THAT FALL

Doctor Antoine rushed to Nurse Vasquez and howled over the din of the music and blaring television, “What did you do?”

Renya whispered, “Everything.”

Josey swiped at the music player and AC/DC faded away. Jack reached for the blaring television, but hesitated when he noticed the reporter, with uncombed hair and black-circled eyes, wore a tee-shirt and jeans. The camera swung across the set and focused on a blond girl holding up pictures and back on the reporter. In another context, the broadcast would have seemed an amusing parody. With a raw voice, the reporter croaked:

“… warning citizens to remain in their homes and stay tuned.” The reporter cleared his throat as if he was not on camera. “We received video from Russia before we lost internet. The ships have uncloaked and are positioned above all cities.” The camera turned to show a video playing on another screen. Large egg-shaped ships covered with random lights floated above the Kremlin. “We have a one photo from Alaska our intern received from her brother before we lost cellular coverage.” A cigar-shaped ship with lights at either end was parked on a snow-capped mountain. The camera swung wildly finally focusing on the reporter. “We… we apologize for the camera malfunction. Our IT guy is running the video. We ah… we also have some pictures from around the world showing damage. This is from the middle east, somewhere.” The camera direction swung wildly, and the picture zoomed out and into focus on a photo of destroyed stone houses and dead bodies in a street. “And this one from Britain.” The camera swung to the left and a picture of an abandoned Piccadilly appeared. The toppled Ferris wheel was amidst burned structures. And more bodies. “The last military broadcast reported another attack is imminent. Other ships have de-cloaked over Africa and South America and…” he reviewed a tattered piece of paper, “and over the Arctic Ocean. I think. And since I’m not sure anyone is even listening, I’m going home to my wife.” He waved his hand and walked off set.

The signal died, and the screen went black as Navin entered the room.

“What is all this?” Navin asked, approaching Renya. “Mother?”

“Wanda is fine,” Renya assured them, adding, “I am not.” Her light dissipated like fog on a summer morning.

“What did you do?” Doctor Antoine asked again, fumbling with his stethoscope.

“What I always do,” Renya stated, leaning against Reynolds. She fought for words, adding, “The others are coming. Bad crickets.” Her voice dwindled to a whisper as she drifted into unconsciousness.

Doctor Antoine said, “Oren, carry Wanda to two.” He pointed at Lindsey. “You. Paid intern. Put down that phone and take these patients to their rooms.”

Lindsey tore her eyes from the cell screen and put it into her pocket. “It’s dead, anyway. I got a bunch of texts all at once.” She encouraged Brian to leave his pictures and follow her as she pushed Katie in her wheelchair. Eleanor joined them in the hallway, taking a moment to look back. Josey slipped out past her.

Oren lifted Nurse Vasquez’ limp body as Doctor Antoine said, “She’s dangerous. I need you to take her and your people and leave.”

“In due time,” Reynolds said, as the doctor left the room following Oren and Wanda. Reynolds spun Renya’s chair expertly.

“Why did she do that? She doesn’t have the energy,” Navin said.

“You know how she is, Navin. Get that portal operational,” Reynolds said, disappearing into the hall with Castania close behind.

The mood had soured. Hadn’t Reynolds promised Renya would not harm anyone? And to harm Nurse Vasquez was beyond reproach. Jack watched Reynolds and the others board the elevator and Navin return to the pool. The alien contingency seemed unconcerned with the incident and Jack’s disgust suppressed his curiosity. He hobbled down the first-floor hallway and joined his fellow patients. He could hear Josey’s voice from rooms away.

“Are you seriously so concerned with your phone? Does that matter now?”

Lindsey stood next to Josey’s bed. “I can’t believe all this is happening and I haven’t captured one video.”

“You want video? Were you even in that room? Did you see Nurse Vasquez levitate?” Josey’s volume increased with each sentence.

“That’s why I want some video! You don’t have a charger?” Lindsey asked.

Josey turned to Jack, “Do you hear this stupid bitch?”

“There’s nothing else we can do,” Lindsey said as she flicked through her texts.

“Where’s Bergstrom? And the others?” Jack asked.

Lindsey did not look up from her phone screen when she said, “Next room.”

Jack retreated to Brian’s room and found the young man drawing quietly. He proceeded to Katie’s room and found Bergstrom rubbing Katie’s back. Katie was sobbing.

“Not too sure what to do here. Where’s the intern?” Bergstrom asked.

“Useless,” Jack said.

“Brian seems calm now. As soon as Josey put his pictures on his desk, he stopped shivering and started drawing again. But I can’t get Katie to stop crying.”

Jack sat on the bed and leaned towards Katie, taking one of her crepe-skinned hands. “I didn’t realize you even knew her name.”

“Don’t be silly. I know all your names,” Bergstrom assured him. “And all your stories.” Katie abruptly stopped sobbing and stared, attracted to a chickadee chirping in the tree outside her window. Bergstrom sat on the edge of the bed, also watching the chirping birds. “It’s peaceful here.”

“Until recently,” Jack said. He rubbed his knee absentmindedly.

Josey appeared in the doorway. “We have to get out of here. All of us,”

“Where’s that intern woman?” Bergstrom asked.

“Looking for a phone charger. I kid you not.” Josey huffed. “Where’s Oren?”

“Went with the doctor to examine Nurse Vasquez,” Jack said, rubbing his knee. The pain had intensified. Too many stairs today. “Reynolds and the others went back to the third floor. And, I guess Navin is working on their portal.” He turned to Bergstrom, asking, “What did Renya promise you?”

Bergstrom tapped one of her rings against the arm of the chair. “I had a lover. Don’t look so surprised, little girl. Yes, I’m old and wrinkled now. But I was once quite a looker.”

Jack regarded Bergstrom. She had light grey eyes and greying, long blond hair tucked in a bun. A few strands dangled around her ears, competing with pearl drop earrings. While the other patients donned pajamas, she wore a cream-colored silk blouse and flared black dress slacks. Her body seemed taut and her skin was firmer than most woman her age could boast. The numerous gold chains around her neck were tasteful. She was still a looker, if anyone had asked Jack. But no one asked.

Bergstrom continued: “I was about your age. Before I was married. The man was renting the house next to mine.…” She drifted into nostalgia. “Anyway, free love was popular, and I figured what the hell. And he was tall and blond. Looked just like Navin.”

“Dear God,” Jack blurted.

Bergstrom waited for Josey to say something, but Josey kept fiddling with the buttons of her own shirt. “Shall I tell you, girl?”

“Tell me what? That you were a slut?”

Bergstrom chortled. “Oh, little one. I’ve had only two sexual relationships in my life. One was with Navin. Over fifty years ago, and he still looks the same.”

“I knew it!” Josey yelled, standing away from the doorway. “I knew you were more than just a pain in the ass, no matter what Jack says.”

Jack shrugged. “Sorry.”

“I work hard at being a pain in the ass. People understand a pain in the ass old woman. They can never understand a rich, powerful woman. And no one would believe aliens kidnapped my son. Or that I had a baby with an alien. The stories I tell to remain at Longwood are acceptable fictions.” She smiled and added, “Just as I recommended selling Longwood after I offered the hospital millions for the new psychiatric wing. I had to do as much as I could to vacate this building.”

Jack was speechless. He calculated the information. Eleanor Bergstrom was Navin’s lover? And she was the reason Longwood was closing? For the first time, he felt as if he belonged at Longwood.

“I’m afraid it’s true,” Navin appeared at the doorway. “I enjoy humans.”

Josey turned. “So, that’s the big secret? I sensed it.”

“I know you did,” he said.

“I also sense something terrible’s about to happen.” She paused, pulling off the ring from her thumb, “And take this.” She tossed it, but it levitated across the room and landed in Navin’s open palm. She watched him pocket it and returned to her room, calling back to them, “Time to go.”

“How friendly were you with the girl?” Bergstrom asked.

“Jealous, Ellie?”

Bergstrom sighed. “At my age? Not likely. I’m merely concerned that the girl is carrying another target child.”

“I was not intimate with Josey. She is too fragile. You were never fragile.” Navin smiled at Bergstrom.

“Then why give her the ring?” Jack stood.

“To help her. She’s very special,” Navin said. “But I did not come to discuss Josey. I came to invite you to join me at the pool, Mister Geddies. When you finish your conversation.” He disappeared. They listened to his heavy footsteps on the tile and to the pool doors swing open and shut.

“I see you care about Josey, Mister Geddies. If you do, realize it’s better she has nothing to do with them. The pain I suffered when he left was nothing compared to the pain when the Ryads took my son.”

Jack asked, “So, Renya’s promise is to help you get revenge?”

“No. Nothing like that.” She straightened the chains around her neck. “When they took my son, I died inside. Renya has promised to return him to me. As the grandmother, she has a certain interest in the child.”

“And in return?”

“In return, I used my government contacts to gather information for her people.” She smiled, weakly. “I know many people. And many Ryads posing as people. Don’t look so shocked. You may not have stated it in your paper, but you’ve heard of Icke and the theory that reptilians are running the planet. It’s not as crazy as most believe. I know I believed none of it until I met Navin and had his child. Until the night he appeared in my bedroom like a phantom.” She placed her hand on her chest. “You look uncharacteristically uncomfortable. Not so academic when you’re face-to-face with a victim?”

“I’m sorry you’ve gone through all of this. And I believe you,” Jack said.

She harrumphed. “That’s a first.” She narrowed her eyes and asked, “Are you so surprised that I always believed you?”

“That would be a first.” He struggled to his feet and went to the door.

She said, “You know, Mister Geddies, they’re not what you think they are.”

“They are exactly what I think they are,” he said advancing into the sunny hallway. As he passed Josey’s room, he noticed she was methodically putting her belongings into a grey backpack.

“Are you coming?” she asked.

“We’re leaving? I thought you were kidding.” He entered the room and leaned against the wall. Damn knee. Jack watched the sides of Josey’s face pulse as she ground her teeth. He said, “Doesn’t make sense, does it?”

“Navin and Eleanor? It makes perfect sense,” she said, shoving a bunch of socks into a side pocket. “And I was right.” She searched the bed, found sneakers, and shoved them into a second bag. “I always am.”

“Right about what?”

“The aliens. The end of things,” she said. “But right now? I’m not too concerned with Armageddon.” She shoved balled up socks into a side pocket of the bag.

“Where will you go? Home?” Jack asked, noticing her shaking hands.

“Home? Aren’t you the comic. I have to walk, so, I’ll see how far I get.” She grabbed a pile of clothes and shoved them into the backpack.

“It’s not safe out there, Josey.”

“Well, dude, it’s not safe here. I can feel it.”

Pointing to the windowsill where her tarot cards were strewn, he asked, “What did your cards tell you?”

“Don’t make fun, Jack. I’m not open for criticism today.” She jammed a last handful of clothes into the bag and struggled with the zipper.

“No insult. Really. What did the cards say?”

“That Navin was linked to the universe. To everything.”

Jack smiled. “Might be something to those cards.”

“You’re not listening. Do you see me packing?”

“I see it. Renya scared you? The whole Nurse Vasquez thing?”

“I’m not scared of Renya. I’m scared of Victor.”

“They fired Victor. He’s gone,” Jack leaned against the wall to take weight off his knee. The pain remained.

She shook her head. “He’s coming. I can feel it. I can smell his stink. And he’s coming with a black cloud of locusts.”

He wanted to hold her, to comfort her, but he could not handle her rejection. “I understand when fear becomes overwhelming. Like everything you fear will happen at once.” He watched her gathering her cards and said, “At least wait a few minutes. I’ll go with you.”

“There’s no time,” she said, zipping the smaller bag. She met his gaze. “Okay. But only an hour. We can steal the transport van. No one will notice us anyway,” she said with a wide smile.

“True.” He flashed a smile. “I’ll be right back.”

“I’ll throw your three shirts, two pairs of pants and books in a bag.”

As he proceeded to the pool, Jack knew after waiting a lifetime, he had no intention of leaving a group of aliens and a space portal. He abandoned his musings about how to keep Josey from leaving upon reaching the pool’s edge. Thirty feet long and fifteen feet wide, the pool was ideal for laps, and Jack’s knee was the better for it. When Jack enjoyed his regular evening swims, thriving Ficus and Pothos filled the room. Now the plants were gone and the lounge chairs and tables were pushed against the wall, discarded. Three tall windows and skylight poured sunlight into the room and that ceiling of glass was the reason Jack had stolen and coded his magic card. He would position a lounge chair against one of the tall pillars at the end of the room and, uninterrupted, would recline and watch the stars. Jack approached and leaned over the churning water..

“I would not do that, Mister Geddies,” Navin said.

Jack turned, not startled. “Swim? I don’t have my suit on.”

“Not look directly into the water.” Navin took Jack’s arm and led him a few feet from the pool. “Look from here.”

The water was black. Jack had not noticed before. “I saw that yesterday when you caught Josey and me on our field trip. Where’s the reflection from the skylight?”

“It is not reflecting because it is no longer a swimming pool.”

Jack peered into the water. It seemed filled with stars. He looked up to the skylight where the afternoon sun was pouring in. “Why can’t I look in directly?”

“Some portals respond to thought. So, depending on the observer’s thoughts, this portal will shift.”

Jack did some calculations, asking, “So, how do you keep it connected to your desired destination?”

“Not easily.” Navin took a towel from a hook and wiped his hands. “If you dive in, you do not come back. Which is what happened to Gwen. They recovered her body, but her mind was gone.”

Jack swallowed remembering the night the hearse took the girl on her final ride. “It was always just a pool when I used it. Why would it become a portal for Gwen?” Jack asked.

“She must have been gifted. Like Josey.”

Jack chuckled. “Josey hates it in here. She always refused to go swimming. No wonder.” Overcome with curiosity, Jack peered into the blackness. Within, the judge was reviewing Jack’s commitment paperwork. Jack’s wife stood by, nodding: Poor Jack. Navin pulled him back. Jack shivered and took another step from the water’s edge. “I was going to get Oren to help with the patients.”

“That can wait. I need your help.”

“You need my help?” Jack asked. “With?”

“We have a problem,” Navin said, pointing to the pool’s surface. “This is an hour ago.” The stars and blackness within the pool wavered, and the water tuned to Renya’s third floor room. As if he was watching through a security camera, Jack could see the bed and Katro and Navin leaning against the damaged wall. The image spun and Jack could see Reynolds hovering over the two agents who Jack thought had left.

Katro, leaning against the wall, favoring his unbroken leg, said, “Sir. I’ve reported the transmitter location to base.”

“And?” Reynolds pulled Jones’ hair and tilted his face upwards. Jones was drooling. In the adjacent chair, Brown seemed unconscious.

“And the agents have additional information to exchange, but they would only tell you, Sir.” Katro hopped on his right size sixteen boot. “I also confirmed their 1600 hour expiration.”

“Sit down, Yonk,” Navin directed, helping Katro lean against the bed. “You could fix his leg and eye.”

“I am using my energy for concerns more serious than Katro’s leg,” Reynold snapped.

“Like Mother using what little energy she has to impregnate some human?”

Reynolds sneered and his low growl rumbled the room.

Castania hopped forward into the screen, stepping between Navin and Reynolds, covered the cat’s head, and croaked, “The two of you need to leave whatever this is until she is awake. And we need to get that portal operational.”

“Agreed. After I finish with these two,” Reynolds continued to glare at Navin but pointed and a chair which flew across the room positioning itself before the sedated agents. “Mister Geddies, you need to leave.” Reynolds perched on the edge of the levitating chair which slammed to the floor as he sat. The picture wavered, and the pool returned to a sea of starlight.

Jack asked, “What is a 1600 hour expiration?”

“They are attempting to remove my parents and myself from the game. And they will destroy Longwood in the process, figuring Doctor Antoine is holding us here.”

Taking a moment to absorb the unpleasant news, Jack paused and said, “But I wasn’t there. How did Reynolds know I would be watching?”

“That is not important. Just understand that this portal can shift almost anywhere, to any time,” Navin said.

“Right. Okay. Who’s pregnant?” Jack asked, thinking about Josey.

Confusion crossed Navin’s face. He said, “I thought you understood.” He waved his hand over the pool surface and another scene filled the water. Nurse Vasquez and Doctor Antoine were embracing. She was crying and saying, “But, it’s a miracle, Andre.” Jack had never seen Nurse Vasquez smile. She was attractive and youthful when she smiled, even through tears.

“I don’t understand,” Jack said. “We all know they’re engaged.”

Navin, blank-faced, said, “I am sure you will hear all about it. Do you see how the portal shifts?”

“I see it, but I am not sure I understand it.”

“I think you do. Can you recall Kip Thorne’s formula?”

Jack nodded, “I can. But Thorne admitted a wormhole under his conditions would be unstable and will expire at the moment of creation.”

“Not if I produce the matter required to hold it open. And I can. Do not frown. Just trust me,” he said. “However, when I become distracted, I need someone to hold attention on the portal.”

“To… to hold attention?”

“When I tell you, I want you to focus on Thorne’s theorem. Do you know the time dilation formula?”

“I do. But why—”

“Hold that in your mind as well.”

Jack mentally calculated. His eyes grew wide. He said, “Are you kidding me? Is it that simple?”

“Yes,” Navin said without extrapolating. He threw the towel onto a table. “I need someone who understands to be my copilot.”

“Not your father?” Jack asked, certain Navin was being patronizing.

“My father and I will be occupied. And my mother cannot spare her energy. We need you. Your presence here is one of the reasons we chose this location.” Navin held the door open, inviting Jack to leave. “I am confident I can depend on you.”

“Why is that?” Jack hobbled into the hallway and looked back at the black pool.

“I just know.”

“Sure,” Jack said, trying to sound confident as he passed out of the doors and made his way to the elevator, deciding to avoid stairs for the rest of the day. For the one minute, thirteen seconds ride, he could not help but allow the pool vision to haunt him. He considered how no formula could estimate the pain when a trusted companion was disloyal. He arrived at room thirty-one just behind Doctor Antoine.

Doctor Antoine regarded the agents Jack had seen in the portal and said, “They’re dead.”

Reynolds raised his eyes. “Yes. We learned what we needed to learn.”

“But, they’re dead?”

Reynolds continuing to converse in quiet tones with Katro as the two peered into an electronic computer pad. Jack quickly forgot about the dead men as he observed the function of the pad.

Doctor Antoine pointed at the being slumped in the wheelchair in the hallway, and more emotional than Jack could ever have imagined, asked, “Are you going to put Renya back in a bed? You just leave her in that chair?”

Reynolds broke from his conference. “Doctor, she is not there. That is merely a vessel.”

“We… we know what she did,” Doctor Antoine said.

“I told you she would.” Reynolds stared down at the computer pad. He tapped the screen.

“Mister Reynolds, General, whoever you are. I don’t know what to say. I keep hoping I’m not hallucinating.”

“You are not,” Reynolds assured him, finally raising his eyes to regard the doctor. “But for the child’s safety–and your safety–we must get you all out of here. The warring parties have coordinated to remove Navin, my wife and myself from the equation. Destroying us is impossible, but making us leave allows them to have their war in peace. The Andolonians have the technology to freeze beings like us in time. At least for a millennium. Quite unpleasant. And it would not be the first time for me. So, I am particularly averse to the whole thing.”

“And what will it do to Longwood?” Jack asked, remembering what Josey had told him.

Reynolds looked at Katro then admitted, “Vaporize it. And every human in it.” He paused, giving Jack and Doctor Antoine a moment to digest his words. Then he said, “Commander Katro will prepare all of you to transport through the portal. If my less than enthusiastic progeny finds it in him to get the portal operational, we will leave within the hour.”

Jack considered reporting that the portal was operational, but held his tongue, saying instead, “Renya said someone was coming. Who?”

“The attack team, we presume. They are using ground forces before they use the Andolonian missile.” Katro said, hobbling towards them. He showed Reynolds the screen he held. “Very inconvenient.”

Oren approached the group of men, “How’s Nurse Vasquez?”

“She’s resting. And our baby’s fine,” Doctor Antoine said, joy evident in his every syllable.

Oren grabbed for the cross on the chain around his next, whispering, “A miracle, so it was, so it was.”

“Why a miracle? We know the two of you are… involved,” Jack said.

Doctor Antoine hesitated, disbelieving his own words. “Wanda didn’t have a uterus,”

Jack repeated the doctor’s words in his mind. He reviewed them again. “That qualifies as a miracle,” Jack said.

Oren adjusted the blanket over Renya’s legs and gave Sam a quick pat on the head. “I was so scared of her. But now…”

Reynolds assured them she would wake soon, more to convince himself than to console them. “We have good doctors who know what to do.”

“I know you think I haven’t been helpful,” Andre said, adding, “I’m trained to treat humans. I thought the party would help.”

“The gathering would have been more helpful if she did not what she always does, giving all she has to others,” Reynolds’ acerbic tone carried heavy disappointment. “She needs time to recover. When I… I listened to her, I could not understand why she is not out of stasis. If Brown and Jones’ friends return before we leave, I cannot guarantee we will get her awake in time.” He groaned. “She has looked a hell of a lot better.” His frankness surprised them. “Oh, right? You think I lie to a wife like her?” Light, awkward laughter followed.

“I know who she is. And who you are.” Jack could not help himself.

Reynolds said, “I know you do. And I continue to appreciate you’re not announcing anything to anyone.”

“Oh, no, no, not me. Mums the word for me. But I think they know, anyway.”

“I don’t,” the doctor whined.

Reynolds said, “You are frightened enough, Andre Antoine. I am letting you all leave with us because she would want me to. And she is very, very angry at me.” He seemed lost in thought and toyed with a curl at the base of Renya’s neck. “The safe house is prepared. Her medical team is there. We just need to test the portal. Then we send groups through. Three at a time. She goes first.” He paused, playing with one curl that had escaped her hair tie. “I go last.”

“I will go last,” Navin appeared at the end of the hallway. “I owe her that.”

“Are we a go?” Reynolds asked, ignoring Navin’s assertion.

“We are.”

“You tested it?”

“Yes. Not my first rodeo,” Navin said without the smile that should accompany the turn of phrase.

Reynolds also did not smile. “If she has a full break while we are moving her, well, you know what she did to their doctor.”

Doctor Antoine said, “I don’t understand. If she could perform a miracle, how is she in danger?”

Reynolds, “When she is not cognizant, she uses her power wildly. She does not know what she is doing, or of what she is capable. She could harm any of you–even me. I am doing my best to control her.” He passed his forefinger over Renya’s cheek.

Doctor Antoine appeared to be deep in thought before he began machine-gunning questions at Reynolds: “Can we take everyone?”

“Yes.”

“Do we need particular equipment?”

“No.”

“Particular preparation? Food or clothing?”

“No.” Reynolds paused, considering and adding, “Photos. Personal things. Nothing metal. No electronics or jewelry.”

“Should we feed everyone first?”

“You seem preoccupied with food, Doctor Antoine.”

“I’m hungry,” the doctor admitted. “And I have a pregnant wife eating for two.” He smiled, meekly.

“We have food appropriate for humans at the base, I can assure you.”

“Are we leaving the planet?”

“Not at this time.”

“Will we need weapons?”

“No, Doctor.”

Doctor Antoine was calculating. He finally said, “Oren. You prep the two on the third floor.”

“We’re taking them?” Oren asked, adding concern the doctor would consider taking the sociopaths. Jack urged the doctor to reconsider.

The doctor said, “I meant to prep them for transfer to PRGH. Give the staff an excuse. A gas leak here. Something.” Jack smiled, knowing the gas leak was his great idea.

“Right,” Oren agreed. “I’ll get the chairs for those two.” He saluted the doctor and disappeared into the stairwell.

Doctor Antoine said, “I’ll get Wanda and Lindsey to collect Brian and Katie. I presume Eleanor can handle herself. And Josey. As can Jack. Considering the plans for Longwood, I presume we can leave the agents’ bodies right where they are?”

Reynolds nodded. “We meet at the pool within the hour.”

Renya moaned and asked for water. Doctor Antoine entered the observation room and drew a cup from the spigot. He returned and helped her drink. She moaned and asked for more.

“Again?” Navin asked with a groan. “The water request is getting old.”

“You have respect, boy,” Reynolds snapped.

“You let her do this,” Navin snapped as Katro backed away, sliding his broken leg along the tile floor and gripping the tablet to his chest. Navin growled. “She should have woken by now.”

“You are the reason she is here at all. Her precious Navin. And I had to come here because you were doing nothing–”

“I saw her arrive here. I notified base–”

“–Nothing. We are the ones who routed her here.” Reynolds’ eyes were turning red again. “If you had not run off on this mission–”

“—Run off? Run off? You never change.”

“I never change. No. I do not. I have standards.”

“You know she is phasing, and you let her, you let her use all her energy to impregnate some human.”

“She wanted to help.”

“She has not been interested in this crap planet since Yonk’s kind were here,” Navin raised his voice and gestured to Katro. “And she does not have the energy to give it away.”

Reynolds growled then, shaking the walls. “Her energy is not the concern.”

“Not normally, no. But there she is. Phasing. And why is she phasing? Why is that?”

“She was wearing the ring when it hit.”

“It’s her. Ring or no ring. None of that should have mattered.”

“Do you not think I know that?” The walls began to crack although Reynolds’ voice never raised in volume. Yet, under his words was that low, rumbling growl. “She is my other half. My everything.”

“She is my mother.”

“And I am your father. Have you forgotten?”

Navin pointed at Reynolds. “We get her in the pool. We get her awake. Then, you and I end this.”

Reynolds ignored him and addressed Doctor Antoine, raising his forefinger in warning. “Just do not get in the pool. Do not touch the pool. No matter what you see. Or hear.” He took the handles of Renya’s wheelchair and proceeded into the observation room with Katro limping close behind. Navin followed, red-faced.

Doctor Antoine, uncomfortable with what seemed an ongoing conflict between the two beings, turned his attention to Jack. “So, Jack? Get Josey and Eleanor. Explain to them. See if you can get cellphone girl to help. And help where you can. I’ll go to Wanda and we can collect medications and all of that.”

Jack tried to temper his excitement, wishing the internet or cell phones were operational so he could contact his miserable wife and say merely, “I told you.” He slowly made his way down the hall, deciding the elevator was necessary to preserve his knee. After all these years, Jack had every elevator timed. This one took fourteen seconds to rise from the first floor to the third. Yet, here it was in under ten seconds. The doors spread and Jack helped Oren wrestle two wheelchairs from the elevator, pulling the second chair free from the gap between the elevator and the floor. The elevator doors closed before Jack could jump on.

Oren looked up the hallway and said, “Jack, maybe you can help me move these two patients.”

“I don’t know what help I can be.”

“I’ll move ’em. I need help with the doors. Maybe holding the IV bags while I get them adjusted in the chairs.”

“That I can do,” Jack said. “Lead on.” He took control of one chair and followed Oren past the security booth and up the hall to Edgars’ room.

Oren passed his key card over the lock and expertly shoved the wheelchair into the room with one push. But he stopped short almost causing Jack to run into Oren’s back.

“What?” Jack asked, trying to peer around Oren’s girth into the room.

Edgars was not in the bed.

Oren peeked behind the door. He bent down and looked under the bed. Edgars was not in the room. Oren pushed past Jack to check the room number.

“Where the hell is he?” Oren asked, more anguished than confused, Jack considered.

“Was he moved?”

“Not by me. And who else would move ’em?” Oren stared at Jack for a moment and then ran up the hall, passing his key card over Stevens’s door lock. He disappeared into the room and then emerged, calling out, “He’s gone, too! Hey, hey, Doc! They’re gone.” He pointed frantically at Stevens’s door.

“Who’s gone?” Doctor Antoine called out.

“Stevens. Edgars.”

Doctor Antoine raced towards Oren and leaned into Stevens’s room. “Did Wanda move them?”

“No, sir. I just checked ’em when those agents left. Or were leaving. They were there then.” Oren’s voice quavered. “I gave them plenty of sedation.”

Doctor Antoine entered Stevens’s room, scanning the walls, the bed. Then he paused and grabbed a syringe from the nightstand. “Adrenaline.”

“How?” Oren asked, finding a second syringe on the bed. The restraints were discarded.

Doctor Antoine and Oren bolted from the room and to the stairwell. Even Jack ran through his knee pain as he followed them down the stairs.