Zette's Storybook

One

Apache had always harbored a belief her younger sister was crazy. Now she had proof. Unfortunately, she was rather too close to that proof for safety's sake.

Morning Glory 'Baby' Sangre inched her way along the narrow brick wall heading toward the open window. She had not imagined herself spending New Year's Eve by breaking into the house of Phoenix Chief of Police Mathews.

While the man held a very exclusive, swank party.

Her sister had gone totally insane. The Governor of Arizona was in there, along with dozens of other major political and entertainment bigwigs. Security agents guarded security agents, and all of them had guns. There were, for God's sake, Media people here. After their TV coverage last week, she really didn't think they needed to court that kind of disaster again.

New Year's Eve. Time for a few new resolutions, like maybe one to never follow her sister into a stupid, suicidal situation again.

And to eat less chocolate, exercise more, and learn to do needlepoint.

Baby kept heading for that window, despite the sound of loud music and the laughter of far too many people close by. They could have hidden out for a few more weeks, lived off the land in the backcountry. It hadn't been that bad.

Well, all right -- she'd missed X-Files and Babylon 5, too -- but still --

Baby slid through a tiny attic window so narrow that the brace on her leg caught she couldn't reach back and untangle it. That left them both in a rather precarious position: Baby hanging most of the way inside the building and Apache most definitely outside on the wall, a clear target to anyone who looked up.

Apache very nearly cursed aloud. Instead, she caught hold of her sister's leg and began to unhook the brace. Baby, for her own part, managed not to kick Apache in the chin more than twice. As soon as the brace slipped off, Baby slid into the room with a dull thump.

Morning Star sat outside waiting for disaster to strike one of them. When Baby's face finally appeared in the window Apache guessed it must be safe. She handed over the brace and slid into the dark room.

There didn't seem to be much up here but rafters, insulation and some sleeping spiders. Apache tried not to think about sleeping scorpions as she scurried across the floor on her hands and knees, following her sister like a fool.

Baby found the trap door without much trouble. They'd studied the blueprints to the place. As a team they were -- well something most people just didn't like to deal with.

Baby slid down through the trap door and when Apache looked, she found her sister crawling along the floor and heading for the nearest second floor door. That would be the guestroom. Apache watched until her sister got the door open before she came down and joined her.

Baby closed the door and sat on the floor. The floor shook with the music played a floor below them. Apache started to whisper and realized Baby would never hear her.

Hell.

"Any idea what we're going to do now?" Apache asked. Loudly.

"It's a party," Baby said and smiled in a way that made Apache wish she'd been born an only child or kidnapped by WASPS or something. "I think we should go mingle."

"Are you nuts? Have you gone totally out of your mind?" Apache demanded. Baby started putting the brace back on and only smiled. "Even if the guards don't kill us, what do you think Mathews will do?"

"About the same thing he'll do if he finds us up here hiding. We might as well enjoy the party before then."

She had a point. Apache looked at the window and thought about heading back out, going to the reservation, asking for a quick death --

Baby had the brace on and stood. She looked down at her sister and shrugged. "If you have any better ideas, now's the time to mention them," Baby said.

She thought about saying a few choice things about Baby's parentage -- but hell, they'd both heard those often enough. Apache stood and followed her sister to the door. She brushed the cobwebs out of Baby's hair, though possibly they could have started a new fashion statement.

Baby opened the door and stepped out into the brightly-lit hall. Apache shook her head and followed.

At the first turn they met a woman in a very short, very elegant dress who looked at them as though they'd just stepped out of pile of manure. She sniffed disdainfully before she hurried on.

Baby sniffed at her underarm and shook her head. "Isn't me, must be you."

Next they passed them a gray-haired stooped man using a walker who grinned and pinched Apache's butt.

Baby grabbed her sister as Apache grabbed at the man. Apache wasn't going to be that easily stopped. They fought. They tumbled down the stairs.

They landed at Chief Mathews' feet. He had been talking to the mayor and the governor.

And he stared down at them with a growing look of horror only people who had known them for years could get.

"Hi Chief," Baby said as she sat up. "Can we talk?"

He nodded dumbly. Apache stood and caught hold of Baby's arm, pulling her back to her feet. They led Mathews away from the two other men. That proved very easy since the governor and mayor had already started backing away. They'd met the Sangres before.

"I wasn't going to kill the guy. I just thought I'd pinch something of his."

"I didn't think we should make a scene," Baby protested.

"Yeah. Falling down the stairs was a much better entrance."

"A bit more stylish than beating up little old men."

"What the hell are you two doing here?" Mathews finally demanded. His voice had gained about half an octave higher than usual. When she and Baby had been cops working under him, they'd managed to get almost two octaves higher once. They quit and joined FUTURE the next day.

They reached a small hall between the dinning room and the kitchen, and very likely the only empty spot on this floor.

"We've been out of touch," Apache said. She kept her voice calm. "We wanted to talk to you -- and in a place we might go unnoticed."

"Oh yeah, right. No one noticed you two at all."

"Have you heard anything from FUTURE?" Baby asked.

Mathews looked as though he wanted to make some disparaging remark but changed his mind.

"Someone named Alan Orion called me," he said. "The man suggested that if you two showed up that you should call him. He gave a private number. I've been carrying it around with me all week waiting."

He reached into his pocket and brought out his billfold. "Where were you two?"

"Mountains," Baby said.

"Then you haven't heard much of the news lately, huh? Big explosion down in the Gulf of Mexico two days ago. Some people think it was a nuclear sub but there's no sign of radiation."

"Yeah, so?" Apache asked. The hair on the back of her neck was starting to tingle.

"Alan called me again right about the time it came across CNN. Frantic to find out if you'd been in touch. The timing was too good, and the disaster so inexplicable that I assumed he thought you were involved. Here."

"Wasn't us," Apache said. "I don't think."

"Can we use your phone?" Baby asked taking the slip of paper.

"Sure, on condition that you map out the weak spots in my security afterwards."

"No problem," Apache said.

"Use the phone up in the master bedroom. You do know where it is?"

"Hell, we even know where the safe is," Apache said and grinned.

He moaned and shook his head, starting to back away.

"One last thing, Chief." Apache stopped him with a hand on his arm. "What happened on X-Files last week?"

"Rerun."

"Excellent."

The man nodded and walked away.

"Should have asked him about B5."

"Nah. I want to see that one, not hear about it. You don't get the feel from a description of B5. And with X-Files there are times when I'd just as soon not get the feel."

They went back to the stairs. People stared.

"We should have gone to the Bahamas," Apache said, blithely ignoring that everyone had gotten quiet the moment they appeared again. "We always go to the Bahamas at the first of the year."

"Don't you think that would have been a little obvious?" Baby asked. Apache knew that stairs were not among her sister's favorite things, awkward as she was with her leg brace. There'd been something to say for the quicker way they'd come down them, but she couldn't quite figure out how to make that work in the opposite direction.

"You owed me that trip," Apache persisted. She moved slowly up the steps, never hurrying her sister. "I won it fairly --"

"Ha!" They reached the top of the stairs and turned down the hall. "You bugged my cat, Apache. If you hadn't done that you never would have caught up with me."

"And that's not fair? We're spies, for crying out loud. Besides, do you want to explain to me how one of my goldfish fried himself in his tank?"

"Oops. Well, it would have worked if the damn bug hadn't shorted out," Baby mumbled. "We really do have to complain about the equipment FUTURE gives us."

"We should mention it when we call Alan."

"Right."

They reached the bedroom. No one followed them at all. When Apache looked back, even the hall had emptied.

"Amazing how people just clear out when we show up, isn't it?" Baby asked as she opened the door.

"I don't understand it. We have good manners. We hardly ever bite anyone anymore."

Apache pushed the door closed behind them and followed Baby to the phone. The bed, she thought, looked very inviting. She'd gotten awfully tired of sleeping on pine boughs and in damp caves. She settled back against the pillows and let Baby do the calling while she took out a piece of paper and jotted down a few quick notes for Mathews on his security problems. It really wasn't that bad. You had to be -- well, crazy to have come in the way they did.

Baby wisely switched on the speaker on the phone so they could both hear and talk to Alan. It didn't take her long to put the call through.

He picked up the phone on the second ring, despite that it was nearly midnight -- actually was past midnight at his end of the country.

"Hello?" the man said. His voice sounded about as anxious as they'd ever heard him.

"Hey, Alan," Baby said. "Happy New Year. Time to get in contact with old friends and we heard you wanted to talk to us."

The man made a little squeak of noise. Apache wondered why so many people made odd sounds when they either saw or talked to her and her sister.

"You are with Mathews. This is the number I gave him," Alan said. He sounded harassed. "I had hoped you would check in soon. There have been -- developments."

"Like that explosion out at sea?" Apache asked. She always believed in jumping right in. "Why did you think we were involved?"

"Not -- involved so much as just there," he answered. "But that's trivial. The Van lost a ship. They're embarrassed. It's a win of sorts."

"The Van?" Baby and Apache chorused.

Alan went very quiet.

"Look, Alan, is there something you'd like to tell us about?" Apache asked.

"No. NO. I don't think that would be wise."

"Then why the hell were we supposed to call you?"

"I wanted to know you were alive. I wanted to find out if you were still employed by FUTURE."

"What, it's our choice suddenly?" Baby asked. She gave Apache a strange look but Apache had no answers for this one. Alan sounded flustered. In all the years they'd worked for him, he had stayed calm and untroubled. This last case had been hard on all of them.

"Things have changed in many places," Alan said. "I would like you to come in where we can discuss the problems. It's not something we can talk about over the phone."

"Have you found out who set us up?" Apache asked.

"Not yet. We have narrowed it down to about fifteen people."

"Until you actually catch the one, I don't think it would be wise for us to come in," Baby said. She looked at Apache and smiled pulling the case of disks from her pocket. They had nearly gotten them killed and Baby was about to start the chase again. Apache nodded. Why the hell not? It was better than watching lizards bake on rocks for another week. Besides, if Alan hadn't found the problem in the organization yet, he could probably use the help. Somehow she suspected that he wasn't going to appreciate the gesture, though.

"I can see no reason why you wouldn't be safe coming in now," Alan said. He sounded calm and quiet again, much more like the boss they'd gotten used to dealing with. A shame they were going to drive him right back over the edge again in a moment. "You two did the best you could with a very difficult assignment. The fact you survived is a sign of your well-trained abilities. But that assignment is over, and I can see no reason why our traitor will come after you again."

"What if I still had the contents of the briefcase?" Baby asked.

"Oh, that would be a different --" He stopped. They could hear him catch his breath. "No. You didn't. You don't. Not really."

Yes, he was going right back over the edge. Baby grinned gleefully. Considering the assignment Alan had sent them on, it seemed only fair that they pay him back a bit, as well as the person who tried to kill them several times.

"It's a black plastic case, holds five computer disks. IBM compatible, I found out," Baby said. Alan squeaked yet again. "I haven't broken the code, but it's just a matter of time."

"Gods of every world, protect us," Alan whispered. The tone sent a chill up Apache's back. "I never considered you could have saved them. I thought -- I thought you were miffed because someone tried to kill you and that's why you weren't showing back up. I thought you were going to try for a damned vendetta --"

"Well, yes, that too," Apache said. "But we thought we might need a bargaining chit to get things moving. What do you think? Is someone out there going to take us seriously?"

An odd, slight hum of noise came over the line.

"They're already taking you seriously. Get out before it's too late. Don't come in. Call me on the normal line -- it doesn't matter any more. They know already."

"I suspected it might work that way," Baby said. The hum reached an unpleasant high-pitched whine. "We'll be back in touch. I expect you might be able to narrow down the suspects of who we're after by then."

Alan mumbled something that sounded distinctly like a prayer, though he didn't speak English. In fact, in that brief moment before he hung up, it sounded very much like the same unknown language the people who had been pursuing them had spoken.

Now there was a rather unpleasant thought. And though Alan had hung up, the phone continued to make that strange buzzing noise, loud enough to almost drown out the sound of the blue's band playing downstairs. Baby hung up their end, but it didn't help. She tried again, and switched off the speakerphone. Finally Apache reached over and yanked the phone line out of the back of the machine.

The noise didn't stop and the machine had started to smoke. Baby picked it up by the cord and walked over to the sliding glass door leading to the balcony overlooking the pool. She dropped the device that had gone from smoking to spitting fire. Apache heard the splash, a sizzle, and some startled cries of surprise.

"Time to go," Baby said and headed toward the door.

"No time for a nap? It's a nice bed."

"Feel free, but personally, I think I'm going to leave the state."

Apache briefly inspected the scorch marks on the dresser table as she put down her notes for Chief Mathews, and then followed her sister to the hall again.

"How do you think they did that?" she asked.

"I don't know. I am not going to stay here and ask. I really don't want to know what else they can make explode."

They found Mathews, drenched and with a mostly melted phone in his hand, on the steps coming up after them.

"What the hell did you two do to this?"

"You've got faulty equipment and you blame it on us," Apache countered. "It could have burnt the entire house down! You really ought to be thanking us."

"We're leaving now," Baby added. She started down the stairs again, moving past Mathews.

"Thank you," Mathews said.

Apache grinned and joined her sister at the bottom of the stairs. People backed away leaving a clear corridor to the door.

"Do I want to know where you're going?" Mathews dared to ask, following them out into the yard. He still cradled the phone in his hands.

"Bahamas," Baby said. "I owe Apache a trip."

"What, again this year? You really should give up that game, Baby," he said. He waved away the guards, getting them out into the street without any hassles. All in all, that was damn nice of him.

"Points were closer this year than they've ever been," Baby protested. "I'm not going to give up now when I have a chance of winning."

"You two will be careful? And you won't come back here?"

"Yes to both," Baby said. "Sorry to have disturbed your party, Chief."

"Hell, it was the most excitement we had all night. What did you do to the phone?"

"We didn't do anything. Someone on the other end set it on fire."

He looked at them for a long, silent moment before he dropped the phone on the grass and backed away from it. By then Baby had started away, walking back down the long, well-lit street and heading for their distant car. Apache didn't want her to get too far ahead, but she stopped to shake hands with the man who had been their boss before they went to FUTURE.

"I don't know if anyone will show up asking about us but don't feel shy about telling them everything. We really are going to the Bahamas. I get the feeling this will be one of our more interesting vacations. Especially since there was that explosion down in that area."

"Ah. Of course. At least now I know why you're heading there. Good luck. Call me -- no, write when you get back and things are cleared up."

Apache grinned, patted him on the arm, and jogged down the street after her sister. They had work to do.




Two



The water, though beautifully clear, stayed a bit cold in January. Apache didn't complain about the temperature, as long as the weather stayed clam. She'd hate to have gone diving in storms.

Baby bobbed up beside her and began treading her way back to the yacht. She swam better than Apache, making up for the fact that Apache could outrun her -- could have even before her younger sister took a bullet through the knee.

Whenever she thought about that incident it made her wonder why the hell they still worked in this kind of job -- especially when one of their own people had turned against them, again. It had been another cop who shot Baby.

She followed Baby back to the Cloud Weaver taking her time and letting the cool ocean wear down some of her anger. By the time she pulled herself up over the edge Baby had already shed most of her scuba gear.

"I take it you didn't see the sharks," Baby said.

Apache scurried up over the edge, not quite certain if her sister was joking. It was never a good idea to wait and find out. When she looked back at the ocean, she could see a fin or two a few hundred feet out. She glared at them.

"Did you see anything?" Baby asked.

"A lot of turmoil down there recently. Whatever exploded already sat on the bottom," Apache said. "And it was a big explosion, too. That crater is a quarter mile across, and who knows how deep before the silt started settling in."

Baby nodded. She'd stripped off her scuba gear and sat back, letting the bright sunlight warm her. Apache started to warn her about sunburn but changed her mind. A little color wouldn't hurt Baby.

"Someone did a damn good job of cleaning the mess up, too," Baby finally said. "Unless what exploded virtually disintegrated, someone came in and picked up all the pieces."

"Or at least they tried."

Baby sat up and looked hopeful. Apache reached into the case she'd carried up from the bottom and pulled out a single, oddly shaped three-inch piece of metal. She dropped it into her sister's out-stretched hand.

"Under the circumstances, it's about the best we could have hoped for," Apache said. "I found it under some rock. I thought the rock was solid and when I tried to use it to steady myself, it rolled aside and -- there we are. It must have been shoved under there by the blast. Notice that it shows scoring from an explosion."

"Yeah. No corrosion from the sea water, either." Baby turned the metal over several times, frowning. "I don't know what this stuff is. It's damned light for this size. And it has a purple sheen, though maybe that's just from the sea."

"Could be," Apache said. She took back the piece of metal and then purposely put it aside and began stripping off her own equipment. "What do you say we head for some lab and see what we can find out about it?"

"Good plan. Are you in a hurry?"

"Not me."

"We're well provisioned. I don't think we should head straight back to Barbados. Maybe we'll go for the Florida coast or even a bit farther. I get the feeling someone's going to be waiting for us, and I don't see why we should make this easy for him. I'll head us off in the proper direction and then we'll change course after dark."

"Fine. You're the Captain. I'm just the passenger and I'm going to take advantage of it."

"You know, one of these years you're going to be paying for my vacation over New Years."

"Hasn't happened yet. I don't know why you keep thinking it will."

Morning Glory Sangre grinned as she pulled on her brace and then headed down into the galley. Apache wasn't certain why she'd made a challenge like that to her sister. It wasn't as though Baby hadn't come too damn close to winning sometimes. Apache found it harder and harder to elude her sister in their yearly games of hide and seek -- games played on a national scale. She thought she might have to suggest they start making it International. Some of the places she'd taken refuge hadn't been very pleasant. She wasn't certain the number of weeks they played (depending on work schedules) was worth the week of paid vacation at the New Year.

Unfortunately, she had invested a certain amount of ego. If Baby suggested they quit, she would take pity on her poor sister and agree. But, having won again this year, she couldn't make the suggestion herself. So she was stuck with it. And the really horrible part was that she had begun to suspect Baby let her win, just to put her in this position.

Terrible when she couldn't trust her own sister.

Morning Star picked up the piece of metal and turned it over in her hands several times. It wasn't right. There was something about this stuff that made her skin crawl.

Time to get back to land and to work. They had a friend in Atlanta who had access to a good lab. Yes, time to visit another friend -- it was that time of year, after all. Auld Lang Syne and all that stuff.

She looked the metal over again. Too light, too purple -- wrong.

But she didn't let herself think any farther about it.




Three



Clouds gathered in on the horizon, a dangerous looking line of dark against the setting sun. Apache glared at them for a moment, but they didn't disappear.

"Baby!"

Her sister came up the steps, grumbling about dinner and the lack of Taco Bells on the ocean. Apache waved toward the horizon.

"Uh oh."

Baby turned around and headed back down again. Apache could hear the clatter of dishes, pots and pans. Since her sister appeared to be busy, Apache thought she might head toward the controls and get the engine started. The first feather touch of a wind started kicking up the waves already.

They hadn't been careless. Apache had checked the weather reports every two hours all day long. There hadn't even been a hint that the weather would turn bad. Apache tried very hard to bury some really unhealthy, paranoid thoughts that the storm had arrived just to get them.

Baby came up as Apache swept the ship off to the west and the nearest land. They hadn't intended to head that direction, but it looked like a nasty storm and she wanted to find the nearest harbor.

Lightning lit the horizon.

"This is just wonderful," Baby said. She climbed up beside her sister and handed her a sandwich. "I know this is a really stupid question --"

"Wouldn't be your first one."

Baby stepped on Apache's foot, the metal brace making a very good impression. Apache shut up.

"I was just curious if there was anything at all in the weather reports. You know -- clouds, rain -- hurricanes."

The wind hit hard, tilting the little craft at an odd angle as the two grabbed hold.

"Nothing," Apache said.

"I didn't think so. Not the sort of thing you normally miss." The waves hit the side of the ship, trying to push it aside. Apache fought it back and glared at the sky. It didn't help. "We're too far from land. We'll never make it before the storm hits us full on."

"I know," Apache said. "Get the scuba equipment up here. If we have to swim I want to do it in style."

"Good idea." Baby started down the stairs then stopped as a flash of lightning brightened the entire sky and held for a really long, unnatural moment. Afterwards, Baby turned around and came back up.

"Scuba equipment?" Apache urged.

"Don't need it. We'll hit the island before we could get the tanks strapped on."

"Island? What island? There aren't any islands out here!"

"You know, that's what I keep telling myself," Baby said. She stared out at the sea again while lighting flashed all around them. Apache thought she saw something -- no. Just Baby's imagination.

Her sister had a damn good imagination, too. It was still there in the next flash.

"We've been out here two days," Apache said. "We would have seen an island!"

"I know."

"It is not an island!"

"So, like those palm trees are just floating along -- standing straight up --"

"There is no island, and no trees!"

Thunk.

The Cloud Weaver hit something and stopped.

"Ummm?" Baby said as she picked herself back up.

"Go drop the anchor," Apache ordered.

"We're beached, Apache. I don't think I could find enough water to drop it in."

Apache turned to her sister, saying nothing at all.

"Fine, fine. Drop anchor. I'll go dig a hole in the sand and drop it down in there."

Baby made her way back down the ladder and onto the deck. The storm howled around them, andApache really couldn't hear what her sister was saying, though when she slipped a couple times the curses came through very clearly. In a moment the anchor went over the side -- thunk, instead of splat -- and Apache finally switched off the engines she couldn't hear anyway.

The storm had already turned damned nasty. They were probably lucky this island found them.

She led Baby over the edge of the yacht, momentarily out of the direct wind. Apache thought they ought to say something, make some sort of plans -- but since storms and islands just popped up out of nowhere, it seemed kind of useless to plan anything at all.

They climbed down to a nice beach for an island that didn't exist. She saw Baby scoop up a couple shells and rocks and drop them into the case she carried. The sand felt warm still, even though the sun was long down and the storm cold and wet. It felt like a nice warm safe place to rest.

She didn't trust it at all.

Baby followed her straight up to the dry line, above where the tide -- if this had been a real island -- would have reached. Wind wiped everything around until they stepped through the first line of trees -- and it seemed as if they'd passed some barrier. The lightning still flashed overhead and the wind howled, but neither it nor the rain touched them.

"Neat. And now there's no storm," Baby said, wringing water out of her braid.

"The storm's real," Apache insisted. "The island isn't."

Baby lifted a hand into the air, shook her head, and then stomped the ground. She looked back at her sister.

"Don't argue with me."

"I never argue with crazy people." She started down a path leading to a little knoll. Apache followed her, reminding herself of at least one New Year's resolution she was breaking already by following her. Maybe if she just killed Baby it would be easier to keep out of trouble.

They quickly hiked up the little trail up to the top of the knoll, staying silent as they neared the top. Apache could hear voices, though she couldn't quite make out what they said. Baby, wisely, dropped down and crawled awkwardly up those last few feet, staying out of sight. Apache did the same, both of them looking over the top of the knoll at the same time.

Buildings. She saw a series of low bunkers, windows lit with a dull orangish light. Odd electronic equipment dotted the roof tops.

Shadows moved beside one of the buildings.

"Good, people," Baby whispered. "Maybe we can ask them how they got this island here."

"There is no island, no buildings, no people," Apache replied.

The two shadows stepped into the light of one of the windows.

Tall, green (even in the orange light), hair that looked like a fiber optic's experiment gone bad and eyes that bulged out like a bullfrog's. They talked in a series of high-pitched whistles and their hands -- way too many fingers -- fluttered in the air.

Baby skittered back down the side of the knoll, Apache at her side.

"You're right. No people," Baby agreed. "Hell, at this point I'll agree that there's no island and no storm."

"There is a storm."

"Right. There is a storm. No island. I don't want there to be an island." She hit the path a couple times and shook her head. "All in all, I'd rather be swimming in a hurricane about now."

"Sanity from you at last," Apache said. Then she held up her hand for silence. "English. They're speaking English."

Baby nodded and crawled back up the knoll beside her sister. The two -- not humans -- now stood beside a very nice looking tall oriental whose voice seemed to indicate a pretty high level of exasperation.

"I don't care! You aren't supposed to be here! If the Council finds out you've got a base, they aren't going to give a damn about crashed Van ships!"

One of the not-humans lifted a hand and waved fingers in a gesture that looked as though it was brushing away flies.

"Not important, is it? The storm covers our power generator failure. Soon there will be no island."

"You better hope no one sees this place. If the Council finds out you've built this without their knowledge, the Quilis will be lucky to get jobs freighting muck from Leslin. And you don't even want to think about the fines. Where's your phone? I need to call Alan and let him know this isn't as bad as we thought."

The creature waved a long fingered hand toward one of the buildings. Then it went back to whistle-talking with its fellow bug-eyed monster as they started to walk away. The oriental watched them go with a shake of his head. Then he went into the building.

"You know, I think I'd like to go talk to Alan about this myself," Apache said.

"Thought you might."

The others disappeared around the corner of a building. Apache stood and helped her sister up. They scurried down the side of the knoll and took refuge in the shadows beside the buildings. Apache dared a look in the nearest window and nodded. The oriental stood inside, talking on the phone. She thought about going in and asking him a few questions but something akin to wisdom held her back. They were in enemy territory. Maybe.

She wanted to know where Alan stood in all of this. She wanted to know what the hell was going on. She wanted answers this time and he had better be willing to give them to her.

Baby said nothing at all, but she did notice that her sister had her knife in hand. They kept silent, Apache hoping to hear something of the conversation in that room. The man had said he was calling Alan. She had no reason to doubt that he meant their Alan.

Unfortunately, he quickly hung up the phone and came back out of the building, walking right past where the two crouched by the window. He never looked down.

Good thing because Apache had her knife now, too.

They slid up to the door -- and Apache could find no doorknob or even a keypad. She reached forward to see if there was something on the other side of the doorframe, and the door silently slid open.

"Motion detector," Baby guessed.

Apache nodded. Her heart pounded and she feared that her voice wouldn't be as steady as she liked if she spoke just now. Even unsettled, she still slid into the room with the strange orange light.

Baby followed, frowning back at the door when it slid shut. Apache had to stand for a moment before her eyes adjusted. Strange equipment stood in stacks by the window where they couldn't see it from the outside. Apache couldn't even begin to guess what some of it did.

Hall entrances lined one wall, all dark or dimly lit with orangish light. At the center of the room stood a communication's center, though Apache wasn't certain about any of the equipment. Could have just as soon been used for dissecting humans from all she could tell. However, a very simple dial phone stood on one table. Apache went over and picked it up. Baby came with her and sat on the floor, out of view of the window. Apache joined her, though she didn't feel very safe anyway.

"What time is it in New York?" she asked. "Should I call The Office or his private number?"

"Just hit redial," Baby said, pointing to the proper key.

Apache grinned and hit the symbol, listening as the pretty beeps cycled through the numbers. She knew Baby listened to memorize the tones and convert them to a phone number. It was one of her sister's better party tricks.

The phone rang three times before someone answered.

Baby leaned closer.

"Hello?"

"Hello Alan! Glad we caught you!"

"Ah. Yeah." He sounded a little confused. "Morning Star? I didn't expect you to call in. Where are you?"

"You don't know?"

"I heard you were out on the ocean somewhere." He still sounded distracted. "You're back on land?"

"More or less. You see we ran into this little island --"

"AAAIIIEEEE!!!!!!!!"

"You want to tell us about this island, Alan?"

"I thought you said the island doesn't exist!" Baby protested.

Odd sounds came from the phone. Apache thought Alan tried to talk and failed. She waited patiently until some words started to make sense.

"They told me it was safe. They told me they were going to leave now anyway. No harm."

"You mean those kind of tall, odd looking green people?"

She wondered if maybe she should call the New York 911 number. It sounded like he was having a heart attack.

"How -- why --"

"We went looking for the site of that explosion," Apache said. "Seemed people were associating us with it and I was curious to find out why. Not much to see though."

"No. Gone. Cleaned."

"Well except for this roughly three inch square of kind of purplish metal we found --"

He mumbled things in that other language again. And groaned.

The phone started to give a slight hum.

"We'll be back in touch, Alan. And you better have some damn good answers for us."

"Be careful," he said. His voice sounded calmer. Resigned. "The Quilis aren't any match for you, but the Van know now."

"Are they the ones who keep blowing up the phones? I'd like to send one of the Baby Bells after them."

"That -- might work."

Alarms began to ring through the building.

"Sorry, Alan. We've got to run. We'll be in touch."

"I'm afraid so," he answered.

She hung up the phone. It still buzzed.

"Time to leave," Baby said. She pulled herself up and looked out the window. "Not that way."

Apache could hear yelling and whistling and other odd noises outside. "Let's hope there's a back door."

Apache headed down one of the half dozen hallways. The building hadn't looked large, but it seemed to go on for quite a distance. Considering that the island didn't exist though, it was probably just right.

They passed two closed doors, and then a few empty rooms, and finally one with several computer terminals.

"Hold on. This is just what we need," Baby said.

"No, what we need is a door out."

But Baby had already entered one of the rooms and turned on a computer.

"We don't have time to check the email," Apache protested.

Baby opened up the case where she'd put the shell earlier and pulled out the computer disks that had nearly gotten them killed barely ten days ago. At least her actions finally made sense. The computer screen flashed bright red, with little gray squiggly lines that Apache suspected was some language. It was probably even something important.

"So, this helps does it?"

Baby waved her hand, dismissing Apache's words. She leaned over the computer and hit F1.

The help file came up. In English.

"That's crazy!" Apache complained.

"Nah. We know there are humans around here, too. We saw one. And the computers are Gateway 2000s. They come fully programmed, you know." She scanned some of the options, nodding as she chose one after another.

"Baby, we really can't hang around here much longer."

"Find me some more disks. I don't want to write over this one."

"You aren't listening to me."

"You aren't moving very fast for those disks."

There was no use arguing about it. She went over and started looking around the computers. She found odd things sitting on the desks. Brown and gray lumps, piled in a neat stack on a paper napkin. It might be food. It might be a game. She just hoped it wasn't contagious.

Apache found two disks by one of the computers and brought them back to her sister. Baby quickly erased and formatted them.

"How do you know you didn't just wipe out something far more important than what you're going to copy over on to it?"

"It's not more important to me," Baby said, already starting the copying process. "No one tried to kill me for what was on those disks."

"Not yet."

"I won't start worrying until I see the red glow of their beady little eyes," Baby said. She'd changed disks.

Apache could hear sounds coming closer, and looked back at her sister who smiled -- she had a habit of acting strangely in the face of danger -- and kept up with her work.

"That's it," Baby finally said. "Done."

"Great. There are people in the hall coming our way."

"People, really? That would be a relief."

Apache nodded. She stepped back from the door. "I think we better hide."

"Hide?" Baby asked, looking round the little cubicle. "Where?"

"Under the desk."

"I can't --"

Apache didn't give her time to argue. Voices were coming very close -- and yes, at least one of them was human. Apache shoved her sister under the desk and squeezed in beside her. Baby's braced leg stuck out. There was nothing they could do about it.

"Project!" something said in a whistling, panicked voice. "So much work lost --"

"Look," a human answered. "If you think it's worth your life, go in there and start saving off your files, go ahed. Personally, I'm heading for the pods. I don't intend to be here when they turn the island off."

The human walked away. The creature stood in the doorway, wailing and whistling. Apache could just see the top of its green head, which rocked back and forth in agitation. Hell, the thing was so upset she was half tempted to stand up and offer to help it save the hard drives, if that would help.

It finally moved on. Baby made a sound of relief but before Apache could squeeze back out she could hear a lot more -- things -- moving down the hall. Shadows passed the door. Whistling, occasional words. She heard more than one of them say Sangre.

It was a bit unsettling.

After awhile, though, the sounds died down in the hall and Apache finally climbed out. Baby slid out after her and accepted her sister's hand to stand up.

The lights began to flicker. A new alarm started wailing in a way that made the hair on Apache's arms tingle.

"I think it's time to go," Baby said.

"Noticed that, did you?" They went to the doorway and Apache carefully looked out. There was still a crowd of -- well, a crowd down at the end of the hall, but the way they'd come was clear.

"Looks like that's the way to get out," Baby said, nodding down to the shadowed figures. "Didn't I hear him say something about getting to the pods?"

"Yeah," Apache said. "But I don't think that's such a good idea for us."

"Don't want to be a pod person, huh? Then I think we better head back for the Cloud Weaver."

Apache nodded. They walked out of the room and headed back to the entrance where they'd come in. And neither of them looked back, even when they heard a growing commotion in the crowd.

Back up the long hall, through the room with the phone. She considered stopping and making another call to Alan just on principal. She definitely had a few more questions --

No. The phone had become a molten mass of plastic that still emitted a few sparks. It exploded even as they watched.

So they went back out into the pleasant night and hurried up the deserted trail to the top of the knoll. That's where they were when someone turned off the island.

It wasn't just that suddenly there was no land beneath them. Apache didn't mind being in water. But there was the matter of that storm, which hit with what felt like hurricane force winds. Apache went straight under the first wall of water and nearly panicked before she reached air again. Then she had another moment of terror when she couldn't spot Morning Glory. Baby found her, though, and they started toward the Cloud Weaver, which luckily wasn't very far away -- the heavy anchor doing little more than add a bit of drag in the storm-tossed sea.

Baby pulled ahead and Apache fought to keep up. Lightning flashed every couple of seconds, allowing her to see since her eyes never had a chance to adjust to the dark in between. She saw Baby reach the ship first, almost two yards ahead of her. She'd obviously ditched her brace in the water. Lucky they brought an extra.

And then Apache saw the dorsal fin of a shark coming straight at her.

"To hell with this!" she growled. "I've had enough trouble today!"

So, when the creature came close enough she punched it right in the face.

She reached the yacht without any more trouble. Baby pulled her up and they scurried over to the nearest wall, out of the direct line of the wind.

"See. Told you there was no island," Apache said. She held up a shark's tooth and examined it.

"What's that for?"

"New hobby."

"How plebian," Baby said with a shake of her head. "Lots of people collect shark's teeth."

"Yeah, but they usually get them from dead sharks."

"Ah. Good point." Baby looked up at the sky and frowned. "I don't think we dare the engines. It'd just be a waste of power. Shall we try and ride it out?"

"Not much choice," Apache agreed. "So, what's for dinner?"

"Probably something wet."

The Cloud Weaver sank, of course. Oh, not from the storm. Oh, no. That would have been too easy. Apache had been prepared for the craft to break apart and sink then. No, it waited for two days after the storm while they tried to get to the nearest land. That's when engine caught fire. Apache awoke to the smell of smoke -- not right, not out here in the ocean. By the time she and Baby found the trouble, they barely had time to get the little dinghy over the edge and drop a few supplies into it.

So they spent the next two days out at sea in far too close proximity to one another. Apache spent most of the days trying to lure sharks close enough to collect a few more teeth. Baby slept and kept the watch at night while Apache slept. They still got on each other's nerves.

By the third day they knew no one would come out and rescue them. They spotted land off to the northeast and paddled that way for most of the day. When night fell the shoreline stood visibly closer. They abandoned the dinghy and swam the rest of the way. They reached the wide, sandy beach -- and Apache just hoped no one came by and turned the island off while they slept.




Four



The next day they walked into town and found they had reached Sarasota, Florida. Somehow, contrary to how their luck had been running the last few weeks, they'd managed not to wash up ashore in the Florida Everglades. No water moccasins, no alligators. They had only to deal with a few crazed tourists who had come south to avoid winter. It was too easy. Neither of them trusted it.

Using an ID that was not on the FUTURE lists, Apache rented a sedate, five-year-old Jeep Cherokee and started driving them up the coast. They kept a wary eye on the ocean, but no storms or unexpected islands popped up. Apache felt true relief when they finally crossed over into Georgia and left the ocean far behind. She wasn't certain if she'd ever be able to look at it again.

They headed for Atlanta, though not in any hurry. They did not knock on Drl Lazlo's door until midnight of the 15th.

Dr. Lazlo was the epitome of an old, mad scientist, except for the fact that she was female and collected dolls. And wore lots of lace and frills.

"It's midnight," Dr. Lazlo said when she opened the door. She wore a peignoir of violet with delicate white lace at the cuffs and collar. It looked odd on a woman that was a few inches over six feet tall and built like a linebacker. Apache never berated other people for their eccentricities.

Baby held up the piece of metal. The light from the hall reflected the purple sheen. Dr. Lazlo took the metal, and walked back into her apartment. Baby and Apache followed, carefully shutting the door behind them.

They could see no where to sit down. Dolls took every chair, covered the sofa, and sat on shelves. All those eyes staring inevitably gave Apache nightmares for days after each visit.

It was a sign of Dr. Lazlo's immediate interest in the metal that she went straight to her kitchen table, shoved a few dolls over to the edge and sat down.

Baby and Apache followed her and said nothing as they waited patiently by the table. The woman stared at the metal for several minutes, turning it over and over, weighing it in her hand, running her finger over the surface, and then along the edge. She pounded it against the table a couple times. Then she finally sat it down and looked at the two.

"Do you have any idea what you have here?" she demanded.

"Ah, no," Baby said.

"Damn. 'Cause neither do I. Where'd it come from?"

"An explosion down in the Gulf of Mexico --"

"Oh. Damn. I want to run tests. Lots and lots and lots of tests."

"Quietly and secretly," Apache said. Dr. Lazlo looked at her, frowning. "You don't want anyone to know you have this."

"I see." She looked down at the metal and nodded. "Where can I reach you?"

"We'll be in contact. Don't try to call us," Baby said.

Dr. Lazlo nodded and picked up the metal again. Apache doubted that the woman ever noticed when they left.

The night had turned winter cool, a thick fog slipping in around the streetlights and across the lawns. Apache missed the bright holiday lights -- and a world that had been far simpler before Christmas.

"What now?" Baby asked. "Go visit Alan at The Office?"

"Not yet. I want to see if the doctor can learn anything about that metal. And let's give Alan a while longer to see if he can find the traitor before we step in." She stopped by the car and looked across at her sister. "Baby I, think it's time we need to disappear again."

"Fine by me -- as long as we don't head out to sea again."

"I've no intention of going anywhere near the ocean."

"And you think that's going to stop one from finding us?" Baby asked as she climbed into the car.

That, unfortunately, might be a possibility. If they could find islands where there were none, why not oceans? Apache carefully avoided even large puddles as they drove out of town and into the dark night.

No where safe, she thought, as they drove away.

But damn, life had gotten interesting lately.



The End