People always ask me, “Why did you go back?” To most people it seems I finally had everything I wanted: a wonderful family, a job most people would kill for, secret powers nobody knew about, and no felony charges pending. Of the two dozen people in the country who knew my whole story, more than half thought I should be in Erik Lehnsherr-style solitary confinement. It was unthinkable that I was walking around free. It should be absolutely, totally, and in all other ways inconceivable that I would turn my back on the free pass I was given.
It’s a cliché to say that there are two sides to every story – but it became a cliché because it’s always true. My side of the story doesn’t really matter because I don’t owe anyone an explanation. That’s not just bluster, it’s a Presidential decree. My record is as clean now as the day I was born. It’s not my problem if you don’t like it.
So I’m not writing this to explain, justify, or excuse my actions. The fact is that the events that sent me back to Mendellia are part of a secret history that few will ever know. A history that created the world that our children and grandchildren will grow up in. Very few people were involved at the time, and only a handful of us were there for the whole thing. Someday, though, people will look back at the next twenty years and ask, “Where did it all begin?”
That’s why I’m telling my story. I was there. I saw it all. I pulled the trigger – both literally and figuratively. I was raised with a strong sense of history, a reverence even, and I think the billions of people those events will eventually impact deserve to know what really happened. Of course you won’t be buying this story at your local Barnes & Noble, or reading it on your Kindle. It will have to be kept secret well beyond my lifetime. But someday – someday – everyone will know how and why a group of internet nerds in some banana republic lit a fire that would change the world.
For me it started on a warm Friday night in Vegas. Yes, there are other kinds. Late May of 2011 was unseasonably warm, and even at 8:00 the temperature was in the mid-90s. Lenka and I parked half a block off of Las Vegas Boulevard and took a leisurely stroll along the Strip to a meeting with an old friend. The sidewalks were crowded with people heading in every direction. I was always amazed that the hotter it got in Las Vegas the more people packed into the place.
As we crossed a sidestreet one of the ubiquitous street hustlers thrust a handful of cards the size of baseball cards in front of me. With long-practiced disdain I walked right past him without a glance. Beside me an obvious newcomer, a middle aged woman who looked like she was from somewhere exciting like Topeka, accepted her stack with an automatic, “Thank you.”
I hadn’t taken two steps before I heard her gasp and her cards hit the street, where they mingled with thousands of others that were ground into the pavement. Tourists are so predictable. I didn’t bother to suppress a chuckle.
“Oh…” Lenka said, looking at the faded, pulverized mess in the gutter. “You did warn Becki, didn’t you?” Her tone suggested she knew the answer.
“Warn her about what?” I asked. I was tempted to whistle some childlike tune.
“You know exactly what I mean,” she said. “Warned her not to take anything from people on the street.”
“It may have slipped my mind.” I tried looking away, but she still caught my smirk.
“Oh, she’s going to kill you. I’m not getting you out of this one.”
“Ah, it’s good for her,” I said with a wave of my hand. “Builds character.”
“Uh-huh,” Lenka said. “How are we ever going to find her in this crowd?”
I stopped in my tracks and gave her a dubious look. “What do you mean? I know exactly where she’ll be.”
“You do? How?”
I waved her forward with me and said, “Her meeting place was pretty clear.”
“’The place we went on our honeymoon’? Oh yes, very clear. Where exactly did you and Queen Rebecca go on your honeymoon, Lancelot?”
“The only time Becki and I were ever on a honeymoon was during the Paris mission, as a cover at the Eiffel tower. But we don’t have to go all the way to Paris, because-“
“We have an Eiffel Tower right here,” Lenka said with a wave of her hand toward the half-scale replica on the sidewalk ahead of us. “But why such a public place?”
“With the crowd here she doesn’t need a bodyguard. Nobody could follow her or try to grab her with all these people around.”
“Never a dull moment when you’re a queen. We’ll never have normal lives, will we?”
“Normal lives are for other people, “ I said.
“And a normal life would be so boring now,” Lenka said.
I spotted Becki as soon as we reached the Eiffel Tower, despite the throng around her. Her years as Queen Rebecca of Mendellia had given her a measured grace and dignified bearing that set her apart in a crowd of other Americans.
We all forgot about grace and dignity as soon as she saw us. The three of us practically fell on each other in a tangle of hugs and laughter.
“It’s so good to see you both!” Becki said at the same time Lenka said, “We missed you so much!”
“How are Thayer and the kids?” I asked.
“Everyone’s doing well. They all send their love. Oh, I saw Kristy last week and she asked about you.”
“How’s she doing?”
“Still loving her job at the university. I think she takes her self-appointed part time lady-in-waiting as seriously as she takes her real job.”
“She just likes the dresses,” Lenka said. “She nearly cried when I gave her my old ones.”
“Have you heard from any of the others?” I asked.
“No,” Becki said, and all of our faces lost some of their light. I still can’t believe how many of our friends we lost track of after Terra Group was disbanded. How could we let it happen?
“I’m sure they’re all doing well wherever they are,” Lenka said after a long moment.
We were all thinking how doubtful that was, since we’re all so good at getting into trouble. “I’m sure they are,” Becki said.
I could feel a cloud gathering over us, and the evening had to be rescued quickly. “So, Becki, you hungry? There’s not a bad meal to be had in this town,” I said.
“So you’re always telling me!” Becki said. “I understand this Eiffel Tower has a restaurant in it, too?”
“Yeah, but without a reservation we’ll never get in on a Friday night. I should have made a reservation yesterday when we got your message.”
“Oh, I know!” Lenka said. “How about the Forum Shops? They have several restaurants, and Becki would love Caesar’s Palace.”
“I like the sound of it already,” Becki said.
I don’t know why I didn’t just park at Caesar’s in the first place. I knew we’d end up there. It’s Lenka’s favorite place on the Strip, and with Becki’s obsession with all things Roman there wasn’t a real choice to make. Before dinner we gave her the grand tour – the curved escalators, which I find endlessly fascinating, the moving statues, the ornate fountains, and the marble and gold everything.
Eventually we found ourselves sitting at a patio table at Spago, under the Forum Shops’ blue painted sky. Our glasses and appetizer plates were half empty and we’d just placed our dinner orders. I was getting a little anxious to find out what Becki’s sudden visit was about, but before I could there was other unfinished business to attend to.
“Oh, I just remembered,” Becki said, reaching into her front pocket. “Someone handed this to me earlier and I didn’t have a chance to look at it.”
Lenka half lunged across the table, as though she were going to physically block Becki’s access to her own pocket. She caught herself with an arm outstretched across the table as Becki withdrew a handful of the cards I’d so casually dodged earlier.
“What…in the world…” Becki said. Her frown deepened as she examined both sides of the first card in the stack. From my seat next to her I could clearly see the scantily-clad girl printed on it, along with a local phone number and a blurb announcing a $39 special.
“He was supposed to warn you!” Lenka said, pointing at me like a five year old telling on a sibling.
“Wow, thanks…” I said.
“Hey, I told you that you were on your own this time.”
“And miss that look?” I asked, nodding toward Becki. Her expression was somewhere between making-sense-of-abstract-art and Macavity-left-a-half-eaten-bird-on-the-patio.
“Is this…are they…” Becki said. Her dismayed expression was making me feel a little guilty now. “Is the special for what I think it’s for?” she finally asked.
“Uh…yeah,” I said.
“In this town they’re selling what you’re thinking and lots of things you’d never think of,” Lenka said.
“Ew,” Becki said, and dropped the cards into the empty seat across from me. Then she fixed me with one of those patented Becki-stares I seemed to provoke so often. “You knew about this?”
Lenka was nodding her head so fast she looked like a dashboard bobblehead on crack. “I…uh…maybe,” I said.
“Thanks for the warning, Nine,” Becki said. She made a disgusted face and said, “I thought they were baseball cards or something.”
“Well I’m sure the rookie cards are even rarer,” I said. “Especially if you could find one for a babe named Ruth.”
That got me a slap in the arm from both sides. Sensing it was a great time for a subject change, I gave Becki my most genuine smile and said, “So, Becki, what occasions the visit? Not that it ain’t great to see you and all.”
Just like that we were all business, like the last three years hadn’t happened. “Thayer sent me to ask you two for a favor. He’d like you to come to Mendellia for a few days.”
“What, now?” I asked.
“Well not right now, but…tomorrow,” she said. “He wants to talk to you about something. In person.”
“Becki, it’s just not that easy anymore.” I sighed. “What does he want to talk about?”
“I can’t tell you. I can tell you that it’s very important to him and that he needs your help.”
This is the problem with having a friend who’s a king. He tends to act like a dictator sometimes. “You know I’d do anything for him…for any of you. But I can’t just leave whenever I want. You know I’m back in the Air Force, and with my…well, with what I do, it takes some notice to be out of town, unless it’s their idea of course. Especially leaving the country.”
“Don’t you think they’d let you go? Just for a few days?” Lenka asked. Becki had her as soon as she said “come to Mendellia,” of course. “You’re supposed to be off this weekend anyway.”
“Yeah, but you know how fast that can change.” I was suddenly aware of the weight of the cell phone in my pocket. It always felt like a time bomb waiting to go off.
“Thayer said he would call the president if it would help,” Becki said. That was half an offer of help and half blackmail. There were constant whispers in squadron about my history as it was. The last thing I needed was presidential intervention in my work schedule.
Of course the offer was also a sign of how serious Thayer was about this trip. “Okay, okay, I think I can arrange it. I could probably manage to be gone until Tuesday, if that’s long enough.”
“That should be fine,” Becki said with a smile. “I know Thayer will really appreciate it.”
“This sounds serious, whatever it is,” Lenka said.
“It is,” Becki said. “I don’t know all the details myself, but I can tell something’s happened that’s bothering him deeply.”
“And you’re sure we don’t need to leave tonight?” Lenka asked.
“No no,” Becki said. “Thayer’s not expecting us until tomorrow. No need to lose a night’s sleep on packing and flying back in a rush.”
“That’s a relief. The kids are impossible if they don’t get a full night’s sleep.”
“Where are they, anyway? I’d hoped to see them,” Becki said.
“At home. A friend is watching them.”
“Speaking of home,” I said, “where does a queen stay in Las Vegas, anyway?”
“I thought I’d get a room at one of the hotels tonight. Thayer’s flight crew will drop my bag off wherever I stay.”
“Why don’t you stay with us?” Lenka said. “We have to get home sooner or later, but we would get more time with you. We have a guest room. Then we could leave in the morning and take the kids with us. They’re probably old enough to really enjoy a visit now.”
“Perfect. I’m sure Kirret won’t mind a couple more for a few days.”
By the time we finished dinner it was almost 11:00. Still early for Vegas but very late for three people with small children and an early flight to catch. An outbreak of yawning followed the three of us up the stairs to the fourth floor of the garage where our car was parked.
“I’m glad we keep the guest room made up,” I said as we pushed through the door into the dimly lit garage.
“Ooh, me too,” Lenka said. “I’d fall asleep on the bed before I got it made up tonight.”
“You don’t have a movie I have to watch this time? Becki asked. “Or some disturbingly violent TV show you want to see my reaction to?”
“I could call the number on that card for you if you need some entertainment,” I said.
“Kind of you, but that won’t be necessary,” Becki said. “Maybe I’ll stop and take a nap here and you can come get me when you find your car.”
“We’re almost-“ I stopped when we came around a hulking Suburban to find three people lounging on my car. They all had mahogany brown skin and dark eyes. The two burly thugs sitting on my trunk lid wore matching jeans and tight black shirts that were supposed to intimidate us with their uselessly bulky muscles.
The girl standing between them was their exact physical opposite. She was trim and strikingly beautiful. She wore and simple but elegant black dress, and her calf-high boots gave her enough edge to fit in with her compatriots. She couldn’t be old enough to drink, but she was clearly the one in charge.
I reached out in the Force to get an idea what we’d walked into. The two thugs were as empty headed and vaguely hostile as they looked. Our appearance had triggered an unpleasant eagerness in them. The girl-
She was a black hole. Not just a blank – she simply didn’t exist in the Force. I couldn’t touch her mind, sense her life energy, couldn’t even feel her body as a physical object.
I was mentally off-balance now and needed to have my wits about me, but it was too late to do anything about it. “Excuse me, that’s my car,” I said. Brilliant opening.
She looked past me like I wasn’t there. “Your Highness,” she said to Becki, “how good to see you.”
With that any chance of this ending peacefully vanished. Nobody should know who Becki was, and they certainly shouldn’t be waiting at my car for her. The knot in my stomach reminded me there was no backup waiting nearby. No royal bodyguards, no security droids, and no loyal friends.
What had we gotten Becki into?
“Do I know you?” Becki asked, her voice unconcerned.
I had no weapons. Lenka didn’t either, and I doubted Becki did. Becki was no hand-to-hand fighter. Lenka could hold her own, but these guys were twice her size.
Both thugs slid off the trunk and stood flanking the girl. “Not yet, but you will,” she said.
I couldn’t communicate to Lenka and Becki that I couldn’t touch the girl in the Force. There was only one way to do this – hard and fast. I didn’t know if they were armed, and I already had a significant handicap.
“I doubt that,” Lenka said, stepping in front of Becki. You can take the girl out of Mendellia, but…
Of course they were armed. Both thugs produced handguns – flashy nickel-plated pistols – from behind their backs. “Look,” the girl said, sounding bored and exasperated, “we can do this the easy way, or we can do it the hard way. Come with us before this gets ugly for your little friends.” One of her flunkies pointed his gun at me. The other aimed at Lenka.
I gave her my most sarcastic laugh in response. “Are you kidding me? Did you get that line from the School for Sneering Villains? Now run along home and play little girl, before somebody gets-“
In midsentence I Force pushed the guns away from both Lenka and me. The guy aiming at me pulled the trigger in surprise. His shot ricocheted off the concrete floor and shattered the rear window of a nearby Nissan. I delivered my hardest blow to the side of his surprised face and he went down to his knees.
Switching directions, I delivered a vicious side kick to the second guy’s midsection. He doubled over his stomach and I aimed an overhand chop at his wrist and his gun went skittering away.
The first guy was turning back toward me as he tried to rise. I stomped my left foot down on his thigh and heard a loud crack as his femur snapped in half. He crumpled to the floor with an inhuman howl.
Becki and the second guy were in a race for his gun. He was scampering toward it on all fours, so I gave him a firm Force shove in the backside. He went flying headlong across the floor and crashed headfirst into a concrete pillar.
The first guy was still trying to get up, but his face was contorted beyond recognition. His hand reached out desperately toward the girl. “Grace!” he cried out.
I punched him in the temple, this time knocking him out cold. As he slumped to the floor I Force-pulled his gun to my hand and whirled around to press it against the middle of the girl’s forehead. “-hurt,” I said.
Her eyes widened in terror for just a moment before Becki brought the butt of the second gun crashing down on the back of her skull. Her eyes rolled back into her head and she dropped to the floor like a five-and-a-half foot sack of potatoes.
“What was that about?” Lenka asked.
Somewhere – much too close for comfort – several police sirens wailed.
“We better not hang around to find out,” I said.