| To Saralinda: Part 8 |
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To Saralinda: Part 10 |
At this time of night the roads are all but deserted, and I have a license to fly. We’re making excellent time as we rocket down the highway.
The cop tailing us with flashing lights obviously thinks so too.
Keith sighs deeply. “Pull over, Lance.”
“What, are you nuts? We can smoke him easily. He’ll never catch us!”
“But he can read license plates.”
Yeah, that’s right. A shiny black Buscerena 500LXX with a plate that reads BLK-LION would make the identity of the owner fairly obvious. Getting a ticket would be a minor infraction that could become a major headache if it went past Coran’s desk.
I pull the car over to the side of the road. Keith sighs again and shakes his head. It’s then that I realize he’s been watching the clock every bit as intently as I have. It really is that important for him to give Allura that kiss, on time.
The officer approaches the car, and I roll down the window. He leans down to get a look at us.
“All right, what’s the rush, fellows?” He does a double-take and blinks at us in surprise. “Oh, umm...Lieutenant Hawthorne, Captain McLachlan...emergency at the castle, is it?”
Keith and I exchange a quick glance, then nod at him.
“Terribly sorry. I won’t keep you.” He steps back from the car. “Ahh, I’ll radio the other units on patrol to let you pass, all right? Good luck, boys - stomp that robeast once for me!” He waves after us as I shoot back onto the highway.
“I don’t think we’re going to make it, Lance,” Keith says.
“Don’t worry, Cap’n. I set my watch to castle time. We’ve still got fourteen minutes, and we’ll only use four of that getting to the castle. You’ll make it to the sitting room easy, even with the bum foot.”
“Can we get off of the subject of the bum foot?”
“Why are you so cranked about the bum foot?”
“Because it was a stupid accident. I should have been keeping my eyes open.”
“Yeah, shoulda been using that x-ray vision to warn you about the floor. Or tapped into your cosmic psychic power to warn you of the impending danger.”
“Ha, ha.”
“Face it, Keith. You’re more upset about the fact that you made an error in judgment than you are about the sprain itself, aren’t you?”
“No.”
“Liar, liar, britches aflame. You haven’t said a word about the bruise to your ribs or the conk on your head, because those came with the territory. If you’d twisted that ankle ducking out of the way from falling debris or something, you wouldn’t be complaining about it either. You’re too much of a perfectionist, Keith.”
“I am not.”
“Are too.”
“Am not.”
“You missed a bullseye during practice yesterday morning. Your shot landed about twenty centimeters to the left.”
He sighs. “Yeah, I know. I can’t believe I was that far off of - damn it, Lance!”
“Heh, gotcha.”
Keith walks into the sitting room. I stop just short of the doorway and peek around the corner to watch. Only Allura is there, curled up on the couch with a bowl of popcorn on her lap, still watching the soaps. She looks up at Keith as he enters the room.
“Hi,” he holds up the box and walks over to sit down beside her. “Sorry I’m late. Happy birthday.” He holds out the package and she takes it from him.
“Can I guess?” She brings it to her ear, shakes it a little and lowers it to her lap.
“Hmmm, I have no idea what it could be.” She unwraps the box, and her jaw drops as she lifts the doll from it.
“Oh, this is amazing,” she says. “This reminds me of a doll I used to have when I was little.” She touches the dress, brushes at her bangs. “It looks exactly like her, in fact.”
“It is her, Allura. Lance and I found her under the castle just today.”
She blinks at Keith in wide-eyed amazement. “What? This is...” She looks at the doll, then back up at him. “I can’t believe it! How - where did you find her?”
“She was down in the ruined shelter area. I got a few maps together and Lance and I went on a little quest.”
She looks back at the doll and touches one of her tiny hands. “But, but...why? That place has been abandoned for years, and it’s supposed to be dangerous down there. Why go to all the trouble?”
Keith shrugs. “I just thought she’d make an appropriate gift after hearing what Lance told me about her.”
She snaps her head up to look at him. “Lance? What did Lance tell you?”
“He told me a lot of things. About a doll, and a glass cage, and a birthday wish.”
Allura cringes a little and hugs the doll against her. “Lance talks too much.”
“Not this time, Allura. I’m glad he told me. That doll has great deal of meaning to her. She was made in honor of a little girl who lost both her parents in a war a long time before you were born. Saralinda was the reason the house of Bensarret fell to your grandfather. Saralinda inspired a soldier to rediscover his old values, and create things to brighten the lives of children all around Arus. And now she has yet another meaning.”
Allura raises her head to meet Keith’s gaze again. “What sort of meaning?”
Keith moves close to her. “No more glass cages, Allura. Not ever again.”
He puts a fingertip beneath her chin and raises her face to his. She sits transfixed as he leans close and lets his lips brush her own gently, then he kisses her. She reaches up to lose a hand in his hair and practically melts against him as he slides his arms around her.
Hah. No soap can compete with that. And just under the wire, too. I look down at my watch to check the time. Five seconds to midnight. Am I good or what?
I look around the doorway again. Keith and Allura are still lost in their lip-lock. I guess I’ll have to collect the keys tomorrow. I stick my hands in my pockets and stroll down the hall, heading back to my room.
No more glass cages, Keith told her. I wonder what will happen between the two of them now. Maybe they actually will do the marriage and family thing eventually. If they do, when the first little bundle of joy arrives I have a feeling I know what it’s name will be if it’s a girl.
As I get to the door I take one last look at one of the digital time displays in the hallway. It reads 12:02 and 32 seconds. I look down at my watch. It reads 12:01:06 and counting.
That can’t be right. Can’t be. I always set my watch to castle time. But when was the last time I adjusted it? I can’t remember...
My brain begins to work the math. The difference is one minute and twenty-six seconds, give or take a handful. So when my watch said eleven fifty-nine and fifty-five seconds, the castle time was actually around...
Oh, no. No, no, no, no.
I run into my room and dial the number for the Tal-Concorde observatory. A digitized woman’s voice greets me. “At the sound of the tone, the time will be twelve-oh-three.” The chime sounds about ten seconds later. I let the receiver drop into my lap.
A minute and twenty-six seconds. I lost by one minute and twenty-six seconds.
Now would be a good time to go jump off of one of the castle towers. The idea becomes more appealing the more I think about it.
Allura is in a sunny mood at breakfast, of course. She got her kiss and I got my death sentence. Not a bad pair of birthday gifts to have.
Everyone’s debating about whether or not Lisa will realize her boyfriend Samuel has been blackmailed by her best friend Danielle, who is pretending that she’s pregnant with Samuel’s child so she can trap Samuel into leaving Lisa for her. I personally think that if Samuel can’t see that Danielle looks awfully slender for a woman who’s supposed to be two months along, he’s too stupid to be with Lisa. Lisa is a babe. She could find someone better than him anyway.
Allura leaves to catch up on the day’s news while the rest of us head to the control room for our morning drills. Keith lingers behind the rest of the guys and turns to grin at me. I stop and quirk an eyebrow at him. He walks over and claps his hands on my shoulders.
“Nice work, old buddy,” he says as he bites back a chuckle.
“What?”
“Allura told me about your little bet with her last night,” he says. “I know you’ll do a great job with the presentation. I have faith in you.” He takes one hand away to mark time in the air, and begins to sing. “A change has come into my life...the former gray and clou-dy skies...no longer teem with storms and strife...they turn to blue before my eyes. So once where loneliness would breed...to crush the hope of life to share...a willing soul accepts the seed...and love will blossom everywhere. My open eyes observe the prize, my mind will dream a thousand things...my...heart...has...wings.”
He gives me a smile so cheesy I’d laugh if my brain hadn’t chosen this moment to fritz out on me. In all the years I have known him, Keith has never, ever spontaneously broken into song. The Twilight Zone theme should be kicking in any time now.
Keith lets go of me and starts down the hall, but he only gets eight paces or so before he claps a hand over his mouth and begins to tremble with the effort of restraining himself. He staggers sideways and throws out a hand to brace against the wall with as he finally breaks down and doubles over from the laughter.
“My ribs...my ribs!” He gasps as he clutches at them. He finally manages to recover enough to stumble toward the control room again.
That was not my Captain that just left. That was some strange shape-changing creature that Hagar conjured up to impersonate him. Yeah. Has to be it. I better alert the rest of the team.
Or is that your fault, Saralinda? Delgado threw the big fight because of the little girl in whose image you were made. Allura drew strength from your company while she huddled in a room out of the sun’s reach. Has Keith become your latest victim? It seems you have a knack for changing every life you happen to come in contact with. I’d hate to think your story was a tall tale, an overblown legend to help a famous turncoat sell a few toys.
My brain finally de-fritzes and I head for the control room. A movement to my right catches my eye, and I turn to look. A little girl is standing at the mouth of an intersection, clutching a small rag doll in her arms. Her feet are bare and her dress is frayed but clean. She has an angel’s face framed between her two long pigtails.
One of the servants’ kids, no doubt. Wonder what the heck she’s doing up this time of morning. I walk over and kneel down in front of her.
“Hello there, sweetie. You lost?”
She shakes her head no.
“Are you sure? Does your Mommy know where you’re at?”
She shrugs at me.
“I bet your Mommy is worried because you’re missing."
She just stares at me, saying nothing. I can’t waste a lot of time wandering around the castle to find her parents but I don’t want to just leave her here either. I stand up and reach for her hand. “Come on, kiddo, let’s go find your Mommy.”
She evades my grasp and runs back down the hall she came from. A maid is crossing the intersection at the far end with a load of blankets in her arms. The little girl stops short of the maid and turns to look at me. She waves her little hand and gives me a smile that’s just short of a giggle.
“Bye-bye,” she says happily.
I call out to the maid. “Excuse me, lady? Will you do me a favor and try to find that girl’s parents for me? I have to get to practice.”
The maid gives me a funny look. “What girl, Sir?”
“What do you mean, ‘what girl’? She’s standing right -”
No, she isn’t.
I stare at the spot where she stood. I thought she was one of the servant’s children because she looked so familiar to me. Now I know where I’ve seen that face before.
The maid is still staring at me like I’m nuts. I mumble an apology in her direction and head for the control room.
| To Saralinda: Part 8 |
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To Saralinda: Part 10 |