Chapter 22

LATE MONDAY AFTERNOON — SEPTEMBER 30

Audrey waved to Rob as they passed through the lobby and out the door. Chatting as they walked down the lane, the two women met an older couple holding hands as they too strolled along.

"Hey, Audrey," the woman called out with a smile.

"Hi, Jan. Hi, Scotty."

They stopped to talk with the couple for a moment, then walked on. "They seem nice," Carla said when the older people were out of earshot.

"They are," Audrey replied. "They've been coming here since before my ex and I divorced. A lot of our campers are repeats who come back every year. There are several, like that retired couple, who come two or three times a year and stay for a month or more each time. They, like others, have become more than just casual acquaintances. And, of course, there's the full-time people who live here year-round over on the right side of the camp"

"We have some good friends, too," Carla said. "A group of them just helped us harvest our crop, and Jeff and his wives, with Fred and some more friends, just dug Jessica and me out of a big hole."

"Wives, as in plural?" Audrey asked, turning to her.

"Yeah," Carla grinned. "But hold off on any, uh ... opinions about that until later. We'll talk about it tonight. You might be surprised."

At Audrey's hesitant nod, Carla continued, "I need to call Jess and get the two of them started back," she finished as she took her cell out and dialed.

Jeff sat relaxed in the colonel's office, a cup of strong coffee in his hand. Though the rank was there and observed, there was a little more, though. They had seen combat together, and there was an unspoken but very noticeable respect between the two.

"So, how many wives do you have now?" the colonel asked with a grin.

"Don't give me that shit," Jeff laughed. "You know exactly how many, since I've been careful to keep you posted on what's been happening to me, as ordered. And as you well know, I'm a victim of circumstances. I never meant for it to happen," he finished, trying to keep his face straight.

(Jeff's keeping them posted concerning his personal affairs was as minimal as he dared. His invention and its sale, the move to the retreat, that he had acquired women in his life who might have to be protected, etc. He has not told them anything about the Alphas, or said anything about the Healer, other than having her heal Diana's ankle two years ago. The general and the colonel think of the Healers as glorified first aid kits, at best.)

"Hmmm. 'A victim of circumstances.' I'll have to remember that the next time the general gets on my ass. I can just see it now: 'No General. The reason the mission went to shit wasn't my fault. I was just a victim of circumstances.'" Grinning, he continued, "I still don't see how you survive with all those women. If I had a bunch of wives, they would be fighting all the time. More power to you if it works, but damned if I know how you manage it."

"Actually, I guess that's Diana's job. But you're right. That would be one hell of a cat fight if they ever got started."

They chatted for some minutes, then, "Okay, what brings you out here? I can only remember a couple of times when you volunteered to visit with us."

"Well, I guess I need a favor?"

"Oh, shit. The general is going to love this. You! Asking for a favor? I remember what the last one cost you. I wonder what this one will?"

"Fuck, no. I don't owe him anything. I paid for the Healer, in spades, with a successful mission. He still owes me for the ship. If we're counting, I'm way ahead," he grinned. "Besides ... I suspect he'll want in on this without even thinking about paybacks."

"All right, lay it on me. He's already working late, anyway, so I might as well tell him tonight what you're here for."

"Generals don't work late," Jeff teased.

"This one does, and you know it. Now what the hell brings you out here? Want to go dimension hopping again? Collect a few more scars, maybe?"

"Hell, no," Jeff said as he locked eyes with the colonel. I've been through that portal enough times. They stared at each other for a minute, then Jeff sighed, "This will take a while to tell."

The colonel picked up the phone, waited a second for the sergeant to answer, then said, "Bring the pot in."

Thirty minutes later, the coffee pot was empty and the two sat looking at each other. "If this weren't coming from you, I wouldn't believe it. How reliable is this woman? Do you have any idea?"

Thinking about the Healer transferring actual memories to him, Jeff chose his answer carefully, "I'm as near certain as I can be under the circumstances. I knew that she had left her husband, and he had told me generally what had been going on as far as the divorce was concerned. He mentioned several times about the abrupt change in her attitude, but I didn't think much of it at the time. I mean, her attitude would fit a lot of women who are getting divorced, but after she showed up sick, looking like she had ... well, she was extremely sick. I used the Healer the general assigned to me on her, without her knowledge of course, and she's okay health-wise now. But she's still messed up mentally."

"So yours is still working?" At Jeff's nod, the colonel went on. "Some of those things work, then for some reason they just quit. Others of them have never done a thing. You're lucky the general let you keep that one — and that it works. But I wouldn't count on it continuing to do so. Our scientists haven't had much luck with them. Maybe the fucking batteries run down or something. No one can get into one. They defy anything we've tried."

(The colonel's comments only go to show how little the scientists have learned about the Healers and the aliens' power systems — even Jeff's knowledge is little and sketchy. Little One's self-awareness and self-programming ability was rare even for Healers, since she was intended for use by an Alpha Prime, and responded as such to Jeff. Her difficulty interfacing with him, as an alien — for her — has resulted in an expansion of her capabilities beyond anything even dreamed of by her creators. In the beginning, he had only a feeling that the Healer was alive, then later a buzzing in his head when he wanted her to heal, then a general feeling of how the patient was doing. Later the communications became clearer, and continue to build as she rides his shoulders and interacts more and more with his family. At this point in the story, we know Little One is alive, and the product of alien engineering. She is becoming more a part of Jeff's family as her ability to understand non-telepathic minds expands.)

Jeff kept his face expressionless. "Well, this one seems to work, at least for now."

The colonel stood. "Have you eaten?"

Jeff shook his head.

"I'll have someone get you set up for the night, then why don't you get some chow while I run this by the general? I'll call you if you aren't back by the time I'm done. He's bound to want to see you."

Later, Jeff and the colonel sat in the general's office. Jeff had gone into much greater detail with the general about the things he had learned from Jill's mind, but had still couched it as if Jill had told him everything he was relating.

"The colonel tells me you have reason to believe all this really happened just as you described it?"

"Yes, Sir. I'm almost certain it happened the way I related it to you. She seems to me to be telling the truth."

"You want to get Randolph's group in on this? They handle the domestic side, if I remember correctly," the colonel asked the general.

The general sat lost in thought for a moment. "No ... no, I don't think so." He had been sitting with his feet propped on his desk, leaning back in his chair with his hands behind his head. Staring at Jeff for a moment longer, he turned his head slightly to lock eyes with the colonel.

"What's the name of those two people we got from the FBI a couple years ago?"

"Uh, Davis and Cochran, as best I remember, Sir."

"Surely, they know how to interview a rape victim. I think we'll handle this doctor ourselves. Let's get the two ex-FBI people to talk to this woman. Have them present themselves as FBI — along with the proper IDs and technology, of course — and verify her story. No fucking way I'm letting that doctor get away from me. Let alone his lab. If they're already shipping this drug to Iran with the slaves, and if the government there hears of it, then 9/11 will seem like a walk in the park. From what this woman says, the good doctor is still working to make his drugs better. Yeah ... Doctor Ingles is going to have a little "accident" and disappear.

The general looked back at Jeff. "So you've already promised her husband, this ... pilot, that he could go on the mission..."

"Yes, Sir, I did. He used to be an F14 pilot, and now flies for Wainwright, Inc. In addition to being a good friend, he's a good man and intelligent. I've already told him he couldn't go armed, and would have little to do with what's going to happen, but shit, General, this doctor kept Bill's wife as a sex slave for a year. I'll be responsible for Bill, and who knows, he might just be of help to us." Jeff stopped just short of saying that if Bill didn't go, he wouldn't either, for he knew better than to give the general an ultimatum.

The general, on the other hand, remembered the last time he and Major Matthews had a "disagreement." Matthews had leaned across the desk and gotten in his face. All he could seem to see was Matthews' eyes. Hell, I was just fucking with Matthews. I had already promised him that Healer — not that they're worth a shit most of the time...

The general continued to rationalize his own behavior away, but truth be told he had run into a fledgling Alpha Prime that day and came out on the short end of the stick. Jeff was much stronger now, but the general didn't know it, and it didn't matter since he was subconsciously avoiding conflict with Jeff, something else that little set-to had accomplished, although neither of them actually realized it.

The general cleared his throat as he slipped his feet off his desk and leaned forward in the comfortable chair. "Get that pilot in here. I'm not going to let him go with you unless we put in some blocks to keep him from talking about this place or the raid. You can do that on the day of the mission. Won't take long."

"Yes, Sir," Jeff said.

A couple of minutes later in the colonel's office, "You're not heading back tonight, right?"

"No, Sir. If it's okay with you, I'll start back first thing in the morning. I'm bushed."

"Alright. This may take a few days to set up, but the general wants it done as soon as possible, and you know what that means — yesterday," he finished with a sick look on his face.

"Sorry, Sir," Jeff said as he stood.

A moment later, Jeff walked by the sergeant's desk as he snatched up his phone by the time its buzz had barely started. "Yes, Sir," he said after listening a moment, then after returning the phone to its cradle, he turned to the others in the office and said sharply, "We're working late — real late. We have a mission."

Later, as Jeff laid waiting for sleep, This is the first night I've spent without my wives in a while. Well other than the night Joyce was shot, and even then, I spent some time with them before it happened. To say the least, being here by myself feels different. Shit, I should have left the sat phone out for Diana, he suddenly thought. I could have called her on the encrypted unit. She's going to give me hell when she finds out I could have called her.

His mind drifted for a time, then, I hate that Bill will have to go through the block routine, but the machine only takes thirty minutes, and if I have to for some reason, I can always have Little One remove the blocks later. Bill will honor a pledge to keep quiet about this place, anyway. To bad Little One couldn't remove Ingles' compulsions as easily as she can the block to not talk about this place. The block is crude — according to her — but Ingles' compulsions are interwoven around many thoughts and memories.

I hope that Bill's calling Jill will continue to override Ingles' tampering. She's following Bill around like a pup right now, and she's darned lucky to be married to a person like him. Some guys would never have taken her back, regardless of whether she had any control over what she did with those men or not.

Shit, I hope I'm doing the right thing by getting the general involved in this. But the cat was out of the bag when Ingles sold those drugs to that bunch of shitheads. We can't risk the mullahs learning of it. Maybe he didn't give them much of it and they'll run out of it before they analyze it. Crap, that's another reason this mission should go down as quickly as possible. I didn't turn this over to the FBI or Homeland Security because I was afraid the politicians and lawyers would get involved, and by the time the FBI got through fucking around and did manage to start making arrests, some foreign government, or even Al Qaeda, would have the stuff. I'm sure the general has his own agenda, but he's the lesser of two evils. I know he wants this drug, but I have no way to stop someone from getting it. Better him than them.

Crap, I miss Little One, too, but there was too much chance of losing her to the general if I brought her with me. Better out of sight and out of mind.

Sleep finally overtook him.

When Fred walked in the doorway of the RV, it was obvious Jessica had told him that Audrey would be there. Fred put his grocery sacks on the counter and moved aside so Jessica could put hers beside them.

"Hey, Audrey. I hope you like steak because we found some nice-looking ones and bought enough to fill the freezer," he said as he turned to her.

"I love a good steak, but I hope you don't mind my horning in," Audrey said, feeling a little ill at ease, as she stood next to Carla, looking up at the big man.

"Mind?" Fred chuckled. "Now I've never been accused of being smart," he lied, "but I'm not dumb enough to object to eating supper with three beautiful women."

"You've got the boy trained," Audrey said to Carla.

"Nope, not quite, but we're working on it," Carla laughed.

"Of course, it could be debated that he's training us," Jessica said as she pulled Fred's head down to push her mouth hard against his for a few seconds, his face gaining color as she shoved her tongue into his mouth.

Fred's eyes caught Audrey's sparkling ones as Jessica broke the kiss. "Well, I, uh, guess I need to get the charcoal going," he mumbled as he headed for the door.