Chapter 20

"Oh, excuse me," Erin said, bumping into a large man at the Water Tower Mall. She had been knocked to the ground but was able to get to her feet almost the instant she hit the marble floor.

"Excuse me," he replied. "Are you all right?" He was built like a linebacker and wore an expensive Armani suit. She found him to be a quite handsome man but bells and whistles went off in her head.

"I guess so," she gave him a lovely smile. Inside she churned. This was one of her own. Her scanning of him told her that he was the Destroyer sent to kill her. She had sensed his presence weeks ago and now was testing him if he could detect that she, in fact, was 1142. Her full length sable coat hung open displaying a white satiny blouse, black leather skirt to the knees and matching high heeled leather boots.

She probed his soul and was satisfied that he couldn't get past her self built armor. She checked her clothing to see if there were any damage but there was none. She looked him in the eye. "It seems everything is in order," she smiled at him again.

"Have a good day," Erin waved then headed to the exit on Michigan Avenue. She pulled on her gloves, covered the hood over her flaming red hair, and made her way out into the below zero weather. The cold really didn't affect her but she dressed in this manner because of appearances and it was also fashionable. She felt his eyes upon her but that ended as she hailed a taxi to take her to the McPherson Building and to her husband.

Art had never seen such a stunning woman since his insertion. She dazzled him with her beauty. He tried to read her mind but all he got was the fantasy of having sex with him. Being recently married to Helen, Art shook that out of his head. He moved to his favorite gift shop to pickup a trinket for his new wife. He couldn't get the redhead out of his mind. Helen was very beautiful but this one was gorgeous. He had noted the huge diamond ring and wedding band on her finger which automatically told him that she was married. He even saw through his powers of observation that she was with child. Art perused the shop for something different for Helen. She was now at home doing her duties as a wife. He found her to be an excellent cook. Something caught his eye. It was a pair of garnet earrings that'd go perfect with her tight white knit dress she looked so good in. He bought them and prepared to leave for home.

Erin felt a bit down because of the confrontation with the Destroyer. She had sized him up. She experimented in the back of the cab regarding her ability to call up her lion's paw. No problem there. She looked at the Hindu driver to notice he was watching her. Erin had her hand hidden from his view and had it back as a hand once more. She pulled the leather glove back on and tried to settle back for the ride. She decided that tonight was the night to see if she could project herself into the future. Maybe twenty to thirty years just to see if the Council developed the means of finding her.

She'd fast forward herself to the next day just as an experiment then go further out a year, then two, then ten, finally thirty. She wanted to see how her life with Kent worked out and the child she was carrying. She planned on telling him at dinner tonight that she could feel that it was a boy. She felt glad that she could give him the son he so badly wanted. Maybe they could have a sister for him too.

"Well you did it!" she said, digging into her Bavarian pot roast with potato pancakes. She had a smirk on her face as she chewed the first bite.

"Did what?"

"You knocked me up, I'm going to have a baby."

"You're shitting me," he grinned.

Erin lowered her voice and leaned over the table, "All that fucking we did on our island probably did it. I bet you shot a potent burst up me when we were laying on the warm slab of rock."

"That's wonderful!" his smile broadened. Kent always wanted to be a father.

"You know what they say," she smiled.

"What is that?"

"You play, you gotta pay," she giggled. "I played so now I have to pay."

"Are you certain about this?"

"As certain as any woman can get. My period is way overdue plus I've been a little nauseated in the mornings for about a week. I hope for your sake that it's a boy."

"Man, we've got to celebrate this."

"First off, I'm not a man. Secondly, the best celebration we can have is going home and fucking the night away. You can't knock me up anymore than you all ready have. Once it's in the oven, we just have to wait."

"Yeah, that's my idea of a celebration. It won't hurt the baby, will it?"

"Not at all, it's only the size of a walnut now."

It was 2am when Kent fell into a deep sleep. Erin left her body, floated into the cold air on the patio. 'This is it, ' she thought. Suddenly she was flying faster than anything on this orb ever did. In less than a minute she landed back where she took off. She got into her body and slipped out of bed. She walked into the living room, turned on the television and was both shocked and pleased that she had succeeded in her pursuit. It was February 6th, not the 5th. She took off early morning of the 5th. She slid back to Kent's side and left her body again to return. It was almost as if she hadn't left his side at all. She felt elated at what she did. Erin could travel in time. Kent was scheduled to fly to New York City for business in a week. That is when she could go forward as far as she wished. She knew that he'd be gone for three days. That would be a lifetime to explore what lay ahead.

'What will I find?' she thought. 'Good? Bad? About the same?' She lay there pondering the future. Kent was snoring away getting his usual six hours sleep. He didn't seem too upset with the board of directors decisions because he didn't give them any okays to make major ones,

Erin prodded him awake at six am. His eyes popped open. He looked like he didn't know where he was for a moment.

"Good morning, darling," she cooed. "Time to service your wife."

He grumped, "Don't you get tired of fucking this early in the morning?"

"No, do you?"

"No," he lied. His bladder was full plus he felt like he ate a load of horseshit the way his mouth smelled.

"Then get on top of me and stick it in. I'm all wet with anticipation. Do your husbandly duties and satisfy your wife."

At breakfast while they ate poached eggs on toast, they perused the paper. He had the business section while she read several articles in the Chicago Tribune. One of interest was about the Iraq Conflict that ended several years back when she was a lioness in the Serengeti. After Bush left office, Robert Bender, who had sworn to stop the war, couldn't get the troops out because of the terrorists were running amuck stopping any withdrawls. They were perfectly happy killing other Iraqis and American troops. But the new weapons that were developed by the USA had depleted the terrorists effectiveness in killing the American troops. Erin felt that politics were running this war instead of the generals. The fighting continued but with more Iraqi soldiers than Americans in the conflict. They were advisors only.