Chapter 38

It was only two weeks since I’d discovered that there were two little bodies growing inside me. They were only the size of pinheads, but I’d already lost count of how many cells they’d grown to. After all, the human brain gains over a quarter of a million cells by the time the baby is born. And more after it’s born. That was just the brain. Red was right: I’d go nuts trying to keep track of all that. I’d have to wait until there was somebody with a brain before I’d try to contact them. Him. Or Her.

There wasn’t anybody there, there. Not yet. I couldn’t even tell which one was wearing a blue wrap around his cells and which one had pink.

I did have a touch of morning sickness, but that was probably due to the two dozen vitamin pills I had been taking every morning. Maybe taking them all at once first thing in the morning wasn’t a great idea. I was trying to keep the volume of pills from the boys. They wouldn’t like the idea of twenty-four pills every day. Especially Bear; he wanted everything to be right. Rock was more of a take-it-as-it-happens sort of guy.

Anyway, I decided to take the pills with my breakfast, instead of sneaking them in before. I’d explain what they were all for to Bear.

So, I laid out all my pills in a lump and started to cook some oatmeal. A little cinnamon, some honey, and a little cream. It was pretty good.

Rock stumbled into the kitchen about half an hour later. “Where’s Bear?” I asked.

“Man, I can shit, shower, and shave in about ten minutes; but Bear ... he spends a half hour in the shower,” he laughed. “How dirty can a guy be, every day? I mean EVERY DAY.”

Bear came in a little later, his long hair still a bit wet. He eyed the pancakes and sausage I had prepared for them, and the bowl of oatmeal for me. Then he saw the semi-large pile of pills near my strawberry-banana smoothie. He sat down and started cutting up his pancakes.

’What’s up, Buttercup?’ WHAT WAS THIS? He sent me a message, mentally, that I did not initiate.

’Bear? Is that you?’

’Yeah. So far, I can only hear and talk to you. I can’t tap into your thoughts or anything. I tried last night.’

’How did you do this?’ I sent. I ate a spoonful of oatmeal.

Then he said, out loud, “Whats up with all the pills, Buttercup?” He smiled.

Rock dipped into his pancake laden with syrup. “That’s all her baby vitamins. She’s been taking ‘em for about three days.”

Huh? How’d he know about that? I thought I was all James Bond with getting the vitamins.

“That’s a lot of vitamins, Lexi. You know how you like to overdo everything,” said the do-it-by-the-book hubby. You know, the one who snuck a message into my head this morning.

“I’ll give you the list of what they’re all for, Bear. But it’s all legit. I swear,” I promised. “The normal pregnancy vitamins are seriously under-strength and missing quite a few important things.”

He gave me a long look, then nodded.

We finished breakfast and then went about our normal routine. Bear went to check on the dogs, I went to the back to change into my SotH t-shirt, and Rock flipped on the morning news on the TV.

The newswoman was covering something out of Washington – state of Washington, not D.C. “ ... The Boeing representative said that there were no other developments in the bomb case. This is Maggie O’Donnel, NBC news, reporting on the Unabomber case from Seattle.”

That stopped me with one arm in my t-shirt.

Red, look up Ted K-something. Look for the Unabomber case. About this year. Go back about six months and six months in the future. Any connection with Boeing.

[Boeing is a quick find. A bomb was disabled in Auburn, Washington. Someone named the Unabomber is suspected.]

Anything coming up?

[A mail bomb went off at the University of Michigan, injuring two. That’s next month. Another in Sacramento, at a computer store, killing one.]

All right. Scan forward for Unabomber references, until you find his name. Ted K-something, I forget.

[Scanning... 1987, several in 1993. Ah! In 1995 they arrested Ted Kaczynski as the Unabomber when he wanted to get a manifesto printed in the newspapers.]

Can you tap into the Internet and not be detected?

[No Internet yet. There is a DARPA-net predecessor. And of course I can get into it without leaving a trace. What do you have in mind?]

I want you to send an anonymous message – email or whatever it was before the Internet. Send it to the FBI and the Postal Inspectors ... OH! The U of M should get a copy, too. It should say that there is bomb coming to the University of Michigan, give the Professor’s name. The bomb is coming from the Unabomber. Tell them it’s coming by mail and due for delivery in November 1985. They won’t believe it. But it may do some good. Make sure it’s signed by some name that we can use again, but one that doesn’t identify us.

[I can do that, Lexi, but are you sure you want to interfere with historical events?]

RED! What are you thinking? We ARE interfering with history. There are a couple more events I want to interfere with. The Waco mass killings by that guy who claimed to be the next Jesus Christ, the Oklahoma City bombing and of course the attack on the World Trade Center.

[But you are going to set off another.]

Yes, I’m going to do that. That’s what Tommy Sussex is for. And there’s going to be some trouble in the coal and gas extraction fields. I don’t need to see the advance copies of the news to know that. There may be some overflow in the Middle East due to the oil impact. Those can’t be helped. I’m not about to be a do-gooder at all costs. I’m not forgetting my primary goals, Red. I’m still going to make a serious hole in the history of the world, and hopefully things will be better.