Chapter 18

Katie sat with Béla on the bed, having teleported both herself and her now-converted brother to Jake and Béla's for a visit. It had actually been her brother's idea, as he was anxious to see how Béla's pregnancy was coming along.

The girls were mind-linked, with Béla studying Katie's mental image of trying to revive Beth's mutilated body after she'd teleported them out of the middle of that nuclear blast.

"It's strange," Béla said, finally. "I don't feel her or the baby in my mind. Do you suppose she's still alive, somewhere? It's been a week, now. If she's alive, I should be able to feel her, somewhere..."

Béla missed her sister badly. They'd grown more than close during the long voyage from New Eden to Earth, their feelings toward each other more than just sexual. She loved Beth, and it hurt inside, not being able to feel her presence.

"I don't know," Katie replied quietly. She was sad, too. She'd tried to return to the little brook she'd created, but discovered that she evidently had to be really stressed before her mind-power kicked in. When she wasn't excited or upset, mentally she was no more powerful than any other... 'What did she call us? Oh, Yes ... Earthers!'

"At least the baby isn't trying to usurp my nervous system anymore," Béla said, trying to pick good things out of what had happened.

She rubbed her extended tummy. The baby was a lot larger than it was a week ago, but Frank had assured her that the fetus was developing normally.

"You want to try coming downstairs?" Katie asked, offering her help. "If you want, you can use me as a portable crutch..."

Béla grinned. "I would love to get out of this bed. But first, if you want, you can help me take a shower. Being confined in this bed..." She didn't need to finish the sentence. Katie laughed, playfully waving her hand pretending to dissipate the odor, and helped her up.

Once on her feet, Béla discovered she was stronger than she thought she'd be. She was able to take care of her own toilet, and climbed into the shower stall by herself.

Katie waited anyway, preferring Béla's company to that of her overbearing brother downstairs. Plus, she still preferred not to be around Jake too much – even after all this time, she still got heated up inside thinking about Jake and Alicia all those years ago. 'That great, horny toad! Why do I feel so possessive? Jake belongs to Béla, now. How come Jake and Béla don't bother me like Jake and Alicia do?'

"Oh! This feels sooo good!" Béla exclaimed as the swirling showerhead pummeled her back.

Katie smiled and decided to go change the bedding. Béla, once clean again, would really appreciate fresh-smelling sheets to lie on.

Katie just finished the fresh bedding program when her brother stuck his head in the door.

"Hey! You're up!" Frank grinned. "Here, Bug, this just came for you." He held out a disc. It was from Claremont Productions. Katie felt her heart leap.

"Is that a job offer?" she asked, suddenly excited.

Her brother grinned, holding the shiny disk just out of her reach. She laughed and grabbed his arm with both hands, climbing up his body to get to her prize. She squealed as they both fell onto the bed.

"Hey! Don't break it!" Katie said excitedly as she wrested it out of his hand.

"Don't worry," Frank told her. "I've already downloaded it into the console."

"Oh! Well then, what is it?" Katie wanted to know. 'It figures my pesky brother would read it first!'

"Claremont wants you to go to Bolivia," he explained. "They're making another one of those relic hunter movies. You get to play a lead role."

"What?" Katie exclaimed. She was really excited now. "Who do I get to play?" She was already halfway out the bedroom door, heading downstairs to find a console to stick the disk into. Frank followed her down, still talking at her backside.

"You get to play one of the bad guys," Frank continued. "It's not exactly a leading role – you're only in a half dozen scenes. You get to steal the relic from the good guy and leave him trapped in some underground maze, then you get killed off trying to get away."

"Typical," Katie said, still happy about the offer. She looked at the screen display as it scrolled rapidly by. "Hey! I have a last name in this one. I'm coming up in the world!"

'Finally! I get to play somebody besides Suzy the sexy schoolgirl who gets kidnapped, raped and murdered, or some no-name victim in an opening scene to some bizarre, third-rate thriller!'

"Wow! Half a mil!" she exclaimed. "Did they send details? No, of course they wouldn't. We haven't accepted yet. Tell you what, manager, you get in touch with them and if they can get the shoots done in the same week, we'll do it!"

"Before you make up your mind, you'd better read your death scene," Frank admonished her. The seriousness in his voice got her attention. She paged down to her death scene and read it carefully.

"Well. No wonder they asked for me," she said, more quiet than she was a moment earlier. "They probably can't get anyone else to do it."

She sat thoughtfully for a few minutes. Bolivia was in the Andes, and it was always cold there – cold enough to ski even in the summer, which it was, down there. In fact, Bolivia was so cold that snow skiing was a summer sport there.

"Alright. Tell them okay, I'll do it," Katie decided. "But I still don't want to be gone more than a week, okay? Béla needs me, too!"

Frank grinned. He was pretty sure she would accept the job. Even if her part made her miserable, there was a ski resort near La Pas where the shoot was taking place. 'She may hate the cold mountain weather, but she loves to ski ... and the mountains down there are irresistible!'

Katie went into the kitchen – Jake's favorite haunt since his cabin was now occupied by everyone else – to tell him the good news.