Chapter 9: Frank's call

The next morning, Pat and I slept in late, and the first thing we did when we got up was to hit the spa; So we went down to the pool and sat in the spa, moving stuff all day can really wear your body out. We were sitting in the spa when the power went out again. Oh, no lights, I thought. Hmm, privacy. We were in the spa kissing when someone walked in with a flashlight.

"Well there you guys are, I was wondering where you were hiding," Cindy said.

"Hi Cindy, we were just taking advantage of the dark. Were you looking for us?" I asked.

"Yes, someone wanted to know about the generator to turn it on," she said.

"Ahh ok. Kristy, keep the outside lights off, but put the inside ones on low please."

The lights came back on just enough to see and I looked over at Cindy. "Hey, why don't you go get a suit and join us? We can all hide in here," I said. She ran off before I could say another word, and came back in a while later in a suit, and with her brothers in tow.

When they came back, I made sure Pat was introduced to everyone. I introduced her to Jessica's friends (the two brothers) and their sister Cindy.

"Hi guys! Nice day for a swim, don't you think? Need to work out all the kinks from yesterday," I said.

They agreed and went to the pool while Cindy joined us in the spa; we talked for a while about her and what she wanted to be when she grew up. We also talked about her parents — who were killed — and how her brothers were raising her; well that explains why her parents didn't join us. She wanted to be a pilot when she grew up and fly things as she put it. Well, I figured we could manage that. Eventually we left the spa took a quick dip in the pool and went to change. Finally we made our way to the cafeteria; we were in luck, breakfast was still warm.

After breakfast I walked out front to the porch and sat on the swing trying to think of what came next. I was still swinging when my com rang. Hmm, how was I getting a signal with no power? "Thanks Kristy," I thought.

"Hello," I said.

"Um, yes. Could I speak to Justin Lake please?" a man asked.

"Speaking. This is Frank Mays I presume?"

"Yes. How did you know it was me, have we met?"

I laughed. "Frank we have only met in our dreams."

"You know about the dreams?"

"Yes I know about both of your dreams. The last one I helped give you, so we could talk about the first one. When are you due to get out of the hospital?"

"If all goes well Tuesday, normally they would keep me longer I think, but with all the stuff going on, well, you know."

"Yes I know, much more than I would like to. Frank as soon as you get home I need you and your friend to pack everything you can in your truck and head to the Airport in Big Bear; I will have someone meet you there. This is very important, so when you get home pack and get up here as quick as possible."

"Is everything in the dream going to happen?"

"I can't be sure, but I believe it will happen just as it did in the dream. I will explain everything when we meet; it will be easier to believe me in person."

We talked a bit more and he agreed to join us when he got out of the hospital. Well that was a relief — more good people have been saved, with more to go.

I asked Kristy to turn on the local police band so I could listen in; everyone was pretty much in panic. There was a rumor that the power would not be coming back on. Well isn't that special, I thought.

"Kristy, can you convert our outside lighting to gas? I don't want everyone to know we have electricity?"

"Sure the lighting is already compatible; I can make it appear to be gas without any problems. You should also know the landline phones are now dead and I'm forwarding any calls to your com."

"Well if we don't get power back I can assume the power down the hill will be working better. How far has this outage spread?"

"At first it was all of southern California, but now it is contained to within a hundred miles or so," she said.

"Well it does sound like they cut us off then. I guess they figure we're better off than the city and don't need it. If they're getting that desperate, marshal law will soon follow."

I sat on the porch for a while longer and Pat joined me; she sat down and I put my arm around her. As I sat there with her, I heard a call come over the radio about a shooting at a gas station; apparently someone really wanted gas. There were also several fights in progress at different grocery stores.

"Well it's really started now; eventually the people will go after the supplies at the airport. I don't want to think about what will happen then," I said.

We were still sitting there listening when Jenny came and got us for lunch. I asked Kristy to monitor the channel and break in if something came up and we went inside. We had leftovers for lunch from the last few meals but hey, it beat rations. After lunch I called back my contacts that were to be delivering my goods soon and offered them all a 50% bonus, if they arrived in the next three days. I didn't think we would have much longer than that.

While I was watching the news after lunch, the gate bell rang. I looked at the monitor and noticed a sheriff car followed by several vehicles. I watched Jessica go out to the gate and saw that Leroy and Trish were both watching from the background. Jessica talked to the sheriff for a minute and then opened the gate. She then called me out front; I guess we have some more guests.

"Officer Delmore! I see you have returned with friends. I have been listening to the radio; it's not very pretty out there," I said.

"I hope you were serious about helping out our families if things went bad," he said.

"Sure, no problems there, all welcome. How many do we have?"

"We have four families here, my wife, and three others, along with five children."

"No problem. Ladies, you and your families are welcome here. You will have nothing to fear while on our property and your husbands won't need to worry about you. Jessica, would you show everyone to the bed and breakfast and get them set up. Call out the troops to help unload if you need to."

Officer Delmore pulled me aside and said, "We have been told the power will not come back on; because of that many have left town. We may all end up doing the same, but until then it's nice to know everyone is safe. We will also eventually have a problem with the generator at the station, and the gas pumps will eventually run dry. People are already hoarding gas for generators."

"What about the military at the airport?"

"We believe most of them flew out yesterday; we know there are supplies there, but mostly food and stuff and nobody is going hungry, at least not yet."

"Well Officer Delmore DO NOT under any circumstances, leave the mountains. I happen to know the temperature is only going to get hotter and it will be that way for years. I will keep my radio on and you can call me on the police band if needed; we have a tower and it's on our generator, so we are ok for now."

He left a little after that; we soon got the families situated in the housing area and gave them a tour of the 'ranch' as we now called it. I think they all fell in love with the cave pool; yes, a pool party was in the making. We showed them the cafeteria and stopped for some snacks. After the tour, everyone went to his or her house to finish unpacking.

"Kristy, why does everyone seem so accepting of everything we show them. Some people would sure never believe what we have built here," Justin said.

Kristy appeared, then said, "The base below generates a 'fog' in the people's mind so they just believe and don't think to ask. It wears off after they have been here a while and are more accepting."

Well, I guess that clears up everything, NOT! I talked to her about having a BBQ by the pool for dinner, and we set it up.

We had a great time at dinner swimming in the pool then eating hamburgers, we all enjoyed watching the kids play. We must have been there a few hours when people started to take off for bed. Eventually Pat and I made our exit and headed to bed.

Frank dreamt:

It was early the next morning, when I woke up. I had another strange dream during the night, but not nearly like the other one. There was a knock at the door; it was my friend Dan and his daughter Pamela.

"Hi guys, I'm glad to see you," I said.

Pamela came over and gave me a hug. "WOW!" I commented. "If I had considered what waking up would get me, I would have done it much sooner."

Pamela smacked me in the shoulder which hurt, but I tried not to show it.

"Frank, you are a very strange person my friend. I read the police report; anything you want to tell me?" Dan asked.

I grabbed a piece of paper and scribbled a note on it, and then I wrote another. I then asked Dan to get me two envelopes. I put the notes in the envelopes and sealed them, adding dates to the front of them before I handed them to him.

"Open these on the dates specified, but not before; open them in the morning," I said.

We chatted about how things were going at his company; he was fighting extradition to another country again. You see Dan has a habit of going out of the country and rescuing children, but his hands can get dirty at times. Nevertheless, I loved the guy; he would do anything for the kids.

They left a while later, and for the first time I realized Jessica was not here; I actually got lonely.

After they were gone I called the man in my dream, Justin Lake, and had the strangest conversation, but it looks like I might get my vacation after all. However, I was still exhausted from my ordeal so once again I drifted off to sleep.

Dreaming end

I woke up in the morning and found Pat had already gone. Oh! Waking up alone is a bummer. I got up and took a shower, then headed to the cafeteria. After eating with everyone I grabbed some coffee and headed out front to the swing. I had Kristy tune in to the news and the police band, and just listened for a while. I did notice a sheriff's car in front of the garage; I guess someone got a few hours off and joined his family. It was a few minutes later and I was joined by a man, recognizing him as one of the detectives we had met before.

"Good morning," I said