Chapter 7 hide and seek
Lestelle Re did not look happy. Preston was definitely happy to see her, but Lestelle was not certain if that was because he was attracted to her or because he was just a social moron who didn’t realize how much trouble he was in. He almost hugged her, but he reigned in the desire and put his hands behind his back, respectful of her personal boundary.
“Hello, Lestelle,” Preston said.
“How is your day going?”
Lestelle blinked, leaning towards her latter assessment.
“I instructed you not to leave the hotel till your bodyguard arrived,” Lestelle said.
“You’ve never been to a city before, you have almost no social experience, and with you waving your credits around, you were bound to draw unwanted attention. Couple that with the fact you have been brought in by law enforcement twice in the last 72 hours. My fears that you have been in harm’s way are valid. You don’t even know your rights and how to behave around law enforcement. Don’t you know you’re supposed to stay quiet and let your lawyer speak for you? They have you for breaking and entering and threatening to harm others.”
“It won’t stick,” Preston interrupted her rant. He knew she was genuinely concerned for him, which only increased his affection for her. He sat down at the table and pointed to the electronic draft he had given to the officer that had questioned him.
“As I pointed out in my statement, we were attempting to flee from harm and I took the most expedient route.”
“And a jury might have bought that excuse had you not stopped to flirt with the Jolie,” Lestelle said.
“Who is Jolie?” Preston asked.
“The blond?” Lestelle asked.
“Oh! The girl in the nighty. Yeah, I got distracted,” Preston said.
Lestelle sighed, leaning against the small table in front of him. She probably shouldn’t have, because her change in posture distracted him from the seriousness of his situation. She snapped her fingers in front of him to get him to refocus.
“They want the guy you were running from, some guy name Minder. Apparently you won a slave girl in a card game. You were a mark, set up to be killed and robbed. They have been trying to build a case and up until now, they have had nothing to go on. They are going to squeeze you and your cute little slave girl until they get what they want.”
Preston ‘tuned’ out, his face becoming unreadable. Lestelle crossed her arms in front of her chest, a little angry at his ability to stay focused. Even though she was sure he was focused past her, it annoyed her to be in front of him and not have his attention. The pause was sufficient to start her worrying for his health. Had he been drugged? “Preston?”
“The Force is encouraging me to leave this planet,” Preston said, returning to the moment and meeting her eyes.
“Do we have enough money to relocate?”
“Have you been listening to me?” Lestelle said.
“Yes,” Preston said.
“You seem disturbed.”
“You should be worried,” Lestelle said.
“Why? Nothing bad is going to happen,” Preston assured her.
The lights went out. Lestelle was completely blinded in the sudden darkness, as was Preston, but enough of the visual pattern remained on his retina that he was able to map out the room before turning his vision over to the Force. Not that there was much to map out. He remained seated, acutely aware of the only other immediate change: the rapidity of Lestelle’s breathing.
“It is okay, Lestelle,” Preston said, reaching out and touching her hand.
“I suspect someone will be along shortly.”
“I don’t like this. Where is the emergency lighting?” Lestelle asked.
Preston stood up and pulled her into an embrace.
“I’ve got you,” he assured her.
Lestelle found the embrace triggering a de ja vu experience, as if she had done this before, and she hugged back as if she had been reunited with a long lost loved one, embracing the comfort that he was offering. She gave into an impulse and kissed him. And this is how the Captain of the precinct found her when he entered bearing lights. Lestelle released Preston and straightened her jacket, as if caught doing something she shouldn’t have been doing. She accepted the extra torch from the Captain.
“Preston, you have a phone call at the front desk,” the Captain said.
“Really?” Preston asked. He looked to Lestelle.
“Isn’t this fun?”
“No,” Lestelle said, clearly out of sorts. She didn’t like the dark, she didn’t like the fact that she had not only broken protocols by kissing a client, but had gotten caught, and the fact that she had probably underestimated her client’s depth of trouble based on him having a call that coincided with this crisis. She was so frazzled by the kiss she could hardly think straight and actually discovered a trace of anger at being interrupted by the Captain. ‘Wow,’ she thought. She wanted to continue kissing him. She hoped the decreased lighting hadn’t revealed the depths of her disorganized thoughts.
They followed the Captain back to the front desk, Lestelle not letting go of Preston’s hand. What little of the precinct’s force that had been in the building had gathered, expecting there to be a fight soon. Arey was there and Preston said hello to her as if he had known her forever, and again Lestelle was amazed to experience a ping of jealousy. She forced herself to explain her emotions as a direct result of being thrust into the darkness and to be calm. After all, the police precinct was probably the safest place on the planet.
After greeting Arey affectionately, Preston said hi to Officer Mons. Mons’ response was to glower. Everyone had a torch. The only light other than the portable torches was the screen on the receptionist’s desk, and it was an anomaly, but not an accident. It revealed Miss Keena, standing outside the front door to the precinct, apparently waiting patiently to be connected with Preston. Preston leaned forward into the camera and smiled.
“Hello, again. Keena, right? Everyone okay out there?”
“Hello, Preston, and yes, we’re all fine,” Keena said.
“For someone who has caused me not a little trouble today, you’re very polite. I like that. I also liked that little trick earlier. How did you do that?”
“Which one? The sealing the door or the leaving he apartment?’ “Both actually,” Keena said.
“I don’t know how to answer that,” Preston said.
“How do you not do that?”
“People don’t normally walk through walls,” Keena said.
“So, you believe that because people told you that, or because…” Preston began.
“Because people just don’t do it,” Keena said.
“Interesting. So, you’re suggesting I can do it because no one ever told me I couldn’t?” Preston asked.
“Is that what you wanted to converse about?”
“Well, though I would certainly like to continue this conversation, I do have other pressing matters, and a very specific time frame in which it must be accomplished,” Keena said.
“To help facilitate me meeting my deadline, I wish to re-extend my offer for you and Jordeen to come conference with Shade.”
“Oh, that’s really nice, but I am fairly engaged at the moment, and I’m not yet sure how my lawyer is going to sort this out. I’m rather new at being arrested,” Preston said.
“Sorting this out is simple. You and Jordeen come with us,” Keena said.
“Oh, I really appreciate that, but again, I’m going to have to decline,” Preston said.
“You understand,” Keena said, gravely.
“I can’t allow them to interrogate Jordeen. Company secrets and all.”
“Oh, that seems reasonable. I promise that Jordeen will not give up any secrets of her former employment,” Preston offered.
“You can’t do that,” Officer Mons said.
“Technically, he can. As long as Jordeen’s a slave, she cannot be forced to testify against a present or previous owner because her testimony may be unreliable and so consequently anything she says is not admissible in a court of law,” Lestelle said.
Preston smiled.
“See, problem solved.”
“I believe you, Preston, but I am afraid my employer simply won’t accept the present situation. I like you. I like you enough to disregard the age difference, if you know what I mean. You’re probably the first Jedi I’ve met who didn’t just jump in with a lightsaber and use brute force, but again, I’m working against a time limit here. You see, I cut the power to this precinct. In thirty two more minutes, the next closest precinct is going to investigate. That means if I have to break in and come get you, there will be a fight and people will die. I sense that you don’t want that. I don’t want that. It makes my employer look bad. I have the entire facility surrounded. I mean that literally. I don’t think your earlier escape trick will work this time, though I would be intrigued if it did. So, why don’t you do the sensible thing and you and Jordeen just come on out, that way no one else has to get hurt.”
“That’s a really generous offer. Please extend my apologies to Shade, and perhaps we can schedule for a later date,” Preston said.
“It was really nice talking with you again, Keena. Good bye.”
Preston used the Force to turn off the monitor, basically short circuiting it, which was the only way to turn it off, seeing how control of the monitor belonged to Keena. The receptionist looked up at her boss, her mouth open as if she were surprised. The Captain seemed as surprised as she.
“Do you think this is a game?” Officer Mons demanded.
“Of course,” Preston said.
“Isn’t everything?”
“Excuse me, Captain,” Officer Mons said.
“Why did you let this moron negotiate a death sentence for us?”
The Captain took a moment to compose himself.
“He’s a Jedi. I assumed he would have greater negotiating skills,” the Captain said.
“Then again, you were very polite to our future executioner. You do know what you’re doing, don’t you?”
“Yes,” Preston agreed, deciding now might not be the best time to declare he wasn’t a Jedi Knight. He might need them to follow directions which they might not do otherwise.
“Do you have a closet somewhere big enough for all of us to hide in?”
The tension in the room escalated.
“That’s your idea? Hide?” Officer Mons shouted.
“For approximately 32 minutes,” Preston said.
“Can’t you get us all out the way you got you and Jordeen out?” Officer Mons asked.
“Not all of us, and she was being honest about having the entire compound surrounded,” Preston said.
“Which I find surprising. Why would you would allow the immediate properties surrounding the precinct to be bought out?”
There was no questioning, in hindsight, that not being able to make a hole in a wall or ceiling to escape to another level might have its down side for the precinct members. Or, the opposite, if someone wanted to break in, well, clearly their office situation needed review.
“They must have had this scenario planned out well in advanced,” Preston said, answering his own question.
“Probably to bust Shade or an employee out should they ever get arrested.”
A hole appeared in the front door where a wielding arc was spitting through the metal. It began to move, defining a perimeter not as large as the door itself. A second torch punched through and started moving in the opposite way, mirroring the path of the first.
“If we are going to do this, we need to do it now,” Preston said.
“I need everyone in the same room, and I mean everyone, prisoners and all, let’s move.”
“You heard him,” the Captain said.
“My office. Let’s go. Move move move.” By the time the front door was falling to the floor, everyone was secluded in the
Captain’s office. It was standing room only. Preston stood by the door, his hands on it. Any time anyone passed by the outside of the door, they simply passed by, not seeing it. The Captain had to emphasize the need for quiet to the prisoners, as a couple of them were afraid that Shade was sending people to kill them, and they were mumbling incessantly that this was the end.
“Are you sure this is going to work?” Arey asked, trying to keep her voice to a whisper, but not hiding her concern. She was standing right next Preston, as she figured standing next to him would be the second best place to stand. Had she asked, Preston would have pointed out the fallacy of her logic. Standing next to him might put her in grave danger, as he would be the focal point of any attack.
“Pretty sure,” Preston said. He had both hands against the door, as if that alone would hold it shut.
“Pretty sure?” Lestelle asked from behind him.
“Shh, be quiet man,” one of the prisoners said.
“You heard the Captain. You want them to hear you?”
Jordeen said nothing, merely pushed her back against the all, to the Right of Preston, staring confidently at him. She was also trying to not get her feet stepped on, as she was still barefoot.
“I have a bad feeling about this,” Officer Mons complained. Preston flashed a frown at Officer Mons.
“What does that even mean?” Preston asked.
“What do you mean ‘what does it mean,’?” Officer Mons asked.
“There are no bad feelings. There is only data and interpretation of data,” Preston said.
“Oh, so let me be more precise,” Officer Mons said.
“We’re all about to die!”
“Based on what information?” Preston asked.
“The fact the precinct is overrun by bad guys and we’re hiding in the Captain’s office,” Officer Mons said.
“Have you ever been overrun by bad guys and hid in the Captain’s office and died before?” Preston asked.
“No,” Officer Mons grudgingly admitted.
“Then don’t say you have a bad feeling. If it works, and no one on either side dies, it should be a good feeling,” Preston said.
“But preferably it shouldn’t be good or bad, it’s just information.”
“Look, it’s just a common expression, don’t get all worked up over it,” one of the other guards said.
“The fact that it’s common, overused, misused, cliché, and inaccurate should be a reason to get worked up over it,” Preston said.
“That saying is not innocuous and I’m sure it was meant to be funny and lighten the mood the first time anyone ever used it, but the more it gets used, the less funny it is. Language is important. Your choice of words creates mood and influences decisions. Feelings, good or bad, increase the likelihood of making poor decisions.”
“I’m sorry I’m not as rational as a robot,” Officer Mons said.
“You’re not afraid?” Arey asked, trying to interrupt the argument.
“There is no fear. There is only love,” Preston said.
“You are enjoying this. As if it were a game?” Jordeen asked. Officer Mons rolled his eyes.
“Isn’t it?” Preston asked.
“This isn’t a game. People get hurt, people die,” Officer Mons said.
“Everybody dies,” Preston agreed.
“And that doesn’t bother you?” Officer Mons said.
“There is no death,” Preston said.
“You just said everybody dies,” Officer Mons argued.
“Nothing is what you think it is,” Preston said.
“Everything is much bigger than what you imagine, and though truth seems to be dependent upon your perspective, there is no one absolute perspective, other than total perception with the Force. So, from one viewpoint, it appears everyone dies, but from a higher perspective, it merely appears as if we are changing states. You are no less the ocean than the glass of water fetched from the ocean. Fetched, poured back, all one.”
“Do we really need to be preached at right before we die?” a prisoner asked.
“This perspective is best exemplified by the metaphor of the blind men and the ranchor,” Preston continued, un-phased. Preston closed his eyes and leaned his head against the door, letting go of the argument, as if he had a sudden headache.
“What’s wrong?” Jordeen asked, reaching out to him.
“I’m distracted,” Preston said. He took Jordeen’s hand and placed it against the door.
“Can you hold your hand there? Yeah, just like that. Now, don’t drop your hand. And no one is to open this door until I get back. Clear?”
“What do you mean, till you get back?” Lestelle asked.
“Where are you going?”
“How are you going? That’s the only door,” Arey said, following the logic that no one is to open it, then how was he getting out.
“It’ll be fine. Just stick to the plan and no matter what you think happened, don’t panic, and don’t open that door till I get back,” Preston said, and with that, he collapsed.
Lestelle was in a prime position to catch him. Hugging him up to her, she rotated and leaned against the wall where Jordeen had been standing and slid down to a sitting position, holding Preston as she did so. The men tried to give her room so that they weren’t crowded.
“Is he okay?” Arey asked.
“He’s breathing,” Lestelle said.
♫♪►
Preston founds himself in an open expanse, surrounded by light. The floor was light, and yet, there was no floor, nor any sense of falling, but his feet stood firm on this nothingness. The sky was light. The light was tangible, palpable. Movement as simple as shifting his arm came with effort, as if he were pushing though a substance, not quite water, not quite air. It wasn’t unpleasant, just different than expected. He became aware of Ashia behind him and he turned to greet her. She wore a white, flowing dress, with uneven hem line. The dress touched the back of her knees, but in the front landed just above the halfway mark of her thighs. The dress moved as if teased by a breeze. It was tied at the waste by a cloth belt, knotted with ends dangling in front of her. Though white of the dress was discernible from the background, it was made more prominent by the fact that Ashia had a golden aura. She bowed, hands drawing together.
“Goddess Ashia,” Preston said, mirroring her form.
“Still with the titles?” Ashia asked, smiling. She touched his cheek.
“Did I not tell you that you’ve graduated? We are equals.”
“I feel unworthy thinking of us as equals,” Preston said. Ashia nodded.
“Even after having sharing intamcy?”
“You summoned me here for intimacy?” Preston asked.
“When you are one with the Force, all interactions are intimate,” Ashia said. Preston bowed to her wisdom.
Ashia mirrored his love.
“And now, it is time for you to give back.”
“I’m kind of occupied at the moment,” Preston said.
“You will learn to multi task better with practice. And you will never be given more than you can handle,” Ashia vowed.
“The student has asked for you, and her designated Counsel is granting her this wish. Her situation is dire and she is afraid. Her answer will not be what she expects, but it will be what she needs.”
Preston blinked accessing information, deciphering the cryptic nature of Ashia’s explanation.
“What should my response be?”
“You may respond however you wish, but she must choose,” Ashia said.
“Comfort her. Help her to see the options. I’m prepared to give additional assistance should she decide to stay in the game.”
Preston bowed. When he came up, Ashia was gone and Ten was there. She didn’t seem to be able to see him, but whether it was because she wasn’t focused or because she was afraid and crying wasn’t immediately apparent. She was in the fetal position, hugging her knees. He took her arm and lifted her to a standing position. The room changed dramatically, as Preston stepped down in energy levels to meet with her, while simultaneously bringin Ten up a level. For a moment they were in a nondescript room, black and grays with ominous lighting, mirroring the room her body was in. When she stood full upright, she was looking into Preston’s eyes, and it was during her realization of who he was that the background became more serene. They found themselves standing in a meadow of soft grass, dotted with tiny white and pink flowers for as far as the eye could see. The sky was a soothing cerulean.
“Preston!” Ten said, hugging him.
“I called out to you in my mind over and over. I was so hopeful you would hear me.”
“You’re call was heard. I’m here,” Preston said.
“But, you’re too late. I’m already dead. At least, I think I’m dead,” Ten said, examining a nearby flower. Having never been in an expanse of nature, her conclusion could only be that she was dead.
Ten became aware of a stillness, a calm focused energy that pervaded her entire being. The hum of insects felt pervasive, almost a gentle purring through her body. In the blink of an eye, she relived her entire life. Preston experienced it with her, with no judgment. It was a complicated experience, something she would not be able to process in one chunk. Part of the experience was reviewing everything she had ever done, said, thought, sensed, or felt. Another part of her experience was seeing the same, only from outside herself. Another part of the experience was feeling the emotions of all of those she directly influenced, from their point of view. There was no end to this unraveling, as she could have experienced even the reactions, pleasant or unpleasant, of people indirectly influenced by her deeds or words, so that from a certain perspective, she could see how far her touch really went. Even three degrees out, she had had no idea that her weakest of thoughts, those barely even whispered into conscious awareness, could have affects that extended so far.
For a brief moment even Preston got caught up in the last bit of drama in her life. A CPS agent had come to her parents’ home to apprehend her. She was forcibly taken and put in a van, but the agent stayed and gave her parents a credit stick.
“This is your share,” the agent said.
“It will look like an accident.”
“I’m sorry we couldn’t control her,” the mom said.
“She was always a trouble child.”
“You’re still going to funnel the foster kids through us though, right?” the dad asked.
“We’ll return to our normal business arrangement after the scrutiny of this case has ended,” the agent said.
“What do you want us to do about that mechanic chic who contacted your office?” the mom asked.
“Nothing,” the agent said.
“It would draw too much suspicion if she were injured or killed. Just stay away from her. She will forget your daughter ever existed. Everyone will.”
Preston skipped forward though the timeline, closer to the end before she had left her body. Ten was fighting to get away. The CPS agent, and his goons, were amused.
“Hold her legs,” one of the goons said, trying to secure the strap around her ankle.
“Child,” the agent said, his voice chillingly calm. Ten stopped, as if he had stilled her with the Force. She felt the finality hit her as she was secured to the operating table.
“This is going to happen. You can choose to go quietly, and I will sedate you, or you can fight, and I will cut your heart out while you’re still conscious. What do you want?”
“Please, let me go. I won’t cause any more trouble,” Ten begged.
“That time has come and gone,” the agent said.
“You have brought a lot of attention on your parents’ house. They nearly lost their foster license. Your parents can be replaced, but it takes time to groom couples for this kind of operation. I like your parents. They’re easily manipulated. They’re also cheap.”
The agent turned to the medical droid in order to inform the procedures he was requesting.
“Please,” Ten cried.
“Sedate her,” the agent said.
A medical droid extended a needle towards her. She held her breath, made every muscle in her body rigid. The droid could care less about her comfort and that it would hurt less if she had relaxed. The needle pushed through hard muscle just the same. The meds worked quickly. She went limp and the goons eased up their grips.
“I was hoping to have a turn with her before she was unconscious,” one of the goons said.
“Reducing her stress improves the the chances of a successful transplant. You can do what you want to her body, as long as you don’t damage the vital organs,” the agent said.
“The guy getting her heart will be here soon.”
Preston returned to the present moment, moved by Ten’s tears, and hugged her. The emotions at this stage could be overwhelming, so even though a person experienced a whole life view and had access to incredible amounts of information, in what seemed like a fraction of a moment of real time, it still took time to accept the complexity of the web and how perceptions were often wrong. It was especially difficult accepting how much key players, like her parents, actually hated her but that was something she chose not to focus on. Where she got stuck was on the fact that she had always been jealous of the foster kids, as she believed they were being treated so much better than she. Now that she understood they were on their way to being slaughtered, that they were not getting the better end of the deal, she had genuine regrets. She didn’t know how she could hold so much hate and compassion, much less both simultaneously.
“I had no idea,” Ten said into his chest.
“Is that true?” Preston asked.
“I mean, I guess I had an inkling,” Ten said.
“But…”
Preston took her hand and they walked. That was when she noticed they were both barefoot, and the grass was cool against the soles of her feet.
“I feel like I could just lay down here and take a nap, forever,” Ten said.
“Is that what you want to do?” Preston asked.
“No, I wanted to live, as if there was something I was supposed to do and didn’t,” Ten said.
“You still can,” Preston said.
“Really?” Ten asked.
“You understand what going back entails, don’t you?” Preston asked.
“Why do you keep phrasing your responses in the form of a question? Can’t you tell me anything straight up?!” Ten asked.
“Yes,” Preston said.
Ten sighed heavily.
“Will you help me?”
“You have the ability to do this on your own,” Preston said.
“I can’t do it alone,” Ten said.
“I will be with you should you decide to go back,” Preston said.
“The Force is with you, always.”
“And what happens if I go back?” Ten asked.
“You want to find out, together?” Preston asked.
Ten nodded and she took them back with her own thoughts. She was near her body. The medical droid was sewing the last stitch on the heart recipient’s chest. Her body lay on the table, on bypass, so as to keep all her organs as fresh as they could for as long as they could.
“It’s too late,” Ten said.
“No, it’s not,” Preston said.
“You can do this.”
“I can’t get back in there, it’s not me!” Ten said.
“It’s just stuff.”
“Yeah,” Preston agreed.
“It’s just stuff. Just jump in. All at once, like diving into the deep end of a pool.”
“It’s cold,” she observed, with a finger.
“Yeah,” he agreed.
Ten hugged Preston once more and then flung herself at her body. She merged. The body coughed. She could hear Preston’s voice as he instructed her in pulling off the bypass. It was a strange feeling, somewhat painful, but best done like pulling off a scab, quick. The shock of coming off bypass was bizarre, but not stunning given her present state of mind. It was weird being on bypass as there was blood flow but no pulse. She had to force herself to keep the body conscious. Using the Force, she and Preston grew a new heart, liver, and kidney and the body body cavity began to seal. The droid was too busy on its own tasks to notice what was happening. Drawing on the Force, she and Preston drew down light. Had the droid been looking, he would have seen a white aura about her, and perhaps would have been puzzled, but for whatever reason, it found itself completely zoned out, as if struggling to get to its next task, as if stuck in a loop or a dream.
The wounds on Ten’s body closed, not even leaving a scar, her organs were functioning to spec, and before long she managed to push herself off the medical bed. She hit the floor with her feet and fell flat on her face. She heard Preston telling her to stand up. No evidence of tears were on her face, but she was crying inside, almost sheer panic. She forced herself to her feet, staggered to the door, and opened it by hitting the button with her palm. The agent was in the middle of a conversation with som