Chapter 39: Return to Zurich

Cynthiana’s compound in Zurich, while not as big as her Paris estate, was still pretty daunting to the eye. The main house, from the outside, reminded me of a cross between a massive French villa and a hunting lodge from the Canadian northwest

The massive double front doors opened to a three story atrium with a ceiling of glass panels. The atrium itself is oblong (left-to-right) and filled to overflowing with flowers, plants, and even small trees. From the entry, it’s almost impossible to see anything except a wall of greenery, but whichever one of the two visible paths you chose to take will determine where you can get to.

The left path leads (eventually) to the hallway to what Cynthiana calls the guest wing. These are the living accommodations for everyone in the house except Cynthiana, and include the kitchen, dining rooms, two different family rooms, (one formal, the other informal) and the bedrooms. The swimming pool, the spa, and a fully-equipped theater are in the basement under this wing.

The right path eventually leads to the hallway for Cynthiana’s wing. There, her offices and living quarters take up most of what I had seen so far. Granted, I haven’t had the time or freedom to explore that wing.

In the center of the atrium is a small waterfall, and next to that is a life-sized statue of a Panda Bear that was gifted her by the zoo in Berlin. You have to be looking for it, because it is not on a path going anywhere else.

On the opposite side of the atrium from the front door is the terrace that overlooks Lake Zurich. A popular place for breakfast on warm mornings.

I followed Reggie from the car, into the house, and through the atrium to the informal family room. Standing there in front of me were not one, but two beautiful models. I mean they looked like models. More importantly, they looked exactly alike. Twins!

“Alex, this is Sarah and Samantha,” Reggie said by way of introduction. Then to Sarah he asked, “Any troubles getting here?”

“No, sir. We drove up yesterday and had no problems,” she told him.

“Well, you have your instructions. Take some time to get to know him, but be aware that there are multiple bogies out there,” he told them as he left the room.

An awkward silence ensued as both girls allowed their eyes to roam over me. I couldn’t fault them, because I was doing the same to them. Their light brown hair was cut short, barely reaching their chins, and their eyes were sparkling blue. The one on the left had more pronounced dimples than the one on the right, but other than that, they looked identical. They wore identical white crew neck shirts with a racing strip over their left shoulders and navy blue slacks with deck shoes. They both had sweaters with the sleeves tied around their necks. They looked like they were ready to go sailing.

“We understand you like to go sailing,” said the one on the left. The one with dimples.

“I just got back from a two-week cruise from Antalya to Nice,” I told them.

“Was it fun? Did you have a good time?” asked the one on the right. I sensed a genuine interest there.

“It was both exciting and relaxing,” I told them. “Are you my bodyguards?”

“Of course!” said dimples. “Why don’t we go to the kitchen and grab something to eat. Then we can tell you all about us and answer all your question.”

So that’s what we did. And over a late lunch, I got to know Sarah and Samantha. They were twenty-three years old from Edwardsville, Kansas. Their father was the president of a local bank (naturally) and the girls had attended the University of Missouri in Columbia on scholarships from the Foundation. Samantha’s degree was in Nutrition and Exercise Physiology, while Sarah’s was in Mechatronics Engineering.

After a few minutes, it was obvious (to me) that Cynthiana had gotten to them early. Spotted in a local dojo while still in junior high, they had received an extensive seven-year course of study through both high school and college in the mixed martial arts, also on scholarships from the Foundation. They had been working for Reggie for about a year as members of the Security Team.

“Part of what we are supposed to do is an in-depth study of your pheromones,” Sarah explained. She was the one with the dimples. “Tomorrow, I’ll draw some blood and do a panel study. The information will be restricted to Cynthiana and whoever else she decides to get involved. It will not be made available to the medical community. She said that that was a major concern of yours.”

“Why is that?” Samantha asked.

“Did Cynthiana tell you about me getting struck by lightning?” I asked.

“She mentioned it, but said you would fill us in,” Samantha replied.

“Do you have smart phones?” I asked. “With you?”

“We have the ones that the foundation provides,” Sarah offered.

“Do they work?” I asked.

The twins looked at each other and then at me. “Of course they work,” Sarah replied.

“Better check,” I told them.

They each reached for the smartphones in their back pockets. As they pulled them out, they could see that they were smoking. They quickly tossed the smoking devices on the table.

“How? How did you know?” Samantha asked.

I walked over to the house phone on a side table and when someone answered, I asked for Reggie. Seconds later I explained that he might need to get the girls new phones. He didn’t even bother to ask why, just said that they would be here in the morning and for me not to leave the house until then. I relayed the information to the girls as I sat back down.

“Okay, Alex. What did you just do?” Samantha asked. I could tell they were both becoming agitated.

Starting at the beginning, I explained everything, even the bright shining light, but not the travel through space or the visit to the pink planet or the dark planet that resembled a graveyard. They listened intently, interrupting only for clarifications and occasional questions.

Samantha was more interested in what I did to the Navy ships and planes, while Sarah was more interested in the bright shining light.

“So it’s not your EMFs?” Samantha asked.

“We don’t think so. The physical limits on EMFs would seem counter to all the things I can do,” I replied. “If you like, we can set up some experiments in my free time.”

“Who can we discuss this with?” Sarah asked.

“On the energy stuff, only Dr. Roland Rappeneau knows the full extent. Reggie and Cynthiana know a little. On the bright shining light, you would have to talk to Carina. That’s Dr. Carina Rappeneau,” I replied. “Also, Isabella seems to know quite a bit about it as well.”

I could see that the phone lines would be burning up later tonight. I guess I shouldn’t have ruined both smartphones.

“What does Mars Van der Lancing want with you?” Sarah asked.

“Besides seeing me dead?” I replied. “I honestly don’t know.”

“Who else do we need to watch out for?” Sarah asked.

“Well, there’s some goon in the Pentagon who seems to be after me. He’s the one that sent the navy after us, and probably sent the Pakistani assassins as well. I asked the President to see if he could stop it, but no word on that yet.”

“Have you had any training?” Samantha asked.

“Training?” I asked.

“In defending yourself. Pistol? Rifle? Martial Arts?”

“No, no, and about a week of martial arts,” I replied.

“So if someone attacked you, you are basically defenseless?” Sarah asked with a worried expression on her face.

“I wouldn’t say that,” I replied. “But I don’t know how to explain it to you. Why don’t you call Reggie and see what he says.”

So Samantha walked to the small table and lifted the house phone. It was a short conversation and you could hear Reggie’s laugh from over here.

“He says that Alex can take care of anything we might encounter, he just needs to be aware of it,” Samantha reported. “Do you mind explaining what he meant?”

“You saw what happened to your smart phones? Well, I can do that to a human being if necessary. Although I have only killed a man once. The rest all recovered.”

“You killed a man?” Samantha asked.

“Yeah. The rest I just disabled,” I replied.

“The rest?” Samantha asked. “How many are we talking about here?”

“I don’t know,” I told her. “Maybe a half-dozen or so. But that doesn’t count all the pirates or the trawler full of mercenaries.”

This piece of information started the girls talking among themselves. After a few minutes, I excused myself and made my way to my room. Unpacking my bag, I jumped in the shower and then fell into bed, even though it was still early, I fell sound asleep and slept through the night.

When I reached the dojo at 6:30am Friday morning, Samantha and Sarah were already warming up with Sensi Itsuki. I should have figured it out by now that Sensi Itsuki trained many of the agents for the foundation. I simply joined in doing my forms. Sensi Itsuki decided to start me sparring this morning. And even though Samantha took it easy on me, it was embarrassing to say the least. Finally, Sensi let me crawl back to my room to shower and lick my wounds.

Captain Franc was waiting in the dining room when I arrived. Denise set a cup of coffee in front of me as I sat down.

“You okay?” he asked.

“Yeah. Just out of shape. I missed my workouts for the last two weeks and Sensi Itsuki made me pay for it this morning.”

“How did it go with Antoine?” he asked as I dug into my breakfast.

“It was okay,” I replied. Then I began to tell him everything that happened, both good and bad, and where I thought I needed to improve, especially in handling the crew.

He let me talk and when I finally ran down he said, “I talked to Tony yesterday and he said that you could be his skipper anytime he could get you. He was impressed with your dedication to the task and your enthusiasm for learning. The bottom line was you instilled confidence in him and so he was comfortable having you commanding his yacht and looking out for his family. That is quite the compliment, Alex.”

“How much do skippers that are in training usually get paid? I feel like Tony over-paid me.”

“How much did he pay you?” Captain Franc asked. I simply pushed the envelope across the table to him.

“Not bad,” he mused. “Did you really get a full eight hours every day?”

“Yes sir. Usually it was ten to twelve hours.”

“Did you really stay up all night when you sailed through the Greek Isles at night without Tony telling you to?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Then I’d said he paid you fairly, if a little generously,” Captain Franc said. “I want you to take this practice short-wave test, then we’ll do a review to see what else you need to work on. By-the-way, congratulations on passing your Competent Crewman and First Aid certifications.”

We continued in that vein through lunch, before Captain Franc finally bid me goodbye. “I’ll see you at the same time on Monday. Have a good weekend,” he said as I escorted him to the door. Then I made my way back to my room for a long-anticipated nap.

“Long-time, no-see, sailor,” she said as I closed my bedroom door. Sofía was stretched out on my bed in a cropped top and tiny short-shorts. “I hope you don’t mind, I just got back this morning,” she said.

“Where have you been and where’s Cynthiana these days?” I asked as I began to shed my jeans and shirt.

“I’ve been in Spain, at daddy’s. Mom is in Washington, DC. Isabella is with her. Something about meeting the First Lady. Then they are going to Cannes to talk with Carina. They should be back here by Sunday,” she said as she sat up in the bed and removed her top. “I’ve missed you.”

If I wasn’t worn out before, Sofía made sure of it before she finished with me. Finally, I couldn’t go any more and just rolled over and went to sleep. Sofía woke me in time to shower again and make it downstairs for supper where I introduced her to Sarah and Samantha.

“We were hoping you could spend some time with us going over the experiments that you did with Dr. Rappeneau,” Sarah said. “And we still need to do a blood panel, but should probably wait until Monday for that. Also, Cynthiana wanted us to take you to the driving range again.”

“May I go too,” Sofía asked. “The last time we went, Alex taught me how to hit a golf ball and I want to see if I still can do it.”

“I don’t see why not,” Samantha said, looking at her sister.

“Ladies, why don’t we leave the experiments until later and all watch a movie? I haven’t seen TV in a few weeks,” I suggested.

So that’s how we all ended up piled on the couch in the theater room. After the movie, Sofía led me to her bedroom.

I know, it’s a hell of a life!

Samantha and Sarah did take us to the driving range on Saturday, but after we returned to the house, I didn’t see them again. For the rest of the day and evening it was just Sofía and me until, over a late lunch, Sofía informed me she was going to Paris. It seemed that she had a part-time modeling gig and would be there for the week. I was sad to see her leave, but I was also glad to have some time to myself.

Reggie stopped by and reminded me not to leave the house as there was no one there to escort me. I wasn’t too disappointed and soon grabbed my sailing book and settled on the veranda to study. It was a mild afternoon and I could get by with a light jacket.

When Cynthiana hadn’t returned by supper, I was beginning to get a little lonely. But then, Samantha and Sarah showed up and I felt a little less lost in the big empty house.

“Alex, will you tell us more about this bright shining light?” Samantha asked.

“No!” I almost shouted. I didn’t want to go there with anyone else right this moment. The pain of Jeanne’s leaving was still too raw and I was avoiding anything to do with passion like the plague.

They were disappointed until Sarah suggested we play a new game she had just bought. It was called ’Settlers of Catan’ and though I had never heard of it, it was challenging to play as well as being lots of fun.

About ten o’clock, I announced I was headed to bed. I thought I detected a note of sadness in their goodnights, but I wasn’t ready to get into the bright shining light with these two ... yet.

I went to bed alone.

Isabella and Reggie were at the breakfast table with Cynthiana when the twins and I finished in the dojo Sunday morning and joined them. I circled the table to hug Cynthiana, telling her I had missed her. Then I kissed Isabella. I didn’t intend to put so much passion into my kiss, but I had been worried about the way we had separated back on the yacht. Anyway, I soon discovered that Isabella didn’t seem to harbor any grudges. And so the twins finally got to witness the bright shining light.

“Wow!” Sarah said as I sat down.

“I’ll say! That was ... impressive!” Samantha added.

Isabella blushed and I just ignored them as I sipped my coffee and asked Cynthiana about her trip.

“We got to see Jeanne’s coronation,” she replied. “She looked so regal. And I stopped by and met with Anita Dexter. Her first lab results came back and the doctors think she was about ninety percent cured. She may be calling you again soon about the other ten percent.”

“I’m glad she is better, but I’m not sure if I can do any more for her,” I said.

“Just talk to Carina about it sometime,” she said. “And speaking of Carina, she thinks she is pregnant, but it’s still too soon to know for sure.”

“Did you all get everything worked out?” I asked.

“We’re fine, Alex. It was never that big of a deal,” she said. “You don’t know all the history yet, but you’ll figure it out eventually.”

“Are you referring to Anita Dexter, the First Lady?” Samantha asked.

Cynthiana just nodded her head.

“What did Alex do to her?” Samantha asked.

“He cured her breast cancer. At least ninety percent of it, anyway,” Cynthiana teased with a grin.

“He what!” Sarah almost screamed.

“How?” Sarah added, eyeing me suspiciously.

“Madam?” Denise interrupted.

“Yes, Denise,” Cynthiana said politely as she looked the girl in the eye. That was one of the things I had noticed about Cynthiana. She always gave someone her undivided attention, no matter their station in life. It was something I decided I would try to do as well.

“Captain Franc has arrived,” she said.

“Well, show him back and get him a cup of that wonderful expresso that you do so well,” she told the girl. Denise scampered off to get the Captain with a big smile on her face.

“Girls, we’ll discuss the First Lady when there are no others around,” she said, closing that topic for now. They were not happy, but tried hard not to show it. I was to find out later that this was their first experience working with Cynthiana.

“Good morning, everyone. I hope I’m not interrupting anything,” Captain Franc said as he took an empty seat at the table. “Welcome back, Cynthiana. I trust you had a good trip.”

“It was fine, thank you for asking,” Cynthiana said. “We were just getting ready to discuss Alex’s progress with his training.”

“Well, forgive me for coming on a Sunday, but Alex needs to test for his Yachtmaster Coastal Certificate immediately. With your permission, I would like to set it up as soon as possible,” Captain Franc explained.

“Why the sudden rush,” Cynthiana asked.

“I spent the weekend with Alfred Fourreau and he detailed all the time that Alex spent on the bridge and his duties there, as well as the three rescues he performed. When you add that to what he did with Tony, he has his fifty days and he’s eligible to test for his Offshore Certificate as soon as he has his Coastal Certificate which he has already surpassed the qualifications for.”

“But I’m sure Alex has plenty of time to meet the rest of the requirements,” Cynthiana said.

“I’m sorry. I wasn’t explaining myself very well,” Captain Franc said. “Over the weekend, I received several inquiries into obtaining Alex’s services. A friend of mine, Stephen Markum, has purchased a seventy-five-foot Beneteau monohull in Fort Lauderdale and would like to hire Alex to deliver it to Cannes as soon as possible. I can make the trip with him, but he would need his Coastal Certificate before we leave.”