“Good morning, Sarah,” General Bo-seklin greeted cheerfully after arriving the following day. “For a while, those stairs seemed to be getting steeper all the time. Now they’re easy again.”
His executive officer smiled from her desk.
“What does our day look like?” he asked, going through the mail she handed him.
“Heather has completed the remodeling plans, and would like to meet with you at your leisure. She’s out shopping with Major Ka-markla right now, back by thirteen hundred.”
“Good. I want to spend the morning at the University. There’s a physics professor who knows something about time travel and all that.”
“Spooky stuff. I’ve started the paperwork on Heather’s new legal name and I.D., which you’ll have to sign.”
“George is okay with that name?”
“Yes. He checked several databases, and didn’t find any problems. Let me see . . . I’m interviewing a cook at fourteen hundred . . . Sergeant Ta-nibon is training the new security corporal . . . and George has a couple more coming in for interviews.”
“Okay. Tell Heather fifteen hundred with me, as I want plenty of time to rattle doors at the University. What about lunch?”
“Lisa and Heather are bringing.”
“Good. I’m gonna make some phone calls, then head out.”
The general went into his office, closed the door, and imagined what it
NEBADOR Book Nine: A Cry for Help 49
would look like with carpets and drapes, maybe even a little art on the walls.
“. . . five years at the City Skyline Hotel as a sous-chef while I was in the reserves,” the stout lady was explaining to Major Ma-soran when Heather grabbed a folding chair and sat down nearby, “then I decided to take some of those free classes at the air base, and got all kinds of security clearances. I didn’t think anything would come of it, but suddenly I was offered a job in the P-Fourteen program. The new management at the Skyline was way too full of itself, so I accepted, and was there for two years, until the program shut down.”
“Can you tell me a little about that program?” the major asked with a straight face.
The woman frowned. “No. I have no knowledge that you have P-Fourteen clearance.”
Heather and Sarah exchanged smiles.
“Just testing,” Major Ma-soran admitted.
“I figured that would come at some point.”
“Heather, this is Maria Ta-benro. As far as I’m concerned, you’re hired, Maria, but Heather has a test for you, something she got from a television show.”
“Chef versus Chef,” the girl revealed.
The woman grinned. “One of my favorites!”
Heather hopped up. “I’ll go get your box ready!”
When the girl had disappeared into the dining room, the applicant looked at the major. “And Heather is?”
“Your supervisor, assuming you pass her test and the two of you get along.”
The candidate raised her eyebrows.
When Maria stepped into the dining room and saw the kitchen, her face fell.
Heather knew it would happen, and was ready with catalogs open at one of the dining tables.
Maria nearly drooled when she saw pictures of the stainless-steel
NEBADOR Book Nine: A Cry for Help 50
professional equipment. “Six burners, grill, salamander, and convection oven.
Sweet. And two big refrigerators!”
“The one with glass doors will go over here for stuff you want people to just serve themselves,” Heather explained, indicating a place by the door, “and the other will be back there for your supplies.”
“Okay, so we’re just putting up with this old junk for a little while . . .”
“Right. We’re also getting three big pantry cabinets, all new tables and counters, and serving line warmers.”
“Excellent. Floor?”
Heather pointed to another catalog. “This beautiful tile, with as many rubber mats as you want.”
Maria smiled. “And you would be my supervisor?”
Heather blushed. “I guess so. I just want lots of good, healthy food. Junk food is okay once in a while, but I really want to avoid the usual over-cooked military . . . stuff.”
“Okay, I see that in my test box — vegetables, real cheese, organic eggs, whole-grain macaroni, fruit and yogurt. Looks like I get to be a chef again!
How many am I cooking for?”
“Dinner time . . . I bet the officers will hang around to try it . . . seven or eight, counting you.”
Maria fell silent and began seeing what she had to work with, quickly locating knives, cutting boards, pans, and spices.
Heather watched for a while, and was quite amazed when Maria started slicing vegetables and sautéing them in a hot frying pan with a little butter and garlic. But the girl soon heard Major Ma-soran’s voice announcing it was time for her meeting with the general.
“The physicist with time-travel theories is a little wacky,” General Bo-seklin admitted once the two of them were together in his office with the door closed.
“Isn’t that almost necessary for working in a program like this?”
He glanced at her. “I see your point. Thing is, the military’s been looking for people with abilities like yours for years. The Beklan Empire seems to find them, but we just kept coming up with kooks and wannabes . . . until you.
NEBADOR Book Nine: A Cry for Help 51
So we never really got around to assembling any real, working teams. From this point on, we’re in uncharted territory. As a result, we don’t know who to grab from the universities. I think the physicist will be okay, but the psych people were terrible, babbling stuff about mandatory reporting to the police when they hear of any kid not attending school . . .”
Heather started laughing. “I should take the Graduate Entrance Exam —
no, make it the Doctoral Entrance Exam — so we’ll be safe!”
“Good idea. I’ll have Sarah arrange that. But I did finally locate a shrink that will qualify for the clearance, I believe. She’ll have to sit through George’s lectures, of course.”
“You mean the throw away the key lecture and the little girl running the meeting scenario?”
Sam smiled and nodded. “Okay, let’s go through your plans, phase by phase.”
She set a sheet of paper with lists and sketches in front of the general.
“Phase One is removing everything we don’t absolutely need that is being scrapped or replaced — suspended ceiling in the big room, most of the old furniture . . .”
Maria lightly coated each serving of tasty casserole with hollandaise sauce, then topped each with a little shredded cheese. The leafy lettuce salad included several other finely-sliced vegetables and was finished with a tangy dressing. Finally, the frozen yogurt parfait was soft and spoonable, she explained, because she had blended in fresh fruit before freezing.
General Bo-seklin stayed to try everything, even though he and his wife were going out that evening. He looked at his executive.
Major Ma-soran looked around the dining room and saw thumbs up from all the security people. Finally, she looked at Heather.
“When can you start?” the girl asked Maria Ta-benro.
Heather immediately became Maria’s favorite supervisor of all time by doing the dinner dishes. The security people pitched in, and with Maria handling the left-overs, the kitchen and dining room were quickly rendered spotless.
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After sponging out the sink, Heather grabbed a towel to help Lisa with the drying. “I know it’s short notice, but . . . anyone want to go skating? Or at least, take me?”
“I’m supposed to be off duty, but I must admit, I don’t have anything planned — don’t dare plan anything until the colonel gets more people.
Corporal Do-forva is staying here tonight, but I do want to train her on outing protocols. We don’t have to skate, right?”
“Nope. I’ve never been to this rink, but you can usually watch everything from the snack bar.”
“Okay, let’s do it. Corporal Do-forva! We’re going skating!”
The security ladies changed into civilian clothes, and both had shoulder purses that held the usual things in one compartment and their side arms in the other.
Corporal Do-forva and the two security men-in-training witnessed the exit procedure for the first time, with Sergeant Ta-nibon operating the electric gate only after checking the road outside for anything of concern.
“Girls’ night out!” Heather declared from the front passenger seat of Lisa’s car.
“Why didn’t we use the blind transport?” the corporal asked from the back seat. “I thought safe-house guests weren’t supposed to know where this place is.”
Lisa and Heather both laughed.
“Heather technically isn’t a safe-house guest,” Lisa explained. “She’s an independent contractor, and has full program clearance.”
“Oh.”
“But even with all that, she should still use the blind transport.” Lisa glanced in the rear-view mirror and saw Ginny’s confusion. “The deciding factor is that Heather already figured out exactly where we are!”
The corporal laughed.
The two security guards, officer and enlisted, appearing to be the skater’s mother and sister, nonchalantly strolled the entire skating rink while Heather waited in line for rental skates. They didn’t see anything that bothered them
NEBADOR Book Nine: A Cry for Help 53
in the layout or the people. The few other non-skaters were hiding in the snack bar, so the pair eventually headed that way.
With ice-cold drinks in hand, they found a couple of seats that overlooked the rink and noticed Heather stretching in a carpeted corner.
“Our primary strategy is to maintain the impression that she’s just a normal kid,” Lisa began, “athletic and sociable, but otherwise unremarkable.”
Ginny nodded. “That would almost be assumed about any athletic person.”
“Yeah, Colonel Ba-kerga says it’ll make our task a breeze as long as Heather plays along.”
“Does she show any signs of . . . bragging?”
“Not yet. Remember, there’s an eighty-seven-year-old mind in that little head.”
“She’s on the floor now,” Ginny observed, “just getting used to the skates, I think.”
“Remember, her name is Priscilla Ka-mentha out here. She’ll have I.D.
soon, and we’ll have guardianship documents, but the colonel wants us to avoid flashing those, or our military I.D., unless necessary.”
“Makes
sense.”
“She worked with the colonel to highlight a map you need to study that shows all the places she used to frequent. Those are off-limits for a year or two, and he’s gonna meet with her mother before they start visiting so she doesn’t create any security problems.”
Ginny nodded. “Being tall for her age, she’ll be attracting boys in a few years, and already has an eye for them.”
“I know. I had to make a rule about Ben, and it will apply to all the new security guys.”
Ginny chuckled. “She’s getting comfortable out there and has joined the good skaters in the middle.”
“I’m sure she’ll have the place wrapped around her little finger in a few weeks.”
“What’re our rules of engagement?”
“Handle everything as discretely as possible, but in a pinch, no limits. The colonel switched to that level after . . . the thing with the president. He may
NEBADOR Book Nine: A Cry for Help 54
be an ornery old grump, but he knows his job.”
The corporal laughed. “I’ll keep your exact words to myself.”
“Thanks.”
“Clear the floor!” the D.J. announced. “Art and dance skaters only!”
They watched as Heather began to skillfully move her feet to the music while going forward or backward.
“I thought so,” Lisa said less than a minute into the song. “Her skating’s up there with her dancing. And look, she’s got admirers already.”
“Should we be worried?”
“Not as long as it’s on the social level. This, and other places she goes with one of us, is her entire life outside the facility. Look how she’s using her arms to go with the music, but not the large ballet-like movements that would be out of place here, and not for balance like most of the others.”
“I can get around the rink, but not that gracefully!” the corporal admitted.
After several songs for all skaters, the D.J. switched on his microphone again. “Speed skaters only!”
“Look, she’s doing that too!” Lisa noticed with surprise.
“And is keeping up with the best of them!” Ginny declared, “except that tall guy about my age.”
“He’s noticed her, and look, is inviting her to take the lead!”
“We’ll have to keep an eye on him,” the corporal said with slight worry.
“I’ve already spotted him being friendly but respectful with all the girls. I think he’s okay. But you might want to catch his eye.”
“I might be able to impress him with my target shooting, but not my skating!” Ginny declared.
Once the session ended, the two security people found Heather, already in street shoes, gazing longingly into the glass case where all the items for sale were displayed.
“Hi Lisa, Ginny. Guess what I’m getting with my first check!”
They followed her gaze to a pair of glittery purple dance skates, and both ladies whistled when they saw the price tag.