

Just about when he gets ready to have sex with her, they all hear the window 'creak'.

They look at the window, and to their horror they get wide eyed when they see what comes in.

Birds, dragonflies, bees, horseflies and butterflies come flying in.

“Crap! She must have unlatched the window!”

They start waving their hands over them to keep them away from their faces.

“We don't have time to fuck her properly. Quick, into the bathroom.”

All four of them run into the bathroom and close the door. They stay there panting hard. They look at one another to figure what to do next. After ten minutes they don't hear any noises from the dorm room.

“See if they're gone.”

One of them opens the door slowly. He does not see anything flying in there. “It looks like they're gone. I need to close that window.”

“Be careful, man.”

“I will.”

He opens the door slowly some more. He sees nothing in the room. He immediately runs to the window and closes it and latches it.

“It's safe. They're out of here.” Then he looks out the window again. “Crap David. That wanna be police bitch is on her way back here.”

“Come on guys. Let's get cleaned up. We're out of here.”

They take off their masks and stuff them into their shirts. They congratulate me on my graduation. They even identified each other while they get themselves dressed back up and cleaned up in my bathroom. It took about 20 to 25 minutes total, and then they left. I laid there still bound up and lay askew on the floor and passed out. It’s an ugly sight.

~~~000~~~

[Kelly Branson’s point of view]

As Kelly returns to the dorm she sees the four boys leaving her dorm building. They were singing that Scary Movie song.

“Hey Kelly, we left some party favors for Brianna. Too bad you were not there. You would have enjoyed it, too,” said David. The other guys laughed as they left.

Party favors…What are they talking about? Just at this time a police cruiser showed up at the dorm, sirens and lights. No, it can’t be. No!!! Kelly runs to the building and meet the officers at the door.

“Hello misses; the detective and I are here to investigate a possible break in here. Can you allow us in?” said one of the officers.

“Sure, no problems; which room are you going to?” Kelly asks nervously. Please I hope it is not my room.

“We are going to room 200, why?” said the officer.

“That is my room with my room mate, I just passed four boys who just left the building and gave me a cryptic message. I hope Brianna is all right,” said Kelly.

“Well, let’s get there quickly. I was informed that the room had the latest video update.”

“Yes, it was just installed last summer. I hope it will prove that it was those four creeps.”

We arrive at the room, door is locked. The officer asks me to use my key. He takes the magnet-key card and was able to open it without touching the doorknob surface. We walk in and we see Brianna laying on the floor, semen everywhere on her. She was tied up; mouth stuffed and passed out. Her pants and panties are pulled down.

“No, Brianna!!” I immediately put a hand to my mouth in astonishment. I wanted to rush to her side. But I was asked to wait outside. It is one to study to be a police officer and a detective, but it is another to see it in action up close.

“Uh, officers, I just want to let you know I am in the police academy here on campus. If you need anything, please let me know. I know you are doing everything you can by the book so as to not compromise the evidence,” said Kelly as she tried to calm down. That will be the last time I watch and laugh at those Scary Movie sequels. This is too close for comfort.

“Sure, you can get on your cell phone and inform the authorities on campus, the 911 station to give the current situation and to send an ambulance. I will do mine with my own station.”

“Thanks,” said Kelly. We all got on our cell phones and made the calls. The University Police and the ambulance show up in about 5 minutes.

There is a crowd that is gathering around the building as Brianna is taken out about 10 minutes later. I found Brianna’s parents and her brothers out there. They had not left the campus yet, they wanted to take a walk around the campus and to see the sights there.

“Hi, Kelly, what is wrong here? Why do you look so distraught,” asks Mrs. Wilson?

I went up to them, “I am so sorry, it is your daughter. She was just gang raped by 4 guys here on campus,” said Kelly.

“What!! Our daughter was raped!!” That sent the rumors flying through crowd. “Come on Helen, we have to get there,” said Larry.

The parents waded through the crowd to reach the ambulance; they were just putting her in when they family arrived.

An officer impeded them, “I am sorry you can not come any closer.”

“We are her parents and family; you have to let us through,” wailed Helen.

“You are her parents? Good you can come with us and to the hospital to oversee her.” Helen was allowed to go in the ambulance, while Larry and the sons went to his car to follow the officer.

Of course this time the brothers wanted blood, to find out who did this to their sister. But they had no clues, they had to wait. Of course this put a big damper on the Wilson’s plans for Christmas. Everybody agreed they need to be here for her when she comes around. Mr. Wilson was able to get a hotel that had provided a deal for families in this situation. The hotel is located across the street from the hospital. Especially with Christmas time, the prices are usually higher. They all checked in and went to hospital for word on Brianna.

Kelly and the Wilson family sit in the reception area of the emergency ward; waiting patiently for the good news. After an hour or so; two doctors came out and approached us. Some of the family members stood, Helen and I were still locked arm in arm praying; we looked up as the two doctors came close, a male and female. The female doctor spoke.

“All I can say right now is that she will live. It is going to be rough for her. I have called the counseling office here to help out and give some guidance. As you might expect a rape kit was done for her. It appears she was not raped in the usual place. They had oral sex with her. She is still unconscious at this time. After the kit test, she will be cleaned up and sent to the operating table to determine other injuries and so on. This is going take a few more hours. I am sorry. We will do all we can for the physical pain. This emotional test will be the toughest, not only for her but for you all. So, please be patient. It will probably be tomorrow before we let anyone to see her. I will allow a family member to remain here if they want to; we have a resting area where you can stay if you like.” They turn and walk back to the operating room.

The men sit back down and we look at each other with stunned expressions. Some of us are going through a lot of different emotions. I can see it in their faces. The Guidance Counselor shows up, she explains and talks about this trauma. She emphasize the need to talk it out as it is important for Brianna to talk it out. It was decided that Mrs. Wilson and I would stay here the first night while the men went back to the hotel.

Talk about a rough night. They sure need to improve those mattresses. Even the college dorm mattresses were more comfortable than this. Helen and I wake up groggily. There were no emergencies last night. After being operated on, she is wheeled to her room while we slept last night. We both got ourselves cleaned up the best we could. At least our purses had some emergency toiletries that any woman will need in a pinch. We still need a proper looking after. My dorm room is now a crime scene, I can not back there. Fortunately the Wilson’s was able to put me in a hotel room for a day and night at least. I called my parents to tell them that I will be few days late and told them what happened out here. They wished me the best, to take care, and arrive safely before Christmas. I can not argue with that reasoning.

The rest of the family shows up at 8AM in the morning. After the morning breakfast in the hospital cafeteria, we all march down to Brianna’s new recovery room. On the way, we stop at the gift shop and bought some flowers and get well cards for her. The nurse’s station told us only two at a time in the room, 5 minutes each, no more. We understood the need for Brianna to not push it and conserve her energy. The nurse went into the room and told Brianna she had family visitors.
“Thank you nurse; you may send them in. At least it will be a short visit today.”

We went in two at a time. When it came to Helen and me, Brianna smiled the best she could when she saw us. We also saw the tears as well.

“Well, mom it looks like I can chalk this up to experience when I counsel the kids the next time.”

I smile when she said that.

“How can you joke about this, now?”

“I am sorry Mrs. Wilson. It is part of what we are taught in our classes on how to be cheerful as possible when we are at our jobs in the future.”

“I am sorry, Brianna. I know you will overcome this. You will be stronger,” said Mrs. Wilson.

“That’s okay mom. It just hurts right now….sniff….I will get better…Why, why mom?!? Why can’t men control themselves?” …sobbing… cried Brianna.

Then a torrent of emotions, tears come pouring out of Brianna. Sobbing and moaning.

Helen and I come over to console Brianna. We reach to hold her arms. We take some tissue on the night stand and tried to keep her eyes dry to keep her pillow from getting wet.

“Well, we will take it day by day. And you, Kelly, are invited over, Okay?”

“Thanks, Mrs. Wilson. I will be at my parents for that day. Is New Years okay for a visit,” asked Kelly? Brianna looks at her mom with a ‘yes’ in her eyes with tears.

“Sure, that will be great. We will make room for you as well.”

Brianna and I said, “Thank you” at the same time.

There came a knock on the door, it was the nurse who told us it was time to leave. We can be back tomorrow if we like.

When we stepped out there is a female police officer and a detective talking with the doctors. They ask permission to speak with Brianna and me. I give my side of the story, I tried to give the names of the four students who came out the dorm building, and I could not remember the 4th one. The officer said that is okay. They went into see Brianna to get her story.

~~~000~~~

[Brianna Wilson’s point of view]

“Hello, Miss Brianna. I am Detective Scott Mac Donald. I am sorry for your pain, but we need to ask the tough questions here and give you an update on what we know,” said the officer.

“No problems. Go and ask away, I will try,” as the tears continued.

The female officer came over and brought some tissue and dried my face.

“Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.”

“Do you know the names of the boys that attacked you?”

“Yes, the only name I knew was David, the other three I am not sure they had those Scary Movie masks on. But I could have sworn that they sounded like Craig, Brandon and Terry. They are all medical students at the university that I do know for sure,” said Brianna.

“Do you know why you were attacked,” asks the detective?

“Craig said it was for the dust that they had to eat while I went for my medical degree, it was something like that.”

“Okay, next question. How much do you remember before you passed out?”

“I remember David and possibly Craig raping me, but nothing after that,” sobbing. The female detective gives another dabbed with the tissue.

“Well, I am glad to say it confirms what happened yesterday. We were able to review the 3D-video from the time they entered in the hallway and coming into your room. They only had oral sex with your mouth, not with your female organs. The evidence is quite insurmountable; they will not get off in the court room. You and Kelly will need to make an appearance down at the station to identify them from a line-up and to appear in court if it gets that far,” said the detective.

Just then a light bulb turns on in my head, I stopped crying at little bit, “Did…Did you say 3D-video? I think I know the person who invented that technology, his name is Richard Moore. He used to live next door to me when we were kids a long time ago.”

“You are right, it is designed by him. I am surprised that somebody would know him. His technology was able to solve and increase the conviction rate on many different crimes around the USA.”.

“Is it possible that I can get his address where he is living right now? I have been looking for him for years. I saw the news over the years of this new technology attributed to him; I found his university where he graduated from. But, I do not know where he moved to after that.

“Sure, I see no problem with that. Once I find him I will contact you with that address,” said the detective.

“Thank you sir; that info will be great and will ease my mind. Just knowing that has already helped in my recovery.”

“Thank you, Miss Brianna for being brave and standing up for justice,” said the officer.

“I may not be standing up right now, but I know what you mean. I guess the doctors will let you know when I will be out to put those four creeps away,” I sniffed.

Well, it turns out I was able to leave in a few days by Friday. I found out I was not actually raped, but orally only.

Other people stopped by as well, Professors, classmates, etc. They each brought flowers and cards. I could open a florist shop with all of the flowers put up in my room. But at least it smelled like heaven. The doctors were amazed at my recovery and my outlook on life. Sure, I had still had some physical and emotional pain to deal with. Fortunately my classes helped me already in turning that around. Kelly and I went down to the station when I got out of the hospital to pick out the idiots from the line-up. For me I was able to identify David by his face. For the others, another group was brought in all with hoods over their heads. Each one gave a short sentence. I was able to identify the other 3 students from that set-up. Sure I still had the nightmares now and then, but they are getting less and less each day. My family came by each day. Kelly came back for one more day; she and I were given a pair of summons to appear as witnesses when the time came for the trial on the third week in January. Of course I was the star witness. But, if I had an episode of emotional release, the judge would allow the showing of the 3D-video to be used in my stead. I told the prosecutor that I wanted to be there, especially when they presented the 3D-video, I wanted to know what happened after I passed out. Everyone agreed to that. The defense attorney tried to throw out the 3D-video, but it was admitted. He knew the boys were guilty. Two of the boys even thought they could skate through the system and get out in a year or two. So, the prosecutors did some additional background checking on the boys. They discovered some interesting pieces of their past.

I went home for the holidays as planned when I got out of the hospital. It was great to be home. Kelly came by a week later and we had a great time. It was good to have a friend nearby. A friend nearby….hmmm….I wished Richard was here. Kelly was able to get permission from her department head at the Police Academy to skip the classes that week for the court case. Provided she makes up the homework and gets ready for her first set of tests at the end of January which will be delayed for her. She was also told that if she wrote a summary of proceedings, it will be added as extra credit. She greatly appreciated the opportunity so as to not waste a semester.

Time flew by to the court date in January. Everyone was there for the court case. I had a surprise visit from our baby sitter back then. Karen and I both screamed as we hugged and said our hellos.

“So Karen; how are things going? What are you doing now,” asked Brianna?

“Everything is great. I work at a half-way house called The Rescue Mission; it is on an island near the Ocean with SC. Don’t worry; it is not too remote, we are near a big city for supplies. When I heard about what happened to you, I had to see you immediately.”

“Well everything was going fine until after graduation. I was able to graduate tops in my class and get a specialization in pediatrics,” said Brianna.

“Pediatrics? We sure could use you at the Mission. I will have to give you a tour of the place. Don’t worry; it is not supported by charity. It is funded through private donations and other revenue sources, that makes it quite self sufficient and successful.”

“Excuse me, hello Karen, Mr. Wilson here. You said you work at a half-way house? What do you do there?”

“Hi, Mr. Wilson; I think it be best if I give you all a tour of the place. That way all the questions will be answered properly.”

“No problems, just let me know when you want us out there. Oh, here comes the bailiff to announce the start of the trial. We will get back to you on this.”

I look at my dad with curious eyes, What is going through his head now? We all turn around and take our seats, then stand right back up to honor the judge.

I will not bore you with every detail of the court case; but I will get to the high lights.

The prosecutor did a great job in presenting the time line of the event. Kelly was called up to give her story about going to the library to return the books and the time slot it took place. Then I was called up to give my point of view. I tried to keep my emotions under control. When I told them that I passed out, the defense tried to rebut that the other three had no part in tragedy. That was over-ruled. When it came to the 3D-video, the defense team tried to object to that also, but was overruled and allowed into evidence. The electronic technicians came in and set up the equipment. The prosecution explained how this recording was obtained. By this time I looked over and saw the four boys starting to squirm. Great , they are in the hot seat now. When the technician turned on the recording, there was a great rumbling from the audience. The judge used the gavel to keep everybody quiet. Everybody could not believe what they were seeing. All of a sudden a 3D holographic projection of the hallway appeared. The prosecutor pointed out the floating 3D time stamp in the corner of the projection. The judge immediately pounded the gavel for silence again. The boys were really squirming now as soon as they saw themselves walking down the hallway to my room. The technician went to the menu and selected a choice, it was able to show my room as well when I called the 911 station.

Everything happened as I remembered. That is until I passed out. The recording continued on showing what they did to me while I was out. But seeing what they did to me made me very queasy. This caused more rumblings through the audience.

What was more surprising is seeing the window open. In came those flying insects and birds. Some of them were able to bite and poke them on the backs, necks and heads.

By they time they got done, each of the four boys are sporting some swelling bumps and little nicks in the skin that are bleeding a little bit.

The flying rescue squad left the dorm room once the four boys entered the bathroom.

That group came in like a rescue squad. They prevented me from getting raped. Thank you, Creator.

The judge just had to use the gavel just once this time, everybody got quiet again. If I find Richard I am going to give him a big kiss and hug for his invention. Once they were done with me and got cleaned up, they left me on the floor. And saw them walking down the hallway singing that sick song from Scary Movie. The technician turned off the 3D-video. Then more rumblings came from the audience, again the judge used the gavel to get everyone quiet. There was no objection from the defense this time. Then the prosecutor brought up Kelly again to tell us what happened when she came back from the library. From then on it was her story coupled with the police officer and the detective to start the investigation and presenting the evidence from the labs. Then the prosecution presented some additional background on David and Craig. It turns out they did this before at another school; before coming to the University where we are now. The evidence was not exclusive, there was not enough to convict. The girl tried to remember, but remembered vaguely who they were because of the shock she went through. The defense was able to object to that evidence. But at least it left a shadow over them, which is what the prosecutor wanted anyway.

The defense did not have much to work with. That recording was clearly showing them doing it. There was no way it could be denied it could be another set of students. Those 3 boys did not even bother to keep the masks on to conceal their identity; they were not smiling now. When the defense rested its case it was time for the summations. Then the judge released the jury to decide the case. Everybody was allowed to get up and take a break. I decided to stay in the court room for a bit. They allowed me to use a private bathroom near the courtroom which was nice.

Surprisingly the jury came back after 30 minutes of deliberation. Everybody filed back in for the announcement.

“Will you all please stand,” said the bailiff. The judge entered in the courtroom.

“You all may be seated. Bailiff; will you please open the door for the jury to come.” The bailiff goes to the jury room. They walk in single file, and all twelve take their seat, 6 men and 6 women of various and different ethnic backgrounds.

“Chairwoman of the jury has the jury reached a verdict,” asked the judge?

The chairwoman stands up and hands the folded paper to the bailiff and then it gets handed to the judge. “Yes, your honor, we have reached a verdict.” The judge looked at it and returned it to the bailiff who then handed it back to the chairwoman.

“Will the defendants please stand.” All four boys stand with their defense counsel. “What say you jury, what is the verdict please on all counts,” asks the judge?

The Chairwoman announces the verdict, “We the jury find all four of the boys guilty of sexual assault in the 1st degree, this includes the following: Oral Rape, Unlawful Oral Copulation, Unlawful Sodomy, Unlawful Penetration by a Foreign Object, Sexual Battery and Indecent Exposure.”

As soon as the word ‘guilty’ was announced, there came of lot of mixed noises. You have the cheers from people who supported Brianna. The other roar came from ones who supported the boys. Even the boys got upset. “You whore, we will back….”

“Quiet you fools, you have just buried yourself deeper,” said the defense counsel.

I smiled when it was announced. Great, they will get what the deserved. Besides they could have had a nice career in the medical field. But, no, they had to do that stupid stunt. I just thought of something, Richard just saved my life again like he did when he stood before me to protect me from those bullies when we were kids.

“Order in the court,” the judge starting banging the gavel. “Order in the court! I will not have this noise go unchecked. Order!” The judge had to raise his voice to be heard.

The audience and the defendants calm down.

“Bailiff, please escort the police in to take the defendants and have them remanded in prison for the sentencing phase.”

The police came in and handcuffed them, including their legs. They were all led out one by one.

The judge picked up the gavel, and gave another bang. “This court is now adjourned. We you all please clear out so that this room can get prepared for the next case.”

We all get up and start to hug and congratulate each other. We give our thanks to the prosecutor also.

“Thank you all for your support, your daughter is the hero today. Plus, we had the help with that new technology that you saw today, that is what really turned this case around for us. There was no way the evidence could be refuted. I must go now and prepare my paperwork for the sentencing phase. You are all not needed for that phase, but it would not hurt if some of you would show up.”

“No problem sir, I am sure some of us can make it. Just let us know when it is,” said Brianna.

Karen hugs me close and pulls away, “I am sorry everybody, but I must get back to The Rescue Mission. I do not want to use up all of my vacation days here.”

Then my dad spoke up, “Karen and Kelly could you come with us back to the house. We are returning there, today. I think we all need to have a talk on some issues before you head back.” Then dad looks at mom who shakes her head up and down.

“Sure, if you do not mind. I could do another day; but I will need to be back the next day. Is that okay with everybody,” asked Karen?

Kelly agrees as well.

I smile, “That would be great Karen and Kelly.” I look at dad again and he smiles. What are you cooking up now?

We all pile into our two vans to take us back home to the North Shore area, SW of Knoxville. It takes an hour drive from downtown Knoxville to get home. Everybody unloaded and went to their rooms. Karen and Kelly shared the guest room. It was good to be back in my own bed. After everybody cleaned up and changed, mom and dad started to prepare for dinner, everybody helped out where they could. The boys got the fire going in the fireplace. There was not much said during the dinner. Dad said it could wait until after the dinner and we could all meet in the huge living room.

We had a barbeque dinner; it was great to have a good home cooked meal again. Everybody complimented the chefs who were mom and dad. We all sat down and discussed the current events and some futures.

Dad spoke up first, “I just want to thank you all for being there when our daughter went through this trying time. Brianna, your mom and I had some long talks while you were away. So, you boys, I want you to understand something, you will keep your comments to yourself and no laughing. Got that!!”

“Yes sir, no comments and no laughing,” they all agreed.

“What is this about,” asks Allen?

“Do you remember when Brianna was eight and she was picked on by a bunch of bullies in elementary school,” asks dad?

Oh my God he is going back that far! What is he up to?

“You remember Richard? The next door kid who was able to stand up for her and took a beating from those hooligans,” said mom.

“Sure we do, he was covered in bruises everywhere. He did not look too good. He had to go the hospital,” said Brian.

“That is right, Brian. When they took the X-rays to determine the extent of his injuries, they discovered something unusual about him. He is not your typical boy.”

“What you are telling us dad,” asks Brianna?

“Yeah, what?” Everybody started to jump in. “What did they find?”

“Richard has two sets of organs, one male and the other set is female on the inside.”

Mom was holding dad’s arm through all of this. I could see mom’s anguish over this. She was down faced and tears going down her face.

“No way,”

“That’s incredible,”

“No wonder he looked mousy…”

“I will have none of that, Charles. That is what he was born with. What if you were born with it? How would you live your life? How would our family take it? We would still love you the same. And the Moore’s did no less. When we took our vacations during those summer years that is what we talked about plus some other family issues as well. Richard challenged us to find a way to love our children unconditionally”.

“I am sorry dad; I apologize,” said Charles.

Mom speaks up, “Honey you are doing fine; on to the next topic.”

I look at mom; she looks back at me and gave me a nod up and down with sad eyes. I think I know what is coming next.

“Right, on to the next topic; it is about Richard again. Brianna and Karen will remember this one well.”

I gulp some air silently. “Gulp.”

“When we came home early from the last vacation trip, there was a big thunderstorm that washed out our plans that day. We decided to come home early. When we opened the door, we saw three girls having fun together. Then the Moore’s, Helen and I noticed that it was Richard dressed up as a girl.”

“Ooh, I knew Richard was some type of fai….”

This time it was mom, “Stop that this instance Charles, you are treading on thin ice now. Wait until we are finished.”

“I…I am sorry mom.”

“Brianna it is your turn to speak up, why was Richard dressed up as a girl,” asks dad?

I cleared my throat. “I considered Richard my best friend; we are the same age and being neighbors. Plus, I did not get along too well in school for being one of the smartest girls there. Basically everybody shunned me. Even Richard is right up there with me grade wise. But the times Karen would come over and baby sit Richard and me, I treated Karen as a big sister. (Karen smiles as I look at her.) But I wanted a sister closer to my age. I remember asking mom for a baby sister, but mom was busy with lot of things, especially in raising you three boys as well. She did have too much time to think of anything else. Mom was great in teaching me what I needed to know. But you boys were long gone by the time I got into middle school.

“I am sorry mom; please forgive me. And you too, Brianna, please forgive me,” said Charles.

“Yeah me too,” as the other brothers chimed in.

“You are forgiven, you, you blockheads,” responds mom.

“Yeah I forgive you all you dunderheads. And I forgive you mom and dad.”

Everybody chuckles at those remarks.

“So I asked Richard if he could dress up and act out as my sister; which he agreed to. So when the next trip came for our parents. I put my plan into action. Karen and I would clean in him up, dress him in some of my clothes and little bit of makeup. We did this for three Saturdays in a row until the fourth one when our parents came home early. After that, well you know what happened next; right mom and dad?”

“Yes, we went ballistic. We decided to not let Brianna see Richard anymore. But then I remember Richard’s condition. But I ended up in supporting your mom in this. But as it turned out two weeks later, I had my orders to move here; and that about sums it up. Your mom and I are sorry for what we put you through; including you Karen. You are a very good baby sitter. The best we had in some time.”

“I forgive you, Mr. and Mrs. Wilson. Thank you for bringing me here and telling me. It does help heal that part of my life.”

“Wow Brianna, I did not know this went on in your life,” said Kelly.

“Hey you are part of the family now after what happened to me on graduation day; you too Karen.”

“Thanks Brianna,” said Karen.

“Thanks …. I think,” said Kelly.

Everybody giggles and chuckles on that statement.

“In case you don’t know or didn’t read the news in some time. Richard’s parents and brothers are dead. They were killed in a plane accident in the mountains.”

“I remember that mom. That means Richard is alone now.”

“That’s right, Allen.”

Everybody got real quiet thinking about the Moores and their memories with them.

Dad speaks up again, “On to one more topic. Karen, I understood briefly while we were in court that you work somewhere?

All right dad, what are you up to now? Dad looks at me and smiles.

“Yes I work at a place called The Rescue Mission on an island near Charleston, SC. After I graduated from college I was able to find employment there to help people who have been abused. It is only for women and their children who have been abused by their husbands.”

“You said we could come out for a visit and tour the place?”

“Sure, no problems, Mrs. Wilson; in fact I insist you bring your entire family. It will definitely help you understand to a degree of what happens in a dysfunctional family.”

I look quickly and see worried expressions across my brothers’ faces.

“Oh no, I did not imply that yours is dysfunctional. I am sorry about that. But we have set up a tour for those who want to understand better what we do. This allows us to bring in more funding and other revenue sources once they see the problem is real.”

“That’s sounds great Karen, I am sure our boys here would not mind a little extra education. It might help them treat their dates better. Isn’t that right boys,” asked mom with a smile?

“Uh, sure that is no problem, mom. We will go, right Brian and Charles,” as Allen stares down at Brian and Charles who agree also. Once they look up and see Allen’s familiar scowl, they shake their heads up and down vigorously.

I had to stifle that smile behind my hand when I heard that. Good they might get married someday to the right lady. If not they can live being alone the rest of their lives.

“Can I come along as well? Since I am in the Police Academy it will give me a jump on one of my subjects later in the year,” said Kelly.

“That will be great, Kelly. It is always helpful to have more officers trained to be sensitive in this abusive problem,” said Karen.

It was settled that we all take a trip to Charleston, SC during the summer break. It did not provide any conflicts with everybody, and provided time to schedule their vacation days in advance on their calendars at work.

I sure wish I had Richard’s address, I would love to tell him the news about our family and give him an update. It would definitely heal some sore spots in his soul like it had done to mine. I wonder how he is doing now. Hopefully he is working hard and being an excellent employee at the company that he is working for. It will be good to see him again.

The Rescue Mission
Chapter 3
Written by rachel76m
Edited by Don Kaufman

It was advised by the doctors to not do anything extraneous; because I have not healed from my injuries. Which I will enjoy very much; it will give me time to get know my family again; and time for me to get my bearings after this traumatic experience. Being away for college does put a damper on that choice.

We said our goodbyes to Karen and Kelly. We promised to stay in touch periodically; especially for the trip to The Rescue Mission. We set a tentative date in May, which is one of the break periods for Kelly from her classes. She needs to take an intern class during the summer at the local police station on campus as well as off campus with the city police.

I check on the internet periodically for news of Richard; nothing new yet. It is now mid-February in Tennessee. I was able to check in with the local abuse clinic and the hospital for my weekly checkups here in Knoxville. At least I am with other rape victims so that we can share with each other and hopefully to help ourselves to heal faster. Some of the girls already appreciated my input from what I learned at college with the degrees that I have earned. The staff agreed that I should look for a job in helping others. The one thing I told them is to find someone they could trust to be a true friend; even it is a staff member here. I was able to tell them the friendship that I have with my roommate Kelly and Karen. But when I mentioned Richard, some of them became apprehensive. But I was able to calm them down with the news that the last time I saw him was when we were ten. The other ladies laugh and giggle at that. They realized that age was a time of innocence and discovery. There were no harsh realities thrown into the equation. Some of the ladies were able to recall their favorite childhood memories. But some did not; because they were caught up in the repeat of the cycle and not breaking it when they got older and start getting involved with men who were like the ones that their mother were involved with.

On some days I spent time with the children there when they came with their mother. Some mothers watched through the one-way mirror window into the playroom while I was playing with the children and getting them to open up about their experience. Some mothers did not realize what they were doing to their children when they were seeing too many men, the drugs or being gang raped like me. This helped heal many wounds, including my own. In my meetings with the women we discussed many emotions and how they are manifested. Even though a divorce is needed sometimes; a lot of these relationships are with single people who are not married. But, the steps are the same, there is a disagreement, it turns into a shouting match, then it can get physical. Objects can get thrown at each other, but the extremes are the hitting, rape or even a shooting all the time.

Each is a violation of trust. Each hope and promise can be destroyed and tossed away as meaningless words if it is not supported by love, honesty and forgiveness. But if the person goes back on his or her promise then they will create a situation that will be difficult to rebuild. The purpose of these meetings at the center is to rebuild that trust, to hope that there will be a tomorrow. The staff greatly appreciated me for the time that I spent there. It definitely helped me put my classes into practice since my internships. Fortunately I have a loving home to go to everyday.

That is the way it went for the next several months until the end of April. Kelly informed us when her classes and finals end on the last day. We contacted Karen to confirm dates and how we are to arrive in Charleston, SC.

Kelly was able to go home for a few days in Huntsville, AL. She agreed to drive and meet us at Charleston. All of us kept our promises to make it a family vacation that week. It has been too long since we done one of those. When we arrived at Charleston, Karen met us at the airport to be our guide as she was able to use The Rescue Mission van to get us to the hotel. She stayed with us the rest of the day and night. Karen, Kelly and I are in one room, mom and dad get their own, while the brothers get their own.

We all wake up and agreed to have the breakfast at the hotel and leave by 8 AM. It took about 1 hour to get to the docks. There was a bridge to the island, but it was wiped out by many hurricanes over the years. The state decided to not rebuild the bridge, but they did establish a ferry service for the neighboring islands and access to the beaches. Fortunately the islands are buffered by the coastal islands where the Mission is located. This helped provide the isolation and security of the island. One of the nearby islands has one of the weather radar stations for the coast in providing weather warnings. To use the ferry, it took another hour to get there. The ferry boat is large enough for several vehicles and a lounge area that is rather comfortable on the second deck with the bridge for the pilot. We all marveled at the beauty as we traveled among mangrove islands, birds everywhere of all sorts of color and shape. Some of us took photos to remember the trip.

Karen did tell us one important item. She told us to not take any pictures of the people there and post them on the internet; because if the pictures of the victims get out, then their safety will be jeopardized. It could clue an ex-lover to know where they are at and want to come out at and do some harm. Everyone agreed to that restriction.

When we arrived at the island docks, everybody got off, including the van they used from Charleston to the ferry docks. We all piled back in for the mile or so trip to the headquarters. We saw many buildings there and facilities. It is very nicely laid out like a resort.

We pulled into the parking lot in front of the administration building. Karen leads us to the front doors. We are greeted by female security personnel who opened the doors for us. When we walk into the spacious lobby we are greeted by one of the greeters there.

“Welcome to The Rescue Mission. It is a pleasure to receive guests. It gives us an opportunity to show how we operate here. Everything is above board here. As you might have noticed, it is mainly staffed by women here; so you men here who are visiting will have to keep your eyes glued to your head, your hands in your pockets, and your hormones in check.”

All of our brothers laugh at that remark. They promised they will behave.

“We have asked some of the ladies and the children that reside here if they want to give their story. They will be sitting behind curtains as they tell their story, when their story is over they will step out so that you can see them. Then you can ask questions if you want to. We do not want you to be prejudicial or forming opinions if you see them while they speak. That way you can focus on their words and experiences. I know for you Kelly and Brianna are aware of this procedure. It is also a help for them to speak up and get it out in the open. As you might surmise, we have some here who are not strong enough to do this yet; hopefully they will someday.

The first pair is a mother and daughter. The mother gives her story of initial love and understanding with her former husband. Everything was beautiful for the next several years. Then when their daughter was born, her husband changed. After 15 minutes, her daughter speaks up to tell her story. When they get done speaking, they get up and step around the curtain for them to see. It was not a pretty sight. There are still bruises on both of them. Everybody gasped when they saw them. Brianna and Kelly have seen this before, so they were not too shocked, but still the damage has been done. You can determine they are still beautiful despite the swellings and bruises. The brothers could not believe what they saw. It did get their attention.

This went on for the next several speakers. At the end of each speech; each one expressed their appreciation to find a place that is safe so that they can recover. I was surprised that my brothers spoke up and asked some questions to some of them. They were even surprised by some of the answers. After wards, we all gathered for a light lunch in a separate room from the main dining area. They did not want us mixing with them and causing some of them to be very nervous. Mom, dad, Kelly, Karen and I noticed my brothers were very pensive and subdued from what they have witnessed.

After lunch we all meet together with some of the counselors to discuss what we witnessed that morning. They said it is important to get these thoughts out into the open and to not let it stew and fester in mind and heart.

Allen speaks up first, “I just want to say I learned a lot on what it means to have a relationship and to be responsible in a marriage. I have often thought that I would like to get married someday. There is a lot more to it than just dating. To actually settle down for a long term commitment really got me thinking how our family was able to pull it off after all these years. To see our mom and dad do it this long, gives me hope that it is possible. I do not want to raise my hand against my loved one. It would destroy that trust, and be difficult to rebuild. But, I am speaking for myself here.”

I see everybody is smiling, except for Brian and Charles. They are still deep in thought.

“I will admit some of my hair-brained ideas did not work to well to make a living,” said Brian. “It is probably why not too many ladies wanted to go out with me. They sensed my flightiness, the unsteady and infrequent income level. Doing sales does have it downside. Living from paycheck to paycheck is a drag. It is a constant reminder that I need to make a better choice. So, bear with me on this. Do not worry, I will not be moving back home anytime soon.”

“Gee thanks son, just give us a warning before you do that. We were just thinking of converting your rooms to a bed and breakfast and charge you all a fee!!” laughs dad.

“Well thanks a lot for that vote of confidence, dad,” responds Charles. I was wondering how you were going to recover your savings from spending it on all four of us.”

Everybody chuckles, giggles and laughs at that joke.

“Ever since that revelation about Richard, I had to really think hard where I got my prejudice from. I guess it was from friends at school and at work. I am sorry for thinking such thoughts. Will you all please forgive me? I know it is going to take time to get into a new thinking process. But from what I heard and seen today, it definitely made a mark on me that I needed to change for good before it is too late. I do not want to be another statistic. You have all been patient despite my outbursts.”

One by one and we hugged each other telling that we love each other and we forgive each other of the wrong or misunderstanding that might have caused hurt in our family. “So, Brianna, do you have anything to say,” asks mom?

“Who moi?! You know this place is right up my alley of expertise. Karen mentioned to me that they do need a fourth professional counselor in pediatrics for the kids here. Four is needed especially with the population on this island. There are quite a number of kids here. I take it, dad, that this is what you were hinting about since we met Karen last January?”

“Yes, Brianna. Your mom and I realized Karen meant a lot to you. You will have a friend here already. But if you decide to work here, please call us from time to time and visit us, okay?”

“Thanks mom and dad, I will go and fill an application out and get the approvals from the boards.”

“Thanks Brianna, Karen connected me to the Abuse Center in Knoxville while you were there recovering. The staff greatly appreciated your input there. They said they would provide letters of recommendations if you want to become employed here. Even though the ladies there will miss you, they understand that the need is greater here because of the population that we have here and not enough counselors to help everybody effectively,” said the administrator for the mission.

So, that is how I became employed here at The Rescue Mission here in South Carolina. Little did I know that a big test will come our way this year for the Mission.

Everybody congratulated me and hugged me. I was able to go back home and get packed up to move to The Rescue Mission. Since this is a former resort, I was able to get a room of my own that is furnished. It is very comfortable. After settling in and unpacking my personal mementos, family pictures, clothes, etc. I am given a set of colorful blouses that identified the counselors on the island. I am with Karen as one of four who specialized in pediatrics. There are about 10 other ladies on the counseling staff for the adults. The population is quite large here. There are over 100 ladies here, some with their children. There is a school here for the children; besides Karen and I on the school staff, there are teachers here as well for the children. But the school is a little odd in the way it is structured. While there are boys in school on the island, once they reach the 6th grade level, they are taken to an academy that is for all boys on the mainland; while the girls can stay here through the 12th grade. Then when the girls graduate they can stay on the island or move to the mainland if they want to live there. All of the children are given opportunities to come to the island to visit their mother to keep those ties solid. Most mothers decide to stay on the island for being fearful of being found by their former loved ones. Some move back to the mainland and are able to start over in another part of the USA. Sometimes their children go with them to keep the family a unit.

As I eased myself into the routine, I always checked the latest news to see if I could find Richard. No luck yet until I read a news break in August 2102.

I get alerted to another story about Richard on the internet. It seems the house where they moved to in NC got broken into and set on fire. But Richard was able to catch the twerps with his new security system. That is great. I will save that story and print it out and add it to my file.

Karen and I talked about Richard and the fun we had during that time. We thought about incorporating some of that into teaching the boys while they were growing up on the island; of course without the cross-dressing to act like sisters. So, with the elementary school teachers and a meeting with the mothers we were able to come up with a program to teach their sons the basics of relationships, acting out scenes for a family. Some of it was a bit trying. Some of the boys got too aggressive at times to prove that they are males and do not want to learn what girls do. So, we had to develop a punishment tactic to get their attention that it was wrong. The one that seem to work the best is to dress them up to act like girls; or petticoat punishment. But that only worked when they were treated as such if they came on the island as infants to 3 or 4 years old. Some mothers came to us pregnant after a destroyed relationship. So the clinic on the island had its hands full as well. But it was the older boys who have been there before we implemented this program were the problem. Granted most of the boys acted very well, they wanted to be different from their father or abusive boyfriend. Some were very defiant and troublemakers. So, we decided a field trip to the state prison for a session of “Scared Straight” that has been successful in the past. Some of the prisoners definitely wanted to volunteer their time to do this. It did scare some of the boys to see that they were disrespecting their mother. Some of the boys promised not to get in trouble anymore.

We thought about changing the cut off year to send the boys to academy when they reached 10. That range 10 to 12 is a transition for most boys. Entering their teens and getting ready for independent thought. But it turned out to be a case by case decision. We also checked in on the academy from time to time to see how they are doing in teaching them to be responsible young men. Some took their studies well; some did not. For those who wanted to fail on purpose or get caught doing crimes, they were sent to the juvenile center and told them they used up their chances for a successful life in the real world. We even took them to the state prison for one more session. They were told if they did it one more time, they would end up there. Some tried to call our bluff, but we were firm about it. One tried to steal money from the school. Another one was caught with cocaine. They were both arrested and put in at the regular prison. Both of them were in 11th grade, old enough to be considered adults. When that happened, that got the attention of the other boys. The peer pressure to do right started to take hold; which what was needed all along.

All of the girls adjusted well and excelled in their studies. No pressures from the boys. There were very few girls who rebelled. But we had established a great peer pressure group among them. This helped them to toe the line. All we had to do was remind them where they came from and where they could end up.

~~~000~~~

[Detective Scott MacDonald]

So, let’s see here, according to my searches so far, we know that Richard graduated from NC State. I am going to have contact the Engineering Dept. there to get the next piece of information on where he moved to. He picks up the phone on his desk, dials a number to the university.

Ring…Ring…”This is the Engineering Department at NC State. Can I help you?

“Yes, ma’am, my name is Detective Scott MacDonald; I am with the police department in Knoxville, Tenn. I am trying to track a former student who graduated from your department about two years ago. His name is Richard Moore.”

“Oh, yes. I remember him; he is a very smart student. I am sorry to inform you, that according to our department policy and to the nature of Richard and his expertise, you will need a court order to be brought in person. We can not give that type of information to anybody. Especially with the status of Richard and what he has done for us here at NC State. Perhaps you can call the police department from Charlottesville; that is near the home town where he came from.”

“I understand that perfectly. You are making sure of insuring Richard’s privacy. I will have one drawn up. I will be the one who will be delivering it. I will contact the police department in Charlottesville. Thank you very much.” That’s why he is hard to track down; the university has a gag order on his whereabouts. I was requested by the Wilson family to find him. Perhaps the PD in Charlottesville will give me some answers.

Scott goes to his PC to access the phone number for Charlottesville. Ah, there it is. Well, let’s give them a ring and see what we get.

Ring…Ring…”Hello this is the Police Department in Charlottesville. How can I help you,” asked the receptionist?

“Yes, ma’am, I am Detective Scott Mac Donald from the Knoxville, Tenn. Police Department. Can I speak to a detective in your department? I need some additional information on a citizen in your city.”

“Yes, let me connect you with Detective Johnson. Please hold.” The receptionist puts the Knoxville officer on hold. She then pushes the button to reach Mr. Johnson. “Hello sir, I have a Detective Mac Donald from the Knoxville Police Department who wishes to speak to you.”

“Thanks, Melinda, I will take the call.”

“Hello, this is Detective Ron Johnson. How can I help you?” Hmm … A call from Tennessee. What is this about?

“Hello, my name is Detective Scott Mac Donald from the Knoxville Police Department. I am trying to find a citizen in your city. I was asked by a family here by the name of the Wilson’s. They used to live near Columbia, SC. They had a neighborhood family living next to them. It is the Moore family. I understand already there is only one member left living today. His name is Richard Moore. He is the one I am trying to contact. Can you help me out?”

“Calling about Richard Moore? What do you need to know?”

“I was able to call the Engineering Department at NC State where he graduated from. But the people there would not release the information unless there is a court order for verification. They are trying to protect his privacy. Which I do understand the sensitivity of the situation. So, can you help me out, Ron?”

“Sure, I can give you the company’s name where he is employed at. You will have to go through channels there. You will probably still need a court order to get access to his address down there. Hold on a second, I have his company card here. Here it is, the company’s name is Secure-Sys, Inc. located in Jacksonville. Here is the phone number and address. It is …..”

“Thanks for the lead. Let me give the address and phone number of the Wilson family here. That way you can verify this call, Ron.”

“Thank you Scott, I will give them a call. I will also inform Richard’s lawyer here in Charlottesville. She has been on the lookout for their whereabouts for some time. Good luck in finding Richard. He is a good kid.”

”Thanks, Ron, I will contact the company and see how far it will take me. Have a good week.”

“You too, come by for visit if you do. I will have cup of java waiting for you. See you then.”

“Sounds good Ron; goodbye …” Click. All right let’s call Secure-Sys, Inc. Dialing the phone number….

Ring … Ring… “Hello this is Secure-Sys, Inc. of Jacksonville. How can I direct your call?”

“Yes, my name is Scott Mac Donald. I am a police detective with the Knoxville Police Department. I need to speak with someone in Human Resources. I need some info on an employee there.”

“Hold on please, I will connect you to Mr. Dave Parker.” Pushes hold. “Hello Mr. Parker?”

“Yes, Cheryl?”

“I have a Scott Mac Donald from the Knoxville Police Department that needs to speak with you.”

“Sure, no problems; I will take the call,” The police department? Well, let’s find out. “Hello this is Dave Parker, head of Human Resources here at Secure-Sys, Inc. How can I help you?”

“Hello, my name is Detective Scott Mac Donald; I am with the Police Department in Knoxville, Tennessee. I am trying to track down an employee who might be employed at your company. His name is Richard Moore.”

“Richard Moore? Yes, he is employed here. But I should say was. He was just let go last Friday. As far as I know he has not moved yet. I will need to see a court order to release his address due to the sensitivity of the matter. What is this about?”

“I have no problems with that. I will get one drawn up. The search is a request from a family who used to be neighbors with him back in SC. They are trying to track him down to where he is now; or at least get an update.”

“That’s good to hear. He mentioned about a family that used to be there. He has had no contact with them since he left there. This will be good news for him in some time. I am sure it will cheer him up. When can you get here with the court order?”

“Does next week on Monday sound okay? I will be there in the morning. Is that okay with you?”

“Sure, that is no problem. I will inform the CEO of the request so that we can all be together and go over it. He will back from his conference by then. Have a good week and weekend; see you then, Mr. Mac Donald.”

“Thank you Dave, I will go to the courts this week and get it ready. See you on Monday at 8 AM.” Click, Click. Great I will contact the Wilson family and let them know that I have found the city where he is at. Dialing the Wilson family.

Ring…Ring…”Hello, this is the Wilson residence; Mrs. Helen Wilson speaking.”

“Hello, Mrs. Wilson. I am Detective Scott Mac Donald here at the Knoxville Police Department. I have found where Richard is living. He is living in the Jacksonville area where his company is located. However, the sad news is that he has been unemployed for about a week. I am going to have to get a court order and it has to be delivered in person to have his address released.”

“Oh, thank you, Mr. Mac Donald. I am sorry to hear about him being laid off. But, at least we know where he is. So, what’s next?”

“I will be having a meeting with the CEO this Monday morning. I will let you know how it goes. Thanks for being patient with me on this.”

“No problems. I can wait a little longer. Bring back some good news. Goodbye, Mr. Mac Donald.”

“Goodbye, Mrs. Wilson” Click, Click. Well I better call the Jacksonville Police Department and the local courts to get that court order drawn up to coincide with the one here in Knoxville.

The week proceeded as planned. I was able to get the court orders drawn up and contact all those involved. They all agreed to come to Jacksonville to be there to surprise Richard. They are staying at a local hotel near the local police department. Dave also informed me that he was able to contact the CEO that there is a meeting that morning when he comes back in.

~~~000~~~

“Hello, this is The Rescue Mission. How can I help you?”

“Hello, this is Helen Wilson, can I have a talk with my daughter Brianna, I have some news for her.”

“Oh, hi Mrs. Wilson! Sure, I will phone Brianna that you are on the line. Please hold while I contact her.”

“Thank you.”

Ring…Ring …”Hello, Brianna? This is the front desk. You have a call from your mom.”

“Oh thank you, Carol. I am in my room, I will take it here.”

“Hi mom!! How are you doing?”

“I am doing great. I have some good news. We found Richard. He is living in the Jacksonville area. Can you arrange some days off? There are a bunch of us who are staying at the hotel there waiting word when the police detective will get the release from the CEO. Then we will go out to his place and surprise him. One bit of sad news though; he has been unemployed for about a week by the time we get there. How does that sound?”

“Sounds great mom; I will ask the admin people here. I will ask Karen as well to see if she can come also.”

”That will be great; give me a call once it is finalized. The meeting is to be this Monday morning at 8 AM. We can stick around the hotel and catch up on some news.”

“Sure will mom, I will call back.”

Sure enough, Karen is given permission to come along; it has been an interesting two months since I have been there. It is a good time for a break.
They said they can hold the fort down until we come back.

~~~000~~~

[Richard Moore’s apartment]

Waking up Sunday morning, “Yawwwnnn …. All right Amber and Cobalt, let’s do some more program checking on some old software versions that I was writing for a client a few months ago, plus these versions that we normally sell. I promised Mr. Bryson it would be taken care of. He did allow me to take a copy home of the accounting data with his approval.”

“I don't like that guy that is over you. He gives me the creeps.”

“Now, now, Amber we must be nice to them as well.”

“I know, I get the feeling that danger is coming our way either today or tomorrow.”

“Okay, I'll put the metal corset on before I start.” She is right. I do sense danger coming our way today or tomorrow.

I go over the dresser drawer and take out the metal corset and put it on. Once I'm dressed, I walk over to the kitchen and open the fridge door. I take out a pitcher and pour myself a large cup of orange juice. I put the pitcher back in the fridge and close it.

Amber, Cobalt and my fairies continue to fly in and out of the apartment in butterfly mode by opening and closing the screen door on the second floor patio.

I built a trellis there with hanging plants and some flower beds. They made it a jungle almost, it keeps prying eyes from seeing what they are doing. Since it's January now, the weather is real cool.

Traphel, Amber and Cobalt keep busy teaching my newest fairies the ins and outs of being a fairy in today's world.

I sit down in my chair at the PC station in the spare bedroom.

There seems to be a flow misdirection somewhere…What the?! This should not be here. Some one put in a backdoor protocol to access it. Now who did that? First, let’s see where this leads. It seems it wants to bypass the roadblocks that I set up for the firewalls. The point is someone wants a peephole to get in and get past the firewalls. That’s not good. I will have to inform Mr. Bryson of this as soon as possible. Now let me take a look at this sub-program, maybe I can determine from its style who wrote this program …..What!? It appears to be written by Brent. I recognize his style all the time. He puts a series of code blocks at the beginning and the end of his programs all the time. I found some of his stuff in my programs all the time. It just slows me down in keeping it cleaned up. I did catch him several times when he tried to access my terminal remotely. When I reported this to Mr. Bryson the last time, Brent muttered behind my back one day and said he would get his revenge on me. He told me and Mr. Bryson he was improving the program to make it more user-friendly. I beg to differ. I kept it complicated so that no one could hack it, which the client requested. Because once the program is initiated it is even difficult for me to get in. It looks like I will have to make it more complicated. Mr. Bryson is due back in the office this Monday from the conference in DC.

I better check the accounting records as well. Hmm . . . what’s this? I see some entries erased and re-entered. They are from the bank to Brent. I better check those emails as well. Grr . . . Brent and his friends have over reached their boundaries. Something is going on here besides this. Let’s see where that money trail goes to. I better unleash my Rabbit Trails program. I type in the parameters I want and hit the ‘send’ button.

All of a sudden I see a huge list of hits from overseas in Europe. Oh boy, I recognize some of those names, they are on the hit list with Interpol. I better send Mr. Bryson a private email to give him a heads up on the situation.

~~~000~~~

[Brianna]

We all meet at the hotel on Sunday: Mom, dad, Karen, Detectives Scott Mac Donald and Ron Johnson, Anna, Richard’s lawyer and I checked in. My brothers could not make the trip, which would have been a real zoo if they came along. Mom and dad said they will call them with the news.

Detective MacDonald informed us of the meeting and that he will contact us once he knows. Talking about being nervous; at least Anna and Detective Johnson gave us some details on the Moore family tragedy and how Richard’s invention was used to find the arsonists who torched their home. He also told us, the house is being rebuilt to be livable again.

~~~000~~~

[Detective Scott Mac Donald]

In the morning, Anna and I drive out to Secure-Sys, Inc. for the 8 AM meeting. We enter the building and walk to the front desk.

“Good morning, how can I help you?”

“Good morning ma’am; I am Detective Scott Mac Donald and this is Attorney at Law, Anna Dawson. I have an 8 AM meeting with the CEO this morning.”

“Let me check the calendar. Ah, yes, here it is. If you wait here I will page Mr. Parker so that he can come out and greet you.” Pushes a button and picks up the phone, “Mr. Parker, the people are here for the 8AM meeting with Mr. Bryson….Yes…wait in the lobby…” Click hangs up the phone. “If you just wait a few minutes, Mr. Parker will be here shortly.”

“Thank you.”

About 2 minutes later in walks Mr. Parker into the lobby. “Hello I am Dave Parker, Human Resources; if you will follow me we will have our meeting with Mr. Bryson. He just came back from a week long conference in DC. So this will be a first time visit with me as well. This way please.”

Going to the elevator; they go up to the top floor of the three story building. The elevator opens up to the secretary lobby for the CEO.

“Hello, Miss Thompson, we are here for the meeting with Mr. Bryson.”

“Hold on a second, I will let him know that you all here.” Pushes a button and picks up the phone, “Mr. Bryson? …. The people are here for the 8 AM meeting…..Yes… no problems…Thank you…”

“Right this way, through those double doors. He is inside.”

“Thanks, Miss Thompson. Let’s go everybody, we have a lot to discuss this morning.”

Leaving the desk the three went to the doors, Mr. Parker opens the doors, “Good morning, Mr. Bryson. How was the trip to DC?”

“It was great, Dave. I see that we are still here. How did the week go?”

“No problems. I did let Richard leave as per your request before you left.”

“What, Richard Moore is gone? I did not give the authorization that Richard is fired.”

Anna and I look at each other worriedly.

“I am sorry, sir. I thought you did. This is Detective Scott Mac Donald, police detective from Knoxville, Tennessee and Anna Dawson, Richard’s lawyer from Charlottesville.”

“I am please to meet you. What is this about? Perhaps this is all connected somehow,” asked Mr. Bryson.

“Good morning, Mr. Bryson; I am Anna Dawson, we were instructed to bring a court order to have Richard’s address released. Richard gave me one of your company cards when he graduated and moved down here. He also gave me his new address. But, I could not give it to them without your approval until now. The family who used to be his neighbors in SC wanted this done. The Wilson family has been searching for him for several years.”

“I do applaud your diligence. I have no problem in releasing the address. He did mention some people that he knew there. We have to make sure of his privacy and security for us. But this premature firing is what needs to be focused on now…..What’s this….my sensor connection to your office, Mr. Parker, is blinking. Is there somebody in your office, Dave?”

“Why no, there shouldn’t be. The door was locked when I left. Can you access the monitors, sir?”

“Sure hold on a second, take a look over there in the corner of the room I will bring the 3D-video up.”

“You have the 3D-video system installed here? When did that get installed Mr. Bryson?” asked Dave.

“When I hired Richard, I eventually purchased a copy of his 3D System and had it installed here over the weekend last year. He also put cameras in various locations around the building and in key locations inside. I wanted a back-up here just in case the security room got compromised.”

“Mr. Bryson, I just want to assure you that our departments and 911 centers also did the same thing. It is a very good program. You will be impressed by it,” said Detective Mac Donald.

“I know, I have seen it in action. We monitor several companies who use the program through another branch of the company. I had your regular monitor replaced Dave. Only Central Security knows about this install here. Sorry about that Dave, the fewer people that know, the better. Let me access Dave’s office and see who it is.”

A 3D-video shows a copy of Dave’s office. It shows an employee coming in with a magnet-key card in hand and begins seeking the personnel files. He uses another key to get into the locked cabinet. Once he finds the file in question, he gets on the cell phone, “Hello, Brent? Yeah, I have his address here it is…. Yeah…give him one for me; he deserves it, the freak.”

Once he leaves the room. Dave speaks up, “Sir, that is Darrell, he is one of the employees that the ladies have complained about. He, Brent and a few others have a beef against Richard. Richard told me this the last time we met. It does confirm his suspicions. At least four of them took a day off from work today. No one is supposed to have a copy of that key set. Only you or I have that set, sir and one is down at Central Security.”

We all started to look at one another. “What is going to happen now? Darrell just gave Brent Richard’s home address and phone number,” asks Anna?

“We better call Richard to see if he is okay, Mr. Bryson.”

“Yes, you are right, Detective. Hold on a second,” picks up the phone and dials…”Hello Richard? Mr. Bryson here, how is everything going? I understand from Dave that I fired you. Well, I just want to inform you that I did not.”

“I am glad to hear that sir… wait a minute… I hear a car outside. Let me take a peek. …. Yes, it is Brent. He is outside laughing with some of his friends there are coming this way. I am going to switch to conference mode…”

Just then a 3D-video of Richard’s apartment shows up in the CEO’s office.

“Oh, hi Anna; it is good to see you again. Hello, Mr. Bryson and Mr. Parker. I sent you an email yesterday Mr. Bryson. Please open it as soon as possible. Brent is up to something…it is … how should I say it…it’s very, very big.”

“It is good to see you again Richard. I have some good news we found the Wilson family, they are in Knoxville, I have their police detective here with me. We were hoping to surprise you. Mr. and Mrs. Wilson are here with Brianna and Karen.”

“That is good to know. I am switching to stealth mode sir. They will not see you if they come inside. Everything will be recorded at your office sir. From what it sounds like outside, you better send the ambulance now. My system will run and send you all the video. They will not notice that I have a hidden system here that is separate from the apartment’s power.… There goes the phone…it just went dead. Tell Brianna that I loved her always. Anna I think you better call my doctor back in Charlottesville, I have a bad feeling that we are going need her.” I quickly put on a special pair of gloves. They contain a surprise for Brent and his friends.

“I will call her as soon as I can. Take care, see you soon,” said Anna.

“Good luck, we will be sending the police and the ambulance to your place. Take care. We will take care of them once they are apprehended,” said Mr. Bryson.

~~~000~~~

[Richard Moore]

Just then someone entered a key into the lock and open the door.

“Hello Richard, I hear you are unemployed now. I am sorry to hear that you are out of work. Have you found a new job yet?”

Very funny Brent wearing a president’s mask; but I know it is you by your voice. “No I haven’t, Brent. What is that to you? I am gone now from the company. Oh, I see…you brought some of your friends with you. Why did they bring the baseball bats? Having a ball game later?” By this time the other three presidents get around me on all sides each and begin laughing and snickering. I knew their voices as well who belonged to whom. All four of them wore special gloves, smart; no finger prints to leave behind. “Let’s see if I am right, you do not have to answer back; you are Darren, Michael and Brian,” as I pointed to them one at a time I quickly yank off their masks.

“Well, you are observant as always, it’s me, Brent. You could say that we want a ball game, Richard. We are just looking for a ball to use. I think we will use you instead. Isn’t that right, men,” asked Brent. The others started laughing more sinisterly, now.

“Why do you want to use me? What did I do?” Oh great, here it comes again. I bet it was them who put the post it notes on my desk. It's a good thing I put on the metal coset this morning. I better protect myself quickly and get curled up to protect my head or stomach area some more.

“This is for convincing the ladies to report us.”

Wham!!! A bat swings out and hits my leg. I fall to my knees as I look up at them. I screamed, “ARRRGGHH. What the...!” Protect my fairies quickly, Croin!

I will, Richard.

Then one of them hits my side. They hear a loud ‘ping’ sound. I crack a quick smile at Brent.

Are they okay, Croin?

Yes they are, Richard.

“What’s this you have on? He looks at his bat. “My bat is dented!”

One of them reaches down to touch my body. “He’s got some sort of freaking metal armor on.”

“Arrggh!! How dare you do that?! You just proved you are a sissy!”

I turn my face to Brent. “No. It’s because I know how to defend myself. I have a Shaolin brown sash, fool!”

“Only real men have that degree!”

I then quickly make a fist and spray out a fine mist in front of their faces. They jerk back quickly. I then use the mantis the technique I learned from my sensei to protect my bones as best as possible.

“What did you spray us with, sissy?”

“Only Jackson in Raleigh will know what I sprayed you with.”

“Arrrgghh!” They all screamed in frustration.

They all started hitting me all over. I curl up on the floor quickly. I bring arms around my head. They hit my arms. Then they pin my arms down to smash my fingers. Then they hit my legs.

“Look out, the baby is trying to fight back!”

“No way he'll win.”

I yell one more time, “Buzz off, ghosts!”

The other guys all started their rants as well while they are hitting me.

“You’re the ghost, Richard!”

I could have taken them out, but I'm pretty sure they are part of a bigger plot that needs to be exposed.

I only get kicked in the jaw once, soon I become unconscious. I did not know what happened afterwards. But, at least I know it is being recorded, they will be dealt with soon enough. Hopefully I will survive this like I have always done. It will be more delicate next time.

Then all of a sudden a buzzing sound gets louder and louder. The four look toward the balcony. They see a horde of bees, wasps, gnats flying toward them.

“Look out! Get me out of here!”

“There are too many!”

They try to swat them away. Soon they are biting the four men on the faces, necks and arms.

They rush out of the apartment quickly. With the horde of bees, wasps and gnats following them. “Arrrrghhh.....!” They get in the truck quickly. They are panting hard from that narrow escape.

“Pant . . . pant. . . The glass door must have been open.”

“I need the doctors quick, Brian. I’m think I’m swelling up.”

“I think all of us are swelling up. I’ll drive us to an outpatient clinic.”

Brent turns on the engine and leaves the parking lot.

~~~000~~~

[Detective Scott Mac Donald]

When Richard went to stealth mode, I can see that everybody is upset. Anna tried to be stoic, but she went to the wet bar to calm herself down once the beating started. She calls the doctor in Charlottesville to come here as quickly as possible and to bring Richard’s medical records. Mr. Bryson is very upset that some of his brightest employees would stoop so low to do such a thing. I started making notes of what I saw; I noted the floating 3D-time stamp in the corner of the video. Everybody was in shock. Me? I got on my cell phone and contacted the local police department 911 station and report the incident.

“Hello, this is 911, please give your name, location and describe the situation please,” said the attendant.

“Yes, this is Detective Scott Mac Donald from the Knoxville Police Department; I am at Secure-Sys, Inc. I am witnessing a first degree assault and attempted murder on a man through a 3D-video program. It is live as I speak. The victim is Richard Moore.”

Once Richard says ‘buzz off ghosts’ all of a sudden the room gets filled with bees, wasps and gnats. They are biting them where they can reach. Soon we see them with bite marks on their arms, necks and faces. They leave the apartment before they do anymore damage. Amazing. I have seen this before when Brianna Wilson was attacked. Is this a coincidence that they are saved from serious harm?

Fortunately they did not notice anything out of the ordinary there. Richard did an excellent job in concealing his system there.

Then we see some butterflies landing on Richard's body. What's this? They seem to be consoling him.

“Give me the phone Mr. Mac Donald, I will take it from here,” said Mr. Bryson. “Hello operator? Yes, this is Mr. Bryson, CEO of the company. It is true what Detective Mac Donald just said. Richard is my employee here, Richard lives at this address …. Yes….Thank you.” Click. “Ms. Dawson and Detective Mac Donald please let me have that court order for Richard’s address. I will sign it so that we can make amends to Richard.”

“Thank you, Mr. Bryson for confirming that call. Mr. Bryson; please make several copies of that recording. We will probably need to give one to the hospital, to the local authorities and one for you Miss Anna for prosecution. Let’s get down there and see what we can do.”

Everyone agrees to that.

Detective Mac Donald calls the Wilson family to tell them what has happened and to tell them that Richard’s address has been released by the CEO.

~~~000~~~

[Detective Ron Johnson]

“Hello Scott, this is Helen Wilson. Yes; ... what? … Oh no, no…yes. Larry, go get a pen and paper we need to write down the address. Yes, thank you. Detective Johnson, Detective Mac Donald needs to speak to you.” Helen walks away shaken with tears and starts to hug Karen and Brianna.

“Hello Scott; what’s up? … Right,” receives the pen and paper from Larry. “Thanks Larry… Yes, I got it. We will be there as soon as possible.” Turns off the cell phone and hands it back to Helen.

“I am sorry everybody, Richard was just attacked in his own apartment. We need to get there as soon as possible,” said Ron.

Everybody is in shock now. Larry was able to snap out of it and herd everybody into the rental SUV. I take the wheel and drive out to the apartment. By the time we arrived all the emergency vehicles and the local police station are there as well. We found the others grouped off near one of the police cars. Richard has not been brought out yet. The paramedics are still stabilizing him before he gets transported to the hospital across the river.

Mr. Bryson speaks up, “I am sorry this incident has happened. So everyone, please do not worry; all of his medical bills will be paid. He is still employed at our company despite what you have been told up till now. Miss Anna, I have given it some thought. Who or how many are involved in this will be fired immediately to avoid conflict of interest at the appropriate time. When the times come for prosecution I will make sure our legal branch will assist you with anything that you need.”

”Thank you Mr. Bryson; I greatly appreciate it.”

Everyone is visibly shaken; when Richard is finally brought out to the ambulance. It reminded the Wilson’s what they went through with Brianna.

“Richard!! No!!” cries Brianna. Mom and Karen come up to restrain Brianna and hold her in their arms as she tried to approach the gurney.

Eventually everybody get into their vehicles and follow the ambulance to the hospital.

~~~000~~~

[Richard’s apartment]

The butterflies fly to the balcony garden to console themselves.

“Why did mother have to sacrifice herself? She could have beaten them.”

“We must let this proceed as planned, Bianca. There is a bigger plot behind all of this.”

“Well, I don’t like it. I wish there is a way to be there in the hospital.”

“I know, Bianca. We would love to be there and help the Omega Unicorn to recover faster. But they don’t allow the animals inside the hospital. The hospital is designed to be a clean place where people can recover faster.”

“Okay. I’ll wait patiently, Traphel.”

The fairies tend to the balcony garden and fly into the apartment when they need to.

~~~000~~~

Meanwhile a block away in a dark tinted SUV, Brent is driving to the nearest clinic. “That was close, Brent. We got out of there just in time. Another 5 to 10 minutes and we would have all been caught,” said Brian.

They see several squad cars with lights flashing and sirens blaring down the street toward the apartment complex.

“Yes, but at least he will not be able to talk. At least I kicked his jaw once. He deserved it for turning the ladies against us,” said Michael.

“At least he won’t talk, walk or use a computer. That is what we were told to do.”

“We will all go in the morning as usual and check. Remember keep our emotions in check. Do no get caught boasting about this. Act shocked if someone mentions that Richard is in the hospital,” reminded Brent.

“That was sweet of you to send that false email from Mr. Bryson to Mr. Parker to get him fired. No way will the company pay for his medical bills. I have a question Brent. Will they be able to track us? I just want to make sure,” said Darren.

“No they won’t. I made sure the email originated from Mr. Bryson’s desk the moment before he left for his trip. Besides if all goes as planned; there will be a scandal concerning him coming out in a few days; then we will all be in charge of Secure-Sys, Inc. I will be able to contact my associates and we will really turn this company on its head. This is just the next step in the revolution gentlemen. Plus the perfect revenge against that freak,” said Brent.

“Sounds good, I can not wait for it to happen. It is all about power, guys. Soon we will be in control of some major companies, perhaps the state of Florida one day,” said Michael.

“That’s right, Michael. Soon we will be in control. Just like that group in the Pacific Rim before WW3. I was able to hack into Richard’s software programs and put back doors in for us to get into secure areas with some of these companies and governments. It will be fun to see them scramble for control again. All right guys let’s go get a cold one back at my place after a visit at the clinic.”

~~~000~~~

Everybody is gathered together in the waiting room while the doctors operate on Richard. It would be hours and hours before someone came out to give an update.

At about 11 AM a doctor comes into the lobby from the front desk.

“Anna, it is good to see you again. Where is Richard, now?” “Hello Sarah, Richard is in the emergency room. You will need to check in at the desk over there. I told them that you were coming in as quickly as possible. You did bring a copy of his records and X-rays?”

“Yes, I did. If you will excuse me I need to report to them now. Hopefully they will let me in and be an observer and consultant.”

“Bring us some good news, Sarah. We will catch up on news later.”

“I sure hope so. Take care everyone; Richard is a strong boy; he will pull through. Anna, I just thought of something. See if you can bring in some flowers with butterflies. I’m sure that will cheer him up faster.”

“Yes it will, Sarah. That is a good idea. I’ll be sure they are in his recovery room when he comes out.”

~~~000~~~

Dr. Sarah Mitchell waits just outside the operating room. She waits for one of the doctors to come out to greet her. Soon a man comes out to greet her.

“I understand you’re Richard’s doctor? My name is Dr. Thornton.”

“Yes I am, Dr. Thornton. I’m here to provide assistance if needed. I know of his dual gender situation.”

“He’s dual gender? I didn’t know that. Right now he has a metal corset on. We can’t figure out how to get it off of him. It needs to be off so we can do some CAT scans. He has not been put to sleep yet.”

“I’m willing to scrub up and enter in the operating room, doctor. I do know how to take off his metal corset. I also brought my file on him with X-rays of his female organs.”

“That’s good. Come in and get scrubbed up.”

They both walk into the ante-room inside the operating room. Sarah takes off her white cloak and hangs it on a nearby hook. She gets herself scrubbed down to assist. A nurse comes in to assist her with the operating gown, rubber gloves, tie her hair back and put a cap on it and put a mask on. They enter the operating room as they see Richard lying there. Sarah bends down above his face.

“Richard, can you hear me? It’s me, Dr. Sarah Mitchell.”

“Yes, Sarah. . . . I .. . hear you.”

“We need to get the metal corset off.”

“Put my thumbs . . . under the front . . . corners. Sarah . . . ”

“I remember that now.” She looks up at the doctors. “There is a pressure release button under the corset here and here.” She points to them. “It only recognizes Richard’s thumb prints.”

“Okay, let’s be gentle here and slow.”

They carefully move Richard’s arms to be resting on his chest. They slowly move my thumb under the corners of the corset. They press them slightly. Then they hear two ‘clicks’ and the corset opens up.

“That’s great, Sarah. Now we can do a proper CAT scan of his body. Carefully lift his upper body up, people.”

Everyone lends a hand to lift Richard’s torso, arms and head up carefully. Then Sarah takes hold of the corset and slides it out from underneath him. Then they gently lay him back down.

“Sarah . . .”

Sarah gets up above my face again. “Yes, Richard.”

“I’m carrying.”

“What month?”

“Sixth.”

“We’ll be careful. I know not to use a sonigram.”

They wheel him to the CAT scan unit. Fortunately Richard is already on a stretcher on top of the bed. They pick up the stretcher and place him on the CAT scan rack.

~~~000~~~

[Detective Dan Torres, Jacksonville Police Department]

After processing Richard’s apartment, I need to drive to the hospital to see if I can get some additional information. To see if anyone has a clue to this crime. I was told by the 911 station that Mr. Bryson and Detective Scott Mac Donald were witnesses to the beating via a 3D-video. Hopefully I can get a copy from them. Now if I can find a decent parking spot, ah there’s one over there. Getting out of the car I walk over to the emergency entrance and their admittance desk.

“Good afternoon ma’am. I am Detective Dan Torres with the Jacksonville PD.”

“Good afternoon. Welcome to Jacksonville Memorial. How can I help you?”

“I need to find some people who came with Richard Moore.”

“Richard Moore? Yes, he is checked in earlier this morning. You can find them in Waiting Room #2 which is down the hall on your left.”

“Thank you, have a good day.”

“Thank you, you do the same.”

Walking down the hall, I enter in Waiting Room #2. “Good afternoon, I am Detective Dan Torres with Jacksonville PD. I need to speak with Mr. Bryson and Detective Scott Mac Donald.”

“Yes, I am Detective Scott Mac Donald and this here is Mr. Bryson, CEO of Secure-Sys.”

“Good afternoon, Detective.” I was wondering when somebody from the local police would show up.

They all shake hands with each other.

“I understand you are witnesses to the Richard’s beating. Can you give me a run down how it went?”

“I can do better than that, Detective. I have a copy of the beating here on disk. This is your copy. It is from the very beginning to the end.”

“That’s great Mr. Bryson, I greatly appreciate it.”

“I just want to let you know that the four men in question are all employees of my company. They were identified by Richard before he was beaten up, even though all four had president masks on. Richard quickly took them off before the beating began.”

“Also, they were all wearing gloves. You should have not found any extra finger prints there.”

“I was wondering why we did not find any there; thank you Scott and Mr. Bryson. Sir, do you have any idea what the motives are at this point?

“I do know some of the issues already. But there might be more. Richard alluded to some details when we last talked this morning. As soon as I find out, I will let you know.”

“Thank you, Mr. Bryson. Who are these other people here with you?”

“Here let me introduce you to them. Uh friends, I need you to meet Detective Dan Torres with the Jacksonville PD. This is Dave Parker of Human Resources at Secure-Sys and this is Detective Ron Johnson and Anna Dawson, Richard’s attorney they are both from Charlottesville NC. Over there is the Wilson family and Karen a family friend. They are old family neighborhood friends back then when they lived near Columbia, SC.

“Hello, Ron and Miss Anna. You have come a long way to be here. How come you are here?”

“Hello Scott … Good afternoon detective,” they all said at the same time.

“It’s a bit of a long story. You should ask Scott here, he started the chase.”

“Thanks Ron. It all started when the two families moved apart about 12 years ago near Columbia. They had not kept in touch since then. But when the Moore family perished in a plane crash about five years ago, Richard is the only survivor of the family. Larry and Helen Wilson asked me to track down Richard by all means necessary. They were determined to reconnect with Richard. But when Anna and I arrived this morning with a court order to have his address released, we discovered a break in at Human Resources.”

“Yes, one of our employees came into my office at the same time while we were having a meeting with Mr. Bryson. The employee found Richard’s address and phone number and phoned that info to another employee.”

“We immediately called Richard to see if he was all right. I also discovered this morning that someone sent a false message to have Richard laid off from work while I was away at a conference. I never did give that authorization. So, you can see officer, there are some serious ramifications going on here. I am sure as more information is revealed this week, we might see the problem get bigger than we imagined.”

“If that is right, Mr. Bryson, I better contact the Attorney General here to begin proceedings and get some preparations started.”

“I agree, Detective Torres. We will be in contact as more information becomes available.”

“Thanks. Well, I will let you all go. I will keep in touch from time to time.”

“Here let me give you some cards with our phone numbers if you need us.”

They all exchanged cards and give their thanks.

Well that went interesting. I will have to make sure Stephen gets a copy. It looks like this is just the tip of the iceberg.

~~~000~~~

[Jacksonville Memorial waiting room]

“Dad? What is taking them so long? It is now after 3 PM,” as Brianna sobbed. At least she has Karen and her mom to lean on this time.

“It takes time, my girl. The doctors need to make sure the injuries are not life threatening before they proceed any further. Which ones are more important than the others, you know that from your own experience. Do you remember your rough times?”

“I am sorry, dad. I forgot how long I was unconscious when they operated on me. I know they are being cautious. Richard’s injuries appeared to be more extensive than mine this time,” replied Brianna.

At about 4 PM, Dr. Sarah Mitchell and another doctor come out to inform everyone about the current situation.

“I am sorry to take such a long time to report to you all. He suffered many injuries from his beating. He will live and he is stable for now. He needs to do some healing now before we proceed to do some more surgeries later in the week. We have him in an induced sleep mode at this time. The brain will not get bombarded with pain signals while he is in this state. Dr. Mitchell, I do appreciate you coming here quickly to advise us on his current medical situation. I think it is best you take it from here to summarize some of his injuries,” said Dr. Thornton.

“Yes, Dr. Thornton; Mr. Bryson I want to thank you first in providing a copy of the attack. This allowed us to see how these four men attacked Richard and allowed us to ascertain how much force and where the trauma took place on the body,” said Dr. Mitchell.

“It is the least I could do to help out Richard. He is one of the best employees that I have. Anything you need, please let me know,” said Mr. Bryson.

“If we think of anything we will. Thank you Dr. Thornton, I will give the summary. First of all his jaw was kicked once. This was to silence him so that he could not talk. This is going to be delicate work. The mouth will heal in time; it is the throat that will be of concern. Fortunately they did not damage his eyes to cause blindness. From observations, his spine and neck was not attacked directly. That will be a wait and see if he has any sensations in his extremities. His fingers and hands were broken so severely that he will not be able to use them to write for quite some time. They wanted to limit his communication capabilities. There are many stress fractures in the legs and arms. The last injury will be the one to monitor closely. Most of you know of the medical history of Richard. The four men tried to hurt him in the groin area. Each one of them took their bat and tried to hit him there. What they didn't know, Richard put on a metal armor when he woke up in the morning.”

“Metal armor? What is that?”

She smiles, “He put on a reinforced-corset and a groin protector. It saved his vital organs.”

They all laugh a bit before they quiet down and get serious again.

“He tried to block their attacks as much as possible. For that we give him credit for survival instincts. They did not hurt his secondary female organs at all. But he will have to be monitored carefully.”

“I will say this, he is a most unusual hermaphrodite. He is fully functional either way. I will need a private talk with you, Larry and Helen eventually.”

“Okay.”

“It is going to be several days, perhaps a week before he becomes conscious. I advise that you all go home at the end of the day or to find a place to stay. I know some have come from out of state to be here. I wish you all the best. Once he is out of the surgeries this week, he will be in the ICU recovery area. We will only allow one or two visitors by his side for an hour each day.”

“Thank you, Doctor Mitchell. I will let you discuss among yourselves how you are going to plan the next days ahead,” said Dr. Thornton. The two doctors then turn around and return to the emergency rooms to get Richard ready for the next phase.

“Where are we going to stay? If we stay at a hotel, it will be expensive as time goes on,” said Helen.

“Does anybody have any ideas? I am open for suggestions,” said Larry.

Everybody gave it some hard thought. Detective Mac Donald speaks up, “Sir, Mr. Bryson, since you are the local here are there any arrangements for such contingencies?”

“Normally when we have guests over they usually stay at a nearby hotel because they are here for a week or so. But, this is going to be long term. He will probably be laid up here for a month or more before he is stable to move elsewhere.”

“That’s true Mr. Bryson. When we have ladies come to us; they are in pretty bad shape sometimes. Fortunately by the time they get to the island they can walk or get around in a wheel chair. Even if arrangements are made for Richard on the island, it is going to be several months before he is mobile enough to make the move to the island. Our clinic is not designed for injuries this severe. There is going to be lot of rehabbing going on as well; a very long time,” said Karen.

“Where do you work, Karen?”

“I work on an island near Charleston, SC. It is a half-way house called The Rescue Mission. It is for abused women and their children who need a refuge while they recover. Brianna and I are employed there as professionals in pediatrics. ”

“I know that place, sir,” said Mr. Parker. ”The income is not from charities, they receive donations from companies, and other sources. They have a very good success rate. The group was able to convert the resort there for their use. It is very self-sufficient.”

“How do you know about the place, Dave,” asked Mr. Bryson?

“I have a cousin who was there for awhile. Her husband beat her badly several times a month a few years ago. One day she could not take it anymore; she heard about the place from a friend. Within a week she was able to make arrangements to get on the island without him knowing about it. Through the legal help there; she was able to divorce him and get him arrested.”

“That might be fine for Richard later, but what about now for us,” asks Larry?

“We could rent a house? How about a condo? But, it would have to be short term,” suggested Detective Mac Donald.

“I think you are on the right track there. You remember the safe houses we had to use to sequester witnesses,” ask Detective Johnson?

“You are right. But we need apartments really. We need to call the local apartment association to see which complex has a contract for our situation,” said Detective Scott.

“I can help you there, since I am head of Human Resources, my office has a list of apartments that will help narrow down the list. I contact them from time to time as new ones are built often here.”

“Most leases are for a year, but we do not know how long we will be here,” said Larry.

“I am sure once it is explained to management; the breaking of the lease should not be a problem. If I remember right there are some apartments with optional shorter leases,” said Mr. Parker.

“That is good to know. Once an apartment is established we will need that address and phone number shared with us all. Even I have other obligations with my home station; I am sure Scott is needed back at his station before too long. But the family members and friends need to make a decision how long they are going to stay.”

Mr. Parker was able to find us a furnished apartment near the hospital for a short term lease. It was not home, but at least we are close to Richard. We have enough beds to accommodate us comfortably when any of us come for a visit. Mr. Bryson was able to pledge some money to help with the expenses, not all of it but every little bit helps. The detectives said when they come to visit next time it will be with a hotel nearby, thought Larry.

The Rescue Mission
Chapter 4
Written by rachel76m
Edited by Don Kaufman

Tuesday Morning at Secure-Sys

I knew Dave would be able to find the Wilson family a three bedroom apartment for them to stay at. Since Richard’s apartment is a crime scene; it will be awhile before he will be back. I have decided to keep it paid up and locked down. The apartment manager gladly agreed to the arrangements. Then when he is able; we will decide what to do next.

The next day proves to be an interesting day at Secure-Sys. I arrive at 7 AM like I usually do to get myself ready for the day. As I sit at my desk; I check my incoming email. Sure enough there is an email from Richard there. Let’s see what this about. He mentioned it concerned Brent. Well let’s open it up and see what’s up ….

To Mr. Bryson,
I was checking some of my old programs up until this past Sunday and the ones you released to me. I found some sub-programs in there written by Brent. Apparently he has created a back door to access the firewalls and bypass them. The reason became apparent when I looked at all of the programs that he did to mine and to the ones he wrote. Sir, I need to report that he is planning some sort of take-over for control of the company.

What?!? Control?!?!

I think he wants to have you ousted through some type of scandal that will put the blame on you. You can tell Mr. Parker that is why I am slow in getting my programs written. Brent keeps cluttering up my programs. It takes just as long to clean them up so that the customer is happy with the product we are selling.

I think this is the just first step in his plans. If he has infected other programs that he has written for other companies; I fear he wants control of them as well.

Oh, that Brent has stepped over his bounds this time.

To prove what I am saying, you need to come to my apartment with Mr. Dave Parker, Central Security of Secure-Sys, the company’s legal rep, and also the local authorities from the police department and the AG. This way you will have more than one eye-witness of what you are about to see when you get there. Everything will be explained when you are all there. When you are in my apartment you will need to speak out your name and the password to activate the program there in my apartment. It’s not hard, very easy to remember, very easy to say, big as Brent’s ego.

Sincerely yours,
Richard Moore

Well … Richard wants a show at his apartment. If that is right; our own network is compromised here. It would seem he does not trust it now. Well let’s get everybody there for a meeting. I am curious how deep this conspiracy is that Brent has cooked up. Mr. Parker said that I sent a message to him to have Richard fired. That tells me Brent was able to originate the message from my PC remotely some how. But, I need proof for that. I think I better take a walk and do the contacting personally. Plus, I just figured out the password. As soon as he mentioned that last phrase he said basically the same thing when we talked yesterday morning.

Walking down to Human Resources, he enters Dave’s office. “Good morning Dave, I need to ask a few questions before everybody shows. I need you to come with me down to Central Security.”

“Sure, no problems; let me lock up and we will go down. I did change the key code to the door here. Hopefully that will keep unwanted eyes out of here for a little bit.” Locking the door we walk over to Central Security.

“I know what you mean. It is amazing that Richard is still alive after that beating.”

“Your right, Robert; but at least we have that recording to put those employees away for a long time. … Ah here we are sir, Central Security.” Entering the key and opening the door they both enter.

Looking up, “Robert!! What brings this honor for you to be down here?”

“I think we have a problem here at Secure-Sys. I think the system is compromised somehow, Ben. I also think the breach is caused by some employees here. But to help prove it we need to go over to Richard’s apartment for an explanation. I received an email requesting our presence with the police department and the AG. It might need state and federal help before it is all said and done.”

“That’s a tall order. Sounds like a conspiracy of some sort. I have not seen anything flashing across the screen except for the failed attempts to access certain directories.”

“Access directories? Which ones, Ben?”

“They are trying to access the financial records, email accounts, even your files, Dave and Robert. I just finished preparing a report for you when you came back.”

“Good, make several copies of it and keep it sealed. Take it with you. We are taking a lunch break at Richard’s apartment. I need to call the others to be there.”

“Okay, Robert.”

Mr. Bryson contacts his legal team, the police and the AG to meet at Richard’s apartment.

Let me call Detective Torres first, then AG Stephen Russell. He picks up the phone and dials Mr. Torres number at the station.

Ring…Ring “This is the Jacksonville Police Department. How can I help you?”

“Good morning. My name is Robert Bryson, CEO of Secure-Sys. I would like to talk to Detective Dan Torres please.”

“Yes, he is here this morning. If you will just hold a moment I will connect you to him.”

“Thank you”

Ring…Ring. “Good morning, Mr. Bryson. This is Detective Torres. How can I help you?”

“Good morning Mr. Torres. I have a request that you need to be at a meeting at Richard Moore’s apartment around noon time today. Can you make it?”

“Let me look at the schedule today. No, I have nothing planned. What is this about, Mr. Bryson?”

“Richard made a presentation that we need to see. He sent me an email last Sunday, I opened it this morning. He made some interesting discoveries about some employees here at Secure-Sys. He is also requesting the AG and some members of my company to be there when he reveals this information.”

“That is an unusual request. How is he going to present this information? Is it a tape recording?”

“Well, if I know Richard, it should be a 3D-video recording which should be more informative than a regular tape recording.”

“If that is the case, I will definitely be there for it. There is not much information on this recording from the beating, except for what the four men said.”

“Good, I will be calling the AG for a similar confirmation when I get done here. See you later today Detective Torres.” Click.

Now to call Attorney General Stephen Russell…. Dialing the phone number …Ring…Ring…

“Good morning this is the City Attorney General office, Mr. Stephen Russell presiding. Karen speaking, how can I help you?”

“Yes, my name is Robert Bryson, CEO of Secure-Sys. I would like to speak to Mr. Russell please.”

“Yes, Mr. Russell is here this morning. If you hold I will connect you with him.”

“Thank you Karen, I will hold.”

“Thank you Mr. Bryson.” Click.

“Good morning, this is Stephen Russell. How can I help you?”

“Good morning, Mr. Russell. I am Robert Bryson, CEO of Secure-Sys. I am sure you have read the news about one of my employees was beaten up very badly. He is one of my top programmers. He was able to record a video message the day before he was attacked. He sent me an email that he would like to have several people there to review the material. I was able to talk to him for a few minutes Monday morning. I witnessed the live feed from his apartment when the beating took place. The police have a copy of the recording. I would like to give you a copy as well when you come to the meeting.”

“Live feed from his apartment? How is that possible?”

“The employee’s name is Richard Moore; he is the inventor of the 3D-video system.”

“Richard Moore is your employee? I am intrigued.”

“Yes, I figure you might be. Richard has requested an audience of the police, the AG and some of my staff members to witness some information that will be of concern to everyone. Richard requested a 12 noon showing at his apartment today. Can you make it?”

“Yes, I can make it. I don’t have any appointments at that time.”

“Good, here is the address where Richard’s apartment. It is …. “
“Yes, I got the address, thank you. See you later today Mr. Bryson.”

“Thank you, Mr. Russell. See you then.” Click.

Great, everybody will be there. If I know Richard, this should be a great show.

~~~000~~~

Slowly the employees of Secure-Sys, Inc. arrive for work by 8 AM. Everybody has read the paper about Richard’s beating in his apartment. It was very subdued throughout the day.

“I am so sad to see Richard in the hospital. Who would do such a travesty to him? First he gets fired; then he gets beaten up. What is this world coming to Jennifer?”

“I do not know, Carol. Obviously someone had him marked. I can not believe Mr. Bryson would have let him go. Richard is one of the best employees that we have. Well, I am sure the authorities are on the case and hope they will find the ones who did this,” said Jennifer. “Look out; here comes Darren down the hall. We will keep this to ourselves. I do not trust that Darren. He made an awful pass at me earlier in the month. He makes me uneasy.”

“Good morning, ladies. How is everybody doing?”

“Oh we are doing fine. How was your day off yesterday? Did you see the paper this morning?”

“Oh, it was a great day off. Yes, I saw the headline also, I am sorry to see that Richard is in the hospital. I hope it is not too serious. But, since he was let go, I am sure he made some mistakes in working here. We take pride in our work to provide the best security for our clients.” He then continues walking down the hallway.

Carol whispers to Jennifer, “He’s got a lot of bug bites, Jennifer. Where did he go?”

“I don’t know. But if he stepped near a hive, he deserved it.”

The two ladies giggle quietly before returning to their morning work assignments.

~~~000~~~

Meanwhile; in the break room; Darrell is nervously filling a cup with coffee. In walks another employee.

“Hello Darrell,” said Mr. Parker as he walks in there to get a cup of coffee himself.

“Oh… you startled me, Mr. Parker. I am sorry. Is there anything I can do for you?”

“Can you come with me I have a question to ask you?”

“Sure, I have some time now before I get started.”

“Good. You look a little nervous today. Are you all right?”

“No, no… everything is f-fine sir,” as he stumbles the words out.

“I need you to review a video recording. I want you to give your best answer on how we are to approach this company that we are reviewing.”

“Sure, Mr. Parker; I have no problems with that.”

Both Darrell and Mr. Parker walk into the video room to review the recording. When all is settled down, Mr. Parker put in a DVD to play. It shows Darrell coming into Mr. Parker’s office and opening the file cabinet to find an employee’s address.

Darrell became very uneasy. Oh rats. I was told he did not have a monitor in his room. I have to get out of here now. He tries to get up ..

“Stay Darrell, you are in enough hot water right now to get you fired in three seconds. If you do not come clean; I will make sure you go down with the rest of them.”

“But I was told that your room is not monitored. It is just magnet-key locked sir.”

“Obviously you are wrong. Do not tell anybody else that there is a camera in my office, got that? What is Brent up to, Darrell?”

“Yes sir, I will not tell anyone we have met. Brent did not tell me too much sir. Only him and three of his friends have something planned for Mr. Bryson. They said it was time for a change here at the company. He just needed me to get Richard’s address and phone number.”

“Why did you call Richard a freak?”

“Because he was in the way of Brent’s plan. Plus we didn’t like how he was getting along with the women in the company. He looks so weak. We could not believe the ladies would pay more attention to him than to us. One day, one of the guys caught a glimpse in the bathroom while Richard was pulling his underwear and pants back on. I was told his male organ looked real small. We started laughing. We surmised that he was not a real man, just a baby who has not grown up. But, when the programs that he wrote turned out to be better than ours; that really flipped us out, especially Brent.”

“Let me tell you a story. One day, two friends were coming home from school; a boy and girl. Well some bullies came along and decided to pull some stupid pranks on the girl and hurt her. Well, the boy stepped in and tried to fight them off. But, he got pummeled by them. Once they were satisfied, they decided they had their laugh for the day and left. Well, the girl called home and was able to get him taken to the hospital. Now, you tell me. Who was the man in that scenario, the boy or the bullies?”

“I would say the boy. He acted like a man and protected his girlfriend sir.”

“That is the right answer. If you want to know, that boy was Richard. He told me that story one day while were having coffee.”

“What? You mean to tell me …?!?!

“That’s right. Your friends are a bunch of bullies and Richard is the real man. Do you want to associate with them now?”

“Well…let me think a moment… no…I do not want to go down with them. I really enjoy working here. It is the best job that I have had in some time. I can not afford to lose everything now. Brent was able to get a copy of the keys somehow and gave them to me. He said I was doing the right thing concerning Richard. He also told me that he was going to a baseball game with his friends yesterday. That is all I know.”

“That is good to hear. Because, if you decided to play poker with us; you would have lost. Now I want you to tell us everything that you know. Just to be fair, this whole meeting has been recorded. We need to know what Brent is up to.”

“Well Brent said that we need new leadership with a new vision. I guess I was sold to that. I mean Mr. Bryson is a good CEO, but it seems that he is holding back on what we could do. But, when Brent mentioned some of the ideas on how to run the company better and some of the products; Mr. Bryson said that would be a breach of trust that our clients need for their protection. Come to think of it, I think he wants more. How much more? I do not know. He has something planned. But, I am not part of his inner circle to know all the details. I am sorry, sir.”

The door opens and in walks Central Security and Mr. Bryson. “So, Brent says I lack vision.

“Mr. Bryson, I am sorry that this has happened. I did not know they were going to Richard’s apartment and do all that damage to him. I was told they just wanted to play a baseball game with him.”

“Well, this is what I want you to do. You will go about your day as planned. If Brent or the others ask for your help, deny it at first then accept if persuaded. You have decided to play it straight for awhile. Do not let on what transpired here, Okay?”

“Yes, sirs.”

“If you hear anything going on between the four of them let us know privately. Okay?”

“Yes, sirs; thank you for giving me this second chance sir.”

“You may go now, Darrell. I expect your daily time report on my desk.

“Yes sir, Mr. Parker,” getting up Darrell leaves the video room.

“So, you think he is telling the truth?”

“I think he is, Ben. He has some excellent skill in programming. I think he just got caught up in Brent’s vision,” said Mr. Bryson. “Well in about two hours we will be meeting at Richard’s apartment. I am very curious about what he found out. If it is true, we need to come up with a solution to stop it in midstream when Brent initiates his plan. We need to figure out how to catch him red handed in the cookie jar. Well, let’s get back to work. We will leave here about 2 to 5 minutes apart so as to not draw attention to the other employees. Ben, I want one of your best staff members at the console. If he sees anything out of the ordinary, we need to be notified on our cell phones.”

“I sure will, Mr. Bryson; I will assign David McGuire to the console. I will inform him that he is to call us if any thing happens.”

Dave and Mr. Bryson leave Central Security and then proceed to their morning duties.

Well I am glad to see the morning went as normal. Brent and his group did not do anything; apparently keeping a low profile for now; probably waiting for the right time to do it. I can still see those stings and gnat bites on their faces and hands despite their effort to use that fake tan spray. Well it is approaching 11:30 AM I better get going. “Ms. Thompson, I am going to a lunch meeting now. I should be back by 1 PM or so. If anything changes from that time I will let you know.”

“Thank you, Mr. Bryson. Have a good lunch. I will page Central Security if anything unusual happens here.”

Well let’s get over to Richard’s apartment. The police department has made arrangements to get a copy of the key from the apartment manager. It is going to take about 15 minutes to get there.

Arriving at the apartment I see some familiar cars. Ah, good, the others from the city are here already; and here comes my group. Let’s see what Richard has for us.

Stepping out of my car; I go to greet our guests. “Hello, I am Mr. Bryson, CEO of Secure-Sys, Inc. Hopefully all of your questions and mine will be answered when we get inside Richard’s apartment. Have you finished going over the apartment for evidence Detective Torres?” Mr. Bryson then shakes hands with him and Mr. Russell, the AG from the city.

“Yes, we did. It is a one-bedroom apartment. The four men left in a hurry once the flying insects showed up. Everything is there since we left. We went over it with a fine tooth comb.”

“All right let’s go in and see Richard’s show.”

Detective Torres uses the key and we all enter into the apartment.
“Okay since we are all here, I need to initiate the program that Richard left behind. He gave me instructions to do so…..Computer…This is Robert M. Bryson, CEO of Secure-Sys….the password is….it’s very, very, big.”

“Recognize Mr. Robert Bryson, CEO of Secure-Sys. Recognize special password. Accessing pre-recorded interactive message.”

A light comes on in the corner of the room. Then an image of Richard Moore appears near us in the living room.

“Good afternoon everybody; my name is Richard Moore. If you are seeing this recording, then it is very possible I am unable to be here personally. I will give instructions to Mr. Bryson; instructions to initiate this program. What comes next are my findings from this past Sunday and the several weeks before. You are going to see some amazing images during this recording. If there are not enough chairs here, let me provide one for you.”

All of a sudden several chairs appear near the wall.

“I have been experimenting on how to make the holographic images more solid and touchable. Will one of you go up and see if you can move one of those chairs?”

Dave goes up to the chair and attempts to touch it. “What?! … I can touch the chair?! How is that possible?!?”

The others were amazed that this could happen. They all begin to touch the chairs.

So that is what Richard has been up to. They have the seen the original 3D-program already. Now it is becoming better. I knew I hired the right employee.

“If you are touching the chair then you are experiencing a feature that is an enhancement to the 3D System program that I created. This is going to be in the next version of the program once it is finalized. Just to let you know, this entire apartment has been outfitted with the 3D-video program. There is a separate power supply from the apartment. This power is from a solar converter. I was able to reduce the power demands of the program considerably. If I had to leave this apartment, everything is removable to move elsewhere. From that demonstration, I think I can now present my findings from last Sunday.

So, apparently Richard knew he had to convince the audience here of his expertise. Way to go Richard. You will definitely get a nice bonus.

“About two weeks ago last Sunday I was checking some old programs that were released to me before I was fired. I decided to double check their structure and make sure it can not be compromised. I found some backdoor protocols that would allow a person to sneak through the firewall and take control of the host program and get access to the directories. I had to find who wrote that sub-program. Here let me show you on the screen.”

A large display screen appears on the wall.

“That display screen is a virtual image. I will let you know where it comes from a little bit later. As you can see as I scroll down through the program I notice this series of blocks inserted and framed here. Here I will point to it with the pointer.”

Richard points to the display of lined data and circles around the blocked group.

“Once I saw that, I knew who the author was. But I need to prove to you who did it. Let me show another screen showing a program written by one of the employees at Secure-Sys. You can see it is the same style and layout with the blocks surrounding the sub-program. Now if someone here would mention that employees name now, once it is said then I will proceed from this point and verify the name for you.

“That program looks like Brent Morgan,” said Mr. Bryson.

A pop up screen came up; then disappears. “Thank you Mr. Bryson, it is Brent Morgan who wrote the program. So, I started checking all of the programs that I had with me. Brent’s sub-program is in most of them sir where he should not be. Mr. Parker, that is why my programming seems to be slow; I was cleaning up programs that Brent had infected.”

“You are forgiven, Richard. I can see that now,” said Dave.

Another pop up screen and disappears. “Thank you, Mr. Parker. I appreciate that.”

“So, let me continue on. I looked at the programs that Brent had written that belong to our clients. Every one of them has been compromised with his sub-program.”

“This is for Ben Hawkins to know now; Brent has infected not only Secure-Sys in secure areas, but his attempts will appear as attempts to gain access to several directories and not making it through. I beg to differ. He did get through and covered up his trail as failed attempts. Ben, you need to look real hard at the ghost images in the data bank. He did not thoroughly erase his steps. There is an algorithm tool that I will provide for you later during this meeting. It is in a secure area here. When you initiate the program it will start filling in the missing pieces of data like doing a game of hangman. If I know you, you came to this meeting with a copy of those records to this meeting. Wait until I am done here then you can share it with the others.

Ben, Dave, our legal rep and I started chuckling in amazement at Richard’s deduction.

Oh, boy, I can see the look of astonishment and wonderment on our guests faces. They are in for a treat. If I know Richard, he is not done yet.

"Okay, now the news for our guests. As you might surmise, Brent has infected several systems with key companies that affect this city; including the police department, the courthouse, city hall and other departments. How do I know this? It comes from the list of clientele that we provide our services to. Brent is in charge of most of those programs. What will happen when he initiates the program? Well, I think his first step is take control of Secure-Sys by having a security failure at these companies, the government, even the police data servers. When the lawsuits come then Mr. Bryson will take the blame and be asked to be removed."

Why that… no, I will keep cool; we need to catch him in the act….

“Now you are wondering if this can be fixed before there is a total meltdown of key systems with the city. Yes, it can. But, it will be better if we get this program installed on the servers in a null state. Then when Brent and his friends start their programs and attempts to command the servers and get access to the data, it will trigger the program and everyone who tried to get in will be caught with his hands in the cookie jar. Then we can come in and clean it up and expose Brent and his friends for what they are.”

“Ben and Mr. Bryson, I have an anti-virus program that will go in and remove Brent’s work and restore the systems. Plus, it will plug all other possible holes and ports that it finds in the firewalls. It will then install another programming layer with some sub-layers to the firewall that is even tough for me to break once it is initiated. For proper data to get through everyone knows about the header that accompanies it. But I also added several more check points along the way plus several unexpected tests. It will be in the portfolio that I will give to Mr. Bryson for patent approval. It belongs to the company. Obviously don’t tell Brent and his friends about it. I would love to see their faces when their plan falls apart and they are carted off to jail. It is very similar to the 3D System our SC branch is building. I do know our clients have balked at purchasing the 3D System since it came out last year. Let’s hope this incident gets their attention to upgrade their systems.”

Thanks Richard, I knew you would come through.

“Okay, now I am ready to show you something special. What you are looking at is not a one bedroom apartment. It is actually a two bedroom apartment. I have hidden the door way with a virtual image wall. I did this for protecting my investment and my assets….. Computer…reveal doorway…”

All of a sudden a wall disappears and shifts back several inches and an actual door appears for the second bedroom in the hallway. Everybody gasps at that.

“Whoa, that is unexpected. This kid is very smart. Mr. Bryson, you are fortunate to have him as an employee. Do not lose him,” said Stephen.

“I am very proud of him. He is one my best employees. Let’s go in and see what is in there.”

We all walk into a room that appears empty except for a table with a PC system on it and a nice comfortable chair to go with it. Plus, the monitor screen we saw out in the living room is here on a wall. I opened the closet and there are his file cabinets, servers, and the separate power supply to the system.

This is a very slick system. No wonder he is tops in his class.

Another image of Richard appears in the room.

“Hello everyone, glad you decided to come in. We are almost done here. I have gifts for all here. Mr. Bryson here in this room is the portfolio for you to patent the anti-virus program for you and the company. The royalties belong to the company, not me. I have my own royalties percentage with the university which owns the patent for the 3D-video system and the percentage I receive from our units being sold from our SC office.”

Then a table appears with a box on top of it.

“Go and open it up. It is very real; I had it hidden in this room.”

I remember this now. He did this for his demonstration that he did two years ago. This is slick he is able to conceal a real object. I open the box and pull out the envelope with the DVD.

“Now for Ben.”

Another box appears next to the first one.

“Open it and find a DVD. It contains the program to retrieve the ghost images and reveal the trail that Brent left behind from his trespassing.
You can add it to your collection of program tools.”

“Thanks, Richard”

“You are welcome, Ben.”

Ben chuckles and shake his head. The others chuckle as well.

“For Mr. Parker, I did not forget you.”

A third box appears to the second one.

“There is a folder named “Richard Moore” on the DVD. It contains a copy of my complete medical records and X-rays. I figure you should know the physical truth about me in case something happens to me. My doctor in Charlottesville has the originals.”

“For the police department and the AG, I have a gift for you both.”

Another table appears with a box on it.

“Open it and you will find several DVD’s. Secure-Sys is supposed to do a complete background check on their potential employees who they will hire. They are all copies. Please give one to the police department, the AG and a third one to Mr. Bryson. I did some further checking into the four employees in question. Brent was able to block part of his past and the others from close verification. Mr. Bryson, Detective and AG, there is a copy of the search program on the DVD for your use. If you use that program, you can verify Brent’s folder and the other three; you will find an amazing trail of their pasts. I was able to follow it outside of the company. The results are on the DVD’s also. Brent has connections that you would not believe. His plans are very ambitious. He is doing this in concert with other groups and known suspects that are very high on the police and AG international blotters.”

“I also provided a surprise sub-routine option; choose the “Rabbit Trails” option on the menu. It will seek out the rabbit trails that should lead you where Brent’s associates are or any other person you are interested in. It will give you a visual map as it traces the path back. More than likely sir; the bad guys are going through ghost ID programs to disguise themselves and their point of origin. It will display on the screen the address and the web address where they are at when it reaches the destination. But, they will not know they have been tracked; even if they have firewalls and alarms on their systems to protect themselves.”

“This is part of my life’s work. Please take care of it. If this apartment should burn down; a copy of this work will automatically be sent to the university and to my lawyer’s office immediately. Once you leave this apartment the system will shut down and go into sleep mode, but the sensors will remain active for intruders. If they are activated everything will be recorded and be sent to you Mr. Bryson and to the police department’s 911 system. Thank you for your patience. Have a great week.”

“I Richard Moore, creator of the 3D System am now Logging Off.”

Once Richard said that; the tables and the boxes disappear; then we step out of the second bedroom, the virtual wall appears and hides the door way and self locks.

We all gather in the living room to discuss what we just witnessed and were given.

“We have a lot of work to do. We need to verify these DVD’s and be ready for the take over, especially with Brent’s past. I am curious as to which suspects Richard is referring to. If it is as big he says it is we must be ready to act and see if we can catch the others,” said Stephen. “Ben, Richard mentioned something that you might have brought here, can we see it,” asks the AG.

Ben looks at Mr. Bryson who nods his head up and down, “Mr. Bryson asked me to seal this envelope. Mr. Bryson has not seen the results. I had just finished going over the logs for the previous weeks. I put them into a report format. It contains a listing of the directories of failed attempts on certain directories. From hearing Richard now, I think I better do a closer inspection of this. I was asked to make copies to give you all a set. Here let me open it and I will pass them around,” said Ben. Ben opens the envelope and passes out the report to Mr. Torres and Mr. Russell. They all look at it for the first time. “You can not see much, it just states the date, the time and the directories attacked. But, here on the DVD’s you can see the images of these directories. When Richard said there are ghost images and trails, I thought Richard was joking. But then I remember seeing some images and numbers in the background. It is like taking an eraser that does not erase too well, it leaves an image behind, not all of the graphite is removed from the paper. I thought it might be the equipment, but apparently it is not.”

“Well, I think we need to try out Richard’s program. See if we come to an agreement what we find on the DVD’s,” said Stephen. “Let’s have another meeting on Thursday at my office, two days from now, is that good for everybody?”

Everybody agrees to meet at the AG office at 10 AM.

“Before we go; how is Richard doing now?” asked Dan.

“I have not heard anything yet. I would assume he is still having surgeries this week. I was told it might be a week before he is conscious. I have a copy of the Richard’s beating here.”

“I have the one you gave me yesterday.”

So, I hand a copy to Mr. Russell.

“Thanks.”

“You’re welcome,” responded Mr. Bryson. “The Wilson family is staying at an apartment near the hospital. They were family friends when they lived next door to each other back in SC.”

“That’s good to know, he will have some familiar support when he comes to.”

“Well, it is time to leave, we have enough time for a quick lunch and back to our offices,” said Dave.

“Dave; is there anything on Richard’s medical report that we should know,” asked Stephen?

I look at Mr. Bryson who nodded, “When we met at the hospital yesterday we were informed of Richard’s condition after he was stabilized. Richard was born with two sets of gender organs, male and female. That makes him a hermaphrodite or inter-sexual. When you look at the video you will see what they did to him.”

“What the four didn't know, Richard put on a metal corset and an metal athletic support cup in the morning. It saved his vital organs from serious damage.”

“That’s amazing. This is going to be a tough one to follow-up. One scenario is that I could declare Richard dead then his female self will be the new owner of his works. I need to check with his lawyer to see what kinds of arrangements have been made. By declaring Richard dead; the four men could be charged with murder to some sort of degree. But we all need more information before it comes to that point and see how Richard fares on the operating table. Well, keep in touch. See you all Thursday.”

“Mr. Bryson, I have a question that Richard said during the attack.”

“What is it, Mr. Torres?”

“It appears Richard sprayed the men’s faces with something. Brent yelled back to know what it is. All Richard said is that Jackson from Raleigh would know. Then Richard said ‘buzz off ghosts.’ What is that about?”

Mr. Bryson smiles then begins laughing. “Hah, hah, hah . . . . Jackson from Raleigh is Captain Jackson of the Raleigh Police Department. Richard booby trapped the safe with glow in the dark spray cans. When it was forced open, two students and three employees from Beta-Security were sprayed in the face with it. Richard had his 3D System hid elsewhere in the store room. After cleaning themselves and not knowing what it was, when you take a black light near it, their faces had a ghastly glowing green image.”

Everyone else begins to laugh when they hear that.

“Then everything they touched had the glowing fingerprints.”

“That’s right, Detective Torres.”

“Then I’ll check those gloves that Richard used and find which vehicle they used for their escape. I’ll call Captain Jackson to confirm the story.”

~~~000~~~

[Detective Dan Torres]

We all leave the apartment laughing. I lock the door and re-seal the doorway. I then return the magnet key card to the apartment manager. I decide to ask her some questions about Richard.

“I told Richard that he could do his work in there provided it could be returned to normal before he leased it. Richard had to show me that he was not harming the apartment. Once I was satisfied; I purchased a copy of the program to monitor the buildings and key rooms for the complex.”

“Thank you, ma’am; I have seen his work; it is very good. Is it possible that you might have recorded the incident when Richard was attack?”

“It is possible; let me check my logs to see if it recorded that time slot and place.” She goes through the list on the PC. “Yes, here it is. It did record Richard’s apartment; let me bring it up. You will see over there in the corner of the office.

A 3D-video image appeared scaled down in the corner. “Let me change the scale factor and make it bigger. I think I see an SUV pull in now. I see four men coming out with bats … oh my God!!! They are entering Richard’s room. How did they get in? Wait a minute, one of them is putting a card into the slot with a wire hanging out connected to a device. Only Richard and I have a copy of the key.”

“Can you please make a copy of that recording; I need to enter it in as evidence. I think you better check your other logs; I hope none of your employees are involved in this. At this point I need to ask where the extra keys are kept,” asked the detective.

“The magnet keys are kept in the strong box in that file cabinet over there. It also contains the device to make additional copies. Yes, I will let you have a copy of the recording. Plus, I will double check the other recording logs. You can have that one also. But could you make it official by using a court order?”

“Good idea, that way you or I will not be held liable for improper gathering of evidence. Then do not have anyone touch that cabinet. I will have a team here to examine the cabinet and the strong box. I will bring one later today, Okay?”

“I will be here, good luck in getting those creeps.”

I leave the manager’s office; the AG is still talking with the others there, very good. “I have some good news, people; I just checked with the manager here, she has a copy of Richard’s system installed here. I just saw a recording of the SUV and the four men coming out with baseball bats. Stephen, I need to get a court order signed to get a copy released to us. The manager agreed to provide a copy provided we get one and to search her office. I just want to make sure they did get the key from the manager or not. Can we get one today?”

“You bet, let me call the office to get one prepared. You can follow me; I will have a judge sign it and give it to you on the spot. Is that fast enough for you?”

I chuckle, “Yes, that is fast enough.”

“Ben and Stephen, it appears Brent is using some type of electronic device with a wired card reader to get into his apartment.”

“Thanks, that answers one of my questions on how he got access to Dave’s office. I will tell Robert later.”

~~~000~~~

[Robert Bryson]

We all went back to our offices. Dave, Ben and I were able to grab a quick bite along the way. We decided to keep the talk neutral and not bring up what we know today. We were able to be back a little after 1 PM.

I go up to my office. “Good afternoon, Miss Thompson. I take it, no news happened while I was gone?”

“Yes sir, Mr. Bryson.”

“Good, all is quiet for now. I will be in my office; I can accept calls that need my attention. If they are from the hospital, the police department or the city AG, they go through without delay. The others you can weed out and write it in your phone message pad.”

“Yes sir, have a good day. I will remind you of your other appointments later today.”

“Oh and Miss Thompson, I want you to add into the calendar that I have a meeting at 10 AM on Thursday with the city AG.”

“Yes sir, I will put in. I will set the alarm for that one 45 minutes early.”

“That’s fine, which should give me plenty of time to get there.”

What can I say about today? It is just about normal. Brent lay low all day. I decided to test him today and the next few days.

~~~000~~~

[Secure-Sys, Inc.]

Ring…Ring…”This is Secure-Sys. How can I direct your call?”

“Yes, my name is Dr. Sarah Mitchell I need to speak with Mr. Bryson.”

“Yes, Mr. Bryson is here this afternoon. Let me direct you to his secretary.”

“Thank you. I will hold,” pushing a button Cheryl reaches Linda.

“Hello Linda, I have Dr. Sarah Mitchell on hold.”

“Thank you Cheryl, I will pick it up here. …. Hello, is this Dr. Sarah Mitchell? I am Linda Thompson, Mr. Bryson’s secretary.”

“Yes, thank you. Is he available? I have an update on Richard.”

“Yes, he has been expecting it. Let me send you through.” She pushes a button. “Hello Mr. Bryson, I have Dr. Sarah Mitchell on hold. She has an update on Richard.”

“Thank you Linda, I will take it from here.”

“Yes sir, she is on line 3 that is flashing now.”

“Line 3, thank you Linda.” Robert pushes the Line 3 button. “Hello Dr. Mitchell, this is Robert Bryson, CEO of Secure-Sys. I understand you have an update on Richard.”

“Yes, I do, sir. I am glad to report he is doing fine despite his injuries. Yesterday, we were able to remove his metal armor so we can do the CAT scans. We went into to stop the internal bleeding in his legs and arms. We also re-aligned only one in leg and one in his arm. He previous injuries that he had when he was eight held up and did not fracture. Then his arms and legs are put in a strap cast. This morning we did the delicate operation of his hands, jaw and throat. There was only one stress fracture line found in the jaw. There was no damage to the larynx fortunately. It is the hands we are concerned about.”

“Can he be available to talk to us on Thursday and Friday?”

“It’s possible Mr. Bryson. We are planning to bring him to consciousness so that we can discuss what to do next.”

“We are having a meeting Thursday morning downtown with the AG and the police detective to discuss some other issues that I will not discuss now. But it does concern Richard in the end. There are other developments that will be happening. I am beginning to think we all can come down that Thursday afternoon and we will meet with you and everyone else who needs to be there.”

“That sounds wonderful, Mr. Bryson. What would be an appropriate time?”

“We should be done about 12 noon. How does 2 PM sound?”

“That’s a good time. I will set up a conference room for all of us;
hopefully Richard will be coherent enough to know what is going on. We will make sure before you all arrive.”

“That is fine. See then at 2 PM on Thursday.”

“See you at 2 PM.”

Click. Mr. Bryson pushes a button. “Linda, I need to add a 2 PM appointment down at the hospital for Thursday afternoon.”

“Yes sir, Thursday afternoon at 2 PM. I take it that it concerns Richard?”

“Yes, it does. Please send a forwarding message to Ben in Central Security, to Dave in Human Resources and to our company legal rep to add it to their agendas.”

“Yes sir, I have the message. I am forwarding it now.”

~~~000~~~

[Central Security, Secure-Sys.]

Ben sits down at his desk and insert Richard’s DVD into the laptop and downloads it.

All right, let’s check Richard’s program and take a look at those directories. Then he puts in the data disk to analyze the directories and the trails that Richard was talking about.

Hmm…will you look at that; it is going back and retrieving the steps and revealing Brent’s path. I can see how Brent hacked into the directories. He has a sub-routine that finds the passwords and by-passes the alarm and encryption settings. He then inserts the email message to originate the letter from Mr. Bryson’s directories on his own computer. He then re-writes the directories to cover his trail. Let’s take a look at the other directories that appeared attacked. I see here that he is into the accounting directories. He has taken a little of bit of money from various different accounts, readjust the balances to reflect no changes. He then sends that to his own bank account. I can not wait until these holes are plugged. I better check to see how far back this embezzling goes. I need to report this to Robert and Dave when we have our meeting tomorrow. Then we will take this to the AG on Thursday as planned.

~~~000~~~

[Human Resources, Secure-Sys.]

Dave puts Richard’s DVD disk into the player. Let’s see what his records are. Here is a letter for me. Let’s open that and read it. … It states here that his parents kept his condition sealed until he opened it when his family was killed. According to this, his female organs are in an active state. I am going to need to check in with the doctor and his lawyer what his current situation is. There should be no change yet. It will not be until later this week when some of the surgeries are done. I can imagine that they will have to reassemble his hands. He will be in casts for about six weeks.

~~000~~~

[Robert Bryson, CEO of Secure-Sys.]

Robert puts in the DVD to see what Richard has found. All right, let’s see more of Brent’s past. According to this report, Brent and his friends have been together since they all came from the same university; which we knew already from their job applications. But the news about their time there is not known. The professors had a hard time keeping them out of the university private server areas. Brent even went in and changed the admin password and blocked everybody out. That made everybody mad at him. Brent and his friends did get their degrees, but from reading these letters from professors, Brent agreed to stay clean until he graduated. Even his other three friends tried to hack the computers with Trojans and worms. Let’s check this other folder titled “Associates”. Wait a minute I recognize these names. They were mentioned during the Security Conference when I was in DC last week. Brent is associated with them? This is bad. According to this list, Richard was able to find their last known locations. I need to show this to Ben. I am sure he will recognize some names as well. I bet the AG will be very upset when he sees this list. But I am sure he will be licking his chops that he will get a big score on this one. I am glad Richard was able to do this before Brent and his friends got to him. I will need to take this portfolio down to R&D and get the anti-virus program ready for distribution. Fortunately Brent and his associates are not in that department.

Pushing the extension number for the R&D Department, Ring…Ring… ”Hello Doug… Yes this is Robert up here. I have something for you and Beth that you need to jump on.”

“What’s up?”

“Let me bring it down, I will explain it when I get there.”

~~~000~~~

[R&D Department, Secure-Sys.]

“We’ll wait for you. See you then.” Click. “Beth, Mr. Bryson is coming down to meet us he has a project for us to do.”

~~~000~~~

[Robert Bryson, CEO]

Going down to the 2nd floor, Mr. Bryson goes to the R&D Department taking the portfolio with him. Opening the door he enters in. “Hello Doug and Beth, I have a special project for you two. It needs to be kept quiet, so no idle talk about it. I do not want Brent and his three friends to know about this. In this portfolio is an anti-virus program that Richard wrote before he ended up in the hospital.”

“Richard is in the hospital? What happened, sir?”

“I believe it was some of our employees who attacked. They broke a
lot of his bones in the assault.”

“If it was, I bet it was Brent who did this. He has hated Richard ever since he got promoted to Assistant to the Senior Programmer.”

“It is possible Doug. But right now, this software needs to be certified and ready for distribution to all our clients and to the city and county departments. It is only for them, it is to be privately sold to them. According to Richard it will stop a virus that Brent and some associates of his will unleash to cause chaos. This program needs to be in their hands as quickly as possible. I do not know when Brent will initiate the strike. But we need to be ready for it.”

“That is a tall order, sir. But I am sure Doug and I can pull it off. It will be like the updates that we have done before. We will get in the mail, send it as an attachment to a mass email, however you want it out. Even out on the website where it can be downloaded.”

“What does this virus do, sir?”

“Well the intention is to disrupt our client base so that we get blamed for the problem. Richard figures that lawsuits will come in and it will force me to leave this company and possibly get arrested on some charge. While that goes on, Brent moves in and takes over Secure-Sys as the new CEO. But then he will have access to our clients’ business and even access to the city and county governments.”

“Oh, that is nasty. So you are saying that Richard’s program will stop that in its tracks and prevent further damage?”

“That is right Doug. Not only that; but the program will make it tougher to hack through. It is similar to his 3D System that is being built in our SC branch. So, install it on a separate system, have one of Ben’s staff members come down and see if he can get into a secure server that you have set up here for testing. If he can not get in after several attempts then we know it can be trusted. You need to get this done in about 2 days I think.”

“Okay, Doug and I will verify the program today and have it tested tomorrow morning. If he can not get in after an hour, we know it is good. We will start the duplication process as quickly as possible and get it posted on the website, or put in the mail.”

“I suggest not putting it on the website, one of Brent’s friends oversees the website. Do it as a mass email to the clients with the link to a separate and secure server. It will be faster to get in their hands. Then follow it up with an actual copy that is mailed to them if they request it. One of Brent’s friends is in Shipping. If any copies are made and packaged; then deliver them to the post office during a break yourselves. You can put them in a box and say you are going to UPS to do a personal delivery for a friend. But, you will be going to Post Office to mail them. That should keep them guessing. You can use our account at the Post Office to expedite the payment. Make sure you send a note to Accounting for the total cost amount.”

“Sounds like a good plan. Well, if you will excuse us, Beth and I have our work cut out here. We will give you a report when we are done today.”

“Thanks Beth and Doug. I look forward to it.” Mr. Bryson leaves them both and proceeds to do his afternoon check up with the employees. Some of the conversations were about Richard, but most of it centered on the work they were doing at the time. Next stop is Brent’s office.

Walking up to Brent’s office, Mr. Bryson sees his door open, does a quick rap on the door to get his attention.

Looking up, “Hello Mr. Bryson. Around for the usual check up?”

“Yes, so how are you coming along with the current reviews?”

“It is not too bad. I am making sure the bugs are removed. I am sorry to hear that Richard is in the hospital. Is there any news on his condition?”

“Not much. He is still in surgery. I expect to get a report on him tomorrow. I understand you took a day off yesterday?”

“Yes, I went to see a baseball game yesterday.”

“Who did you see play? What happened to your face?”

“My friends and I went to see a minor league double-header game; our Suns won both games. Someone disturbed a wasp nest right in front of us and then ran away.”

“That’s good to hear. I’m sorry to hear about the wasp attack. Well, I need to continue on with my tour here. See you tomorrow.”

“See you tomorrow, sir.”

You just messed up Brent. Our Suns play at night during the week days and it was a single game yesterday. You deserve more pain than what you gave Richard.

Mr. Bryson leaves Brent and continues on. Stopping by Darren’s office he sees that he is in there.

“Ahem … good afternoon Darren.

Darren looks up, “Hello Mr. Bryson.”

“How is the website holding up? No one has tried to hack it yet.”

“No sir, it is humming along just fine. I was just updating the web-
store. Here take a look at the pages that I created.”

I come around and take a look. “That looks good, Darren. You did get the latest prices from the Accounting Department to reflect current market value?”

“Yes sir, I just received them about an hour ago. I just finished putting them in.”

“That is very good, Darren. Do you have any questions for me regarding the format for the videos we want to show on the website?”

“Not at this time. I am still in the development stage of layout. I will not assign the tags until then. But the question remains how long the videos are. We do not want them too big like last time; right?”

“No, we do not want to hamper the speeds on most PCs out there. There are still a lot people who have not upgraded to the latest version. We will need to keep the choices available for the different speeds and viewer versions. How was your day off yesterday?”

“Yes, I will keep it like last time. Oh the day went fine. Some of the guys and I went to a ball game then to the beaches. It was a great day. Sir, I am little surprised that Richard is not here today. Where is he?”

“Didn’t you read the paper this morning? He is in the hospital. Well time for me to move on and check on the rest of the company. See you tomorrow.” Mr. Bryson leaves the office.

“I am sorry to hear that. See you tomorrow sir.” That was close, I am glad we all agreed to the same story about yesterday.

Way to go Darren. You just added fuel to your own problem. Richard was “fired” a week ago. Why should you be interested if he was here today or not? That goes double for Brent. Okay let’s see who else to visit? The only two left are Michael and Brian. Let’s check on Michael and Darrell while I am here.

Walking a few doors down he enters into the main employee area. Michael and Darrell are set up in the portables with the other employees.

“Hello Michael and Darrell, just the ones I need to speak today. Apparently it is your turn for my questions on how things are going.”

“Yes sir, the current projects are proceeding along fine. Once the syntax and bugs are worked out, we will check them to make sure they flow correctly the way they should. Isn’t that right Darrell?”

“That’s right, Michael. As you can see here with this one, one of the bugs we encountered was the speed it went through the verification process. We are trying to optimize it as much as possible. But our work load has increased since Richard has left.”

“I see. I know you are short handed right now. But, you will have to make do. It takes time to replace an employee with Richard’s credentials. Well, I know it is putting more pressure on Brent to verify these programs. We will have to make it work until then. I understand that you took a day off yesterday Michael. How was it?”

“Yes sir, we’ll make it through. My day off was great I was able to get some batting practice at the cages near the beaches.”

Darrell looks at Michael with a puzzled look. Michael and Mr. Bryson see it.

“That’s good I am sure it was a nice break from the routine here. Well I need to move on. See you both tomorrow.”

When Mr. Bryson left the room finally after greeting the other employees there Michael spoke in a low voice. “I thought he would never leave. Why did you give me that funny look Darrell? It was the story that we agreed with, right?”

“I don’t think so. I thought it would be a game that you four were going to.”

“Your right Darrell, I forgot. I better check with the others to see if we said the same thing. If he figures out that we said four different stories, it might raise his suspicion. Are you coming to the meeting tomorrow night?”

“I’m invited? I thought Brent would let us know if we were to meet.”

“Okay, I will check with Brent to make sure. Let’s get busy; we have about an hour left before we go home today.”

“Okay, I will wait until tomorrow.” That was close I am sure Mr. Bryson would ask me another question. Maybe my startled look at Michael perhaps gave him a clue.

Way to go, Michael. That’s the third different story from yesterday. When I saw that look on Darrell’s face I knew something was not right about the stories. Let’s see if Brian tells a different one. Try as they might, they are really not working together on all cylinders. But, still Brent is the key to this whole mess. Well, let’s get down to the first floor and check there.

Mr. Bryson does his usual question and answers with the other employees again. Some expressed sadness for what Richard is going through but they gave Mr. Bryson an update on their projects.

“I am sorry Carol, I can not tell anymore than what I know. He is still on the operating table right now. He won’t be conscious for a week. Hopefully no complications will come up.”

“That’s okay. But at least he has our prayers. I was talking with Jennifer and there seems to be an uneasy calm now. Like there is something going to happen.”

“Well I am sure it just everybody is trying to adjust with Richard’s presence gone. We will adjust to it.”

“Sir, did you fire Richard before you left for the conference? I was wondering.”

”Yes, I did. There were some issues that had to be dealt with. But I can not say what they are right now.” I wish I could tell her otherwise, but not yet. “I do ask you to be strong. There might be some rough waters ahead. Once the storm is gone; I think Secure-Sys will be stronger than ever.”

“I hope you are right on that point. Well I have a few more pages to type up for the current software documentations before I go home today.”

“I am sorry to take up your time. I need to make a few more stops before I am done. Remember what I said; be strong.”

“Yes sir, be strong.”

Okay, three more stops. Let’s go to the Shipping Department. Let’s see what Brian has to say.

Mr. Bryson walks through the corridors and to the back office where the Shipping Department is located with the loading docks.

Brian turns around and sees Mr. Bryson coming towards him.

“Hello, Mr. Bryson. Checking up on us again?”

“Of course, it is my job to make sure the company is running smoothly. Is everything caught up for the day?”

“Yes sir. All assigned shipments went out today. I have stacked over there what is going out tomorrow. It is the updates for our clients.”

“Good Brian. What about the roll-out for the new products?”

“We are getting there. From what I have been told we have the first batch sitting over there; which will go out first thing in the morning. The next batch should arrive from Carol and Jennifer sometime tomorrow.”

“That’s good, Brian.”

“I was hoping to do it all at once on one day. But I guess we can not inundate the post office too much.”

“No Brian, its one thing to do fliers which are easy to do. But to do boxes, that takes up space on the trucks very quickly.”

“You are right on that point, sir.”

“One other question before I go. How was your day off yesterday?”

“It was great. I was able to use the free time to watch a baseball game during the day. After that I went with some friends to the beaches and a club. Our minor league team won the game.”

“That sounds great, Brian. Well, I need to make one or two more stops. I will check in again as usual.”

“See you next time, Mr. Bryson.” Whew, that is close. It is a good thing we agreed that we went to ball game yesterday. Hopefully he will not become suspicious.

Oh Brian. You just made it four for four in telling four different stories. They did not know it but I had these conversations recorded with Richard’s system. Well let’s check in with Doug and Beth and see how they are doing.

Going back up to the second floor; Mr. Bryson arrives at the R&D Dept. Opening the door and entering in. “So, how is it going, Doug and Beth?”

“Good afternoon, Mr. Bryson. We were just about to call you; we just finished putting it together. We can tell you that we are always impressed with Richard’s work. His work is real easy to go through. But like you said, this is the most complicated piece of work that he has put together yet. I do not know where he gets these ideas, but they are great. Even from our initial testing, Ben’s crew will have hard time getting through. I doubt he will ever make it through, we could not.”

“That’s good to hear, Beth. Doug, the last thing that Richard told me is that he introduced some new and unusual tests of the data.”

“That’s an understatement. When I first saw the algorithm, I thought he was nuts. No way can a bunch of tests be done to a data header to verify it authenticity within the timeout slots. But, when coupled with the ports algorithm; it was so chaotic that it worked beautifully when all put together. I doubt anyone could hack through those layers before getting bumped out. We tried to introduce worms, Trojans, anything to see if it could squirm or fake its way through. We even tried to follow the data in its wake. No such luck. It recognized the attempts right away and blocked us out or strips off what we attached to the data packet while the data went through.”

“Richard said he made it even difficult for himself once it is initiated.”

“We did not get that close at all to read the directories and the data that we sent. It was like we were still 100 miles away from them. But when we entered the correct ID’s and passwords to access the directories, the data was sitting there unchanged from what we sent. Like I said before, it is a beautiful piece of work. I wonder what else is up his sleeve for an encore.”

“I wonder too. But it will be sometime before he comes back, perhaps months. It takes time to heal from those injuries.”

“I am sorry to hear that. Well, we need to put this to bed and get ready for tomorrow. It is going to be busy for us to start mass producing this product.”

“I will stop by Ben’s desk and inform him that you are done. Have a good night, see you both tomorrow.”

“Thanks Mr. Bryson. See you tomorrow.”

Okay, that is great. Step one is done today; onto step two tomorrow. Let’s get down to Ben’s office and give him and update. Ah, here is his door. Opening the door, “Hello Ben, I have some good news on the anti-virus program. Doug and Beth just finished it. They tried their initial testing as usual. Well, they could not break it. It looks real solid.”

“That’s good to hear. I will have David try to hack through it first thing tomorrow morning. If he can not hack it within an hour, we will declare it is ready for the real world. Is there any word on Brent?”

“Nothing right now, but I want to review the conversations that I had with them today. I think each of them all told a different story on where they were yesterday. They tried to tell the same story, but they are not the same. We will need to have it ready when the AG requests it for the prosecution.”

“No problems Robert. I will review the 3D-videos before I go and lock up for the evening. When do you think Brent will strike?”

“I don’t know right now. He will probably wait until he thinks he is safe. Remember what Darrell said. Richard is a better programmer than Brent. Once he feels he is not threatened by Richard, I think that will be when he jumps.”

”Could be. It could happen tomorrow or the next week. We will need to keep our eyes and ears open. Good night, Robert, see you tomorrow.”

“Yes, we need to be alert. Do not forget there is our meeting tomorrow. Then the next day is the meeting downtown. I will be getting a report from the hospital in the morning. I will share it then. Good night, Ben.”

~~~000~~~

[Brent Morgan’s apartment]

“Oh what a day I had today. I bet we are glad to be back here and meet at my place after work. I will be glad when Richard is forgotten from this place. So, how did it go? Did we tell the same story to Mr. Bryson when he did his rounds?”

“Well, I told him that we went to a baseball game yesterday to see the Suns play,” said Darren.

“I said the same thing but I added that it was a double header.”

“How about you Michael, what did you say?”

“I told him that we went to the batting cages near the beaches. I am sorry, Brent.”

“That’s okay. I think we are safe. And you, Brian?”

“I said we went to the baseball game, and then we went to the beaches and a club afterwards.”

“Well that’s sounds all right. Were there any responses to Richard during these talks?”

“I commented about the increased work load since Richard left. I can imagine it is the same with you, Brent.”

“True, Michael, but I get the final say and be able to put in my subroutine in some of these packages. So far no detection has been made.”

“I did not mention anything about Richard when Mr. Bryson came down to me. We just focused on shipments and the scheduling for then next day.”

“That’s good, Brian; how about you, Darren?”

“I think I goofed. I forgot that Richard was “fired”, I mentioned that he was not here today. I am sorry Brent.”

“Hmm, that's not good. I have been in contact with my associates. So far everything is a go. We are just waiting for news at the hospital plus some other news ….”

“Uh, Brent, I am just looking through the sports section here. I think we have a problem. The Suns games are played at night, plus there was no double header yesterday.”

“What did you say, Brian?!? Oh crud! Wait a minute let me think…. I think we can still make this work. I will contact my associates and see when the earliest time is to pull the trigger. It might be pushed up a couple of days.”

“Sorry about that, Brent, we should have rehearsed our stories better.”

“That’s okay, Darren. If we had told the exactly the same story I am sure it would have even surprised Bryson.”

“If it is going to happen earlier; do you think we ought to include Darrell in our next meeting? We might need him for a particular task.”

“We will have to play it by ear. I will just keep him on deck if we need him for a fall. Well it’s time to go. I am sure you all need to get back to your apartments.”

“Yes, I have some things to do this evening. See you all tomorrow guys. One down and several more to go. Hah, hah, hah, …”

~~~000~~~

Anna drives up to the apartment complex. She gets out of the car and closes the door. She locks it before she walks around back in the grass area between buildings. She finds the right balcony real easy. It has a great garden built there. She looks up and whispers to it.

“Amber and Cobalt, will you please come here?”

Two butterflies flutter down and land on her shoulder. They whisper back.

“How is Richard, Anna?”

“Richard is doing well so far. The metal corset helped him from getting injured seriously. It is just his legs, arms and hands. He was kicked in his jaw once before you sent the insects in.”

“That is good news. How are the doctors doing in realigning his bones?”

“They should have the bones realigned today.”

“That’s good, Anna. Then his healing powers will be faster. It can go faster if we are there with him.”

“I have an idea so that you can be there in his recovery room.”

“How is that possible? They don’t allow animals or insects inside the hospital. They are not ready to see fairies.”

“I know, Amber. There are going to be a lot of flower arrangements in the room. They will be from people he knows at work. Even the Wilson family will bring some in. I was hoping you would hide among the flowers in your butterfly mode. Then you can come out at night to help heal him.”

“That’s a worthy plan, Anna. What if they check the flowers for insects? They could try to harm us with a spray.”

“I will have a talk with the nurses tomorrow morning. I do know dogs and cats are allowed for special circumstances. The cats and dogs do lift their spirits up.”

“When is Richard planned to be awake?”

“Probably by Thursday, Cobalt. There is a meeting planned to find a way to stop Brent’s plans.”

“Did you know Brent is part of the conspiracy from Europe?”

“I don’t know all the details yet, Cobalt. What do you know about it?”

“Richard thinks there will be a virus attack on the world wide banks. There is some talk on certain European blogs, they want the Euro to be the supreme world currency.”

“I’ve heard of that news for about ten years before you came here. It is possible they are pushing for it because of Richard’s invention. They want to do it before the banks become impossible to break in via the internet.”

“It’s possible, Anna. See what you can find out if butterflies are allowed in the room. Bianca is really heart tied to Richard. We are trying our best to comfort her.”

“I’ll let you know as soon as possible tomorrow, Amber and Cobalt. Thank you for having this talk with me. Try and get a good night of sleep.”

“We’ll certainly try, Anna. Drive safe and return safe to us.”

“I will. Good night my friends.”

Amber and Cobalt fly back up to the balcony garden to give the latest news. Bianca is relieved to hear the latest news, but she has high hopes to be there in the room soon.

Anna walks back to her car. She drives to the hotel where she is staying at while in Jacksonville.

Chapter 5 Tuesday morning at the Hospital

The Rescue Mission
Chapter 5
Written by rachel76m
Edited by Don Kaufman

Tuesday morning at the hospital

I can not believe how much damage Richard took and he is still hanging in there since yesterday. Fortunately he wore that metal corset. Right now he is stable and he is unconscious at this time with the medical induced coma we gave him. Perhaps a consultation with Anna will help here. I find it a great relief that the Wilson family showed up. Perhaps they can add their voices to the decisions that have to be made. I better add their name to my list of things to do.

He hears a knock on the door. He looks up and sees Dr. Mitchell walk in, “Good morning Sarah, are you ready for the next session with Richard? The specialists are here to start reassembling his hands and to check his jaw closely. They will also check his throat as well.”

“Oh hello, Dr. Thornton, good morning, yes I am ready. I was writing some notes here. We are going to need a meeting with a group of people so that we are in agreement for Richard’s future.”

“I agree. The list is going to be formidable. But they will need to attend.”

“We are fortunate that Richard protected his groin area and vital organs.”

“Yes, that is fortunate, the X-rays revealed the bones in his legs and arms have several stress cracks and are not misaligned. Fortunately we were able to go in and stop the bleeding He is pretty much immobile with the casts we put on and putting him in traction. From the X-rays we can see his previous injuries he sustained when he was eight. Also his muscular development is excellent from his martial arts training. That is what kept his bones aligned.”

“Do you think we can get a meeting Thursday or so, Dr. Thornton?”

“It is possible, Sarah, but we will need to do some phone calls to check their schedules. We will start the phone calls after the lunch break.”

~~~000~~~

Dan arrives at his desk in the morning and sits down with his cup of coffee. He opens the DVD case that he received from Mr. Bryson yesterday.

That is an incredible beating that Richard took yesterday, and from what I hear he is still hanging in there. He must have made some enemies. But considering the company he is with, I am sure it is a revenge tactic on him. Let me take a look at that video again and see if there are any additional clues to identify these 4 men.

Dan inserts the DVD into the laptop and begins to scan the video.

From what I see and hear so far, these four men are all wearing gloves. Great, no finger prints from that avenue. Fortunately Richard identified each one in turn and yanked off their masks before the beating commenced. From what is being said here. Brent has a total dislike for Richard. Brent says his programs are better, not Richard’s. That has to be an ego trip. According to some, the statements by the other three, there is more trouble ahead for Secure-Sys. What did Richard mean that Jackson from Raleigh will know what he sprayed him with? Hmm . . .

“Bzzz…Bzzz” A call from the front desk? I push the button on the phone base. “Hello Karen”

“Good morning Dan. I have a call from Mr. Robert Bryson at Secure-Sys. He is on Line 4.”

“Thank you, Karen.” Dan pushes the button for Line 4. “Good morning Mr. Bryson. This is Detective Torres. How can I help you?”
“Good morning Mr. Torres. I have a request that you need to be at a meeting at Richard Moore’s apartment around noon time today. Can you make it?”

“Let me look at the schedule today. No, I have nothing planned. What is this about Mr. Bryson?”

“Richard made a presentation that we need to see. He sent me an email last Sunday, I opened it this morning. He made some interesting discoveries about some employees here at Secure-Sys. He is also requesting the AG and some members of my company to be there when he reveals this information.”

“That is an unusual request. How is he going to present this information? Is it a tape recording?”

“Well, if I know Richard, it should be a 3D-video recording which should be more informative than a regular tape recording.”

“If that is the case, I will definitely be there for it. There is not much information on this recording from the beating, except for what the four men said.”

“Good, I will be calling the AG for a similar confirmation when I get done here. See you later today, Detective Torres.”

“Click.” Well that was interesting. Richard was able to do a 3D-video recording of some information that he has found. Basically what that means Richard found something and this beating was meant to keep him quiet and not interfere with their plans before it was revealed. Perhaps Richard beat them to the punch.

~~~000~~~

Karen Walker walks into the AG’s office to begin her day. “Good morning Mr. Russell, did you see the news yesterday? An employee from Secure-Sys was beaten up very badly.”

“Yes, I did see that headline. I wonder what it’s all about. But, I guess we will find out soon enough once the investigation begins.”

Ring…Ring…”I got that call, sir. Good morning, this is the City Attorney General office, Mr. Stephen Russell presiding. Karen speaking, how can I help you?”

“Yes, my name is Mr. Robert Bryson, CEO of Secure-Sys. I would like to speak to Mr. Russell please.”

“Yes, sir, Mr. Russell is here this morning. If you will hold, I will connect you with him.”

“Thank you, Miss Karen, I will hold.”

“Thank you, Mr. Bryson.” Click. “Mr. Russell, Mr. Bryson is on line 2.”

“Well, it looks like word travels fast. Thank you, Karen, I will take the call in my office.” Stephen goes to his desk and picks up the phone and punches Line 2. “Good morning, this is Stephen Russell. How can I help you?”

“Good morning, Mr. Russell. I am Robert Bryson, CEO of Secure-Sys. I am sure you have read the news about one of my employees was beaten up very badly. He is one of my top programmers. He was able to record a video message the day before he was attacked. He sent me an email that he would like to have several people there to attend. I was able to talk to him for a few minutes Monday morning. I witnessed the live feed from his apartment when the beating took place. The police have a copy of the recording. I would like to give you a copy as well when you come to the meeting.”

“Live feed from his apartment? How is that possible?”

“The employee’s name is Richard Moore; he is the inventor of the 3D-video system.”

“Richard Moore is your employee? I am intrigued.”

“Yes, I figured you might be. Richard has requested an audience of the police, the AG and some of my staff members to witness some information that will be of concern to everyone. Richard requested a 12 noon showing at his apartment today. Can you make it?”

“Yes, I can make it. I don’t have any appointments at that time.”

“Good, here is the address for Richard’s apartment. It is …”

“Yes, I have the address, thank you. See you later today Mr. Bryson.”

“Thank you Mr. Russell. See you then.”

Click. “Karen, put me down for a 12 noon meeting. Apparently there is going to be 3D-video show at Richard’s apartment. This should be interesting. I did not realize it was him that invented the 3D-video system.”

“If that is so, sir, perhaps this beating portends something really big.”

“That is true, Karen. But, I will have to wait and see until then.”

~~~000~~~

[Brianna Wilson]

“Mom, Dad, I am so glad we got this apartment near the hospital.”

“Yes, we were fortunate. Even Mr. Bryson is helping with some of the expenses, especially in the deposits. He is saving us some money. So, are we ready to go to the hospital? Brianna dear, I am glad that the Rescue Mission is allowing you to stay here for this week until he becomes conscious.”

“Yes, mom, that was nice of them. So, are we ready to go?”

“You sure are impatient today. You know he will not be awake for a few more days.” Helen puts her keys into her purse. “Okay, I am ready now. Let’s all head over.”

“Right, honey, I am ready also.”

We all get into the car and take a short drive over to the hospital. We were able to find a parking spot with no problems. We walk to the front desk to check in and to see which waiting area we need to be near. Karen went back to Charleston as planned. I will call her if there is any more news about Richard. We were told to wait in the lobby area where Dr. Mitchell will meet us and to explain what has happened so far. When we arrive there, we also meet Anna Dawson. As we were about to sit down Dr. Mitchell and Dr. Thornton arrived.

“Good morning. I am glad you are all here. We need to give you an update. Mr. Bryson will be getting a daily report from us as well. We need to arrange a day, perhaps Thursday or Friday and have a meeting to discuss Richard’s future. Hopefully Richard will be conscious so that he will know what is going on.”

“Have you figured out how Richard is going to communicate with us?”

“If all goes well Anna, he should be able to nod his head very slightly to give yes and no answers easily.”

“Well I suppose it is better than nothing. At least he is able to respond.”

“Yesterday we were able to able to operate on the bleeders from his internal injuries. We also checked on his secondary female organs, there was no damaged there. Fortunately there were not too many internal injuries; just a lot of cracked leg, hand and arm bones and blood vessels near them. He is in a basic body cast. The specialists arrived late yesterday, so today we will be doing the delicate operations today for his hands, fingers, the jaw, and the throat. This will take most of the morning until lunch time. We will give an update then.”

What is there to be said about surgery? In this case it is tedious and you need a steady hand to guide the bones back together. The hand and fingers were easy; you just need a lot of splints. But the jaw and throat is the trickiest. You are trying to do two tasks at once and there is only so much room available. We decided to do it in shifts. The jaw was set first to provide a frame and to keep the bones still. Then the larynx was looked at. There is no damage there. I can not believe these creeps. All of this is to just silence him. Right now his face, jaw, nose and head all wrapped giving that mummy look. Fortunately we have the air-tube down his mouth so that he won’t choke on his tongue. We did set a mouth piece in to keep his mouth open a little bit to allow for breathing and liquid foods. If he does heal enough there he should be able to talk through the mouth piece without moving the jaw. We will just need to keep on eye on the larynx and see if he can talk and swallow. If he can not, it will be with yes and no answers.

After several hours and declared today’s surgery session a success. We went at got cleaned up to go out and meet them in the waiting area.

“Well, I just want to say everything went fine. It was delicate work to reassemble the bones. We will do another set of X-rays and MRI’s later today to make sure nothing has moved. What we need to do is to set a time for a meeting with everyone either Thursday or Friday. We will not bring him around until then. I am sorry that is all we can do for him. It is now time for the healing to begin. No bed side visitors until then.”

“I know, Dr. Thornton, we are a little impatient but it does take time. Considering what we do at The Rescue Mission, it is along those same lines.”

“I will get a report together now and send it off to Mr. Bryson; he needs to be informed of the situation. Besides we need a time agreement with him also.”

“Right now we have a catheter there to relieve his bladder.”

“Oh no, I … er, uh, no I am being too selfish mom. It will be an adjustment that we will have to go through as he goes through it.”

“That’s right, Brianna. This will be an opportunity for all of us to grow and accept. We must be there for him. Remember he has no other family members to lean on.”

“I hope he has peaceful memories while he is lying there mom.”

“We all hope he does.”

“So has everybody given it some thought when it will be a good day to meet?

“It’s really any day that you choose and we will be there. We are going to be here all this week, then we will be off and on the next few weeks on rotation, Dr. Mitchell.”

“That’s fine. We will let you know what the others decided.”

“Let me give the phone number at the apartment that we were able to arrange. Here it is, I have written down several copies for everyone.” I handed them my card with the address and phone number to the Doctors and Anna. “Be sure to give the phone number to Mr. Bryson when you talk to him. He did not get it at the time we moved in. Our cell phone numbers are on there as well.”

“Thanks, Mr. Wilson. That is greatly appreciated. I am going to call him as soon as we leave here.”

“Dr. Thornton, I have a question.”

“Yes, Anna?”

“I know sometimes dogs and cats are allowed to visit the patients. They are sensitive to the patient and the patient sometimes heal faster as well.”

“That’s true, Anna. Dogs and cats are allowed to visit patients. But in this case, Richard is not fully able to interact with a pet. Are you suggesting another option?”

“I am, Dr. Thornton. Richard’s apartment has a balcony garden on the second floor. It is very lush and beautiful. It is visited by many butterflies and other flying insects. Even some of the humming birds come in to check it out when they migrate through the area.”

“That’s admirable, Anna.”

“Well, there are about four pairs of butterflies that are attached to the garden. I stopped by there yesterday, I can see they are listless and slow. I was thinking it would be nice to have these butterflies be in the recovery room. It would help them and help Richard to recover faster.”

“Butterflies? That is an unusual request.”

The Wilsons look at each other quickly and give a cryptic shrug and look of ‘I didn’t know that’ while mouthing the words to each other.

“I remember a story from Richard once, when he was in Mt. Blanc. You can talk to the butterflies, but to get a response from them, it will be ‘yes’ and ‘no’ answers.”

“How would you know their answer?”

“Tell them to land on the right shoulder for a ‘yes’ answer and have them land on the left shoulder for a ‘no’ answer.” She smiles at them.

Everyone chuckles and giggles and tries to imagine that in their minds.

“They would stay near the flowers to drink the nectars from them to stay charged up.”

“I remember seeing a bunch of butterflies landing on Richard at the end of the DVD. They must be consoling him. That is very interesting, Anna. Okay, I’ll allow it. This is not first time I’ve seen such a connection with animals. It might be a first for butterflies. I’ll be sure to tell the nurses not to have those flowers sprayed with insecticides. Those potted flowers in the vases come in clean anyway.”

“Thank you, Doctor. We just might find Richard healing faster with them in there.” Anna and Sarah look at each other quickly and smile at each other.

“Yes it might be, Anna.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I wake up groggily. Uh, where am I? Why am I here at the house? I thought it was burnt down. I get up from my bed. I see that I am dressed in my school clothes when I was freshman in college. What’s this I hear, voices from downstairs? I walk down the stairs and see mom, dad, Kenny and Mike all down there watching TV and laughing.

Kenny turns around and notices me coming into the room. “Ah there is the sleepy head now. Did you get enough sleep?”

“Hi everyone! What you are all doing here? I thought you. .. You … how should I say it?”

“What?! Do you mean to say “dead”? That’s right Richard you are still asleep! God has seen to it that we get to have one more family meeting before you leave here and go on to bigger and better things,” laughs Mike.
“You’re kidding me; another family meeting?”

“That’s right son, one more meeting. This is probably not what you expected after you heard the news when God took us home.”

“No, dad. I thought I would never get to see you all together one more time. I’ve seen mom and dad on a few nights I slept.”

They all get up and start hugging me, mom kisses me on the cheek, the brothers pounded me on the back in laughter, and I hug them back. We all start to shed some tears along with the laughter. We all sit back down in the living room after awhile.

“Richard dear, I want to be first. Your dad and I want to apologize for not telling you about your medical condition after you got out of the hospital when it was discovered that you were born with an extra set of female organs. We did not want it to cause you problems while growing up.”

“That’s right Richard, if we knew that we would have ridiculed you for a few years more. But, then when God explained it to us up here, we realized that he has some big plans for you. We also realized we were wrong for teasing you during all those years. You will have to discover that new purpose in life yourself. I envy you bro’ or I should sis now.”

“Well, actually I’m both. I am still male where it counts. I have been blessed by the Creator to give birth to fairies.”

“Fairies?”

“That’s right Kenny. My title now is the Omega Unicorn.”

“Eww . . . I have a horse in the family instead of a brother.”

I stare at Kenny. “Yeah, you would say something like that, Kenny.”

Mike and Kenny give me a quirky smile.

“That was smart to put on the metal corset to protect yourself. I wished you had taken them down with your Shaolin training.”

Then all four of them say it at the same time. “Do you forgive us?”

“I...I...yes…I do forgive you all. I will do it again in a heart beat. I did it in Anna’s office when I read the medical report for the first time. And I will do it again here.”

“That’s good Richard. God is pleased with that decision. You will be stronger as you go on in life,” as mom sheds a tear.

“That’s a neat invention that you put together for your Master’s degree project. Who would have thought that our son, was able create the first working hologram projector like on Star Trek. I am glad you were to able to use it get those two idiots where I worked at. That’s good work, Richard.”

“Thanks dad. That is good to hear that compliment from you.”

“I want to apologize as well for keeping Brianna from you. But my anger got the better of me.”

“I never did forget her, dad. She has proven to be my best friend. I wished you had given me their address so that we could write to each other. Why…I… I still forgive you mom and dad.” I start to shed some tears again.

“You will have to ask Brianna for her new address when you wake up. Nothing will separate you two again. But, as you know, life is still full of tests.”

“Thanks, mom.”

“So, Richard, you have a few days’ vacation here. Why don’t we get in some sights around here and show you around.”

“Thanks, Kenny. That’s a neat idea. It will be good to be a family for a few more days.”

“Well hold onto your stomach, you are in for a wild ride. We’ll also visit our royal relatives as well.”

“You know about that, Kenny?”

“We had to tell them, Richard. You and Brianna will make a lovely couple.”

“But, I’m not ready to be the King. I’m sure Brianna is not ready either to be a Queen.”

“She isn’t, Richard.”

Then we hear a knock on the door. Dad walks to the front door and opens it. He sees his two distant relatives there.”

“Has he been told, Robert?”

“He has the read the letter we left behind. He knows his ancestry now.”

“That’s good.”

“Please come inside and say hello to my son.”

“Of course, Robert.”

Mr. Moore turns around. “Moore family, I introduce you King Arthur and Queen Guinevere.”

We all get up and bow before them.

“Rise up, everyone. Royalty doesn’t bow before royalty. You are my descendants. You don’t need to use King and Queen in the title.”

“Yes, Arthur.”

They all come inside. We greet each other hugs, handshakes and kisses on cheeks.

“So, you are Richard. That is a good name to have.”

“Yes it is, Arthur.”

“I see you have met some adversaries already. You have done well so far.”

“Thank you Arthur. I have to meet the main enemy yet.”

“Don’t worry about it, Richard. Mordred’s Legacy will be dealt with in time. You need to know a lot more than I did when I became King.”

“Yes, sir.”

“We’ll talk some more as the years roll along.”

“King David did offered his time and words as well.”

“That’s okay, my son. You’ll need a council of close friends for your inner circle.” He smiles at me, “I see you feigned your strength against those four employees in your company. That is good thinking to put on your armor to protect yourself.”

“Once I saw who Brent’s associates were, I knew there was something brewing in Europe. I had to let them think they are going to win. I think it was triggered when I created the 3D System.”

“Yes, they want the status quo and have their unified currency be the ruling currency. Some realized having individual currencies for each of the nations kept things in check with each other. However, gold is a better currency than paper is.”

“Yes, history has proven when gold is separated from the paper money, the worldwide debt increased rapidly.”

We continue to talk some more. The house disappears, then I’m taken on a tour of the heavens. Arthur and Guinevere introduce me to several other important people.

“Arthur, of all of the people I have met so far. I haven’t seen Merlin yet.”

“Merlin is not here in Heaven, Richard. He is still on Earth. You have met him before. The name he uses today is Dr. Russell Spellman.” He smiles at me.

I smile back, “Oh him? Now I get it.”

“Yes, he helped me as much as possible to keep me safe. He was the one who told me of Mordred’s evil plans while Guinevere was pregnant with our first born son.”

“I have met the three dragons of the rings, Arthur.”

“That’s good, my son. You will need them to reestablish my throne through you.”

“Have you met any of the Eleven Magi?”

“I met only two of them at the time. They do have a weakness, Richard. Every time they purge their supposed weaknesses at a full moon, it gets sent to a special set of clothes the wizard has in a closet.”

“A special set of clothes. . . I wonder what they are? I will tell him the next time I see him.”

After that, Kenny, Mike and I would team up with others and have grand snowball fight without getting ourselves tired out.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“So how is our patient doing nurse?”

“He seems to be doing fine, Dr. Mitchell and Dr. Thornton. I think he is having some dreams. I hope they are good. Sometimes I see tears coming down his face, sometimes I see him trying to crack a smile. Even his heart rate goes through various different rates, from fast to slow.”

“That is fine nurse; as long as the heart does not fluctuate too widely from stopping or to arrhythmic like a heart attack.” Turning and facing Sarah. “Are you ready to call Mr. Bryson, Sarah?”

“Yes, Frank. I just finished the summary. It is almost 11:30 now. I think I will call him sometime after lunch to give him the update.”

~~~000~~~

Well it’s time to go. I will need to check in at the front desk at the apartment and get the key from the manager.

Arriving at the apartment complex I park my car and walk to the office.

“Good morning. I am Detective Dan Torres. I would like to get a key to Richard Moore’s apartment. There will be some additional people coming here about noon time. I was alerted that there might be some additional evidence inside.”

“Sure, if you will just wait a minute, I will get the magnet key card.”

Ah, here she comes. That didn’t take too long.

“Here you go detective. Be sure to return the card when you are done.”

“Thanks. I will be sure to return it.”

Well let’s go out and wait for the others. I am curious as to what Richard left for us to see.

Waiting in his car for about 10 minutes the others show up. Stepping out of the car he stands by the taped off area in front of Richard’s apartment.

~~~000~~~

Back in the hospital cafeteria, the Wilson family and Anna are having lunch together with Sarah and Dr. Thornton.

“I need to confess, Sarah. I have a lot of mixed emotions about this whole thing. As smart as Richard is and who he works for. I can not say the same thing for what those four men did to him. What it boils down to is just plain greed and power.”

“I know what you mean, Anna. But, this is the world we live in. Nothing is perfect by any means. There will always be somebody who wants to be above others.”

“Then hopefully Richard found a way to stop this madness in this corner of the world.”

“Tomorrow morning, after we go over his latest vitals, X-Rays and MRI we will let you know if you can be by his bedside.”

“Thank you, Dr. Sarah. We realize it is just a waiting period right now. He is going to be laid up in those casts for at least six weeks. We just want to be here and to let him know that his not alone anymore.”

“I appreciate your sentiments, Helen. This is just the first stage of recovery for him. There is one thing that was noticed during his examination of his female organs. From all indications, it seems he has given birth to children already.”

“How is that possible?”

Anna and Sarah look at each other quickly and nod their heads up and down slightly.

Sarah speaks up, “It is possible, Dr. Thornton. Sometimes women have become pregnant spontaneously without men. This could be a miracle birth from the Creator.”

“I forgot about that Sarah. Yes, it is possible. But the size of his womb is really small. Then the children must be small as well.”

“How big would say the children might be, Dr. Mitchell?”

“You wouldn’t believe me if I told you. I was there when he gave birth to his first pair of children.”

“What? From the way you sound. He has given birth to more children.”

“He has, Dr. Thornton. He has given birth to winged fairies. He’s currently in his sixth month right now.”

“What? You mean to tell me those two babies in his womb are fairies?”

“Yes, I am, Dr. Thornton.”

Everyone starts snickering and giggling, except Anna and Sarah.

“Fairies don’t exist, Sarah.”

“If Richard if so special, what if the Creator wants to do something new and wonderful? Are we to dissect Richard and prevent the miracle from Creator from happening?”

“Now you are saying we need to let the intersexual people alone and let them decide. It has been our practice to remove the minor sex organ so the dominant one lives on.”

“I know there are individual cases that warrants that, Dr. Thornton. What if the Creator wants them to give birth to fairies as well? How will the world react to that?”

“Then it must be kept a secret as long as possible until attitudes have changed over the centuries like it has done with the TG folk in the last one hundred years.”

Anna and Sarah look at the Wilsons with intent. “Not meaning to change the subject, Larry and Helen, we were at the cabin a few years ago. We found two old books there.”

“Did you find the box?”

“We did, Larry. Richard was able to open it and confirm his heritage. Don’t worry about the items. They are still in the box. The box is in the possession of very special friend who will keep it safe until the time is right. Richard did read the letter written by his parents.”

Brianna looks at her parents for an answer.

“We’ll tell you later about the box and the books later, Brianna. You have a letter there written by us as well.”

“I guess I will have to wait until then, mom and dad. I’ll have to trust you on that.”

“You will have to trust us, my dear.

“Thank you, Sarah. Brianna do you have any questions for Anna and Sarah?”

“Well, it was pretty hard for me when you told me about Richard’s condition a few months ago. Then when I heard that Richard was found, my heart leapt for joy, but then they were tempered with what I learned. Even my emotions are confusing right now. I do not want to walk away from this chance to renew our friendship. I thought it was fun when we had our times together. I thought of him as a boy who will grow into a man. Now he is intersexual. That’s what hurting right now. What is the solution to this?”

“Well, I think what is best right now is to make sure when he wakes up is to let him know that he is not alone. We will let the records be Richard for now. Do not forget we have a big meeting on Thursday afternoon. Perhaps thinking on it for the next few days will reveal a solution that we have not thought up yet. We are all probably going to need some counseling while we are doing this. This is new territory for us as well. Brianna, try not to worry about it too much right now. There are other forces out there that want to do some harm to others. Richard’s story is just one small part of the bigger story.”

“That’s right Anna. Our main concern right now is Richard’s physical health. He has some broken bones that need healing before he can move around or even communicate with us. The healing for his soul and spirit will be later down the road.”

“I am sorry. Even with that information, which is great to hear, I do thank you for doing your best. It is just a lot of possibilities are going through my head right now.”

“Brianna, I have a question for you. What is it like on the island? Is it not like a family there?

“Oh…I see what you are saying. The ladies, they come to the island to seek refuge. They no longer have a family where they are coming from. So, The Rescue Mission is like a family that welcomes them with love and understanding. It helps them to recover and move on with life.”

“Isn’t that what Richard needs? He needs a safe environment so that he can get on with life. Of course time will tell if he will be able to continue his employment at Secure-Sys. I know Mr. Bryson would like that to happen. He is a valuable employee there. They will have to make adjustments as well if Richard returns there.”

“But if Richard and I decide to live together. Would that mean I leave the island and start all over again?”

“Well, Brianna. Those pages of the story have not been written yet. Why don’t we just take this first week as for starters and make it through. Then we will tackle the next week, one day at a time. That is all that we can ask for. We are not given the ability to look into the future. But we can try and plan for it.”

“Well, okay. I think I can do that at least. To be here when he wakes up.”

“That’s the spirit Brianna. Take it one day a time. You will have to excuse me everybody. I need to make a call to Mr. Bryson and give him an update. How about we meet here in the first floor lobby area tomorrow morning around 9 AM, by that time we will have the examination of him done. If everything is okay, we will let you sit by the bed in the morning for about an hour and one hour in the afternoon.”

“Thank you, Sarah.”

They all get up and clear off the table and walk out to the lobby area in front of the cafeteria. Sarah walks to her temporary office.

“Well I just thought of something to do this afternoon. Why don’t we take a ride around town, see the beach and the sights? How about we have a dinner near the beach? You are welcome to come along Anna.”

“Thank you, Larry, but not today. Perhaps tomorrow I can go out with you all. I have some work to do that needs to be done today and tomorrow morning. How about I meet you here for lunch and the afternoon bedside session, is that okay?”

“Sure, that is great, meet you here tomorrow.

“Goodbye Anna.”

~~~000~~~

Ring…Ring…”This is Secure-Sys. How can I direct your call?”

“Yes, my name is Dr. Sarah Mitchell; I need to speak with Mr. Bryson.”

“Yes, Mr. Bryson is here this afternoon. Let me direct you to his secretary.”

“Thank you. I will hold,” pushing a button Cheryl reaches Linda.

“Hello Linda, I have Dr. Sarah Mitchell on hold.”

“Thank you Cheryl, I will pick it up here. …. Hello, is this Dr. Sarah Mitchell? I am Linda Thompson, Mr. Bryson’s Secretary.”

“Yes, thank you. Is he available? I have an update on Richard.”

“Yes, thank you for getting it ready, he has been expecting it. Let me send you through.” She pushes a button. “Hello Mr. Bryson, I have Dr. Sarah Mitchell on hold. She has an update on Richard.”

“Thank you Linda, I will take it from here.”

“Yes sir, she is on line 3 that is flashing now.”

“Line 3, thank you Linda.” Robert pushes the Line 3 button. “Hello Dr. Mitchell, this is Robert Bryson, CEO of Secure-Sys, I understand you have an update on Richard?”

“Yes, I do sir. I am glad to report he is doing fine despite his injuries. Yesterday, we were able to remove his metal armor so we can do the CAT scans. We went into to stop the internal bleeding in his legs and arms. We also re-aligned only one bone in the leg and one in his arm. His previous injuries that he had when he was eight held up and did not fracture. Then his arms and legs are put in a strap cast. This morning we did the delicate operation of his hands, jaw and throat. There was only one stress fracture line found in the jaw. There was no damage to the larynx fortunately. It is the hands we are concerned about.”

“Can he be available to talk to us on Thursday and Friday?”

“It’s possible, Mr. Bryson. We are planning to bring him to consciousness so that we can discuss what to do next.”

“We are having a meeting Thursday morning downtown with the AG and the police detective to discuss some other issues that I will not say now. But it does concern Richard in the end. There are other developments that will be happening. I am beginning to think we all can come down that Thursday afternoon and we will meet with you and everyone else who needs to be there.”

“That sounds wonderful, Mr. Bryson. What would be an appropriate time?”

“We should be done about 12 noon. How does 2 PM sound?”

“That’s a good time. I will set up a conference room for all of us;
hopefully Richard will be coherent enough to know what is going on. We will make sure before you all arrive.”

“That is fine. See then at 2 PM on Thursday.”

“See you at 2 PM.”

Click.

~~~000~~~

Dad drove us back to our apartment so we can change into more comfortable clothing suitable for a beach walk, such as beach towels, beach shoes, etc. We have no intention of swimming today, but just to get our feet wet in the surf. We drive around and take in the sites around Jacksonville. We see the Gator Bowl, a few old homes in the historic district. We even walk around downtown and window shop. After a few hours of that, we left for the beaches. My mom and dad have not been to an ocean beach for quite a long time. It turned out to be a nice break for all of us and get ourselves recharged. We will definitely be doing this a few times while we are here.

We arrive at Jacksonville Beach around 5 PM. We found a parking spot with no problems. It is not the height of the tourist season. This makes the beaches pretty quiet with few people out enjoying this beautiful day.

After walking around, I did get the usual looks from some guys, which is not too bad. Except for a few hellos, most of them stayed away because of mom and dad being present. I acknowledged them with a smile and continue walking on. I was not in the mood to doing any flirting during this trip. I just want to be with mom and dad now. So after a while we laid down our blankets and soak up some late afternoon sun. Seeing the sunset was gorgeous as it set behind us and changed the color of the sky and clouds. After seeing the sunset, we went and had a nice late dinner at one of the beach side restaurants.

We get back to our apartment later that evening and turn ourselves in. Tomorrow is another day. Hopefully all will be well and we will be able to sit bedside with Richard.

Chapter 6 Wednesday morning at Secure-Sys

The Rescue Mission
Chapter 6
Written by rachel76m
Edited by Don Kaufman

Wednesday morning at Secure-Sys

“So David, are you ready to try and crack Richard’s anti-virus program?”

“I hope so Ben, from what I have been told so far it is a very tough nut to crack. Wish me luck.” Okay I think I have everything with me. I have my hacker software tools, manuals, my laptop, etc. That should do it.

“Good luck, David.”

“Thanks, I think I will need lots of it.”

I left Central Security to go down the hall to R&D. Ah, here is the door. I open it after swiping my ID card in the reader.

”Good morning, David, we were waiting for you. Over there we have set up the test server with two workstations. Good luck. We will know in about an hour if you have given up or not.”

“That’s right, Beth. Because at 9 A.M., we need to get busy in copying the program and put it on disk for mailing and to put the program on a dedicated and secure server.”

“That’s fine, Doug and Beth. I am ready. If you hear me scream in frustration then you know it is a good program.”

“Well don’t scream too loudly. You don’t want to scare the birds outside our building.”

“Very funny, Doug, hah… hah!! All right, let me get busy while you two are doing something else.”

~~~000~~~

“Good morning, Ben. How is David doing in cracking the program?”

“He just left here about 15 minutes ago. So far I have heard a few screams (chuckling and snickering) of anguish. That tells me Richard did a good job so far. But it is still early in the testing. I will check in with them about 8:45 and see if he is still sane.”

“I know what you mean, Ben. (Chuckling along with Ben) Richard is very sharp. Well I need to get to my office. I am expecting a morning update on Richard from the hospital. Hopefully, the morning tests and exams will prove that the surgeries are taking hold and there are no further complications. I will check in with you a little after nine down at R&D. Don’t forget our department head meeting at 10 A.M.. When Brent and some of the others leave after their updates, we will have our security and financial meeting to discuss the other issues then.”

“Sounds good, Robert, see you then.”

Walking down the hall, I hear a scream from David. I just smile and continue on with my morning rounds. I see that everybody is busy at work. I stop by the break room to get a cup of coffee. I see Brent doing the same thing there. Brent looks up and sees me.

“Good morning, sir. How is everything going?”

“Oh everything is humming along fine. How far along are you on the verification schedule?”

“It is not too bad. I have found some with the typical syntax errors that are easily correctable. But, I am catching some with bad data flow parameters. I highlighted those and they are being sent back to the programmer to correct them. I figure about 90 percent of them are getting them right the first time. It could be better.”

“Yes, it needs to be a better percentage. It means we are not wasting our time in correcting these errors.”

“Sir, I have a question. I was just walking down the hall to come here. I thought I heard some screams of frustration coming from R&D. Is there a problem there?”

“No there isn’t, Brent. They are doing some bench tests on some different hardware and software setups for some of our products. They just want to make sure everything is okay with it before it goes out.”

“I understand that. We want to make sure there are no holes for a hacker to take an advantage of.”

“That is true Brent. Well, I need to keep moving along. See you later, Brent.” Boy, that Brent is nosey. He is fishing for information, that is for sure.

“See you later, Robert.” I wonder what is actually going on in that room. It has to be top secret of some sort; I hope it doesn’t affect my plans.

~~~000~~~

“Arrrghhh!!! Rats, not again. Let me try a different tactic. I will get through yet.”

“What’s the matter, David? That was your fifth attempt. Are you having problems?”

“I’ll say. Once I find a port on the first layer, it times me out before I can find the next port. This is crazy. My worms and Trojans are getting blocked and stripped off before finding the next port. How does the data get through?”

“We tried several tactics as well. You probably have not gotten to the Firewall yet. According to Richard’s notes there are four check points before the Firewall. The last check point is an unexpected header test. If you have gotten that far, there still is the Firewall itself then another battery of tests afterwards. This is the software version of 3D System being built in SC.”

“What?!?! You’re kidding me, right?”

“Nope, why don’t you try and tag behind the data and see what happens.”

“Sure, I will try that. Let’s see what happens then, Beth.”

All right, I will tag behind the data. All we are doing is just sending a simple text message to the folder titled “Test Folder” that has been protected with ID’s and passwords. So let’s see what happens. Let’s just go along for the ride. I attached the camera to the data header. …What the… it stripped off the camera … All right, let’s try a beacon…darn it…it stripped that off too…now I cannot follow it through the layers. Richard must have found another property that can be tested to see if it can pass through or not. It must be different from the usual parity check bit. I have been at this for about thirty minutes so far, and no luck in getting through. This is a very good program.

“So have you given up yet, David?”

“Huh?! No, I haven’t given up. I have few more tactics. This program is very good. I cannot even follow behind it. It is stripping off my camera and beacon as it goes through the first check point. He must have found another property that uniquely identifies the data. That’s about all I can say right now.”

“You’re right David, Richard found not just one more property but he found several more that identify the data. He incorporated them into the unexpected tests that you have not reached yet. Also, from his notes, he made it so tough, that once it is initiated it is even difficult for him to get through.”

“You’re kidding me?! Several more attributes? That’s incredible. So, all I am doing is just using tactics that everyone else knows; he put those as his first tests. Then if by chance you get through with those tests he springs the unexpected tests on you? That is very classy. He is forcing you to use up your energy in what you know before he springs the unexpected on you.”

“That’s right David, and that is before you get to the Firewall. If you get through the Firewall, you still have to do that over again and then some.”

“Wow. That’s incredible. How about getting out? Is it the same gauntlet?”

“Yes, you have to go through all of that again. There are no short cuts. It seems so chaotic, but when you look at it as a whole, it is engineered beautifully. It also catalogues your attempts and adds them to the anti-virus database in the program and to here on the server. In this case it will be our main frame here when implemented.”

“That’s right, Doug. What you are trying to do, David, is to get to a particular tree, but you have an entire forest to go though. The path is very hard to find. That is why the beacon doesn’t work. It detected the signal and stripped it off to keep you in the dark. The data knows where it is going because of the header information.”

“Why don’t you go in and try to find a way to disable the program and shut it down or compromise it that way. That will give you better idea of what is going on.”

“Okay, I will see if I can do that.”

All right, let’s see if I can access the program and tamper it that way….Wow, this is tough. I think Richard did this so that no one can come in and compromise it somehow. He must have set up the same parameters for the program. I cannot even open it in a text editor just to see what the EXE code looks like. If he wrote the program in a common language, then converted that to an EXE file, he must have encrypted that as well and surrounded it with his check point tests that he did for the firewall. This is too good. He also set up his infamous five-password system as well to protect the core program.

“I have a question, Doug and Beth. Did he do the same protection scheme to the EXE, the DLL and other related files like he did for the firewall?”

“Yes he did, David.”

“That is very smart; it is even protecting the core program along with his five-password system. There is one more test that I would like to try. It is to overwhelm it with an all out assault on the buffers and see if it cracks a hole to get through.”

“That’s a good idea. I know it is a desperate move, but it is how email programs can be compromised like we have seen commonly done before.”

“Okay, let me try that.” Okay, let’s overrun the buffers and see if it creates a hole or a crack in the program . . . . David hits ‘enter’ as soon as he types in the series of commands. He sees the results on the screen. There goes the subroutine. It is exponentiating the data… here comes the data flood. It is approaching the check points…..What?!?! This is too much again. It stopped the data in its tracks. Now the program is self-booting back to the original point. There must be another parameter check in that first check point. But, what is it? What a minute… I think I know how…Besides checking for bugs, worms or Trojans, there must be a detection scheme for data flow rates. There must be a check valve that allows so much data at a time. Once it exceeds that limit it shuts down all check points and basically creates a multi-layer dam that is impossible to breach. If by chance any gets to the firewall it is down to a trickle and then it gets easily snuffed out by the firewall. Very slick Richard. You have just thought of every possible scenario for an attack. Even that self-booting dumps the bad data in the memory buffers and starts fresh all over again. But, if it does that, is that an opportunity to bring the system down and get access to the data?

Okay, the system re-boots. Wait a minute, that re-boot was very fast. It was faster than most re-boots that I have seen. I will go in try again….This is nuts. It is those same check points at the ports. They were not even destroyed by the flood. I bet each time I try to flood the check points the re-boot will get faster and faster. I cannot access the hard-drive remotely. I wonder what would happen if I were able to access the hard-drive directly?

“Well Doug, you are right. You cannot even overwhelm and flood the program. It converted the check points into dams and blocked the flood. There must be a check valve for data flow rates to cause that trigger.”

“That is right David. Are there any other questions?”

“I have one. What would happen if I were to access the hard-drive directly? Which I know would be impossible for an outsider to get to, but if someone on the inside had access. I was just wondering.”

“I knew you would ask that question. Here is a hard-drive that you can access. See if you can get in.”

“Okay, thanks Beth.” Let’s plug in the hard-drive. Open my computer and see if we can access it. There is my C prompt. Change directory to E…on the display I see…

Unable to access Hard-drive.

Huh, unable to access?!?! “Beth, are you sure this hard-drive can be accessed? I cannot get in and see the directory at the E prompt. What else did Richard do to protect the hard-drive?”

“Why don’t you check out the CMOS program and tell me what you see there?”

“Okay Beth, that would be the next step. I will check out the CMOS program on my computer.”

I re-boot my laptop….I press the function key. Here comes my CMOS program, let’s check the hard-drive access rights here….Huh, how did this get here?

External Hard-Drive Disabled.

Huh? How did that happened? Let me enable it. Huh, now what?!?

Do not have permission to access External Hard-Drive.

It says I do not have permission to access it. Let me unplug the hard-drive and put another hard-drive there to make sure it works. . . .

External Hard-Drive Enabled

Yes, it does change. I can access the external hard-drive. Now let me plug the hard-drive that Beth gave me . . . .

External Hard-Drive Disabled

Oh, this is too much. Richard found a way to block access to an external hard-drive by the access data cord and the CMOS program via a software program. “All I can say right now is that Richard has just thought of just about everything to protect a hard-drive and its contents. Even if someone tries to do an inside job to access it. I have another question. If the hacker gets frustrated and cannot get access to the data and decides to fry the electronics with an EMF pulse, what will happen? There has to be some sort of backup system for redundancy.”

“That is true, David. That might seem like a good move to bring down a system. If there is a total blackout, is there protection at the servers for such an attack? We always hope that our clients have put in a good protection scheme if there is a physical failure. Have the data backed up periodically daily so that there is nothing loss. There should be UPS units at key components. Most of them have RAID devices; which makes them very busy in their own MIS departments. What we are providing is an additional layer on the software level, to protect access to the data on the hard-drives.”

The door opens, in walks Ben. “So, how did it go, David? Were you able to get through?”

“No sir, it is very well built. I think the only one who can hack it is Richard. But from what I was told, once it is installed even Richard would have hard time getting through. He thought of everything for the initial tests. But, Doug and Beth tell me that Richard found some new properties about the data that can be tested to see if it has a bug on it or not. It is incredible. Sir, I officially give it the green sign and go with it. I doubt if anybody could hack through it.”

“That’s good to hear, David. There you go, Doug and Beth, take it the next step and start making the copies and get them to our customers.”

“Yes sir. Come, David, we some work to do at our station we do not need to bug them now.”

“Yes sir, I am coming.”

“Bye David and Ben; see you later Ben,” said Doug and Beth..

~~~000~~~

“Ring…Ring…Ring…”

“Good morning, this is Secure-Sys, Cheryl speaking, how can I help you?”

“Good morning, I am Dr. Sarah Mitchell. I would like to speak to Mr. Bryson.”

“Yes, Sarah, Mr. Bryson is in, let me connect you with Linda.”

“Thank you.”

Click. “Hello Linda? Dr. Sarah Mitchell is on Line 3 for Mr. Bryson.”

“Thank you, Cheryl. He has been expecting a call this morning from her.”

Click. “Good morning, Dr. Mitchell. This is Linda, Mr. Bryson’s secretary. I will connect you in.”

“Thank you, Linda.”

Click. “Mr. Bryson, Dr. Mitchell is on Line 3.”

“Thank you, Linda.” Click. “Good morning, Dr. Mitchell. How is Richard doing this morning?”

“Good morning, Mr. Bryson. Richard is doing fine. The results from this morning examination look promising. So far no complications have developed. We have given the okay for bedside visitors. We would like to keep it to two at a time for now. The hours of visitation will be from 10 to 11 AM, 2 to 3 PM and 6 to 7 PM. When he is more stable, we will increase the hours and the number of visitors. We do not want to tax his energy too much. He still has a long way to go. He will be unconscious today and tonight. Hopefully we will be able to bring him around tomorrow morning and take the next step for his recovery. He has a mouth piece placed there for the airway and for drinking liquids. We are keeping it there just in case. We want to see if he can speak through the mouth piece without moving his jaw. Also it will help us determine how the larynx is healing. I suspect it might be still be raw, we are hoping that he might be able to whisper through the vocal chords. It can be done with practice.”

“That is good to hear. Hopefully he will be conscious enough and be able to participate in the meeting tomorrow afternoon.”

“That is our hope , too. It will help us gauge how his progress is coming along. If you will excuse me, I need to get back to my duties.”

“Thank you, doctor. I will announce the hours to the company for those who want to come by and visit. I know some will want to bring flowers and cards, is that okay?”

“Yes it is. But I think it might be best to have the flower arrangements be suited for vases or small stands for table tops. I do not think the hospital will take kindly to arrangements that are on easels or pedestals on the floor. We need to have room to access the bed and be able to do any emergency work that needs to be performed.”

“I understand that. I will put a memo out with those stipulations, thank you. I will be by tomorrow at least if I can’t make it today. See you then. Oh Sarah, I have a couple more questions. What is the security situation there? How is he monitored?”

“Do you think he might be endangered still at this point?”

“It is possible. But I was thinking of putting him in a room with the 3D System that he created. That way everything can be monitored and recorded.”

“That is not a problem. In fact we already have Richard in a room with that equipment. So, don’t worry about it.”

“Well, that is good to hear. I just want to make sure he is taken care of.”

“I assure you our patient will be well taken care of. See you on Thursday then.” Click.

Click. “Linda could you please come in, I need you to take some notes and have it sent down to Publishing to create a company memo.”

“Yes sir, I am coming in.” Linda comes into the office and sits down on a chair before Robert’s desk.

“Linda, for the memo I want it stated as such.”

“Richard Moore is doing well in the hospital. He is still unconscious at this time. The hospital has arranged visiting hours from 10 AM to 11 AM, 2 PM to 3 PM and from 6 PM to 7 PM. Only two people will be allowed at a time. If flowers are brought, only to be in vases or small stands for table tops, no easel or pedestal arrangements are allowed. Cards are welcomed.”

“Have it signed with my name on the bottom as usual.”

“That is good news sir. I will make sure Publishing gets it posted to all of the break rooms and the employees. If you will excuse me, I will get it down there.”

“Thank you, Linda. I need to follow you Linda; I am heading to Central Security at this moment.”

“Yes sir.”

They both leave and walk to their destinations.

~~~000~~~

Linda arrives down at Publishing to meet Carol and Jennifer.

“Good morning, Carol and Jennifer.”

“Good morning, Linda. What can we do for you?”

“Carol, I have a memo that needs copied and posted to all employees. It is an update on Richard. There are also visiting hours and some rules if you are bringing any flowers or cards during the visit.”

“That’s great Linda. Sure we will get the memo posted as soon as possible.”

Linda hands the memo over to Jennifer and Carol and they both read it.

“No problem Linda. I am sure we are all relieved that there are no complications at this time.”

“Thanks girls. Well I need to get back to my station.”

“See you later this morning at the meeting.”

“Yes, see you later.”

~~~000~~~

Mr. Bryson walks down to Central Security to check in with Ben and David to see how it is going. Entering into the room…

“So, David how did it go with the bench test this morning?”

“Well sir, I just want to say I am thoroughly impressed with the program. I could not even make a dent in it to crack it open. It is very well built. I threw everything at it sir. Even with latest hacking tricks, it did not bend. Richard wrote a very good one. I doubt if anyone can hack it. I give the program the green light.”

“I heard you scream a few times while you were at it.”

“I am sorry, sir. But, it is just drove me nuts sometimes that I could not find a way past his initial four check points. He made it very difficult.”

“That’s good, David. Your emotional outbursts just reinforced how good it is. So, I just want to thank you for participating in the project. So Ben, I take it that Doug and Beth are making the copies and getting it available on a secure server?”

“Yes they are, Robert.”

“That is good to hear. Linda brought down a memo from me to Publishing. It is an update on Richard and when the visiting hours are. They will be posting it soon to the break rooms and the employees.”

“How is he doing, sir?”

“Richard is doing fine David, considering the damage. The surgeries are holding and there are no complications at this time. He will be unconscious today and tonight. Tomorrow morning they will try to bring him around. Hopefully he will be coherent enough and that he might be able to communicate and participate in the meeting tomorrow afternoon.”

“That’s good to hear.”

“Yes it is David. Well I need to get back to my office and get the agenda put together for the meeting here. See you at 10 AM, Ben.”

“See you later, Robert.”

Mr. Bryson leaves for his office.

“Okay David. While I am at the meeting it is up to you as usual to monitor the cameras. If anything is out of the ordinary, let me know.”

“Sure will, Ben. Is there anyone you want to watch closely?”

“Yes, take note of Brent and his three friends and possibly Darrell. Especially before and after the meeting, I want to know of any exchanges between them, whether by word, physical exchange, etc.”

“Yes sir.”

“I need to be in my office get my notes together for the meeting. You have the monitors for now.”

~~~000~~~

10 AM arrives for the meeting. The leaders arrive for the department meeting. As soon as everyone is seated, Mr. Bryson commences the meeting.

“Good morning everybody, we have a lot to discuss. As you know it is being recorded, Linda will see to that it is archived and copied for records. First let’s discuss what’s happening in our departments before we get to the new business. Brent you are up first.”

“Yes sir. The verification schedule load you might have surmised has increased since Richard left us. He helped share the load as backup. But we are not behind schedule at this time. About 90 percent of the programming is correct at this time. I hope to improve this as I get back with the programmers to correct their mistakes.”

“Thank you, Brent. Yes, I hope it improves. It really needs to be100 percent by the time it goes out the door. We do not want to go through those patches to fix those holes, Brent.”

“Yes sir, Mr. Bryson.” Don’t worry, Robert, I am going to create a hole so big, there is no way you will be able to find your way out, heh, heh.

“Thank you, Brent. Darren, it is your turn.”

“Yes sir. The web store has just been updated with the latest information and prices. Everything is current at this time. There have been no breaches in the traffic patterns. There have been some upper limits reached a few times each week. But there has been nothing out of the ordinary. No crashes yet. It is very stable at this time. I am just awaiting word if there are any new products coming out so that an announcement can be made for our customers to take note of.”

“Good, Darren. As far as I know there is nothing new at this time. Publishing it is your turn.”

“Thank you, Mr. Bryson. Right now we are creating more copies for the current order. We should have another group together later today. Hopefully tomorrow we will finish that current order by noon time. We have already begun the blocking and layouts for the next order. Right now there are no current backlogs. We are trying to time it at the same time as the new DVD’s are being created and finished. We still have three orders on the boards. They should be finished as scheduled.”

“Good, thank you, Jennifer. Shipping Department, it is your turn, Bruce.”

“Well, we are shipping out the current packages to the retailers and whole sellers. Which is phase two of the current order, phase three will be tomorrow. The private orders are happening as they are received. Of course it depends on when the UPS and Postal trucks arrive. Some are on time, but about once a week they are a little late coming to us dropping off packages or picking them up. Which is typical; it depends on what comes into their station at the time from everybody else that needs their services.”

“That is true, Bruce. You can’t predict traffic patterns sometimes. You just do what you can when caught in a traffic jam and be prepared when it clears out. Dave, I believe it is your turn now.”

“Yes, Robert. As some of you might remember from the last meeting, a notice came out that our health insurance decided to raise our payments on certain items in our plan. Of course just to be fair, that cost is being passed on to all employees. I will have an office memo put out to reflect that change once I receive the final amount from them. From what it looks like, it should be about an additional $10 to $20 taken out your paychecks each month.”

That elicits a few groans from some of the employees. “Unnnhh. . . .”

“Sorry about that, but it is the times we are in. Just a reminder to you all, be sure your time sheets are turned in at the end of the week for each project you do. Also, be sure to check your pay envelopes once a month. It contains the update to your vacation days left and sick time. Another reminder here is to not use your sick time for vacation days, it is only if you are really sick or if you are pregnant and having a baby.”

That brought a few laughs, chuckles and giggles from them.

“That is it, Robert, there is nothing new at this time.”

“Thank you, Dave. Accounting Department, Debbie you are up.”

“Thank you, Mr. Bryson. Right now most of our customers are paying their bills on time. There are a few who are red flagged for following up if they reach the 45 and 60-day mark. Those who are flagged are generally from the private orders. Their turn around time in transactions usually is met within two weeks after the initial 30 days. Those are the international orders since they take at least that long to clear the banks through the cycles which don’t coincide with our calendar. We will have the quarterly report figures out soon; they are being compiled at this time. Once they are finalized, they will be sent to Publishing for the Quarterly Review for the company. Our prices are holding that we charge per order. We are making our profit margins very well. This is giving us room to grow or entrench our stability with our branches. We do have the lean periods from time to time during a given year. It all depends what is pushed for new products and that our customers will want to upgrade. Of course we hope that they do.”

“Yes, Debbie. We hope our customers take advantage of the new products or the updates to the new versions. But we want to make sure they are compatible with the current operating systems, which takes us to Beth.”

“Thank you, Mr. Bryson. In R&D we are constantly making sure our products are compatible with the current operating systems. This latest operating system put out by MS is our latest challenge. As big as it is, it does have some issues with backward compatibility on certain applications like they have done in the past. We are putting it through its paces. We have come up with some suggestions that we will submit to them to include in their next Service Package So far there are no compromises when our software is loaded by itself. But there are some headaches when someone might try and load one of our competitors software programs on top of it or even side by side. It will do a substitution on some of our modules and render our package and theirs inoperable. They are not designed to be on the same network as some of our customers might think. We have been getting reports from our call center that some people think that they are getting more protection by loading multiple security programs. But they end up weakening their systems when they do that.”

“Beth, I want you and Doug to write up a warning notice to make sure it is included in each of our boxes. We need to tell our customers of that problem. Get it down to Publishing and to Darren to post on the web site.”

“Yes, sir.”

“Well that takes care of the company news. Onto the current news, I was in Washington, D.C. last week for a Federal meeting on Security. We discussed current issues; identify theft, terrorism alerts, and other issues in security. We listened to various suggestions from many different companies and what they are doing to secure their information and at any level of government. It is very daunting at times. But we must remain vigilant in watching the reports from the call center and tech support. Our branch office in Texas is very busy compiling that information and informing us, the state agencies and federal agencies if there is anything out of the ordinary. Right now it is the usual spammers and hackers trying their best to leave their mark saying that they are invincible. Some are proving elusive, some are easily found. Each time a new virus comes out; companies like Symantec, McAfee and the others have their hands full in just keeping up with them. Some of the viruses are not serious, but there will always be someone who will try something new. We all need to be vigilant and try to stay one jump ahead of them.”

“It has come to my attention on why Richard was let go before I left. Right now all I can say is that he was not meeting our expectations and keeping up with the work load. But when I came back, I received word that someone attacked him and he is in the hospital at this time. I have sent out a memo to everyone. On the memo it specifies some restrictions for times when you can visit him. I know some of you will want to go by and see him. They did set up a time slot for the evening. Right now he is unconscious at this time, but he is stable.”

Everyone gives a sigh of relief when they heard that.

“They are hoping to bring him around later in the week to see how he is doing. Someone really did a bad number on him. As you have read in the paper, he suffered multiple broken bones. His jaw is wired right now so that he cannot talk. He is immobile with leg and arm casts. That is all I have to say right now on the matter. We hope the police will find the person who did this and get them taken off the streets.”

“Well, that concludes this part of the meeting. You are all excused, except for the Legal and Security meeting.”

~~~000~~~

Brent, Bruce, Debbie, Darren and Jennifer all get up and leave.

Brent and Darren walked side by side for a while, when they got alone they whisper to each other.

“Did you hear that Brent? Richard’s mouth is wired up. He cannot talk.”

“Yes, I did hear that. That is good news. The nice part is he being in those casts; it means that he will not be going anywhere. That gives us the perfect opportunity to do our next step in the plan for change. I will stop by after work today and whisper some encouraging words in his ear. Heh, heh . . . ”

~~~000~~~

“Does everyone have their report ready to give?”

Everybody nodded yes. “Yes, Robert.”

“Good. Oh Beth, what you will be hearing is the latest problem for us. Save your questions until after the reports. Your questions might be answered by then.”

“Yes Mr. Bryson.”

“Let’s start with Ben.”

“I went and used the program provided by Richard. It does confirm our suspicions. Brent did originate the email to have it come from your PC to have Richard fired. It even had your signature attached. The other disturbing item is that Brent also embezzled money from the company. He tried to hide it, but it was easily traceable with that program.”

“How much money did he take?”

“He took about $50,000.00 dollars from several accounts in the last two months. This totaled to about $500,000.00 for the last two years after Richard got hired.”

“So you mean to tell me that he has been planning this that long. He must really dislike Richard and me.”

“That’s not all, Richard’s program revealed how Brent was able to go through the directories, and tried to rewrite the entries to cover his trail. Brent has a hacking program to do that. I did a search on the internet and found a rogue website that provides such tools.”

“That’s the hard part, Ben. There is always someone who wants to get money for nothing. Even the hackers will come up with methods to circumvent security. I hope Richard’s program will stop that in its tracks. Do you know where the money went?”

“Some of the money went to Brent’s account and his three friends. Some of the money went to other banks; probably to pay off his associates.”

“That sounds about right, Ben. Dave, it is your turn.”

“Well, the DVD provided to me contain Richard’s complete medical records. I was amazed that his parents did not tell him of his dual nature when he was younger. He had to wait and find out until he lost his family in the plane crash. Beth you need to keep this to yourself and Doug. Do not tell anybody else. Richard was born with both sets of gender organs. When Richard was beaten up by Brent and his friends, they also damaged his hands, arms and legs. He was kicked in the jaw once. He had a metal corset on that protected his vital organs and groin area.”

“No! Oh my God, I did not realize how badly he was beaten up.”

“I know, it is shock to all of us. Just hear us out for now. There will be a meeting downtown tomorrow and at the hospital discuss this further. Right now we are getting our facts straight before we meet with them. Oh and Beth. Since Brent did this, Richard is obviously not fired. He is still covered and employed by the company through one of our branches. Again I ask, please keep silent on this.”

“That is good to hear. I promise not to tell anybody but Doug and among us here in this room.”

“Thank you, Beth. This problem is bigger than what it appears to be. Is that it Dave?”

“That’s all I have, but hearing from Ben about the accounts being altered, I will go back and check my records and compare them with Accounting. I don’t remember anything out of the ordinary in the balances. It is possible Brent kept the amounts small and slowly accumulated the money.”

“The DVD that Richard provided for me contained an interesting program and a report. First of all it listed the complete background of Brent and his three friends. We knew that they graduated all together from the same university from their resume. They tried to stay together from company to company. The only answer that they put down on why they left the company was the standard “seeking better pay and benefits”. I asked our legal department to get their complete record from the UV Engineering Department. They found out that all four of them tried to crash the department’s computers at one time or another. They did this by hacking the admin password or setting off Trojans and worms into the system. They have been reprimanded and told not to do it again. If caught again, they would be expelled with no diploma. Since then, they toed the line and kept quiet. But what Richard did was to use his Rabbit Trails program to see what other activities’ Brent and his friends did in their spare time.”

“Ben, take a look at this report. It came from the sniffer program he created called ‘Rabbit Trails’. I think you will recognize some names on this list. It all stems from Brent’s activities and email.”

Ben takes a scan of the report. “Robert, I recognize a lot of names on this list. Here let me pass it around. I am sure one of us might know who some of these people are. Some of these handles are legends or myths that could not be traced. If Richard’s program was able to track them down, then he wrote a program that trumps the best search engines and sniffers; and he did it using a stealth mode style.”

Beth takes a look at the list, “Even I recognize some of these names, I am sure Doug might know some of others that I don’t. If these people are involved in Brent’s scheme, it is bigger than the Revolutionary War. This is a world wide coup that is waiting to happen. They want to change the status quo. I have been in some chat rooms that can be very scary. The chat rooms have simple names thinking that you will get advice on a current computer problem. But, there is a hidden agenda within the chat room. A lot of them say a change must take place. But, if they can pull off what I think they are talking about, it will put the world in chaos and only they will be able to reassemble the jigsaw puzzle. I mean the global economy will be shaken to its core. If Richard’s program can put a stop to that, then I am all for it.”

“Revolutionary War? That is cause for alarm, Beth. Mitch and Brenda what is your take on these events?”

“Well sir, we need to keep an eye on the four of them. When we have our meeting tomorrow downtown and at the hospital, I think we need to go over through every possible scenario. Even if Richard’s program works and secure our clients databases, it will not save every single one through out the USA or the world if the takeover went global. They are probably taking it one step a time and see if they can infiltrate and establish a beach head for something bigger.”

“That’s right Brenda. We are probably the first company to see if they can infiltrate and take over our resources and connections. Since we are not MS, they might be thinking we are a small and easy target. Most coups are military and done with strength of weapons and people. This is going to be an attack from within and with stealth; which is an entirely different approach. If other rogue groups want a copy of Richard’s program, it will probably fall into the hands of people who want to do us harm. Robert, do you know if this Rabbit Trails program can detect protected databases like the one Richard designed?”

“The Rabbit Trails program can detect any protected database. It all started with tracing Brent and his friends’ email and data streams. It then sniffs and follows the data. All you have to do is enter in one of the names on this list and it will seek out the associates from it. Richard discovered a way to go through the aliases and ghost addresses when they tried to disguise themselves and for him self to not get detected. Beth you tested Richard’s program. How did it go?”

“Doug, David and I threw everything that we knew of and tried to crack Richard’s program. The program is designed to stop all known and unknown viruses, Trojans, worms, hidden packets, beacons, cameras, etc. Even if someone came up with a new virus form it would detect it and strip it off from the packet. Richard found some new attributes that uniquely identified the data. It is designed to have four layers before and after the firewall. When you find the first open port where the data goes through, you encounter the first layer that detects all known viruses, Trojans, worms, beacons cameras, spoof and ghost addresses, etc. The program strips them off and you are left standing there and try to proceed any further. But the problem happens in finding the next port where the data is going. You usually get timed out before you find it. But it is just the right amount of time for the data. If you get through the second port, the next layer is another check point. It tests the data again. This happens one more time for the third layer. Then if you think you are very clever in getting past the third layer, the fourth layer is the toughest. Richard springs the unexpected attribute tests on the data. By this time your brain is on caffeine trying to figure out why you got stopped. But that’s not all. If you just happen to make it through that, there is the firewall to contend with. Then after the firewall, Richard set up four more check points again and hits you with the unexpected data test at the end. If by chance you make it through all that and you are able to get to the file you are looking for, you still have to go through that gauntlet again on the way out. The sneaky part is that Richard has figured out how to identify the intruder and has it marked at any checkpoint. That signature is added to the database for future identification and to trace you back to your origin. It is so well built, not even a scratch or dent was made. We even tried to flood it. It with stood the onslaught with ease. The four layers get turned into dams to block the data flood. If any of it gets by that, the firewall snuffs out the rest of it. When it was rebooted, it dumped the flooded data and rebooted faster back to where it was. There were no cracks in the program afterwards, and it even did not get erased or deleted. He also was able to find a way to block a direct attack on the hard drive if you try to do an inside job. That took David by surprise. Richard made it so complicated that not even he could hack it once it was initiated.”

“Thank you, Beth. Why Richard did this is that Brent was hacking into his software programs for our clients, that is when he became suspicious of Brent. A couple of weeks before I left for DC, he requested that he would like to do an investigation into the software packages for our important clients such as the police department, the courthouse and other government offices here locally in Jacksonville. He also requested a month old copy of our database to see if there is anything unusual there.”

“What did he find?”

“He found plenty, Brenda, as testified by Ben here. First of all, I was pleasantly surprised by a visit from Richard’s lawyer and a police detective from Knoxville this past Monday. During our meeting, Dave’s office was broken into. When we turned on the monitor we discovered it was done by Darrell. When he found Richard’s address and phone number he relayed it to Brent and his 3 friends who were on vacation at the same time. We called Richard immediately to see if he was okay. We spoke for a short bit before Brent showed up at his apartment. Richard was able to tell me that he sent me an email to open immediately. Richard then switched to stealth mode at his apartment and had the entire incident recorded at my office. It was not a pretty sight. They only had time to smash up Richard before a group of bees, wasps and gnats came in and chased them out of the apartment.”

“That explains the bites on their faces, arms and hands.”

Everyone chuckles when they hear that.

“I immediately signed the release papers to have his addressed released to the police officer and some old family friends of Richard. We all went to Richard’s apartment as quickly as possible. We were there when he was brought out, then later we went to the hospital to await word on his condition.”

“The next morning I opened up my email and found Richard’s email. He requested an audience with some of us and with the police department and the attorney general here in town. Richard gave us a 3D-video presentation on his findings. He also presented his gifts for us as well that you all have now.”

“I wanted to have Brent and his friends arrested right then and there. But Richard advised to wait. He wanted his program installed on the servers here and with our clients before Brent thinks he is ready to spring his trap. Richard thinks the best time to catch them is when they think they are in control of the servers. Once they think they are seated safely, this is when we will have our trap ready. The program gets initiated when they try commandeering the operating system and the data files. Brent and his friends will be caught with their hands in the cookie jar and not be able to get out to warn the others. In addition, this sting will snare the other co-conspirators as well. The Rabbit Trails program will be unleashed to sniff out their point of origins.”

“I would not be surprised if some of the co-conspirators are international. They are probably waiting to see what happens. If all goes well from their point of view, they will try the same thing elsewhere. But if we can stop them here, they will still think they are safe because Brent and his crew are caught but not themselves. But the Rabbit Trails program will track them down no matter where they go. Richard said he would like to see Brent’s face when he tries to get out of the cookie jar and when he is carted off to jail. So would I.”

“Is there anything else we should know before we adjourn the meeting?”

“Yesterday, you asked to me review the conversations you had as you went through your rounds. I was able to confirm that the stories they came up with do have holes in them. They got mixed up on the baseball game dates and times for one thing. Also, we have word from Detective Torres that they were recorded yesterday while arriving at Richard’s apartment. That will be the biggest piece of evidence time conflict that will convict them.”

“Yes, Ben. I did catch their mix-ups on the baseball games. I agree that recording at the manager’s office will be crucial. Have you figured out how Brent was able to get the key card swiped to enter Dave’s office?”

“I have given it some thought. But Detective Torres told me that Brent used some type of electronic device that allows him to put a wired blank card in the door lock; it then imprints the code onto the card and allows him to enter the room. These devices can be found in specialty shops that cater to the espionage groups, which in turn are visited by the criminals who want an edge in their capers.”

“Thanks, Ben, I was wondering how Darrell got into my office.”

“Tomorrow morning we have a meeting downtown with the AG and the Detective Torres at 10 AM. We will be discussing this information and confirming our positions in getting the servers protected at our clients IT departments as well as here.”

“Since the meeting is tomorrow at 10 AM, do you want us to leave at staggered time intervals like yesterday?”

“That is a good idea Ben. Since it takes about half hour to get downtown. I suggest we leave 2 to 5 minutes apart starting at 9:10 AM. Beth, I want Doug to attend the meeting tomorrow. Is that okay?”

“I have no problems with that, Robert. He can give more credence on what is happening in the chat rooms than I can.”

“Good. It’s now noon time and time for lunch. The meeting is adjourned.”

Everyone gets up and goes their separate ways to their offices.

~~~000~~~

Beth walks back to R&D to give an update on the meeting.

“Hello, Beth. How did the meeting go?”

“Hello, Doug. Everything went fine until we had the security meeting. I was given some details on the beating Richard received from Brent and his friends. Besides beating him up, they also focused on his hands and jaw so that he cannot talk or communicate. They tried to damage his male organs, but he had a metal corset on to protect himself.”

“They did that to him? They’re cowards!”

“I just about said the same thing. Doug; do you remember those chat rooms that I sat near by and watched you participate in?”

“Yes, I do. I want to show you some wild talk that some groups are having.”

“I want you take at look at this list. I was given a copy of it from the meeting. See if you recognize any names on there.” Beth hands to Doug the list of names.

Scanning over the list, Doug became wide-eyed and alarmed by the names. “How did you get this list? Where did it come from?”

“It came from Richard when he tracked down Brent’s associates with his “Rabbit Trails” program.”

“This is bad, very bad, Beth.”

“I know, I mentioned my concerns to the group. They want you attend the meeting tomorrow morning to confirm our suspicions with these chat rooms.”

“They do huh? Well, I will make plans to be there. Fortunately I was able to transcribe some of the chats with a recorder nearby. We were able to copy and paste the texts to a word editor as they typed in on the scroll lines. I will explain some of it during the meeting. When did Richard put this together?”

“About two weeks before Robert left for his trip to DC. Richard became suspicious of Brent’s intrusion and hacking into his programs for the last several months. He requested from Mr. Bryson to bring home some old versions of our client’s software and a month old database from us. Richard discovered the hacking and proceeded to put his findings together. He even discovered that Brent was embezzling company funds at least that long. Ben said it had been going on for the last two years when he confirmed it. It turns out this embezzling started soon after Richard was hired two years ago. He was able to get an email to Robert before he was attacked.”

“Embezzling? That greedy son of a b….! Well that’s good to hear. So, let’s get our information together and get it ready for the meeting tomorrow.”

“Well, I need to go out and get lunch, Doug. Did you bring yours this time?”

“No I didn’t. Why don’t you go grab your lunch, here is $10? Get me the usual from the sandwich shop down the street while I start getting the info together.”

“No problem, I’ll be back in a few minutes.”

~~~000~~~

“So what do you think of the latest meeting, Brent?” Then Darren takes a bite from his sandwich sitting across from Brent in his office.

“The meeting went as expected. But in a way I am glad to hear that Richard is stiff as a board in the hospital,” chuckles Brent. Then he takes a bite from his sandwich.

“We haven’t heard anything or seen anything in the papers on how the investigation is going. I am still concerned that we might get tracked down some day.” He takes a sip from his soda.

“No, don’t worry. Everything is under control. I sent an email to one of the associates explaining what is happening here. They wrote back indicating they will not be able to spring their assault until they get the latest hospital report. They want to make sure it is all clear and there won’t be any interference from Richard or anyone else that could jeopardize the operation. What can go wrong? I have made sure all of the software going out has our backdoor codes to get access to the secure areas. I even discovered Richard cleaning up the programs after I approved them. But when I saw the subroutine missing, I rewrote them in again before they were sent to the Copy room for mass production.”

“Yes, that was close. You knew he was suspicious of your actions.”

“True, but that is why we visited him earlier this week to make sure we are not impeded with our plans. Don’t forget I’m going to visit him later this evening.”

“Do you think he is a security risk? I mean would they post guards to make sure no one goes after him again?”

“I doubt it. He is wired up and cannot talk anyway. By the time he comes out of it there is nothing nobody can do. We will have established our corner and wait for the other players to do their advancement to take over the government entities. It is the perfect plan.”

“I hope so, Brent. I still think there is a chink in the plan somewhere.”

“You are getting too pessimistic and paranoid, Darren. In fact you can come with me this evening and we will see for ourselves when we visit him.”

“I know I am getting worried. But, we invested a lot time and money in this plan. We all been over it forward and backwards. But I think there is something missing. I cannot put my finger on it. We had this in the planning stages two years ago or so before Richard got hired. But it seems Richard was thwarting our plans, or seems to slow down some since he got here. You know he is a good programmer, Brent.”

“You know I am a better programmer than him. He just came out of college. He has no real-time knowledge on how security systems work. But what irked me the most is Robert promoting him to assist me in proofing the programs for final approval about six months ago. Robert had no right to do that.”

“I know what you mean, Brent. That kid is just fresh out of college and he starts making suggestions on making our website and software more secure. But you know Brent; the colleges are teaching these students to be better programmers.”

“Perhaps, but it still takes in the field experience and being under pressure to get it done. He had none of that when he got here. Oh, look at the time, Darren. Why don’t we meet up together after work today and go down and visit the mummy?”

“Sounds good Brent, see you later today.”

Brent gets up and walks to the break room and cleans up. He then returns to his office to continue with the day’s activities; humming a simple jazz number along the way.

~~~000~~~

The rest of the day is normal at Secure-Sys; everybody went about their tasks for the day.

~~~000~~~

When five o’clock rolls around, everybody gets ready to end the day.
Brent and his friends get together outside the building and they all decide to take a trip to the hospital together to meet there at in an hour in their own cars.

Arriving at the hospital, Brent inquires where Richard’s room is. Walking down the hallway toward elevators, they enter in the next available one. Going up several floors and getting out at the fourth floor; they walk over to the nurse’s station to enquire which wing and room.

“Hello ladies, we are here to visit Richard Moore, where is he located on this floor?”

“Hello, yes, Richard is down the hall on the right. We are only allowing two at a time right now and five minutes in the room. But you will have to wait a bit. There is someone down there already. We have a sitting area nearby if you like.”

“That’s no problem, nurse. We can wait for our turn. Hey guys, I’ll go down and check the room. You can wait in the sitting area.”

“You go ahead, Brent, we’ll wait over there.”

Brent walks down the hallway to the room, and sees a man sitting in an aisle sofa near the room and stops near Richard’s door which is closed.

The man looks up at Brent, “Waiting to go see Richard?”

“Yes, I just wanted to see how he is doing.”

“Well he is just lying on the bed right now unconscious. It is going to be a while before he comes around. They did a bunch of surgeries the last few days.”

“That’s okay I just want to drop off a get well card signed by some friends.”

Then the door opens to Richard’s room and out come two women.

Hmmm….looks like we have a dad, mom and their daughter coming for a visit. She sure looks hot. I wonder who she is.

“Our five minutes are up, dad. It is your turn to go in if you like.”

“Thanks dear. But I think I will wait, there are other people who want to stop by,” looking toward Brent.

“If you don’t mind the wait, I brought some other friends as well. We won’t be too long,” Brent turns around and goes back to the waiting area. Brent returns with three in tow. “We know about going in at two a time. We won’t take up the minutes. You got the card, Brian?”

“Yes, here it is, Brent.” Brian hands the card to Brent.

“If you will excuse us, it won’t take too long.” Brent and Darren go into Richard’s room and close the door.

“Will you look at that Darren? He’s all tied up and he has no place to run.” Chuckling as he approaches the bed. Brent puts the card on the small table in the corner of the room with the other cards and flowers.

“Yes, we all did a number on him. When he wakes up, it will be a brand-new world.”

“I should say so. If you will excuse me, I need to whisper something to him.” Getting next to him, Brent begins to whisper into his ear: “I know you are sleeping, perhaps you can hear me. You know who is talking now.”

Just then the pulse rate starts to quicken on the monitoring devices.

“Yes, you can hear me. I see that your heart is beating faster. But I will leave soon. But know this; I will always be the better programmer than you.”

Then the pulse rate starts to slow down.

“You can’t stop what is about to happen. The Revolution will be in full force when you wake up. It will be a New Dawn on the world. You will be a Nobody and useless in the new society. You will be out of sight, out of mind as they say. Good bye Richard.” Brent gets up and lets Darren have a few words.

“Hello, Baby Richard.”

Just then the pulse rate starts to quicken on the monitoring devices.

“Ooh, I think you are mad. Well tough it, if you can. Not! Good bye Richard this is the last time I will see you. Mr. Bryson will not save you now. He is going to be a Nobody like you.”

Then the pulse rate starts to slow down.

Darren gets up and leaves with Brent out of the room. They smile and nod their heads to Brian and Michael when they come out. Then Brian and Michael enter in the room.

Brian walks over to the bed and bends to whisper into Richard’s ear. “Hello Little Ritchie, I have just come to say good bye as well.”

Just then the pulse rate starts to quicken on the monitoring devices.

“You will not win. We have the upper hand now. You are the biggest loser of them all. You will not catch us now. We have outsmarted you this time. Heh, heh,…”

Then the pulse rate starts to slow down.

Brian gets up and steps away and Michael has his turn.

“Sorry you are in this predicament. But you brought this upon yourself by interfering with our plans. It’s all about power, you little twerp.”

Just then the pulse rate starts to quicken on the monitoring devices.

“No one can save you now. We told you we will get our revenge on you. We have the girls now. You have nothing. You’re the social outcast now. If those are your friends out there, we will take them from you as well. You will be . . . all . . . alone.”

Just then the pulse rate starts to quicken to a higher rate on the monitoring devices and starts beeping loudly.

Then all of sudden some nurses comes into the room about ten seconds later. “Get out of the room now. I do not know how, but I think you have been here long enough.”

Then the pulse rate starts to slow down; as the nurses attend to Richard.

“Yes, nurse. We were just finishing here. We will leave now.”

Brian and Michael leave the room and see concerned faces on the visiting family. Turning, they see Brent and Darren down the hall waving their hands to get down there quickly. All four leave together as quickly as possible and enter the elevators.

“What did you say to him in there?”

“Oh just like you, Brent. I think the tipping point was when I told him you will have nothing, we have the girls now, we will even take your friends from you; you will be all alone.”

“You knew he was hearing you?”

“Of course Darren; I knew he was hearing us. When I saw the heart rate went up the first time. I decided to push it a little further and really get him worried,” laughing Michael.

“That was close, Michael. But we did give him some words to worry about,” chuckles Brian.

“I know. Did you check out that chick in the hallway? She is hot.”

“Yes, I did see. How can you not miss her? I bet she could use a new friend when we are in charge now.”

Then all four laugh together. The door opens to the elevator on the first floor. They all leave and drive their cars and head back to their apartments.

Chapter 7: Wednesday morning at the hospital.

The Rescue Mission
Chapter 7
Written by rachel76m
Edited by Don Kaufman

Wednesday morning at the hospital

Dr. Thornton enters into Dr. Mitchell’s office. “Good morning, Sarah. Are you ready for the morning examination of Richard?”

“Good morning, Frank. Yes, I am ready. Looking at the charts from last night, it looks like everything is proceeding as planned. There have been no complications last night.”

“Yes, I saw them too. It does look good. Well let’s take him down to X-ray and MRI.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Oh mom and dad, that is most gorgeous sunrise that I ever saw. Also, seeing those galaxies up close is breath taking. I have never seen so much color in my life.”

“Isn’t it gorgeous, Richard? Every day is a miracle up here in heaven.”

“I’ll say, mom. God sure knows how to make a universe.”

“How are you feeling son, since the surgeries?”

Richard pats around his body taking stock of himself, “I feel fine dad. I think the doctors did the best job possible. But first I need to learn how to walk again,” with a tear coming to my eye.

With a tear in her eye, “I know it hurts right now. But someday it will be better.”

We hug each other again. Kenny and Michael are not with us at this time. They are off somewhere else. They said they wanted to get into a game of football with some of their friends that made it up here. They said they will catch up with us when it is time for me to leave.

“Come on Richard, let’s take a walk through Flower Valley while we talk some more.”

“Sure, mom and dad, sounds like a beautiful place to visit.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The nurses wheel in Richard’s gurney to X-ray to begin the process. Laying him out with a sheet over him, they positioned the device above him and proceeded to take photos of his body in various positions.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

While walking through the fields of Flower Valley, Richard notices something, “Whoa, mom and dad. I feel little disoriented.”

“Is there something wrong, Richard?”

“I am not sure, I think I am still in the hospital, but they are turning me around in several different positions.” Then a series of lights flashes on a part of my body and disappears.

“I know what they are doing, Richard. They are doing X-rays this morning.”

“Is that what they are doing dad? I was wondering what was going on.”

“They will probably do the MRI next and several other tests as well.”

“How do you know this, dad?”

“Do you remember that time you were in the hospital when you tried to protect Brianna?”

“Yes, I do, mom.”

“They did the same thing to examine you to make sure there were no complications on the inside, especially with broken bones.”

“But that is when they discovered I was inter-sexual, mom.”

“I know, dear. It caught us with surprise as well. We did not know about it when you were born. If they did take such pictures, they kept it hidden from us. I guess they did not want to burden us with that discovery. But when it was discovered later we had to share the burden anyway.”

“We also talked about it with the Wilson’s when we went on our summer vacations.”

“You did talk to them about that, dad?”

“Yes, we did. They were concerned as well because their daughter was threatened as well.”

“I know what you mean, mom and dad. I know what you mean.”

“Come now, Richard, let’s enjoy this valley and the aromas of the flowers with the colors of the rainbow.”

“Sure mom, we can talk some more later.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Anna drives to the apartment complex to give the good news. She walks around back like before.

“Amber and Cobalt, I have some good news.”

Then all of the butterflies flutter down to her. Some land on her shoulders and head.

They whisper back.

“What is it, Anna?”

“You are allowed to come to the recovery room.”

“That’s great, Anna.”

Anna feels the excitement from the fairies.

“Okay, I need to enter the apartment and select which potted flower and anything else you will need while you are there.”

“Be by the door. We’ll unlock it for you, Anna.”

“Thank you, Tiger.”

Anna walks around to the front and up the stairs to the second floor. Once she gets there, the door opens for her. They change into fairies once she is inside and closes the door.

“Okay, which sets of flowers will do for you? Will you need some fruit and seeds as well?”

“We can eat the fruits in butterfly mode with no problems. We can’t bring the seeds, because we need to be in fairy form to eat them.”

“Yes that would cause a problem, Lavan.” Anna walks to the balcony.

“Let’s take these two flowering pots here. They will provide us with the best energy.”

“Okay, Bianca. Which fruits will do for you, Amber?”

“It will have to be the small fruits like the blackberry, boysenberry, blueberry and the like. Put them in a small bag. Then put the bag in the midst of the flowering bunch. How long do you think Richard will be in the hospital?”

“It depends on how fast he heals and is able to walk and use his arms again. It could be anywhere from two weeks or more. Brianna even thought of housing Richard at the Rescue Mission in Charleston.”

“Charleston? That is where Richard’s 3D System is built. We know that area very well. The Rescue Mission is on an island near the city.”

“Yes, it is, Tigress.”

“Okay, we’ll take enough fruit for one week. If he is there another week, you’ll need to bring in another bag of fruit for us.”

“Take this water bottle as well. We’ll use it to drink from and wash ourselves.”

“Don’t forget fairies, this situation Richard found is an international problem. We don’t know what will happen during the weeks ahead. We are even trying to plan to thwart this potential travesty or protect ourselves from this incident.”

“We’ll just take it day by day, Anna. That is all we can do.”

“Yes it is, Cobalt. Who will watch the apartment?”

“We will, Anna. We have done this before with no problems.”

“Okay, Traphel. Did Richard show you how to use a cell phone?”

“He did, Anna. It is still plugged in his bedroom. We’ll send messages to each other when needed.”

“Okay, that is good. Well, let’s load up what you need.” Anna bends down to pick up the two flower potted plants. She takes them to the table. She finds a sticky note pad and writes down a short message and tapes one to each pot. ‘Do not throw away. Flower belongs to Richard Moore.’

The fairies gather up a bunch of small fruit in the bowls and place them in a large mouth bag that is 6" x 6" with a draw string. Anna places it in one of the flowering pots. She puts the water bottle in the second pot and lays it on the side. It is the type found that is used by birds and hamsters in cages. Anna takes the potted plants out of the apartment and down to her car and places them on the floor of the car. The fairies change into butterflies before leaving the apartment and flutter down to her car. Anna walks back up to retrieve the second flowering pot with the bag of fruit. Once the door closes, Traphel and his fairies lock the apartment by pushing two buttons on the plate of the door. The bolts slide in and secure the apartment.

Once Anna puts the second flowering potted plant in and the bag of fruit inside the car, the butterflies fly in quickly and hide among the flowers. One of the pots contain petunias of several different colors. The other is a selection of three different flowers.

Anna drives to the hospital to get there before 9 AM. Once she parks in the parking lot, she gets out puts the pots on the ground. She locks her car up and put the keys into her purse and slings it onto her shoulder. She kneels down to pick up the plants and walks to the main entrance.

Security checks the plants out and sees nothing to get his attention. He calls Dr. Thornton to verify the message from Anna. Dr. Thornton tells him it is okay to allow her through. Anna walks to the waiting room and places the pots on the floor.

~~~000~~~

“Well that’s it, Sarah. Now it is time for the pictures to develop so that we can see what is going on. The technicians said they will have them ready in about a half hour.”

“That’s fine, Frank. I need to grab a cup of coffee. Do you need anything to drink?”

“Yes, please. But make mine an orange juice. That’s a better pick me up than coffee.”

“You can say that again Frank. Coffee is quite addicting. I should lay off it.”

“You will need to wean yourself off of it a little bit each day. Don’t do it cold turkey, or you will get headaches like crazy.”

“I have tried it before several times. But, I just would just go back on it again.”

“Well, just be persistent about it. The reward will come later.”

“I’ve even read that coffee is good for you.”

“I’ve read that report too, Sarah. I guess coffee reacts differently with different people. For me, coffee made to me too irritable after it wears off.”

They both go to the cafeteria to buy their drinks. While sitting down
again and chatting away for the next half hour or so. Frank’s cell phone begins beeping.

Picking it up and responding to the call, he chats with the technician and smiles at Sarah. “Well it looks like they have the results ready. Shall we go?”

“Let’s go and see.”

They both get up and walk back to Frank’s office. The technician arrives with the results at the same time they get there. The technician takes out the negatives puts them on the light boards for them to see.

Looking at the X-rays, they can see the stress fractures in multiple locations on the body.

“Do you see anything out of the ordinary, Sarah?”

“Not really Frank. I don’t see any shadows indicating any bleeding at this time or other possible problems. It looks we did a good job on stopping those bleeders. Let’s take a look at the MRI.”

The technician takes out the DVD and puts it into the DVD player and displays the images on the monitor. He also takes out the prints and hands them to Frank.

Laying them out in a sequence on the table, Frank also sequence the images on the computer monitor. Hopefully to get a sense of the 3-dimensions involved. “You know Sarah, I wish there was a way to compile these images into a composite 3D to get a better a look. Sometimes these slices are difficult to comprehend sometimes.”

“Perhaps there is a way. Maybe we can feed it through Richard’s 3D System.”

“That’s a good idea. But do we know where one is set-up?”

“There is one in Richard’s room. I requested that it be set up there to monitor him as a back-up to your system. We can view it in there; once it is compiled, will then save it as a video this time.”

“That is an excellent idea, Sarah. Sam, let’s take this down to Richard’s room. Get one of the network techs to display these images.”

“Yes sir, Mr. Thornton.” Sam collects the X-rays and MRI images and the DVD’s and they all head down to Richard’s room. Sam contacts the network tech to meet them at Richard’s room and explains what they are trying to achieve on his hospital cell phone.

They all walk into the room. The network tech shows up ten seconds later.

“Hello, Richard, we need to use your 3D-video system. We want to see if it can display your MRI exam.”

Then the heart rate just increases on the heart monitor. Then it goes back to normal.

“Thank you, Richard,” giggles Sarah.

“Why did you talk to Richard? He can’t hear you, can he?”

“Yes he can, Derek. It is possible he can hear us. Did you see that heart rate increase and go back down? That did not happen by it self. It has been known to happen. We’ve had some patients who have come out of comas or in deep sleeps and tell us what we’re talking about or doing. There is a world out there that we cannot see or hear, but they can see and hear us. Does that mean there is a heaven? Maybe, maybe not, but it does give hope that life does not end when the body dies here.”

“Okay, that’s a fair enough answer for now. Here, let me boot up the system and see if we can put these images together.” Derek takes the DVD and puts it into the server in the closet. “There is a feed from there to the monitors at the nurse’s station. But I can bring up the menu here in 3D.” He brings out the holo-transmitters and puts them in the four corners of the room. Then he takes out the gloves and puts them on. He points in space to bring up the virtual keyboard. He types up some commands on the five-line display and hits enter. The tech brings up the 3D-menu in the room and uses the 3D gloves to select the option to play the DVD. Adjusting for the scale to make the body image bigger, Richard’s MRI image appears above himself in the bed.

"Can you slide the image over here and away from his bed?"

"Sure, if you just wait a few moments." Derek then grabs the image with the 3D gloves and moves the MRI image away from the bed. The doctors can now move around the image and check closely for any details missed. Or they can rotate the body any direction for a better angle.

“This is amazing, Sarah. We can finally see details that were hidden by the naked eye.”

”Yes it is, Frank. I can see where we put the sutures to stop the bleeding. Derek, could you remove some layers of the image to see underneath? For example can you remove the skin and the muscle layer to reveal the organs or bones?”

“I will try. It might not be set up to do so. But I will take a look.”

Derek goes through the virtual menu and looks at the options available. Let’s see if I remember right…. we coded certain body part features, perhaps that is the answer. ’I think I got it. If you remember we coded the various different body parts. If I go to this menu provided by the MRI manufacturer on the DVD…go to Options…there it is…pointing to “Body”…select Properties, right point that….There is the list Mr. Thornton….select “muscle” to be off….and …poof… the muscles are gone!” he says with a smile.

“That is great Derek, thank you very much. Now we can peel away the layers to reveal the bone structure or any other detail. This is better than using the X-rays in some ways.”

“You’re welcome.”

“But with X-rays Sarah, it is relative easy to use it for a first time look. If we had a patient come in with a metal object we do not want them to come near an MRI. The magnets would rip it out once it is turned on.”

“I agree, Frank. But this is an excellent opportunity to add this to the tools in diagnosis.”

“I agree with that most heartedly. Well, back to the first question. Do we see anything that we might have missed?”

“I see some blood pooling in some places. This could be blood we might have missed when cleaning it up.”

“You are probably right. We could not get to every nook and cranny to remove the blood. But it appears most of it is removed, Sarah.”

“Derek, remove everything but leave the skeleton feature on.”

“Yes, sir.”

A few moments later all that remains is the skeleton.

“Fortunately with some of the cracked bone; none are protruding. He is fortunate to be wearing that metal corset.”

“I agree, Frank.”

“The one thing I do notice is the shape of the rib cage. It is a bit round at the top, or barrel shaped. It does not taper too quickly to the bottom.”

“Yes, I do see that. But there is something else I see, Frank. If I remember my studies, I am looking at a slightly female skeleton frame for the lower half.”

“You’re right, Sarah. I do see it. He has slightly wide hips and small feet and hands for starters. If it was not for the barrel chest and his excellent muscular conditioning, I would not have guessed it.”

“Derek, bring up the organ groups one at a time by themselves and turn them in a slow spinning style to reveal all sides. I want to make some comparison notes for his folder. Also print out a picture of each as well for the record.”

“Yes, Dr. Mitchell.”

“I think I know where you are going with this Sarah. You want a base in case there is an issue or problem later.”

“Yes, Frank. I do not get this opportunity too often. Besides this is a unique case to get Richard documented because he is inter-sex. I am also looking for something that might give me a clue on why he is inter-sexed.”

“Perhaps we need to do a DNA detail study along with a complete endocrine study to see which way the hormones are tipping.”

“That’s a good idea. But I am intrigued as to why both organs developed at the same time. I am guessing it is environmental on his mother.”

“It is possible that his mother was wishing for a daughter after having two sons.”

“That could very well be true. The mind is a potent motivator in certain outcomes. But she could have been taking a pill of some type or a prescription that would help in tipping the balance.”

“Well, from what I have seen so far I think we can set some times for some visiting. I will go and place the order for the DNA test and endocrine study.”

“We had a DNA study done a few years ago. This was done after the discovery on the sealed medical records. We discussed with the university on what to do guarantee Richard’s ownership to his patent.”

“Did you bring that with you when you came down?”

“Yes, I did. I can print out the images and the report from the DVD.”

“Good, then I will just order the endocrine study. Is there any other test you can think of, Sarah?”

“Not right now; perhaps after the endocrine study. We should order another complete blood test at least. I do know we can’t use a sonigram on his womb.”

“Why not? That is the standard tool to look at their progress.”

“Not this time, Frank. The babies he his carrying are very sensitive to sound. If you intend to use it, you’ll need a long quartz crystal between the rod and his skin.”

“Why use the quartz crystal?”

“I rented a portable sonigram to check his first pair several years ago. The babies immediately kicked Richard’s womb that they are being hurt by the sound waves. The quartz crystal acted as a buffer. Not only that, the images came in more clearer than before.”

“More clearer? We’ll have to try that. Okay, we won’t use a sonigram on him.”

“We’ll let’s order another complete blood and endocrine test on him.”

“I agree. We need to see if any indicators are leveling off or not. Derek, we are done here. Thank you for your help.”

Derek pushes a button to eject the DVD. The 3D image disappears when he does that. “You’re welcome sir, here is the MRI DVD.” Derek hands back the DVD and the newly created video to Frank.

“We’ll call you again if we need your help again. Oh, and will you please go a make second copy of these disks for Sarah.” Frank hands the disks back to Derek.

“Sure, I can do that. It will be done in about 15 to 30 minutes. I will have them delivered to your office when they are done.”

Derek touches the menu corner to make it disappear. He takes the gloves off and lays them on the server in the closet.

They all leave Richard’s room, and start walking back to their offices.

“Frank, remember yesterday. We asked the Wilsons and Anna to be here at 9 AM. It is now about 5 till 9 now.”

“The Wilsons and Anna should be in the front lobby by now.”

“Okay, let’s walk down there and see if they are there.”

~~~000~~~

“I hope and pray the doctors come back with some good news.”

“I hope so too, Brianna. We have to trust in the doctor’s skill and pray that they make the right decisions.”

They walk into the waiting room and see Anna sitting there patiently.

Anna stands up to greet them. “Good morning, everybody.”

“Hello Anna. I take it that the doctors have not come down yet?”

“No they haven’t, Larry. I just got here about 5 minutes ago. So how is everybody doing?”

“We are doing fine, just taking it one day at a time.”

Looking down the hallway, Brianna sees the doctors approaching, “Look everybody, they’re here.”

Everyone turns around and greet each other.

“Good morning. We just finished going over the results this morning. It looks promising. We have come up with the time slots for visiting Richard. It will be 10 AM to 11 AM, 2 PM to 3 PM and from 6 PM to 7 PM. Only two people will be allowed at a time. Of course cards are welcomed. I think we should keep the flower arrangements small for table tops. I don’t think the hospital attendants will take it too kindly by having those huge arrangements on pedestals and easels.”

“I should think so, Frank. The nurses and the doctors will need the room if there is an emergency at the time.”

“That’s sound reasonable. I think we will have no problems with that.” Everybody assented to it by smiling and nodded their heads up and down.

“Good. I guess you four will be the first ones today. I will go and inform Mr. Bryson of the schedule and the current situation.”

“What is the current situation with Richard right now?”

“Well Mr. Wilson, everything is stable right now. The surgeries are holding fine. He is still in a body cast type for his legs and arms. But the cast pieces are removable if we have to operate for some reason. Nothing has changed since yesterday.”

“Another issue we noticed is that he has a slightly barrel chest with a little tapering. This is because he is used to wearing a corset already.”

“We’ll let you be for now. We need to get to our offices; we have other duties that require our attention for now. Oh … and before we forget; Richard is moved into room 410 on the fourth floor.”

“Thank you doctors, see you later today or tomorrow.”

Doctors Thornton and Mitchell turn around and head back to the elevators.

“We had our breakfast already, Anna. We can get some flowers and some cards while we are waiting for the first bedside visit.”

“That’s fine Helen. I already had mine as well. I will join you in
selecting a card for Richard. I brought some flowers from Richard’s balcony garden.”

“They look great, Anna. I didn’t know Richard had a green thumb.”

“I think he picked it up from his mom.”

“I remember that now. His mom made sure of that back at the old house. I remember seeing that on some days then.” Larry picks up both potted plants and carries them as they all walk toward to the gift shop in the hospital to purchase some get well cards and some more flowers for Richard.

~~~000~~~

Well, it’s time to give Mr. Bryson an update on Richard.
Sarah dials the phone number ….Ring…Ring…Ring…

“Good morning, this is Secure-Sys, Cheryl speaking. How can I help you?”

“Good morning Cheryl, I am Dr. Sarah Mitchell. I would like to speak to Mr. Bryson.”

“Yes, Sarah, Mr. Bryson is in, let me connect you with Linda.”

“Thank you.”

Click. “Good morning, Dr. Mitchell. This is Linda, Mr. Bryson’s secretary. I will connect you in.”

“Thank you, Linda.” Click.

“Good morning, Dr. Mitchell. How is Richard doing this morning?”

“Good morning Mr. Bryson. Richard is doing fine. The results from this morning examination look promising. So far no complications have developed. We have been given the okay for bedside visitors. We would like to keep it to two at a time for now. The hours of visitation will be from 10 to 11 AM, 2 to 3 PM and 6 to 7 PM. When he is more stable we will increase the hours and the number of visitors. We do not want to tax his energy too much. He still has a long way to go. He will be unconscious today and tonight. Hopefully we will be able to bring him around tomorrow morning and take the next step for his recovery. He has a mouth piece placed there for the airway and for drinking liquids. We are keeping it there just in case. We want to see if he can speak through the mouth piece without moving his jaw. Moreover it will help us determine how the larynx is healing. I suspect it might be still be raw, we are hoping that he might be able to whisper through the vocal chords. It can be done with practice.”

“That is good to hear. Hopefully he will be conscious enough and be able to participate in the meeting tomorrow afternoon.”

“That is our hope too. It will help us gauge how his progress is coming along. If you will excuse me, I need to get back to my duties.”

“Thank you doctor, I will announce the hours to the company for those who want to come by and visit. I know some will want to bring flowers and cards, is that okay?”

“Yes it is. But I think it might be best to have the flower arrangements be suited for vases or small stands for table tops. I do not think the hospital will take kindly to arrangements that are on easels or pedestals on the floor. We need to have room to access the bed and be able to do any emergency work that needs to be performed.”

“I understand that. I will put a memo out with those stipulations, thank you. I will be by tomorrow at least if I can’t make it today. See you then. Oh, Sarah, I have a couple more questions. What is the security situation there? How is he monitored?”

“Do you think he might be endangered still at this point?”

“It is possible. But I was thinking of putting him in a room with the 3D System that he created. That way everything can be monitored and recorded.”

“That is not a problem. In fact we already have Richard in a room with that equipment. So, don’t worry about it.”

“Well, that is good to hear. I just want to make sure he is taken care of.”

“I assure you our patient will be well taken care of. See you on Thursday then.” Click.

Then a knock on the door of Sarah’s office sounded out.

“Come in.”

“Here is the copy of the MRI DVD and the 3D-animations you requested.” He brings in the copies and puts them down on Sarah’s desk.

“Thank you.”

“Your welcome,” then the delivery aide leaves the room.

Well that call went well. Let me take a closer look at the MRI DVD again and the video that Derek created of his individual organs. Let’s see…put in the organ video….hit play…ah… here it comes. This is incredible to be able to see this detail.

~~~000~~~

Going up to the fourth floor, the Wilson’s and Anna step out of the elevator and walk toward the nurse’s station.

“Which way is room 410?”

“Room 410 is down the hall on the right. Were you told only two at a time for five minutes each?”

“Yes, we were.”

“That’s good. If you like, we have a waiting area over there or you can sit on one of the aisle sofas down the hallway, your choice.”

“Thank you nurse….why don’t you and your mom go in first; we can wait outside until you’re done.”

“Thanks, dad. It is only for five minutes anyway," she smiles as she walks down the hallway.

Larry, Anna, Brianna and her mom walk into Richard’s room. They put the flowers on the table. Brianna still has her flowers and card in her hands. Larry and Anna walk out of the room and sit on the sofas in the hallway.

“Oh mom, look at him. He is in a body type cast like they said. His face is all bandaged up like a mummy….I…I…,” then a tear comes down the face.

Mom puts an arm around her, “Be strong, my dear. Remember we had to be strong for you when you were in the hospital.”

“I know, mom. But it has been 10 years or so since we last saw him.”
“Dear, go and put your card and flowers over there on the table in the corner of the room.”

“Yes, mom,” walking over and putting them on the table she turns around and walks back to Richard’s bed. “Do you think he can hear us?”

“It is a good possibility. But remember they have him sedated for today and tonight. They are hoping to bring him around tomorrow.”

“Hello, Richard, long time, no see; it’s me, Brianna.”

Just then the heart rate increases on the heart monitor.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“Mom, dad… I think I hear a familiar voice and a name in my head.”

“Whom does it sound like dear?”

“It sounds like Brianna. I think she is visiting me in the hospital. Is there a way I can get a closer look?”

“Yes, there is. There is a window portal nearby that allows us to see what is happening down there on earth or anywhere else in the multi-verses.”

All three fly over to the window portal near the entrance to Flower Valley.

“There it is, just next to the gate. Just place your hand on that crystal ball. It will then tune into your body. Then we can see and hear what is going on the screen above. If we were to put our hand on it, we would have to think of the person’s name and where he or she might be. It then tunes in and allows us to see and hear what is going on. It’s how we knew what was happening to you.”

“Thanks dad, let’s take a look,” I then place my hand on the crystal ball. The blank screen becomes a scene in a hospital from looking above.

All three take a look

“Look, mom and dad, it is the Wilson family and Anna. They are visiting me in the hospital.”

“That is a great son. But how did they find you?”

“I think a police detective from the city where they are living now tracked me down. Anna told me so just before I was beaten up; let us listen in on what they are talking about.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Look mom, the heart rate increased. I think he can hear us.”

“Yes I do Brianna; that is a good sign. Keep talking.”

“Yes, mom,” with a cheery voice and smile, “I am sorry to meet you this way after all these years.”

Then a heart rate goes back down too normal. Then Brianna smiles again.

“But it is good to see you again. I tried to find you after our families split apart. I did not know where you were, what you were doing, etc. The first news I got about you is when your family died in the plane crash in the mountains. I am sorry we could not attend the funeral; my dad could not get off from work. It was not until you made the news with your invention at the university that gave us the biggest lead in finding you. That invention of yours has helped a lot of people around the world; including me. I will tell you about it someday when I am ready. We have a lot of catching up to do.”

Brianna then reaches over and touches his arm.

Just then the heart rate increases a little higher on the heart monitor.

Brianna smiles again, “Well, you just have to calm down now. At least I can touch your arm. Your hands are all wrapped up from surgery.”

Then the heart rate goes back down too normal almost. Then Brianna smiles again. “That’s better. Look my five minutes are just about up, I will be back later.”

Brianna and mom leave the room.

“So, how did it go in there?”

“He can hear us, dad. His heart rate went up when I talked to him and when I touched his arm.”

“That’s good to know, Brianna. So, Anna, ready to go in?”

“Yes, let’s go in.”

Larry and Anna walk into the room. Then they stand next to Richard’s bed.

“Hello, Richard. It is good to see you again.”

Then the heart rate increases on the heart monitor.

Larry smiles when he looks at the response on the monitor.

She smiles, “We have a lot to discuss tomorrow when they bring you around. We will save that until then. But I do want to say that we were able to get that recording to Mr. Bryson. He is always impressed with your work.”

Then the heart rate goes back down to normal.

“Yes, in time, those four men will be arrested and be put in jail. I have some things to do today. I need to get ready for tomorrow’s meeting. But, I will see you later at the 6 PM time slot this evening.”

Then Larry leaves with Anna without saying a word.

Meeting out in the waiting room area, Brianna speaks up. “Dad, did you say anything to him in there?”

“I did not, my dear.”

“Why? Mom you did the same thing, why didn’t you both talk to
him?”

Mom looks at dad, “Tell her honey, when you explain it, I think she will understand then.”

“Yes, Helen. Brianna, the reason we didn’t speak up is that if he heard our voices, then he could be shocked and scared back to the night we last saw him. Do you remember that night?”

“Yes I do, mom and dad. I remember I cried a lot when you told us we could not see the Moore’s anymore. I remember Karen and I trying to explain it to you both and to the Moore’s on why Richard was dressed up. I pleaded to not break us up. Even Richard was crying when his parents took him away.” Another tear comes to my eye. Taking out a tissue from my purse I dabbed my eyes.

“Now you understand why we didn’t speak up in there.”

“Then seeing or hearing you both will cause him to remember that night. Then his heart will race with fear like a bad nightmare.”

“That’s right Brianna. We are going have to take it slow. You are going to have to tell him what has happened since then, to fill in the blanks as it were.”

“I understand mom and dad….hmm…. I am glad I have you for my parents. You are the best.”

“You’re welcome, Brianna.” Then all three hug each other.

“Ahem… Don’t I have a word in this?”

“Oh we’re sorry Anna. I guess we got caught up in the moment. You said you had some things you need to do today?”

“Yes, I did. I need to check in with the local AG and police department today to see where we stand before we have our meeting
tomorrow.”

“Bye Anna we’ll see you later,” they all said.

~~~000~~~

Anna drives out of the hospital and heads toward to the police station. Arriving there, she parks her car and goes into the front entrance.

“Good morning, I am Anna Dawson, attorney representing Richard Moore. I was wondering if Detective Torres is in this morning.”

“I will call his desk to see if he is there, if you will wait please.”

“Yes, I can wait, thank you.”

Dialing the number…Ring….Ring….Ring…

“Hello. Detective Torres? Yes….Anna Dawson, Richard Moore’s attorney is here to see you for the 10 AM meeting . . . Yes….Okay…Thank you.”

“Ms. Dawson. He will be right down. He will be here in a few moments.”

“Thank you.”

Detective Torres arrives in the lobby. “Good morning, Ms. Dawson. Please to meet you again. Come this way to a conference room and we will get started.”

“Good morning, Detective Torres. Thank you for making time this morning.”

“Not a problem, Ms. Dawson,” Dan leads Anna to a conference room off the main hallway on the first floor.

“I think this room will do. Please take a seat. We need to go over some notes. I understand that you will be meeting Stephen later today after you leave from here.”

“Yes, I am. I just want to get my notes ready for tomorrow afternoon’s meeting. I know you will be meeting with Mr. Bryson tomorrow morning, then the meeting at the hospital in the afternoon.”

“Yes, that is right. So, did you see Richard this morning?”

“Yes, I did. Right now everything is fine. There have been no complications from the surgeries at this time. How is it going on your side of the investigation?”

“That is good news. Right now we are following up on the leads that Richard provided for us. I am impressed on how Richard was able to track down Brent’s associates; the names involved in this conspiracy are quite deep.”

“Did you say a conspiracy, Dan? Is there a chance that this conspiracy can be stopped?”

“It is hard to say. We do not know the details of their intentions if they were to succeed. It will be a tough battle to stay one step ahead of them. But if we act fast enough we might be able to catch them before they start running to hide. There might be a few that we might miss. But at least we have a way of tracking them with the software program that Richard provided for us. We’ll give more details at tomorrow afternoon’s meeting.”

“I have a question now. What if they learn to stay away from the
internet to communicate? How about phone conversations and ‘texting’ or even hand to hand messages, can you track that way?”

“Well if they try texting they are going through an internet connection so that can be followed. Right now there is no method of tracking phone conversations efficiently. It is very time consuming. I am going to take another look at Richard’s program and see if it can track phone messages, if it does, then it’s all the better. Of course, if they resort to hand to hand messages, that is going to involve some real ground work to figure out their network.”

“Well I wish you the best in getting the evidence.”

“Thank you Anna, that recording that Richard provided is the best start in investigation. Also we did find another piece of info that puts the four men in question at the scene. That will be revealed at tomorrow’s meeting.”

“Well, I won’t ask for it now. I can wait. Well, it is time for me to go. Oh, here are the visiting hours for Richard’s room. I typed them up for you Dan.” Anna hands a page to him.

“Thanks Anna, I will make sure it gets posted for the Captain. That way he can have a contingency plan ready if Richard gets threatened again. We’ll discuss that tomorrow as well.”

Getting up from the chair they shake hands. “Well, I need to get going. Thanks for the meeting.”

“You’re welcome, see you tomorrow.”

~~~000~~~

Once the room is empty, the butterflies fly out from the potted flowers. They flutter to Richard and land on him in various locations. With their fore feet, they touch his skin to see if there is a response.

After a second attempt they see a muscle twitch on his fingers, jaw, arms and legs. They even checked his stomach area. They sense he is okay there. They also sense the two new ones in the womb are fine as well.

Once they did the initial touching, they start using their own healing abilities to heal Richard. Little glows of light appear around their feet as they touch Richard. Once they feel weak, they flutter back to the flowers to drink some nectar and sip some fruit in the bag. They flutter to the water bottle to drink some water as well. Once their strength is restored, they flutter back to Richard and do it again.

After some time, they hear the door handle ‘click’. They flutter back to the flowers to hide. They see Brianna and Helen walking in to talk to Richard again.

~~~000~~~

“So Richard, let’s see what I can talk about now. I was able to graduate tops in high school and in college. It was a lot of fun. I now work on an island near Charleston, SC. The place is called The Rescue Mission. It is basically a half-way house for abused women and their children. The place is a former resort hotel….”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Mom and Dad, she is holding back something.”

“I know honey. She will tell it someday when she is ready to tell it.”

“Okay mom. I can wait for it.”

“Brianna sure can talk a lot, Richard.”

“I know dad, she has an outgoing personality sometimes. But during our time in elementary school, she was shunned by most girls. She is almost as smart as I am. In fact, the last year we were together in school we were among the top five students at the school, grade wise.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“It is gorgeous out there Richard with beautiful sunrises and sunsets. I will show it to you one day when you are more mobile. It is great. When I went to college I was able to get a Masters Degree in Child Pediatrics….”

“Oh look at the time, Richard. I’m rambling on and on. I am supposed to be here for five minutes at a time.” Smiling again, “Well I need a break for lunch. I will see you later this afternoon.” She touches Richard’s arm again. The heart rate increases on the monitor. With a cheerful smile, “That should keep you charged up until I come back.” Giggling as she leaves the room. Just before she leaves the room, she stops by the flowers. She sees the butterflies in there. “I was told Richard has given birth to fairies. I find that a bit hard to believe right now. I will have to wait until Richard is awake and see if he is telling the truth. Even though with my imagination, I can imagine you are fairies with your colorful wings. They are very beautiful. Well, take care of Richard.” She turns and walks out of the room.

“Well you’ve been in there long enough. It is time for our lunch break.”

“Yes, mom I’m ready. I am thirsty also. I have done of lot of talking in there.”

“I know. But how are you doing?”

“Well mom, I’m hanging in there. It is not the same; I do miss the feedback and banter from Richard. Seeing his heart rate increase from time to time does let me know he is listening to me. But he has yet to speak to me. I guess I am being impatient about this.”

“Yes dear, you will just have to wait until tomorrow. Come let’s get down to the cafeteria; I need a bite as well. Dad is sitting in the waiting room area reading a magazine.”

~~~000~~~

Once Brianna leaves the room, the butterflies come fluttering out and land on Richard in various locations and touch his skin. They whisper to him soothing words.

Once they feel low on energy, they flutter back to the flowers to drink some nectar and take a sip from a fruit inside the bag. Then they take a sip of water from the bottle before going back to Richard and continue their healing efforts.

Once in awhile they see a muscle twitch or feel his pulse from a nearby blood vessel. This tells them they are succeeding in helping Richard to heal faster.

~~~000~~~

Arriving at the courthouse, Anna walks into the main lobby. Looking for the marquee, she determines which floor and office where Stephen Russell is located. Stepping into the elevator, she goes up to the fifth floor to room #512. Opening the door…

“Hello, I am Anna Dawson. I have a 2 PM meeting with Mr. Russell.”

“Good afternoon, Ms. Dawson. If you will just hold a moment, I will page him.”

“Thank you.”

Click….”Stephen, Anna Dawson is here for the 2 PM meeting.”

“Thank you Karen, she can come in now.” Click.

“You can go through the doors to his office now.”

“Thank you, Ms. Walker.” Walking to the doors she opens them up and enters into the office.

“Good afternoon, Ms. Dawson. What can I do for you?”

“Good afternoon, Mr. Russell. I am an attorney; I represent Richard Moore and his estate. He is currently employed at Secure-Sys, Inc.” They shake hands and Anna sits in chair near the desk. Stephen sits back down in his own chair.

“Ah…Richard Moore, the young gentleman who is beaten up and is in the hospital right now.”

“Yes he is. I understand there is going to be meeting tomorrow afternoon at the hospital. I just want to get my notes together before we proceed. I understand from Mr. Torres that Richard might have uncovered a possible conspiracy of some sort involving some employees at the company.”

"That is true. Right now it is still in the investigation stage of the game."

"You don't need to tell me the details right now. I am just concerned about Richard now. Is it possible that you can add me to your team as a sub-chair, but only in the capacity of protecting Richard's rights?"

Thinking about that for a few moments, "You know, that is not a bad idea. That way you can make sure the defense doesn't try anything to take Richard's rights away. Speaking of which, I was informed of the dual gender nature of Richard. Have you taken any steps in this regard?"

Smiling, "Yes we have. First of all we discovered his dual nature when his parents and brothers were killed in a small plane crash while Richard was in college. We contacted the university for advice on how to proceed. They said we need physical proof that Richard is the same person if something happens to one of his gender organs. We did a complete DNA profile on him. Multiple X-Rays and MRI’s were added to the file already. This dual nature was discovered when he was 8 or so, but the parents decided to hide it from him until he got older. They figured that since the female part has not turned on yet, it was best to keep silent about it. They wanted to protect him from any possible harassment from the other kids while growing up. So, where we stand right now is for the right circumstance to initiate that legal sequence for the records to show that Richard Moore still owns the royalties from his invention. If he were to lose his male organs, his female name will be Rachel."

"Excellent Anna. That is good work that you have done. I was thinking of adding a twist to the charges on the four men. I was thinking of murder in the 2nd degree at most."

"It could work. I have a question though. Right now the defense has no knowledge of the dual nature. It would seem that will be revealed sooner or later. Can we hide that from them? What if it gives them an edge in challenging Richard's credibility?"

"Well, we have the recordings for one thing of the attack itself. There is also another piece of evidence. The four men were recorded by the apartment complex security system. The manager was able to release us a copy on a court order signed by the judge. The system is the 3D-video system that she bought from Richard. The recording shows them putting on the masks when they got out of the car and picking up their bats in hand. We also discovered how they were able to get into the apartment without going to the manager's office. They have an electronic device that allows them to have entry into the room. The cameras were able to record the licence plate number. The car does belong to Brent Morgan."

"I was wondering how they got in. Well at least we have that going for us as convictions go. What about the conspiracy that Brent is involved with? What is to be done there?"

"Well, right now, we are waiting for tomorrow morning to discuss that. From what I have seen so far, the list of accomplices is very extensive. The involvement does add years to Brent and his three friends that is for sure."

"What are you figuring to be the jail time for them?"

"Well at least 10 years for the assault on Richard. But the conspiracy issue is another problem altogether. We would like to snare them in the act. Because right now, we have no evidence of tampering."

"Can you at least give me an idea what this conspiracy is? Is there a way to catch them?"

"Well, the conspiracy involves computer hacking of the servers located at various city and county offices here in Jacksonville. At tomorrow's meeting we hope to get more information on what this is about. Is it for ransom to return control, we don't know? As far as catching them, Richard did provide us a software program to track them down anywhere."

"Richard did that? Again I am amazed at his intelligence. It would seem someone or a group of people are trying to impose their version of the world to come and they want it now. Or at least get a head start on it. It would probably mean there will be a lot of people who will not like this if this future world changes their current one. I hope it does not cause bloodshed if it gets far."

"I hope so too, Anna. But, I can guarantee one thing, it is a quest for power and control."

"Kind of like the modern age for bullying and to make it legal in their own eyes at the expense of others."

"Precisely Anna. That is why this action must be stopped. If Richard's programs can accomplish this without shedding blood, then that is a good thing."

"I do not know if you have forgotten. Richard's 3D-video program is already changing the world. It has convicted more felons than ever. Crime in general has gone down. But I bet it means they are chomping at the bit on how to beat it without getting caught. And now Richard has come up with a way to protect that idea. What we are witnessing really is a clash of futures. Which one will win out? Another thought came to my mind. It seems that this David is slaying the Goliath on another level."

"That’s an interesting observation, Anna. When the 3D-video program was created, I thought it came from a research company associated at the university. I did not realize that it was Richard who designed it in the first place. But, I do agree Anna, this program has been the best tool created for surveillance."

"Here is an interesting question, Stephen. What is the future if Richard's programs become the norm?"

"It would probably mean one step closer to something like Star Trek with those holodecks on the show. It is like what happened with Buck Rogers during the 1950's and the early sci-fi TV shows. Now those ideas have become real in our time."

“Yes, they have. Well, I need to get going and drive back to my hotel. I’ll see you tomorrow afternoon.”

Anna and Stephen both stand up and shake hands with each other.

“See you tomorrow afternoon, Co-chair Counselor Anna Dawson.”

Stephen escorts Anna back out to the front. Anna exits the AG’s office.

“Karen, will you please add Anna Dawson to our team. She will co-chair with us and look after Richard’s personal rights.”

Karen smiles, “Yes, Stephen. I’ll write up the documents and have her added to your team.”

~~~000~~~

The rest of the day proceeded smoothly for us. Mom, dad and I decide to come by for the 6 PM visiting hour. We get there at five minutes till.

When we get up there on the fourth floor by 6 PM, dad stays outside and waits for us to come out. Mom and I walk inside into the room. Just as soon as we walk inside, we see butterflies fluttering from Richard back to the flower pots.

“Those butterflies are beautiful, mom.”

“Yes, they are, Brianna. Apparently Richard has a liking for butterflies. We have to be careful around them because their wings are fragile.”

“Yes, mom.”

I walk up to Richard and stand next to his bed. “Good evening, Richard. How are you doing?”

She sees the heart rate increase on the monitors, then it goes back to normal.

“Well, at least I’m glad you are happy to see me.” She smiles at him. “I hear you will be awake tomorrow. But I won’t get a chance to talk to you until tomorrow afternoon. That’s okay, that can wait until then.”

Brianna talks some more of herself growing up since she last saw Richard. After five minutes of talking, Brianna and mom walk out of the room. Soon they see two men standing there. The two men give a long look at Brianna and give a smile before walking into the room.

“Brrr . . . who are those two men, dad?”

“They are from the company where Richard works at.”

“Did you just get a chill, Brianna?”

“No mom, those two men looked at me too long with lustful eyes. I have a feeling they are trouble.”

Then the door opens, the two men walk out and two more men walk inside the room. The first two men walk toward the nurse’s station to wait for the other two come back out.

Before Brianna could say something, they hear a ‘beep, beep . . . ‘ sound repeating from the nurse’s station. About five nurses come walking down the hallway very fast. They push the door open and get in quickly. The second pair of men come out laughing.

One of the nurses yells out loud, “Get out of the room now. I do not know how, but I think you have been here long enough.”

“Yes, nurse. We were just finishing here. We will leave now.”

They continue laughing as they walk toward the first pair of men and walk to the elevators to leave the hospital.

Brianna and her parents got wide eyed and wondered what happened in there. Once Richard is stabilized, the nurses come out and return to their duties.

“What happened in there?”

“They whispered something to Richard to cause his heart to race very fast. I need to let Mr. Bryson know about this. Richard is fine for now. He is breathing a lot easier now.”

Brianna and her parents look at each other. “I bet it was those four men who beat up Richard, mom.”

“We don’t know for sure right now, my dear. But we have seen the same arrogance as with those who attacked you, Brianna.”

“I am surprised Richard got beaten up in the first place. It is just like what happened when he was eight.”

Then we see Anna Dawson come walking down the hallway.

“Did I miss something?”

“You did, Anna. There were four men here from the company where Richard works at. I believe they whispered something to him. Richard’s heart raced very high that caused the nurses come down here to calm him down.”

“Hmm . . . it could be the same four who beat him up.”

“I thought that too, Anna.”

“What I’m curious about, is that Richard could have easily defeated all four of them with no problems. He has had the training for it.”

“What? What are you trying to tell us?”

“He currently owns the Shaolin Brown sash with the third degree. He has been training to earn the black sash and the ten degrees that follows.”

“Richard is a martial artist? I didn’t know that.”

“His father had him join a Shaolin dojo near Charlotte, NC. He got up to the purple sash with the third degree by the time he graduated from high school. He does know how to defend himself now, Brianna.”

“I wish I had learned some of that.”

“That’s not all, Brianna. Josh and his gang found Richard again while he was in college. Richard was able to defeat all four of them again with no problems.”

“Josh and his gang? I sure have missed a lot about Richard.”

“There is a video on the internet when Richard graduated.”

“What happened then?”

“An assassin was hired to kill Richard right during his Salutatorian speech.”

“I’ll have to watch that.”

“I can show it to you right now, if you like.”

“Yes, please let me see it.”

They all sit down on the couches and the chairs in the waiting room area. Anna takes out her laptop and connects to the internet. She goes to You Tube to find it. Once she types in the keywords and presses ‘enter’, they see millions of hits for the video.

“Everybody who was there, recorded it on their cell phones and posted it on the internet. It went viral immediately. There are a million hits for the video. This is the best one that recorded it.”

Anna plays the video. It shows the entire ceremonies from the beginning until the fight on the stage. Once the fight is over, the ceremonies resume. Brianna sees some ladies giving a close hug to Richard and slipping something into his hand.

“What did the ladies pass to Richard, Anna?”

“What would you do if you saw that?”

“I would pass my phone number or email for further contact.”

“That’s right, Brianna. Richard collected about twenty names. He never did call them back or write to them.”

Brianna giggles, “So, he still has a heart of gold.”

“Yes he does, Brianna.” Anna smiles back. Mom and dad smile as well.

“So why did Richard not defend himself this time?”

“There are some very good reasons, Larry. We’ll have to wait until tomorrow afternoon to hear them. Those four men are involved in a very big conspiracy that not only involves the company, but various agencies in Jacksonville and I believe the world.”

“Oh my. What have we stumbled upon here?”

“It is a lot, Helen. Right now you are doing the right thing by being here to help Richard recover.”

“If this situation is big as you say it is, are we safe from any threats?”

“Right now you are. You don’t know what is going on. To keep you safe as much as possible, you need to be told very little of what is going on. I don’t know how long it will take before what is known now, becomes common knowledge. What do you know so far about Richard?”

“Well, he created that 3D System at NC State, he used it to catch the arsonists who torched his parent’s house. That system was installed in my dorm room before I had my attack. It was used to convict the four students who did it. I really don’t know much more about him, except for the time we lived next to each other.”

“Well, that information is okay, Brianna. It is common knowledge now. I could tell you some more, but it would be better off if Richard told you what happened during those years.”

The three of look at each other and nod our heads up and down. “I guess we’ll have to wait until then.”

Anna walks into the room to talk to Richard privately.

“Hello, Richard.”

She sees the heart monitor increase and decrease quickly.

“Well, I will be representing you to protect your rights during the up and coming trial. I will be teamed with the local AG here. You will be wakened up tomorrow morning to see if you can communicate. I want you calm right now, Richard.”

She sees the heart monitor stay normal.

“I don’t know what those four men said, Richard. But I will find out eventually. I think they came here to do some gloating.”

She sees the heart monitor go up and back down.

“I thought so. Anyway, I will find out eventually. Well, you have a good night’s sleep.” Anna turns around and faces the flowers and whispers to the butterflies. “You have a good night’s sleep as well. You need your rest as well.”

Then Amber whispers quietly. “We will, Anna.”

Anna leaves the room. Then the Wilsons and Anna walk down the hallway to get back to their room at the apartment and the hotel room.

The butterflies fly out from the flowers and flutter toward Richard. They rest on him where they can. They fall asleep and soon their heart beats are in rhythm with each other and Richard’s heart as well.

The Rescue Mission
Chapter 8
Written by rachel76m
Edited by Don Kaufman

Thursday afternoon, 1:00 P.M. in Brussels, Belgium, a man is seen walking down the sidewalk in a crowd of people already there. He stops at an intersection and waits for the light to change colors. Once it becomes green and the traffic has stopped, he crosses the street. He enters an internet café about four doors from the intersection.

Once he steps into the café, he looks around to find his contact. He sees him sitting by the window. He walks over to the table and sits down in front of him.

“Hello, my patriot.”

“Hello, my friend. Is there any word from our Pirate in J-ville?”

“Yes, I just received the news. The Pirate writes that our ‘stick in the mud’ is in the hospital. His jaw is wired shut. The hands are bandaged up along with the arm and leg casts. He won’t be going anywhere or be able to stop our plans now.”

“That’s good my friend. We’ll need to send an ‘op’ to confirm that. We are fortunate this upstart showed up at our pirate’s fortress. We must keep our hands in the pockets of our friends.”

“I just sent the request to one of our agents in the area. We’ll know soon. Our pirate has proven himself very much. He has sent the treasure we requested without having the locals notified.”

“Yes, it is a good thing we nipped this before our plans got ruined again.”

“I know, my patriot. We didn’t have the expertise back then despite our best efforts during the Judgement Years. It is fortunate in some ways the children of the Immigrants stood up to depose their parent’s plans for world domination.”

“I agree, my friend. I’m glad to see Europe returning back to its roots.”

“So am I, so am I. I should have word by this evening for our confirmation.”

“Good, I’ll inform our leaders that this part is taken care of. To think, by the end of the week, our New Dawn will be shining brightly throughout the world.”

“Yes, it will be a glorious day.”

They both get up from the table. They exit from the internet café and go their separate ways.

~~~000~~~

Thursday morning at Secure-Sys

Mr. Bryson walks straight to R&D first thing in morning at 7 AM. Opening the door after he swipes his card on the lock reader, he sees Doug and Beth there doing some equipment arranging to set up the private server.

“Good morning, sir. What can we do for you?”

“Can you both come with me down with me to see Ben? It is very important.”

“This must be very serious. Give us just a moment to lock up here.”

Once the projects are locked down, all three walk to Central Security. Mr. Bryson opens the door and motions to everybody to gather around at the work station nearby.

“I want to play a DVD from late yesterday. It was copied from the hospital recording after the four men in question left when they visited Richard. I want to know what they were talking about. I have an idea, but I want to hear it from you, okay?”

“Okay, let’s play the DVD.”

Mr. Bryson puts the DVD in and pushes a button to play the recording. As the conversation is replayed, Doug becomes very uneasy, especially astonished when he hears the phrase ‘New Dawn’. The rest of them are all distressed how they berated and humiliated Richard. They all calm down and gather their thoughts.

“I take it that your reaction to this outburst that this conspiracy must be stopped somehow. I heard rumors of this New Dawn when I was in DC last week. It was brought up in the sessions, but we were not sure how to react to it. Doug, you seemed upset the most when you heard that mentioned. What have you heard about this New Dawn?”

“As you know, I am a member of several chat groups on line. In one of the chat groups there is often mention of this New Dawn. It is not just a computer virus, it is more than that. It is also a social upheaval. Our generation is at a crossroad. There is a push by some governments to eliminate money because of the problems it brings. This idea of debt is really putting a damper on the psyche of everyone on this planet.”

“I agree, Doug. As much as we like to make a profit for the company, debt is always a problem. Fortunately we are in the black at this time. This world wide debt is a huge problem. Countries have spent more than what they bring in for income. They print paper money as if it is normal to do. Are you ready for the morning meeting with the AG?”

“I am, Robert. I have made copies of the recordings from the chat rooms. I’ll present them at the meeting.”

“That’s good, Doug.”

“So am I, Robert. I have verified what is happening with our network. It has Brent’s fingerprints all over the place. I can’t wait to plug those holes and see those four men arrested. We’ll have to advertise to replace those four.”

“Yes, let’s hope our background checks will be more thorough the next time. Go ahead and load Richard’s program in its null state when we get back this afternoon. I doubt the trigger will be pulled by then.”

“Yes, Robert. Are you ready to do that, David?”

“I’ll be ready, Ben.”

“Okay, let’s act normal and leave during our agreed staggered times.”

“Yes sir, Mr. Bryson.”

The morning went smoothly in the morning. One by one, Ben, Doug, Mr. Bryson leave every five minutes apart. Their company’s attorney leaves at 9 AM.

No one notices these four men are missing until it is noticed by Brent by 11 AM. Hmmphh . . . so they aren’t here. All the more reason I should be the new CEO here.

Everyone arrives at the AG’s office in downtown Jacksonville to have their meeting. They await word when Richard is brought around to join in the meeting.

~~~000~~

When the door opens to Richard’s room, the butterflies take off from Richard and return to the flowers. Sarah Mitchell walks into the room and whispers to them.

“We are going to wake up Richard now in another room for a meeting. He’ll back here in a few hours by noon time.”

She hears a word whispered. “Okay.”

She turns around to look at the monitors and sees everything is okay. The doors open and two orderlies walk in with a wheeled bed. They carefully lift Richard and place him on the bed. The monitors and intravenous bags are disconnected and are attached to the portable ones mounted on the portable bed. They take Richard out and down the halls. They enter the elevator and push the button for the second level. The doors close, the elevator moves down two floors. The doors open. They push Richard out and move him down the hallway until they arrive at another pair of double doors.

One of the orderlies pushes a button on the wall, and the doors open. They push Richard into the operating room. Sarah Mitchell gets herself ready in the anteroom like the last time. The assistants gather around the bed along with Dr. Thornton. Soon, Dr. Mitchell comes in and joins them around the bed.

“Okay, let’s take it slow, people. Watch the monitors carefully. A syringe please.”

A clean syringe is handed to Dr. Thornton. He draws three milliliters out from a vial. He makes sure there is no air in the syringe. He carefully inserts the needle into the port of the tube from the intravenous bag hanging on a support rod.

They see the heart rate increase slightly. Then see the eyelids flutter a bit.

“Unnnh . . . Where am . . . I?”

Sarah bends down and puts her face above Richard’s. “You are in a theater room in Jacksonville Memorial. You are about to have a conference with the people you contacted before you got beaten up.”

I mumble slowly. “Okay. My jaw . . . is . . . hard . . . to move.”

“Can you whisper? It will be easier. There is a mouth piece there to help keep your mouth open for fluids and speaking. We have it wired so it won’t move. Your jaw was kicked only once.”

I whisper to her. “How’s that.”

She smiles, “That’s great, Richard. We’ll be here monitoring you while you have your meeting.”

“Okay.”

The cameras are brought in closer to the operating table so it will be focused on Richard’s face. A microphone is clipped to a bandage on Richard’s jaw. There is a TV monitor brought near by and positioned on Richard’s right side so that he can see them. The connections are made, soon Richard sees everyone has gathered in the AG office.

“Good morning, Richard.”

I whisper to them, “Good morning, Mr. Bryson and AG Stephen Russell. I see the others are there.”

“Yes, we are. We followed the clues you gave us. Doug tells me, it seems to be pointing to a major social upheaval is about to happen.”

“Do you have any idea what they are after, Richard?”

“The best I can figure out, is that one part of it is to eliminate all money in the other countries and put the Euro as the world currency instead of the US dollar, sirs.”

“Hmm . . . is there a way to protect ourselves?”

“There is, sirs. Once my program gets installed at the banks especially, the virus will encounter a hidden subroutine that will change the destructive nature of the virus and eliminate only the current debt. It will then spread throughout the world.” I give a smile as best I can.

Everyone laughs out loud.

“That is great, Richard. I will push the banks to get their computers upgraded with your anti-virus program as soon as possible. I will also tell them that we must have our paper money backed by gold again or some other self-correcting measure, so this won’t happen again.”

“Don’t forget the agencies and government bodies, sirs.”

“We won’t, Richard. If they try to commandeer the data cores, we’ll be ready to unleash your Rabbit Trails program to track them down.”

“That is a must, sirs. Mr. Bryson told me that Interpol, the CIA and other large security agencies want my 3D System to ramp up to large scale.”

They look at Mr. Bryson. “That is right, Richard. This incident will prove that the current network is too easy to hack. They want to plug up their holes as well.”

“How can I do that now, Mr. Bryson?”

“You will be staying at the Rescue Mission in Charleston, SC. Surprisingly, Brianna Wilson works there now. Hopefully you will be up and about in two months.”

“I see, Mr. Bryson.”

“You’ll be meeting them this afternoon at 2 P.M..”

“Thank you for the warning, sirs.” I smile at them again.

They smile at that remark.

“The other item we need to know, Richard, is this. Why didn’t you defend yourself?”

“On the first day I was hired by Mr. Bryson, I worked in the Charleston office for about a month. Then when I moved to the Jacksonville office, I met Brent Morgan for the first time. We shook hands for a brief moment. He tried to test my strength and intimidate me by out squeezing my hand. Once I felt it, I relaxed my hand. I then knew Brent would be a problem, sirs. I could have taken them down easily, but from what I discovered in the programs we published. I found my subroutines constantly being circumvented. I then knew there is something really big brewing.”

“So you started your investigation into Brent.”

“Yes, Mr. Russell. Once I saw the connections to Europe with my Rabbit Trails program, I talked with Doug about it one day just before I supposedly got fired.”

“Richard told me he found some names on Interpol. I then checked the transcripts I had made when I sat in the chat rooms and his report. I found three names mentioned in those chat rooms. No way, Richard would have known about it.”

“Do you still have that list, Doug?”

“I have it with me, Mr. Bryson.”

Doug opens his notebook. He finds the transcript report I printed out. He hands it to Mr. Bryson. Then he hands it to Mr. Russell. They see the time stamp on the bottom of the page and the PC source with my name on it.

“This is an excellent piece of evidence. We’ll need to keep this and submit it for the up and coming trial.”

We continue talking about the evidence that we uncovered. Doug replays some of his DVD copies and passes around copies of the transcripts from the chat rooms. Everyone begins to see a pattern emerging. Ben shows a more thorough detail of what Brent did in sending the email and have it appear that it came from Mr. Bryson’s PC. It even includes his own digital ID for authentication. They also see how much money was taken out of Secure-Sys and pocketed by Brent and what Brent sent overseas to several European people.

They agree the banks, police, government centers need to have the program downloaded immediately. They get done with their plans by noon time. Richard is then taken out of the theater room and returned to his room. Then Mr. Bryson, Dave Parker, Detective Torres and AG Russell drive to the hospital while the others return to Secure-Sys.

Once Richard is alone in his room the butterflies emerge from the flower pots. They continue to help Richard heal faster.

I whisper to them. “You’re here, my fairies.”

“Yes we are, father.”

“How did this happen, Tiger?”

“Anna made inquiries. She found a way for butterflies to be here.”

“We are not cats and dogs, mother.”

I crack a smile, “I see. Thank you, Ruby.”

“Hold still, we are not finished yet.”

“Don’t spend your energy on me.”

“We came prepared, mother. We have two of our potted flowers here with bags of fruit and a bottle of water to drink within the flowers.”

“Okay. How long will I be here?”

“We don’t know, father. We’ll take it a week at a time.” Lavan touches his jaw.

“Okay. . . . Oooh . . . that . . . felt nice.”

Lavan and the other fairies smile in their butterfly mode form.

“Breathe easy, mother. Your finger bones have been realigned by the doctors.”

“Okay, Bianca.”

They continue to administer to me. I ‘ooh’ and ‘ahh’ a few times while they touch me. Slowly the pain is easing from my body.

At noon time, a nurse comes in with a tray. The butterflies fly back to the flowers to get their rest and restore their energy.

“Here you go, Richard. I brought you some liquid soup and juice.”

“Okay.”

“I’m going have to elevate your upper body slowly. I’ll be watching your eyelids. If you blink them many times, that tells me you are experiencing some pain and I will stop. If I see them blink normally, you’re okay.”

“Okay.”

The nurse takes the control and slowly elevates my upper body. I don’t experience any pain at all. Soon my upper body is at thirty degrees and she stops.

“That should do it. I’m going to insert the straw into your mouth. Try to close your lips around it and suck up the juice first.”

“Okay.”

She inserts the straw from the apple juice cup into my mouth. I close my lips around it and try to suck up the juice. I slowly bring it to my mouth a little bit. It soon wets my mouth and tongue. I open my lips to stop the sucking and breathe some air.

“Yes, not too fast at first.”

I do it again and drink in some more juice. After two sips, she removes the straw and places the cup on the tray. “Let’s try the soup. Don’t worry, it is warm. It is a chicken and vegetable broth.”

“Okay.”

I do that three times and catch my breath between each sip.

“That’s good. How about some juice?”

“Yes.”

I sip some apple juice three times. This time with a little more confidence. I take some longer sips. I catch my breath after the last one.

“That’s good, Richard. We need to finish these two cups and your lunch is done.”

“Okay.”

For the next fifteen minutes I continue to sip and drink the apple juice and the soup. Once in awhile, she takes a napkin and dabs the sides of my mouth to keep it dry.

“That’s good, Richard. I need to leave the bed up like this for the next hour, then I will lower you back down half way.”

“Okay.”

“There is a pitcher of water here when your 2 PM friends arrive.”

“Okay.”

Once she leaves the room. The butterflies continue their healing touch on me. I sense them they had their noon meal as well while I had mine.

In an hour, the nurse returns to lower my bed down half way. My stomach feels okay at this level. I doze off and get some sleep until 2 PM. A nurse comes back in the room to wake me up. My fairies return to the potted flowers. “How was your nap?”

“It felt good.”

“I’m sure it did. You’re friends are here now. Are you up for some talking?”

“I’ll try.”

“We’ll have a nurse here to keep an eye on you just in case.”

“That’s fine.”

The head nurse leaves, the other nurse stays behind. My butterflies have retreated into the flowers and cannot be seen directly unless you look really close at them.

Anna and Brianna walk in first.

Anna steps to my left side. Brianna steps to my right side. She is smiling at me with a beautiful smile. Her brunette hair is in large curls. The length is just past her shoulder blades. Her figure is beautiful. I guess a C-cup for her. She is wearing a sun dress to the knees.

“Hi there, Richard. It has been a long time.”

“Brianna? You found me. You’re beautiful and grown up now.”

“Yes, I found you, Richard. Thank you for the compliment.” Brianna touches my arm as she smiles at me. She sees the heart rate increase a bit. “You still look the same. I can sense you have put on some muscle now.”

“Well, I had to grow up as well, Brianna.”

“I’m sure you did. I saw the video of your graduation at NC State.”

“Hmm . . . What do you think of it? Will you still like me if I get in a fight again?”

“There is a lot I don’t know about you since we left twelve years ago.”

“I can say the same about you as well.”

“That’s true, Richard. But first, there is something that must be done now.”

“What is it, Brianna?”

“You need to meet my parents.”

“Your . . . your . . . parents?”

“Yes, Richard. You need to hear them out.”

My heart rate starts to increase some now. Anna walks to the door and opens it. In come Brianna’s parents. I start to breathe a little more rapidly now. My heart rate increases some, too. The nurse comes over to watch the monitors more closely.

“Easy, Richard. Breathe in and out. They said this might happen if you saw them.”

I look at the nurse really quickly without moving my head, “Easy?! They rejected me . . . twelve years ago!! Pant . . . pant . . . pant . . . ”

Helen, Larry and Brianna are holding onto each other now. Tears are coming down their faces.

“We are sorry to put you and Brianna through that night. Please forgive us now, Richard.”

“Please, Richard. I was finally told myself not too long ago. They kept it a secret from me as well.”

“How much do you know, Brianna?”

“I know you are dual gender now. You are still a functional man and yet have a female womb.”

“What else, Brianna?”

“I explained to them why you were dressed up as a girl. It is because I wanted to know what it was like to have a sister.”

“We finally had to come to terms with you, Richard. That is why your parents and we met at the cabin during those times.”

“Please forgive us, Richard. Please,” pleads Helen.

I see their faces seeking an answer from me.

“I . . . I . . . remember forgiving . . . my parents at the house after the funeral . . . and when I met them in a dream . . . ” Tears come down my eyes. The nurse tries to catch them with a tissue. Once it becomes soaked, she uses another one. “I . . .must do the same now. I . . . forgive you both.”

My tears come down in a torrent. I moan the best I can. “Unnnh . . . Why me?” The next instant, the butterflies leave the flowers and come fluttering around. They land on the pillow, my chest and my forehead. The nurse steps away to see this marvel. A tear comes down her eye. Anna has a tear as well. Dr. Sarah Mitchell shows up as well. She has a tear running down her face as well. So do the Wilsons as well.

Soon everyone hears a soft melody being hummed in the air. Slowly my tears come to a stop. I’m gently soothed by the melody. My breathing becomes slower and it is soon reflected on the monitors. The Wilsons steps forward to get closer. They want to soak up my tears with tissue, but the butterflies are in the way. Slowly the butterflies flutter off of me and stop the melody. They flutter back to the flowers. The Wilsons take some tissue to dry my face. I still feel a wet pillow around my ears.

I look at Helen and Larry. “I found the two old books.”

“Save that for later, Richard.”

“Okay . . . sniff . . . sniffs . . .”

“Richard, you need to talk to them.”

“Where and when do I start, Anna?”

“Start with when you moved to Charlottesville.”

“Okay.”

I begin telling my story since we moved apart. I told them my dad enrolled me in the local Shaolin Dojo and I started earning their sashes. I earned the purple sash with the third degree by the time I finished high school. I also told them, I graduated as one of the top five students in the class.

The nurse pours some water into a cup with a straw. She raises the bed like when I had my lunch. Brianna takes it and brings it near to me. She inserts the straw into my mouth. I close my lips around it and suck up some water. After taking two sips and swallowing it, I nod my head up and down. She takes it out and refills it. I then continue telling my story.

I tell them I decided to go to NC State to get a BS degree in Computer Engineering. But then I come to a stop before that fateful Spring Semester for my junior year.

“Why did you stop, Richard?”

“That Spring Semester is the most life changing experience of my life to this date, Brianna. Anna, who is here from Secure-Sys?”

“Dr. Thornton, Mr. Bryson, Dave Parker, Detective Torres and AG Russell. They are watching from the monitors at the nurses station.”

“Please invite them in here, Anna.”

“Are you sure, Richard?”

“I’m sure, Anna. Anna and Sarah, you will need to shake hands with everyone in this room.”

Anna and Sarah look at each other and nod their heads up and down. Anna opens the door, then AG Russell, Dr. Thornton, Mr. Bryson, Mr. Parker and Detective Torres walk into the room.

“Richard has requested that Sarah and I need to shake your hands.”

“Why, Anna?”

Mr. Bryson smiles at me and knows what is about to happen.

“We need to share an experience with you. You will know if Richard is telling the truth or not. There were several events that happened to Richard during that Spring Semester.”

“Yes, Anna. Before that Spring Semester, Richard’s womb was sealed and closed. Then for some reason it became open and fully functional.”

“What are you saying, Sarah?”

“What I’m saying, Dr. Thornton, there are some things that can only be explained by the Creator of the Universe.”

Immediately, Anna and Sarah start shaking hands with everyone there. Then one by one, their ears are opened up to hearing the Creator’s Voice.

“What or who is speaking to me in my head, Anna?”

“That is the Creator’s Voice. Or in other words, you are hearing G-d’s voice. What is He telling you now, Mr. Torres?”

“He is telling me that we need to listen to Richard now and accept it as truth.”

Brianna looks at me with a great smile. “So, you mean to tell me this is a true story?”

“It is, Brianna. It really did happen to me.”

Larry and Helen look at me with wonderment and awe.

I then begin with that fateful day of receiving Renard’s email on my PC laptop. I then recount my times on Twainor and when I came back. That takes about forty-five minutes to tell.

Brianna gives me some more water to sip before I continue with the story. I continue to tell the story when I received the news my family is killed in the car and plane crash on the mountain road.

The Wilsons are hugging each other closely now. I see them mourning for their dear friends. The others have long sad faces on themselves when I tell the whole story.

I then continue with the story when I finished my Spring Semester and drove to Mt. Blanc to get my thoughts together. But then I get a surprise contact from Renard again. I then fly to Twainor again to confront an ancient enemy from Earth.

I then take the next hour summarizing and explaining those three months I was gone and how I was changed. Then I arrived back here as if no time has elapsed. I then stop to catch my breath.

Brianna gives me some water to drink after telling that part of the story.

“That is some story you told, Richard. Is there any proof that any of it is true?”

“There is, AG Russell. All I ask you that you stand back from the bed and turn off the monitors to this room.”

“Why turn them off, Richard?”

“If news gets out of this miracle you are about to see, I would be a caged man and locked away. I have been given a task by the Creator to do something no one has done before.”

“Okay, we’ll turn off the monitors.”

The nurse and Dr. Thornton turn off the video cameras in the room and the 3D cameras as well.

“Okay, what is this about, Richard?”

“Butterflies, please come here.” Then eight butterflies come fluttering from the flower pots and come to me. They land on the pillow and my forehead. “This is my proof that I’m the Omega Unicorn. You come up as well, Croin.” I then concentrate and try to stretch my fingers out from my hands. Then the twelve unicorn images appear, six on either side of me. Croin appears above me with his wings spread out. He resizes himself to fit inside the room. The butterflies all change into fairies in little flashes of light.

“Gasp, it is true. Fairies, unicorns and dragons really do exist.”

Then the fairies fly around and hover in front of their faces. Each one giggles or gives a little laugh when they see them. Then they fly back to me and land near my head. Then I let the images return to me and Croin flies back into me.

“We’ll have to trust more people, father.”

“I know, Tiger.”

“I really like Brianna. She has a good heart, mother.”

“I really like her too, Bianca. I loved her always.”

Brianna gives a wide smile when she hears the compliments and assessment by the fairies.

“Well, this explains a lot, Richard.”

“It certainly does, Dr. Thornton. Amber and Cobalt are not from me. They are from Avel the Unicorn. These two fairies have become attached to me through their hearts. The other fairies I have given birth to myself.”

“How often are you birthing fairies, Richard?”

“I will be living for about a thousand years and giving birth to a pair of fairies every year. Nine months gestation with a six month rest in between. It is an automatic birthing cycle from the Creator.”

“That is too much to take in.”

I see Brianna’s face become crestfallen when she hears how long I will live.

“Brianna, please hold my hand.”

Brianna steps forward and holds my hand carefully.

“Brianna, I want you to know, that I loved you always. On this day, I ask this question. Will you please marry me?”

“I will have to think about that really hard, Richard. You will live longer than me.”

“I know of a way that your life will change like mine and be with me for all eternity.”

“How, Richard?”

“By coming to Twainor with me and be changed there. They have the magic to do it. However, the people there only live to about 175 years, maximum.”

She turns around to face her parents. They nod their heads up and down with a smile on their faces.

“I want to take this slowly, Richard. I want to know some more about you.”

“What has happened in your life since you left me twelve years ago?”

“A lot has happened, Richard. I too, had a traumatic experience as well.”

I move my fingers tips in her hands. She smiles that I’m trying to reach out to her. I look at her face with the best compassionate face I can give her.

“Maybe this will help, Brianna. One day while I was in my apartment here in Jacksonville, I was napping on the couch on a Monday before Christmas.”

Her eyes become a little more open. Her mouth hangs open a little bit. She breaths in a ‘gasp’, her lips start to quiver.

“All of a sudden I awoke from my nap with a start. I could have sworn I heard you scream my name. It was then I got down on my knees and started to pray. Amber, Cobalt and my fairies prayed with me as well.”

“What . . . what . . . did you see?” A tear comes down her eye.

“I sensed you were hurt very badly on a college campus somewhere. We prayed to the Creator that help would come to you and save your life.”

She collapses onto her knees. Her mom comes forward to help her. So does the nurse as well. Soon she begins crying onto my arm. “You d . . . did hear my cry . . . for help, Richard.”

She cries some more.

“What happened, Brianna?”

“I . . . I . . .was . . . raped by . . . four . . . “ She continues crying some more before she finishes the sentence.

Everyone else has their heads hung low when they hear what happened.

Helen looks at me, “Four students had oral sex with her after she fainted. This was on her day of graduation. Your 3D Video System recorded it all. She has been collecting news clippings about you whenever you made the news. She sees you as protecting her again with your invention like you did when we were back in Columbia, SC.”

“What prevented them from going all the way, Mrs. Wilson?”

“She had unlatched the window to her room just before they came in. After the oral sex, Craig pulled her pants and panties down. A little bit later, the window ‘creaked’ open and a bunch of birds, wasps, gnats and butterflies came in and stopped their attack.”

“Oh my.” My fairies look at me with a slight smile. I crack a smile at them as well.

Brianna continues to cry on my arm. A little bit later she slows down to sniffles. She gets up and bends down to me. My fairies move out of the way. She kisses me on the lips with affection several times. She whispers to me. “You are my hero. I do want to marry you, Richard.”

“If you come with me, it will be the most fantastic journey of a lifetime. I only know a little bit what will happen tomorrow. But there are some places that will be new to both of us at the same time.”

“I will go where you will go, my Richard, my knight in shining armor.”

She lets her hand come down my chest and abdomen. “Ooh . . . six pack abs. I’ll have to wait and see them later.” She smiles at me. “Oops . . . you have some of my lipstick on your lips.”

“Does it look decent? You do need to redo your face.” I try to smile back at her.

“Nope, it is a mess just like my face.”

“It does have a nice flavor to it, I think.”

She giggles, “You silly boy.” She takes a tissue a carefully removes the lipstick from my lips while she smiles at me.

Mr. Bryson speaks up, “Well, we should leave two love birds alone.”

“Before everyone leaves, sir. Brianna, I have a question.”

“What is it, Richard?”

“Where do you work now?”

“Oh, that. I work at a former resort near Charleston. It is called the Rescue Mission. It mostly caters to women who have been abused. Some of their children are there as well while they recover.”

Mr. Parker speaks up, “Remember Richard, it has been suggested that you stay there while you recover for about two months.”

“Yes, sir. Will I be accepted there, Brianna?”

“We can only ask, Richard. Karen works there as well. We work with the children there. I know we can’t accept you now, because you are not mobile enough. You need to be in a wheelchair and be able to get around by yourself at least.”

“I see.” I look at the nurse. “I take it, I will be doing some physical therapy to do that, nurse?”

“Yes, you will, Richard. We need to do another set of X-rays before that starts. Your jaw must be healed before eating any solid food. Even though you are in very good health, putting the weight back onto your legs, hands and arms will be the toughest test for you.”

“Okay.”

“We’ll let you know about the banks tomorrow, Richard.”

“I hope to hear some good news.”

“We hope as well. You get well now and get back to your feet as soon as you can.”

“I’ll try, Mr. Bryson. Don’t forget what I said in my video about seeing Brent being taken away.”

The men all smile when they remembered my comment.

“We’ll get a live feed in there when that happens. It will take a little more time for the players get arrested elsewhere in the world, Richard. We’ll have to be patient there.”

“Yes we will, Mr. Russell.”

“There will be a guard posted at the nurse’s station, Richard.”

“I understand the caution, Mr. Torres.”

The nurse speaks up now. “Richard needs his rest now after all that talking now.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

“I’ll see you later this evening, Richard.”

“Okay, Brianna. Change back into butterflies, my fairies.” My fairies all turn back into their butterfly modes quickly.

The monitors and cameras are turned back on before they leave. Once everyone leaves and it gets quiet. The butterflies continue to minister to me.

About an hour later a man enters the hospital. He follows an orderly carefully and sees what he does. He sees nothing happening that will provide an opportunity for him. He gets in the elevator and goes up to the fifth floor. He walks around casually and sees an orderly open a closet, he walks in his direction.

When the orderly goes inside the closet, he follows him inside.

“No one is allowed in here, sir.”

He speaks with a slight French accent, “I won’t take long.” He immediately takes a syringe from his shirt pocket. When the orderly turns around, he injects the syringe into his neck. He collapses to the floor. The man quickly looks for the right size clothing he needs for his subterfuge. He finds some spare white pants and shirt that are his size. He puts them over his own clothes. He then takes out a badge in his pocket and pins it to his shirt like the unconscious orderly on the floor. He straightens himself up. He bends down and takes the orderly’s keys. He exits the closet and closes the door. He walks down the hallway.

He enters the elevator and pushes the button for the fourth floor. He exits the elevator when it opens. He walks quietly to another closet on the floor and opens it with the key. He finds a mop and bucket in there. He takes it out and wheels it down the hallway. He finds the room where Richard is located.

The butterflies take off from Richard and flutter back to the flowers. He does some mopping of the floor for about two minutes. He stops and removes his cell phone. He turns on the feature for the video camera. He takes several pictures of me lying there quietly.

I hear pictures are being taken, Creator.

They are from the European group. They want proof you are no threat to them.

They are too late, Creator.

Yes they are, Richard.

As soon as he took about five photos and a short video clip of me. He immediately leaves the room with the mop and bucket. He wheels it back to the closet and put it back in. He walks to the elevator and pushes a button to open it. The doors open and he gets inside. He quickly takes off the white clothes and puts them behind the ceiling tile inside the elevator. The doors open and he exits the hospital quickly.

~~~000~~~

The guard back at the nurse’s station on the fourth floor notices his movements. He carefully watches him as he leaves the hallway and enters the elevator.

“Isn’t he too early to be here, head nurse?”

“You’re right, corporal. That is usually done at night.”

They replay the video sequence. They see him taking pictures of Richard.

“It looks like he is taking photos of Richard.”

“It certainly does, ma’am.” The corporal gets on his radio to report in. “Captain, I think someone is taking photos of Richard. He has blond hair and is about 5'11."

“Thank you for the tip, Corporal. We have an unmarked chase car out here in the parking lot.” A little bit later, “We have him in sight now, corporal. We’ll follow him and see where he leads us to.”

“Yes, sir.”

~~~000~~~

The police chase car follows the car the man gets into. The unknown suspect leads them to the interstate. Eventually he takes an exit ramp.

All during this time, the chase car communicates with the Captain and gives an update.

The road leads to the north side of the St. John’s River. He drives to a set of boat docks. He gets out and walks to board a large boat. He enters in the boat and doesn’t come back out until five minutes later.

Several squad cars come into area. A police boat comes in as well.

Then the man steps back out and waves his hand at everyone.

“What is this?”

“He’s waving at us. I think he knew he was being followed.”

He steps back into the boat and doesn’t come back out this time.

The captain gets on the radio. “Everyone move in and apprehend him!”

Everyone gets out from the cars. They board the boat. They come out with puzzled looks. They get on the radio.

“He’s not here, Captain.”

“What?”

Another voice comes in, “Sir, there is a berth underneath the boat. I think it is for a small jet-sub.”

“Quickly, use the sonars!”

They check the sonars. They see a fast-moving blip on the screen. It is heading out to the Atlantic Ocean. “We are too late, Captain. It is heading out to sea at a very high rate of speed.”

“Sigh . . . all right. Commandeer the boat. Let’s get what we can from that.”

“Yes, sir.”

~~~000~~~

Ben is back at the main computer at Secure-Sys.

“Okay, David. Let’s load that new software from Richard.”

“Yes, sir.”

David inserts the disk onto a disk tray. It slides in. The computer accesses the information quickly. It asks the usual questions before proceeding to the next phase of a software update.

David then hits the ‘enter’ key once the information is verified. It loads the software in its null state. Then a pop up screen comes on.

Ready for unauthorized use of hard drive. Will activate 3D program and all subroutines if directories are commandeered.

The pop up screen then disappears.

“Well, that’s it, sir. Brent will be surprised with this from Richard.”

“He certainly will, David. Let’s hope Mr. Russell and the police department are doing their part.”

“I hope so too, sir.”

~~~000~~~

Mr. Russell and Detective Torres arrive at several banks unannounced. He get’s the same response from each one. He talks to Detective Torres as they exit a bank together.

“Mr. Torres, I can’t believe these people. They said their networks are just fine with the latest update from Secure-Sys two months ago. They said they can’t be hacked. At least the bank where Secure-Sys have their accounts has it downloaded.”

“I can’t believe it either, Mr. Russell. They refuse to download Richard’s program. Well, let’s get to the police station. Let’s hope we’ve got it done there.”

They drive to the police station. They are informed they did download Richard’s program. Especially with the lines that connect to several servers at Interpol, FBI and the CIA. They also contact the local governments and court house as well. They also get the good news they downloaded the program as well.

“Well, I guess that is better than none at all, Mr. Torres.”

“Yes, Mr. Russell. We’ll have plain clothes men in unmarked cars in Secure-Sys’ parking lot tomorrow morning. I’m thinking it would be a good time for them to pull the trigger just before the weekend.”

“Yes, everybody’s guard will be down. There will be fewer people on the 24-7 financial networks. Well, I’ll be at my office bright and early as well. Good night, Detective Torres.”

“The same to you, Mr. Russell.”

Mr. Russell and Detective Torres get into their cars and go back to their respective offices to finish off their last bit of paperwork.

~~~000~~~

Back in Belgium, several people are looking at the photos and video from their USA contact. They are gathered in a business office in down town Brussels.

“Well, this is hopeful, gentlemen. It looks like our biggest threat is no longer a threat to us.”

“I agree, Mr. Grangor. When should we strike?”

“It has to be simultaneous to be most effective. That means your pirate and you must attack at the same time.”

“I see, we attack at 2 PM and the Pirate attacks at 8 AM over there.”

“That’s right, CEO Brachman. I suggest you do it at 4 PM and 10AM.”

“Okay, we’ll set it for that time.”

All five members get up and shake hands with each other while smiling at each other. Four of them leave the office and go their own ways.

Mr. Grangor gets into an elevator by himself. He pushes a button for the ground floor. “This is great, we are able to get the Omega Unicorn out of the way. There is no way he can defeat this operation now. This New Dawn will travel around the world so fast, that come Monday it will be a done deal. Hah, hah, hah. . . .” He puts his hands out and recites some words. He disappears in a blink of an eye before the elevator doors open on the ground floor.

~~~000~~~

Around 6 PM, the Wilson family shows up for the evening session. They show up just before I’m served my dinner of the same thing I had for lunch earlier in the day. Brianna is very happy to help serve my dinner to me. The parents are sitting on chairs inside the room watching and listening to just us talk to each other.

She carefully puts the straw from the cup of apple juice into my mouth. I sip up some and take a breath.

“So, have you given it some thought to my proposal, Brianna?”

“Well, mom, dad and I are flattered that you asked me, Richard.” She smiles at me widely. “You will have to do it again so you can bend your knee before me.”

I smile back the best I can, “I see, the traditional proposal. Okay, I’ll do it again.”

She puts the straw into my mouth again and I sip from the apple juice cup again.

“That’s good. Now what are the names of the butterflies, Richard?”

The butterflies come fluttering from the flowers and land on the pillow around my head.

“The two butterflies with orange, black and yellow markings are tiger swallowtail butterflies, they are my first ones. Their names are Tiger and Tigress.” They each flap their wings when I mention their names.

“Hello, Tiger and Tigress.”

She hears whispered back, “Hello, Brianna.”

“The next pair are the white morpho butterflies. Their names are Bianca and Lavan.” They flap their wings as well when I mention their names.

“Hello, Bianca and Lavan.”

She hears whisper back, “Hello, Brianna.”

“The third pair are the red winged butterflies. Their names are Ruby and Rubio.” They flap their wings when I mention their names.

“Hello, Ruby and Rubio.”

She hears whispered back, “Hello, Brianna.”

“The last pair are from Avel. They are my first friends from that trip. Their names are based on the color of their eyes. Their names are Cobalt and Amber.” They flap their wings when I mention their names.

“Hello, Amber and Cobalt.”

She hears whispered back, “Hello, Brianna.”

“There is another pair as well. I will tell you about them later.”

“Are they still alive?”

“Yes, they are. Brianna. They are with another group of butterflies.”

“Well you certainly gave them appropriate names, Richard. Who was that dragon that I saw earlier?”

“His name is Croin. He is the first dragon I met there. We became good friends during my time there. He and the rest of the dragons there are at peace with the people there.”

“I still find it hard to believe you are part of them. What does that mean for us here?”

“We’ll take it day by day, Brianna.”

“Sigh . . . I suppose you are right on that point.”

She switches cups to the soup cup. I take several sips from the warm chicken and vegetable broth before she switches back to the apple juice cup. It takes another fifteen minutes to finish the cups.

“So, what are they doing to you, Richard? I see them touching various parts of your body.”

“I really don’t want to say what they are doing, Brianna. My words are being recorded now.”

“I see, that makes sense concerning your situation. It can wait for later.”

“What is it like at the Rescue Mission?”

“Well, Karen and I are part of the pediatrics group on the island. There are four of us there tending to the children’s needs. We help them cope with the pain their mothers went through and for themselves. Some of them did get beaten up very badly by the men in their lives.”

“I see, well I hope I don’t cause problems when I show up.”

She smiles at me, “Oh, I don’t think so, Richard. I did talk about the times we had.”

“Ohhh .. . .?” I smile back the best I can.

She smiles back, “I only told them the good times we had.”

“I hope so, Brianna.”

“Besides we never had any bad times until that breakup night.”

“That’s true, Brianna.”

She touches my arm carefully to reassure me as she smiles at me.

“I graduated tops in high school as well, Richard. I then went to the University of Tennessee, in Knoxville to get a BS and MS in Pediatric Medicine. I don’t have plans in being a doctor right now. I like the teaching atmosphere in helping kids to get through their tough times.”

“Kind of like when you tried to teach me to be your sister.”

“Something like that, Richard. We do get boys there who do have emotional problems. Some have become violent and don’t kick their aggressiveness. We caught two teen boys stealing and doing drugs. They were sent to an adult prison when they used up their chances.”

“Do the teen boys stay on the island? I think they would be problems there with the women and girls.”

“You’re right about that, Richard. We have the teens staying at an academy on the mainland. They still keep contact with their mothers if they want to. The ones who are eleven and under can stay on the island. We tried some petticoat punishment with the unruly boys.”

“Did it work?”

“There were some nine, ten and eleven year olds who hated it. Then we told them what their fathers did to their mother. That got their attention; their attitudes need to change or they will end up in prison like their dad. We even did some trips to the local prison for some sessions of ‘Scared Straight’.”

“Did it work?”

“It did for about eighty percent of the boys. The rest were more defiant. Slowly, the peer pressure from the other boys got their attention. There are about two each year who don’t change their attitude.”

“It sounds like they need some lessons in self control, Brianna. Have the ladies been taught some self defense moves?”

“We have some ladies who can do it. But most of them shy away from it because it reminds them of the violence they endured.”

“Hmm . . . I can teach them what I learned in my Shaolin classes. A lot of it deals with controlling your emotions when in a fight. A balance must be sought when in the heat of the battle. I can teach them some moves that will turn the tables quickly like a nerve pinch or two.”

“You would be just be the one to give our ladies an upper hand in regaining their confidence. It would be great to see that happen for them.”
Helen and Larry are smiling while we are talking with each other. Then the doors open and a nurse comes in.

“It is time for you to leave. It is 7 PM now.”

“See you tomorrow, Richard.”

“See you tomorrow, Brianna.”

Brianna bends down and kisses my forehead then my lips carefully. She sees a lipstick smudge on the forehead. She giggles while she wipes off the lipstick from my forehead and lips with some tissue.

I mutter to myself with a smile. “Crazy girl.”

“Crazy about you, Richard.”

They all exit the room giggling and laughing. The nurse stays behind. “Well, it is time for some sleep.”

“Can I watch the news?”

“Only for a half hour. Then get your sleep.”

“I feel bed ridden in this bed. I need to get up and walk around.”

“You can’t do that yet, Richard.”

“Sigh . . . I know. I need the physical therapy first and be able to stand up first with no pain.”

“That’s right, Richard.” She turns around and turns on the TV in the room. She changes it to one of the cable news networks. “I’ll turn on the TV tomorrow when the bad stuff happens.”

“Thank you, ma’am.”

She sets the timer for the TV and then leaves the room.

I watch the news for the next half hour. I see it is the same old news as before. Everyone is complaining about the world wide debt. They don’t know what to do about it. Then they have nice stories that are happening in the world. When the half hour is up, the TV turns itself off.

“Sigh . . .”

I hear them whisper to me. “It will get better.”

“I know. I just hope no one gets hurt over the weekend.”

My fairies all start to hum a melody to quiet me down and to fall asleep. They also fall asleep on me as well a little bit later. The night proved to be very restful. It is what I really need after this turmoil of a week.

I try not to think what will happen tomorrow. Soon, that will get the world’s attention very fast.

The Rescue Mission
Chapter 9
Written by rachel76m
Edited by Don Kaufman

Friday morning at Jacksonville proved to be normal for me. I wake up at 7 A.M., an hour before the nurse comes in with my breakfast. My fairies tend to me again before she shows up. Once she does enter the room, they return back to the flowers to get themselves fed and recharged.

~~~000~~~

Doug enters in the R&D lab at Secure-Sys at 7 A.M.. He logs onto a computer to check his emails. He sees an email that gets his attention quickly. He immediately opens another window and accesses the chat room. He sees the scripts going up the screen. He immediately sets the printer for live printing. Soon he sees a single line go by. It reads only ‘4 PM B-TIME’.

“Oh boy, that means 10 A.M. here. My friend is right. It is a two-prong attack. I need to call Detective Torres right now.”

Doug brings out his cell phone and opens it. He immediately presses the numbers to reach Detective Torres.

“Ring . . . ring . . . ring.”

“This is Detective Torres. Is that you, Doug?”

“It is Detective. I just got an email from my European contact. I immediately logged into the chat room. I found a line that states “4 PM B-Time.”

“What does that mean, Doug?”

“It means it is a two-prong attack at the same time. 10 AM here and 4 PM there in Brussels.”

“Thanks for the update. I will get the squad cars there as quick as I can. We’ll come in unmarked cars without lights and sirens.”

“That is a must, Detective Torres. Brent and the others usually don’t arrive here until 7:30 AM.”

“Okay.”

Doug closes his cell phone. He opens it again to contact Ben in the main frame room.

“Ring . . . ring . . . ring.”

“What is it, Doug?”

“My European contact gave me a heads up. I immediately logged into the chat room. I printed out the chat lines live for proof. It is a two-prong attack at the same time, 10 AM here and 4 PM there in Brussels.”

“Thanks for letting us know. We’ll keep an eye on them.”

~~~000~~~

The nurse comes in at 8 AM with a tray. She places it on the table. She picks up the apple juice cup first. “Good morning, Richard. We have something new for breakfast.”

“I hope so.”

She smiles at me, “Ahhh . . . a pessimist.”

“I have done some wilderness survival.”

“Well I hope this is better than pine bark and needles.”

I give a droll response, “Hah . . . Hah.”

She smiles again and brings the apple juice cup near me. She puts the straw into my mouth. I take a few sips and swallow it carefully. She puts that down on the table. She picks up another cup with a straw and brings it near to me.

“It is chicken bouillon.”

“Whoopee . . . I’ll take the dinner again . . . more filling.”

She giggles, “You are a pessimist.” She brings the straw to my mouth.

I close my lips around the straw and suck up some chicken bouillon. I soon taste some herbs strained in the bouillon. I open my mouth to catch my breath.

“There is oregano in this.”

“See, it is different.”

“Then add some basil, rosemary and marjoram, then I will be happy.” I try to smile at her.

“So, we have a cook here.” She smiles at me again. “I’ll see what I can do.” She brings the straw to my mouth again. I continue to suck up the warm soup. In fifteen minutes I finish drinking both cups for my breakfast.

She leaves my room. Soon my fairies return to me and continue their healing touch for the next hour. At about 9:05 AM the door opens and Detective Torres walks inside. The butterflies flutter back to the flowers quickly.

“I just received a contact this morning from Doug. He was in the chat room again. He saw a line from one of the three men in question. It states only ‘4 PM B-Time’.”

“What does that mean?”

“Doug thinks it will be a two-prong attack. It will be 10 AM here and 4 PM there in Brussels.”

“That makes sense. If it is 4 PM there, the banks are just closing over there. No one will be able to stop it, if it spreads from there. The real focus is on the US dollar here. With that in mind, I think Brent will be trying to keep his control here and provide a beachhead so the New Dawn can take root here.”

“I see. Can you link your 3D system here with your system back in Secure-Sys?”

“I sure can. Walk over to the closet. Take out the four holo-transmitters and set the telescoping mounts at the four corners of the room. There are cameras already in this room.”

“I understand, Richard.” Detective Torres walks over to the closet and retrieves the four holo-transmitters. He sets them near the corners of the room as Richard described it.

“That’s good. Now watch this. Computer, open air-link with 3D system in Mr. Bryson’s office. Put the image of his office in the upper corner of this room.”

“Recognize Richard Moore’s voice pattern. Establishing air-link with Secure-Sys 3D System in Mr. Bryson’s office.”

Soon the image of Mr. Bryson’s office appears in the upper right corner of the room. I see Mr. Bryson sitting there.

“Good morning, Mr. Bryson.”

“Good morning, Richard. Doug told me it will happen at 10 AM here.”

“I’ll be here waiting when the time is right. Go into stealth mode so my image won’t be seen in your office. This will keep our connection active.”

“I understand, Richard. Computer, switch to stealth mode and turn off the video only from Richard Moore.”

“Recognize Mr. Robert Bryson’s voice. Switching to stealth mode from Richard Moore’s connection.”

“That is something to see, Richard. I’ll be going now. I have two officers here just in case as orderlies. I will be there at Secure-Sys to make the arrests. Thank you for all your help.”

“You’re welcome, sir.”

Detective Torres leaves the room. I whisper to my fairies quietly. “Please don’t be near the bed when it goes down. I want Brent to see my face.”

I hear a whisper back from them. “Yes, father.”

My fairies flutter back to me to continue their healing touch until about 9:45 AM. In my mind I think about my life lately. That Brent is some piece of work, Creator.

As smart as he is, he always has eyes set on higher goals.

We should be like that, Creator.

That’s true, Richard. But his problem is that he is in it for himself and not helping others. His life is not balanced. He is a ‘taker’ through and through.

Soon he will have nothing left. Perhaps in that moment or a little bit later, he will find you.

I have been here all this time waiting for my Creation to acknowledge me. But some are too blind to see the truth. Well, it is time, Richard. It is time to confront Brent.

I look up in the corner and see Mr. Bryson going about his business of running the company. He looks at his watch and sees it is 10 AM. He gets up to get in position. “Computer, split images between Brent’s office and Mr. Bryson walking down the hallway.”

“Creating two images, Brent Morgan’s office and Mr. Bryson in hallway.”

I see the two images in the corner. Then I see Brent typing on the keyboard to begin his plans.

~~~000~~

Brent mumbles to himself. “Time is now. Heh, heh, heh . . . “ He enters a series of keystrokes on the keyboard and then hits the ‘Enter’ key to send his virus.

The screen shows many lines scrolling upward on a pop up screen. He sees that he has accessed Secure-Sys’ main hard-drive. He then types in the commands to find the files he is looking for. The files are the accounting records and the patents created at Secure-Sys. He finds the patents and looks to change the ownership of the patents to himself.

There’s Richard’s patents. I’ll just delete his name and put my name on all of them along with the other patents listed here. I hope the rest of my crew is doing all right. This is so easy.

~~~000~~~

Michael Pearson types at the keyboard in his cubicle. Okay it is time to take control of the police station. He types a series of commands, soon he accesses their main hard-drives. Oh, this is fun. Now to put in that virus to wipe out their login passwords and put in ours. He types in his commands to do that. That’s great. Now we can shut down the network and release certain felons who have been waiting for this.

~~~000~~~

Brian is at his terminal in the Shipping Department. He types in the commands to gain control of the Duval County Court House. He soon is sitting there on their hard-drives. Once the mayhem starts at the banks, we all go at once. Hah . . . this is too good to be true. I love it. Soon we’ll be in control of the State of Florida!

~~~000~~~

Darren sits at his desk and types in the commands to gain control of the bank where Secure-Sys have their accounts. I love it. Now we can steal from the other businesses and move their money to our own private accounts, once everything changes to the Euro currency.

~~~000~~~

Across the Atlantic in Brussels, Belgium in a high rise office. Four men are watching the progress from their side.

“Well, that is it, my friends. Everyone is in position. There is no way anyone can stop this now. We are ready to release the New Dawn. Send it now!”

The four men type in a series of commands at their computers. Once they hit ‘Enter’ the virus is released into the world wide web.

~~~000~~~

Soon, bank tellers, stock exchanges, CEOs at their computers from around the world see their accounts become $0.00. They all panic and get on the phones to the banks to find out what is going on. The banks have no answers as to why this happened. This goes on for the next 24 hours at least, as everyone seeks answers to their questions.

Anybody with a computer in their office, cell phones or at home are seeing the same thing. They get on the phones and cell phones and cause a massive jam at the switch boards and on the internet. Soon, no one gets through to reach a bank representative.

The only ones who have an idea what is going on are Interpol, the FBI, the CIA and other security agencies. They try to track down who did this, but they have problems because their lines are jammed with traffic as well.

~~~000~~~

Back in Jacksonville, Brent, Darren, Michael and Brian see the same results. Darren puts a jump drive in the slot. This was given to Brent, so that our side of the Atlantic will start as backup. The PC accesses the New Dawn virus automatically. Just when they thought it was a done deal, Darren sees something unexpected on his screen. He sees the principal amounts returning back to their original values.

He yells, “This can’t be happening! What is going on here?” He gets on his cell phone and calls Brent.

“Brent, we have a problem.”

“What is it, Darren?”

“The principal values of the bank accounts have returned to normal. The only thing that is wiped is the debt owed by the people and the businesses.”

“That can’t be happening. Let’s see if we can get out.”

Once they try to get out, they find themselves blocked and can’t get out.

~~~000~~~

“What’s this ‘Gate 1'? This is not part of Secure-Sys software programs. I’ll just go through it with a good virus program.” Brent types in the commands and hits ‘Enter’.

Then he sees the next message pops up and it speaks out loud through the PC speakers.

“Can not access Gate 1. Blocked New Dawn and virus. Virus signature is already in Virus Database. New Dawn is now changed to new parameters. New Dawn is sent into the world wide web. Needs five-word password sequence to reestablish access to network.”

Brent frantically types in more code and gets the same result.

“No! This can’t be happening!” He slams his fists on the desk.

~~~000~~~

Darren, Michael and Brian see the same thing on their computer screens. They frantically type any virus, Trojans, malware they can think of, to see if they can get out. They see the same results on their screen.

They scream in frustration that this is happening. “This can’t be happening! We have control of the servers now! Arrggh!”

“Some one has laid a trap for us. But whom could have done it? It can’t be Richard. We put him in the hospital so we can do this.”

~~~000~~~

Across the ocean in Brussels, the four men are seeing something new happening on the screens.

“What is going on here? For one moment the balances all read zero, now the principal amounts have been restored.”

“Yes, the only thing that disappeared is the debt owed to the banks from the people and the countries. This is not part of the program.”

They look up at each other with scared faces. One of them speaks up, “It has to be Richard Moore. It started with the Secure-Sys’ bank. I saw it spread it out from there.”

“Let’s get out of here.”

“No, we still have time to save our money.”

“Yes, we must save it.”

They frantically type in a bunch of codes at their computers and send them to private accounts in Switzerland and other offshore accounts. However, they soon encounter the heavy traffic on the internet. Their transactions are updating very slowly.

~~~000~~~

Back at Secure-Sys, the door opens to Brent Morgan’s office. He sees Mr. Bryson standing there with a police officer next to him. They both are looking at Brent with angry faces.

“Hello Brent. What’s the matter? You can’t get out of the system?”

“Yes, s . . . sir. S . . .Someone has installed some new code. I . . . I can’t get out. Who did this, sir?”

“Computer, resume live video from my office.”

Then an image of me appears in his office. He sees me cracking a smile at him. Mr. Bryson smiles as well.

“No way! You couldn’t have done this in seven days!”

I whisper as loud as possible, “Yes I did, Brent. I’ll see you in court!”

“Arrrrghhh . . . ! Noooo . . . This can’t be happening!”

“Officer, arrest Brent Morgan.”

Brent looks at the police officer with a scared face. “Huh? No . . . you can’t arrest me. There is no proof . . .”

“Yes, Mr. Bryson. Brent Morgan, you are under arrest to commit theft of company property. Your three other friends here are being arrested as well. We’ll come up with more charges later.” He then recites the necessary suspect rights to Brent.

As soon as Brent leaves with the officer with his head down in defeat, Mr. Bryson looks at Richard’s image. “Richard, we need access to the network.”

“Yes, sir. Computer, reestablish control of networks to Secure-Sys. The password is hectare-gomel-brachus-filtron-wharftel.”

“Recognize Richard Moore’s voice pattern and password sequence. Revolving to new password sequence. Reestablishing control back to Secure-Sys.”

“Thank you, Richard. We’ll be back in touch on Monday. Have a great weekend.”

“You do the same, Mr. Bryson.”

“Computer, end video feed to Richard Moore, keep air-link stealth mode connection between Secure-Sys and Richard Moore.”

“Stealth mode reestablished. Ending live video feed to Richard Moore.”

My image disappears from Brent’s office. Mr. Bryson leaves the office to resume the next step in getting things back to normal at Secure-Sys. Then he hears the tech-support hot lines ringing like crazy. He stops by to see how they are doing.

He sees and hears they are trying their best to field their questions. When the banks call, they immediately want to upgrade their network to prevent this from happening again. Mr. Bryson smiles widely on the success that Richard had in preventing this potential disaster. He definitely needs a nice bonus for his efforts here. I’m sure our tech support office in Texas is buzzing like crazy with this incident.

He walks out of the hot tech support room and resumes his walks down the hallways. He stops by to see Darrell and to see how the programmers are holding up. He sees them talking to each other. They stop talking when they see Mr. Bryson walks into the room.

“Hello Mr. Bryson. We were just talking about what just happened.”

“Why were they taken away, Mr. Bryson?”

“All four men planned a serious takeover of the city systems and our company, Phillip. They were also in league with a foreign group to get rid of the US dollar and put the Euro dollar as the only currency.”

“Oh wow. I didn’t realize it was that type of conspiracy. When will Richard be back?”

“Hopefully he will back in about two months. He has to get healed first from his injuries.”

“Yes sir.”

“You realize your work load will now increase some again. We’ll get replacements for those four. I do remember some of your talents. Some of you could get promoted to their positions.”

“Thank you for the opportunity, Mr. Bryson.”

He smiles back, “You’re welcome, Phillip. Try your best to get the programs done in time and be very accurate. We don’t want any holes in the programs. In fact, go over the previous editions we just put out and where you contributed to the programs. Find what Brent did. Richard was able to do the same as well with his own contributions. We’ll need to create several update packs for our products.”

They all shout together with enthusiasm, four men and five ladies. “Yes, sir!”

Mr. Bryson leaves the room and continues his rounds of building the morale back up at Secure-Sys. Carol and Jennifer are especially happy of hearing the good news about Richard. They start laying out the initial plans for a ‘Welcome Back’ party when Richard comes back.

~~~000~~~

The four are brought out of their offices handcuffed. Their heads are down in defeat. Some of the employees wonder what is going on. They look up now and then to see a scowl on their faces.

The four men mumble to themselves as they are escorted out.

“Who did this, Brent?”

“Richard.”

“No way!”

“He said he did it in seven days.”

“How did he talked to you?”

“Via a 3D-video link. His jaw is still wired, he whispered as loud as possible.”

“That’s impossible!”

~~~000~~~

Ben sees the four men taken away on the monitors. “Okay, David, send the Rabbit Trails program.”

“Yes, Ben. I have the parameters put in. It will be saved to the spreadsheet for further analysis.” David presses the ‘Enter’ key. A pop up screen appears with a spreadsheet. Soon lines of node-hits are appearing on the screen. It reaches 20,000 lines before it finally stops.

David saves that file and sends it to a map database program. Detective Torres, Ben and David look at the screen as they see lines traced out from Jacksonville. It soon spreads around the world quickly. Then it comes to stop in Brussels, Belgium.

“That must be the key players in Belgium. Print out that page and email or fax it to Interpol, the FBI and the CIA quickly.”

“Yes, Detective Torres.”

David sends the entire file and the map photo of Belgium to the agencies.

~~~000~~~

At Interpol, they receive the email from Secure-Sys and open the attachments.

“This is it. Get there in Brussels quickly, before they leave.”

“Yes, sir!”

They contact the Brussels office of Interpol and relay the information to them. They quickly send a group of twenty officers, vans and other equipment to the address in Brussels. They arrive in less than fifteen minutes. They board the elevators and press the button for the tenth floor. The doors open and find a typical office. They quickly rush forward to find the four men. When they open the door to an office, they see them frantically typing at their PCs to save their money.

They get arrested and taken away in the vans. One of Interpol’s techs sits at one of the terminals. He quickly looks for their email contacts of other conspirators. He sees them all grouped together. He quickly prints those out, he opens his laptop and adds them to his email database.

One of the email addresses gets his attention. The email is to a Mr. Grangor in New York City.

“Who is that gentleman, Captain? I don’t recognize that name.”

“I don’t either, Lieutenant. Save it for later. Print out the names from their chat group; that is how they communicated most of the time.”

“Yes, sir.” The Lieutenant searches for their chat group. He eventually finds it. He prints out the list. They see a list of names they recognize right away.

“There’s Doug’s chat name. He is from Secure-Sys.”

“How did he get in there, sir?”

“He has a European contact in this group that I know personally. They have been good friends with each other for a long time. Doug was employed in France for about two years doing work on their computer systems. If it wasn’t for that friendship, none of this would have happened.”

“Yes, sir.”

“Hopefully, their new programmer, Richard Moore, will be able to help improve our network quickly.”

“Yes, sir. We have been hacked too many times by the high-tech criminals. I’ll be glad to see those holes plugged up.”

“Me too, Lieutenant. Track down those transactions those four were doing. We need to know where they tried to hide their money.”

“Yes, sir.” The Lieutenant types in several lines of code in a pop-up window and hits ‘Enter’. He sees the banks, the account numbers and the amounts that are kept there. He saves that to a flash drive. Then the IT tech crew comes in to take away the four PCs and their equipment for evidence and further analysis.

“Well, let’s get back to the office. We still need to track down their accomplices.”

“Yes sir.”

They both leave the office together and exit the building. They get in the vans and drive back to their main office in Brussels.

~~~000~~~

In a New York City high rise building. Grangor is looking at his computer screen in disbelief.

“Arrrgghh!! I hate this Richard Moore!!! I hate the Omega Unicorn!!! I thought for sure we got him out of the way for this to plan to work.”

“How long was he unemployed until he was put in the hospital, Grangor?”

“A week, Thrashtin. He must have done it all during that time. He is a most stubborn foe.”

“Yes he is, Grangor. We now have underestimated his computer abilities. He must be one of the smartest ones to come along in a long time. How long have we been planning this to ruin the USA economy and their government?”

“Ever since President Nixon, that is when we gave him the idea to have the dollar to stand on its own from the gold standard. We then did the same with the other countries around the world.”

“And what happened next, Grangor?”

“We then told the future 44th President, when he was still in school, our ideas for change and how the new socialist idea could work. It all hinged on printing new paper money and making it worthless. It worked beautifully up until now with the succeeding presidents. Then we had the immigrants do their revolt in spreading their desert laws and making the new Desert Empire thirty years ago.”

“But what happened with the revolt?”

“We didn’t see the grass roots movement by their children and grand children in rejecting their murderous ways twenty years before that.”

“Who led them and where?”

“It actually started in Israel by someone we haven’t found yet. He has remain hidden to this day, Thrashtin.”

“We’ll find him and deal with his peace movement at another time.”

“Yes, now we have to start over in some areas.”

“Yes, Grangor. We’ll find another chance to get rid of Richard. He still has to make a trip to China to continue earning his black sashes.”

“Yes, let’s hope they will be able to cripple him there in mind and body.”

“To think, our decades of planning is undone by one man with a computer.”

Then they both grumble at the same time, “Grrr. . . I hate the Omega Unicorn!”

~~~000~~~

I watched the news unfold at 12 noon on the TV. The hosts talked about the potential tragedy that was quickly averted somehow. The Wilsons and Anna show up a few minutes later. We all watch it together. Anna has a big smile when she looks at me.

“You did it again, Richard. I’m so proud of you.”

“Thank you, Anna. This is just the tip of the iceberg. It will be interesting to see how far the tentacles will go and which government heads got involved.”

“Yes, it will be a major shake up in the governments.”

After watching the news, we just talked about each other what has been happening in the Wilson family. I’m given an update on their three sons. I hear that Charles had a tough lesson about me. Brian is still trying to get a steady job. Allen looks like the stable one among the three brothers.

After the hour is up, they all leave for the afternoon. Anna has to go to AG Russell’s office to put some further work in getting their prosecution put together. They also contacted Interpol, the FBI and the CIA to see if there are any new suspects to add to the list. They also told them that it was I who averted the potential disaster.

They are also told I won’t be available to give my testimony until I am more mobile and healed from my injuries. They agree to be patient until that happens. They also agree to keep my name sealed and confidential as long as possible.

They all agree the minimum sentence should be sought for all of them. That is thirty years minimum without parole. Some more charges are brought up against Brent and his three friends in their assault on me.

People around the world soon realized what could have happened. Their own countries are saved from embarrassment; if the virus did what it was supposed to do. A lot of countries try to figure out what to do next in protecting their assets. Then some hear an idea from an US Congressman it is time to have our money backed by gold again, some even suggested platinum be used.

A lot of them agree to the idea. For one part of it, it would definitely help stabilize the paper currency to what it should be in value. People would be hard pressed to do anything foolish again by going into debt again, especially on the government level in their spending habits. The national budgets became more realistic now and not inflated too much decades later. Prices started to drop in all categories of goods, lodging, food, fuel, building materials, wages, etc.. However, the price drop is not immediate, it took about ten to twenty years for that to happen. For example, price of regular gas went from $10 per gallon to about 50 cents a gallon.

My nest egg in the bank did not change in value. It still is about a quarter-million dollar. That is two years worth of sales from my 3D System. I expect it to rise in value now. Anna has invested portions of it in several different categories.

I spent another week in bed under their careful watch. Anna returned back to my apartment to get some more fruit and water for my fairies in my room. Anna also tells Traphel and the other fairies the good news as well.

The Wilson family stayed another week in the apartment before they returned home. After the second week, I get another round of X-rays and CRT on my body. The doctors are amazed at how fast my bones are healing. Dr. Mitchell and Dr. Thornton agree with me, even if the fairies were not here, I am still a fast healer.

Brianna stays one more week and helps me get back on my feet. The first goal is getting strength in the hands and the arms to support my weight on the parallel bars in the therapy room.

The bandages and splints are removed first from the hand. I slowly squeeze my fingers inward. They are very stiff now. I also do some arm movements as well with Brianna and the nurses help. Slowly I am able to make a fist with both hands. We all smile when I can do that.

The next day, the bandages and the wires are removed from my jaw and face. I open and close my mouth many times. I even move my head in a circle, up and down and side to side.

“How is the pain in your mouth, Richard?”

“It is not too bad, Dr. Mitchell. I need to close my mouth tightly on an object.”

“Use this foam piece for starters. Don’t worry if you bite it into two pieces.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

She places the foam piece into my mouth carefully. I slowly bite down on it. I feel a little pain in the jaw, but they are near the joints.

She takes out the foam piece from my mouth, “Where is the pain, Richard?”

“It is near the joints, ma’am. The bones and teeth are not tingling.”

“That’s good. That means your ligaments there are tender from the hit. We’ll try some soft foods the day after tomorrow.”

“Yes, ma’am.” She puts it back in my mouth and I continue with the jaw exercises until I can’t do it anymore.

Dr. Mitchell takes the foam piece from my jaw and looks at it. “This is not too bad, Richard. You haven’t cut through it yet with your teeth. It should be back to normal strength soon.”

I smile at her. “That is good news to hear, ma’am.”

~~~000~~~

On Wednesday during the third week, I get a surprise visit from Sensei Chou.

He walks into the room and looks at me. “Why didn’t you defend yourself, Richard?”

“If I did sensei, the four men would not have been able to carry out their task. The Europeans who planned this probably would have canceled their plans.”

“I see. So by feigning weakness, you revealed their arrogance.” He smiles at me, “That’s a good tactic. I also see, that my bank accounts are still safe. Thank you, Richard. I have made a decision in helping achieve your goals, Richard.”

“What is it, sensei?”

“Once you have recovered from your injuries, I will be here at the local Shaolin Temple in Duval County during your six month rest periods. I will make sure you have earned as many black degrees as possible here.”

“Thank you, sensei.”

“I will also confer with our order in China and make plans there for further training.”

“Hopefully, by that time my vacation time will be up to one month by then.”

“Yes, that is what I’m hoping for.”

“Sensei, I would like for you to meet Brianna Wilson.”

He smiles at her, “Ah, the pretty next door neighbor of his youth.”

She smiles widely at the comment. “I’m pleased to meet you, sir.”

“From what I know about Richard, you will need to learn some self defense moves as well.”

“Uh . . . how much do you know about Richard?”

“Everything about his new life since that Spring Break trip he had to another country.”

“I see, are you okay with it?”

He smiles back, “Yes I am, Ms. Brianna.”

“Sensei, I think you really need to see the video copy when I encountered those four men.”

“Is there something you wish to show me?”

“Yes I do, sensei.” I turn my head to the nurse. “Nurse, please have Dr. Mitchell play the video here in this room.”

“I’ll get on the phone here to ask her.” She picks up the phone in the room. She punches some numbers and reaches Dr. Mitchell. They have a short talk about it. She then puts the headset back on the base.

“Dr. Mitchell and Dr. Thornton will bring it here shortly.”

“Thank you. Brianna, you need to be strong now. They used four bats on me. But I did some preparation before they arrived.”

“I’ll try to control myself, Richard.”

Soon, the door opens, Dr. Mitchell and Dr. Thornton step into the room. “I have the DVD with me, Richard. Who else do you want to see it?”

“Sensei Chou and Brianna, Dr. Mitchell. Once my sensei sees it unfold, he will recognize a tactic I used to minimize the damage to myself.”

Sensei Chou looks at me with a smile and nods his head slightly. I crack a smile at him and nod my head my slightly.

Dr. Mitchell puts the DVD into the DVD reader of the PC box in the closet. Soon the morning is shown in the room.

“Computer, scale video image to the upper corner. Base measurement is two meters cube.”

“Readjusting images to base measurement.”

The image gets reduced in size and moved to the upper corner of the room. Brianna has a hand to her mouth so she won’t scream out loud. The nurse and Dr. Mitchell walk over to her to help hold her up. Dr. Thornton looks at the video closely.

Once the beating commences, Sensei Chou sees what I did to protect myself besides using the metal corset. He sees that I stiffened my muscles throughout the entire time. He is glad to see their efforts did not get completed. He chuckles a bit when I removed their masks and sprayed their faces with the clear spray. Then when I get kicked in the jaw, I then pass out unconsciously. Then the flying insects come in to chase them out of the apartment and sting them as they fled. Then my fairies, in butterfly mode, rest on me to console me.

“They came to your rescue as well, Richard.”

“Yes they did, Brianna. However, I had to let them beat me up so they could continue with their plans. By that time I already had completed what I needed to do to thwart the New Dawn virus. Mr. Bryson and several others came to my apartment the next day after this incident.”

“I see.” She begins to crack a smile.

Sensei Chou looks at me with a smile. “So, you did use the mantis technique for self protection. That was an excellent decision, Richard.”

“Yes, sensei and thank you. The blows to the arms and legs only received stress cracks. The finger bones had to be realigned before the healing began.”

Dr. Mitchell looks at me with a smile.

Dr. Thornton speaks up, “That is what you did to lessen their blows. We wondered why most of your bones were not broken all the way through. This means, the strength of your bones has now increased to a point of not breaking the next time.”

“That is right, Dr. Thornton. The same technique is used to increase the strength in the bones of the fighters and soldiers in China. They start out with bamboo sticks and progress to clubs. This conditions the body to withstand the rigors of further training for the higher black sashes. In this case, Richard did it without their knowledge.”

“Did you know of the technique, Richard?”

“I did, Dr. Thornton. When I moved to Charlottesville, my dad had me join Sensei Chou’s dojo. It took time to gain confidence to stand up against four bullies or fighters.”

Sensei Chou smiles again, “I remember Richard very well when he started out. He had the right attitude to stand up to them, but he had no knowledge of what to do next. Once Richard sets his mind on something, he goes for it with every ounce of will and strength. He completed the purple sash with the three degrees two years earlier than normal by the time he finished high school.”

I blush a bit at the praise from my sensei. “Then I look forward to when we meet again, Sensei Chou.”

“Until we meet again, Richard. Before I leave, Richard. Will you please make a fist and push into my hand?”

“Yes, sensei.” I make a fist with my left hand and place it against his palm. As soon as I press against it, I back off as I scream in pain. “Arrrghhh! That hurts, sensei. The pain is shooting back through my arms to my shoulders.” I look at my left hand. I make a fist with my right hand and push into my left palm. “Arrrgghh! That hurts as well. What is going on sensei?”

I relax my hands and arms. Dr. Mitchell and Dr. Thornton look at my hands closely.

“The wrist bones are the foundation for the hands, doctors. This needs to be corrected before any more rehab takes place. If it is not addressed. Then this will become two weak points for an adversary to take an advantage off.”

“I agree, Mr. Chou. We must find the problem.”

“The wrists are warm to the touch, Dr. Thornton.”

“Yes they are, Dr. Mitchell. I think we need to take a closer look here. It is possible there could be a loose bone or cartilage within the wrist that is pinching a nerve.”

Brianna comes closer to look at it. She touches my wrist. “You’re right. It is warm. What is the solution, doctors?”

“We need to pinpoint it where it is exactly and see if it can be moved back into its proper position.”

Then several butterflies come fluttering in. They land near my hand. They start touching my skin. Soon I hear them whisper to me.

“It is here.”

The doctors look at me.

“They are pointing to where it is, doctors.”

“We’ll need four different directions on the wrist to pinpoint it. They will be paired up and opposite from each other.”

“Then get a pen ready to mark where their feet are tapping.”

“Yes, Richard.”

I carefully lift my arms. The butterflies cling to my skin as they determine the locations. Once they see them tapping on a spot, Dr. Mitchell and Dr. Thornton make four dots around each of my wrists with a fine point pen.

Croin, can you please verify what the problem is?

Of course, Richard. I will check it out. Croin moves down my arms and checks both of the wrists. Once he determines the problem he speaks to me. Richard, there is a very small bone in each wrist that is touching a nerve. It appears to be broken off from a larger piece.

I whisper to the doctors. “Doctors, my dragon friend found a small piece of bone that is touching a nerve in each wrist. He thinks it is broken off from a larger piece.”

“That’s a very a good possibility, Richard. We’ll have to do a closer look after another set of CAT scans.”

“Yes, doctor.” I look at Sensei Chou. “Thank you for showing up sensei. It is good to see a familiar friend.”

“Yes it is, Richard. When will be starting your next birth period?”

“I’m already in it. I will give birth in three months. I just gave birth to Victor and Victoria last year in May.”

“Then I will make plans for this December.”

“Yes, sensei.”

We nod our heads slightly to each other while we smile at each other. Sensei Chou then leaves the room.

Some male nurses come in and lift me up and put me on a stretcher. They wheel me down to the CAT scan room. After taking a series of CAT scans with a finer resolution on the wrists, they put the images into my 3D System in my room. Then a group of doctors with a network tech walk to my room to view the images.

Once I get done in the CAT scan room, the male nurses put me in a wheel chair and push me down to the rehab room to start working on my legs.

~~~000~~~

Once the images are loaded in the PC unit, the network tech shows the bones of my wrists in 3D.

“Well, there it is, my friends. It’s that bone right there that is chipped off.”

“Yes, I see it. It is in almost the same position as the other wrist.”

“We should remove the bone pieces. I see no reason to try and push it back where it belongs.”

“I agree, Dr. Thornton. It could create a spur and not solve the problem at all. It could make it worse.”

“I agree with that assessment as well.”

“Daniel, overlay the nerves and the blood vessels. We need to determine the best path to the bone chip. Also connect the dots on the skin with a thin white line.”

“Yes, sir.” Daniel, the network tech goes through the menu to have it appear as they requested.

Then Daniel rotates the images to see all sides of the wrist slowly.

“Hmm. . . . It appears we need to come in from below the wrist.”

“Yes, that appears to be the best angle of approach. Daniel, print out a photo from this angle.”

“Yes, sir.” Daniel accesses the print menu and prints out two photos to the print server near the nurses’ station. “I sent two photos to the nurses’ station, doctors.”

“That’s fine, Daniel. What would be a good day to get this done?”

“Let’s do it first thing in the morning at 8 AM.”

“Does everyone agree to that?”

Everyone responds together, “yes.”

“Okay, I’ll call the Scheduling Room to make a reservation for tomorrow morning at 8 AM.”

The DVD is removed. The doctors and the network tech return back to their offices to get other things done during the day. The doctors pick up the two photos at the nurses’ station as they leave.

~~~000~~~

Brianna brings along the two flowering plotted plants as well. My fairies get to see me work out. They stay in butterfly mode the entire time in the rehab room.

Some of the other patients wonder why there are butterflies fluttering around me. They are told the butterflies are my source of calming and inspiration to do better.

Some of the orderlies lift me up and put me in the bicycle seat. I then begin to pedal my legs slowly. I grimace in pain as I complete each revolution. But this pain is from inactivity. After five minutes of that, I’m taken to a bed nearby in the rehab room. I’m asked to push against the hands of the nurses to determine my strength.

I breathe a bit and push my feet into their hands.

“That’s it, Richard. Push harder.”

“Uggh . . . I’m . . . trying . . . “

After two minutes of pushing I get to relax. “Pant . . . pant . . .”

“That’s good, Richard. We need to keep this up for an hour today. Then you can rest until tomorrow afternoon to do it again.”

“Okay.”

I do some different exercises this time in putting more movements into the legs. At the end of the hour, we try for the big test to see if I can stand.

The nurses bring me over to the parallel bars and hold me up. I rest my elbows on the bars. My knees are flexed underneath me. “Okay, let’s try it.” I push myself up slowly.

“That’s it, Richard. Push to stand up!”

I smile a grimace at Brianna. I see her smiling widely at me. I then push through the pain and find myself standing. “Unnnh . . .” The male nurses are nearby to keep me steady.

“Whew . . . That was some workout.”

“Can you take a step forward?”

“I’ll try, Brianna.” I lift my left foot and move it forward about one foot. I then move my right foot a foot forward to complete the sequence.

“That’s it, you’ve got it, Richard!”

Sweat comes down my forehead. Everyone cheers in the rehab room. I can also feel the excitement from my fairies as well. They are glad to see me walking three weeks after the beating. I look to an orderly. “I think it is time to sit down and catch my breath. My heart is beating very fast.”

“Of course, Richard.”

The male nurses pick me up and carefully put me in the wheel chair. Brianna comes forward and hugs me around the neck. She backs away and kisses me on the lips.

“With that kiss, my heart is beating faster than when I try to stand for the first time.” I smile at her.

We hear a lot of giggling and laughing in the rehab room.

Brianna smiles back, “If that is the case, I will use it as an incentive for you to start running.”

“But I need to walk first, then I can try running later.”

I carry one of the potted flowers in my lap. Brianna carries the other one. My fairies flutter to the flowers to get their rest. We leave the rehab room and I get wheeled back to my room on the fourth floor. We put my potted flowers on the table with the other flowers. Brianna gets ready to leave for the afternoon. She said she’ll back for the 6 PM visiting hour. She gives me another kiss on the lips. This time I try to clean my lips with my tongue.

“Mmm . . . Cherry . . . that’s a good flavor.”

“That should help you remember me until this evening.”

“I should hope so. See you later, Bri.”

“See you later, Richard.” She turns around and leaves the room.

My fairies flutter to me in their butterfly mode. They land on my chest and on the pillow around my head. They whisper their thoughts to me . I whisper back to them.

“She has a beautiful soul, mother.”

“Yes she does, Tigress.”

“She is in love with you very much.”

“I’m in love with her too, Lavan.”

“We need to do another visit to the cabin.”

“We will my fairies, when we get the chance. Until this Euro conspiracy is resolved, it will have to wait until then.”

“We understand, father.”

“Well, I need to rest now. I will be having the surgery on the wrists tomorrow morning.”

I relax in the bed as my fairies relax with me. They lie on my chest, soon I feel their heart beats are in rhythm with mine. At 5:50 the door opens. A nurse comes in with a tray of food for me. The butterflies flap their wings and flutter back to the flowers to have their evening meal.

“Hello, Richard. As promised we have some soft food here. We have a banana sliced up, a small slice of salmon, mashed potatoes, tomato slices with the seeds removed and skinned. We also have some melon here for you to try.”

“That smells great, ma’am. Thank you very much.” My mouth begins to water a bit.

“Well, let’s see if you can feed yourself.” She smiles at me.

“Yes, ma’am.” I reach for a plastic fork and take a stab at the salmon. A piece flakes off the main piece. I use the plastic knife to get the piece onto the fork. I bring it to my mouth and drop the salmon meat into it. I slowly chew the salmon. Once it is eaten I give my response, “Oh that is good. Thank you very much, ma’am. It is lightly seasoned as well. Give my thanks and kudos to the chefs.”

“I’ll be sure to tell them.”

Then Brianna shows up in the room. “What’s this? I had planned a candlelight dinner with wine for tonight.” She smiles at me.

I smile back, “I’m sorry, Brianna. But the nurse brought in this salmon dinner for my first soft meal.”

The nurse smiles at Brianna. “We can bring in another plate if you like? However, we’ll have to skip the wine until he is discharged from the hospital.”

“Thank you, nurse. I would appreciate that. I checked with the hospital cafeteria when I came in. They have a plate ready for me down there after I paid for it.”

“Then I’ll go down there and bring that plate here.” The nurse leaves room.

“You haven’t eaten yet, Brianna?”

“No, Richard. I was hoping to eat with you here. I went down to the hospital cafeteria. They said it could be done.”

“That’s nice. How are you holding up?”

“I was very stressed out on the day we found you. It took awhile for me to calm down. Fortunately, mom and dad were here for the first two weeks. I need to get back to the Rescue Mission when this week is over. We need to finalize the plans with your presence there. Karen has kept me up to date so far. So far, there are no problems. Some of the women there are looking forward to meet you. Some will be afraid of you.”

“I’ll miss you until then, Brianna. I will just have to prove myself to them that I’m no threat to them.”

The nurse comes in with the dinner plate that Brianna ordered. She sits near me in a chair. She puts her plate and cup of water on the table nearby. Then my butterflies flutter to me and land on the pillow around my head.

“Why are they here, Richard?”

“So we can give our thanks to the Creator together for this first meal.”

“That’s sweet.”

“Creator of the Universe, I wish to give you thanks for this wonderful day. May this food restore our strength and will to serve you better. I thank you for sending Brianna and leading her to find me. She has definitely brightened my soul. You can add some words as well, if you like.”

“Thank you, Richard. Thank you, Creator, in helping me find Richard. We have missed each other for twelve years. I am glad to be back with him. May our lives together be great and wonderful over the years. I realize I will have to make an adjustment in accepting his unique family. But that is your gift to him. Thank you for this food we are about to eat.”

She looks at me for me to continue.

“Together, Brianna. Thank you, Creator.”

She smiles, “Thank you, Creator.”

Then we both hear the butterflies whisper as well, “Thank you, Creator.”

We enjoy eating our meal together. Brianna has a chicken dish with vegetables on the side. She sees me trying to be neat in my position on the bed.

“You need to be higher, Richard. I can raise the bed for you.”

“Be slow about it. It is the device here on the right of me.”

“Okay.” She takes the control and pushes the button for up slowly.

Soon my upper body rises from thirty degrees to about fifty degrees. “That’s good, Brianna.”

She stops using the control. We resume our eating of the meal. My fairies return to the potted flowers to have their meal.

“Why did they go back to the flowers, Richard?”

“Anna found a way to have them here. Within those two potted flowers is a bottle of water and a bag of fruits that butterflies can eat for energy. They will also drink from the nectar of the flowers as well.”

“I remembered what they looked like yesterday.”

“They will still have the same wing pattern. However, they will be wearing clothes that will match their wings.”

“Did you make the clothes?”

“No, Brianna. They make the clothes themselves. They have the hands and dexterity to do it themselves. Barbie clothes are too big for them.”

Brianna giggles, “That’s interesting. Are there more like them?”

“That’s an interesting question, Brianna. There are more like them. However, they are not here. They are located in the mountains where our families like to go to.”

“I see, then I will have to be patient until then. If we get married, Richard. You realize we will have children to raise and take care of.”

“I’m counting on it, Brianna. How would two of each sound to you?”

She smiles back, “Two boys and two girls? The apartment life will not do at all. We’ll have to get a house.”

“Yes, it will probably be two stories. I would like to make sure the backyard faces a good set of woods that will be never developed.”

“That would be nice. It will be a lot quieter without the traffic nearby. What about the house in Charlottesville? What will you do with it?”

“Right now it is a place that I can use to call home during the summer. I used it several times while I was training at the dojo. I haven’t been there the last two years. I am planning to keep the cabin for perpetuity in the family. It is a great place to get quiet and recharged.”

“That sounds romantic.” She smiles at me.

I smile back, “Oh yes, it is very romantic, Brianna. I am also planning to build a green house next to the cabin. That way, what is grown there won’t get blasted by the winter storms there.”

“I’ve been through some of those in Knoxville. I know what they are like.”

We get done eating our meal together. She picks up her cup of ice water and mine. She hands my cup to me.

“To us, Richard. You are my knight in shining armor.”

“To us, Brianna. You are my queen and the delight of my soul.”

She smiles at me, “A queen huh? Then you are my king as well with a heart of gold.”

We ‘clink’ our plastic cups together, then we drink from it together.

“See you tomorrow and the next day. I will be leaving Saturday to drive back to the Rescue Mission. I’ll miss you until you arrive there.”

“I’ll miss you too, Brianna, my love. Hopefully I will be released by the end of next week.”

“I’m hoping for the same thing too, my love.”

Brianna bends down and gives me a lengthy and sexy kiss. I feel my male self rising from the depths. Then Brianna gets up and sees she is successful when she sees the tented sheet.

“Well, that just proves you’re still a man, Richard.”

“That’s fine . . . by me.” I smile at her. “You crazy and sexy girl.”

“I’m still crazy about you, Richard. At least my sex appeal is still active.” She turns around to pick up her purse from the table. She puts it on her shoulders and sashays out of my room swinging her buns just right in her jeans.

“Whooo . . . you’re so right, Brianna!”

I hear her giggling as she walks down the hallway.

The nurse comes into taking our plates, utensils, cups and cleans up from our little dinner we had. “Did you have a nice dinner?”

“We did, ma’am. We talked about a lot of things. It wasn’t the right time to discuss too far into the future.”

“Yes, this is not to time to do it. You have a life time together to explore that.”

She leaves with the portable table and the dirty plates we used. She gives me a clean cup to use.

“Don’t forget, wrist surgery first thing in the morning, Richard.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

She leaves the room. I reach for the TV controller and turn on the TV. My fairies fly over to me to sit on my chest and around my head on the pillow. We watch the news for a half-hour.

They are still discussing how the incident was averted. They think it was some hidden group of people in the USA government who was able to avert the disaster. Several groups denied it was them. They continue the debate for another five minutes before switching to other reporters from around the world.

I hear them talking about repossessing parts of the USA to have them pay up their losses in buying our debt. Some members of Congress said that won’t happen, because they are in debt as well with their own people and not taking care of them properly with the proper building codes and to live and work in safe buildings.

This goes back and forth for another five minutes. Then it switches to a scene in front of Congress, outside the building. The reporter states there is a call to subpoena the people before a grand jury in Congress. They want answers to their questions on where their money went.

I get a phone call ring on the night stand next to me. I pick it up.

“Hello, Richard. This is Mr. Bryson. Have you been watching the news lately?”

“I’m watching it right now. They want to subpoena the people who averted this potential disaster.”

“I just got a call from the FBI, CIA and Interpol. They are behind us all the way. They are trying their best to keep your identity a secret. An outside group narrowed it down that it came from the Jacksonville area and leaked it to the press.”

“Do you know who this group is?”

“The only word I heard is the number eleven.”

“Oh crap . . . ”

“Does your response mean you know who they are?”

“I do, Mr. Bryson. I met one of them while I was in college, it was just after my second trip to that special place we know. They are a very clandestine group located in New York City. They like to use other groups, armies, countries and people to do their dirty work.”

“What is one of their goals?”

“To rule the world as they see fit.”

“Is there a way to keep them in check?”

“Yes sir, there is. It is I. I have stopped two or three of their plots so far. Heh, heh, heh, . . .”

“Hah, hah, hah, I love it. Thank you for telling me that. Well, I’ll let you get your rest. I hear they are operating on your wrists tomorrow morning.”

“They are sir. It is to remove two small bone pieces that are pinching my nerves there.”

“Ouch! I hear you also had your first steps today.”

“Yes I did, sir. I hope to do some more walking tomorrow as I regain my strength.”

“That’s good. Well, good night, Richard.”

“Good night, Mr. Bryson.” I put the headset back on the phone base. I turn off the TV. I use the controller to lower my upper body back down to the sleeping position. My fairies stay in butterfly mode as they go to sleep as well around me.

We have a restful night of sleep. We get dreams of comfort and rest from the Creator himself.

The Rescue Mission
Chapter 10
Written by rachel76m
Edited by Don Kaufman

7 AM, Thursday morning at Jacksonville Memorial, I wake up hearing a beeping noise. “Beep . . . beep . . . beep . . .” I notice it is the phone base flashing a light.

I whisper quietly, “Unnnh . . . they must have it from the nurses’ station.”

My fairies slowly wake up as well. Tigress whispers to me, “I wish we can change to our normal selves now, father.”

I whisper back, “I hear you on that, Tigress. It will have to wait for another week at least until we are in Charleston.”

“We can wait until then, mother.”

“I will be leaving in an hour for the operation. Please fly to the potted flowers to get your morning meal. You’ll need to stay in this room until I’m back.”

“Yes, mother.”

The butterflies flutter from my bed to the potted flowers. Five minutes later, the nurses show up.

“You’ll get to eat your breakfast when you get back Richard. Right now you can have this cup of apple juice.”

“Yes, ma’am.” I take the cup of apple juice from the nurse. I drink it through the straw in about ten minutes. “Thank you. That helps some. What is for breakfast?”

“It will be cold cereal and milk. What is your choice for cereal?”

“Corn flakes will do, ma’am.”

“That’s fine, Richard.”

Then the door opens again. The male nurses come in with a gurney. They transfer the intravenous bags to the portable stand attached to the gurney. Then they carefully pick me up and transfer me to the gurney. I relax as much as possible as they wheel me down the hallway, to the elevators and to the second floor. I’m then wheeled into the surgery room where they are waiting for me. They put me to sleep, then in fifteen minutes they begin operating on my wrists.

With the aid of the 3D photos of the wrists they eventually find the small chip in each wrist. They use a micro-grabber as they thread their way to the chip. On the end of the grabber is a fiber optic mini-camera. The doctors are watching the progress on a nearby screen. They operate the grabber and grab the chip touching the nerve very carefully. Then the cable assembly is pulled out slowly.

They do the same thing with the other wrist as well. The total operation is done in about forty-five minutes. Then they further scope the wrists to make sure there are no more chips in the wrists. They find none. Then they close the cut and sew the hole they created with some silk thread. I’m given another drug to wake up from the surgery.

My eyes flutter as they gather around me. “Unnnh . . . How did it go, docs?”

“It went fine, Richard. You should be okay now. Just get your rest this morning and eat a light breakfast and lunch. Work on your legs again this afternoon. We’ll try the wrists tomorrow.”

“Okay, docs. Thank you.”

They wheel me back to my room on the fourth floor. I’m placed in the bed and my body is raised to about fifty degrees. The nurse comes in with a bowl of corn flakes, milk and more juice. She watches me as I try to grab the spoon to use it. I pick it up gingerly because of the surgery earlier.

“How does the wrist feel, Richard?”

“It is hard to say. It feels stiff in some ways and it’s a relief that the chip is removed.”

“That’s expected. Try to use the spoon. I’ll be here if you spill it.”

“Okay.” I put the spoon into the bowl and bring up some corn flakes and milk. I keep it level as best as possible. I open my mouth and put the spoon into it.

“I’m sure that was trying.”

I nod my head up and down while I eat and swallow it. “Yes it was, ma’am.”

I continue eating the bowl of cereal. About half way through I take a drink of apple juice as well. I get done eating and drinking the morning meal in about fifteen minutes.

“There are a toothbrush and toothpaste near the sink. Let me get them for you.”

“Yes ma’am. I can’t wait to start walking and running again.”

The nurse brings over the toothbrush and toothpaste along with a cup of water. I dip the toothbrush into the water first. Then I use my left hand to put some toothpaste onto the brush. I then proceed to brush my teeth.

“Is there any pain in the wrist, Richard?”

I pause to answer her question as I take out the toothbrush for a moment, “I feel no pain, ma’am. That’s a good sign.”

“Yes it is.”

She brings over a bowl for me to spit the paste lather into. I dip the toothbrush again and brush some more. After the second time, I rinse the toothbrush and my mouth with another cup of clean water from the nurse.

“Again, I feel no pain in the wrists, ma’am.”

“That’s good, save up your strength for this afternoon, Richard.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

The nurse puts the toothpaste and brush in a separate cup on the small table next to the bed. She leaves the bed up at fifty degrees. She takes the tray, the bowl and utensils with her. Once she leaves, my fairies return to me. They check out my wrists to see how the doctors did.

I hear them whisper to me, “They did a good job, mother. There is no heat in the wrists. We sense no pain there.”

I whisper back, “That’s good, Ruby.”

They continue to minister to me. I can feel their excitement that I will try to walk again today. They check all of my bones, to be sure they are healing properly. I lay back and relax in the bed. “I’m going to lower the bed now.” I take the controller and lower my upper body to about ten degrees. I take a morning nap and get well rested for the afternoon. Once the fairies have checked me out, they relax around me like before.

At noon time, I see the nurse and Brianna come into the room. The nurse brings in a tray of food for my lunch. My fairies flutter from around me and fly back to the potted flowers.

“Well, there is the sleepy head. Are you ready for lunch?”

“Yawwwnn . . . more than ever, Brianna. I can’t wait to get walking and running again.”

Both ladies smile at me.

“I’m sure you do, Richard.”

“So, what is for lunch today?”

The nurse puts the tray onto the table. I see applesauce, very soft peas and carrots and broiled fish. For dessert it is vanilla pudding and Jell-O mixed together.

Did you have your lunch already, Brianna?”

“It is being brought up here like last time.”

A nurse comes in with a covered plate. She hands it to Brianna. Both nurses leave the room so we can eat together. My fairies flutter around me like last time. We give our thanks to the Creator for our time together again and for the food to restore our strength. We all say ‘Thank you, Creator’ at the same time. Then they flutter back to the potted flowers to have their noon meal as well.

I talk about the wrist surgery this morning. Brianna is relieved that is taken care of properly. We also discussed what is to be expected at the Rescue Mission. A room has been set aside for me that is near the staff wing.

“So, what is security like there?”

“It is not too bad, Richard. We have several trained female guards there, and some male guards as well.”

“What about cameras and monitors?”

“I guess that is your specialty.”

“Yes it is, Brianna.” I smile at her.

She smiles back, “It is nowhere near as sophisticated as your system. I think it has been there for more than fifty years.”

“That’s not good. It will need to be upgraded quickly if I’m there.”

“What are you saying? Do you think you’ll get attacked again?”

“If you ran a country who lent money to another country and they lost your money that is owed to you and want it back, but you can’t get it back. What would you do?”

“Hmm . . . I would kidnap the person who did it and force the info from them on how to get it back.”

“That’s right, Brianna.”

“But we’ll need to get you there secretly without letting anyone know for it to work. I don’t want to see anyone getting hurt there.”

“Sigh . . . I agree Brianna. Hmm . . . if I bring in my 3D system there with the new enhancements it just might work.”

“What are you talking about, Richard?”

“I’ll tell you later when I’m there.”

“Hmm . . . I don’t think I will like this profession of yours with secrecy, security, Shaolin fighting and such.”

I smile at her, “But it will be the most fantastic journey of a life time.”

Brianna tries to smile back, “I know I’m having second guesses right now, Richard. This is all new to me right now.”

I reach out to touch her hand. “I know it is, Brianna. My first trip to that special place during Spring Break took a big step as well. It was new to me as well.”

“I guess I will need that trip as well to convince myself as well.”

“We’ll take it one step at a time.”

By this time we get done eating our lunch.

She giggles at me, “Yes you will, Richard. You’ll have to take it one step at a time.”

I smile back at her, “Hah . . . hah.”

The nurse comes in to collect our plates. We continue talking about our lives since we split apart. I can see Brianna slowly becoming more comfortable with our being together again.

When it becomes 2 PM. The male nurses come into pick me up and place me in a wheel chair. I put a potted plant onto my lap while Brianna carries the other one. We arrive in the rehab center on the fifth floor.

After we put the potted flowers on a nearby table, I’m placed in the reclined bicycle seat. My fairies flutter about whispering to me encouraging words that I can only hear. I begin to pedal my legs slowly. I find it a little easier today. I don’t grimace in pain too much this time. Then I’m picked up and put into the leg press machine. They set for the lowest weight on the rack. I easily push up the ten pounds and lower it down easily.

One of the nurses asks me a question, “What is your best weight push on this machine, Richard?”

“About four hundred pounds. However, I can only push it five times without hurting my stomach muscles too much. I would need to wear a belt around me to be safe.”

“That’s impressive. You’ll definitely need the belt for the higher weights. You need to push your own weight at least before you leave next week.”

“Yes, sir.”

They slowly increase the weight to fifty pounds for the hour. Soon, I start to feel the strength coming back to me. After reaching fifty pounds, I work on my stomach muscles by doing some stomach crunches.

Brianna smiles at me, “Let me see those six pack abs, Richard.”

I lift my shirt up to show her.

“What? Where are they?”

“I have a layer of loose skin all over the body. It helps hides my strength.”

Brianna reaches forward and touches my stomach. I then bring myself up to rest on my elbows. I then flex the ab muscles.

“There they are. Oooh . . . I like this deception. I bet the pecs, the legs and the arms are the same way.”

“Yes, they are, Brianna.” I smile at her.

She smiles back, “So, I get a stud muffin incognito. I pity anyone who comes against you the next time.”

I smile at her, “That’s the idea. Sensei Chou helped me immensely to do this deception with the Mantis technique. The attacker will realize too late what he is up against.”

“Just like what I saw on You Tube for your graduation ceremonies.”

“Yes, it is, Brianna.”

“Well, get back to your workout, Richard.”

“Yes, ma’am!”

She giggles as I continue the work out. I then work on the arms without using my hands. What that entails is attaching a strap-on weight to the forearms. I then do the circular motions in all directions. After finishing all of that. I’m wheeled over to the parallel bars to stand up and walk again.

The male nurses pick me up carefully, I place my forearms on the parallel bars, my legs are flexed underneath me. “All right, here we go. Pant . . . pant . . . ”

I slowly straighten out my legs a lot easier this time. “Whew . . . that is not too bad this time.”

“How do the legs feel, Richard?”

“The bicycling and the leg presses helped a lot. There is very little pain this time. I think the ligaments are being stretched. I think they are still a little tight.”

“That’s expected, Richard. Have you ever split your legs?”

I look at Brianna while I answer the male nurse’s question. I smile at her, “Yes I have, sir. It is part of my training in the Shaolin sashes.”

She smiles back.

“That’s good, Richard. This means you should be able to walk this room with no problems soon. Try to walk the length of these parallel bars.”

My fairies are fluttering around me. They feel the excitement that I will be able to walk this distance. One of the nurses put the wheel chair down at the other end for me to get my rest.

I slowly lift my left foot and move it forward. Then I do the same with the right foot. “Whew, that is not too bad.” I then repeat the sequence again and again. When I get to the end, I turn around sit in the chair. I breathe a lot less harder than yesterday.

“You did it! Congratulations, Richard!”

Brianna bends down and gives me another kiss on the lips. I lick my lips, “Mmm . . . strawberry. Tasty lips you have there, Brianna.”

Everyone laughs, giggles and chuckles when they hear my response.

“I’ve got many more of those flavors for you to taste test.”

“I can’t wait until you kiss me again and again.”

She giggles again. “That will have to wait until later. I need to get back to the apartment complex to close it out. I’ll meet you in Charleston on Sunday at the hotel in a week.”

“Yes, my fair lady in waiting.”

She giggles at me again. She picks up a potted flower plant and I take the other. My butterflies fly into the flowers to get their rest. I’m wheeled back to my room. The flower pots are put on the table with the others. I slowly get up from the wheel chair with the male nurses’ help. I turn around and sit on the edge of the bed. Then they reposition me on the bed with the covers on top of me.

Brianna comes up to me again. She takes my hand as she looks at me. “I’ve been thinking about us a lot now, Richard.”

“I kind of figured you would be, Brianna.”

“I look at you and see you are very determined to do what is right. I commend you for that. I see myself as well doing the same thing. I want to help others very much to get past their pain and move on with life and live it to the fullest. And yet, I haven’t, when I see you lying there. It is like we are playing this same scene when you protected me the first time.”

“But what is that inner-voice telling you?”

“The Creator is telling me I should trust you. You will get stronger and stronger. We are to work together to help where we can with our abilities and gifts given to us.”

“Did he tell you anything about me getting into fights or wars?”

“They are inevitable. However, he tells me you are one of his important keys to help protect Earth. Sigh . . .”

“What does that ‘sigh’ mean, Brianna?”

“It means I will be there as well to help you. Right now I just don’t see it happening like you have seen it.”

“We’ll take it day by day, Brianna. That is all we can do right now.”

“I know, Richard. Well, I need to get going before it is too late. I’ll call you at least once a day until we are together again.”

I reach with my other hand as we hold both of our hands together. “I look forward to those calls, Brianna. Your voice will lift my spirit up each time when I hear it.”

“Your voice will do the same for me as well.” Brianna then bends down and gives a lengthy kiss on the lips. We both come up for air and do it again. When she gets done, she looks at me and giggles.

“Now your lips are like mine.”

“Yes, I will lick the strawberry until the lips are clean.”

“You silly boy.”

“I’m silly about you, you crazy girl.”

“Yes, I’m crazy about you.” Brianna turns around walks to the plants. She whispers to the butterflies. “You take care of him. I hope to see you all in about nine days.”

Tiger whispers back, “You take care as well, Brianna. We’ll see you then.”

Brianna stands back up and puts her purse strap on her shoulders. She turns to face me one more time. She gives me a kiss into her hand then blows it toward me.

I feign with my left hand to touch my left cheek, as if the flying kiss hit my left cheek. “Oooh . . . you have a good aim, Brianna.” I smile at her.

She giggles and smiles as she turns around and leaves the room. My fairies flutter to me and land around me like before. I lick my lips carefully to remember her presence.

Bianca whispers to me, “She has a nice perfume on her, mother. We can also smell the strawberry scent on your lips as well.”

I whisper back to her, “That’s the idea, Bianca. She wants me to remember her. Let’s get our rest after that workout.”

“Yes, mother.”

I lower the bed down to about ten degrees. I slow my breathing down and get a nice nap until dinner time. My fairies do the same thing as well in their butterfly mode. The nurse opens the door to wake me up at 4:30. My fairies flutter back to the potted flowers as before.

“You did better in the rehab room, Richard. That is very good. You are progressing faster than most people who have injuries similar to yours. I understand you will be eating alone tonight. Brianna has left to return back to the Rescue Mission.”

“Yes she did, nurse. She has to get back to work now and get ready for my arrival. Nurse, I need to make a call to our Charleston office. Can I get the charges transferred to our office here in Jacksonville?”

“Why don’t you call the Jacksonville office first. Push number nine for an outside line first.”

“Yes, ma’am.” I pick up the phone and punch the numbers for the Jacksonville office. “Ring . . . ring . . . ring . . .”

“Click . . . Good afternoon. This is Secure-Sys. How can I direct your call?”

“Hello Cheryl, it’s Richard.”

“Hello, Richard. How are you doing?”

“I’m still a little stiff right now. I finally walked the distance of the parallel bars today.”

“That’s great, Richard. Whom would you like to speak to?”

“I need to contact our SC branch.”

“That is no problem, Richard. I can do that connection for you here. Do you want to let Mr. Bryson know as well?”

“Yes, go and tell him that I’m calling the SC branch. He’ll need to know eventually what I want to ask them. Thank you, Cheryl.”

“You’re welcome, Richard.”

Cheryl puts me on hold and pushes a series of buttons. Soon, I’m connected to the Charleston office. “Ring . . . ring . . . ring . . .”

“Click . . . This is Secure-Sys in Charleston, SC. How can I direct your call?”

“Hello, Sarah. This is Richard Moore.”

“Hello Richard. I’m sorry to hear how you ended up in the hospital. We do want to thank you for saving our money.”

“Your welcome, Sarah. I need to get hold of sales right away.”

“That’s no problem, Richard.”

Sarah puts me on hold.

“Click . . . Hello Richard. This is Bob Watson. What can we do for you?”

“I’m going to be transferred to the Rescue Mission to be with Brianna for the next month, Bob. She tells me their video equipment is fifty years old. It will need a serious upgrade if I’m out there recuperating.”

“I agree, Richard. Where do you want the cameras and holo-transmitters located?”

“I need a web of them on as many trees as possible around the complex. Besides the usual locations inside the main building.”

“That’s a lot, Richard. I have seen the property once before. I know what they have. Are you expecting some sort of retaliation hit on you?”

“You’re very perceptive, I have an idea to test my new enhancement to the 3D Server. Let’s just say that the holograms will hit you back.”

“Oooh . . . I like the sound of that idea, Richard. I can see several new applications already for it. Let me get an engineer in conference with this call, Richard.”

“I’m sure you do, Bob. Get Randy. He’ll be the right one for this application.”

“I’ll get Randy on now.”

“Click . . . click . . .”

“Hello, Richard. Bob tells me you have something new for the 3D server.”

“I do, Randy. I have been working on an idea to make the holograms more solid.”

“I like that idea already. What do you want me to do?”

“To do this, I will need to do a remote transfer of my new subroutine to you. It is at my apartment here in J-ville. You know where to put the subroutine and folders on the server. To make it work I will need some head bands that have a wireless connection to the server.”

“Is the head gear special?”

“No it isn’t, Randy. The band is just a holder for the sensors. They are the same ones for the finger tips. I found out they can pick up brainwave patterns as well. The subroutine I wrote takes those brainwave patterns and makes an object. There is another set of subroutines that makes them solid.”

“That sounds great, Richard. When do you need this set up?”

“I will be at the Rescue Mission a week from tomorrow.”

“I see, so we have a week to get this set up out there. It can be done. Send your subroutine to my desk top right now, Richard.”

“Okay, Randy. We’ll communicate via the internet. I’m hanging up the phone now.”

“Okay, Richard.”

“Click . . . click.”

“Computer, access my 3D server in my apartment here in Jacksonville.”

“Recognize Richard Moore’s voice pattern. Accessing home 3D server in Richard Moore’s apartment. . . . Have access to home 3D Server.”

“Computer, make a copy of the new software subroutine under folder “Solid-Holo”. Establish air-link to Randy Grantham in Secure-Sys, Charleston, SC office.”

“Copied “Solid-Holo” folder. Accessing Randy Grantham’s PC at Secure-Sys, Charleston, SC office. . . . established air-link to PC.”

“Transfer copy of folder to Randy’s PC. Locate it at his root directory.”

“Transferred copy of folder to root directory of Randy’s PC.”

“Establish air-link to Randy’s computer for video conference.”

“Establishing video air-link with Randy’s computer. Able to pass through all gates to directories with Richard’s voice authorization.”

~~~000~~~

Then my face appears in 3D in front of Randy’s monitor.

“Hello, Richard. You look better than I expected.”

“What can I say. I’m a fast healer. You’ll find the folder “Solid-Holo” at your root directory. Open it and read the text file there. It has the instructions on how to do this. It is like any other install EXE file that is out there. If you’re unsure of the install, use the ‘uninstall EXE’ to undo it and start over.”

“Are there any pictures on how to construct the wireless head band?”

“There’s another subfolder under it named “Headband”. You’ll find it there. I suggest you test it out in a safe area and not in your office there. When I first did it, my thoughts became very real and broke a real chair. I was trying to create a solid chair from the hologram.”

“Thanks for the warning, Richard. We don’t want to let our dark thoughts become tangible and cause problems.”

“This is just the beginning phase, Randy. I have yet to finalize this enhancement feature. It still needs a few tweaks to the subroutine to make it safer so those dark thoughts never come out.”

“Why do you want it done so quickly and untested?”

“I have a sneaky suspicion someone will try to kidnap me for what I did to the New Dawn virus.”

“I get it now. I’ll get busy on it right away. When we set it up out there, it will be for a normal install. Then you can train your mind to make it work better. We’ll probably have to come up with a tutorial program so the new user knows what to do and avoid the pitfalls of someone getting hurt while learning how to use it.”

“You can start on that tutorial outline as you work on it. Once I’m up and about, I will be there to oversee the expansion of the 3D server to large scale.”

“I remember that request now from the security agencies. Besides, you are still a hot item until this goes to court.”

“I just saw the news that someone leaked where the anti-virus came from.”

“I saw that on the news the other day. This is not over by any means, Richard.”

“No it’s not, Randy. All right, I’ll let you go now. Give me a video call via the internet if you need some questions answered. Anna and Dr. Mitchell were nice enough to put a 3D System here in my room.”

“That was nice of them to do that. Talk to you later, Richard.”

The video conference with Randy ends.

~~~000~~~

Then I see the image from Mr. Bryson in my room.

“Hello, Mr. Bryson.”

“Hello, Richard. I heard your conversations with our Charleston office. Even you were to get it to work, we’ll still need a professional presence there. I contacted the Charleston Police Department on the situation. They agreed to have two units out there along with some FBI units. They are airlifting two portable shelters for them that will house the officers.”

“I just hope no one comes after me, Mr. Bryson. But you know how it is in listening to the Creator.”

“I heard him too, Richard. How many will come and when? I don’t know, but we must be prepared. Train as many as you can there and keep them in their rooms. There is a sizeable, well-built storm shelter on the grounds there. That would be the best place for them.”

“I understand, sir. I’ll do my best to train them. If they intend to overwhelm us with numbers, I might have to use my memories from that special place.”

“How many do you remember from that place?”

“I know of about a thousand individuals I met there personally.”

“Use them if it is the last resort, Richard.”

“I will, Mr. Bryson.”

“Have a good night, Richard. It will be great to see you back to your normal self.”

“Yes, it will, Mr. Bryson. Good night.”

The image disappears in the room.

I look up at the ceiling and give a breath, “sigh . . .”

Cobalt whispers to me, “What’s on your mind, Richard?”

I whisper back to him, “Usually, the Creator gives me a warning of something is about to happen. Then sometimes it is my own intuition if something bad will happen.”

“Which one is it this time?”

“It is my own intuition. I guess it comes from experience with the people I have met so far.”

“It’s possible, Richard. When we are in the balcony garden, I hear people arguing, kids playing, I see parents hugging each other and many other interactions going on. It is the same back on Twainor. When we hover up close in front of their faces, we can determine what their attitudes are. Each attitude emits a different pheromone that we can sense. It is the same pheromone on both worlds. Your horse sense is doing the same thing. You are starting to become more aware of your surroundings.”

“So, that’s what is going on.”

The door opens to my room. Cobalt and the fairies fly back to their potter flowers. The nurse brings in a tray of food for my dinner, then she leaves the room. I eat my dinner quietly while my fairies have theirs in the potted plants. When I get done, I turn on the TV to see the latest news.

The reporters are getting opinions from around the world. Some are saying they are glad the international debt is gone. Some are saying they don’t like the idea of starting over.

The rest of the news focuses on the current events here in the USA. Once the half-hour is over, I turn off the TV. I get comfortable as I lower the bed down to get some sleep. I mutter to myself as my fairies gather around me. “I can’t wait to get moving again.”

“We know, father. But we are glad you are healing very fast.”

I give a smile before I whisper to them again. “That’s true, thank you very much for looking out for me. Well, let’s get our sleep tonight. I will be working on the wrist movements tomorrow.”

I soon fall asleep with a little humming melody from my fairies. Soon they fall asleep as well. We all have nice dreams while we slept.

The Rescue Mission
Chapter 11
Written by rachel76m
Edited by Don Kaufman

We wake up in the morning at 7 AM like the last time with the phone alarm going off. My fairies flutter to the flower potted plants to get their morning meal. The nurse comes in to make sure I’m awake.

“Well, let’s see how you do in getting your own shower now, Richard.”

“Thank you very much, ma’am. These sponge baths in the bed are getting a bit old on me.”

She smiles at me, “That might be true, but let’s see how you do without slipping and falling down.”

“Yes, ma’am.” I take the covers off and sit on the edge of the bed. I slowly stand erect from that position. The nurse takes my hand to keep my balance. She escorts me to the bathroom safely. Once I’m inside, the door closes behind me.

“Yell out if you need any help. We’ll be changing your bed covers while you’re in there.”

“Yes, ma’am!” I take off my patient gown and hang it on a clothing hook on the door. I look at myself in the mirror. I still see some black and blue spots under my skin on my arms and legs. I touch one lightly with my finger tips. I smile, when I feel no pain there. “Eventually the blood pooling will disappear on its own. Thank you, my fairies.”

I bend down slowly to reach for the knobs. I turn it onto my usual hot temperature. Once I step inside and behind the curtain, I get myself all lathered up with the wash towel, soap and shampoo provided. I get done in about ten minutes. I turn off the water and step out to dry off. I smile, when I see the steamy bathroom. I’m quite sure my fairies are using the water sparingly along with the nectar to freshen up. I know they will need a good bath once they are in fairy mode. I use the towel to dry myself off. Then I put the patient gown on again.

I step out of the bathroom and get greeted by a nurse. “Here is a comb for your hair.”

“Thank you, ma’am.” I take the comb and comb my hair in the mirror that is mounted on the door. I then walk carefully back to the bed. I see the sheets have been replaced and the bed is up at fifty degrees. I sit on the edge of the bed and then I get myself situated under the covers with the nurses help.

Then Dr. Thornton and Dr. Mitchell walk into the room. “Well, you have healed faster than most people with your injuries, Richard. But considering who you are now, we are not surprised.”

“When will I be released and who will drive me to Charleston?”

“It will be Anna Thompson, your attorney. This week will be critical to see how you progress in your healing. You need to walk about fairly well. We need to make sure your strength is returning to you, especially in your wrists.”

“Yes, sir.”

“You will have two work outs a day now, for the next three days.”

I smile, “Yes, getting into a flow and sweating it out. If I get limber enough by then, can I add some of my own moves from my Shaolin sashes?”

“Are they slow?”

“Yes, it is tai-chi. The moves will help me to stay focused and balanced as I go through the moves.”

“That’s fine, Richard. We are familiar with the techniques here at this hospital.”

I smile again, “Thank you, sir.”

The doctors leave, then another nurse comes in with a tray of food. I see they have brought in scrambled eggs, grits, toast, jelly and orange juice. I also see some salt and pepper packets as well.

“We figured you are ready for a typical morning meal.”

“Yes, ma’am. That is greatly appreciated.”

The nurse leaves the room. My fairies flutter to me and sit around me like before. I give the morning thanks to the Creator. We all respond together quietly, “Thank you, Creator.”

I whisper to them while I eat my breakfast. “Are you getting yourselves clean as best you can?”

“We are, mother. We miss using those flowered scented soaps very much. We have to use the nectar from the flowers to freshen up. We do need a refill in our bag and water bottle.”

“I think Anna will be here today, Bianca. I’ll be sure to tell her when she shows up.”

“That’s good, mother.”

They flutter back to the flowers to get their morning meal. Once I get finished eating my breakfast, Anna and a nurse come into the room.”

“Good morning, Richard. I hear you to get to work out two times a day for the next three days.”

“That’s right, Anna. I’m really looking forward to it. Before I forget Anna, the butterflies here need a refill on their food.”

“Thank you for reminding me, Richard. I’ll get it done by the time you finish your morning work out by 11 AM.”

“I would greatly appreciate that. Is there anything new for me to worry about?”

“Not at this time, Richard. Mr. Bryson informed me of your plans for next week. We hope it doesn’t happen.”

“I hope it doesn’t either, Anna. But it very well could happen where ever I go to recover.”

“That’s true, Richard. Well, I need to get back to your apartment. I’ll be back by 11 AM.”

“See you then, Anna.”

Anna Dawson leaves the room. A wheel chair is brought in. I get up from the bed slowly and sit in the wheel chair. The two potted flowers are put on my laps. I hold them steady while I’m wheeled to the rehab room. Once we are there, the potted flowers are placed on a nearby table. The butterflies flutter about me while I do some movements with the hands and wrists. I slowly move the hands in all directions. Then a large piece of foam is placed in front of me. I slowly press into it while a male nurse keeps it still.

“How do your wrists feel, Richard?”

“They feel fine, sir. I’m getting no pain in the wrists.”

“That’s great, Richard. Let’s do some more bicycling.”

“Yes, sir.” I wheel myself over to the reclined bicycle machine. I get up slowly. The male nurses help me stay balanced as I sit down in the chair. I put my feet onto the pedals and spin it slowly. I keep it up for the next five minutes. Then I get out of the seat and get back into the wheel chair. I push myself over to the leg press machine. I get in and place my feet onto the stationary foot pedals.

The male nurses set the weight for thirty pounds. I push it up slowly until I’m sure of myself. Once I reach the top, I let it down slowly. Then the weight is increased to fifty pounds. I push that up and down slowly as well.

“Lift that weight five times, Richard.”

“Yes, sir.” I push the weight up and down five times with no problems.

“You’re doing great, Richard. Let’s go for eighty pounds.”

“Yes, sir.”

The male nurse sets the pin for eighty pounds. I push through the weight. This time I feel a slight strain on the ligaments. The male nurse sees it in my face.
“Keep at it, Richard. Do it five times.”

“Yes, sir.” I push the weight five times in a row. I let the weight down very easy without slamming it. “Pant . . . pant . . . it’s getting there.”

“Yes it is, Richard. Let’s work on your arms and try for some walking.”

“Yes, sir.”

I wheel myself to the arm machine and free weights. I am handed a five-pound dumbbell in both hands.

“How do they feel in the wrists, Richard?”

“Again, it is in the ligaments. I’m not getting that sharp pain that I had when I had the bone pieces there.”

“That’s good, do some wrist curls.”

“Yes, sir.” I do five wrist curls with each hand. Once I’m done with that, I wheel myself over to the parallel bars. I lock the wheels and grab the parallel bars. I bring myself up slowly until I’m steady between the bars. There is a male nurse on either side of me. I walk forward slowly until I get to the end. My fairies are fluttering around me and whispering to me encouraging words.

“That’s great, Richard. Turn around without touching the bars and return to the chair.”

“Yes, sir.”

I turn around carefully, making sure of my balance as I do it. I then step forward to go back where I started. Once I get to the end of the bars I sit down in the wheel chair. My fairies are elated that I’m able to walk so far. They return to the flowers get their rest.

“That’s very good, Richard. Well, your hour is up. Get your rest and have a good lunch. We’ll do some more this afternoon.”

“Yes, sir.” I unlock the wheel chair and push myself to the table where the two flower pots are. I grab them and put them on my lap. I hold them steady while a male nurse pushes me back to my room. When I get inside the room, I put the flower pots on the table. Then I get out of the wheel chair and walk toward the bed. I sit on the edge and get under the covers. A nurse takes my blood pressure and pulse and records them on the clip board she is holding.

“Well, I see a very steady trend, Richard. You’re in excellent health.”

“Thank you, ma’am.”

Then Anna shows up with a paper bag in her hand. Her purse is on her other shoulder. “Hello, Richard. How did you do?”

“I did more today than yesterday.”

“That’s good.” Anna steps over to the flower pots. The butterflies flutter from the flowers and land around me. Then Anna, proceeds to change the water bottle and the fruit bag inside the flower pots. She puts the used ones into another small bag and puts it on the table next to the flower pots. She turns to me. “Again there is no news yet of people looking for you, Richard.”

“I think it is just the calm before the storm, Anna.”

“You might be right. I got word from the Mission. They aren’t happy with the extra security moving in for you. The women who are still afraid, refuse to come out of their rooms. They are the ones who don’t want you there. How will you be able to prove to them that you can protect them and yourself?”

“I will have to take a walk around the property to see how it is laid out. Perhaps there are some bungalow rooms that are very far from the main complex.”

“I think there are, Richard. I will call them when I get done here.”

“That’s fine, Anna. Sigh . . . I think this problem will not get solved until it happens. It will follow me until I stand up to them.”

Anna steps closer to me and puts her hand onto my shoulder as she smiles. “You’ll do fine, Richard. The Creator told me it will work out and no one will get hurt at all, except for the ones who are coming after you.”

I look at her with a smile. “If he told you that, then I believe it will happen.”

“Well, I need to get going. It is still in the early stages of prosecution. It has been moved to DC for the court case. It will be an international case; that is for sure.”

I smile at her, “Then let’s make our reservations for a nice balcony hotel with a view to an inside court and garden.”

Anna smiles back, “I sure will, Richard. I’ll see you Thursday to sign the papers for your release that morning.”

“See you then, Anna.”

Anna bends down to give me a hug on the shoulders. She straightens back up and leaves the room.

A nurse comes in with a tray for my noon lunch. This time it is a little more substantial than just broth soup. It is a half-tuna sandwich, vegetable soup, and watermelon without the seeds. The nurses leave my room, my fairies flutter to me and sit around me.

“Thank you, Creator, for your wonderful blessings. Soon, I will be back to normal. Please be with everyone at the Rescue Mission. Comfort them and keep them safe while I’m there and when I leave. Thank you for this food that you have provided for me. Thank you, Creator.”

My fairies flutter back to the flowers for their noon meal. I turn on the TV while I eat my lunch. All that is on now, is the local news. There is only one report of the international bank scare that happened. “Apparently they are trying to keep it low key for now.”

I finish eating my lunch in about half hour. I turn off the TV when I finished eating. The nurse comes to remove my tray. She lowers the bed back down to ten degrees for my after lunch nap. My fairies flutter to me to have their rest as well. We sleep for an hour and a half until 2 PM for the afternoon workout.

~~~000~~~

In a country half around the world on an army base, men are plotting what to do next to regain their lost money. It is 11 PM there.

“We must get our money back that is owed to us.”

“I know, Captain Borhgess. We’ll get it back. But first we must find the person who did this. We have to use stealth to steal him away. Then we can force him to return our country’s money.”

“If we don’t get it back, Sebastian, we won’t get paid. We’ll be back on the streets again looking for work.”

“You don’t have to tell me twice. I know what is at stake.”

Then the door opens to their headquarters room. A single man stands there. The others in the room turn around quickly and point their guns at him.

“Who are you? How did you get in here past our guards?”

“It was no problem for me, if you know stealth like I do. Besides, I have the information you need to find this computer hacker.”

“What will it cost us?”

“It will cost you nothing, sir. I assure you of that.”

“In our line of work, you don’t get anything for free.”

“That might be true. Actually my payment will come from your country’s vice president.”

He smirks, “Good luck on collecting that. We have orders to find the computer hacker and bring him here. Then we break him down and force him to fix our computers at our banks.”

“How many are you planning to send?”

“We were thinking of an elite night force of twenty men.”

“There are other countries who want him as well. But I know where he will be in seclusion. It is on an island off the American coast.”

The men smile, “Then it will be an easy heist to get him and bring him out.”

“It might be best, you work together with two or more countries.”

“We know four of our neighbors who will work with us. It will be no problem to share him. After that, we’ll feed him to the carrion birds.”

“You do realize, there will be a force there, to protect him.”

“Those American forces are simple for us. They have gotten weak with their last five liberal presidents. We’ll get past them. If we have to, we’ll kill everyone on the island. There will be no witnesses. There will be no reprisals from the Americans.”

“So, which island is this computer hacker on, old man?”

“He’s on an island that has an old resort on it in South Carolina. It is now called the Rescue Mission. It houses women and children who have been abused.”

“Ooooh . . . women. Do you hear that men? We get to have some recreational pleasure while we’re there.”

The men give an evil laugh. “Hah, hah, hah, . . .”

“Yeah, we’ll console them all right.”

“Don’t be so over confident. He is a martial artist.”

“Hah! That’s nothing against bullets and bombs, old man.”

“But if you kill him, you won’t get your money back.”

“Grrr . . We get the point old man. We won’t kill him ... yet.”

“Well, I must be going. Good luck in finding him and getting him out in one piece.”

“This will be an easy heist for us. Thanks for the tip, old man.”

The elderly gentleman turns around and leaves the building. Once he leaves the building, he walks to a dark corner between two buildings. “Heh, heh, let’s see you get out of this one, Omega Unicorn. Hah, hah, hah!!!” He recites some words and disappears in a blink of an eye.

~~~000~~~

I wake up about ten minutes till 2 PM. My fairies flutter back to the flower pots. A male nurse comes in with a wheel chair. I get out of bed and sit in the wheel chair. I push myself to the small table to retrieve the two flower pots and set them on my lap.

The male nurse pushes me down the hallways and the elevators. We arrive on the floor with the rehab room. I put the potted flowers on the table. I then proceed to work out more this afternoon. My fairies flutter around me to whisper words of encouragement to me. I push myself harder this afternoon to exceed my efforts from this morning.

I am able to push one hundred and twenty pounds with the leg machine. On the biceps curl machine, I easily get up to forty pounds. I walk around the room, unassisted, two times around. In the reclined bicycle, I pedal for fifteen minutes this time. By this time I start to feel the glow of sweat on me. I stand there to calm down.

“You’re doing great, Richard. Are you thinking of doing some Tai-chi?”

“I am, sir.”

“Then go ahead and do it. We’ll be here to catch you if you lose your balance.”

“Thanks.”

I slowly move my arms, legs in a graceful pattern. Sometimes I’m standing on one leg momentarily. I waver a bit, then I bring the other foot down to regain my balance. I push and draw my hands outward and inward in multiple sweeping motions. I then lift my left leg again to see if I can stand on one foot. This time I’m more sure of my balance. While I’m doing this, I’m slowly breathing in and out slowly at the precise moment needed to do a block or to hit someone.

After fifteen minutes of Tai-chi, I come to a standing stop. I breathe in and out slowly as I look around. By this time, my fairies flutter back to the flower pots to get their rest.

“That was great, Richard.”

“Thank you, sir.”

“What rank are you up to?”

“I have the Shaolin brown sash with the three degrees. I’m planning to earn the black sashes eventually.”

“That’s amazing. Well, let’s head back to your room. You need to rest up and do this two more times.”

“Yes, sir.” I walk over to the wheel chair and sit in it. I push myself over to the table to retrieve the two potted flowers. I put them on my lap and keep them steady while I get pushed back to my room.

This routine gets repeated Tuesday and Wednesday. Each day, I get stronger and stronger. By that time, I am able to push 250 pounds on the leg press machine, ten times. That is their maximum weight on the machine. With the biceps curl machine, I am able to curl sixty pounds, ten times. There is no need to do more than that right now. I do a bunch of stomach crunches and push ups. For the push ups on the floor, I use my hand mainly. I did do ten knuckle push ups. I don’t feel any pain in the wrists at all.

On the pull down bar, I only bring it down one hundred pounds. That is their maximum weight. I must be able to pull down 200 pounds, this must be done so that I can pull myself up easily with my armor on.

On the bicycle machine, I am able to pedal thirty minutes without sweating. That needs to get up to an hour so I can start jogging without breaking a sweat. On Wednesday, I am taken down to X-ray to do another set of CAT scans and X-rays. The doctors look at the results and see the fantastic results that my bones have been healed.

They also see the two life forms in my womb. They told me that because of the resolution of the equipment, their wings appear invisible. So they appear as two normal children. However, I didn’t tell them that I had Croin conceal their wings before they took the images.

When I get in my room, I put the flower pots onto the table. I whisper to them. “I need a shower.”

“Yes you do, father.” I hear some fairy giggling after Lavan said that.

I whisper back, “Silly fairies.”

I hear some more fairies giggling as I get up from my wheel chair and walk into the bathroom for my last hot shower in the hospital.

When I get out of the bathroom, I get a nice dinner for my last evening meal at the hospital. It is roasted chicken, vegetables and a fruit dish with cut up fruit pieces from five different fruits.

When I get done with dinner, the nurse comes in to pick up the food tray. Once she leaves, my phone rings next to the bed. I pick it up.

“Hello?”

“Is that you, Richard?”

“Yes, it is. Is that you, Brianna?”

“Yes, my love.”

“You haven’t called all week long.”

“I know. It’s the feds, here. They are monitoring all calls in and out. Are you going to be released Thursday?”

“Anna will be here tomorrow, to sign me out. I will be leaving soon there after.”

“You should arrive here by 4 PM. You’ll be briefed on what is happening. I miss you very much.”

“I miss you very much as well, Brianna.”

Then the phone call ends with a ‘click’. I put the phone back onto the base.

“Well, it has begun.”

My fairies flutter to me and sit around me like before. We whisper to each other.

“It will work out father.”

“I know it will, Tiger. We might have to enlist the local wildlife and my memories to keep everyone safe.”

“We’ll probably will, father.”

“We’ll be in the main building. We’ll be needed there to keep them calm.”

“Please do that, my fairies. You’ll be safer there. You must be in butterfly mode to do that.”

“We know how to keep the children amused, mother. We’ve played with some around our apartment yards before.”

“That’s right, you do know what to do with children, Ruby. It will help them think about butterflies and not the noise outside the building.”

I don’t watch the news at all. I get myself comfortable under the bedclothes. I lower myself down flat. My butterflies stay around me as I fall asleep for my last night in the hospital. I get a nice peaceful rest during the night. The only thing that disturbs me is that I hear the number’s one, two, five and one hundred from the Creator.

The Rescue Mission
Chapter 12
Written by rachel76m
Edited by Don Kaufman

We wake up in the morning at 7 AM like the last few days. My fairies flutter back to the flower pots. A nurse comes in to bring in my last meal at the hospital. This time it is cereal, fruit juice, bagel, cream cheese and grape jelly.

The nurse brings me up to fifty degrees to eat. She places it on the roll stand and brings it to me.

“Good morning, Richard. I bet you are excited that you are finally leaving our little Shangri-la here.”

“Well, it is a nice place to recover. I bet, I rang up a bill that pales in comparison to the best resorts in town.”

She smiles back, “That’s true. But at least we have full time doctors here to over see you.”

“With the best equipment in town.”

“With the best equipment in town. Enjoy your breakfast, Richard.” She turns around and leaves the room.

My fairies flutter to me and settle around my head and pillow. I give the morning thanks to the Creator. When I get done, we whisper together, “Thank you, Creator.” They flutter back to the flower pots to get their morning meal.

By the time I finished eating, Anna and a nurse appear in the room.

She smiles at me, “Are you ready to face a brand new world, Richard?”

I smile back, “I sure am, Anna. It is time to conquer another problem.”

“I brought some clothes for you to change into.”

“Thank you, Anna. What about my metal corset that I came in wearing?”

“It is in my car, right now, Richard.”

“Good.” I take the clothes and walk into the bathroom. I change into my usual clothes and put the tennis shoes on. I step out of the room and sit in the wheel chair that a male nurse has brought in. Anna hands me the flower pots and the bag so I can set them on my lap.

The male nurse wheels me down the hallway. I get a nice applause from some of the nurses at their station. I wave back to them as I’m wheeled to the elevator. We go down to the first floor to get signed out. Once Anna and I sign the documents, we are released from the hospital.

Dr. Thornton and Dr. Mitchell are there waiting for us in the lobby.

“I’ll check into the Charleston Hospital this Monday, Richard. I want to do a follow up on you.”

“Stay there until the threat is gone, Sarah.”

“I will, Richard. Once you are checked out again, I will be back in my office in Charlottesville.”

“You’re an amazing man, Richard. I will definitely pay more attention to my patients now. You have given me a new out look on life. I greatly appreciate that, especially seeing the new lives within you.”

We both shake hands as we smile.

“It has been my pleasure, Dr. Thornton. Share the handshake with others who are skeptical about life in general. You will help change the world to what the Creator intends it to be.”

“I will certainly do that, Richard.”

I carry both flower pots and the bag out of the hospital. We walk to Anna’s car. She unlocks the front doors. I see my metal corset in the back seat. Anna opens a rear door. I put the flower pots on the car floor. I then sit down in the passenger front seat and Anna sits in the driver seat. We close the doors.

“Richard, we need to get to your apartment. You will need to drive your car to Charleston as you follow me there. Get packed up for a month. I’ll be there as well.” Anna drives back to my apartment.

“Yes, Anna. Is there something on your mind?”

“Yes, Richard. It is the forces on the Island. The Creator told me they are not trained for this type of protection.”

“Who is on the Island?”

“Second year FBI and Second Year local police.”

“That is too young to be involved in this. The Creator gave me several numbers last night.”

“What are the numbers, Richard?”

“The numbers are one, two, five and one hundred.”

“That sounds like one hundred men, five countries, two ships and one submarine.”

“Yes, and they are after me to restore their money. The sad part is that the international debt is based on worthless printed paper. It has no value at all. They are given promises that the debt will be paid off. But, we know that isn’t going to happen.”

“We couldn’t pay it off then, we can’t pay it off now. You did the right thing in eliminating it. It will force the world to start over from scratch. Which economy model will do for the world, Richard?”

“I think the one from Israel will do nicely.”

Anna smiles, “Every fifty years? Yes it would, Richard. We’ll here we are, back at your apartment. I will tell management here what is going on while you pack up. I will be up shortly.”

“Okay. I will take these pots with us, my fairies. Also the regular things when we do our trip to Charleston.”

“Thank you, father. Can we get a proper bath while you pack up?”

“Yes, my fairies.”

“Thank you, mother.”

The fairies flutter out and fly to the garden balcony. They quickly tell Traphel and the others what is happening. They unlock and open the front door for me and Anna to get in.

“Take your shower in the kitchen sink, my fairies. That way, I’ll be in my room and you’ll be out of the way.”

“Yes, father.”

I first put in the wooden bench in the sink. It sits to one side of the drain. I then put in the small cutting board to cover the drain. I put several different pieces of floral soap on the wooden bench. I then erect their curtain around it for their own privacy. Their towels are just outside the curtain. I set up my water skin with the water from the mountains next to the sink. I put on a cap with a hose attached to it. On the end of the hose is a nozzle that will emit six streams like a fine mist. It has a turn handle on the side of it, to turn it off and on. It was easy to add several more holes to the ones already there. I make sure the spell I put on the water skin a year ago will refill automatically. I do this by pouring some water from it into several small drinking cups. I then see the water skin refill back up. I leave the cup there for them to use.

While I pack up what I need, the fairies have their shower. I hear them giggling and laughing while they are getting clean. Anna comes back in to help me to pack up my suitcase.

“Are you bringing a box of flowers for your fairies?”

“I am, Anna. I know which ones to bring. This time I will bring several of the small fruit bushes and one of the nut bushes.”

“That’s good, Richard. What about their clothing boxes?”

“They will be brought along with their beds. It will be in another suitcase. It is that other one in the closet.”

“I see it. I’ll get it out.”

“Let them put in their way, Anna. They are particular about it.”

“Okay, I’ll leave it open for them. Are Traphel and the other three fairies coming with you?”

“Only two of them will come with me. It will be Brushwind and Blue Lace. Traphel and his mate, Rose Lace, will stay behind to watch the place. I will be leaving my spare cell phone on my dresser top, plugged into the wall. Traphel knows it is for emergencies only.”

“Okay, how are we doing, Richard?”

“My clothes are put in. Now for the toiletry items.”

“Which corset do you want in your car trunk?”

“I’m leaving the light one behind. I”ll be taking the leather and metal corset along. We need to get the boots, the armor, the padding, the helmet, the arm and leg pieces into the trunk as well.”

“Okay, I’ll start getting it down to your car. Are you bringing in any other weapons?”

“Hmm . . . That’s a good question. I know I will be using the darts at least, Anna. I better bring the metal weapons. They will be using bullets and laser pistols.”

“Yes, they will. They are desperate men, Richard. Anything could happen on the island.”

After about an hour, we get everything put away into my car. We meet in the living room to say our ‘good byes’ and ‘see you laters’.

“We’ll miss you, Omega. Take care and come back safely to us. It is great to see you walking again.”

“I’ll miss you too, Traphel and Rose Lace. It is great to walk again. Take care until we meet again. We must trust the Creator to help protect us. My job isn’t done yet.”

“No, it’s not, Omega.”

The fairies all hug each other again. Then Traphel and Rose Lace fly up to me. They touch my face as they smell my hair tuft inside their clothes. Then they fly up to Anna. They touch her face as a tear comes down the side of her face. They quickly pick it up with their hands to taste it.

“It is getting sweeter, Anna. You have been around us a long time.”

“Yes, I have. Take care until we meet again.”

My fairies, Brushwind and Blue Lace all change into butterflies. I open the door, then we walk and fly out to my car. Traphel and Rose Lace lock the door when it closes. We get in our respective cars and leave Jacksonville at 10 AM. It takes about three to four hours to drive there with a lunch break along the way. We get there by 3 PM..

We drive down to the docks in Charleston. We get greeted by the Feds that are waiting for me. They inspect my car. I pass the inspection and drive my car onto the ferry. Anna parks her car, takes out her luggage of two pieces and locks it. She gets on the ferry with me. It takes about an hour to arrive at the docks for the resort island. Once we are moored and secured, I drive my car off the ferry boat. Anna gets into my car, as the Feds get into their own vehicle.

“These Feds are too young, Anna. They are two years out from college.”

“I know. You’ll have to do your best in training them. There are only twenty here, ten FBI and ten local police.”

“I will have to hold my tongue until I see their surveillance equipment, that’s if they brought any. If they didn’t, I will have to use mine. Did Secure-Sys bring in what I requested?”

“They did, Richard. The Feds tried to operate it, but Randy stopped them. He’s here on the island watching it.”

“That’s good.”

We arrive at the entrance to the main building. I see three cars and a van that I recognize right away.

“Isn’t that the Raleigh Police Department?”

“It sure is, Richard. They must have arrived this morning.”

“If they are here, I feel a whole lot better now.”

“I would too, Richard. Let’s get out to make our greetings.”

We get out of my car. As soon as we step five feet from my car, the other car doors open and the side van door opens. Anna smiles when she sees our friendship renewed.

“Richard!”

“Corporal Lonigan!”

“That’s Sergeant now, Richard.”

“Congratulations, then!”

They all come up to me to hug me. “Easy on the shoulders, I’m still a little tender there.”

“Why did you let them beat you up like that, Richard?”

“If I defended myself, Sergeant, their plan would have been put on hold. By that time, I had the antidote to their scam.”

“That is some antidote, Richard. You wiped out the world wide debt in one stroke. At least our bank accounts are still holding up. Thank you for keeping it safe for us.”

“You’re welcome.”

“Captain Jackson and Lt. Wolford are watching the department. It is still tense there from what you caused. He sent us here to help you out.”

“That’s understandable. Thank you for coming. Lonigan.”

I greet the other officers from the Raleigh Police Department. We laugh as we recall our memories together. There is a total of ten from Raleigh. Half of them I trained in their martial art classes. There are three women and seven men in their group.

Then the doors open from the main building. We see the rest of the groups coming out to us, including the Rescue Mission Director and Brianna. I also see Karen and a few other ladies walking behind them as well.

“Welcome to the Rescue Mission, Richard Moore. It seems we are forced to accommodate your presence here.”

“I’m sorry to cause any problems, ma’am. But this problem will follow me wherever I go.”

“But, why here?”

“It was actually suggested by several people. I was to rehab here quietly and no one would know I would be here. Some how, word got leaked out that I’m here.”

“We have five bungalows that are separate from this complex. You and your police escort will stay there. We have our own security service here. It is quite adequate.”

“Do you know how many will come here, Richard? My name is Agent Morrison. I’m the leader of our FBI group here.”

“Are you prepared for an assault of 100 soldiers from five countries with two ships and one submarine?”

“Huh? What?! I was told this is a watch dog sitting party.”

Sergeant Lonigan speaks up. “It isn’t , Agent Morrison. I don’t know how much you were told, but we have seen the news every day. We check blogs and tweets in other countries to know what is really going on. They want to kidnap Richard and take him back. They want to force him to return their lost money.”

“I wasn’t told this. What really did happen to our money, Richard?”

“First of all, for the past eighty years or so, our government has been printing paper money like it was nothing. In fact it is nothing and worthless. Our inflation really started when the dollar bill was separated from the gold standard in 1971 with a particular president. This has been going on world wide now. Maybe we’ll go back to a gold standard. I don’t know. But a correction must be made in the budgets. A correction every fifty years is a good place to start. There is one country who uses it and is a very successful country at that.”

“So, you mean to tell me, that my paycheck could be reduced in value in a few years?”

“So will everything else, Agent Morrison. These are desperate men that are coming here for me. Their economy is probably a little different from ours. I would rather fight them here and get it over with.”

“We can’t stand up to that many, Richard.”

“No, we can’t, madam Director. But with my 3D system installed here, there is a chance to do it.” I look over to Randy. “Is everything in place, Randy?”

“It is Richard, it’s waiting for your thoughts and words. I was able to tweak your new subroutines some more. It is now stable. You were on the right track with your adjustments. Here is the headband.”

Randy hands me the headband. I put it on my head.

“That’s great, Randy. Okay people, then watch this. Computer, generate ten copies of myself around me.”

Then all of a sudden ten copies of me is generated around me.

“Whoa! That is some trick, Richard. But what can holograms do for us?”

“I made them solid, Agent Morrison.”

I walk over to Sergeant Lonigan. “Hold still, Lonigan. We are going to lift you up.”

“Okay, Richard.”

Then the ten images reach out with their right hand in copying my motion. They grab Lonigan’s legs and lift him up slowly. Then we lower him down. Everyone claps and cheers. Brianna and Karen have wide smiles on their faces.

“That is not all. With my mind, I can stay stationary and hidden and let the images do the attack. We will use the 3D System to watch everything and do everything.”

“That’s amazing, Richard. What if you panic and lose control of the images? Can they disappear?”

“It’s possible, Agent Morrison. But I do have a back up plan if that happens.” I wave my hands in the air as if introducing somebody. “I present to you, one thousand friends!”

Then one thousand images of the people I met on Twainor appear before them. They appear ghostly and slightly visible.

“This is incredible, Richard. I see dragons, centaurs, knights and warriors on horseback. It is as if I’m watching a sci-fi movie scene. Can they become solid?”

“Yes, they can, madam Director, if I want them to.” Then they disappear from view. I am not going to tell everyone here they are for real and how we met, yet.

“Well, I feel a little bit better now. Okay, you can make your plans to protect Richard and us, officers. We hope we don’t become a target ourselves and they focus on just you, Richard.”

“That is my hope as well, madam Director.”

Then Brianna and Karen walk up to me. We hug each other with smiles.

“So, you have finally grown up now, Richard.”

“At least you saw me on the gurney, outside my apartment. I remember you being there.”

“You saw me at your apartment?”

“I did Karen. However, it was a replay in Heaven.”

She smiles, “I get it now. I forgot about that realm. Did you meet a lot of people there?”

“I did, Karen.” I then get tapped on the shoulder. I turn around to see who it is. It is Sergeant Lonigan.

“We need to get you moved in, Richard. We have a lot to go over in the next few days. We don’t know when they will arrive.”

“Okay, Sergeant.” I turn around. “Well, I must be going. Stay safe. We have a lot of coordinating and training to do.”

“Go ahead, Richard. We’ll see each other from time to time.”

We give each other a quick peck on the cheeks. I smile at her. “Hmm . . . Lavender perfume . . . Yummy.”

Brianna and Karen giggle as I turn around and get into my car. The other officers get into their cars and vans. We drive to the five bungalows on the northeastern side of the island. It takes five minutes to get there. Once we get there, we park the cars and get out to survey the area.

“I heard from Mr. Bryson, the FBI would send two portable shelters out here, Mr. Morrison. I don’t see them here.”

“That idea was nixed, when the higher-ups heard about the five bungalows out here.”

“Let me guess why, to save money?”

We all give a quirky smile as we look at each other. Then we begin to chuckle.

“You got it one, Richard.”

~~~000~~~

Once the ladies get inside the main building, some more ladies gather around them.

“That’s your Richard, Brianna?”

“He sure is, Sarah.”

“Well, I’m jealous now. I just might have to steal him from you.”

“Now, now ladies. Let’s take it easy now. Do you remember the last time you tried to steal someone’s boyfriend, Sarah?”

“Sigh . . . I do, Miss Karen. It is why I’m here. That girlfriend of his, beat me up really badly.”

“We have a lot to do ourselves. The three lady officers will be here with us. They will be teaching us some martial art moves.”

“Yes, but can we have Richard teach us instead, Karen?”

The ladies giggle at the thought.

“If he did, ladies, then you wouldn’t learn anything at all.”

“Oh darn . . . You’re a spoilt sport, Karen.”

They continue their giggle gossip party for another ten minutes before the Director interrupts them. She tells them they have some things to do like getting dinner prepared for their group. They split apart and go their ways.

The Director, the Rescue Mission attorney and Anna Dawson go over some legal issues when this invasion will take place. They agree they need to be ready to protect their legal rights when this case is brought to the courts. After that, Anna Dawson is shown to her room which is near the staff’s rooms.

~~~000~~~

I open the flower box inside my car. The butterflies flutter out quickly without being noticed. I turn around to face Lonigan.

“We’ll have to go over every inch, Richard.”

“I know we will, Lonigan. I think it will be best as an added precaution that I meet the local wildlife.”

“Yes, the Creator told me of your new abilities. We can use their help to keep them hemmed in and use them as a pair of extra eyes.”

Then Agent Morrison cuts in. “What are you two talking about?”

“It looks like we need have them hear the truth, Lonigan.”

“Yes, Richard. It must be done now before we go any further. Agent Morrison, gather everyone together.”

“Okay, Sergeant.”

Everyone gathers around to hear us talk in the parking lot, near the bungalows.

“There is something that must be done before we start. I need to share an experience with you.”

“What is this experience, Richard?”

“When the Raleigh Police Department and I shake your hands, your ears should be opened to hear another voice in your head. It is the Creator of the Universe.”

“Why should I listen to him? He has done nothing for me.”

“He has done very much for us, corporal. He created this universe so we can enjoy life to the fullest. All he asks of us is to acknowledge him that he is there.”

“That’s right, Richard. When I listen to the Creator, I get another opinion on certain matters. He helps me to be more aware. Especially if I’m tracking a felon or an escaped convict. In fact, he is being heard among the prison population as well. Slowly our prison numbers are being reduced. Only the hard-core felons will take the longest to change their ways. All the Creator asks of you, is to pay attention to his voice and acknowledge that he exists.”

“That seems fair.”

Everyone looks at each other and nod their heads up and down. We start shaking their hands. One by one, their ears are opened up to the Creator’s Voice.

“This is incredible. From what I’m hearing, we need to undo what the last five presidents did to our country and fast.”

“Yes, we need to get ready for major events in the future.”

“I’m sorry if I had any doubts, Richard.”

“You’re forgiven, Agent Morrison. Right now we must focus on the present. The Raleigh Police Department here will start teaching you some martial arts.”

“Why, Richard?”

I smile at them. “I was one of their instructors, while I was in college. I am now up to a Shaolin brown sash with the third degree. I’m currently working on the first black sash. When I earn the tenth black sash, I will then have the title of Shaolin Dragon Master.”

“I see, then we better get busy here.”

“We’ll split into teams and start working together. Richard, did you bring your armor?”

“Yes I did, Lonigan. I also brought some metal weapons as well. They will remain in my trunk until I need them.”

“Our van is loaded with weapons as well. We’ll be ready for them.”

“You brought weapons? The only things they gave us are side arm pistols. It is going to take more than that to take them down.”

“Perhaps, but I have a better idea so that no one will get hurt and we can still round up the bad guys, even their sea craft as well.”

“How are you going to do that, Richard? They will be outside our jurisdiction in the Atlantic.”

“I know a few tactics as well, Agent Morrison. When we settle in tonight, I will tell you some fantastic stories.”

“Okay, we’ll wait for it.”

The Raleigh Police Department people look at me as we smile at each other.

“Okay, while Richard takes a walk around the perimeter, we’ll get busy ourselves. Fortunately we have a great surveillance system provided by Secure-Sys. There is no way it can be hacked. We’ll have our three female officers to be with the main group in the Rescue Mission complex.”

“That’s right, Sergeant. We’ll get them organized in there. We’ll show them some martial art moves to help them gain some confidence.”

“Okay, let’s get busy, friends.”

The three ladies drive back to the main complex to move their luggage in and get acquainted with the people there.

~~~000~~~

I take a walk into the woods and the swamp edge around the back side of the island. My butterflies follow me. I stand there and remain calm. Soon several different types of birds come flying in. They land on the branches nearby. I see the American eagle, red wolves, the deer, the bobcat, the osprey. Then I see some alligators stalking in slowly.

“Here is the proof that I’m the Omega Unicorn.” I thrust my hands out to the side. Then the twelve unicorn images appear, six on either side of me. All of the butterflies that came with me, turn into fairies.

Then all of the wildlife roar, chirps, squawks, growl with delight when they see the images and the fairies. Then the images return to me when I put my hands down. I then blow my breath in the air to all of them. They continue their calls when they feel my breath.

Then they come closer to me so that I can touch them. I touch each one in turn. Some of them brush against me to remember my smell and touch. I hear them speak in my mind.

“I have some news to give, my friends. Some bad men are coming for me.”

They all shout in my mind. We’ll protect you, Omega!

“I know you will, my friends. I have a better idea that will be helpful so that you won’t get hurt.”

What is it?

“There will be some that will could come in by rubber boats at night.”

Then the alligators open their mouths and ‘hiss’. We’ll put holes in their boats, so they can’t leave.

“That’s the idea, alligators. The rest of you are really our eyes and ears. Use your calls to sound out their locations. Please don’t fight them. I don’t want to see you get hurt.”

Thank you for thinking of us. We’ll be safe here in the night.

“I will now walk toward the beach and let the sea life there know as well.”

Yes, we’ll work together to catch the bad men. We’ll keep everyone else safe.

Then they all make their calls in the night. They turn around and walk back to where they can hide and watch on land and in the trees. The eagles and ospreys fly high in the air keeping an eye out for the intruders.

I walk toward the beach next, to see who is there. I see some dolphin dorsal fins swimming nearby. I take off my shoes and socks and place them on the beach. I put my wallet, keys and my comb into the shoes. I take off my shirt, fold it up and place it on my shoes. I then walk out to the water and wade out to them. The dolphins come in closer to check me out. I get about waist high in the water and stop. My butterflies are fluttering around me.

The dolphins swim around me. I then lower myself down so my mouth is below the water level. We then start to talk to each other with our minds. I hear their speech through the ‘clicking’ noises in my mind.

Hello, Omega Unicorn. We are glad to see you and the fairies with you.

I am glad to see you too, dolphins. Not meaning to spoil your day, there will be some bad men who will try to get on the island and take me away.

We’ll protect you, Omega.

I know you will, dolphins. But I have a better idea so that you won’t get hurt.

What is it, Omega?

When the small boats come on shore, with the help of the larger sea creatures like the sea dragons and sharks. Bring some seaweed up and drop it near their two big boats and underwater craft.

Why do we want to do that, Omega?

The seaweed will clog up their propellers and propulsion drives. Then they will sit there floating on the surface. Then you can push those sea crafts closer to shore to beach them. Then our Coast Guard will come out to arrest them.

We like that idea very much, Omega.

We’ll do that.

Leviathan sends his greetings, Omega. He looks forward to meeting you one day.

I look forward to meeting him too, dolphins. Take care until we meet again.

Take care as well, Omega. The fairies in your womb are rejoicing that you are looking out for their well being.

Thank you, dolphins. Spread the word that the Omega Unicorn is now on Earth.

We’ll certainly will, Omega Unicorn.

Then the pod of six dolphins brushes against me as they leave me. Then they start spreading the message of help for the Omega Unicorn in his time of need. I wade back onto the shore. I put on my shoes without the socks and carry everything else with me. I walk back to the bungalows to get changed. The men see me very wet. The butterflies take their rest and drink some nectar from the flowers blooming around the bungalows.

“We heard a lot of noise, Richard. And now you’re all wet. What happened?”

“I had a talk with the wildlife in the area.”

“What are you, some sort of Doctor Doolittle?”

Some of the Raleigh officers smile and chuckle when they hear the reactions.

“Almost, corporal. It will all be explained tonight. Right now, I need to get into drier clothes.”

“There will be five or six of us in each of the bungalows, Richard. We did bring extra cots in the van.”

“That’s fine, Sergeant.”

We get divided up in the five cabins. We try to make sure we are evenly divided up in each of the cabins. We check the cabinets and fridge for food and plates. We see plenty of plates, silverware, glasses and cookware, but not enough food for all of us. I change out of my clothes quickly and drape the wet ones in the bathroom.

“It looks like we’ll have to go the mainland to buy some food.”

“I doubt the Rescue Mission will share with us. They have their own people to take care of.”

“Okay, make a food list of the basics, men. Everyone contributes to their own bungalow.”

“Yes, sir.”

We pool our money together. Each food leader of a bungalow writes down a list of food items needed. Once it is decided, the five men get together and drive to the docks. They discover they have time to do it before the sun sets tonight. The total food bill will get divided up evenly so they can claim it on their expense sheets.

While they are doing that, we get the bungalows ready and decide who sleeps where. Lonigan and I will be in the main bedroom, while the other four men are in the living room area. Two are on the hideaway bed inside the couch. The other two are on cots.

We then get our suitcases brought in. We put the clothes into the appropriate drawers and on the luggage racks and hangers. I put the flower box just outside the sliding glass door. Once the box is opened, other flying insects come buzzing by to check out the colorful offerings. My fairies in butterfly mode come to the flowers to drink some more nectar as well.

Lonigan and I are sitting in the chairs in the room.

“That’s amazing, Richard. The Creator also told me you get to have your own fairy family.”

“It is, Lonigan. I have learned a lot of responsibility in caring for them. When I get children of my own with Brianna, it will be on another scale, but similar.”

“Are you carrying any at this time?”

“I am. They are due in November.”

“What sort of surprises do you have for our intruders so far?”

“If they come in by rubber boat, the alligators will chew holes in them.”

“That’s great. What else?”

“For the sea craft out there, I suggested to the dolphins, with the sharks and sea dragons help, they bring in seaweed to clog up their propellers and propulsion systems.”

“I like that idea very much. Then they will be easy to push ashore to be within our territorial waters. What if they come in by silent chopper?”

“I need to have a talk with my thousand friends tonight. The dragons can easily take them down without hurting themselves. We’ll have to watch out for the forces on the ground.”

“Yes we will, Richard.”

“The one idea I have, is to shoot ice darts at them. Then they will freeze standing there. But to add horror to their minds, I will suggest to the dragons to blow hot fire at them to thaw them out quickly. That will cause their skin to crack all over.”

“Yes, they will scream in horror as they are about to be attacked by dragons. It will be painful to them. Then we can round up the weak-minded ones easily. We’ll have to be wary of the strong-willed soldiers. They could attack the main complex.”

“Yes, we’ll have to be wary.”

“Where will your fairies sleep?”

“They have their own beds that I made and put together for them. They will be scattered about the room and near me on that night stand. During the day, we’ll put their beds into that suitcase there.”

“That’s fine, Richard. I think we should arrange our sleep cycle differently. We need to be wide awake when they come in by night.”

“I see what you mean, Lonigan. Okay, make the schedule accordingly.”

That I night I told the stories from my trips to Twainor. They soon realized they are not alone in the Universe. They all agreed to share the handshake with anyone they come across in their departments and elsewhere.

After that first night, we slowly got ourselves organized and in shape. We did exercises and jogs everywhere on the island to become familiar with every inch of the island. I start to feel my injuries are totally healed by the time the intruders came. I broke some simple pieces of branches up to four inches thick without hurting myself in my legs and with the hands. I reviewed all of the forms from the Shaolin sashes and with the weapons. Some of the officers were impressed with how much I know. They picked up some moves from the Raleigh Police officers and me as well.

We did a lot of laser tag matches to keep our wits sharp. The three lady officers were able to teach the people in the Rescue Mission a lot of throws, pressure points, and how to take someone down who are bigger themselves.

I met Brianna a few times during the late day. We walked hand in hand along the sidewalks that around the resort. We even walked barefoot on the beach at sunset a few times.

~~~000~~~

“Richard, I know you’re going to fight again.”

“I must, Brianna. It is to show them I won’t come easily if I were captured.”

“Sigh . . .”

“Then don’t worry about it. Someday, you’ll understand what I’m going through.”

“I know, Richard. I must look forward to that place among the stars where you were during your Spring Semester.”

“I will protect you, Brianna. You are the delight of my soul.” I put my arm around her as we continue to walk down the beach. She leans her head onto my chest as she puts her arm around me.

~~~000~~~

Everyone in the main complex understood the need for us to be awake at night and flipping our sleep cycle to the day.

We came up with a plan to really confuse the enemy. Since the focus will be I, we decided to use me as bait, but with a twist using the 3D System. Randy is able to make a secure communication air-link connection with the Charleston office. This allows him to communicate with various government entities elsewhere in the country.

The Raleigh Police Department, brought along some nice ‘goodies’ for us to use. They brought twenty communication ear pieces. Randy will have one, since he will be inside monitoring the 3D System. He will let us know where everyone is. Inside his room, he set up the holo-projectors. He then preset many locations of the island for easy view access and for multiple screen shots and overall view.

All is quiet for about ten days. One night, during our evening patrols, we hear the night calls from the eagles and ospreys at about 2 AM. “Screech! Screech! Screech!”

They are here. We hope our plan works to confound the enemy and to capture them safely, while no one gets hurt. We all get into our positions and wait for them to spring our trap.

We hear, off in the distance to the East, the familiar muffled sound of the rotor blades from the choppers, “Thump . . . Thump . . . Thump . . . Thump . . .”

The Rescue Mission
Chapter 13
Written by rachel76m
Edited by Don Kaufman

Offshore and outside USA’s jurisdiction in the Atlantic Ocean, from South Carolina are two assault ships and a submarine nearby for assistance. Each ship has a chopper platform on the rear part of the ship. The hanger on the rear end of the ships has four stealth choppers ready to roll out and take off, for a total of ten stealth choppers. When they approach the island, they will do a HALO (High Altitude Low Opening) operation. Once the frog teams are in the water with their equipment and inflatibles, they will paddle to the rendevous points in the marshes.

The generals are having a conference via ship communications among the three sea craft. In their presence are the captains of each assault squad. The generals of the five countries picked twenty men who are highly trained for this type of night operation.

“All right men, everyone has their assignments?”

“Yes, sir. We send in the stealth frog teams in groups of twenty soldiers. They will dock by the marshes here and here.” The captain points to the two locations on the map of the island.

“Once they establish a perimeter and take out the weather radar installation, we send in the stealth choppers to drop the rest of the personnel within the perimeter they established.”

“That’s right. From all indications of our remote sensors and satellite photos, the man in question is located right here in this building of five small ones.”

“Yes, sir. We’ll surround him while he is sleeping and take him by force. If we have to, we’ll use the sleep darts from our scuba guns.”

“That’s right. The rest of your men must make sure there are no reprisals from the main buildings.”

“Yes, sir.”

“Go with best silent speed. Once you have him secured, load him on the stealth choppers and bring him here. Leave precisely from here at 2 AM. You should be done within the hour, and be on board the stealth choppers with our prize.”

“Yes sir!”

They all salute each other. The image from the second ship switches to the generals overseeing the operation on their own ship. The captains of the assault groups leave the war room on their respective ships. They get together with their teams and do the final checks before boarding the stealth choppers.

The three ships enter the territorial waters of the USA. They get close enough for a quick launch. Once the teams have gone over everything, the stealth choppers leave at 2 AM. The sea ships then return to international waters before any warnings are sounded on the USA military and Coast Guard bases.

Onboard one of the sea ships, the radar seaman notices something strange on the scope. “Sir, I have three unidentified objects approaching our ships.”

“Are the objects coming from the mainland, seaman?”

“No sir. They are coming from international waters. From these readings it is three large masses of seaweed heading our way.”

The commander pushes a button on the intercom, “All hands on deck. Be prepared to maneuver around the seaweed masses. We don’t want to get ourselves stuck out here cleaning up our hulls and propulsion system. Relay the message to the submarine and the other sea ship, seaman.”

“Yes, sir.” The seaman quickly relays the message to the other sea craft. “The message is sent.”

After turning to starboard (right), the radar seaman sees something happening on the radar unexpectedly.

“Sir, the seaweed masses have made adjustments to our headings.”

“What?! That can’t happen. Have you detected any pings from the masses?”

“No sir. I finally got the reading on them. They are biologicals, sir. It is being steered by them. In fact we are on a collision course with the masses right now!”

“That’s impossible! Sound the alarm for collision!”

Then the horn blares the collision alarm. “Honk! Honk! Honk!” “Honk! Honk! Honk!” “Honk! Honk! Honk!” “Honk! Honk! Honk!”

Everyone on board gets ready for the collision by the seaweed masses. That even includes the submarine. They soon discover that the seaweed masses are at their level in the ocean as well.

Soon, all three ships are ensnared by the seaweed masses. They also check their location as well. They discover they are still within the territorial waters of the USA by several kilometers.

A submarine yeoman turns on an external camera to see what is happening. They see hordes of fish and sea creatures they have never seen before. They are pulling the seaweed with their mouths.

Soon, all three ships’ propellers and propulsion drives become clogged with seaweed. All engines have come to a full stop to prevent further damage to the ships. The submarine surfaces for safety of the crew. When the seamen on the two warships, look all around, they see many fins from sharks and other predators encircling their ships.

One of the seamen on the control tower of the sub speaks to the commander standing there with him.

“I’ve never seen this type of reaction, sir.”

“I haven’t either, seaman. No way am I going to risk our men to clean away the seaweed. We are stuck here until they move away.”

“Yes, sir.”

Then they feel the ship nudge and rock underneath them. A seaman comes up quickly to give a report to the commander.

“Sir, we are being pushed toward the mainland by the sea life, sir.”

The commander gives a quirky smile. “That’s just our luck. Okay, we’ll soon be seeing their Coast Guard. Secure and encrypt all communication lines and logs. Be prepared to be boarded when they arrive. Also, don’t kill the sea life to get ourselves free. We’ll not be responsible for their deaths if they are an endangered species.”

“Yes, sir!” The seaman goes back down below to report the commander’s orders to the second in command. Those orders get relayed to the two other ships.

They scan the waters around them with a strong hand-held light beam until the sun comes up. They try to determine the names of the sea life they have seen. The seaman writes and sketches the descriptions on a pad of paper for future reference on the unknowns. The deep sea life and the sea dragons stay out of sight. When they look at the underwater external cameras again, they no longer see the sea life pulling the seaweed masses.

~~~000~~~

The stealth choppers released their five frog teams at high altitude. The parachutes open just in time for a soft landing on the water. They inflate the rafts and get themselves in. There are four men in each raft. They paddle silently to their rendevous points. Once they beach the crafts, they drag them further in to secure them.

They spread out among the trees to establish their perimeter. A group of four soldiers walks quietly in the night to the weather radar installation. They place the plastic explosives on the tower cables and set the timer. They quickly get to a safe location to watch it blow up.

While they are looking at it, all of a sudden they see something they didn’t expect to see. They see a ghostly knight on a horse walking in carefully. He uses his lance to pick up the explosive and toss it high in the air. When the device reaches its peak height above the trees, it explodes.

The soldiers look around. They don’t see the knight and horse anymore.

They whispered to each other. “What just happened?”

“Did you see that knight and horse?”

“What knight and horse, corporal?”

“I didn’t see anything. Did you see anything?”

“I saw nothing, sir.”

“That’s right. We didn’t see anything. We’ll report that the cable is blown.”

“Y . . . yes . . . sir.”

“Let’s get back to our perimeter.”

“Y . . . Yes, sir.”

~~~000~~~

The Coast Guard Station in Charleston goes to full alert. It sends out three ships at high speed. They don’t detect the stealth choppers on their way out to international waters. However, they do detect the three sea ships floating toward the mainland on their radar systems.

~~~000~~~

The four soldiers return to the rest of their group with their nerves on edge. They wonder what is going to happen next. They all get themselves ready for the next phase. The captain ‘clicks’ on his radio two times that it is a ‘go for deployment’. The soldiers hold in their hands, little infrared lights to mark their location. The stealth choppers release the rest of their men for the assault and kidnaping.

In about fifteen minutes, eighty more men, parachute safely into the perimeter area with accuracy, in a clearing among the trees. They quickly gather in their chutes and get out of the way for more touchdowns onto the ground. In another five minutes, everyone is ready for the next phase.

They spread out to find the prize. They see the five bungalows they are searching for. When they get closer, they see me standing there in the courtyard of the five bungalows, in my day clothes. Twenty of them, come walking slowly in a circle around me. With their night vision goggles they can see me clearly.

“This is too easy, captain.”

“But at least it will be without a struggle.”

They shine their laser sights on me. I look down and see the red dots on my body. “Hmm . . . it seems as if you found me.”

“That’s right. You’re coming with us.”

“I really like it here. It is nice and quiet. But you have a new problem, now.”

Some of the soldiers smile. “What is it, Richard?”

“I’m not really here.” Then I disappear before them in a blink of an eye.

“What!?”

“Where did he go? He was right there.”

“He can’t be that fast.”

Then I appear behind twenty of the men all at once. “Or am I here?” I say in a chorus with my twenty images. I smile at them.

“What?!”

They turn around to look at the image. One of them puts their hand out to grab me. His hand goes through the image. He yells out, “It’s holograms! Scatter! It’s a trap!”

“Get to the main complex to take hostages!”

They all scatter back into the woods.

~~~000~~~

I’m in the same room with Randy and no one else is in there with us.

“Armor on!” Then my armor appears on me magically. I take the weapons on a nearby table and put them where they belong on me. They are the sword, the sais, the staff is on a sling across my shoulder, all of my stars, and throwing knives and shields. I put the shields on my forearms.

“If I hadn’t shaken hands with you a year ago, Richard. I would say what you did is impossible unless magic really existed at one time.”

“Now we are using physics to create our kind of magic.”

“That’s right. I also figured out what happened when you broke your chair in your apartment, Richard. It happened to me as well.”

“What went wrong?”

“You superimposed the holographic image on top of the real chair.”

“Yes, that is when I decided to shift the coordinates so that won’t happen again.”

We smile at each other and do the typical light bulb phrase coming on in the head. We say it at the same time, “Duh!”

“Go get them, Richard. I’ll hold the fort here.”

“I know you will, Randy.” I look at the over all map and see the one hundred men regrouping for their assault on the main complex. I plan out my attack quickly by seeing how they are coming this way.

I open the door and walk out to the hallway to a side door of the building that is hidden from the soldiers’ view. Then I appear coming out of nothing into the opening, then the door closes. With the cameras and holo-projectors, we also programmed the 3D System to hide the main complex.

I walk to the sidewalk that is in front of the building. I take a quick look around me. I see the soldiers regrouping themselves as they approach the location of the main complex.

“They only send one soldier to protect them? Take him down!”

I then run forward as fast I can. I change directions as many times as possible.

“Who is this guy? I can’t get a bead on him!”

“I’ve never seen someone run and change directions this fast.”

I shoot freeze darts all around me. Once it hits a soldier, he freezes standing there. The darts then return to me on the gauntlet that they came from. This was accomplished with the spell I did on the darts several days ago.

All they hear are the sounds of “Thwip! Thwip! Thwip! Thwip! Thwip!” Then they hear “Thoo! Thoo! Thoo! Thoo! Thoo! Thoo! Thoo!” When it hits their neck, the darts return to me automatically on the gauntlet. “Thwip! Thwip! Thwip! Thwip! Thwip!” I repeat that until everyone has been hit by a freeze dart. Some of the birds give out a call to give their location away. I smile once I spotted them.

Once the soldiers become frozen, they see dragons appearing before them. They get wide-eyed with fear. The dragons fly in and shoot hot flames at them. They get quickly thawed out and their skin cracks underneath their protective clothing and bullet proof vests. They all scream in pain!

“Arrrgghh!”

“My skin is on fire!”

“Ghosts!”

“This place is haunted!”

“Dragons!”

“Get me out of here!”

Half of the soldiers turn around and flee screaming to their rafts. When they get there, they see them deflated, shredded and flat. Several alligators splash their bodies in the water with their mouths open and ‘hissing’. On two of the flat rafts are dozens of crabs with their pincer claws held up high to ward the intruders away.

“Oh . . . man . . . we ca . . . ca . . . can’t escape that way. We need the ch . . . choppers now!”

“Yeah, forget this assignment!”

A scared sergeant gets on his radio to contact a stealth chopper. He gets no answer from them.

~~~000~~~

When fifteen minutes have passed after the stealth choppers released their cargo of men, they search for their landing area on another island to conserve fuel. Then right before them in the air, about twenty dragons appear in the air all around them. The serpentine dragons wrapped their bodies around the stealth choppers and forced them down onto the island where the Rescue Mission is located. The pilots tried to avoid them, but they get ensnared as well.

Some soldiers in the choppers, shoot machine gun fire at the images. The dragons catch the bullets with their mouths and bodies. Then the bullets fall through their bodies to the ground.

“Where did they come from? ! ”

“We can’t fight these ghosts. They are shooting flames at us!”

“Dragons don’t exist. We are the new dragons!”

Then one of the dragons speaks. “You sure don’t look like the dragons that we know. Take them down, brothers!”

Several dragons shout out together, “Yes, Marcon!”

“What?! They can speak? Oh crud . . . no one is going to believe in this report.”

Slowly the stealth choppers are brought down to the ground. The motors are taxed to the limit on the choppers. The pilots turn off the engines to keep themselves in one piece. The dragons bring them down to the clearing area where the fifty scared soldiers are gathered together.

They become frightened a lot more when they see stealth choppers brought down by the dragons. Once the choppers are down, several dragons stay flying around and above the stealth choppers to keep watch on them. The other dragons fade into the night.

Then the soldiers see a group of ghostly knights, soldiers and horsemen encircling them. They have their swords and lances pointing at them.

“Come, we are taking you to the main building.”

“Y . . . yes . . . sir.”

The Twainor armies escort the captured men to the main building complex. Just beyond the armies they see wasps, gnats, deer, red fox, bobcats, birds encircling around them as they get escorted to the main complex. They become even more scared and frightened when they see the wildlife there.

A private whispers to a fellow soldier quietly, “My momma told me there would be days like this.”

“Shut up, private.”

~~000~~~

The other half of the soldiers get themselves together for their assault on the main complex. They whisper to each other, quietly.

“Well, it looks like we found another problem with our soldiers.”

“Yes, they are afraid of ghosts. I kind of figured they would be holograms.”

“That was a neat trick to use the thermal darts on us.”

“But how did he hit us from his impossible angles and directions? How did he get the darts returned to him?”

“I don’t know, sir.”

“How do you explain the hot fire from the dragons?”

“The best I can figure out is this. The holograms are more solid.”

“That’s possible, if someone figured out how to do it.”

When they get there, they don’t see the buildings at all.

“Where did it go?”

“It should be right there!”

“Use the night vision goggles and use the heat signature feature.”

“Yes, sir.” He turns them on and uses the device. “You’re right sir. It is still there. Somehow, they were able to hide the building, but I can see their bodies and building heat signatures plainly.”

“It must be an extension of the holograms we saw earlier. We need to take out that hologram projector somehow.”

“Yes, captain.”

I see the fifty men gathering together. I walk up to the empty parking lot and get between them and the building. I push the button on the side of my helmet to reveal my mouth.

“You will not hurt anyone here. It is me you’re after.”

“How do we know you are for real?”

“Oh, I am for real. However, as you found out, I’m very good in computers and fighting.”

“Those fifty are weak minded, but they are still good soldiers. We are the strong ones. We are used to keep them in line and in shape.”

“Perhaps. I suggest you contact your fleet and stealth choppers. They should all be inoperable at this time.”

“That’s impossible!”

They get on the radio to reach their air and sea craft support. They get word everything is a bust.

“You’re right, Richard. It seems we are stuck here. We’ll force you to get our country’s money back. We need to get paid.”

“Didn’t you hear the news? I wiped out all of the world wide debt. Everyone is starting over from scratch. I didn’t touch the principal amounts that are held in the banks. Besides, if the Euro scam had worked, you would have nothing in the banks if you don’t use the Euro dollar.”

A captain yells out, “We still want our money!”

“Then get a reduced paycheck. Everything else will get reduced in value back to the 1960's, eventually.”

“Why that year?”

“That is when the countries really started to remove the gold standard from their paper currency, if they hadn’t done it by then. They thought the paper money was very strong by itself. But as we can see from today’s economy that was a poor choice to do.”

“What?! We were given a job to do, we are taking you hostage!”

“That’s not going to happen. That is unless, I have a one on one fight with your best fighter. If I lose, you have your hostage. If your fighter loses, everyone will throw their weapons down and get taken into custody.”

“By you? You don’t have an army here.”

“Yes, I do. Come out and show yourselves, officers. Also, reveal the buildings, my friend.”

Then the buildings slowly appear before them. Then the twenty-seven officers come walking out of the doors.

“Oh man. This is a big surprise, Lieutenant.”

“It sure is, Captain.”

“We would be facing them, if we were to get inside the buildings.”

They are all heavily armed and wearing bullet proof vests and helmets. They have their infrared sights on the guns and rifles pointing at the soldiers.

“Okay, you’ll have your fight, Richard. My first question is this. What is your rank?”

“I’m a Shaolin brown sash with the third degree. I’m currently working on the first black sash.”

The soldiers all gather around to talk it out.

~~~000~~~

“That leaves me out. He is beyond me.”

“Whom has the best degree here?”

“I have a first degree black belt in karate. But, he knows more than I do.”

“I have a third degree black belt in tae kwon do. Can anyone beat that?”

Everyone looks at each other and says ‘no.’

“Okay, it is me, then. Wish me luck.”

“Good luck, Captain Borhgess. You’re our best instructor.”

“Thanks, I’ll need it.”

They all turn around to face me.

~~~000~~~

The captain steps forward. “It will be me, Richard. I have a third degree black belt in tae kwon do. My name is Captain Borhgess.”

“That’s fine, Captain. I’ll deal with that. Now we need to come up with a format. Are we to use armor and weapons?”

“Let’s use them both. If I were to disarm your weapon, I still keep using mine.”

“I see. It is to be a domination type fight.”

“That’s right, Richard.”

“If we are still standing and have no weapons, we’ll end it with a hand to hand combat until one gives up.”

“That’s fine, Richard. From the looks of the weapons on you, I will need a few items from our squads.”

“Go ahead and pick your weapons that you think will match mine.”

The captain turns around to face the squads. He receives from them a staff, a long knife to act as his sword that is twenty inches long, a sash of metal stars, and two knives that are twelve inches long. He turns around to face me.

“Let’s start with the staff, Richard. Then it will be the knives against your sais. I am guessing you have metal stars behind your armor.”

“You’re right, Captain. Then it will be metal stars against metal stars. Then we’ll end it with your long knife against my sword.”

“We’ll keep the lighting in the parking lot as it is.”

“That’s fine, Captain. Oh . . . and one more thing Captain. Let’s have a bigger audience to put ourselves under more pressure.”

“What do you mean by that, Richard?”

I wave my hand in the air. Then dozens of images are seen in the air near the building. They are from the UN Security Council and the UN itself. Several Presidents, Vice Presidents, Kings and Prime Ministers are in the group as well. Everyone will know what is happening at once.

Captain Borhgess sees his Vice President representing their country, Gorgonstan. They both smile at each other. The VP winks his right eye once. The Captain returns the wink with his right eye as well.

I push the button on my helmet to close the covering in front of my mouth. We start circling each other as we put our staffs in our hands. We spin the staffs several times looking for the opening move. Captain Borhgess is at least a foot taller than I and more stout. From his movements, I can tell he is very fast and strong for his size.

The men are yelling out loud for their favorite fighter. Some even make side bets with each other. The women and children are inside the building wide awake and watching through the windows the best they can.

Anna, Brianna and Karen are watching and praying silently that I will win the day for everyone.

As soon as we get within arm length of each other. We start doing the classical hits of the staffs. Then the Captain goes for a pin of my staff. As soon as he gets horizontal, I move in quickly and rake his hands on his staff with my staff.

We back away quickly as we smile at each other. He blows some air from his mouth onto his raked hands.

“That’s not bad, Richard. It looks like I finally met someone who can take me on.”

“It’s my pleasure to do so, captain. But we’re talking too much.”

“That’s right.”

We come in quickly. He comes in for a big side arm swing toward my waist. I jump over it with a dive and roll forward. He continues around to swing at me. I get my staff up quickly to block his hit. I then spin my staff to the advantage that I lift his staff out of his hands.

His staff flies up in the air. He runs after it to catch it. “Oh no, you don’t, Richard. Pant . . . pant . . . pant . . .” While he runs after it, I hit him three times on his torso. He catches his staff and swings it around. I bring my staff up to block it. I swing it around to trap his end down. I do another swing upward to get his staff out of his hands, which I do successfully. However, I see a new movement from him. As he runs to the staff, he puts his right hand onto his long knife. He lets the staff drop to the ground. He swings around with his long knife. I get my staff into a vertical position with both hands.

He slices my staff into two pieces. “Crack!” I hold the two pieces in my hands. Everyone breaths out a sigh of relief that no one gets hurt.

“I could take you on with this long knife, Richard. But I will need it later to face your sword.” He smiles at me. He puts his long knife back into the scabbard that is attached to his belt.

I smile back at him. “That’s fine, captain. We’ll continue with your staff and my two pieces.”

“I thought you would. That eliminates the triangle defense from you.” He walks over to pick up his staff. He turns around to face me again. “You’re fast, Richard. Now your reach is shorter.”

“We’ll see if your plan works, captain.”

My sensei smiles when he sees the new situation. So do some of the Raleigh police officers. They remembered their classes with me when I showed them this offense and defense style using their batons.

~~~000~~~

Tiger and Tigress notice a movement behind some trees. They flutter to Sensei Chou and land on his shoulders. They whisper to each other.

“I see him too, Tiger. He is no threat to Richard. He is with me this time. He is evaluating Richard for the next part of his training.”

“Okay, Sensei.”

They flutter back to the other fairies in butterfly mode and tell them what is going on. Then they focus on the fight in front of them.

~~~000~~~

We circle each other again as we get closer. He comes with a horizontal swing at my torso. I do an ‘X’ form with my pieces. I swing it around and pin his staff end to the ground on my right side. I come up immediately with my left hand and hit him on the hands and arms quickly.

“Oww! So, you do know the two sword techniques.”

“That’s right, captain. Now, here is more of it.” I come in quickly and do the windmill swings as I get closer to him. I back him up quickly as he tries defend himself with the staff. I hit him several times on his body and arms. He starts to have a look of panic on his face.

I didn’t expect to see that face, Creator.

You touched a nerve in his training, Richard. Dig deeper and you will get your answer.

Yes, Creator.

He drops his staff. I end it with my right piece pointing to his stomach, and the left piece at his throat. “Pant . . . pant . . . pant . . .”

“You win, that round, Richard.”

The soldiers can’t believe what they are seeing. Their master has been defeated. They now have three more chances for a win before it goes to the hand-to-hand combat.

“Thank you, captain. Since my staff is now cut, I will put them aside and we move onto the knives and sais.” I toss them toward Sergeant Lonigan. One of his corporals picks up the two pieces.

“That’s fine, Richard.”

Then the Vice President from Captain Borhgess’ country yells out loud, “Kill him! Kill him, Captain!”

The captain’s face changes. He grabs his knives as I turn my back.

People around us yell out loud, “Richard! Look out!”

I grab my sais and quickly turn and thrust the knobs into his stomach. A lot of people give another sigh of relief when I disarmed him quickly.

“Ooof . . .” He drops the knives as he reaches for his stomach. He doubles over in pain. “You are . . . f . . . fast.”

“I’m sorry about that, captain.”

The captain stands back up slowly, “I don’t know what came over me.”

“It was your VP who yelled out the attack, captain.”

“He did?” He looks down, “What’s this? My knives are on the ground. I guess you beat me there, Richard.”

“How about we do a star throwing contest and try to hit a target.”

“I like that idea, Richard. Thank you.”

I put my sais back onto my belt. We each take five stars and put them in our hands. The VP now has a very frustrated look on his face.

“We’ll use that cut off limb from that tree over there. It is about twenty meters from here. The stub is about a foot in diameter.”

“That’s fine, captain. The one with most on the stub is the winner of that round. We’ll do two, two and one throws at the stub.”

“That’s fine, Richard.”

The captain gets ready to toss his first star. Once he is sure of his aim, he let’s it fly. It hits the stub off center. The soldiers all yell that he hit the mark. He does the same with his second throw. It hits the stub closer to the center.

I step up to the strip on the parking lot. I am able to hit the stub with no problems. This continues again with the next pair of throws. This time, our throws are more centered.

“That is great throwing, captain. Your father must have taught you well.”

“Leave my father out of this, Richard. He’s a great man. I’m following in his footsteps.”

“That’s fine, captain. I think of my father too. He was great as well when he was still alive.”

“What? Your father is dead?”

The VP yells out, “Continue with the throws, captain!”

“Huh?” He looks at his VP with a stern face. “Yes, sir!”

The captain takes aim with his last throw. His aim is off, and hits the outer edge of the stub. I do my last throw as well. I hit the dead center of the stub.

Everyone on my side yells out that I won. The soldiers of the assault teams are disappointed. Their captain lost again. We walk up to the stub to retrieve our stars. We put them back where they belong on us. We take out our last weapon to use. His long knife against my sword.

I need your help, Sir Halgren.

I’m right here to guide your hands. Remember how you and I fought our foes in the arenas, Richard. You’ll do fine.

Thank you, my friend.

As we face each other, I see sweat coming down his forehead. He wipes it away as best he can. We come in closer for our first clash.

We bring them up and cross them above our heads. The sound of a loud ‘clang’ is heard in the air.

The VP yells out again, “Kill him, kill him, Captain Borhgess!”

We back away to catch our breaths. We come in again. Our blades clash again. “Clang!” This time we struggle against each other and try to gain the advantage. This I time I do a twist in my hands and get his sword out his hands. It flies up and outward from us. It sticks into the ground, point first.

The captain gets on his knees before me. “Kill me, Richard. I deserve it. I have failed my country.”

The VP smiles, when he sees the captain on his knees.

“No, you haven’t, Captain Borhgess. You failed no one. My father and my sensei told me there is always someone better than you. The difference is how you approach your opponent to do your best and be able to defeat him. Let us do this last match with honor.”

The Captain stands back up with a smile. “Yes, with honor.”

I give my weapons to Sergeant Lonigan to hold. Captain Borhgess gives his weapons to a member in his squad. Everyone yells again as we circle each other. We do the classic side steps with our hands, arms and legs. Slowly we get within the reach of each other. His first move is a side swing with his left leg at my torso.

I spin to my left. I get my legs around his left leg as it passes by.

The captain mutters when he sees my move, “What?”

I grab it and continue the movement. I turn around in my movement and bend his left knee. I drive his leg downward and get him off balance.

“Whoa!” His body tumbles downward as his face hits the grass. “Mmmphhh!”

Everyone smiles that I made a good move out of nothing.

I untangle myself from him and let him stand up. He gets up quickly as well. He spits out the grass in his mouth. “Ptouui! Heh, heh, heh, that’s a good move, Richard.”

I smile back, “You’re welcome, Captain.”

We circle each other again and get closer to each other. This time, I initiate the first move. I come in with a flurry of punches. He deftly blocks all of my hits. Then I change tactics and go for his torso sides. He blocks them all again.

I back away to figure out my next set of moves.

Let’s do the animal moves, Richard. Let’s mix them up.

That’s a good idea, Croin. Get ready to upset his stomach.

I’ll be ready.

I carefully walk around him. I use the black panther moves to stalk my prey.

~~~000~~~

The mystery man sees my approach. That’s it, stalk your prey, Richard. Time it just right.

~~~000~~~

The Captain steels himself for the coming set of moves.

I pounce, once he does another side step. I come rushing in very quickly, then I jump up and plant my foot onto his chest to get higher. He misses with his leg and arm movements to hit me. He staggers back a couple of feet when I push into him.

Captain Borhgess mutters to himself when he sees my height above him, “Uh oh . . . !”

I come down with my arms criss crossed. I then do the crane wing slashes as I come down. The wind off my fingers tips slices through the air and hits him on the cheeks. As I come down, I do a quick tiger claw slash across his stomach. I yell out loud as I slash him, “Ro . . . aaar!” Croin extends his claws invisibly as I rake my fingers across his stomach. I land on my feet and back away to see his reaction.

~~~000~~~

“Whoa! Did you see that move, Agent Morrison?”

“I think I did, Sergeant Lonigan.”

Sensei Chou smiles widely that I did a new combination to catch him off guard.

~~~000~~~

The mystery man who is hiding by the trees sees this new combination.

I love it! Way to go, Richard! Mix up those animal moves. That will get him off balance.

~~~000~~~

The Captain touches the sides of his face. “What? You cut my face without touching me? I never saw a crane wing slash done like that.” Then Captain Borhgess doubles over in pain while standing. “Oooh. . . . My stomach. How did you get through my armor?” He stands up very slowly to face me one more time.

“That’s a trade secret, Captain. Your stomach is not lacerated. It is just a bit upset.”

This time he comes with a series of leg swings and fists flying at me. I deftly dodge all of his moves with my own acrobatic moves of dodges, flips and somersaults. When I come down on my last move, I hit him squarely in the chest with a mantis punch.

“Ooof . . .” He staggers back a few feet off balanced. He squares himself up again to face me again. “I have never met someone like you, Richard. I have yet to hit you at all.”

I smile back. “Thank you, captain. Your moves need some more polish. You need to earn the higher degrees.”

He smiles back, “I’ll certainly do that, Richard.”

The VP is now very upset the way how things are going. He yells out loud again, “Kill him! Kill him, captain! That’s an order!”

Just when he decides to come in with some punches of his own, his face changed very much to anger and red-faced. He comes in with a punch to my face. I duck down and squat down. His swing misses my head. I then swing my left leg to get him off balance. He jumps up to avoid it. I immediately grab his right leg and pull him down.

He yells from his back side down on the grass, “Owww!”

“That’s not all, captain.” I then yank his right leg and ankle really hard as I tried to pull his leg out from his hip socket.”

“Why? . . . you little kid! That hurts!”

~~~000~~~

Everyone around us, scrunch up their faces as if they are experiencing the pain themselves. “Oooh . . . that had to hurt.”

~~~000~~~

“Richard did the same thing to one of his old foes, Agent Morrison.”

“He did? That’s interesting, Lonigan.”

~~~000~~~

“I know it does, Captain. My sensei did it to me as well.”

“Your sensei?”

“That’s right, sir. Now, for the other leg.” I immediately jump onto the other leg and do the same thing.

“Owww! That hurt again, Richard.”

I back away to see the results of my ploy. He tries to stand up, but he can’t.

The VP yells out really loud, “Get up and fight through the pain, Captain! Kill that mockery of a fighter! That’s an order!”

His head snaps up as his face changes again. He stares at the VP in madness. “I’m trying, sir!”

“You’re not trying hard enough, captain! Your father would be greatly disappointed in you!”

The captain yells again, “Leave my father out of this! You fool of a VP!”

“How dare you talk to your superior like that?!”

That’s it right there, Richard and Sensei Chou. His father is the key to unraveling this mystery. Extend your right hand in friendship, Richard.

I look and hear at their exchange as this is happening. I look to Sensei Chou and nod my head slightly up and down. He nods his head slightly up and down as well.

I step forward slowly. I reach out with my right hand to him.

The VP yells out loud, “Take his hand Captain and break it!”

His face changes a bit to calmness for one second, then his face gets mad again. “I will not, Mr. Vice President!” The captain extends his hand to Richard tentatively.

“I will now extend my hand forward in friendship, Captain Borhgess.”

“What did you say?”

“I extend my hand forward in the right hand of friendship.”

He reaches for my hand with his right hand.

The VP yells out again, “Kill him! Kill him, Captain!”

The captain soon shakes my hand, I see his face change before me. He is now in a trance recalling a scene in his mind with his father.

~~~000~~~

“Papa! It is great to see you again!”

“Yes, my son. It is great to see you again. However, I want you to remember this day.”

“Why, papa?”

“This will be the last day you’ll see me.”

“Don’t leave, papa!”

“I must go, my son. Someday, you’ll remember all we did together.” He shows a sad face.

“What’s wrong, papa?”

“Sigh . . . I have become suspicious of our general. He has chosen me to be in his elite squad. The problem is that I think he is using trauma to bend the will of his elite squad.”

“How is he hurting you, papa?”

“He is using my father’s killing to bend my will to his will.”

“That’s wrong, papa! Who killed him, papa?”

He smiles at him, “Yes, it is wrong, my son. I was given a dream several nights ago. You will meet someone that will turn your life around and end the general’s hold over us.”

“How will I know, papa?”

“He will extend his right hand to you in friendship. When that happens, everything that you experienced will come flooding back to you. You will remember me, your childhood, our family and our time in the church. For I think the general has his eyes on you as well.”

“I will remember you, papa! I will remember everything!”

“I know you will my son. I’m already proud of you. Don’t forget that, my son. The General who is now our Vice President, killed my father. I saw it happened before my own eyes. My father refused to do his will. I will do the same.”

~~~000~~~

Then the Captain recalls his entire life since that last day with his father as a child. He sees the VP kill his own father in cold blood in front of him when he was a young recruit. Then the VP’s successor continues the horror to bend the minds of their soldiers to be an elite killing squad without compassion. They killed many animals to dull their senses and get used to the smell of spilled blood. This heist to capture Richard Moore is their first hit assignment.

He mutters his last phrase out loud, “I will remember everything!” He quickly rubs his joints down quickly to stand up. He stands up next to me. “I do remember everything, Richard. Thank you.”

I smile at him. “You’re welcome, captain.”

“I am also hearing the Creator’s voice as well. I remembered I used to talk to him when I was a young boy in our local religious services.”

“Then you know what to do next, to end this cycle of hate.”

“I certainly do, Richard.” He turns around to face the VP’s image.

“Kill him, Captain! That’s an order!”

“Not this time, VP. Your previous title is Colonel, Mr. Wainwright. Also, your last name was Wermongaue, Colonel.”

Everyone in the images and in the parking lot, looks at VP Wainwright with astonishment. They are looking at the latest butcher of a military junta that supposedly became democratic, Colonel Wermongaue.

“I am now in my right mind, Mr. VP Wainwright. I will now release the rest of the soldiers in our unit from your mind control!”

“No! I command you to kill, Richard Moore!”

Captain Borhgess walks up to each member in his group and shakes hands with them. Soon, their faces change as they remember their past memories. They all gather around each other to hug each other as they cried the loss of their fathers who were brutally killed in front of them.

Then each one of them, starts to shake the hands of everyone else from the other countries and the stealth chopper pilots who came to kidnap Richard.

Then they all gather themselves together to face the images.

Then the assassination squad from Gorgonstan steps forward together. Captain Borhgess speaks up, “We the people of Gorgonstan, place VP Wainwright or Colonel Wermongaue, under house arrest. UN Security Council, please arrest, VP Wainwright.”

The Chief of Security officer from the UN speaks up. “Guards, hold VP Wainwright from Gorgonstan in custody. He is wanted on multiple charges of murder in his own country.”

Four guards come forward in the UN Assembly Hall and approach the VP of Gorgonstan. They quickly apprehend him as he tries to flee. “I’m innocent! I’m not Colonel Wermongaue! He’s dead!” They take him out of the Main Assembly hall to a holding cell in the tower.

~~~000~~~

Meanwhile in the penthouse office in UN Building #2, several men and women are seeing the fruits of their labor go down the drain on the TV monitors in front of them.

“He was one of our best subjects, my magi friends.”

“Yes, now he is gone. We’ll no longer have a reach in their region soon. Everything was fine, until the Captain shook hands with the Omega Unicorn.”

“I don’t think it was totally the Omega’s fault this time. It appears the Captain was given a trigger phrase to recall everything that he did and saw since he was brainwashed.”

“That’s possible. Well, let’s continue making our plans for world domination. That is one brick discarded from our usable pile. We’ll build again and reinforce our influence in the other countries.”

“Yes we will, my friends.”

~~~000~~~

Before I turn around, a UN Security Council representative speaks up.

“Richard Moore.”

“Yes, sir.”

“We’ll have the court date set soon for the Euro Scam. We’ll be having it here in New York City at the UN headquarters here.”

“What happened to having it in Washington, D.C., sirs? I was also told my identity would be kept secret. What happened to that idea?”

“Those are good questions, Richard. Someone made the suggestion to have it here.”

“Hmm . . . Okay. I’ll make my plans accordingly sirs.” It had to be the Eleven Magi who did this, Creator.

You’re right, Richard. Be wary while you’re in New York City. You will meet some of them while you’re there. At a later date, you’ll retrieve the special stones from them.

Thank you for telling me that, Creator.

“That’s fine, Richard Moore.”

Then all of the images disappear from view.

Then the officers approach me to give me slaps on the backs in winning the fight. I do a quick bow with the handclasp in front of me to Sensei Chou as I smile. He returns the familiar greeting to me as well with a smile. Some of the ladies come out as well to hug me, especially Anna, Brianna and Karen. When they came out, most of the captured soldiers wolf whistled as they see them come out.

“Wow! Look at that men, women are here.”

“Hey, chickadee! There are plenty of us here!”

“Yeah, we could use some lovin’!”

The women stop their hugging of me. They walk slowly to some of the men.

Captain Borhgess yells out loud. “Stay away from them, men. You could get hurt.”

“What? We can’t get hurt by women. No way it will happen, captain!”

“Okay, but beware, I warned you.”

About ten women sashay up to ten men. The men reach out with their hands to bring them in closer to kiss. All of sudden, the ten women grab their arms and hands. They do throws, ankle trips, arm locks and push them onto the ground, face down.

“We’re not so easy, soldier. I’ve been waiting to do this for a long time. My former husband beat me until I was blue in the face.”

“That’s right, sister! My boyfriend couldn’t control his anger either. He not only hurt me. He hurt my daughter as well!”

“Err . . . okay . . . I get the message. . . .”

“You better get the message, soldier. I suggest you start listening to the Creator’s voice. Your life will get better as time goes on.”

“And you better share the handshake with the others back in your own country. There are big events happening in the future. You’ll need to help Earth get ready for it in the future.”

“Yes . . . yes. . . . Ma’am.”

The women get off of the men to let them stand back up. The soldiers walk carefully back to their group. Some of the other men who stayed back gave the ten soldiers grief for letting their male hormones and male organs think for them.

We then see the sun come up slowly at the break of dawn. Then we hear another helicopter in the sky. We look up and see a Coast Guard chopper coming in for a landing. Once the blades stop spinning, the side doors slide open. Five men come out dressed in sharp clothes. Agent Morrison recognizes one of them as his superior officer from the FBI. The other four men walk along with him. Two of them are from the Coast Guard and the other two are from the Charleston Police Department.

When the officers shake hands with them, I see no reaction from them when someone hears the Creator for the first time. Sergeant Lonigan explains what happened to Agent Morrison and the Charleston Police force quietly. They understand now, that it might take a little longer for some to hear his Voice. The officers give a quick verbal report of what happened to their superiors.

They come together to approach the soldiers and the pilots of the stealth choppers. They tell them what is going to happen next.

“Since, your ships are stuck at sea with seaweed. It will take time to get them cleaned up and be under power again. The reports from your ships state the sea life has moved off and back to where they belong in the Atlantic Ocean. As far as getting your stealth choppers back in operation. You can begin checking them out and see what repairs are needed for them. I suggest you get at least one operable with what you have, then use it as a ferry service to get the others repaired and returned to the ships.”

One of the soldiers speaks up, “What about the ghosts and the wildlife here, sirs?”

“Take a look around, private. Do you see any wildlife or ghosts nearby?”

They all look around and don’t see any wildlife keeping them hemmed in. Also, the ghost army they saw is gone as well.

“As you can see, they are gone. The wildlife has returned back where they belong.”

“We’ll not be holding you here in the USA. We are going after the leaders who ordered this hit on Richard Moore.”

Captain Borhgess speaks up for them, “Thank you very much, sirs. Since we did a night operation, we’ll be in shifts fixing the stealth choppers while some get much needed sleep and get back on schedule. We’ll sleep near our stealth choppers and stay together as a group.”

“That is a good suggestion, Captain Borhgess. Perhaps this incident will change attitudes around the world that going into debt will be bad for business.”

Captain Borhgess smiles, “Yes it will, sir.” Captain Borhgess turns around to face the soldiers. “Come, let’s return to our stealth choppers and get them fixed. We can return home and change some more attitudes there as well. Peace is always good for business when everyone gets along.”

The soldiers shout out together, “Yes, sir!”

They turn around and return to their downed choppers. Some of the FBI and Charleston Police Department escort them and to keep an eye on them as well. Some of the soldiers even hiked to the shredded inflatibles and picked up the pieces and paddles for a proper clean up of the marshes. They didn’t see any alligators or crabs while they did that.

In about two hours, they were able to ascertain the problems on the stealth choppers. All of them required some fuse replacements to get them airworthy. They checked the distance from the island to their sea ships. They discover they need some more gas in each chopper. They did a siphon transfer of gas to three of the choppers from the others. They get airborne and fly to the sea ships to bring back fuses and external tanks to fill up the other stealth choppers.

When the stranded soldiers shook hands with the crews on the three sea ships, they all started to hear the Creator’s Voice as well. When they get back to their own countries, they will spread the experience with their own countrymen and leaders.

However, it was found that there were two leaders in each of the five countries who pooled their resources to be part of the Euro Scam in their region. They immediately fled their countries with what they could take. They eventually ended up in Tibet to start over in about ten years.

~~~000~~~

In another four hours, all is quiet finally on the island. The FBI supervisor walks up to me. “Well, it seems you’re a fast healer, Richard. If the reports are true about the beating you took, a normal man would be hobbling around here in a wheel chair and crutches. I’m looking forward to your work in getting our computers to be hack proof from these high tech criminals.”

“I’ll be working at our Charleston office for that, sir. I’m also tired of these hackers as well, sir. They have caused too many problems for us.”

“Yes, they have, Richard. We received the email from your company in seconds. It proved that your 3D System works. Interpol found the four who are involved in Brussels.”

“Yes, sir. Just before I was beaten up, I started to work on a new feature of the 3D System.”

“What is it?”

“It is to make the holograms more solid.”

“Hmm . . . that’s interesting, Richard. However, I don’t think that should be available to the public yet. It could make certain crimes increase dramatically if the wrong people get a hold of it.”

“Yes, it would, sir. However, the images have to be within the area of the cameras and the holo-projectors. We put them throughout this area on the trees. It worked really well in seeing the soldiers approach the buildings here. I was able to appear among them and disappear as well, while I stayed inside the main building here.” I take off my helmet and show him the head band. “I created this head band so it will read my thoughts to create an image of myself.” Then another image of myself appears next to me. We both reach forward and touch his chest. We smile at the FBI supervisor. Then the hologram image disappears.

He smiles back, “I see, then with careful planning, a few men can keep many at bay.”

“Perhaps, sir. But it still needs testing, to max it out against hundreds coming at you at once. If the mind gets overwhelmed, the images might disappear.”

“That could happen, Richard. Well, keep at it. I’ll see you in New York City next month when the trial starts. We were able to get a copy of your Rabbit Trails program from Mr. Bryson. We are using it to track down the other accomplices associated with the Euro Scam. We are finding some interesting supporters to the Euro Group here in the USA and abroad.”

“I”m sure it will shake up those governments. They will probably need some new elections to replace those who got caught.”

“I’m sure they will. Well, I must be going.”

We shake hands with each other. Then I see his face change that I have seen many times before. We start to walk together to get away from everyone else around us. We talk quietly.

“Who is speaking to me in my mind, Richard?”

“Did he give a name?”

“Yes he did. He calls himself the Creator of the Universe. I don’t understand this.”

“What’s he telling you?”

“He’s telling me that it has been a long time since I heard his voice. That was when I was a kid in Sunday School class.”

“What caused you to stop hearing him?”

“When my dad was killed by a gunman, who robbed his store. Since then, I blocked the Creator out from my mind.”

“I understand that myself when I heard my family was killed in the car and plane crash in the North Carolina mountains. However, my life changed very much during my junior year in college. I now see the bigger picture what the Creator wants me to do.”

“I remember reading that report, Richard. You knew your family was arriving by car.”

“Yes, sir. My parents told me they were driving to Mount Blanc a week before that weekend. I also know what caused the plane to crash and I met one of The Eleven a little bit later. They know whom I am.”

“You know about The Eleven? They have been a thorn in our side for a long time. Sigh . . . Agent Morrison told me about the one thousand images you used to defeat this one hundred. He said they are for real and from another world you went to. The Creator just told me it is true what you are saying.”

“I’m surprised like you, and the Creator chose me for this task.”

“You’re right. If it was someone from our State Department representing us, a space war could have resulted, not peace. We now have time to get ourselves properly ready in fifty years. Your subroutine elimination of the world wide debt is the first step in the right direction. We need to get the right people in government this time. I now know that we have potential allies out there. Thank you.”

“You’re welcome, sir.”

“Keep earning your black sashes. We might need you for a special op once in awhile. What would be a good code name for you?”

“Well, I would say use Omega Unicorn. Omega is just as good.”

“That’s fine. The Creator also just told me about your special abilities with magic. That will come handy. I’ve seen it twice while I was in England a few years ago. He also just told me that you are descended from King Arthur and will be crowned King of the Isles in the future.”

“I’m aware of that also, sir. But, I must learn more than what King Arthur knew when he became King. I also need to eliminate Mordred’s Legacy before I become King.”

“I’ve heard of that group. I agree. You need to eliminate them some how, Richard.”

“Oh, before you leave. The Creator told me I will meet one of The Eleven while I’m in New York. I think it is just an introduction type meeting.”

“Thanks for telling me that. We’ll see if we can get a photo this time. They have been difficult to identify.”

“They might be using magic to eliminate that. Perhaps this time, with me they will be distracted, you’ll finally be able to get a photo. If that doesn’t work, I’ll describe them to one of your artists.”

He smiles at me, “Yes, that would be great. Well, I’ll see you in New York, next month.”

“See you in the Big Apple, sir. We’ll talk some more in the future.”

We smile at each other while we shake hands again. The FBI supervisor turns around returns to the Coast Guard Helicopter. Agent Morrison and his group have packed up their belongings from the bungalows and stowed them on the ferry. The Charleston Police force who was assigned to the detail did the same thing as well.

All that is left is the Raleigh Police Department. We have our hugs, shaking of hands and slaps on the back. We promise to stay in touch as much as we can. They pack up as well and put them in their vehicles. Randy instructs the Rescue Mission Security members on how to use the 3D Server and the holographic imaging. They made sure the ladies and the children would not have access to it. Ever since that day, no one has bothered the Rescue Mission again, except for one particular instance.

The only time it was tested is when an ex-husband tried to get on the island in the middle of the night. To find his wife to beat her up and take her by force. The security team had no problems in getting him subdued with the 3D Server.

During some quiet time on the island, I visited the wildlife. I gave them thanks and praise for helping me out in my time of need. The dolphins were especially happy they could assist me.

The next month I traveled back and forth between the Rescue Mission and our Charleston office. The engineers and I were able to design and build several large servers to be used in the security agencies here in the USA and with Interpol.
This caused a lot of complaints from the hackers all over the world. They would twitter and blog the frustrations they have with the new system. Also, the sales from my software version of the 3D System went through the roof. Secure-Sys made some excellent profits from the sales in the software and hardware. My holdings and money accounts now start to approach a total of $500,000. Anna and I figured I will be a millionaire in about five years.

The month of September finally ended. Brianna asked me to come to Tennessee for their family Thanksgiving weekend. I had a talk with Mr. Bryson on the phone right after the invitation. He said that is okay that I can leave on Tuesday and come back Sunday. The first week of October begins the court case in New York City. That proved to be an interesting set of events for a lot people.

The Rescue Mission
Chapter 14
Written by rachel76m
Edited by Don Kaufman

Anna and I are staying at the Best Western Hotel, which is eight blocks from the United Nations Headquarters Building #1. Mr. Bryson, Doug Reynolds from R&D and the company attorney are along with us as well. City of Jacksonville Attorney, Stephen Russell and Detective Dan Torres are along with us also. It is a cool morning when we arrived at the hotel from the airport. We get greeted by several FBI agents and Interpol agents when we walk into the main lobby. It is the Monday morning on October 1, 2103.

“Good morning, Mr. Bryson, Richard, Doug and Mitch from Secure-Sys. Also, we welcome attorneys Ms. Dawson and Stephen Russell as well. Welcome to the Big Apple.”

Mr. Bryson speaks up for all of us, “Thank you, sirs.”

“We’ll be your drivers, vehicle transportation and security personnel while you are here. Our first meeting is this afternoon at 1 PM with the judges to review the case with the prosecutors and the defense team. Normally, this court is held in The Hague, Netherlands. But, due to the nature of this world wide problem, it will be held here.”

“So, get checked into your rooms. Richard and Doug, you get to stay here for the day. Then tomorrow morning the proceedings begin.”

“Yes, sir.”

We check into our rooms, and our luggage is brought up to our rooms. If you’re wondering if I brought any fairies with me on this trip, I did not. They are staying with King Oren and Queen White Dove in Mount Blanc, North Carolina. But, I do have the memory of Croin within me as always. My fairies were disappointed in hearing about New York City from Anna Dawson and King Oren’s fairy group. There are not a lot of green areas in the city, except in small parks and the main park which is Central Park. A lot of the butterflies fly from a window garden to a window garden, or even a roof garden.

After getting ourselves checked in and opening our luggage to hang our clothes up, I find out Doug and I are sharing a room. We play some games with our laptops that we brought with us to kill the time during the day. We talk about many things during that time. I shook his hand, not too long after I shook hands with Mr. Bryson that was within my first year at Secure-Sys. Doug asks me questions about Twainor and what it’s like. I try my best in describing the scenery there.

Meanwhile, everyone else is taken down to the UN Building #1. They go over the proceedings and how it will be presented in the court room. The evidence is catalogued and identified. The Defense team then realizes that all it can do are some rebuttals of the evidence and how it was obtained. The second part of the trial is dealing with Brent and his three friends when they beat me up.

It takes them several hours for the Prosecution Team to piece together the time line of events. Some of it even started before I was born. This is to provide background of what happened during the Judgement Years and the idea for the four CEOs to try what they did.

They get done by 5 PM. We all have a nice dinner in an Italian restaurant nearby. We avoid watching TV as much as possible. All that is on are the various stories about the trial we’ll be having the next day beginning at 8:30 AM.

The next morning, we get up at 6AM. We get cleaned up, get dressed and have our breakfast in the restaurant inside the Best Western. We then get escorted to the vans as quickly as possible. We ignore the reporters the best we can. Several of the reporters put microphones in front of my face. I look at one of the reporters really hard and say the phrase, “Back off!” Several reporters back off really quickly and look dumbfounded. Soon, they don’t have anything more to say to me.

~~~000~~~

One of the reporters gets an ‘earful’ from their supervisors in their ear pieces.

“Why didn’t you press in and get an answer?”

“He said ‘back off’, so I backed off and let them through.”

“You fool! We need information on this young man. If you can’t get it, I will get someone else who can!”

“If you were here and he said ‘back off’ to you, you would back off too! Sir!”

~~~000~~~

We are then driven eight blocks to the UN Building. After unloading inside the garage, we are escorted to the elevators. I sit down in the wheel chair that is provided. This is done to surprise the Defense counsel and Brent Morgan especially with his friends. We take several elevators to the main hall where the Security Council meets.

I see Brent and his three friends gathered with the other four men. I see all of them squirming a bit. They look around and see some very mad faces on a lot of people. When Brent and his friends look at me, they all show a smirk smile.

Up front there is a panel of five judges sitting behind their benches. Each one represents one of the permanent members on the Security Council. The center judge picks up the gavel and hits it on the sound block. “Bang!” “Bang!” “Bang!”

Everyone gets quiet to hear the judges. “This court is now in session. We’ll be hearing evidence presented by the prosecution and the defense. Once the deliberations are completed, we, the fifteen members of the Security Council will render the decision and punishment for the defendants. Prosecution, you may begin with your opening remarks, then the Defense will have theirs.”

The US Attorney General stands up to speak. “Thank you, members of the Security Council. This case is most unusual. It was planned for decades until the time was right to unleash this new virus on the entire world. But unknown to the defendants, a single man came up with a new software and hardware scheme to finally clear the havoc being done by the hackers from all around the world on the world wide web. Not only that, this single man did something to get everyone’s attention. He eliminated the world wide debt crisis. If these defendants had been able to accomplish their goals, this world could be very different from now. Most of the countries of the world would have nothing in their bank accounts as a result of their scheme. We will prove each step with the evidence provided. Thank you.” The US AG then sits down.

The Defense Attorney stands up to give his opening remarks, “Thank you, members of the Security Council. I will admit this is a most unusual case as well. I will do my best to defend the accused gathered here. Most of the time in defending the accused, the problem is gathering evidence. That is what I’ll be focusing on here. With that in mind, I hope to show you with a reasonable doubt that these men were not involved in this case. Thank you.” He sits down.

The US AG begins with the history outline of the events for the last seventy years. That is when the hackers came up with a new method to mess up the world wide web of the internet world. They realized that everyone moved in that direction to create a paperless society as much as possible. They figured, if they could slow the networks to a crawl, they would prove their point of the flaws within the system.

However, with that slowing down the speed of the network, transactions from around the world slowed down as well. They had successfully slowed down the network from a 7G network to a 1G network. It is even slower in lesser developed countries with minimal access to the internet.

With that going on, all of the countries in the world started to print money to make up for their losses in all sectors of the world wide businesses. When these high-tech hackers were investigated, they were found to be in league with several major corporations. This was done to put several of the major competitors near bankruptcy or out of business. However, the hardest problem is finding these hackers. They have convoluted the network so much, no one has been able to track them down.

Then the four Belgian businessmen came up with an idea to ruin the US dollar and make the Euro the number one currency in the world. By this time, the US dollar has been devaluated so much, it cost $10 per gallon at the pumps for the average consumer. Many businesses went out of business when people stopped purchasing their goods.

The only bright spot in the entire news is the fall of the Desert Empire. Up until that time, the networks were running a 7G network world wide. Just when the desert countries thought it was their time to rule the world, they got the biggest surprise of all. Their children and grand children rose up and killed all of the leaders who wanted to rule the world with hate, blood, no freedom and war.

They were led by a man found in Israel. Some said he was the Messiah promised to come. The main reason for that is he reached out to the younger generation between the Jews and the Arabs. Once the Desert Empire crumbled, this man hasn’t been found to this date. Some say he became just another rabbi or another leader. When the dust started to settle during the Judgment Years, several earthquakes had rattled the Jerusalem area. One of them caused the Dome and the other Arab projects under the mount to crumble. An air strike was coordinated from several Arab countries. When they fired their nuclear ballistic missiles at the country, a major eruption occurred in the desert. Three fissures in the Dead Sea area came back to life after being dormant for thousands of years. They shot up a huge curtain of fire and ash. All of the ballistic missiles detonated in the air. The fall out from the nuclear blast stayed in the air long enough to blow back to the countries where the missiles were fired from. When the ash fell, the people rose up to kill their leaders for their short sightedness. The survivors vowed to make peace with Israel so they could live a longer life.

Then all of the radical desert groups abandoned their projects against the Jewish people and left the land in fear. When they entered the great mosque in Saudi Arabia one day for their daily prayers after the fall out, a huge tree sprouted through the Rock. It quickly spread its seedlings as it grew. The mosque in the desert is no longer a place to worship now. It became a forest in the desert and started to reclaim the desert. When the scientists examined the tree and the seedlings, they get a big surprise that it is one of the ancient trees long thought to be extinct and can survive in the desert easily while reclaiming the dry land. Also some different ancient tree seeds begin to sprout as well that had lain dormant for thousands of years. A few years later, rain clouds begin to rain upon the new forest making it more lush than ever before. Some of the radical groups fled to Tibet to start over.

“So, now we have to come to this point in time. The four Belgian men contacted several notorious hackers to create a four-part virus.”

“Objection! Where is the proof they contacted these so-called hackers?”

Judge answers, “Sustained.”

The US AG continues as he picks up a piece of document on the table. “This list was created by the latest sniffer program created by Richard Moore. He called his program ‘Rabbit Trails’. It can sniff out the faintest of trails without being detected.”

“Objection! My IT personnel team has been unable to analyze this program. It is not an open source code.”

The US AG looks at the panel.

A judge answers for him, “You may answer the Defense.”

“It was never written that all codes are to be ‘an open source’. He has the right to protect his files as he sees fit. He has his inventions properly recorded in the US Patent Office. If and when they expire in 20 years and they become available to everyone, it is up to the buyer to figure out what he did. If they can’t solve it, then Richard still has ownership of his inventions. Also Secure-Sys has ownership of any improvements they make to Richard’s inventions.”

Brent whispers loudly to the Defense Team. “What did Richard invent?”

The Defense then answers him, “He invented the 3D Server System while he was in college.”

Brent groans out loud, “What is that?”

The Secure-Sys group gives a slight smile as we shake our heads from side to side.

A judge speaks up next, “You mean to tell me you don’t know what it is? Don’t answer my question now, Mr. Morgan. It will be answered eventually.”

He answers meekly, “Yes, sir.”

The Prosecution continues its case. Then the prosecution produces a document that shows the first email between Brent Morgan and the four Belgian CEO’s.

“Objection! The document was retrieved illegally.”

The Prosecutor turns around to face the Defense counsel. “No, it wasn’t. It was obtained after the arrest of the Belgian CEO’s on their computers. Interpol then did a thorough search of their PCs for the evidence. They found hundreds of emails that implicate other leaders from around the world. We even found an email that we haven’t been able to find yet. Apparently it is now a dead account. The email is from a Mr. Grangor.”

~~~000~~~

In the penthouse of UN Building #2, Grangor adds his comment, while they are watching the proceedings on their SHDTV’s (Super High Definition TV). “I immediately closed the account once they were found, Thrashtin.”

“That’s good, Grangor.”

~~~000~~~

The Prosecutor then shows letters gleaned from their PCs. They discussed the need for a bigger change than the one that was started during the early part of the 2010 decade, the move to a socialistic world wide economy. But this time, to get rid of the US dollar and make the Euro the supreme currency.

Then the Prosecutors produces the email that the four Belgian CEO’s sent to Brent Morgan in his response to the new employee of Richard Moore at Secure-Sys. It states that Richard must be put into the hospital so their plans can proceed on schedule.

“Here is a document from Richard Moore’s Rabbit Trails program when he began to suspect more problems from Brent Morgan. It is dated a week before Mr. Bryson went to the DC Security Conference. It shows the three of the Belgian CEO’s in connection to Brent Morgan. This was then verified by Doug Reynolds from their R&D Department.”

“Objection! Whom or what is Doug Reynold’s connection to this case?”

“Doug Reynold was employed at a French computer manufacturing company. He was there for about two and half years in their college summer intern program. They have kept in contact with each other since then. The CEO of the French company was contacted by the four Belgian CEO’s to participate in their endeavors. He politely refused the offer, but he requested that they keep in contact to evaluate the project to see if it is a feasible venture. He then arranged to have Doug Reynolds to have an invitation and be a part of the on-line chat group.”

The Prosecutor continues his presentation of the evidence.

“Now, we’ll view a 3D video that Richard Moore recorded while he was beaten up. Please pay attention to the conversation between them and not the physical act they performed on Richard.”

A tech comes forth to set up the 3D Server with the holo-transmitters and cameras. Once he is finished, the Prosecutor hands a disc to the tech. He puts it into the tray to play it. Soon, the space within the four holo-transmitters produces a 3D image of my apartment.

~~~000~~~

I whisper to Dan Torres after we see the spot that I sprayed the four. “This is just a thought, Dan. Is it possible that spray could be still on their faces after these two months?”

“It’s possible, Richard. It depends on how well they clean themselves in the prisons. Some of it could still be there in the cracks and crevices of their skin folds and hair.”

I smile at the Detective, “When you get called up, use a black light to see if it is still there.”

He smiles back, “I’ll be glad to do that, Richard. It will be fun to see their reactions.”

I smile back, “Yes, it will be a good laugh.”

~~~000~~~

Dan Torres whispers to one of the officers. He nods his head up and down quickly. He stands and exits to one of the side doors. He returns to our group in about five minutes. He discretely gives him a black light bulb mounted on a base with a battery and switch.

“I will now call up Richard Moore, to explain the conversation he had with four men who beat him up.”

I push the wheels on the wheel chair to maneuver around to the witness stand. I stop before it. A man comes up with a book. I place my left hand onto the book. I lift my right hand up.

“Do you solemnly to tell the truth and the whole truth?”

“I do, sir.”

“You may stay there until you are done being a witness.”

“Yes, sir.”

“Richard Moore, I’ve looked at your record while in college. It seems there was a group of people who wanted to stop you. Will you please summarize that for us?”

“Yes, sir.” I then give a brief summary of the events during my time in college after my Junior year. When I mentioned what I did in creating the trap on the safe, I see Brent rubs his hands on his face. “I chose Secure-Sys to manufacture my 3D System. I could have chosen someone else, but when I shook hands with Mr. Bryson for the first time, I felt I could trust him and the company.”

“That’s a big trust on your part, Richard. What happened at your graduation ceremonies?”

“A week before the ceremonies, I received an envelope pushed under my door. It only had the words ‘To Richard, from Anon.’ I immediately called Captain Jackson at the Raleigh Police Department. He sent a CSI crew. It was picked up and examined very carefully. It was discovered to have cocaine powder on the outside and a note on the inside. The note was a threat on my life during the ceremonies.”

“Who wrote the note?”

“A group of local companies who called themselves The Consortium. The Raleigh Police Department and I formulated a plan to stop the attack somehow.”

“What happened next?”

“We decided to use the 3D Server to keep everyone safe and to draw out the assassin.”

The US AG turns to the tech. “Play the graduation ceremonies at NC State.”

“Yes, sir.” The tech switches the DVD and plays the graduation ceremonies.

Everyone is amazed at how the 3D System works. Brent and his friends are more alarmed when they see me defeat the Jackal.

~~~000~~~

The Defense and the defendants talk quietly to each other while they are watching the 3D video.

“Oh, man. He was telling the truth, guys. He does have the Shaolin degree. We are in big trouble now.”

“Yeah, he played us and baited us into his trap.”

The Defense talks quietly back to them. “You told me he is a sissy.”

“I thought that when I shook his hand for the first time. He must have relaxed it back then.”

~~~000~~~

There is rumbling of voices in the crowd. The judge uses his gavel several times to quiet them down. “Bang! Bang! Bang!”

“After my graduation, my 3D Server was registered as a brand new US Patent. It is the first of its kind. I was hired by Secure-Sys to oversee the production and continue in being a software programmer for them. I worked in their Charleston office for the first month. After that, I moved to their Jacksonville office permanently. When I met Brent Morgan for the first time and shook hands, I got an interesting reaction from Brent.”

“In what way, Richard?”

“He tried to squeeze my hand really hard. He had a smirky grin on his face as he did it. I immediately relaxed my hand.”

“What is your experience if someone tries to squeeze their hand like that?”

“It usually means it is a sign of intimidation. They are superior to you. That immediately made me more wary of Brent.”

“What happened during those two years at Secure-Sys?”

“I traveled to Charleston several times a year to oversee the production of the 3D Server. After my first year, I was promoted to Assistant Senior Programmer.”

“What happened during that time, Richard?”

“I was assigned to verify the programs to make sure they are operating the way they should be. However, I found some code that circumvented the security protocols.”

“What did those security protocols do?”

“It authorizes the code to make sure it passes the tests. But, in this case, I found some ports wide open that allowed easy access to the directories. This was even done to my contributions to the program. So, I immediately requested from Mr. Bryson a copy of our programs and a copy of the accounting records to analyze further back at my apartment.”

“Why did you want to look at the accounting records?”

“To make sure no money was being embezzled or stolen. If it was being done to the programs, Secure-Sys’ own servers were at risk as well.”

“What did you find out?”

“Well, my initial investigation showed Brent embezzling money of about $500,000.00. I followed the money trail with my Rabbit Trails program that Secure-Sys now owns. I found three names in Europe.”

“Who were those three names, Richard?”

“It was Mr. Janssens, Mr. Verbeke and Mr. Legrand.”

“Let the record show, that Richard found three of the four defendants from Belgium.”

“Whom did you confer with about this?”

“I printed out the names from my search and handed it to Doug Reynolds.”

The US AG picks up a piece of paper from the table. “This is the printout that Richard produced on his computer and gave to Doug Reynolds. It shows the three names in question with the date and time on his computer at Secure-Sys.” He puts the paper back onto the table. “What happened next?”

“Just when Mr. Bryson left for the DC Security Conference, I went in to see Dave Parker for my yearly review. I then got word that I’m fired.”

“That’s unusual.”

“Yes, it is, sir. I had my suspicions it was Brent, but I needed to prove it. So, I did some more investigation on the DVD’s provided to me. I did find out that Brent did originate the email from his computer and have it appear to come from Mr. Bryson’s computer. Also, I looked into the clients that buy our products. Each one had the same bypass code that Brent wrote to circumvent their security protocols.”

“Who are some of your important clients, Richard?”

“The City of Jacksonville courthouse, the Police Department, and several banks in the metro area of Jacksonville.”

“What did you do then?”

“I immediately wrote a software version of my 3D Server system.” I then continue in telling the events up until the day Brent showed up that fateful Monday morning. “I was then beaten up severely by Brent and his friends with baseball bats.”

“Tech, play the beating of Richard Moore again.”

Everyone is amazed that Richard took such a beating from them. The defendants try to give a slight smile while it is happening.

“Thank you, Richard. Defense, you may cross examine.”

The Defense Council stands up and approaches me. The Prosecutor returns to his seat.

“Let’s see, where do I begin? From what I can find about you, you have had an interesting life. What happened to your parents? Are they still alive?”

“No sir. They are not alive. In fact, my entire family was killed in a plane crash while I was in school during my Junior year, Spring Semester.”

Caught off guard by my quick answer, “Uh . . . uh . . . I’m sorry to hear that. That’s the same information I got from the police in North Carolina. Okay . . . here is my next question. Where did you get your idea to create the 3D Server?”

“From one of my classes in college. I did a thorough investigation of the current technology. I found the flaws these hackers were using to slow down the world wide network. From that, I developed a plan to end all that. I had to make sure all of the ports are accounted for in my designs.”

“Surely, you jest. They’re more than 30,000 ports in our networks. You must have missed several of them.”

“No, sir. I made sure all of them are accounted for. I became determined to have no more back doors in the system for anyone to steal money again. Isn’t that why the world is in terrible financial straights today if I didn’t do what I did two months ago? What if a nuclear missile came right at New York here? Would the hackers prevent the military, state and local governments from doing their jobs?”

We hear a lot of people of snickering and chuckling when I turn the tables back on the Defense.

The judge uses his gavel once to quiet everyone down. “Bang!”

The Defense Counsel stares at me with frustration. He turns around walks back to his table to sit down. “I’m through with this person. I have the right to call him up during my time to present our case.”

A judge speaks up. “You have the right, Defense Counsel.”

The US AG stands back up and approaches me. He smiles at me. “Why did you do it, Richard?”

“I knew the world wide debt was a huge problem for everyone. The governments were or are printing money left and right to pay for things. This caused all currencies to be devalued in value. Right now, it costs $10 per gallon to buy gas here in the USA. That is too much to pay for it. The world debt really started to increase when the governments removed the precious metals backing of the paper currencies during the 1900s.”

Most of the people look down in humbleness and agree with what I said.

“Also there were no checks and balances to pay off the debt in a timely manner. The only country that seems to have a good plan is the fifty year plan from Israel.”

“Why that country, Richard?”

“Their books are corrected. Debts are canceled or forgiven. I suggest to the world that you begin there to solve your financial problems. They started doing it during the Judgement Years for the first time. From what I’ve read on the internet, they will be on a better financial ground each time they do it.”

~~~000~~~

In Israel, men and women are watching the proceedings with earnest attention on a huge digital video board in the Knesset.

“He did it, my King. He got the world to pay attention to us.”

“Yes he did, Prime Minister. Make plans to have the next World Financial Summit here next year. Also, make sure to purchase and upgrade our computers for Israel and Mossad from Secure-Sys.”

“Yes, my King.”

“Richard Moore will be an important ally for Earth as time goes on. We must keep tabs on his life. He will be needed for the Ultimate Last Battle.”

“Yes, my King. Is he like you?”

“He will have a long life like mine. So will his wife when the time is right. But their physical lives will end after the Ultimate Last Battle.”

“Ah . . . that is when we get transformed into our new bodies.”

“Yes it is, Prime Minister. We’ll discuss this some more as time goes on. He will come to visit us during his honeymoon trip to the Mediterranean.”

“Yes, my King.”

Everyone in the Knesset claps their hands and give praise to the Creator that another prophecy has come true. It was verified through the infamous Torah Codes. The researchers put the numerical total of ‘Omega Unicorn’ in Hebrew into the program. It showed my name, my heritage and what I did at this time. The Torah researchers were especially astonished when they found a few future events that I will do within the next fifty years and in the far future.

~~~000~~~

“That’s a very good suggestion, Richard. Getting back to the time line, Richard. What did you do to thwart Brent’s plan?”

“I created the software version of my 3D Server for one thing. But I had to get it into Mr. Bryson’s hands as quickly as possible. I emailed him a note for him and several other important people in the Jacksonville area. Most of them are here this morning. I knew our servers were compromised because of what Brent had done. So I had them come to my apartment for the video show and giving the DVD’s to them. I designed it to be interactive with their questions that I guessed they would ask me if I was there.”

“Then what happened?”

“After the beating, they came to my apartment the next day. From then on, it was out of my hands. It was up to them to finish what I started.”

“That’s very good, Richard. You may return back to the others.”

“Yes, sir.” I push my wheel chair back where the others are in our group. I get turned around, and I get a couple of touches to my back and shoulders. I nod my head up and down quietly to their response.

“I will now call up Detective Dan Torres from Jacksonville Police Department. He was the officer who came out to investigate the apartment.”

Detective Dan Torres comes walking up. After taking the oath, he sits down in the witness chair.

“What did you find in Richard’s apartment?”

“I didn’t know what to expect. What we didn’t find were finger prints from the four men in question. All we found was Richard lying on the floor and unconscious. After he was taken to the hospital, I drove to the hospital to hopefully get more information from Mr. Bryson.”

“What did he tell you?”

“He gave me a copy of the beating right then and there. He told me it was recorded at his office while it took place.”

“Objection! That is evidence not secured properly! That is heresay!”

A judge speaks up, “Overruled Defense. Mr. Bryson freely gave Dan Torres a copy of the beating. He didn’t have to sign for the release.”

“Please continue, Mr. Torres.”

“I took the DVD back to my office to review the beating. Everything was typical in the beating. They argued a lot as we just saw displayed here. However, Richard said something that got my attention.”

“What is it, Detective?”

“Richard said that Jackson from Raleigh would know what he sprayed him with.”

~~~000~~~

Captain Jackson and his officers are laughing in the recreation room while they are watching the proceedings on TV.

“Brent is in for a surprise.”

“He sure will be, Captain.”

Everyone laughs some more.

~~~000~~~

“Did you find out what that meant?”

“Yes, I did. I asked Mr. Bryson after we met at the apartment witnessing the 3D video that Richard put together. He said that Jackson from Raleigh is Captain Jackson from the Raleigh Police Department. I called Captain Jackson to find out what the connection is.”

“Did he tell you what the connection is?”

“Yes, he did. It goes back to the incident with the 3D Server at NC State and the booby-trapped safe. I can show you, if you allow me to approach the four defendants.”

“Objection!”

“I know it is a valid objection, Defense. But, I’m allowing it for proof. Dan Torres, you may do your demonstration.”

“Thank you, sir. I have a portable black light with me right now.” Dan Torres stands up and removes the black light device from inside his jacket. He walks up to the table and places it on the table in front of Brent and his three friends. He turns it on.

Quickly there is a greenish glow from around their faces and hands. There are traces of glow in the dark spray in the crevices and cracks of their hands, eyes, mouth and hair line. Even the bumps from the insect stings and bites glowed as well. Everyone sees it and on the TV monitors. The four men look each other with astonishment.

“Arrrrghh!!!”

“We’ve been ghosted!”

“Noooo!! This is humiliating!”

“Curse you, Richard!”

They put their hands to their faces to hide the glowing lines and dots on their faces.

Everyone in the Main Hall begins to laugh.

The judges pound the gavels several times to bring order back to the hall. “Bang! Bang! Bang!”

Everyone quiets down. The Defense Counsel and the four Belgian men close their eyes as they shake their heads from side to side.

Dan Torres, picks up the black light device and turns if off. He returns back to the witness chair.

“So then what happened, Detective?”

“With a similar black light device we were able to find the gloves and finger prints that Brent and the others left behind. We found it in Brent’s vehicle with ease. We also found the magnetic card reader that he used to get inside Dave Parker’s office and Richard’s apartment.”

“What clued you that they used a magnetic card reader?”

“I went to the apartment manager. They also have a 3D Server installed there as well. When it was replayed, it shows them going into the apartment and running out of the apartment in haste.”

“Objection! There is no record of them in the apartment.”

“Prosecutor, do you have the proof?”

“I do, your honor.” He walks over to the table to pick up a DVD and two pieces of paper. “On this sheet is the signature from the local judge in Jacksonville who authorized Dan Torres to get a copy of that recording. On this other sheet is the signed document by the apartment manager they can take a copy from them. Tech, please play this DVD.”

The tech puts in the DVD and plays the recording. Everyone sees what Brent and his three friends did before going into the apartment and running out of the apartment screaming.

Everyone chuckles when they see them running out of the apartment.

“Why did they run out of the apartment, Detective?”

“Richard had left his sliding glass doors open on his balcony. A horde of wasps, bees and gnats came in and attack their faces, arms and hands.”

“Did you have the spray analyzed?”

“Yes, we analyzed Richard’s gloves that he used to spray them with. We found a sugar water container tied to the glow in the dark spray liquid container as well. When the pressurized glow in the dark container got released, it also drew out some sugar water at the same time.”

We all hear some snickering and laughter. They quiet down quickly before a gavel could be used.

“Thank you, Detective. That is all I have to ask. He’s your witness, Defense.”

“The Defense has no questions for Detective Torres.”

Dan Torres gets up and walks back to his chair.

I hear Dan Torres whispers to me. “You made it really easy for us, Richard.”

“Captain Jackson said the same thing in catching The Consortium.”

We all chuckle and giggle quietly among us.

The rest of the Prosecution had the rest of the events explained up until the New Dawn virus was released. The Prosecution brought up Mr. Bryson to explain the events and what they found with Richard’s information.

Detective Torres comes back up to the stand to explain the subterfuge of the photo and movie taken at the hospital just before the New Dawn was released. The Defense objected to that as well. Dan stepped down from the witness stand. An Interpol agent comes up to explain what they found out.

“We found the movie and photos in question on one of the PCs that the four Belgian CEOs used.”

He stepped down and returned to his seat.

Then the Prosecutor begins with the relaying of emails from the Belgium CEOs to Brent and what the code is that was sent, ‘4PM-B Time’.

“Objection! That code was never identified.”

“Yes it was, Defense. I call up Mr. Pierre. He is the CEO of the French owned company that Doug Reynolds worked at.”

Mr. Pierre walks up to the witness table. He gives his oath to tell the truth. He then sits down in the witness chair.

“Mr. Pierre, what is your connection with these four Belgian CEOs and Doug Reynolds?”

“Our computer and software company does business with many companies in Europe. These four CEO’s are from ten of the top companies that we provide our services to. We supply various financial packages that are similar to the favorite ones found in the USA. Doug came to us to complete his college summer intern program with us. He has uncles, aunts, a grandmother and grandfather still living in France. One of their children, Doug’s father, moved to the USA to work the branch office of his company there. He met his wife there and got married there in the USA.”

“I see. Continue on with the story.”

“These four Belgian CEO’s approached me one day to take part in their venture to tip the balance in the Euro’s favor.”

“Are there problems with the US dollar?”

“Yes, the world wide debt is a huge problem, especially for the USA. They owe more than any other country. In Europe, we had tried the Socialistic model. We learned it wasn’t going to work. We modified it to reflect the practice in the USA during the 1900s. But, with the last five presidents, they lost their way. These four Belgian CEO’s told me to invest in their endeavors.”

“How much did they want from you?”

“It started out with 100 thousand Euros. On the next installment, they wanted more. At least ten times more. That sent a red flag up in our financial department. That is when I knew there was something more to this then I was told. I asked them to keep me a member of their email group and chat room. I also asked that Doug Reynolds be a member as well.”

“Why Doug?”

~~~000~~~

The four Belgian CEO’s mumble to themselves.

“Grr . . .”

“That is why our plan failed.”

“Yes, he’ll pay for this, my friends.”

“Yes, he will.”

~~~000~~~

I look over to the four Belgian CEO’s. I see the look on their faces. I lean over to an Interpol agent and whisper to him. “I don’t like those faces from the four Belgian CEO’s.”

He looks over to see them. He sees their determination to do something. “I see it, Richard. Thank you. We’ll keep an extra eye on them.” He whispers to another Interpol agent next to him and an FBI agent. They nod their heads up and down slightly.

~~~000~~~

“After his internship and graduation, he got hired by Secure-Sys. I then had an ally in a good security software company over there. We communicated quite often. After seven years since his hire, he emailed me a note of a new employee they just hired, Richard Moore. He told me of the most incredible technology that was ever created for a brand-new architecture and software design. I kept tabs on Richard by reading as much news as I can about him. From what I’ve witnessed here, the 3D Server System will make the others obsolete very fast. I intend to buy a system as quick as I can.”

~~~000~~~

The phones rang off the hook at Secure-Sys in Jacksonville, Charleston and in Texas once the French CEO said that. Sales shot through the roof world wide. The back log of product going out from Secure-Sys reached about six months before it settled down to a constant flow. The other software and hardware companies raced to see if they can buy out Secure-Sys before someone else does. The Secure-Sys lawyers fended everyone off as best they can. Secure-Sys is not for sale!

Once a server was purchased by a competitor, they get blown away by the complexity of the boards and the CPU core. When they tried to examine the core program, they encountered the five-word password system and the four gate systems. They tried to figure out the algorithm, but they couldn’t. In twenty years when the patent expires, they still couldn’t figure out what I did in designing it. To this date, the technology still belongs to me and Secure-Sys. A lot of them gave up and went of business. Some main frame companies found success in using the 3D Server as a port server to their own network. Some of the software companies bought into the license provided by Secure-Sys so they can run their applications with the new server. These companies proved they can work with the new changes and stay in business.

~~~000~~~

“Did the four Belgian CEO’s email you the code?”

“No, they didn’t. They posted it on the chat room instead. They posted 4PM-B Time.”

“What does that mean?”

“It means 4 PM, Belgian Time. Also, it had a two fold meaning. ‘B’ also means the number two. It therefore means a twofold attack at the same time. I emailed Doug as soon as I saw it scroll up the screen.”

“That is a big trust to have in Doug Reynolds. Why did you trust him?”

“Doug also wrote me of Richard’s suspicions as well when he found the connection with Brent and three of the four Belgian CEO’s. I then knew there was something big was going to happen soon.”

“Thank you, Mr. Pierre.” He turns around and faces the Defense Counsel. “Your witness.”

“Sigh . . . I have no questions for Mr. Pierre.”

“I call up Detective Dan Torres again.”

Detective Torres sits in the witness chair again.

“What did you do to make sure all was safe in Jacksonville?”

“Attorney Stephen Russell and I went to various banks to make sure Richard’s program was downloaded. Only the courthouse, the police station and the bank where Secure-Sys had their accounts downloaded Richard’s new 3D software version. This was on Thursday before the virus was released.”

“What happen when the virus was released the next day?”

“Instant panic for the next 24 hours. The phone lines and the internet went into a snail pace. I was at Secure-Sys when it happened. I had four officers to make the arrests.”

“What did the four men do at Secure-Sys?”

“They commandeered four servers. Brent Morgan commandeered Secure-Sys. Darren McIntyre commandeered the bank where Secure-Sys has their accounts. Brian Dixon commandeered the Duval County Court House. Michael Pearson commandeered the City of Jacksonville Police Department. Darren then released a copy of the New Dawn virus from a jump drive provided by the four Belgian CEOs. They were to act as back up and to take a foothold here in the USA.”

“But that didn’t happen, Detective.”

“No it didn’t. When the virus was unleashed here, it encountered Richard’s subroutine that caused several things to happen. One, it caused it to trigger open the 3D Server system software version. The second thing it did, it changed the destructive nature of the New Dawn virus. Instead of wiping out the balances, it wiped out only the debts owed by the people and companies. It kept the principal amounts in the bank accounts.”

“I see. What did you do next?”

“I was in Secure-Sys’ Central computer room. We released the Rabbit Trails program. It generated 20,000 lines of data. We fed it into a map database system. It ended in Belgium. We immediately sent the files to the FBI and Interpol immediately.”

“How long did it take for them to receive it?”

“Ben Hawkins and David McGuire made sure they had secure lines to those agencies using Richard’s 3D System in place several days before then. They received the files in seconds, not hours.”

A round of hand clapping and applause is heard in the Main Hall. The judge uses his gavel to silence the crowd. “Bang! Bang! Bang!”

“Thank you, Detective. You may return to your seat.” He turns around to face the Defense. “Your witness.”

“I have no questions for the Detective.”

“I call up Interpol Agent Lemiux, from the Belgium Interpol Office.”

Interpol Agent Lemiux walks up and stands next to the witness stand. He gives his oath and sits down in the chair.

“Agent Lemiux. When did you receive the email from the Paris Office?”

“We received it five minutes after 4 PM. Once we opened the attachments, we knew where to go reach the four Belgian CEO’s. It took about five minutes to get there. We found them in a multistory building in downtown Brussels. They were frantically typing away in front of their PCs.”

“What were they doing?”

“They were trying to save their money. They tried to hide the money in various offshore accounts and in Switzerland. We arrested them. Then I sat down in front of a terminal to get more information. I printed out their email account list and chat room lists. We also took the four PCs with their hard-drives for further investigation.”

“What did that reveal?”

“We found the names of at least one hundred people from around the world who would benefit if the USA dollar should fail. We also analyzed the New Dawn virus as well. Not only did it install the Euro as the chief currency. They had security protocols that would create holes in the banks all around the world. What this meant, they would have the opportunity to steal money from any country when they want to, even from the leaders who supported them from that country.”

Everyone in the Main Hall clamored with the loudest roar of all. They all screamed at the four Belgian CEO’s. The four Belgian CEO’s tried to shrink and sink in their chairs to ‘hide’ from the cameras and the people who saw them. At last, their true agenda is out. Brent and his three friends look at the four Belgian CEO’s with astonishment.

Brent yells out loud first, “What? You told me we could do what we want when we had control of Florida and eventually the USA! We would be the new leaders of the government here!”

Brian screams, “You are a bunch of thieving cads!”

Darren yells out loud, “We gave up our careers for this?! You’re a bunch of nut cases and losers!”

Michael screams last, “This New Dawn virus is not a revolution, it’s a scam to steal money like any other thief would!”

The judges slam their gavels on the sounding boards, “Bang! Bang! Bang!”

“Order in the Court!”

“Bang! Bang! Bang!”

“Order in the Court!”

“Bang! Bang! Bang!”

“Order in the Court!”

“Bang! Bang! Bang!”

The Defense Counsel team puts their hands to their faces to hide behind. He can’t believe what he heard from the Interpol Agent. There is no way they will be able to sway the bench now.

The Prosecution Team and our group all smile at each when we hear what is going on. Eventually, everyone gets quiet.

The US AG speaks up next, “Your honors, the Prosecution rests its case.”

The Defense Attorney stands up, “In light of the testimony given. The Defense concedes victory to the Prosecution.” He sits down.

A Belgian CEO speaks up, “Aren’t you going to defend us?”

“Uh, excuse me. If your New Dawn Virus had worked, I would have no money in my bank account because it is in US dollars here. If you ask me, I’m coming out ahead right now and be able to go home because of what Richard Moore did. However, every one of you is going to prison for a long time!! In addition, there will be more joining you from the others who supported you!”

I push my wheel chair out of the row behind the Prosecution Team, as soon as Brent sees me in the clear. He gets really mad. He jumps the table to assault me. So do the other three friends. “You!! How dare you humiliate us in front of the world?!”

As soon as I see them come toward me, I jump out of the wheel chair. I meet Brent Morgan first. “Here, let me shake your hand, Brent!” I take my right hand and squeeze his right hand really hard.

“Ahhh! My hand!” He looks at me scared now. He then tries to change his face to a determination to take me down.

“Now for a taste of my Shaolin training I wouldn’t do in my apartment! Fools!”

The officers make a circle to keep everyone away. They let Brent and his three friends try to take me down.

Darren, Michael and Brian look around quickly to find an object to use. They take a wooden chair and break it into pieces quickly.

I immediately kick Brent in the calf of his right leg. He crumples to the ground when I let go of his hand.

“My leg, I think you broke it!” He crumples to a chair nearby.

“I did break it, Brent! Just like you did it to me!” I turn my head to face the other three. They circle around me like vultures.

Brent yells out through his leg pain, “Take down the sissy, men!”

I use my peripheral vision as I see them walking around me.

~~~000~~~

People from around the world are watching their TVs with great anticipation. They are hoping I would defeat them easily. They know one is down and out of the picture.

~~~000~~~

The Raleigh Police Department are watching intently the fight on TV.

“That’s it, Richard. Size them up. See who goes first.”

~~~000~~~

In the prison where Josh is sitting with a bunch of people of rooting for Richard to win. They found out from their relatives. Their own bank accounts are saved as well from the New Dawn Virus scam as well. Some of them can’t wait to greet the eight men when they get in prison.

“That’s it Richard! You got these a-holes in the bag!”

~~~000~~~

Use a mix of animal moves, Croin?

Yes, Richard. Let’s really scare them. A broken leg bone in each one will do nicely.

Sounds good to me, my friend. Be ready to upset their stomachs.

I’ll be ready.

~~~000~~~

“Captain Jackson also told me we need to be ready to catch their weapons, Lemiux. Richard will disarm and toss the weapons toward us.”

“We’ll be ready, Torres.”

They quickly whisper to the other officers to be ready when I toss the broken pieces toward them.

~~~000~~~

They walk around me some more. Once they feel the time is right, Brian swings for my head with his broken piece. I duck down and grab his wrist quickly. I immediately rake my hands across his stomach. “Roo . . . arr!!” I then kick my leg into his lower calf to break it. “Cra . . . ack!”

“My leg! My stomach!” He relaxes his hand on the broken piece. I take it and toss it to one of the officers. I do a fast crane wing slash at Brian’s face. The air current slices a small cut on his cheek.

Darren thinks he has the opportunity with my back to him. He comes in quickly. I do a quick turn and do a mantis arm block on the broken piece. My muscles stiffen up tightly just before he hits it. “You can’t break my arm again, Darren!”

“What!? We crippled you! You shouldn’t be standing!”

I immediately grab the broken piece with the other hand. I yank it out of his hand and toss it another officer. I use my left hand to grab his left hand. I squeeze it hard.

“Ahhh! My hand!”

“Here’s more, Darren!” I do a stomach slash onto his stomach. “Roo . . . arr!”

“Ooooh . . . my stomach!”

I then kick his leg calf like I did to Brent and Brian. “Crack!”

“Owww . . . My leg!”

I do a crane wing slash at his face while he falls down to the ground. He is soon sporting a cut on his cheek.

Michael just stands there still as can be. He can’t believe what he is seeing. Three are down very quickly.

I turn around to face him. “Now for you, Michael. You broke my fingers many times!”

“I’ll still bust them up, sissy!”

“No, you won’t. Not this time!” I stalk my prey carefully. I pounce once he does a side step in the air.

Michael puts his foot down quickly and comes in with a stabbing thrust toward me. I now know he is off balance in his stance. I turn sideways quickly to dodge his thrust. I quickly grab his middle fingers on both of his hands. I pull them back quickly to break them.

“Cra . . . ack! Cra . . . ack!”

~~~000~~~

People everywhere wince as if they experienced the pain themselves.

~~~000~~~

Josh yells out loud, “I love it Richard! Two for the price of one idiot!”

~~~000~~~

“Arrggh!!! My fingers!”

“Yeah, I broke them all right.”

He immediately lets go of the broken piece. I take it and toss it to another officer. I then immediately rake my fingers across his stomach. “Rooaarrr!”

“My stomach!”

I then kick him in the leg calf like I did to the others. “Crack!” Michael crumples to the ground in pain. I do another crane wing slash at his face as he falls to the floor. A cut appears on his cheek like the others.

By this time, Brent gets back up. I hear him breathing behind me. “Pant . . . pant . . .”

I turn around to face him.

“I’m the real man, sissy!”

“I’m sorry, Brent. I told you I earned the Shaolin brown sash with the third degree. But yet, you didn’t believe me then, and you are denying it now. You kicked me in the jaw to silence me. Not this time! You only have one good leg left. What will you do?”

“I’m going to do this!” He takes a chair and throws it at me. He then grabs a broken chair piece once he let’s go of the chair.

I grab the chair and toss it out of the way. Brent comes with a stabbing thrust like Michael. I dodge it quickly by turn sideways.

“What!? I’ve never seen someone move so fast!”

I grab his wrists quickly. I break his middle fingers like I did to Michael.

“Crack!” “Crack!”

“Oww! My fingers!”

I then take the broken piece and toss it to another officer. I then rake my hands across his stomach. “Rooo . . . aaarrr!”

“Ohhh . . . my stomach!”

I then kick him in the other calf leg. “Crack!”

While he falls to the ground, I do two crane wing slashes at his face. Both of his cheeks are sporting cuts there. Everyone cheers out loud that I won. All four of them are groaning in pain on the floor.

“Impossible!”

“We crippled him!”

“He shouldn’t be standing.”

“Unnnnhhh.. . . . I can’t stand up.”

I look over each one, “Now you know how I felt when you broke my bones!” Croin, let’s do a final roar with some glowing eyes and hot air that they can only see and no one else.

Yes!

I drop my voice to a lower level to make it earth shattering to them. “. . . rrrrr . . .grrrr. . .rrrr . . . .grrrrr . . . . ”

~~~000~~~

An inmate yells at Josh, “What’s he doing, Josh?”

“I’ve seen it once before. If Richard can do it, he’s going to really scare the crap out them.”

“Alright!”

All of the inmates are shouting out together, “Do it! Do it! . . . “

~~~000~~~

“. . . .RRRRRR . . OOOOaaaaarrrrr! RrrrRRooo . . . arrr!”

All four of them scream when they see my eyes glow and feel the hot air across their faces. “ARRRrrrrrgh!! EEEeeeek! NOOOOoooo!” “EEEEEEeeeeek! Help me!”

All four of them wet and soil their pants as they scream like girls.

Everyone in the Main Hall are surprised that I could do such a thing. Some realized I’m not to be trifled with and be made a target. Some of the officers who have had some martial art training realize what I did. They have smiles on their faces when they see and smell the results.

~~~000~~~

Meanwhile, back in the NC State Penitentiary, everyone is startled by the roar, except for Josh.

“If I ever meet this guy, Tyrone. Remind me to give him space and respect.”

“No problem, bro’. I would do the same thing, JT. I think this guy is intense and serious when he wants to.”

“Yeah, he has it under control.”

Then all of the inmates begin to laugh out loud together.

“Hah, hah, hah, . . . .”

“Oooh! Look at that mess!”

“Hah, hah, hah, . . . .”

“Yeah, I bet they stink really bad!”

“Hah, hah, hah, . . . .”

“He made them squeal like girls!”

“Hah, hah, hah, . . . .”

~~~000~~~

I turn around to face the four Belgian CEOs and the Defense Counsel. “Pant . . . pant . . . pant . . .”

The Defense Counsel speaks up, “You touch us, I will sue you until you are broke!”

“I don’t have to, Counselor.” I walk up to the five of them standing side by side. I do one right arm crane wing slash in front of them. Then all five men are sporting a single cut on their right cheeks.

“What!? You never touched us! How did you do that?”

“That’s a Shaolin trade secret, Counselor. Now all eight men can be identified while they are in prison. You also have one as well as a reminder of me. I’m sure they will get a nice greeting from the inmates there. A lot of their families have money in US dollars.”

~~~000~~~

Inmates everywhere in the prison system around the world roar with approval.

“That’s right, Richard! We’ll greet them here in the slammer!”

“Yeah! We’ll show them a really good time here!”

Josh smiles widely. You did it again, Richard. If I ever see any of them, I’ll check with the Creator if they are ready to hear His Voice.

I’ll let you know when, Josh.

Thank you, Creator.

~~~000~~~

The four Belgian CEO’s look really scared right now. “You’ve got to keep us out of the prisons!”

The judges banged the gavels on the sounding boards. “Bang! Bang! Bang!”

Everyone gets quiet in the Main Hall.

“We have rendered our decision. The four Belgian CEO’s will be remanded to the European Prison System. The judges there will decide where they will be incarcerated and for how long. For Brent Morgan and his three friends, they will be remanded to the USA prison system. The judges there will decide where they will be incarcerated and for how long because of the beating Richard received and the attempt on Richard here. That will be added to their theft attempts as well.”

“The other leaders who were swayed by these Belgian CEO’s will be arrested as well when they are found.”

Another judge speaks up, “We’ll now rebuild our financial networks and secure the internet properly. We will all start over from scratch. We’ll face these high tech hackers as they are caught and brought to justice. We’ll have our next World Financial Summit in Jerusalem as suggested by Richard Moore. That will be happening in September or October, next year. They will let us know when that date will be. So, make your plans accordingly.”

“This court is now adjourned.”

All five judges bang their gavels on the sounding boards at once, “Bang!”

A group of medics with stretchers comes in quickly to tend Brent and his three friends. For the Belgian CEO’s they are given some ointment and bandage to cover their wound. Once the broken bones are splinted, they are wheeled out of the Main Hall.

One of the medics approaches me. “What did you do to their stomachs besides getting them to soil their pants?”

“I gave them an upset stomach. It’s a vibration trick. Also, their bones should have stressed cracks and not broken bones all the way through.”

He smiles, “I get it now. Thank you for telling me that.” He turns around and walks out with the medical crews.

That’s a good answer to them, Richard.

Yes it is, Croin.

A bunch of people gather around me to shake my hands and put a hand to my shoulder.

“Well done, Richard!”

“That was a great show of the martial arts!”

Doug Reynolds and Mr. Pierre greet each other with smiles and do the traditional cheek to cheek touch. “Mon bon ami!” (My good friend!) They talk with each other quickly, to see how each one is doing. Doug introduces me to Mr. Pierre. We shake hands with each other. Mr. Pierre looks at me with a quizzical eye. He then whispers to me.

“So, it is true from what Doug has told me. You are very special. You have done something that we can only dream about doing. You have been to another world.”

“Yes, I have sir. Keep listening to the Creator, he will tell you some things that might need done for everyone’s sake in the future.”

“I believe you, Richard. We’ll keep in contact from time to time.”

“That we will, Mr. Pierre. You will also need to share that handshake with others now.”

He then gives me the traditional cheek to cheek touch. I don’t hesitate and let the experience happen.

On and on it went. Eventually we make our way out of the Main Hall and back out to the parking garage. Once we all get there, we see eleven people in front of us, side by side. There are five men and six women.

They put their hands and arms up in front of them.

Croin, this is a bold move for them.

Yes it is, Richard. I’ll protect your body if they should try to freeze you.

Thank you. Unicorns, protect us all. Don’t let them blind our eyes.

The officers try to raise their guns.

They quickly recite a spell to freeze everyone on the spot.

They walk up confidently and stop about twenty feet from us. Their leader steps forward and stands in front of me. I feel a cold wind blow by me. Was that Sauron, Creator?

It is Richard.

“You’ve caused us a lot of problems, Richard. We’ve made a decision about you.”

I see a few beads of sweat coming down each of their faces. What’s this, Creator? They are acting very nervous.

They are not themselves, Richard. They are only half of what they are. You are looking at their bad side. Their good side is trying to get back in control.

What can I do to help them?

There is nothing you can do right now, Richard. It will be solved when the Ultimate Last Battle takes place.

Okay, I’ll wait until then and keep them in check at each turn we meet.

That is what you must do for now, Richard.

“You and your friends will not remember us after this day. We’ll be the rulers of the Earth soon.”

“I don’t think so, magi.”

“What? You can talk? We froze everyone here. Are you using magic to thwart us?”

“Not this time, magi.”

“My name is Thrashtin.”

“Well, Thrashtin. I’m using myself now.”

“What? That means you’re using the unicorns to protect you.”

“That’s right, Thrashtin!”

He steps back quickly. “Everyone! Blind them all!”

They quickly recite a spell. Light streams shoot out from their hands. The light streams stop in midair in front of us.

“What’s the meaning of this, Richard?”

“How are you stopping it?”

“With the unicorns, Thrashtin! Reveal yourselves my brothers and sisters!”

Then twelve unicorn images appear in front of us. Each light stream is hitting the point of each horn on the unicorn images.

“Grr . . . This is not the end of this Richard. We’ll meet again.”

I look at Thrashtin intently, “Don’t worry, Thrashtin. We’ll meet again! Oh, before you leave. I have a question to ask you.”

“What is it, Richard?”

“Is Sauron’s spirit here?”

“He is. What? How did you get me to answer that question?”

“I’m not telling you. Here is a message from me.” I take a quartz crystal from out of my pocket and rise up my right hand. I recite a spell. The quartz crystal glows quickly to a bright sunlight.

The Eleven shield their eyes from the white light with their hands.

We all see a black shadow floating in front of us.

Sauron screams out loud, “Arrrgghh! The light! It is blinding me!”

I end the spell, then the light disappears from the quartz crystal in my hand as I lower it down.

“You’ll pay for that, Omega!”

“Save it for the Ultimate Last Battle, Sauron!”

“I’ll certainly do that, Omega!”

“I figured it out. You are the one who leaked out the information of me to the press.”

“I’ll do it again to be a thorn in your side, Omega!”

“I’ll do the same to you as well!”

Each of them recites a spell. They disappear in a blink of an eye. Sauron fades from view. The twelve unicorn images return to me along with their light energy blast.

Oh, that’s a charge all right, Croin. I haven’t felt that since I was on Twainor.

Yes, it is Richard. I’ll use it to recharge myself. It will last until we get back to Mount Blanc.

That’s fine, Croin.

Everyone blinks their eyes a few times.

“Did everyone see that?”

“Yes, I saw five men and six women. They must have been the Eleven.”

“Who are they, Richard? They seem to know who you are.”

“You said Sauron. Isn’t he from Middle Earth? I thought that was a story written by Tolkien.”

“They do, Dan Torres. They are known as the Eleven Magi. They are elves who came to Earth a long time ago. However, something happened to them that caused to them think irrationally. I will find out what it is eventually. I will be their thorn in the side for a long time. As for Sauron. He is for real. Also the other stories that we have are for real as well. But, I think they exist on a parallel universe. Somehow their stories get transmitted to the authors here.”

“Wow! I’ll have to pay more attention to those sci-fi and fantasy books now.”

“Were those unicorns in front of us, Richard?”

“They are, Stephen Russell. They came from me. I am also called the Omega Unicorn. I use it as a title. I’m still Richard Moore.”

“The Creator just told me. You went to another world where these unicorns are found.”

“I did, Agent Lemiux. I am an ambassador to another world called Twainor. It happened during my Junior year in college.”

“Ah, that explains the time gaps in your story, Richard.”

“It does, US AG. Those Eleven won’t bother us again today.”

“I suggest we try to remember how they looked like. We have been trying to get a picture of them. We’ll try the camera mounted here behind us for starters. Let’s hope Richard distracted them long enough that we can get a clear picture from.”

“Yes, sir.”

The FBI agents go back inside the building to the video recording room in the security center. They reviewed the DVD that was recorded. They did find a brief moment that Richard distracted them. Their faces come in very clear. Their pictures are printed out on a nearby printer, two times. He takes two copies of the DVD for future reference. He looks at the pictures and sees they are in a better focus than he has seen before. The previous times, the images came in very fuzzy every time.

When he comes back, he hands a copy to the Interpol agents for their records as well. They appreciate the gift from the FBI agent. They will keep it on hand for future reference as well.

We all walk back to our vans and SUV’s. We are then driven back to the hotel. We wind down during the day and the next day. We agree to fly back to Florida, via Charlotte where Anna and I get off on Wednesday. I’m given the rest of the week off and report back to work on the following Monday. Anna and I get picked up at the Charlotte airport by the Wilkersons. They drive to Mount Blanc. When the week is over, I’ll be driving back to Jacksonville in my own car. Anna Dawson will drive back to her office in Charlottesville from Mount Blanc in her own car.

In case you’re wondering how we got to New York City. We made some plans before we went. Anna drove to Mount Blanc from Charlottesville, while I drove to Mount Blanc from Jacksonville. I brought my fairies with me, including the four fairies from King Oren. Then the Wilkersons drove us to the Charlotte airport to catch a flight to New York City. Everyone else flew from Jacksonville to New York City.

~~~000~~~

Meanwhile, in the penthouse of the UN Building #2. A meeting takes place with the Eleven Magi.

“This situation is now unacceptable, my friends.”

“It certainly is. He will be thwarting our moves each time we make one.”

“Well, we must be better, smarter and stronger than Richard.”

“Yes, we must be stronger than Richard.”

“Well, it won’t be a full moon until October 15. We won’t be able to do our cleansing spell until then.”

“Yes, we must keep our emotions in check as much as possible.”

“I feel their push as they try to reenter our lives.”

“Well, our brothers and sisters who are in the Forbidden Forest will thank us one day for our efforts. We are preparing a better world than where we came from.”

“Yes, we’ll mold Earth as we see fit.”

“Come, let’s check our territories and see what the repercussions are from the Omega Unicorn’s efforts today.”

“Yes, Thrashtin.”

Ten of them recite the transport spell. They disappear in a blink of an eye.

Thrashtin yells out loud, “Grrr . . . . This is not the end, Omega Unicorn! We’ll find your weak spot and exploit it to the maximum. We know you must arrive in China one of these days.”

Then a spectral entity appears in the penthouse. It gathers itself together and becomes a shape of a man. “Is there a task you want me to do, Thrashtin?”

“Yes, Sauron. I have a task for you to do. We need you to find more people that will bend to our way of thinking.”

“I understand, Thrashtin. They must be in a leadership position such as corporations, businesses and other countries.”

“That’s right, Sauron.”

“I will go and do as you say.” Sauron fades from Thrashtin’s sight. Heh, heh, heh . . . hah, hah, hah . . . You are taking my bait one step at time, Thrashtin. When the Ultimate Last Battle takes place, every single Elf here on Earth will be in control of Melkor and become Goblins! Hah, hah, hah, hah . . . The Goblins will spread their malice and hate very quickly! Then the human race here will finally become Orcs! Hah, hah, hah, . . . Then the Omega Unicorn will be unable to do anything about it! Hah, hah, hah, . . .

The Rescue Mission
Chapter 15
Written by rachel76m
Edited by Don Kaufman

The Wilkersons’ first stop is the Town Hall in Mount Blanc. We see hundreds of people waiting for us to show up. I even see some of my Cherokee friends there as well, including Raven Claw, Crouching Bear and Red Fox. I see King Oren and Queen White Dove fluttering around with dozens of other butterflies nearby. As soon as Anna and I step out of the car, everyone erupts into cheers, clapping of hands and Cherokee whooping and hollering. We see the mayor standing in front of the doors leading into the Town Hall. The Chief of Police is standing beside him as well.

Anna and I walk up to each one to give each other a slap on the back or a quick hug.

“All right, Richard! Way to go!”

“You saved our money! Thank you!”

“I still get to live in my house, thanks to you!”

“The Cherokee Nation gives great thanks to the Creator that you sought the truth!”

We slowly make our way to the Mayor. Once we get there, we are greeted warmly by the Mayor and Crouching Bear. The Chief of Police raises his hands to quiet everyone down.

“Richard, you always amaze me in what you can do if you put your mind to it.”

“Thank you, sir.”

“We just want to thank you personally for what you have done for all of us. We appreciate it very much. We have agreed not to pester you this week.”

We all smile, giggle and chuckle when he said the last remark.

“We know you’ll be driving back to Jacksonville this Sunday.”

“Thank you, my friends. It has been an interesting path to get here. That is for sure. Some of you might remember the Wilsons who came with my parents to rest and relax during the summer.”

I see some agreements from several people. “Yes, I remember them.”

“Well, they have found me at last. They have already invited me to be with them for Thanksgiving. I also found out that Brianna, their daughter, works at the Rescue Mission near Charleston, SC.”

“Ah, we’ll miss you here, Richard.”

“There will be a great deal more opportunities for me to come by. I will try to be here at least once a year.”

“Yes, this is a great place to relax.”

“Yes it is, ma’am.”

We chatted some more for about fifteen minutes. Eventually Anna and I make it back to the Wilkersons’ car. The Wilkersons turn into the driveway. We see my car parked there, as well as Anna’s car.

“You don’t have to worry about buying any food, Richard. We put in a couple of trout from the pond in the freezer. We also put some can goods and fresh veggies in the fridge as well.”

“Thank you, Chuck and Elizabeth.”

“You’re welcome. There will be another ‘Thank you bash’ at the church this Sunday.”

I smile at Chuck, “I’ll stop by to say hello and get fattened up some more, Chuck.”

They smile back, “That’s the intent, Richard.”

Anna and I unload our luggage and bags from the Wilkersons’ car and lug them into the house. We give each other another hug before they leave and get back to their own house. CJ and Marcie didn’t show up, because they were still in school at the time we showed up. I’ll be seeing them this Sunday. Croin flies into my bedroom and settles into the rock carving to get a nice long rest. If there is any magic energy that he saved from the encounter with the Eleven Magi he stored it in the carving for future use.

Once I open the back door to the rear porch, Anna and I see King Oren and Queen White Dove flying into the backyard. Anna and I walk out to the back yard to greet them.

“Omega! You did it! You changed a lot of people to hear the truth!”

“Yes, I did, King Oren.”

“We heard it on the radio and saw some replay on the TV near the police station.”

All of my fairies come up to me and are glad to see me. Even Victor and Victoria are glad to see me as well. They land on my shoulders and on top of my head.

After everyone has settled down, Anna and I are sitting on the back porch watching the fairies bring in some fruits and nuts near the stone grill. I will get it lit at about 4 PM to get it ready for this evening’s meal celebration. Anna will stay in my parent’s room for the night. She will return back to Charlottesville tomorrow morning. King Oren and Queen White Dove fly up to me and stand on my lap. They touch my stomach.

“They will be due next month, Omega.”

“Where will you be when they are born?”

“I have given it some serious thought. I would like to have them born before I go on the trip to Tennessee.”

“Hmm . . . I agree, Omega. We’ll be at your apartment in Jacksonville when that happens. We’ve heard the weather outlook from the TV weathermen.”

“Yes, we also checked with the animals as well. The first snow storm will be here about the second week in November. We want to be flying south in about a week or so.”

“That’s fine, King Oren. You know I have a warm place ready for you in Jacksonville, while you fly south.”

“Thank you, Omega. That’s greatly appreciated.”

“Are there any plans with Brianna, yet?”

“There are no plans that have been made yet, Anna. I imagine some will be made when I’m there for Thanksgiving. I don’t know how long our courtship will be before we get married. She is still employed at the Rescue Mission. So that has to be accounted for.”

“That’s true. Will you be visiting the Charleston office some more?”

“Yes, Anna. The engineers are designing about four or five different sizes of the 3D Server. I will be there every other month like before. It is to oversee the programming aspect, mainly. They have hired some new engineers along with some assemblers. I’ll be making sure they are programming it correctly until they are comfortable with it.”

I check my watch and see it is 4 PM now. I walk up to the grills and set the fire wood into the hearths. I light a fresh pine piece to act as my candle. I proceed to light the kindling with it in two of the grills. I walk back into the cabin to bring out my guitar. I sit on the edge of the porch to get ready to play some numbers.

Amber and Cobalt see me get ready. “You haven’t played that since you came back the second time.”

“I know, Cobalt. I was caught up doing many things. I figure I need to hear the music that I played back on Twainor.”

“You played their instruments, Richard?”

“I did Anna. They have a four-string version of this guitar. It is tuned a little different from here on Earth.” I place my left-hand fingers onto the strings and press down onto the frets. I quietly strum a ‘C’ chord. By this time, the rest of the fairies gather around to hear me play. I start out slowly picking the melody with my right fingers while moving my left fingers to make the chords and note position. Once I’m comfortable with what I’m doing, I immediately go into the first song I played on Twainor.

Amber and Cobalt start flying in circles as they dance with each other. The other fairies see them dancing in the air. They immediately pick up what they are doing. They join in with them as they hum along with the song. Anna has a wide smile on her face. I look around and see some of the animals creeping in slowly. They lay down and rest their heads on their paws as they become quiet. I see the panther, the bobcat, a bear, a deer. I see in the tree branches several birds sitting there. Once they get the melody understood, they begin to chirp their calls in time with the song.

I play the song three times. When the song ends on the last note, everyone cheers they really enjoyed it. Even the animals sound out their calls as an ovation.

“Before I play this next song, the only time these songs are heard is at sunset on Twainor. Now imagine this Anna and fairies. The colorful light display is racing across the landscape. Once it is among us for about fifteen minutes, everyone is glowing with different colors, even the finger tips can have different colors. The married couples will display a different combination than the next couple. The children would chase the streams behind them and try to catch it. Some of the single men and boys would play games. Even the birds and dragons would fly across the sky displaying a different combination. The dragons would especially have great fun in chasing the colorful streams behind them. When the musical instruments are being played, you would see the sound waves appear as they are played. But what really set it apart is Amber, Cobalt and I. We would have a golden glow about our bodies. It is because I’m the Omega Unicorn.”

“Oh, that would be something to see. We’ll just have to imagine it in our minds.”

“Then imagine it as I play the next song.”

I start with a different melody this time. Once I start playing, Croin comes out to be with us. He spreads his wings as he flies around. But when the sunlight passes through his wings, we start to see the faint trails of the colorful display behind the fairies and his wings and tail. Even Cobalt, Amber and I have a slight golden hue. Also all of the fairies I have given birth to have a slight golden glow as well.

Anna is amazed at what she is seeing. She treasures the vision and ponders on it from time to time throughout her life. There is beauty elsewhere in the Universe.

Everyone enjoys seeing the display. Once the song ends, everyone claps and cheers for a wonderful time. The animals also give their calls as well when they have seen the colorful light show. Croin resizes himself and sits next to me on the porch.

“I didn’t think it could happen, Croin.”

“I didn’t either, Richard. It must have been the left over energy from what the Eleven Magi used.”

“It must be, Croin. That has to be the answer. The sunlight passed through your wings to provide the effect for us to enjoy.”

We all thank the Creator for the wonderful light show. I get up and walk inside the cabin to put the guitar back into the guitar case and close it. I walk back out to check the fire. It’s slowly getting down to the red coal state. Anna and I go back inside to prepare the meals we’ll be having this evening. The veggies are washed up and cut into appropriate sizes. The fish is already fileted by Chuck before he wrapped them up and put into the fridge. We season the fish the way we want it done. I bring out two pans with the holes in them to use on the grill.

I cook up the veggies and fish first. Once that is done, I place the nuts the fairies gathered onto the pans. I warm those up slightly. Once that is done, I pour them into several bowls. I place the bowls at the other end of the grill that is not being used. The fairies pick up the fruits and nuts they want to eat. Anna and I are sitting in the chairs on the back porch.

“Creator of the Universe, I just want to thank you very much for healing me and finally dealing with Brent and his three friends. A lot of people have thanked me that I eliminated the world wide debt. Let peace begin to take hold throughout the world and in the home. Thank you for this food we are about to eat. Let it give us the strength we need each day. Help me in those special tasks when I have to use the Omega Unicorn abilities and with my martial art classes. Thank you for letting Brianna and her family find me. A part of my soul is finally healed. Thank you, Creator.”

Everyone responds back, “Thank you, Creator.”

As soon as I finish giving the thanks, we see the animals get up and leave the area. They walk and fly back where they belong in the woods. We occasionally hear the bird calls while we eat. Everyone enjoys eating the evening meal. The aromas fill the air.

After about an hour, a bunch of fairies, Anna and I get into the car. We drive out to the local park to watch the sunset. The rest of the fairies stay behind and flutter up to the top of the trees to watch the sunset. Once we arrive in the park and the doors are open, we all get out to watch the sunset.

We see the clouds change colors against the mountain landscape. The sun changes colors as well. Once the sun has set, we see the stars peak through the patchy clouds in the sky. We all clap and cheer to the Creator for giving us another wonderful day. We then get back in the car so I can drive back to the cabin.

We then get ready for the night. Most of the fairies return to the forest to have their evening sleep. King Oren, Queen White Dove, some of their fairies and with all of mine will stay inside in the cabin to have our sleep.

I show the two books to my fairies of my heritage. They are amazed that I could be a king at some time in the future.

“What about us? How will we fit there, father?”

“That’s a good question, Rubio. All we can do, is to take it day by day. I know they have a lot of gardens there already. So, that isn’t a problem. If we are alone and no one else is near, it’s possible you could be your normal selves. But the bigger problem is dealing with Mordred’s Legacy group.”

“What or who is that group, mother?”

“The way Rhiannon explained it to me, Tigress, they are an assassination group. From what I have read about Mordred and Arthur, Mordred has a deep hatred for Arthur. It is possible the Legacy group is under orders from someone to keep other people from claiming the throne and crown.”

“Well, we’ll just have to keep a sharp eye out for you and Brianna.”

“We all will.”

“Yes, it must be a group effort, King Oren.”

After we had our talk, we finally went to bed at about 10 PM. We’ll be waking up at 7 AM to have our breakfast.

After we change our clothes, turn off the lights and get our bed covers pulled down, we finally lie down to have our sleep.

The Creator gave us wonderful dreams of peace throughout the night. I remember replaying some Twainor scenes with the landscape, the castles and some of the people I’ve met there.

We wake up at 7 AM, well rested. I make a nice breakfast for Anna and me with some eggs, herbs, toast and jelly. We all get dressed and get Anna’s car packed up for her trip back to Charlottesville. All of the fairies come up to Anna to give their best wishes and to drive safely on the roads. Some of them touch Anna’s tears as she sheds them. They remark her tears are getting sweeter each year.

Anna gets in the car and backs out of the driveway. We all wave to each other as she finally makes the turn and be out of sight. We return back into the cabin to do some relaxing. I turn on the TV to see what the latest news is. Most of the reporters are explaining the events that have resulted in the UN judgement trial with the four Belgian CEO’s, Brent and his three friends. Brent and his three friends are in the hospital healing from what I did to them. Their sentence has been put on hold.

The four Belgian CEO’s arrive in Europe to get their sentence. They are sentenced to prison for thirty years, no more, no less. When I saw their faces on TV, they look really scared of going to prison. They know they will meet a hostile inmate population.

Interpol and the FBI used my Rabbit Trails program to track down the locations of those involved in the scam and the high-tech hackers. Most of them are found eventually. About twenty hackers, fifty corporate and government heads fled their countries as quickly as possible with what they have. They eventually ended up in Tibet in about ten years. The rest of them get arrested and sent to jail.

The one great benefit from this is the clogged internet slowly increased in speed from 1G to 7G. Everyone cheered that instant communication is now back on line.

When the countries met in Jerusalem the following year. They are amazed at the Israeli model they used. It is no secret that the blueprint for their success is found in the Torah. It is just a matter of the people accepting it in their own country.

The rest of the week and weekend proved to be very relaxing for me. I do some day hikes on the trails nearby. My fairies accompany me as we enjoy the days. I greet the panther I met two years ago. He introduces me to his mate that he found. I get down on my knees as I let them brush up and purr against me. Once they get done, they take off into the woods together.

Sunday morning, I get myself packed up and get ready to leave the cabin. After loading up the car and locking the place up, I call the utility companies and City Hall. We wish each other a great winter season. I bid adieu to King Oren and Queen White Dove.

“I look forward to seeing you in Jacksonville my friends.”

“The same here, Omega. It will be another glorious day to welcome another pair of fairies to the world.”

“I will be at the church where the Wilkersons go to church. They will be having a luncheon after the service. After that, I’ll be driving to Jacksonville.”

“That’s fine, Omega. Have a great day and safe day in driving to Jacksonville.”

“You have a safe flight as well, Queen White Dove.”

I blow my breath into the air as each fairy enjoys feeling my breath to get recharged. My fairies, Traphel and his three fairies fly into my car. I get in and close the door. I turn on the engine and back out of the driveway onto the main road. It takes about ten minutes to arrive at the church for their 9AM morning service. I see two tents put up for the noon brunch. One is for the food. The other has benches, tables and chairs underneath it.

I get warmly greeted by everyone there. CJ and Marcie hugged me a lot. They thanked me many times for saving their bank accounts from the Euro Scam. The fairies stay outside in butterfly mode, while I go inside. I enjoy a nice service with them. We sang several songs that express our thanks to the Creator. The pastor gives a message that is centered around in giving thanks to the Creator. Once we get done, we step out to the front lawn while the ladies and some of the men get the food brought out and set on the tables.

Once it is all set up, we gather around the food tables holding our hands. The pastor gives thanks for the food and the fellowship we are having this day. We get into two lines and to pick up our plates, plastic ware and napkins. We then pick up a spoonful of food of what we want. There are potato salad, salads, chicken, grilled trout and several different vegetables and drinks. For dessert, there is an apple pie, pumpkin pie, chocolate cake, etc, etc.

There are about seventy-five people attending the church today. We all enjoy eating and having fellowship together this day. We get done eating in about an hour. Some of the kids run around the grass playing some games. Marcie, CJ and a few others notice the butterflies in the area. Some of them try to name out the types of butterflies or give them names that sound good to them. However, for Amber and Cobalt, they are satisfied in giving them cute names that describe their wings. The two names that got stuck are ‘Rainbow’ for Amber and ‘Blue-wing’ for Cobalt.

After we got cleaned up and washed by 12PM, I give my hugs to them all.

“I don’t know when I’ll be back next year. But you know I will look forward to having a nice rest here.”

“We know, Richard. Come when you can next year.”

I open the car door. Someone provided me a Styrofoam cooler that allowed me to take some leftovers that are packed with ice bags, back to my apartment. I set that down on the floor of the front seat. I then do some more walking around hugging some more people. I even hug Marcie and CJ a few more times. The butterflies sneak into the car unnoticed and settle in among the pots of plants sitting on the bottom of the rear car floor. They wait for me until I get into the car. Once all of the hugs and see you laters are done, I yell out one more time.

“Have a great Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Years everyone. It has been a blast being with y’all again.”

The pastor yells back, “The same here, Richard. Have a great winter and a happy New Year!”

I wave to them as I get into the car and close the door. I turn on the engine and drive out to the highway. I decided to drive to Asheville and take I-26 and I-95 to get back to Jacksonville. That will avoid the beltway around Atlanta and the rural roads that lead south from Cherokee to Atlanta.

I drive for about four hours before having a rest stop along the interstate. We have a nice rest break. I eat a little bit of the leftovers in the cooler. We then get back in the car so I can drive back to Jacksonville. It takes another four to five hours to arrive back at the apartment. When I unlock the door, they all fly in quickly and change into fairies. It takes me several trips to empty out the car and put the clothes where they belong. Croin flies into the stone carving to have his rest. Once that is all done, I sit in the sofa chair exhausted. The fairies fly around me and settle down near me.

“Well, that is some trip, my fairies.”

“Yes it was, father. Now you’re going back to work tomorrow, picking up where we left off.”

“Yes, Lavan. Now it is time for the grind again. But at least this time, there are no troubles hanging over us this time.”

“Yes, mother.”

I get to bed by 10:30 PM. I have another restful night in bed. When I wake up in the morning at 6:30 AM, my fairies pull the covers off of me.

“It’s time to wake up, father!” All of the fairies giggle and laugh as they try to wake me up.

“Unnn . . . I hear you, Lavan.” I slowly get up and drag myself to the bathroom. I take a hot and cold shower to wake me up. When I get out of the bathroom, I set up the wash bowls for the fairies with their towels and soap. I then get dressed and walk out to the kitchen to make my breakfast and lunch for the day. The fairies take their morning bath while I’m doing that. When they get done and dressed, they have their morning breakfast from the bowls of fruits and nuts I put out on the table. I give the morning thanks to the Creator for another wonderful day.

Traphel and Rose Lace stay behind as usual. Croin flies into me. My fairies, Brushwind and Blue Lace change into butterflies, they flutter to the balcony garden and through it. They fly around to my car. Once I open the door, they fly in quickly and settle in on the seats, then I close it. I get in the car and close the door. I turn on the engine and drive to work. I park in the parking lot where I usually do near the trees. Once I open the door, the butterflies flutter out quickly to the pond area to begin their day. As soon as I get into the building, I swipe my ID card and walk to the programmers’ room.

As soon as I step into the room, I’m greeted with a big surprise. I have a big smile on my face.

“Welcome back, Richard!”

“Whoo hoo! You saved our bank accounts!”

“You really dished out some pain to Brent and his three friends!”

Everyone clapped and cheered!

“Thank you, thank you!”

“You’re welcome, everyone.”

“We’ll have the snacks and cake at noon time, Richard.”

“That’s fine, Mr. Bryson.”

“You won’t be sitting at your cubicle, Richard. You have been promoted to Senior Programmer. Darrell Reynolds is your assistant.”

We smile at each other while we nod our heads at the same time.

“There are few more promotions and hires as well to replace the other three.”

I greet them all. Eventually Mr. Bryson, Darrell and I get together in my new room. We sit in the chairs and discuss our plans.

“Mr. Bryson when do you want me to start traveling to the Charleston office?”

“What are your tentative plans, Richard?”

“Well, you gave me permission to be in Knoxville for Thanksgiving. That is to be with the Wilsons. The other new topic is my training schedule with Sensei Chou and earning the black sash degrees.”

“Where will you have it?”

“He is making the effort to be in the Jacksonville dojo beginning in December for the next five or sixth months.”

“Hmm . . . That’s a conflict. Could he travel with you and continue your training while in Charleston?”

“We can only ask him, sir.”

“Then go ahead and ask him, Richard.” Turning to Darrell, “While Richard is in Charleston every other month, be in communication at least once a day with him.”

“Yes, sir. I’ll also do it with emails as well for physical verification.”

“Also, collaborate with the other programmers when proofing the programs. That really worked out well the last time.”

“Yes, sir. What about the specialty software programs out there? Are we going to provide licenses to them?”

“Yes, Darrell. Provided they can adapt to the protocols on the 3D Server. If we are doing our job, they must do their job as well. We know there are hackers out there that will try to circumvent the latest efforts from the security software companies like us. Symantec had that problem for a long time. They became the favorite focal point of the hackers. It will happen to us well. They will try their hardest to hack the 3D Server.”

“That is why I made sure every port is accounted for in the design. With it’s self-learning capability, it should keep us up to date by itself. I had a close look at the families of viruses, malware, Trojans, etc, while I was in college. I found a pattern in those groups. The only problems I see right now is an alien invasion. They could have strains that we have never seen before. That will be the biggest test.”

“Yes, it will be, Richard. But at least you provided a blueprint to make it the best new system to date.”

“Thank you, sir. Mr. Bryson, another selling point I see is the existing main frames out there. They could buy the 3D Server as a port server to their existing system.”

“Yes, they could, Richard. It will provide security and time for them until they decide what to do next. Well, I must be going now. Let me know what Sensei Chou decides about your training.”

“Yes, Mr. Bryson.”

Mr. Bryson gets up and leaves my office. Darrell and I start to get ourselves organized on how to do the scheduling of the proofing when either of us is available or not. Once we get that hammered out, Darrell leaves my office and returns to his cubicle.

I get on my cell phone to call Sensei Chou.

“Ring . . . ring . . . ring . . . “

”Click.” “Hello, is that you, Richard?”

“Yes it is, Sensei Chou. I have a question for you about your time with me.”

“What about it? Are you able to make it?”

“The issue is that every other month I will be in the Charleston office. Can you be there as well when I’m there?”

“That’s a good question, Richard. Let me check with the Shaolin dojo network. I’ll get an answer by the end of the week.”

“That’s fine, sensei. I look forward to hearing from you this week.”

“I will too, Richard. Have a good week.”

“Click.”

The rest of the week went as scheduled. Darrell and I start to get into a good routine in proofing the programs. As the shake down begins to happen on the internet, we start to get some interesting results in sales. A lot of people are switching from the current standbys to the ones that are more secure like the 3D Server. There is one security software company in the Nordic countries that has done very well in adapting to the multiple testing layers and monitoring all of the ports with their own style. It is not as thorough as ours, but it does provide hope to some of the security software companies out there. The ones who can’t adapt go out of business by the end of next year or the next year.

I did get a phone call from Sensei Chou by Friday. He talked with the Master teacher of the Shaolin dojo in Charleston. He agreed and is honored to have Sensei Chou and me to be there every other month for training. That is set after the New Year week in January.

Two weeks into October, King Oren and Queen White Dove have arrived in the Jacksonville area. When they arrived, they spread out through the apartment complex area of trees. The people get an eyeful of color for about a month from the butterflies. They realize they are resting before they continue on their journey into Florida for the warmer climate during Winter.

During the second week of November, I give birth to another pair of fairies. We are surprised to see their color pattern. They are emerald butterflies. The green colored with black lines that make it appears they have emerald wings.

“Your names will be Esmeralda and Emeril.”

“Our names are Esmeralda and Emeril. Thank you, father.”

“Thank you, mother.” Then they fall asleep on my chest after they have emptied the milk from my nipples.

The fairies then make an appropriate set of clothing for them. A little bit later, they are awakening and get introduced to the other fairies in my family and King Oren’s group of fairies. They teach them just like they did for Tiger and Tigress when they were born several years ago. My fairies shift their beds around so that Esmeralda and Emeril are near me when they go to sleep at night. By this time, I already have their beds made for them.

After the birth of Esmeralda and Emeril, King Oren’s group leaves the apartment complex a week after their births. I gave King Oren and Queen White Dove my schedule when I’m in Charleston working and training to earn the first black sash.

When the week of Thanksgiving approaches, I have everything set up and ready for my trip to Knoxville. We are excited that this is new for all of us. I follow the directions Brianna gave me. It is a nine to ten hour drive to get there. That means there will be several stops along the way to get gas and eat along the way. All of the fairies are with me this time. Traphel and Rose Lace are invited so they won’t feel left out in the excitement.

I leave Tuesday morning at 7 AM. Hopefully, I will arrive at their house by 5 PM. From the map, they are southwest of Knoxville in a huge subdivision toward the river.

Brianna told her family that I will be bringing butterflies with me. They have agreed to put me up in the spare bedroom that is the small guest house built on their property.

I arrive at about 5:30 PM exhausted on Tuesday. As soon as I open the door, the butterflies flutter out to find the backyard and pool area. Brianna opens the door. We practically run into each other’s arms. We give a long kiss to each other. Then we hear someone behind us.

“Ahem . . . That’s my sister you’re holding there, Richard.”

We break apart, then we smile at each other. I mouth the word, ‘who’.

Brianna whispers back, “That’s Allen. He can hear the Creator now. He knows about your fairies as well.”

“I’ll keep her safe, Allen.”

“You better, Richard. It’s fortunate your 3D Server caught the guys who tormented her.”

“Thank you, Allen.”

“Come on inside, you two. You’ll need to shake hands with Charles and Brian, Richard. Those two will be the toughest to hear the Creator’s voice.”

“I remembered Brianna telling me that Charles had his head ‘screwed on wrong’ concerning me.”

“That’s the least of your worries. Some of his ‘so-called friends’ got back into his head and messed it up. He is so confused now. He doesn’t know what is really going on.”

“Then perhaps I should meet his ‘so-called friends’ and straighten them out.”

“You’ll have your chance on Wednesday. We’ve been invited to the company’s turkey BBQ bash where he works.”

“Try to avoid fighting and hurting them, Richard. The owner of the company values them as good hard-working employees.”

“Then perhaps shaking hands might do it, Brianna and Allen.”

“Perhaps.”

Allen helps me bring in my luggage to the guest house. Brianna carries a flowering pot and I carry a nut bush pot from inside my car. We walk around the house to the backyard. Allen opens the door and we set the luggage on the floor. Brianna places the flowering pot on the coffee table in front of the two-seat sofa and TV. I set the nut bush there as well. I unzip the suitcase for the fairies and leave the cover down.

“Here is the key to the guest house.”

Allen hands me the key. “Thank you, Allen.” I put it on my key chain.

“Let’s walk into the main house and greet the rest of the family. Your fairies will have to stay here. It is not safe for them in the main house until Charles and Brian hear the truth about you.”

“Okay, Allen.” I open the door to the guest house. I speak quietly, “Come on inside, my fairies.”

They whisper back, “We’re coming.” They flutter in quickly. Once they are in, I close the door. “Allen can hear the Creator’s voice. He knows the truth about me. However, the two younger brothers haven’t heard the truth yet.”

“We’ll stay here, father. We’ll check out the guest house and stay safe here.”

“You’re not far from the woods and river, Allen.”

“No, we are not. That is what my dad and mom like about this place. It is nice and quiet. It is like the mountain cabin in Mount Blanc.”

“I still have it, Allen. It is in my name. I have no intention of ever selling it.”

“That’s good, Richard. Come, let’s greet the rest of the family.”

We walk around the pool and head toward the rear door that leads to the living room. As soon as we walk inside, I get greeted by the rest of the Wilsons.

“There he is! Thank you for saving our money, Richard.”

“You’re welcome, Mr. Wilson.”

Larry and Helen give me a quick hug. I look over their shoulders and see Charles and Brian with a pair of faces that look upset and mad. We break apart. I get introduced to the other two sons.

“Do you remember Richard? Don’t you, Brian and Charles?”

Brian gives a droll response, “Yeah, we remember the little pipsqueak.”

“I will have none of that name calling here. This is Thanksgiving Week.”

“Yes, mom. We’ll be nice. I hope my friends at the construction party bash tear you down, Richard.”

I look at both of them really hard. “Why? Is there something I did?” Soon they have a starry-eyed look at me.

“Yeah, some of them were counting on the dollar to fail. They wanted to have Euros here.”

“Was your CEO in on it, Charles?”

“Nah. He’s straight and true to the USA. There are several board members who want to oust the CEO. They have a couple of sons who are loudmouths and obnoxious. They are just like their dads. They are foremen as well. I get told by some of the employees behind their backs they prefer working with me.”

“That’s a nice compliment. So, do you support the CEO?”

“I do, Richard. He hired me right out of high school. I’m thankful to him for the opportunity to be working.”

“So these two sons and dads is the real source of the crude remarks and bad rumors of people like me? You just repeated what they said.”

“Yes.”

“But what about the international debt problem, Brian?”

“That’s not my problem. I was collecting some nice free money from the government. Now it is all gone.”

“Did you save any money?”

“I did, Richard. I saved up about $20,000 in the bank.”

“Did the UN court reveal the true intentions of the four Belgian CEO’s?”

“It was their scam to steal from the whole world.”

“So, did I do a good thing in stopping it, Brian and Charles?”

They both answer at the same time, “yes.”

I clap my hands, “Clap!” “Good, let’s have a nice dinner tonight! I haven’t eaten since noon time.”

They both blink their eyes a few times and mutter to themselves, “Uh . . . what just happened?”

Larry, Helen, Allen and Brianna are laughing and giggling out loud. “Hah, hah, hah,. . . .” I smile at Charles and Brian. They get a little red-face.

“Didn’t we just tell you what is really going on in our lives, Richard?”

“You did, Brian and Charles.”

“In thirty seconds you both finally told us what is really going on in your lives.”

“Uh . . . you’re welcome, mom.”

“Don’t feel too bad, you two. I learned a long time ago to be truthful to mom and dad.”

“Sure thing, Allen.”

Mom and Brianna walk into the kitchen to start getting the dinner out onto the table. Everything is set on the dining table, except to add the drinks and the food. Once we see everything set, we sit down on the chairs. I have Brianna to my left. The three boys are opposite from us. Larry and Helen are sitting at either end of the table. We all hold hands while we bow our heads down.

Larry gives the evening thanks, “Creator of the Universe, I just want to thank you bringing Richard Moore here safely. We miss his family very much. Allow Richard to be a part of our family. We thank you for this food that you have provided for us. Thank you, Creator.”

We all respond together, “Thank you, Creator.”

I see in the bowls and plates a simple roasted chicken dinner. In the bowls are string beans, carrots, applesauce, bread and butter. We pass the bowls and plates around and use the spoons or forks to take what we want and put it on our plates. The small talk begins while we eat the dinner.

“Larry, what do you do for a living? This property is a big spread.”

“Yes, it is, Richard. Between your father and me, I’m the financial guru. Your dad is the nuts and bolts of our relationship. I know how to work with money and make it work for you. Some of it is investing in companies or the property itself. I have a good eye for it.”

“So you work at a financial institution.”

“Well, it is the other way around. I own the company. Our past relatives who lived on the Isles worked very hard to lay the foundation to keep what we have. We still have ties back there.”

“So what I did in eliminating the International debt made things better for you.”

“Yes, it did, Richard. I made sure all of the bills are paid and there is no debt owed to the banks or creditors. We are in this house fully paid for.”

“Wow.”

We continue to eat the dinner.

“Richard, you said you found two old books in the cabin. Are they still there?”

“Yes, they are still there, Larry.”

“Did you find the wooden box?”

“Yes, I found the wooden box. I figured out how to open it.”

“That’s good. Are they still there?”

“It’s not there, Larry. The box and the contents are in the possession of a dear friend of our two families. He’ll keep it safe until the time is right to open it.”
“A dear friend of the family? Whom is it, Richard?”

“You wouldn’t believe me if I told you. Besides, it will be better after Charles and Brian know the truth about our families and me.”

“What is the truth about our two families, dad?”

“Richard and I will tell you after dessert tonight, Brian.”

“Sigh . . . Okay. We’ll wait for it.”

The talk centers around what everyone is doing.

“I’m now the Senior Programmer for the company. I’ll be traveling to Charleston after the first of the year and be there every other month. I’ll also be earning the first black sash in the Shaolin martial arts.”

“That’s good, Richard.”

“What is Shaolin, Richard?”

“Well, it centers around in studying the animals on how they protect themselves on defense and go on the offense when they need to. I know about a half dozen animal moves and use about a dozen weapons. I rather go hand to hand if I’m in combat.”

“That sure doesn’t sound like the Richard we knew then.”

“No, it doesn’t Allen. After our families split apart, my dad had me sign up with a good local dojo in Charlotte, NC. It took time to learn and get in shape to fight four people at once. I can face up to ten people if I need to and take them all down.”

“We saw what you did in New York City. That’s incredible in what you did to them. It’s even more incredible with your new 3D Server System.”

“Thank you, Larry.”

“What are you doing, Allen?”

“Well, I earned my teaching degree, finally. I’m now a coach and teacher at the local high school here. Our school won the district title three times in the last five years. One time we made it to the Regional Tournament.”

“As for me, it looks like I’ll suck it in and get a job in dad’s business.”

“That’s fine Brian. We know you tried to do it on your own. I do need someone to continue our line of work for the next generation.”

“If you say so, dad.”

“With what I just said a little while ago. It’s going to be really interesting tomorrow.”

“You have our support, Charles. We’ll be right behind you.”

“Thank you, mom and dad.”

We finish eating the main meal. Everyone pitches in clearing the table.

“Thank you for the wonderful meal, Helen.”

“You’re welcome, Richard.”

Then an apple pie is brought out warm. Also, a gallon of vanilla ice cream. The pie gets cut into seven slices. On each plate, a scoop of vanilla ice cream is on top of the slice. The ice cream is then put back into the freezer. We all slowly eat the wonderful dessert.

“This is great, thank you, Helen.”

“You probably don’t do much cooking on your own?”

“Well, I do what I can. I’m quite good at grilling. Back at the cabin, I hired a local company to build a triple grill in the backyard of the cabin. It is set in stone and brick. There is also some wooden decking to go along with it.”

“Ah, then we must do another visit to Mount Blanc some time next year.”

“Yeah, dad. That would be great!”

“I am also planning to build a green house next to the cabin. That will be a bonus during the winters.”

“Yes it will be, Richard.”

We finish eating the dessert. The final clean up of the dishes is done and put into the dishwasher. The table is wiped down and made presentable again. We all gather in the living room to discuss the next issue, our past history.

“Where do we begin? Actually the better question is when.”

“What do you mean, dad?”

“There is a historical connection between the Wilsons and the Moores, Allen. We have made it a point to stay near each other. It all started with King Arthur and Queen Guinevere.”

“What?”

“What are you saying? Are you saying we are of royal blood?”

“We are, Brian. But before I go any further, I need to let Richard take over for now. Then we’ll back track to the beginning.”

Everyone looks at me.

“I thought I had a normal childhood . . .” I then go into telling my story since our families split apart. Then I tell the fateful email I received from Renard.

“You mean to tell me that an alien contacted you?”

“Yes, Brian. That is true.”

“I find that hard to believe.”

“I know you do, Charles. But when I came back, I knew my life had changed very much. I didn’t realize it until I shook hands with a good friend in college. Once his ears became opened, he can hear the Creator’s voice. I would like to do that with you and Brian.”

“I’m game, Richard. Even it doesn’t happen.”

I stand up and walk over to them. They stand up to me. “You better sit back down, it might overwhelm you.”

“We can handle it, Richard.”

I shake hands with Brian first then Charles. Soon, their faces change very much. They fall back onto the sofa and sit down.

“Wow! This is too much, Charles. I’m actually hearing the Creator’s voice.”

“Same here, Brian.”

Everyone has a smile on their face.

“What’s he telling you?”

“We need to listen to you, mom and dad.”

“That’s good, Charles. But first I need to invite some friends in. I’ll be right back from the guest house.” I turn around and exit the back door, I walk to the guest house and open it. “It’s time, my fairies. Everyone can hear the Creator now.”

“We’re coming, father.”

They change back into butterflies. They flutter around me as I walk back to the house. I open the door and they flutter in.

“What’s this? You brought butterflies here, Richard. They should not be here. It is too cold for them.”

“I need to finish telling my story, Charles.” I continue telling my story of what happened during that Spring Semester of my Junior year. I also tell them of the car and plane crash as well with my family. I see sad faces on them as they mourn for their dear friends.

When I finally get done telling both trips to Twainor. They soon realize I’m telling the truth.

“Now here is the proof that I’m Omega Unicorn.” I get into an open area in the living room. I thrust my hands to the side, six unicorn images appear on either side of me. Croin comes out from and hovers above me with his wings spread out. Then the butterflies all change into the fairies.

“Whoa! You are telling the truth.”

The fairies fly around in front of them to check them out. Then they come near me. Some of them land on my shoulders, head or the top part of a chair.

“To think dragons, fairies and unicorns still exist in the universe. This is incredible.”

Then I let the unicorn images and Croin return to me.

“Oh, here is one more thing about me. Do you remember earlier that you told us what is really going on in your lives?”

Charles and Brian answer at the same time, “Yeah.”

“It is because unicorns are pure animals. You can’t lie to a unicorn.”

“Oh crap . . . we were snookered into this one, Brian.”

“That’s right, Charles. That means your party tomorrow will be extraordinary.”

“You can say that again.”

Everyone giggles and chuckles as they try to imagine how tomorrow will proceed.

“When I came back the second time, I was pregnant with Tiger and Tigress until November, three years ago. While I was at the cabin, I met two very important people that have a connection to our two families. They are Merlin and Rhiannon.”

Helen looks at me, “You actually met them?”

“Yes I did, Helen. They are still alive after all this time. It was Rhiannon who discovered the two books in the cabin. We then found the wooden box and opened it.”

“What is inside the box, Richard?”

“A connection to our past, Allen. Larry take over from here, please.” I sit down in the sofa chair. I see Bianca and Lavan staying near Brianna. Hmm . . . I think they are being drawn to Brianna, Creator.

That’s right, Richard.

Okay, I’ll explain it to them this week.

“We have to go back to the early days of Briton before Arthur came on the scene. There are four original groups of people on the British Isles. These are the ancient names, Eire, Picts, Scots and the Cymry. We are descended from the Picts and Scots, Richard is descended from Eire and Cymry. The Creator established the Kingship through Arthur to bring the Isles together. Arthur has a Cymry and Eire background while Guinevere has a Pict and Scot background.”

“The Picts came from the northern part of Ireland originally. Their kingship is established through the Queen. The reason for the unification of the Isles is because of the invasion of several armies and countries into the Isles. They established their hold in southern England. Arthur was given the sword Excalibur from Rhiannon, but its original Cymry name is Caledfwich. The entire story of Arthur is Cymry in origin.”

“Who is Rhiannon?”

“Rhiannon is the Celtic goddess of the birds and horses. Oddly, one of her ancient symbols is the mermaid, according to the Picts. She is also referred to as the Lady in the Lake. When the other Celtic gods left, Rhiannon stayed behind.”

“Did the sword come from her?”

“No, it didn’t, Charles. I don’t know the true origin of the sword. It is said it was forged by the greatest smith that ever lived. This smith also made other objects as well. But I don’t know where they went or to whom. This smith also made the two rings for Arthur and Guinevere. I was told by my grandfather, the rings are very special as well. It allowed Arthur to have the title of Pendraig, which means Head Dragon in the Celtic language.”

That’s interesting, Richard.

Yes, it is Croin.

“Everything was fine during the first year of Arthur’s kingship. Things changed when Guinevere gave birth to their first son. There was a man who came against them. His name is Mordred. This began the trouble for Arthur and Guinevere. Arthur had to get his son to safety and hide him. He received word that Mordred was out to kill his first born son.”

“So, in the middle of the night, a faithful knight came in to take the son away with the two rings. The son was raised in the knight’s household. They lived in the highland moors of Wales. That is where the Moore family name came from. Their symbols are the dragon and the unicorn.”

Everyone looks at me with wonderment. Then they pay attention to dad.

“What about our background, dad?”

“Since the kingship came through the Queen, this tradition gets passed from mother to daughter. The Picts for a time held the highlands of Scotland. But they soon merged with the Scots in the lowlands of Scotland. Our symbols are the water horse and the centaur.”

“What is a water horse?”

“Do you know what a water horse is, Richard?”

“I do, Larry. It is probably the Loch Ness Sea Monster, an ancient sea animal or a sea dragon. I have met sea dragons, centaurs, dragons, unicorns, and dwarfs on Twainor.”

“Oh, this is too much. But I’m starting to see the connection of our two families.”

“That’s right, Allen.”

“I just want to add another log to the fire. While I was on Twainor, I received a drop of sea dragon blood.”

“Now I remember what you said earlier. So, literally you are part dragon and part unicorn.”

“That’s right, Charles.”

“Ahem, I need to continue on. Centuries would pass in Scotland, kings come and go. During one year, a particular individual rose up to reunite Scotland one more time. His name is William Wallace.”

“Isn’t he the one portrayed in the movie classic, Braveheart?”

“That’s right, Brian. We are descended from him, the Wilsons. The kingship line did continue in Scotland when a son and a daughter were born during one of those generations. It is said, Rhiannon prophesied that both sides would be a king and a queen. The Queen would reclaim the crown with Arthur. The King of Scotland would remain forever in Scotland through the son. Also, she said the two Kings would renew their friendship to unify the Isles in peace.”

“It is also passed down that Rhiannon wrote down our heritages into two different books, one for Guinevere and one for Arthur. That way, no one can refute our lineage. We have kept the books and passed them down from generation to generation. We don’t know when the thrones will be reclaimed.”

“What about Mordred? What happened to him?”

“Because of his deep hatred for Arthur and Guinevere, he established an assassination group called, Mordred’s Legacy. His first task was to take the kingship from Arthur and give it to the invaders.”

“What?!”

“Why, dad?”

“The invaders hired the group to do so. The invaders wanted to be rulers of the Isles. For a time, all four groups were able to repel the invaders. But that did not last very long. It lasted until the invaders became strong enough to push them back. The invaders even took the dragon and unicorn symbol from them and said the symbols switched sides. But the people knew better, that is what caused the rallying focus for the people.”

“They also took the sword and renamed it Excalibur. They made the story English, not Cymry. However, Arthur gave the sword back to Rhiannon until it is needed again. The people are now waiting for the true Arthur and Guinevere to come forward to reclaim the throne. When? I don’t know and what the circumstances will be. But what I do know, our lines are depending on Richard and Brianna to continue that tradition, even if they don’t marry.”

Brianna and I look at each other as we smile together.

We are totally exhausted and tired from hearing the story. Even though the story is longer than what I read in the letter from dad, mom and Rhiannon, I know it is a true story. We get up and go to our rooms for bed. We agree to wake up at about 8 AM. The turkey BBQ bash is at 1 PM to 4 PM tomorrow.

My fairies fly around me as I walk back to the guest house. The air is very cool now. I open the door and we go inside. I turn on the lights and make sure the heater is on. I take a walk into the bedroom and see the fairies have arranged their beds where they want to put them. Then I hear a knock on the door. I walk to the door and open it.

Immediately, Brianna puts her arms around me and kisses me deeply. She pulls away, “I still want to marry you, Richard.”

“I still want to marry you as well, Brianna. Oh, before I forget, I need to drop this idea in your head.”

“What is it, Richard?”

“You know how Amber and Cobalt are attached to me?”

“Yes, through their hearts they are completed besides being in love with each other.”

“That’s right, Brianna. Well, two of my fairies are beginning to show the same devotion to you as well.”

“Which ones are they?”

“Bianca and Lavan.”

“The two white morpho wing fairies? Hmm . . . I’m not rejecting the idea, Richard. It is just something for me to get used to.”

“We’ll take it day by day, Brianna.”

“We will, Richard. Good night.”

“Good night, Brianna.” We give each other a quick peck on the lips, then I close the door and lock it. I turn around and walk into the bedroom to get changed for the night.

“Did you tell her, mother?”

“I did, Bianca. She agrees to take it day by day. She needs to get used to the idea first.”

“That’s nice, father.”

“Yes it is, Bianca and Lavan. Well, let’s get a good night of sleep. Don’t worry. I’ll be taking you all with me tomorrow. It’s an outdoor event at this construction company. I hope there is a garden for you to use.”

They all chime in together, “Yes mother, father, Omega!”

We all get into our beds. I turn off the lights before I get into bed. We all fall asleep and have a great night of sleep.

We wake up in the morning fully refreshed and ready for the day. We get dressed and meet in the dining area of the house. My fairies had their breakfast before I had mine. We agree to take two cars with us. I will be taking Brianna and the fairies. The others are in Larry’s car. I also put the two pots back into my car. The fairies agree to the idea that it will be needed to get recharged and some rest when the day is done.

It takes about a half-hour for us to arrive at the company’s site. Their main office faces the main road. Surprisingly we find a nursery next to the site. As soon as I open the door, the butterflies flutter into the buildings to quickly check it out. They find plenty of flowers in bloom. They also see some other regular butterflies and bees going from flower to flower drinking and pollinating the flowers. They find it is quite warm inside the buildings.

We start walking to the grass area where the people are milling about. I see several 55 gallon drum grills set up on the grass. I see several rows of tables filled with food and more tables and chairs.

They get really quiet when they see us approaching them.

“So, he is here after all. He is the one who saved our bank accounts.”

“Now, now honey. Don’t start a fight with him.”

“Yeah, he took down four men with no problems. I’m not going to cross him up. No way.”

“Hello, well, as you might guess. My name is Richard Moore.”

Then a senior gentleman walks up to me, “Welcome, Richard. It appears some of my employees are bit unthankful. But that’s what Thanksgiving is all about. Being thankful. My name is Bill Bainbridge. I’m the CEO of this company.”

“You’re welcome, sir.”

“Thank you, Richard. You wiped out several debts hanging over our company. For that I’m extremely thankful. I know you are friends with the Wilsons. Charles has proven to be a very good employee here. Enjoy your time here and eat some BBQ turkey.”

“Thank you, sir.”

The time goes on, and we continue talking to each other for the next hour. I look around carefully to see if I can spot the two dads and sons. There are many people drinking beer, teas and fruit punch. There are also many family members here as well. Just when I spot them, we hear from the cooks the turkey is ready to serve up at 2 PM. The coolers are opened up to bring out the cold sides of coleslaw, as well as green beans, mashed potatoes and many other hot side dishes.

Most of the families sit as a group to each table. I sit on the end of one. Then a young man sits next to me. It is one of the sons that Charles described yesterday.

He speaks quietly to me while he eats his meal, “I hate your guts.”

I stare at him intently while he looks at me. Then I whisper back to him while I eat as well. “Look, I can take you down very fast and put you in a hospital for months.”

“I”ve got a whole company behind me.”

“So, but don’t be surprised if no one lends a hand.”

“We’ll see about that, fairy.”

“Who taught you that word?”

“No one, pipsqueak. Fairies to us are weak minded and weak in strength. You fit that description to the letter. Soon this company will be under new leadership and ownership. We don’t want any fairies in our company. We want real men.”

“Is Charles still here when that happens?”

“Yep, he is just like us again. We thought we lost him a few years ago. But we straightened him out.”

“Have you told the CEO about your plans?”

“Nope, it will be a surprise on Christmas.”

I slam my empty plastic cup on the table. “Bang!” “That’s fine. Well, I need some more veggies and turkey. Excuse me.” I get up from the table and walk to the food line to get more food.

I see him sitting there looking a little unsure of himself. “Uh . . . What just happened?”

I walk over to Charles sitting at the table with his friends. I bend down to whisper in his ear. “They want to be the new owners on Christmas. Then they will fire a bunch of fairies in their eyes.”

Charles whispers back, “How do you want to handle it?”

“I’ll do another verbal sparring match in front of everyone here.”

“I like it. I’ll rile up the two dads and sons to set it up. I’ll let the CEO know what is about to happen, including the other board members.”

“That’s fine, Charles.”

I straighten up and return back to my seat. The young man is gone and sitting elsewhere in the crowd. When I sit down, Brianna sits next to me and a few other single ladies as well sit near us.

“Oh, oh . . . I’m out numbered.”

The ladies giggle, “We know you two are an item.”

“That’s good to know.”

“We just like to be around good honest people.”

“Uh . . . “

”Also someone who can take care of themselves and protect others.”

“Ah . . . now the truth comes out.”

The ladies giggle some more. At about 2 PM, everyone gets done eating. Then a sheet cake is brought out from the office. It is cut up into small squares. The icing scene on the cake shows a turkey exercising to avoid being picked.

Once we get done eating, we mill around and talk some more.

~~~000~~~

Charles sees the four men talking together. He walks up to them.

“Hello Charles, how are you doing?”

“I’m doing fine, Bob. Did you see that fruitcake that came with us?”

“We did.”

“Well, he and my sister are planning to get married one of these days.”

“That’s not right, Charles. I have tried to ask her out, but she refuses every time. It looks like I might have to barge in and take control.”

“Yeah, she needs someone like you in charge of her life, Robert. So, what are you going to do about it?”

“I guess I will have to intimidate him and let him know who is boss.”

“We’re right behind you, Robert.”

The other three agree to be there with him. Charles turns around and walks discretely to find Bill Bainbridge. Their egos are so easy to fire up. It will be great to see their intimidation tactic backfire on themselves. He sees Bill talking with three other board members. They stop their conversation as he approaches them.

“Happy Thanksgiving, Bill.”

“The same to you, Charles. What’s on your mind?”

“You need to follow Bob and his crew. Robert is about to confront Richard Moore.”

“I see. We don’t need a fight on this day.”

~~~000~~~

Soon I see the two dads with their sons making their way to me. The CEO is behind them pleading to stop what they are doing. Charles is right behind them. Then more people see what is about to happen. They gather around as well.

They stop in front of me as they stare at me. I smell beer on their breaths. I stare back at them. Soon they have a starry look in their eyes.

“Hello, what can I do for you?”

A dad speaks up, “We are here to tell you that your kind is not wanted.”

“What kind is that?”

Then Robert speaks up, “You’re a freaking weakling and a fairy! Also, I’m the one who will marry Brainna! Not you, you little shrimp!”

“Didn’t you see me on TV when I was in New York City?”

“Yeah, we saw that. The problem is we supported the four Belgian CEO’s.”

“That was someone else who beat them up.”

“So, you want the Euro instead. What about the debt I wiped out?”

“That was just very stupid to do. We now have decided to speed up our plan for the CEO.”

“What is that, kind sir?”

“We’ll convince the board members to vote out our CEO next month by Christmas.”

“We are also going to fire about ten more people from this company. Then we’ll hire more that think like us.”

By this time, everyone can’t believe what they are hearing. The other board members and the CEO look at each other and shake their heads from side to side.

“Well, I hope your plan works.” I clap my hands, “Clap!” “But I must be going now. I think the CEO and board members will want an upgrade or at least improve their security software after this day.” I look at the CEO and the board members. We nod our heads up and down while we smile. I step away from the crowd.

The four men are soon blinking their eyes.

“Uhh . . . what just happened?”

“Yeah. . . I could have sworn we just told our plans for Christmas.”

The CEO speaks up, “You mostly certainly did, Bob. I think there will be another vote for some new board members. Don’t you agree, Steven?”

“I agree, Bill. We do need some new board members and some new foremen as well.”

“What?! That can’t happen!”

“Yes it can, Bob. Here are some suggestions for the four of you. You can stay with the company, but you will be as a common worker now. The other choice, is to take the Christmas bonus and make it last as long as possible while you’re hunting for a new job. What will it be?”

The four men look at the stern faces of the board members. They look around quickly and see everyone with a mad face on, especially from their own wives and girlfriends.

They look down in defeat. “You win, Bill. We’ll take the field work.”

“That’s fine, Bob. Since you two won’t be board members that monthly bonus will go to the two new board members.”

The two former board members answer meekly, “Yes, sir.”

“As for the two sons who are foremen, they will be ordinary field workers as well. However, they still keep their pay. I’ll find two new people to take their places.”

The two sons answer meekly, “Thank you, sir. We’ll step aside.”

“Now let’s continue in eating some more BBQ turkey!”

Everyone breaks apart. Some eat some more turkey and veggies, the rest mill around to talk and drink some more. Some are standing near a radio that is tuned to a football game being aired from Detroit.

I see the wives and girlfriends tearing into their husbands and boyfriends for doing that stupid idea next month. The CEO and the other board members walk up to me. We shake hands with each other. I see their faces change like I have seen too many times.

“Who is speaking to me, Richard?”

“Did he give a name?”

“He says he is the Creator of the Universe. He’s been waiting for this day to happen.”

“Well, listen to him. You’ll get some good advice from him on how to run the company better.”

“We’ll certainly will. Thank you, Richard.”

“You’re welcome, sirs. You’ll find Charles thinking a lot better now. I shook his hand yesterday.”

“That’s good to know. How did you ever get them to speak up like that? Did you use some sort of hypnosis on them?”

“It’s something like that, sir. But then I could have stared them down.”

“Stared them down? I like that answer, Richard. Well, you have a great set of holidays coming up and a Happy New Year.”

“The same to you, sir. Have a Happy New Year.”

“I think your company will have many Happy New Years for years to come.”

“I think you’re right, sir. Thank you and may your company have just as many as ours.”

We finally split apart. By 4 PM everyone starts to go home after cleaning up from the BBQ bash. When I open the doors for my car, the butterflies flutter in quickly down low among the cars and sneak into the back seat to have their rest and get their energy back.

We drive back to the house to have our rest and relaxation. When we get back, we start laughing together on what happened. Charles thanks me several more times before we finally went to bed.

The rest of the Thanksgiving week went as planned. We stayed in the house on Thursday. On Friday and Saturday, they drove me around to see the sights around Knoxville. I swam in their heated pool to relax some more. The fairies stayed in the fenced-in back yard. They are becoming more comfortable in being fairies around the Wilsons.

“So, when do you want to come to Mount Blanc, Larry?”

“When is it a good time, Richard?”

“The first week of May is a good one. It is the Corn Festival for the Cherokee Nation. It is a big celebration in Cherokee, NC.”

“I remember that dad. We saw some great shows there.”

“Yes, we did, Allen. Okay, we’ll make some plans then.”

“Where will we stay, Larry?”

“Well, but the place is a three-bedroom cabin. You know that already. You should make reservations in the local hotel right now if you’re bringing any other people with you.”

“That’s a good idea, Richard. I can bring my wife, mom. It will be good to be together on an outing.”

“Yes, it will be, Allen. Brianna, Larry and I will stay at the cabin with Richard, while the three of you are at the hotel. How does that sound?”

The three sons look at each other. They quickly agree to the idea. Saturday night I do a preliminary pack up of the luggage. In the morning, the rest of it gets put away.

After having breakfast at 7 AM, I have my good bye hugs and kisses with them. The fairies fly in front of them to wish them a happy holiday as well. They look forward to seeing them in first of May, then they change into butterflies.

The car gets loaded up with what I brought with me. The butterflies flutter in and get comfortable among the potted plants. Brianna picks out a potted plant from their own collection and gives it to me. The fairies promise to take care of it so that it will bloom each year. She chose the miniature rose bush.

I leave their house and drive back to Jacksonville. It takes the same amount of time to get back to the apartment. The fairies flutter out of the car and fly to the balcony garden. I walk up with a suitcase and unlock the front door and the balcony door. It takes several trips to get everything back where it belongs. I place the miniature rose bush among the other potted plants on the balcony.

The rest of the week went as scheduled in getting back to work. On the morning of December 1, 2103, I drive to the Shaolin dojo in Jacksonville. I arrive there at 8 AM. That is a Saturday. Traphel and Rose Wing are left back at the apartment like usual. The others are with me. In the back seat of the car, I have a bag of cut fruit pieces and a water bottle in a cooler and another nut bush. I also put some ‘blue ice packs’ to keep the items cool. The fairies have been able to make two more pots filled with the nut bush while they have been with me.

I walk into the Jacksonville dojo with my duffle bag. My butterflies flutter up to some potted plants in the main room. I see Sensei Chou standing in the center of the mats. I put my duffle bag on the floor. I do the traditional handclasp and bow to him. He returns the gesture as well. Then out of the corner of my eye, I see a subtle movement behind a pillar.

“Who else is here, Sensei?”

“Why don’t you figure out who it is?”

“Yes, Sensei.” I see a side of face that I thought I would never see again. “Is that you, Jackal?”

The Rescue Mission
Chapter 16
Written by rachel76m
Edited by Don Kaufman

I walk into the Jacksonville dojo with my duffle bag. My butterflies flutter up to some potted plants in the main room. I see Sensei Chou standing in the center of the mats. I put my duffle bag on the floor. I do the traditional handclasp and bow to him. He returns the gesture as well. Then out of the corner of my eye, I see a subtle movement behind a pillar.

“Who else is here, Sensei?”

“Why don’t you figure who it is?”

“Yes, Sensei.” I see a side of a face that I thought I would never see again. “Is that you, Jackal?”

He steps out from behind the pillar. “Yes, it is I, Richard. You put on a wonderful show of the martial arts against Captain Borhgess. I saw what you did to those four ‘wannabees’ in New York on TV. I’m impressed.”

“I didn’t know you were there in Charleston.”

“That is because I was using the stealth techniques of the snake. However, your fairies saw me with their keen eyesight.”

“What?” I turn to my fairies with an astonished face.

Tiger flies up to me quickly and changes into a fairy. “We couldn’t tell you, father. The news would have distracted you.”

“Sigh. . . . You’re right, Tiger.” I turn to the Jackal, “So, the letter from Josh was a ploy?”

Tiger flies back to the potted flowers and changes back into a butterfly like the others.

“It had to be, Richard. You know every letter is read before it is given to the inmates or sent out. Fortunately I shook hands with Josh when I did. Because, once I did hear the word that a contract was put on me, I immediately planned a way out of prison. The Creator explained to me that I will be needed to help you with the next set of animals. I feigned death by stopping my heart beat at the appropriate time after I was beaten up. As far as everyone else is concerned, the Jackal is dead. I will come up with a new name later. I give you permission to use my first real name only. It is Qiang.” (It is pronounced as ‘Chang’)

“I remember some of the words Sensei taught me. Doesn’t that mean ‘strong and good’?”

“I’m impressed again, Richard. Yes it does, it appears I now have a chance to fulfill my parent’s wishes when I was born. If you’re wondering where I went astray, the area where I lived had several gangs in a large city. Eventually, I was asked to join the assassins’ clan because of my fast ascension in the martial arts. I’m quite sure your next question is did I kill anyone.”

“Yes.”

“I killed war lords, drug lords and the like. I told them I would never hurt anyone innocent.”

“What about my graduation ceremonies?”

“Sigh . . . I was hired by the Consortium to kill you. There was only one real laser rifle aimed at you. The other laser rifles shot blanks.”

“I see. So, it was a good thing I used the 3D Server to protect us.”

“Yes it was, Richard. I contacted Sensei Chou discreetly as possible. We met and decided what to do next.”

“What about the assassination clan?”

“I’ll be with you and Sensei Chou when that happens. They must be told the truth. Hopefully our differences can be resolved peacefully.”

“Well, tell me all you can when the time is right. I’ll let you know when I can be in China for a good length of time.”

“That’s good, Richard. The new animal you will be learning is the snake. You will learn how to stop your heart from beating and start it right back up with no ill effects. You will also learn how ‘to play dead’. The stealth techniques of the snake are far superior to the black panther. You will learn how to wrap your body, arms and legs around someone to act as a constrictor snake. The movements are more fluid in motion. There will also be some new weapons to learn as well. They will be the whips and chains. On the chain weapons, there will be some that are more lethal like delivering a poison or to hurt someone from afar. It is a mental attitude of waiting for your opponent to attack first, then react quickly to it.”

“Yes, Qiang.”

“I’ll also teach you the defense against those weapons as well. But, your greatest contribution is for you to figure out how to combine the animal moves like you did against Captain Borhgess. Most Shaolin fighters stick to one style at a time when they fight someone. So, go get changed and we can begin with your first day here.”

While I’m the locker room area to change, the Jackal (I mean Qiang) and Sensei Chou walks into a separate training room. While that is going on, more students and instructors come into the dojo. When I walk out of the locker room, Sensei Chou directs me into the separate training room. The butterflies flutter into the room quickly. They see a flowering pot in one corner of the room. They fly to it immediately to get their rest and watch me learn the new moves.

After watching the Jackal do the initial set of moves, I try to copy what he did. I discover it is a lot of low style moves of getting beneath an opponent and to strike from below. After an hour of learning the first set, we sit on some chairs to catch our breath.

“You’re picking it up very fast, Richard. I like that.”

“Thank you. I heard you rose to the top in the clan very fast.”

“I did, Richard. I actually have earned the fifth black sash in the quickest amount of time. I find it was exhilarating to make the body to do the impossible. You will do that and more, Richard. The way I see it for you, when you have earned the tenth and final black sash, you will be a legend among the Dragon Masters. You will probably have your own school to teach by then. Also, I think you will be the one who will solve some mysteries in China and Japan. But, that can wait for another day.”

We get back up to learn the next set of moves. Again it is a lot of low level moves to move around and attack an opponent, this includes leg swings to trip somebody up or deliver a quick leg strike. After another hour of that, I get a water break for fifteen minutes. Once I get rested up again, I put both forms together, soon I start to feel the fluid motions become a part of me.

After putting them together, I work on the third form of the snake. That includes the pose of having the arms and hands in front of me to appear as a snake rising up to strike. Then I put all three forms together just before the lunch break. We sit down on the chairs to catch our breath.

“Pant . . . pant . . . you are right. The motions are very fluid and fast.”

“Yes, it’s an adrenalin rush that is much higher than the other animal forms. But when you learn the dragon forms, it will surpass the snake forms.”

“I’m looking back on what I’ve learned so far. I’m beginning to see how I can combine them together that will really surprise the opponent.”

“That’s good, Richard. I look forward to seeing it when you do it. Well, it is time for lunch. It is a full hour. You need to keep eating the right foods.”

“Let’s go to a Chinese restaurant. I know one that is nearby.”

“That’s good, Sensei.”

We get up and towel off the sweat from our faces and arms. I put on pair of pants so I can put my wallet into a pocket. My butterflies flutter out with us. They stay near the flowers and trees that are planted around the building. We get into Sensei Chou’s car. He drives us to the nearest Chinese restaurant. We get inside and order a combination selection for our meal. It can’t be too filling. I still have three more hours of training this afternoon.

“Qiang, I was wondering, are you getting paid for your time with me?”

“I’m getting it from Sensei Chou.”

“Well, let me pay you in cash. I’ll let my attorney know what the amounts are for. We can attribute it to a higher fee for Sensei Chou because he is traveling to be here with me.”

“Thank you, Richard. I greatly appreciate that. I do have an offshore account that I can put it in.”

We work out an amount that’s appropriate for the Jackal. It is about three-quarters of what I’m paying for Sensei Chou. He tells me he gets by with it without any problems. Any money that is left over, he puts it into a savings account. I use my cell phone to call Anna.

“Hello, Anna.”

“Hello, Richard. It’s good to hear from you again. What’s up?”

“You’re not going to believe this. I having lunch with Sensei and someone I didn’t expect to see since I received that letter from Josh.”

“From Josh? Then you must be talking about the Jackal.”

“Yes, ma’am. However, let’s use the name Qiang. I’ll explain later how he got here.”

“Okay, Richard. I have a few guesses as why. I’ll use the name, Qiang, for him.”

“He and Sensei talked it out. Qiang is teaching me the next set of animals for the first black sash. After that, it is a wait and see what will happen next. I would like to pay him in cash. He has relied on Sensei’s hospitality since he got out.”

“How much will he need?”

“We worked it out to be about three-quarters of Sensei.”

“That’s reasonable. You can go ahead and cash out a check for him. I’ll attribute it to traveling expenses for Sensei.”

“That was my thought as well.”

“Very good, Richard. Tell me the whole story when we get together again.”

“You might get that chance. The Wilsons are planning to be in Mount Blanc during the first week in May. I’m doing the same.”

“Excellent! I’ll make the same plans as well. I’ll call Crouching Bear and let him know.”

“Thanks and take care, Anna.”

“The same to you.”

“Click.”

“It’s settled.”

“Thank you, Richard. I appreciate that very much.”

“You’re welcome, Qiang.”

When we get done with lunch, Sensei Chou drives us back to the dojo. Once we get there, my butterflies flutter back inside once the door is open. I can sense from them they need something more substantial to eat from inside the car. I whisper to Tiger before he flutters inside.

“Tiger, please come here.”

Tiger flutters to me and lands on my shoulder. “Yes, father. What is it?’

“I sense you are feeling weak. Was there enough nectar around the dojo?”

“There wasn’t father. It’s Winter now.”

“I’m going to leave a window down on the car about one and a half inches.”

“Thank you, father. We can fly inside and get to the fruits, the water and the nut bush.”

I open the door to the dojo. Tiger flies in quickly and tells the other fairies what I’m doing. They quickly agree to the plan and flutter back out of the dojo. I turn on the engine and lower the rear window down about two inches. I then turn off the car engine and get out of the car. I attach some window screens to the windows and pull them down before I close the doors and lock it. The butterflies time their flight just right to glide into the opening. They settle in around the nut bush and change into fairies to hide there. Three of the fairies open the cooler and to open the bag of fruit. They hand a piece of fruit to each one to eat. I can now sense they are regaining their energy very quickly. I walk back into the dojo to finish my training for the day.

After two hours of learning the moves, I get introduced to the whip and chains. There are several chains. There are the three-segment, the seven-segment and the guillotine basket to start off with. The guillotine basket is very deadly. The basket is thrown toward your opponent and lands on his head. Around the neck portion is a series of knives. If pulled right, it will cut and pull the head off from the body. Yes, it is a very lethal weapon, I may never use it, but I must learn the weapons and the defense against them.

There are several different lengths of the leather whip. On one whip, it has a series of small protruding knives that can really cut you up. I can attach several points that can be filled with various poisons. I am told the poisons can be anything. There is the numbing poison to render a person to collapse and yet live. Of course there is the poison to kill someone. That vial has to be handled with care continuously.

“The other weapon you’ll have to worry about that kills from afar is the blow darts. That weapon has been around long time.”

“I’m familiar with that weapon. The Cherokees have the blow gun and a host of hand-held weapons beside the bow and arrow. Each of them can be dipped in certain poisons if they want to.”

“That’s good. You need to train your senses to reach out all around you, especially your ears. Once the ears have zeroed in on the object flying toward you, then you can react properly to the weapons.”

“Yes, Qiang.”

Sensei lashes out the whip toward the Jackal. Qiang times it just right to catch the end of the whip. He then wraps it around his wrists so that he can pull the whip out from Sensei’s hand. Then I try it. Sensei lashes out the whip toward my right side. I try to grab it. I miss it several times because I’m misjudging where to grab it. I then remember the lessons to slow it down in my mind. Once I did that, I am able to grab the end of the whip with no problems.

“Excellent! You figured out how to do it. What did you do, Richard?”

“I remember the lessons I had in slowing the motions down in my mind.”

“That’s right that lesson must be used to defeat any weapon that is coming at you.”

“Yes, Qiang.”

Sensei Chou smiles when he hears that I remembered that lesson.

Qiang then starts lashing out the whip all around me. I grab the end with my left or right hand each time. I let it go as soon as I grab it. Then Qiang directly aims the whip toward my body. Again I grab the end of the whip with ease and let it go.

“That’s very good, Richard. Now on to the three-segment chain. It is like the num-chucks, but these pieces are much longer.”

“Yes, Qiang.”

Sensei Chou then starts using the three-segment chain to lash out at Qiang. Qiang times it just right to block the hit with his forearm or leg. He never let’s it hit his body. Then it is my turn against Qiang. He lashes it out toward my torso. I do a mantis block with my forearm by tightening up the muscles before it gets there. I then tighten up the rest of the muscles to block the rest of the hits.

“Excellent, Richard. You used the mantis technique of blocking the hits. I saw your muscles tense up throughout the session. When we get done with the snake form, the new insect to learn will be the blue scorpion. That has some very specific offense and defense to learn. The first one is the Iron Shirt. It is stronger than the Mantis Stomach. The Iron Shirt is the foundation to the dragon armor. The offensive tactic is the Din Mak.”

“I know what that is, Qiang. When learned the right way, you can deliver a hit that can cause a delayed reaction when it hits a pressure point.”

“That’s right, Richard. You’ll learn how and where to hit that pressure point and the nerve point to really put someone down and out on one hit.”

“Am I to assume there is a defense to the Din Mak once the hit is applied?”

“First, you must be alert at all times. You can block the signal before it reaches its destination point. Therefore, you must learn all of the acupuncture points and nerve points. There are some points where you can deliver your own two finger hits to your own body that will cancel out the Din Mak hit.”

“Yes, Qiang.”

I continue blocking their attacks. After fifteen minutes of that, it is my turn to attack them. I have some trouble in getting the motions right. It takes another fifteen minutes of lessons from them on how to use it properly. Once I get it understood, I can now lash it out very effectively.

We stop for the day at 4 PM.

“Whew! That is some work out.”

“Yes, it is. However, this is only the first day of a three-year process. Recover tomorrow, Richard. We’ll begin again at Monday evening for a two-hour session in the evening at 7 PM.”

“Yes, Sensei.”

“Richard, I understand from Sensei that you did some earlier training a couple of years ago. What did you learn?”

“I started on the black panther. I also did the drunken moves technique as well. I was given some strong wine to get the motions understood. The following week I was given a mild truth serum. I was able to fight that serum when one of my fairies escorted a wasp to deliver some of his venom to me.”

“That’s very good. When we get done with the snake form, we’ll go back to the black panther. Then we’ll do the blue scorpion.”

“Yes, Jackal.” I go into the changing room of the dojo. Fortunately they have a set of showers installed here. I get changed and put the work out clothes into the duffle bag. I walk around to the front part of the dojo. I see Sensei and Qiang standing there. I do the traditional hand clasp and bow to them. They return the gesture as well.

“See you on Monday at 7 PM. We’ll do this until Thursday, then a full day on Saturday like today.”

“Yes, my friends. See you then. I’ll get your cash on Thursday, Jackal.”

“That’s fine, Richard.”

I turn around and exit the dojo. As soon as I get near the car, I hear my fairies giggling and laughing.

I speak up to get their attention, “Ahem.”

“He’s here.”

“We’re sorry, father.”

“What do you mean, Emeril?”

“You’ll see when you open the rear door.”

I open the rear door. I see little pieces of fruit scattered about the entire car. Fortunately it is confined to the rear seat area. I also see their clothes are stained as well. “Uh huh. I see you had some fun with the food. We call it a food fight.”

“Yes, it was a food fight, father.”

“I hope you ate more than what I see around here.”

“We did, mother.”

I smile at them, “Well, my silly fairies. You made the mess. You get to clean it up.”

They all respond in one voice, “Yes, mother, father, Omega.” They giggle and laugh and some more.

I get into the front seat and place my duffle bag on the front seat. I remove the screens from the windows and roll them up. “Fortunately, I have some paper towels and soap in the trunk. I’ll drive to a nearby park. Don’t feel too bad, my fairies. My brothers and I did the same thing one time. Mom and dad told us we need to clean up the mess we created.”

“Thank you for the understanding, mother.”

“You’re welcome, Bianca. As a little reminder for everyone, you get to stay in your sticky clothes until I get back to the apartment. Then you can get a proper wash up done.”

They all respond together, “Yes, mother, father, Omega.”

I drive to the nearest park. I see no one around. I park the car under an oak tree. I get out of the car and open the rear trunk. I get out the bucket and pour some water from a container into the bucket. I get a roll of paper towels and the liquid soap. The fairies tear off pieces of paper from the towel roll. I squirt some liquid soap into my hand. They dip the paper into the soap and the bucket of water. They proceed to clean up the rear seat area in about fifteen minutes. Once they get done with it, they leave a pile of the torn paper just outside the car. I then take the torn pieces and throw them into a nearby trash can.

While I drive back, I hear them reminiscing about their time with it. They laugh and giggle while they recant the fun they had.

“I got you right on the face, Tiger!”

“But I got you back, Lavan!”

It goes back and forth until I get back to the apartment. “All right you bunch of sharp shooters, I’ll be in the kitchen setting up the shower again.”

“Yes, mother, father, Omega!” They all giggle and laugh as they change into butterflies. As soon as I open the door, they flutter out quickly to the rear balcony garden.

Traphel and Rose Lace are now seeing a bunch of spots of fruit juice on their wings and bodies. “What happened?”

“We got into a food fight.”

“Father had us clean up the rear seat area.”

“I should hope so.”

“Do you remember the time we had a food fight, Traphel?”

“I sure do, Rose Lace. There were about fifty of us throwing the berries at each other. It was a lot of fun.”

“Then King Oren had us to pick up the seeds from the fruits and plant them while we are wearing our dirty clothes. Once that was done, we then got cleaned up at the nearest waterfall.”

“Even that was a lot of fun.”

All of the fairies giggled and laughed when they heard the story retold.

Once I’m out of the car and have it locked up. I bring my duffle bag up to the apartment. I immediately set up the curtains and the shower set up like before in the kitchen sink. I walk to the sliding glass doors. “Okay, it’s ready!”

“Yes, mother!”

They all flutter in quickly and change to fairies. They have their fun while they get cleaned up. I take my sweaty work out clothes and put them in the washing machine to get them clean as well. I feel my muscles are beginning to tighten up after a hard work out. I take a pair of aspirin to help ease the achy joints and muscles. I take another hot and cold shower as well to get my own stickiness of sweat off.

The rest of the weekend proved to be very relaxing. I get back to work on Monday to start the week all over again. However, this time from Monday to Thursday, I’m at the dojo from 7 to 9 PM. By the end of the week, I learn some more snake moves. With the Jackal’s help, I learned how to slow my breathing down and get my heart to stop for five seconds and start it back up. During those five seconds I learn how to use my ears to listen to what is around me. I hear Sensei and the Jackal talking to each other. When I wake up, I repeat what they said. They tell me I must get it up to one minute and no more.

This continues until two weeks before Christmas Week. This time I get a phone call from Brianna at work.

“Hello, Richard. I miss you very much.”

“Hello, Brianna. I miss you very much as well. What’s up?”

“My family is having Christmas here in Charleston this time. So . . . I was wondering . . .”

“You’re wondering if it would be great to have me there for Christmas there with y’all?”

“That’s right, Richard.”

“Hmm . . . let me check with Mr. Parker. Call me later tonight at my apartment.”

“I’ll do that, lover boy.”

“I’ll be waiting for it, lover girl.”

We then both give each other a fake kiss over the phone, “Mwah! Mwah!”

“Click.”

I get up from the chair in my office. I walk out and down the hallway to Mr. Parker’s office. I knock on the door two times. “Knock, knock.”

“Enter.”

I open the door and walk inside.

“Hello, Richard. What can I do for you?”

“Hello, Mr. Parker. I would like to discuss the holiday break coming up.”

“Ah yes. The holidays are on Tuesdays this time. Well, you know the Monday’s before them, and we are closed here.”

“I know that sir. That’s not the problem. It is after January first that I’m curious about. You know I will be in Charleston in January. I just got a call from Brianna. She told me her family will be in Charleston for the two weeks.”

“I see, it seems to make sense for you to do it in one trip before Christmas.”

“That’s right sir. I stay there between Christmas and New Years.”

“Well, let me check your vacation time here.” He punches some keys on the keyboard to bring up Richard’s vacation time on the PC monitor. “Well, you have plenty of time left over to do it. Okay, I give the approval for you to use that. I’m sure Mr. Bryson will approve it right away.”

“Thank you, sir. I’ll tell Darrell that I will be gone during that week.”

“That’s fine. It is a good possibility Mr. Bryson might approve those days off for everyone here. How is it going otherwise with the proofing?”

“Darrell and I are in a good flow pattern right now. The way we see it, we’ll be done on Friday before the Christmas break.”

“That’s good. None of us like to have anything dangling when that happens.”

“No, sir.”

“Very well then, Richard. Write up the vacation request on the form and turn it in today.”

“Thank you, sir.”

I turn around and exit his office. I walk back to my office and sit down. I type on the keyboard and use the mouse to find the online vacation request form. I create another copy of it and save it in my vacation request folder. I fill it in and attach my digital signature to the document. I then email the form to him as an attachment. Once that is done, I check the website of the hotel where I’ll be staying. It is same one that I’ve been going to since I came to Secure-Sys the first time. I fill in their form for the date requests for between Christmas and New Years and send it in. I get a response from them. They have my reservation for after the first of January. However, they are full between those two holidays.

“Okay, it looks like I’ll have to bunk with the Wilsons for that week.” I send an email to Brianna and explain to her the situation. I get a response from her that she will check with her parents about it by tonight. I respond back I’ll be out from 7PM to 9 PM for some more martial art learning. I write to her to leave the message in the mailbox and I’ll read it when I get back.

I continue with the rest of the day as usual. At 5 PM, I walk out of the building and walk toward my car. My fairies flutter to my car when they see me come out. As soon as I open the door, they flutter in quickly.

I drive to my apartment to change my clothes and get a light dinner put together. Once I get done eating, I make several trips to my car. I take the portable cooler and put in a bag of fruit for them and the nut bush. Then I bring down my duffle bag after I lock the door. By this time, my fairies flutter down from the balcony garden and into my car. I drive to the dojo and get there by 7 PM. I quickly change into my gee outfit and get ready for the lesson tonight.

For the first hour, I put everything together that I have done for the last week, that includes using the whips and chains. After the hour is up, I’m shown another set of moves in the snake form from Qiang. I repeat what he did with no problems. When the second hour is up, I drive back to my apartment for a good night of sleep.

When I get back inside the apartment, I check the mailbox for any message from Brianna. I see the latest one from her. I read that they will put me up in one of the bungalows at the Rescue Mission with no problems.

The rest of the weeks went as scheduled until the weekend before Christmas. This is the weekend I’ll be buying the engagement ring for her. I have an idea from her what she would like in the ring to be. She has given me photo hints in her emails.

We confided to each other a lot of our emotions in the emails as best we can. We know we’ll communicate better once we are in the presence of each other. Brianna writes we’ll be meeting with a marriage counselor at the Rescue Mission in January. She realizes I need to continue to learn the lessons for the black sash. We just have to make time for each event in our lives.

Once I get the car all packed up on Sunday morning, including the stone carving for Croin. I bring in the plants from the balcony garden onto a set of shelves with plastic sheeting underneath it. We know there will be some serious cold fronts coming our way this Winter. Traphel and Rose Lace will tend to them in the apartment and stay warm there. They will open the sliding glass door from time to time to allow fresh air into the apartment. I take four potted plants with me. These are the nut bush, two nectar laden plants and one pot of blackberry plants. Of course, I’ll bring along bags of assorted nuts and fruits as well. Awhile back I purchased some nut dispensers for the counter top. The fairies really liked it a lot. I made sure they are full before I left.

I put a reminder note in my cell phone to send Traphel an email message once a week to my extra cell phone in the apartment. This is to let him know how it is going in Charleston. I finally lock up the apartment to drive to Charleston.

I get in the car and turn on the engine. I set the heater to warm up the air inside the car. My fairies flutter in quickly and change into fairies. They all get under the blanket in the back seat to snuggle up and get warm.

I get on I-95 and drive to Charleston at 9 AM. I arrive there in plenty of time in three hours. I drive to the docks to park my car. My fairies come out in butterfly mode and hover around me.

“I have some time to get the ring. Bianca, Lavan, Amber and Cobalt please get in my two front coat pockets. The rest of you can hover about.”

“We’ll stay safe and out of reach. We know you have to be back here before the Wilsons arrive.”

“Thank you, Tiger. I’m counting on you and Tigress to protect them.”

“Have no worries, father. We’ll keep them safe.”

I walk down the streets and find the jewelry shop that I found on the internet. It takes about ten minutes to get there. I open the door and walk inside. I get greeted by a sales lady.

“Hello, how can I help you?”

I take out some folded up pieces of paper. “I’m looking for a wedding and engagement ring combination. I’m popping the big question on Christmas morning.”

“How romantic. Let’s see what you brought for ideas.”

“These came from her.”

She looks at them closely. “These are lovely. But I suspect you’re looking for something else.”

“I am ma’am. I’m looking for a pink diamond set. The setting will look like a miniature rose. She gave me a small potted bush to take care of. It has been doing wonderfully under my watch.”

“Oooh, I like that idea. I think I have a solution for you here.” She takes out a catalogue and starts thumbing through the pink diamond collection. Soon, she finds it. “I think this will do for you.”

I see a pink diamond cut in a traditional style. Around it are smaller pink diamonds set in a circle around it. A gold metal band contains it all together with several small gold leaves underneath the diamonds. The wedding ring is of a similar style, but without the central diamond.

“What is the total weight?”

“It is a half-carat. The price is about $1,000. Are you thinking of a larger diamond?”

“Can you do it for a total of one carat? I’m thinking of a price in the $1,500 range now.”

“That’s possible. My next question is how you are paying for it?”

“It will be by check and in the full amount.”

“Wow! Who are you? You look familiar.”

“I should hope so, ma’am. I’m Richard Moore from Secure-Sys.” I smile at her.

“Oh my! You are the one who saved our world economy.”

“I did, ma’am. Also, don’t give me any discounts. I’m sure you need the sales commission on this.”

“I sure do. Thank you very much, Richard. Did she give her ring size?”

“She typed in this email.” I show it to her.

“That’s good.” She writes down the ring size on a pad of paper and the catalogue number for the ring set. “Give me a moment to look for it.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

She turns around and walks into the back.

I hear Bianca whispering to me. “She’ll love it very much, mother.”

I whisper back. “I should hope so, Bianca.”

“That is a wonderful idea, Richard. She gave us a rose and we are giving her one back.”

“It is Amber. But as an added special moment. I am thinking of placing the ring in a real rose, then bend the knee in presenting it to her.”

“I love that very much, mother. That is an excellent idea.”

Then we see the manager, the jeweler and the sales lady come walking out with a board of wedding rings.

“Hello Richard. When Margaret told me, it was you. I became determined to make sure we can do it.”

“Can you, sir?”

“Sam, you can explain it better.”

“Thank you, George. To get the total one carat you’re requesting, it will have to be in the central diamond. The other diamonds are already set for their size in the gold band.”

“So, the mount for the central diamond will probably have to change.”

“Yes, it will, Richard. The current size of this diamond is about 1/4 carat. You are asking to increase it to 3/4 carat.”

“That’s right.”

“I will have to remove the central diamond and extend the arms to hold the new diamond.”

“Won’t that weaken the metal?”

“This gold is not pure gold, if that is what you’re thinking. You graduated from college didn’t you?”

“I did, sir. One of the engineering classes I had was on materials. I’m familiar with the charts that show the percent strength with different alloys.”

“Ah, then you know what I’m talking about. Then I can speak some ‘Engineering Metal Geek’ to you.” He smiles at me.

I smile back, “Yes, you can, Sam.”

We speak to each other on the various ways of extending the arms and yet keep it strong to hold the larger diamond. The best solution is to fit a new cradle into the existing one.

“Making the new cradle won’t be a problem. It is just a matter of melding it with the existing cradle. When are you planning to give it to her?”

“Christmas morning.”

“Hmm . . . I can get it done by tomorrow morning by 10 AM.”

“I can pay you so it will be a Christmas bonus for you.”

“Thank you very much, Richard. The cost will be $300.”

“That is not a problem. I can pay you now and for the ring.”

“That’s not necessary, Richard. You can pay it tomorrow. We are still open tomorrow. But we are closing at 3 PM.”

“Then I’ll be here at 10 AM.”

I shake hands with each of them.

“You don’t have to worry, Richard. We can all hear the Creator’s voice here even though we attended different churches and synagogues.”

“That’s great. Then I’ll see you tomorrow morning at 10 AM.”

I turn around and exit the jewelry shop. I walk back to the docks. The people I pass are amused that butterflies are around me. My fairies see me walking back down the sidewalks. They flutter about and around me while I walk back. I then open the rear door. They all flutter in quickly and get under the blanket to keep warm. I stand outside waiting for the Wilsons to show up. They show up in the parking lot in about fifteen minutes.

They get out to greet me. I hug them and shake their hands.

“We’ll all be staying in the bungalows, Richard.”

“You’re not staying in the hotel?”

“The Rescue Mission had no one signed up for them. So we agreed to pay it ourselves, yours included.”

“Thank you very much, Larry. I’ve made arrangements to be in town here tomorrow. I have to do a business transaction.”

“So do we, Richard. We need to buy our own food in the bungalows. There is a special Christmas dinner for everyone at the Rescue Mission that we have been invited to.”

“Well, then I’ll add a trip to a grocery store as well.”

We drive our cars onto the ferry. We pay the fee. It takes about forty-five minutes to get there. Once we are at the other docks, we drive our cars off the ferry. We drive down the road to the main building complex. Once we get out of our cars, the doors open and see Brianna running toward us. She hugs and kisses her family first, then me. When we get together, our kiss and hug are extra long.

We then break apart to catch our breath.

We then hear Brian speak up, “It’s about time you came up for air. It is cold out here.”

“I’m sorry, Brian. But we were making our own little fire here.”

“Yeah, yeah. You’re really burning it up here.”

Everyone laughs and giggles after the remarks are made.

“All right. Let’s get checked in and get our cars to the bungalows.”

“Yes, dad.”

We walk inside to greet the staff. We are given the keys to the bungalows and sign our name on the forms to which bungalow we are getting. We then walk back out and get into our cars to drive to the bungalows.

~~~000~~~

Brent and his group are finally released from the hospital in New York City, after being there for two months. The US Court judge hands down their sentencing phase for their participation in the Euro Scam. They each get forty years in prison. That is twenty years for breaking into the various data servers, my apartment and Dave Parker’s office. This also includes for the embezzlement charge as well. The next twenty years are for the beating I received from them.

They get assigned to the NC State Penitentiary System. After getting checked in, they are escorted to their cells. Soon, they start hearing banging on the bars and names calling out to them. Their eyes are darting everywhere as they walk down the corridors.

“Ooh, look whom we have here men. We have the four who screamed like girls.”

“Yes, let’s find out if they like guys.”

“Nah, they said they are men. We’ll check them out for you, bro’.”

Then they approach a man who is leaning against his cell door.

“You better get your act together real quick. If you don’t, they will eat you alive.”

Brent snaps back at him, “Why? Why should you care about us?”

“I went up against Richard myself. If you ask me, I deserved every bit of pain from him for what I did to him the first time we met.”

“What? You went up against, Richard Moore?”

“I sure did. I faced him twice. But, I will tell you more about my story later. Right now, you better watch your backs. If you don’t know any real martial arts, you will be mince meat with the felons here.”

“Uh, thanks.”

“I have a question before you get to your cells.”

“What is it?”

“Have you heard of the Creator?”

“Isn’t he some sort of crime lord?”

“Sigh . . . never mind. You have plenty of time to figure what is more important in life than the one you tried to pull off months ago.”

“Sigh . . . whatever. What’s your name?”

“My name is Josh.”

The Rescue Mission
Chapter 17
Written by rachel76m
Edited by Don Kaufman

We arrive at the bungalows at the Rescue Mission. My fairies flutter out quickly to check the area out. They see a lot of brown vegetation everywhere. There are no flowers blooming in the gardens. The plants in the gardens are shrunken and wilting from the cold air.

We haul our luggage and bags into the bungalows. Since there are five bungalows, the split up is rather interesting. Larry and Helen definitely get one to themselves. Allen and his wife get one for themselves. Brian and Charles get their own bungalow and I get into the fourth one. The fifth bungalow is left empty.

I take off my winter jacket and drape it over a dining chair. My fairies take out their beds and clothes boxes from their suitcase and place them around the bedroom. Esmeralda and Emeril have theirs the closest to me. I pour out the bags of nuts and fruits into several bowls and place them on the table in kitchen area.

I check the cupboards and fridge quickly. I don’t see any food in them at all. I get a knock on my door. “Knock! Knock!” I walk to the front door and open it. I see it is Larry.

“Richard, did you check out the pantry and the fridge? Ours is very empty.”

“It is the same here, Larry. They must have emptied them since I was here the last time.”

“That’s a good possibility. They don’t want anything spoiling here. We have some time to get back to the mainland to buy some food. We are still planning to go back tomorrow.”

“I’ll go with you, Larry.”

“Okay, meet me out here in five minutes.”

“I’ll be ready.” I close the door.

I walk into the bedroom. “All right, listen up my fairies. There is no food in the pantries or the fridge for me to eat. I’m going with Larry in five minutes. I should be back in about three hours.”

“We’ll stay here, mother. We’ll stay warm here.”

“That’s fine, Tigress.” I smile at them. “Now remember, no food fights. But you can play hide and seek.”

They all giggle and laugh and answer back at the same time. “Yes, mother, father, Omega!” They all giggle and laugh again.

I smile at them, “Silly fairies.”

They all giggle and laugh again as I put on my jacket again. I lock the door as I leave the bungalow. I get in Larry’s SUV with Allen. Larry drives down to the dock to get on the ferry. He takes us back to the mainland in about forty-five minutes. Once we get there, Larry drives off from the ferry.

“You have one hour to get back here for the last trip to the Rescue Mission.”

“We’ll be here, ferry pilot.”

Larry drives to the nearest supermarket. “Remember, we don’t have to buy everything. Concentrate on breakfast and lunch. We’ll be back here for the rest of the week, tomorrow.”

“Yes, Larry.”

“Okay, dad.”

We each take a cart and go our separate ways. I go looking for eggs, cereal, and several different types of juices. I pick up a couple of cut chicken breasts, canned vegetables, yogurt and dried milk. For the fresh produce, I pick several different kinds of fruits, lettuce, tomatoes, baby carrots and fresh herbs. I walk down to the dry herb and spice isle and pick out what I like. Once I see everything is in the cart, I walk to the front. I see Allen walking toward me with his cart. He has a lot more in his cart than mine. About thirty minutes later we see Larry with a full cart.

“Let me guess, Larry. That’s for Brian and Charles as well.”

“Yeah. I couldn’t trust them coming with us today. I decided to let them complain about what I bought here. Then we’ll decide tomorrow.”

We pay up at the registers. For myself, I use my debit card. I see Larry and Allen doing the same thing as well.

We get the SUV loaded back up and head back to the docks. We get back there just in time. It takes another forty-five minutes to get back to the Rescue Mission. Larry drives back to the bungalows so we can unload our groceries. It doesn’t take me too long to get my purchases into my bungalow. Once my stuff is put away, I walk back out to help Larry out. I see Brian and Charles looking at what dad bought.

“Gee dad. You bought healthy food.”

“That’s right, Brian and Charles. Get used to it, especially if you get married some day.”

Then Allen speaks up, “Listen to him, bro’s. I learned my lesson really fast when I got married. That meant there are no more cold pizzas and orange juice for breakfast.”

Charles moans out loud, “Oh man . . . that’s a pain, Allen. All right, we’ll make the best of it, dad.”

Allen and I look at each other as we smile and shake our heads from side to side.

“We’ll be leaving at 8 AM tomorrow morning, my sons and Richard. This is for shopping and gift wrapping. We’ll be opening the presents in our bungalow, Tuesday morning at 8 AM.”

“What about the Rescue Mission? Brianna will want to be there with them.”

“The Mission Director told me the adults will be opening their presents after lunch. However, the children will open theirs in the morning. Then we’ll be over there to join them for the evening dinner.”

“Okay, dad.” The three boys answer back.

“Yes, Larry.”

The rest of the night went very quiet. However, I did get a knock on my door just before sunset. I open the door to see Brianna standing there with a winter jacket on. I put my jacket on, then she takes my hand and leads me down to the beach for another sunset stroll. We see the sky and the clouds change color from yellow, to orange and finally to red. We don’t say anything to each other while we walk together. She puts her arms around me as I put my arm around hers.

Then Brianna gives a sigh, “Sigh . . .”

“What’s on your mind, Brianna?”

“Tell me again. Which way is it to Twainor?”

“Do you see the constellation Orion up there?”

“Yes.”

“In the left end of the belt is the Horse Head Nebulae.”

“Okay. I remember seeing pictures of that in books.”

“Above Orion is the Crab Nebulae.”

“Okay. I’ve seen those pictures as well.”

“Good, now somewhere in between them and much closer to those two nebulas is Twainor. The nebulas are much larger in the sky there. There is a reason it is called Twainor. They have two identical moons in size circling the planet.”

Brianna finally smiles. “That’s good to know. So, that is a magical world.”

“Yes it is, Brianna. I was also told by the Emissaries, there are about a dozen worlds in the Milky Way Galaxy that are magical.”

“Do you know which ones they are?”

“I think there is one that I know of that is magical. Do you remember Peter Pan?”

“How can I forget that story? That is one of my favorites. Are you saying it is for real?”

“I am, Brianna. Whether they come looking for lost boys or girls here or on a parallel Earth in another dimension, they are in our galaxy.”

“Hmm . . . that’s interesting. I wonder what other stories are true.”

“I know of another world that is true.”

“Which one is it?”

“Middle-Earth from JR Tolkien.”

“What? You mean the elves and all of those stories are for real?”

“They are Brianna. Somehow, their stories got transmitted to Tolkien to write them down. The other thing I know is this. Somehow, some of those Elves are here, and some of our dragons are on Middle-Earth. But there is another bad character that is here as well.”

“Whom is it, Richard?”

“Sauron. However, he is here as a ghostly spirit. I have faced him a few times already.”

“Brrr. . . . That mean I will probably face him someday as well.”

“Yes you will, Brianna. However, when we come back from Twainor, you will be able to stand up to him and be a thorn in his side like I am to him.”

Brianna smiles, “That’s good.”

She turns to me and looks up at me. “I love you very much, Richard.”

“I love you very much as well, Brianna. You are the delight of my soul.”

“You are my hero and knight in shining armor with a heart of gold.”

We then hug each other and give each other a very long kiss as the sun finally sets in the West. We then walk back to the Rescue Mission. I drop her off. She turns around to face me one more time before going inside.

“I’ll see you tomorrow morning.”

“See you then, Brianna.”

She then blows me a kiss. I put my hand to cheek, “Oooh, you have a good aim!”

She giggles, “You silly boy.”

“Yeah, I’m crazy about you!”

“That goes double for me too, Richard!” She giggles as she walks inside and closes the door.

I walk back to the bungalows in silence. I hear and feel the cold ocean breeze blow across the island. When I get back to my bungalow, I open the door and walk inside, then I close it and lock the door. I take off my jacket and drape it over a chair. I walk to the kitchen to prepare my dinner. I decided to make a light salad with some fruit and a cup of yogurt. My fairies fly into the kitchen to see what I’m doing.

“How was your walk with Brianna, mother?”

“It was very quiet at first, Bianca. Then she asked me where Twainor is in the night sky.”

“So, she wants to make sure it is still there.”

“That’s right, Amber. She is taking it day by day, my fairies. I did tell her of the other worlds that are out there like Middle-Earth and Never Never Land.”

“I never heard of that story, father.”

“I haven’t told it to you yet, Esmeralda and Emeril. We’ll watch it on TV tonight, after dinner.”

“Okay.”

I continue making a cold dinner for tonight. Once I get done, I set it on the dining table with a tall glass of cold water. I place paper plates around the table before me. They pick what they want from the bowls and bring it to a paper plate. They pair up on the plates by brother and sister. I give the evening thanks to the Creator. Then we all respond together, “Thank you, Creator.”

We eat and talk about many things that are on our minds.

“I can’t wait to see Brianna’s face when she sees the ring, mother.”

“Yes, it will be a surprise to her. It is the perfect time to propose to her for her Christmas present from me.”

“What does the ring look like, father?”

“It looks like a pink rose, Emeril. It is similar to the miniature rose bush she gave us earlier.”

“That’s sweet, mother.”

‘Yes, it is, Esmeralda.”

“What will you get for the other family members, Omega?”

“I don’t know, Brushwind. I’ll be doing some more shopping tomorrow. I think it will be best if everyone stays here tomorrow.”

“We understand, father. We might not be able to follow you inside the stores. Leave the sliding glass door unlocked, father. We can fly about and check the rest of the island out.”

“It should be quiet out there, my fairies. Most of the animals and birds have sought the warmer climate by now to the south. The alligators will probably be in their gator holes to keep warm. You can tell me what you find when I get back in the afternoon.”

“We will Omega, father and mother.” They all respond together.

We continue eating our evening meal. Once we get done, everyone helps to clean up the dining room and the kitchen. I walk to the TV and check what is on. I look through the program until I find the movie for Peter Pan. I take the controller and sit down in the sofa chair. The fairies gather around me to watch the movie.

“If you see something, I can stop the movie so we can comment about it.”

“Thank you, mother.”

As soon as Tinker Bell appears in the movie. I get a ‘Stop’ from all of them.

I push the pause button to make a comment, “Yes there are fairies there. However, there is no unicorn on Never Never Land. They are born a different way there.”

“How are they born there?”

“When a baby laughs for the first time, a fairy is born in a special flower there.”

“There must be thousands of fairies there.”

“I don’t know how many are there, Tigress. Let’s watch the rest of the movie. You’ll get more of your questions answered.”

“Yes, father, mother, Omega!”

I push the button for the movie to continue. They giggle and laugh as Peter Pan tries to tackle his shadow. They giggle again when they see the kids try to fly for the first time. When they arrive on Never Never Land, my fairies are amazed at the beauty of the place.

Then they become startled when they see Capt. Hook for the first time. But they see how the Lost Boys are confident in fighting their way through problems on their own.

They laugh when they see Capt. Hook is afraid of the crocodile. Then I get a ‘stop’ from my fairies again.

I hit the pause button.

“Why is he ticking, father?”

“The crocodile swallowed a clock. Therefore, his name is ‘Tock’.”

All of the fairies giggle and laugh. I even laugh with them.

“That is funny, father!”

“This a great movie, mother. I can’t wait to see them when the time is right.”

When we calm down, I push the button to continue the movie. Then we get to the sad part in the movie where Tinker Bell is weakened by Wendy’s unbelief. My fairies are hoping for a miracle turn around. They begin to clap their hands to help Tinker Bell come back to life. Even I clap my hands as well. Eventually Wendy believes and Tinker Bell comes back to life. Everyone cheers that Tinker Bell is alive and well.

Then it is a race to save Peter Pan from Capt. Hooks’ treachery. Peter Pan is rescued just in time. Then there is a fight between Peter Pan and Capt. Hook again. Capt. Hook ends up in the water. Then he screams when he sees Tock approaching him. He jumps out of the water and tries to run away from Tock.

Everyone cheers there is a happy ending to the movie. Tinker Bell uses her pixie dust to make the ship float in the air and send everyone home back to Earth. Once Wendy and her siblings are back home, the ship sails back to Never Never Land.

Everyone cheers for the movie.

“I love it, mother! We need to see it again!”

“Yes, play it again, father!”

“But look at the time, my fairies. It is about 9 PM right now. If I play it again, we’ll be getting to bed at 11 PM or so.”

“Ugh, you’re right father. That would give us six to seven hours of sleep.”

“But we can sleep in some more while you’re on the mainland. Then we can play it some more until you come back.”

“Okay, we’ll play it one more time. Before I leave tomorrow, I’ll be sure your shower is set up in the sink.”

“Thank you, father, mother, Omega!”

We settle back in and watch the movie again. We finish the movie at about 11 PM. We all have droopy eyelids for staying up so late. I carry them back to their beds. They thanked me for doing that for them. Once everyone is back and changed into their night clothes, they get into their own beds. I get ready for bed as well. I set the clock for 7 AM.

I turn off the lights in the bungalow except for the stove light in the kitchen. I walk into the bedroom and get under the covers carefully and rest my head on the pillow. Soon I’m fast asleep with everyone else.

During the middle of the night, I feel a presence in my dreams. However, they feel very real. I open my eyes and see no one. Who is here, Creator?

Go outside quietly, Richard. You’ll meet someone very important.

Okay, Creator. I get out from under the covers quietly. I walk out of the bedroom and into the living room. I put on the winter jacket and a pair of shoes. I am already wearing a pair of socks from when I went to bed. I unlock the front door as quietly as I can. I open it and step outside and close the door quietly. I walk down the side walk a few feet. I hear a movement nearby. I whisper quietly.

“Who’s here?”

“Take a walk to the woods. I’ll meet you there.”

“Okay.”

I walk quietly to the woods, once I’m inside the outer edge of the woods I hear him again.

“That’s far enough.”

Then I see a young man dressed in green stepping out from behind a tree. Then I see a fairy glowing and flying around him. The fairy lands on his shoulder.

“Well, that answers my question. You are for real, Peter Pan.”

“Yes, I am. The Creator told me I would find you here. From what he told me about you, you are very important to this Earth here.”

“Yes, I am Peter. My name is Richard Moore. I have a new title now.”

“Yes, you’re the Omega Unicorn.”

“What can I do for you?”

“Nothing yet, Richard. My problem is Capt. Hook. Even though we have fought each other for a long time, he is growing tired of our battles. I fear he is looking for something new to do.”

“Well, I can give you this message from the Emissaries. There is an evil out there beyond our galaxy who wants to destroy the two galaxies who are at the heart of the Creator’s Creation.”

“Whom is it?”

“It is King Azazel. His other common name is Lucifer.”

“That’s not good, Richard. What is he up to?”

“I don’t know yet. Right now I think he is still imprisoned somewhere. But when he does break out, he will not hesitate to gather all of the space ships he can find that belong to the worst and most evil empires. I was told a billion star ships will come here to destroy Earth first. I think it will be the year 3000 for us here.”

“Why here?”

“This is where he was thrown down to by the Creator when he rebelled against him the first time. He was here for a while, then he was taken and chained in a prison somewhere in the Universe.”

“I see. His eyes will be set on the magical worlds in our galaxy as well. Our stories are told here to keep us alive.”

“That’s right, Peter. They’re about a dozen worlds in our galaxy that have magic capabilities. I’ve been to one already. It is called Twainor.”

“I might need your help to convince Capt. Hook to help defend Never Never Land. He has the only ship on our world.”

“It will take more than one ship to defend your world. I know of at least a dozen worlds in the area. It is called the Local Group. Right now, my task is to prepare our world in fifty years so that we are not alone.”

“Good luck with that, Richard. Okay, we’ll keep in contact from time to time.”

“That’s fine, Peter. I have a question for you now.”

“What is it, Richard?”

“Do you find only lost boys on our world?”

“Well, actually there are about a dozen Earths I visit throughout the year. Never Never Land is one of those magical intersecting worlds. It allows me to visit those different universes easily.”

“So, if your world gets destroyed for example. There would be major repercussions in the multi-verses.”

“That’s right, Richard. On those worlds, your counterparts have an ordinary life.”

“Well, thank the Creator for that. At least one of me is enough.”

“Yes, it is, Richard.”

We smile at each other while we shake hands. Then our bodies begin to glow with a slight golden color at the same time. When we let go of our hands, the glow disappears.

“That confirms it. You are special, Richard.”

“You too, Peter. Until we meet again.”

Then Tinker Bell flies up to me. “I can’t wait until I see your fairies at the proper time on Never Never Land.”

“My fairies really enjoyed watching the movie. They can’t wait to see everyone there either.”

Then Tinker Bell flies back to Peter and sits on his shoulder.

“We’ll try our best in convincing Capt. Hook of the danger that is coming. If that doesn’t work, I’ll be calling you.”

“Take care, Richard, the Omega Unicorn.”

“You too as well, Tinker Bell.”

Then they turn around and disappear into the woods. I turn around and walk back to my bungalow. As soon as I open it very quietly, I hear some voices from the bedroom.

“Who was out there, father?”

“Peter Pan and Tinker Bell.”

“What?!” They all screamed out loud.

They fly past me very quickly through the opened door and hover in front of the bungalow. They look around and quickly and see no one. Then they look upward. They see Peter Pan have a golden glow around him as he flies back into the sky looking for lost boys and girls.

“Take us with you!”

“I would be very sad if you do, my fairies.”

Then they just realized what would have happened. “We’re sorry, father. That was very selfish of us.”

“Yes, it is. Now come, let’s get back to bed. I’ll tell you what we talked about inside.”

“Yes, father, mother, Omega.”

They fly back in quickly and I close the door and lock it. I sit on the sofa chair, they sit around me as I tell them what we talked about.

“So, Capt. Hook needs some convincing to help save his world. That will be a tall order for him to understand.”

“Yes, it will be, Tiger.”

“But at least we are welcome there if and when we do arrive there.”

Tiger responds next, “Yes, we’ll have to keep that hope until then, Rubio.”

“Okay, now let’s get to bed. I’m going to be very tired in the morning. That is five hours from now.”

“Yes, father.”

They all fly back to their beds. They have trouble falling asleep like I do. But soon, we are fast asleep within the hour. We dream that we are on Never Never Land having plenty of adventures there to last a life time.

The alarm sounds out loud at 7 AM. I hear everyone groaning as I turn it off. I get out of the bed quietly. I walk into the bathroom to have my morning shower. Fortunately, I put the clothes I will be wearing in the bathroom before I went to bed. Also, the wallet and keys are there as well. Then I walk out to the kitchen area to get my breakfast made. I decide on a bowl of cereal, milk, a glass of apple juice and a banana for the meal. Once that is done, I clean it up quietly. Then I set up the shower and curtain for the fairies in the kitchen sink. Once it is all set, I see the time is about a quarter till 8 AM. Croin flies into me and gets comfortable and warm there. I make sure the lock to the sliding glass door pin is removed, but I do leave it locked on the latch handle.

I write a love note for my fairies and leave it in the middle of the table. I place the paper plates around the table for them to use.

~0~
Good morning, my fairies. Everything is set up in the kitchen sink for your morning shower. I also removed the pin from the sliding glass door, but the latch handle is still locked. Only Esmeralda and Emeril haven’t been here on the island. So, have a great day in exploring the island and showing them around. I’ll see you all this afternoon.

With love as always, Richard. The Omega Unicorn, your father and mother rolled into one.

~0~

Once I see everything is in order, I put on the winter jacket and exit out of the bungalow as quietly as possible and relock it with the mag-card.

I walk out to where everyone else is gathered in the parking lot. The entire Wilson family is there.

“So, is everyone ready?”

Everyone responds to Larry’s question, “Yes.”

“Are we going to take separate cars?”

“There are four malls in the area. So which ones do we go to?”

“I don’t know about you. But I have an appointment downtown at 10 AM. When that is over, I will do some mall shopping with you.”

“What’s downtown, Richard?”

I smile at them, “I’d rather not say or loose lips might sink some ships.”

“Oooh . . . Richard is getting something special for Brianna.”

“Shut up, Brian. I want to be surprised when I get his present. So, no more comments from the peanut gallery! Besides, I just might a leave a bunch of coal briquets in your stocking.”

“If you leave enough in the stockings, Brianna. We can use it for the grill. Heh, heh, heh . . .”

By this time, Brianna has a mad face staring at Brian. Helen comes over to calm her down. She puts her arm around her daughter. “All right, we won’t have any sibling fights. This is Christmas we are talking about here.”

“Okay, I’ll call it a truce.”

“Okay, this is my decision for all of us. We’ll visit two malls today. Tangers Outlet and Citadel. When Richard gets done with his errand, he’ll meet us at the Citadel Food Court at 11 AM. Is that enough time, Richard?”

“I hope so, Larry.”

“What is the spending limit this time, dad?”

“If you buy clothes, the limit is $40. If it is anything else, it is $25. We know we are a large family. I’m trying to keep everyone less than $100 for all of us. So, keep that in mind.”

“Yes, dad.”

“Okay, let’s get on the ferry. It will be our SUV, Allen’s car and Richard’s that we’ll be taking.”

We get in the cars and drive to the docks. We get on the ferry and arrive on the mainland at about 8:50 AM. Everyone goes their way. I park in the parking lot near the docks. I get out and lock the door. I walk down several blocks until I come to the jewelry store. I open the door and walk inside just after 9 AM. I see the same sales lady there as yesterday. I also see another customer there as well. I nod my head at the guard standing watch over the place. He nods his head in response while we smile at each other.

She looks up at me and smiles. She presses a button near the cabinet. A few moments later, the owner comes out.

“Greetings, Richard. I see that you are early.”

“Greetings, sir. How is it coming along?”

“Sam got it done late yesterday. He is polishing it up this morning.”

“That’s good.”

“How are you going to present it to her?”

“I was thinking of setting it in a real pink rose and then open the box in front of her.”

“Do you want something inscribed underneath the gold band as a constant reminder?”

“An inscription? I know it can’t be long. Try this phrase out. From your hero and knight in shining armor with the golden heart.”

“Yes, that is long. I think we can shorten it down and add your first name.”

“How about this one? From your hero & knight with the golden heart. Richard Moore.”

“Can you fit it in on there?”

“It will have to be a wrap style, Sam.”

“Yes it will, sir.”

“I like that idea very much.”

“Okay, Richard. We can do that for you. We’ll be right back.”

The owner and the jeweler return to the back room.

“Thank you, sir.”

I look around the sales room. Then I see a car pull up and park in front of the shop. The passenger gets out, while the driver stays inside the car and keeps the car running. The man looks around really carefully. He puts his hands into his coat pockets.

Oh, oh. Croin. It looks like we are having a heist.

What do you want me to do?

Cause the engine battery to short out and lock the doors.

I can do that real easy.

I’ll inform the guard. Once the car is taken care of, fly back in and inhabit his body. Get him to face the car out there.

I’ll try, Richard.

Croin leaves me invisibly and flies to the car. I turn around and look at the guard quickly. I nod my head up and down. He nods his head up and down. I point to the ladies and walk toward them. The man pulls down his ski mask before he walks inside. He pulls out a small semiautomatic weapon. He yells out loud.

“Nobody move and nobody will get hurt! Everyone get on the floor! Now!”

I get the ladies down on the floor quickly. I lie down looking at the robber. The guard tries to bring out his gun.

He aims his semiautomatic at the cop, “Not so fast, rent-a-cop! You get on the floor as well!”

The cop removes his hand from the gun. He slowly gets down onto his knees while looking at the robber.

“That’s it. All the way down.”

By this time, Croin flies into the car and locks the door. Then he shorts out the engine battery. He flies back inside the jewelry store. The driver is yelling out loud, but he can’t be heard. “Get out of there! It’s a bust!”

Soon, Croin inhabits the robber’s body. “Arrrrghh! What’s going on? No!” His body turns and twists.

The guard and I slowly get up and inch our way to the robber. I get into a crouching position and get ready to pounce at the right moment.

The robber turns around and sees his driver waving his arms frantically. Both of us pounce on the robber at the same time. The cop goes for the gun in his hand. I immediately do a constrictor coil around the robber to pin his arms to his body and wrap my legs around his legs.

He struggles to get himself free. “Arrggh! Unnnn . . . Let me go, or I’ll shoot everyone here!”

Croin leaves him and reenters my body. Croin gives me some new strength to hold him tightly. The cop wrestles the gun away from the robber.

“Keep him bound up, Richard. I’ll cuff his legs and wrists.”

“Yes, sir.”

The cop cuffs his wrists behind his back and legs. Then I let go of the robber. The robber struggles to get up, but he can’t. Then a squad car shows up behind the getaway car. The cop gets out and points his gun at the driver.

“I can’t open the doors. The battery is dead!”

“Okay, stay put until we get it open.”

“That’s fine. Sigh. . . . I’m not going anywhere but to jail . . . again.” He rests his head on the steering wheel in weariness.

The cop gets on the radio to request a lock smith to open the car door. Meanwhile, back inside the store.

“Thank you for the assist, Richard.”

“You’re welcome, corporal. It’s been awhile since I saw you on the island.”

“Yes, it has. I’ve made it a point to learn some more martial art moves. What you did against that Captain, proved to our department we need to keep our readiness and skills up to date.”

“I’m glad you took notice.”

Then another police vehicle and a lock smith van show up. He opens the door with no problems. The driver hands over his only weapon to the cop. He then is taken out and hand cuffed.

“I’ll be here through December and in January with my company. Let me know when you need my statement.” I take my card out of my wallet. I write down my cell phone number on it and hand it to the corporal.

“We’ll let you know when we need it.” The corporal bends down and picks up the robber. “Come on now.”

“I tell you, something got inside me and forced me to turn around.”

“That don’t matter now. You were wrestled down by none other, Richard Moore.”

“The Richard Moore? Oh crap . . . then I never had a chance to pull this caper off.”

“You sure didn’t. Now move along.”

He walks out slowly and puts him into one of the police cars. Then a tow truck shows up to haul the getaway car to the impoundment lot.

After another fifteen minutes, all is quiet in the jewelry store. Then another patrol car shows up. The officer comes out and takes his station inside the jewelry store. We nod our heads at each other while we smile.

Then Sam and the owner come out with an ornate box. I look at it as Sam opens it up. I see the wedding and engagement ring nestled in a real pink rose. “That looks great. Thank you very much.”

“You’re welcome, Richard. Thank you for helping the officers. The last time we had a robbery attempt was last month. They never learn. Our officers have greatly improved their martial art skills since you were at the Rescue Mission.”

“That’s good. So, what is the amount I owe you for this fine work?”

“The total is $2,000.00. $500.00 of it will go to Sam. Of course we need to add the state sales tax to it of 7 percent.”

“What happened to the $300, Sam?”

“It took a little longer to meld the new cradle onto the old one. I had to make sure it bonded and not come apart. Then there is the price for the inscription.”

“I thought as much. I remember doing something like that in the materials lab class I had. Not only the temperature had to be right, the materials had to be the same composition.”

“That’s right, Richard.”

I take out my check book and write out a check for $2,140.00 I hand it to them and my driver’s ID. They write down the information. We shake hands with each other. “I guess that I’ll see you at the police station and the courthouse sometime next month.”

“Have a great Christmas and New Year. Tell us all about it, if she likes it.”

“I’ll do that. Thank you again.” I close the box and put it into my inside pocket of my winter jacket. I walk back to my car and get inside. I put the box underneath my seat. As the saying goes, ‘Out of sight, out of mind’.

I turn on the engine and drive to the Citadel Mall. I get there at about 11:15 in the food court there. I wave to them as I approach the group.”

“What happened, Richard? Did you get lost?”

“Not exactly, Larry. There was an armed heist at the time I was there.”

Everyone looks at me quickly. “What?!”

“Don’t worry. No one got hurt. I’ll tell the details later.”

‘Okay, we’ll trust you on this.”

“All right, let’s split up. We’ve done half of our shopping already, Richard. We are going to have lunch now. We’ll shop some more for another hour so Richard can catch up with us. Then we’ll head to the Tangers Outlet Mall.”

We walk down through the food court area. We get in line at the counter of which foods we want. I get in line where the subs are made. Brianna follows in behind me. I order the roasted chicken sub. Brianna orders the same thing, but she only buys the sandwich style. Once we pay for our subs and drinks, we sit down together. I give a quick thanks to the Creator while we look at the meal in front of us.

“Thank you for this food, Creator. May it give us strength throughout the day and tomorrow.”

“Are you going to eat all of it, Richard?”

“No, Brianna. I’m going to eat half of it. I’m taking the other half back to the bungalow.”

“I see, that makes sense to save some money.”

“I haven’t been around your family long enough to guess what they need for Christmas.”

“That’s why I’m sitting with you. I have some ideas you can buy for them.”

“Okay. Thank you very much, Brianna.”

I look around to see what the others have ordered. I see some oriental dishes, pizza and hamburgers.

We get done eating in about thirty minutes. We clean up and wash our hands in the restroom. We then split apart and go our separate ways for an hour. Brianna guides me through the mall. We stop at various clothing stores, hardware, perfumes and bath stores.

“So, what is the plan of attack here?”

“We’ll save Tangers for mom and my sister-in-law. You can buy what you need for the rest of them here.”

“Do you want them to gift wrap it?”

“Yes, it will hide the box in the bag.”

“Okay.”

We walk into the various stores. I purchase a 10-drill bit box set for Charles. For Allen it is a set of whistles. However, each one gives a different sound combination when blew. For Brian it is an abacus and a financial calculator.

“I shudder to think how many ties your dad has gotten from his sons, Brianna.”

“Too many, Richard, too many. I have something better for him. Follow me.”

“Okay.”

I follow her to a computer software shop. She stops in front of the security software area and points to the box. “That one.” She points at the 3D Server software box from Secure-Sys.

“You’ve got to be kidding me. He has yet to buy it?”

“Nope. He has been too busy closing deals, buying and selling properties. He has been fortunate so far.”

“Well, then. Let me buy it.”

When I step up to the counter, I get greeted by the sales person there. “Hello, Richard. I thought it was you.”

“Hello ma’am. I’m doing a purchase for Brianna’s father.”

“That’s nice. That comes out to, $54.38.”

I use my debit card to make the purchase. The sales lady wraps it up in some Christmas wrapping and hands it to me. I put it in the shopping bag with the other gifts.

We exit out of the software shop and walk back to the Food Court. We see everyone is back. We then walk out to our cars and get in them. We then drive to the Tangers Outlet Mall. After parking our cars and locking them up, we start walking down the store fronts. I follow Brianna into a perfume shop.

“I know a perfume here that mom likes.” We walk around until she finds it.

I pick it up and purchase it with my debit card. It gets gift wrapped by the store. They place it in a bag for me to carry. We then exit the perfume store. We walk down the store fronts until we come to a jewelry shop. We walk inside to see what they have.

“I know of a necklace that Anne needs for her new dress.”

“You realize I will need to learn this from you as the years go on.”

Brianna smiles back at me, “That’s fine with me. I’ll be the teacher and you’ll be the student. I’ll just build on what we started with during that summer when we were kids.”

“Then lead on your sexy and beautiful teacher.”

“Forget bringing an apple for the teacher. Your words are just fine.”

We giggle and laugh as we get into our banter again.

Brianna eventually finds the necklace she is looking for. It is the perfect combination of baubles, color and glitter for her new red dress. It too gets gift wrapped by the store. I then follow Brianna around while she purchases some gifts for her mom and sister-in-law.

We get done by 3 PM. We then drive back to the docks and get there by 3:30 PM. Brianna is in my car on the way back. The back seat is full of presents that we bought today. We wait for the ferry. It arrives by 4 PM. We drive our cars onto the ferry after we had paid for our portage fee. We get back on the island by 5 P.M..

When we get back to the parking lot near the bungalows, we unload our presents and bring them into Larry and Helen’s bungalow. I see a Christmas tree set up there. I see some familiar ornaments on the tree. I walk up to it carefully. Helen stands behind me as I look at them. I see pictures of my family on the ornaments.

“You’ve kept their memories alive, Helen.”

“We did, Richard. We will always remember them when we gather together.”

“That’s great.”

“We are getting the dinner put together, Richard.”

“Can my fairies come?”

“Where will they stay? What will they eat?”

“We can put out paper plates around the room. I have bowls filled with nuts and fruit. They will take what they want and eat from the plates.”

“That’s good.”

“Okay, I’ll let them know.”

I walk back out to the car for the last time. I get the box out from under the car seat and place it inside my jacket pocket. I walk to my bungalow and walk inside and close the door.

“Hello, my fairies. Are you here?”

I don’t hear anyone at all. “Hmm . . . all right Croin. Go and find them. They have to be here on this island somewhere.”

Croin comes out of me. “I’ll find them, Richard.”

Croin disappears and flies through the bungalow. He searches the island until he finds them. He sees that they have found a gator hole nearby. The fairies are relaxing near the warm waters. Croin appears before them.

“Ah, there you are.”

“Hello Croin. We found this gator hole. It is the only warm spot on the island.”

“Yes, the other animals who want to stay here are nearby. The alligators know they are here to stay warm. They won’t attack them.”

“Well, everyone is back now. Richard and all of you are invited to have dinner with the Wilsons this evening.”

All of the fairies cheer to the good news.

“Well, let’s get back and get cleaned up again.”

All of the fairies leave the gator hole and change into butterflies as they fly back with Croin. Croin then disappears before leaving the woods. He quickly flies back into the bungalow and appears before me.

“I found them. They are staying warm at a nearby gator hole. They will need another shower before the dinner.”

“Okay. Thank you for finding them, Croin.” I walk over to the sliding glass doors. I open it wide enough for them to fly through. In another five minutes, they fly through and enter the living room area. Croin flies into the cave carving to get his rest and recharge. When I get cleaned up and changed, he flies back into me.

“Whew!! You have been around a gator hole. You definitely need another shower before dinner tonight. While you do that, I’ll have another shower myself.”

“Thank you father, mother, Omega!”

The fairies change into their normal selves. They giggle and laugh while they take another shower. They use the flower scented soaps to get rid of the alligator smell on them. I take another hot shower to get cleaned up. Once we all get dried off and dressed in fresh clothes. I pick up several bags of nuts and fruits and carry them with me. The fairies change into butterflies as we leave the bungalow together. I walk over to Larry and Helen’s bungalow.

I knock on the door. “Knock! Knock!”

The door opens. I hear Christmas music playing in the background. “Welcome , Richard.”

“Hello, Allen.”

“What did you bring? Are those snacks for us?”

“Actually it is dinner for my fairies.”

“Then you better keep them apart from the snacks we already have out. Come on in. Merry Christmas.”

I walk inside and my fairies flutter in quickly. They change into fairies to be their normal selves. Esmeralda and Emeril sit on my shoulders.

“They know about us, father?”

“They do my fairies. Just be careful if they try to reach out to you.”

“We understand, mother.”

The fly off my shoulders and see how the rest of the fairies behave around the Wilsons. I see Bianca and Lavan hovering around Brianna a lot. Overall, the atmosphere is very calm with the fairies present among us. They get introduced to Allen’s wife, Anne. Anne has a tear come down her face while she is smiling. Ruby flies up to wipe the tear away and tastes it.

“It is sweet, Anne.”

“Why do you say that, Ruby?”

“Normally, tears from humans are salty. But when they have been around us for a long time, the tears become sweeter. It’s a sign your soul is mending and you will be able to hear the Creator’s voice more clearly.”

“Oh my . . . that explains the loss in my heart. I lost my favorite grandmother several years ago. She died with a smile on her face. Thank you, Ruby.”

“You’re welcome, Anne.”

This continues on for the next fifteen minutes. I see Esmeralda and Emeril hovering around Helen as she tends to the kitchen.

“The meal smells wonderful, Helen.”

“Thank you, Esmeralda. Yes, it is a tradition in our family to use the spices from the British Isles. It is a reminder of where we came from.”

Helen makes the announcement that the dinner is ready to serve. I take several paper plates and set them on the center piece coffee table in front of the sofas. I then place three bowls in the center of the setting. I pour the nuts and fruits into the bowls. I also set a short stack of napkins in the center.

Charles sees what I’m doing. “Aren’t those unsalted nuts, Richard?”

“They are Charles. Fairies can’t take the salt like we do. But even for us, too much salt is bad for our health.”

“I see.”

We then sit down in the seats around the large dinning table. My fairies fly down to the coffee table and stand there. Croin flies out of me. I see him resting on a book shelf while he sees us gathering together to eat. Then Larry speaks up.

“This is a very special Christmas for all of us. We have Richard Moore with us for the first time in over a decade. We also have Anne, Allen’s wife here with us as well. We welcome these two people to our household. We also welcome Richard’s unique family as well. For the first time in our lives, we get to see real live fairies. Let us give thanks to the Creator.”

“Helen, then speaks up next. “Creator, we just want to thank for all of your wonderful blessings on the Wilson family. Bless this food and let it give us the strength we need to do your work. Thank you for bringing life to our lives and making it more meaningful each day. Keep us safe while we are apart and until we meet again. Thank you, Creator.”

Everyone responds together, “Thank you, Creator.”

We all pass around the plates of food as we take what we want from it. It is a turkey dinner with the usual side dishes. However, the spices are from the British Isles. That lends its own flair and flavor that are different from the American version.

My fairies take what they want from the bowls and begin to eat their meal.

We all talk and eat while we are having our dinner. Some of the conversations center around me and Brianna. But it soon switches to other members in the family.

Charles speaks up, “The four who tried to take over our company, eventually left it. They are working for another company in the Knoxville area.”

“I bet you are relieved they left, Charles.”

“I am, dad. They left because we are too nice for them. But we developed that attitude for the customer from our CEO. Bill Bainbridge is a good influence on all of us. By having the right attitude, we have never lacked any work coming our way.”

“That’s good news, Charles.”

It goes back and forth for the next half hour. Eventually the eating winds down. Then the plates are removed and stacked in the kitchen. The desert is brought out from the oven. We see several warm apple pies. The freezer is opened to take out the vanilla ice cream. I get up and take several apples from the bowl. I slice them up for the fairies and place them on a plate. After it is set on the coffee table, the fairies each take a slice of apple to finish their meal.

Everyone enjoys eating the desert to finish of the meal.

“I’m surprised by how much food your fairies eat, Richard.”

“Yes, they are high burners of energy and yet they never get fat.”

Everyone giggles and laughs on the remark I made.

“Then it’s not fair for us. We have to work very hard to keep our weight down.”

“The worst ones are the skinny people. I envy those types of people.”

Everyone giggles and laughs again.

When we get done, we give our compliments to the cooks, Helen, Anne and Brianna.

“That was a great meal mom and Brianna.”

“But what about you guys? Can you cook yet?”

“I hear Richard is very good with the grill.”

“We are making a date to be in Mt. Blanc during the first week in May, Brian.”

“Yeah, that should be a great time, dad.”

“You didn’t answer my question, Brian. Can you cook?”

“Well, I try as best I can. I do have some cookbooks that mom gave me. But it takes a lot of hard work to prepare it all. That’s why I go for the easy meals.”

“Yes, it takes a lot of hard work, Brian.”

We clean up the place and get the dishes done in the kitchen. We get ready to return back to the bungalows. I get another long kiss and hug from Brianna in front of everyone. We get a few whooping and hollering from Brian and Charles.

I break apart to speak up. “You’re just jealous.”

Everyone laughs and giggles at my joke.

“See you here at 8 AM, Richard.”

Croin flies into me as my fairies fly around me. Then they change into butterflies as I walk out the door. “See you tomorrow morning, Larry.”

I walk back to the bungalow. I unlock the door and open it. They flutter in quickly and change back into butterflies. Croin flies out of me and flies to the cave carving to get his evening rest.

The fairies and I change into our night clothes. I brush my teeth before I go to bed. I turn off the lights before we get under the covers at 10 PM. We all have a great night of sleep. For tomorrow morning is Christmas Morning and it will be the biggest morning in my life.