JANUARY 7, 1987
San Diego International Airport
3225 N Harbor Dr
San Diego, CA
Diana Carter, fresh from dropping out of Stanford University is headed home to New York City to confront her family. Mist and Shanna can only take someone to Magic Island or move them off the island once every twenty-four hours so Diana must take a plane from California to New York. She sits in the airport cafe reading the USA Today Newspaper about a fire in Seattle that caused the death of one and the complete collapse of a growing computer company, Omni-Connect.
She hates to admit it but she his happy that her plane has been delayed. She hates the idea of going home, but she really has no choice at this point. It is the thought of facing her father that she hates the most. Diana has changed so much in the past two years but she can still feel the hate for her father as if it was yesterday. Even with all she has learned she still can’t understand why he would be so cruel to her, she was only a child, she had no idea what her mother had done. Apparently he did. She has tried calling her Uncle Zac to tell him she is coming home, hoping to ease the drama, but his last known number has been changed. So, Diana is going home blind.
Her plane doesn’t leave for another four hours and sitting in this airport sure doesn’t seem like fun. The Cafe is crowded, several planes headed east have been postponed due to the weather on the east coast. Diana puts aside the newspaper and begins to read a spy novel that she bought at the gift shop. Her money is rather tight so over spending is not an option.
“Excuse me, the Cafe is rather full today, do you mind if I sit with you?” Diana looks up from her book to see a uniformed female police officer holding a tray of food.
“Of course not, officer be my guest,” Diana replies. She goes back to the novel as the Police officer sits down and begins to eat her lunch.
“I’ve seen that book in the gift shop several times in the past week that I’ve been assigned here,” the Officer says before taking a spoonful of her soup. “Is it any good?”
“Kind of dry,” Diana replies. She looks over the top of the book at the cop eating her soup and sandwich. She can’t be more than five or at most ten years older than Diana and she has made such a firm commitment. “Do you mind if I ask you a question?” Diana says.
“Not at all,” the officer replies.
“Why did you become a Policewoman?” Diana quizzes.
“It’s a family thing, following in my father’s footsteps you might say.” “Eileen McCoy, by the way,” the cop says introducing herself as she took another bite of her sandwich.
“Oh, Diana Carter.” The two young women shake hands. “I’m kind of at a turning point in my life.”
“Have you been thinking about becoming a cop?” Eileen asks.
“No, nothing like that,” Diana replies. “I’m headed home to New York after dropping out of Stanford.” “I’ll probably just go back to school there.”
“You don’t seem too thrilled with that idea, if you don’t mind me saying so,” Officer McCoy said.
“I just hate the idea of going home to face my father, he’s an asshole,” Diana says bluntly. “I didn’t leave on the best of terms.”
“I thought about going to Stanford, its a good school, but then I got the chance to work with my Dad.” “I don’t regret it for a minute.” “Why not stay here?”
“I can’t, there were some problems at Stanford, that I would rather not face again,” Diana says hoping Officer McCoy doesn’t inquire further.
“I know that story, that is how I ended up on this crap assignment,” Officer McCoy confesses.
“So you didn’t choose to be at the airport?” Diana asks.
“My partner and I broke some minor rules,” Eileen tells the young woman.
“Oh,” Diana sighs going back to her book.
“No, nothing like that,” Eileen says holding up her left hand. “We got married and kept it a secret for months.” “Now we have been split up, it would seem this is my punishment, while he gets a new assignment that is just as bad.”
“I think that is romantic, like Romeo and Juliet,” Diana smiles putting down the book finding the cop’s story much more intriguing. “When I was a kid I used to dream of falling in love and breaking all the rules so we could be together.”
“What about now?” Eileen asks. “You’re a pretty college girl surely you’ve been in love.”
“Thanks, but I don’t have much luck with guys,” Diana says, “There either too scared or too controlling.”
“So when does your plane leave?” Eileen asks.
“Four-o-five, or so I am told,” Diana answers.
“You weren’t planning to sit in this Cafe the whole time were you?” Eileen asks. Diana shrugs her shoulders not really sure what she was going to do. “You really look like a girl who could us some pampering.” “There is a two-hour spa down by the luggage pick up, you should give it a try.”
“Thanks for the suggestion, but I’m really strapped for cash right now,” Diana replies sadly.
“Tell you what, I’m a big believer in karma, put out good in the world get good back,” the cop says. “I could really use some good right now, here take this.” Eileen McCoy reaches into one of the pouches on her belt to pull out two fifty dollar bills and passes them to Diana.
“No, really I couldn’t take your money,” Diana says pushing the cash back.
“Think of it as a going home gift,” Eileen tells her. “One of the rich old guys who frequents the airport likes to tip me.” “I’m not really supposed to take it but can never stop him long enough to give it back.” “So I donated it to the Police Children’s Fund.” “Think of yourself as an honorary police kid.”
Diana looks at the money and the back at Eileen, she gets the feeling that the cop believes she is doing a much more generous thing than she is. “At least give me the address of the Children’s Fund so I can donate the money in your name when I get home.”
Officer McCoy reaches in another pouch to retrieve a bent up card. “Here it is,” she said handing Diana the business card. “You really don’t have to do that and I won’t be offended if you don’t.”
After finishing her lunch Officer McCoy walks the young college dropout down to the luggage claim area where the day spa is located. The cop figures that the girl has more going on than she is saying so she wants to make sure the girl uses at least some of the money in the spa. Eileen is fully aware that the treatment she recommended only costs fifty dollars but she hopes the girl will put the other half of the money to good use after having some time to think over here situation. Waiting to make sure Diana checks into the spa Officer McCoy then walks down along the windows that face the plane unloading zone.
Across the tarmac are several private hangers. One hanger in particular draws the cop’s attention. This is her third day on airport duty so she has had some time to familiarize herself with the rentals of private hangers. The hanger that draws her attention should be vacant but there are clearly several men unloading crates from a small plane in it. She watches for several minutes figuring that it must just be new tenants that she is not aware of yet. She will check with the airport Commissioner later.
It takes two men to lift the large heavy crates that they unload as a third supervises. Then one of the men stumbles and drops his end of the crate. The crate falls the ground hard breaking the seal. Officer McCoy is shocked when she catches sight of a rifle, one of many inside the crate. The man supervising has short cropped dark hair and his movements are clearly that of anger as his arms flail and he strikes the man with the butter fingers across the face. A fourth man is then directed to close the hanger door. Officer McCoy then makes a hurried walk from the baggage claim up to the Commissioner’s office to find out if what she has just witnessed is kosher.
At the Commissioner’s office, Officer McCoy learns that the hanger in question is indeed not rented and should be vacant. After using her police radio to call in her suspicions Eileen decides to go to the hanger to investigate.
San Diego International Airport
3225 N Harbor Dr
San Diego, CA
A Private hanger
James Santoro is in charge of this operation and he can have nothing go wrong with this deal. He back hands the clumsy man across the face. “You idiot, if any of these weapons are damaged Mr. Cifredo will have all of our heads!” he shouts at the men. “You there, close that door!” “We don’t need any prying eyes to see what this idiot has done!” Santoro enjoys being the one in charge for a change but that doesn’t mean he still doesn’t answer to Mr. Cifredo. “Now get a move on!” “This truck needs to be loaded and on its way to the border by two!” “No more screw ups Diaz!”
“Yes sir,” the clumsy man replies sealing up the case.
“Then get this plane out of here!” Santoro instructs the pilot as he prepares to leave. “We need to leave no trace we were ever here!” The men load the cases into a truck parked at the other side of the hanger. Santoro follows the men outside to inspect the truck. “Watch your speed,” he tells the driver. “No more speeding tickets or Mr. Cifredo will have words with you.”
“Yes, sir, slow and steady,” the truck driver tells Santoro. James them walks to his stylish black car parked not far away to get in. Santoro leaves pleased with the process, although he wouldn’t want the men to know that fact.
Officer McCoy arrives at the hanger hearing her own voice in her head all of those times she chastised Corey for running ahead into trouble. She knows whatever these men are up to they probably won’t be here long. She needs to find a way to slow them down before her back up arrives. Officer McCoy sneaks into the hanger through an unguarded side door. When she hears voices from not far ahead of her she draws her gun. Officer McCoy continues along the side wall behind several old plank walls that act as windbreaks.
She hears the shots and then she feels the pain. Dropping her gun to the floor Eileen McCoy goes into shock the moment she looks down to see the two bloody holes, one in her chest, the other in her side. Eileen’s hands move to the blood not sure which to hold first as her knees buckle to the floor. “No snooping bitch!” is the last thing she hears before falling unconscious.
Rt. 5 south
San Diego, Ca
Inside the back of a large panel van
“Officer McCoy wake up,” Eileen hears the voice of a young woman. She is shaken awake to see Diana Carter peering down at her. She is confused as she opens her eyes to look around. They are in the back of a panel van, the one the men were loading at the hanger. The two women are on the floor at the back of the truck filled with the large wooden cases.
“Diana, what is going on?” Officer McCoy asks trying to sit up. “What are we doing her?”
“I saw them load you into the back of this truck, so I snuck in while no one was looking,” Diana answers. The memories of what happened rush back to Eileen. She reaches for the bloody holes on her shirt. “They are just flesh wounds, nothing serious,” Diana tells the cop. Eileen opens her shirt to expose her black bra. There are wounds on her chest and side that look like nothing more than cigar burns. Little more than injuries she would have gotten if she was wearing a bulletproof vest.
“This isn’t possible,” Eileen whispers. “I was shot, I know I was shot twice!”
“You are as I found you when I snuck in here,” Diana says playing dumb. “The question is what do we do now?” Officer McCoy buttons her shirt back up still not sure what to make of her injuries or the blood she sees on Diana’s hands.
“These men are very dangerous and I need to get you to safety,” Officer McCoy tells the girl. “I appreciate your concern but you never should have snuck into this truck.” “It was a dangerous risk for someone you barely know.”
*McCoy 131, come in, backup has arrived at location but see no sign of suspects,* the cop’s radio on her shoulder squawks.
Gripping the receiver on her shoulder Eileen replies, “McCoy 131 reporting, suspect on the move in a green panel van.” Officer McCoy stands up to use a crowbar from the floor to pry open one of the crates.
“McCoy 131, what is your location?” the voice on the radio asks.
“I am in the van, track my radio signal for location,” Eileen answers. “Military style automatic weapons confirmed in shipping crates in the back of truck!” she reports into the radio.
“Ten-four, beginning location track, going silent,” the person on the radio confirms before signing off,
Eileen reaches for her gun that is not in its holster. “Do you see my gun anywhere?” she asks Diana. “I need to find my gun if we have any chance of getting out of here alive!” The two women begin searching around the truck for the missing service weapon.
“It isn’t here they must have took it,” Diana assumes.
“Then we need a plan for when this truck stops,” Officer McCoy instructs.
Cosgrove Corporate Center
the Golden Triangle,
San Diego, Ca
Below the building that stands eight stories tall is another complex that consists of a luxury bunker hidden from the world above. This is where the senior Antonio Cifredo lives when he is not in the outside world conducting his rather shady business. In the offices above his Grandson Tony has no idea he is even alive, let alone living in a bunker a half a mile below the surface of the lowest levels of the building.
Antonio Cifredo’s longevity is not completely natural. He sleeps in a chamber built of alien technology that rejuvenates him keeping him healthy. On the outside Antonio still appears to age but his body is in better overall health than a man half his age. He must spend twenty-four hours a week in the chamber to achieve full rejuvenation. Cifredo’s regeneration cycle complete for the week he is now ready for the business at hand.
He has spent the last four decades searching out every piece of alien technology on Earth he could find. His obsession with alien tech began when he was in the army in his twenties, stationed in Roswell, New Mexico. He had learned many things about alien technology while at Roswell but it was never enough for him. He always wanted more. In the forty years since then he has found evidence of many alien races that have visited Earth. World governments work hard to keep these visitation secret from the mass population. Cifredo has found ways around those secret walls many times.
His quest for more alien technology has often taken him outside the laws of whatever land his search leads him. Making deals with corrupt governments or rebel armies for weapons is not outside of Cifredo’s arena. At the moment he is in desperate need of a piece of tech that will help him get to his ultimate goal. A deal has been struck that has forced him to trade military weapons with Central American rebels. These men have claimed to have found an alien spacecraft in the ocean off the coast of Ecuador. Cifredo has had the weapons flown in from the east coast he now waits to hear back for his man, Santoro. The weapons must be moved over land, a task harder than air because the shipment must be returned the same way.
The chamber he uses is only partially functional. Cifredo believes if he can find another chamber it will fully regenerate his body so that he can claim his true prize, the contents of the box his granddaughter, Eileen possessed. After showering he hears the phone ring, it is Santoro.
“All goes as planned sir, perfectly on schedule,” James Santoro says over the phone.
“Those idiots know where they are to go?” “Right?” Cifredo confirms as he turns on a bank of televisions in the wall over a control console. He begins to view recorded footage from the plane hanger. There are several camera angles shot from several different cameras on the eight viewing screens.
“Yes, sir,” Santoro responds over the phone. “The Zona Norte tunnel.” “They have everything they need for passage!”
“That idiot Diaz hasn’t damaged any of the merchandise has he?” Cifredo asks to Santoro’s surprise. “You didn’t think I would let those morons go unchecked did you?”
“Of course not sir, I checked the shipment myself!” Santoro replies trying not to sound surprised. In all the years he has worked for Mr. Cifredo, he should know by now that the man trusts no one.
Mr. Cifredo continues to watch the surveillance video to see what happens after James Santoro left the hanger. “That fucking moron!” Cifredo announces over the phone.
“What is it sir?” Santoro questions.
“After you left that moron Levin shot a cop!” Cifredo tells his man as he freezes and zooms in on the video. “That cop looks very familiar to me!” “They loaded her into the truck.” “If they killed my granddaughter, I expect their heads at my feet!”
“Yes sir I will track them down at once!” Santoro says at the sound of the slam of the phone on the receiver.
Rt. 5 south
San Diego, Ca
Inside the cab of a large panel van
“I can’t believe you killed a cop!” Diaz says sitting in the passenger seat of the truck.
“We have no idea that she is dead,” Levin replies, “I just shot her is all.”
“Dumping her body in the desert is going to kill her,” Diaz replies.
Levin is silent for a moment before firing back, “Santoro will never know about it, at least I didn’t drop a crate in front of him!”
“Diaz and Levin!” a voice squawks on the CB radio. “Where are you idiots?”
Diaz picks up the hand receiver to reply, “We are about five miles from the rondaview.”
“You are to pull over at the next rest stop and check the cargo,” Santoro orders over the CB radio. “You need to check the addition you made, make sure it is viable!” The men look at each other in shock and panic.
Levin pulls the truck over into the last rest stop before the Mexican border. “So get out and see if the cop is dead or not!” Diaz tells Levin.
“How could Santoro even know what I did?” Levin asks turning off the truck engine.
“Does it matter?” Diaz charges, “This one is on you go clean it up!”
Meanwhile in the back of the truck two women move into position. “The second the latch moves shove,” Officer McCoy instructs.
“Okay,” Diana replies as she braces herself against the back door of the truck.
“One, two, three,” Officer McCoy whispers as the latch begins to move. Levin is struck by the doors as they are forced open by the women. The man is sent back to the ground on his back, where he hits his head, rendering him unconscious. Diana and Eileen jump down off the back of the truck. Eileen moves to roll the man over pulling her handcuffs from her belt to restrain him. “Diana I need for you to get to safety,” Eileen instructs.
“Little late for that cop,” Diaz says as Eileen turns back. Diaz holds a gun to the girl’s head.
“Diana stay calm everything is going to be fine,” Officer McCoy instructs. “Look you don’t want to do this, you haven’t hurt anyone yet.”
“Please you must be joking……,” Diaz says as he suddenly collapses to the ground.
“What the hell?” Officer McCoy exclaims as the man falls at her feet. “Did he just pass out?”
“I guess he’s diabetes or something,” Diana says as they hear the sirens of the approaching police.
Officer McCoy takes hold of Levin’s belt to unbuckle it and pull it free of his waist. “Here tie him up with this, I only have one set of handcuffs,” She tells Diana handing her the belt and then retrieving her gun from the ground before backup arrives.
On the other side of the rest stop James Santoro watches through binoculars as his idiotic men are taken down by two women. Cifredo is going to have a cow, he thinks. At least Eileen McCoy is uninjured. But who is this second woman. Cifredo mentioned nothing of a second woman in the back of the truck. As the other police cars pull into the parking lot surrounding the truck, Santoro focuses on the second young woman. She begins to back away from the crowd. She moves to the front of the truck as the police move to the back where Eileen has the men bound. Then suddenly she is gone. Santoro drops the binoculars to look back at the scene with his own eyes, then back through the binoculars. That girl just disappeared!
Back at the scene Sgt. Hopkins arrives, getting out of his car he questions, “McCoy are you injured?” When he sees the blood on her shirt.
Looking down Officer McCoy explains, “No, it’s just some scratches.” “I’ll be fine.”
“Don’t be a hero McCoy you’ve done enough, catching these smugglers,” Sgt, Hopkins tells her. “I’ll call for an ambulance.”
“Really sir I’ll be fine, I didn’t do it all myself,” McCoy insists. “I had some help from this brave young woman.” “Diana,” she calls out turning to see that the college girl is gone. “I don’t know where she could have gotten to, she was right here.”
“The only one we saw was you when we pulled in,” Sgt Hopkins says. Hopkins has been put on special assignment by Lt. Redmayne to keep an eye on McCoy. He has been none too happy about it but he must admit he is proud of her for this bust. “McCoy you really need to learn to take credit where credit is due.” Hopkins congratulates. “This should put you on Redmayne’s good side again and me off the hook.” “Now let’s get you some medical attention.”
Eileen doesn’t argue with Hopkins as the other cops load Diaz and Levin into police cars. Instead she walks around the perimeter looking for any sign of Diana Carter. The only thing she finds are footprints that come to an abrupt end. “Diana!” she calls out to get no response.
Cosgrove Corporate Center
the Golden Triangle,
San Diego, Ca
“Speak!” Antonio Cifredo demands from his high back chair when he answers the phone.
“I have taken care of everything Sir,” James Santoro replies.
“Eileen McCoy?” Cifredo questions.
“She is fine, completely unharmed,” Santoro informs his master.
“Diaz and Levin,” Cifredo asks.
“They will never see the inside of a police jail cell or another day dawn.” Santoro assures.
“The shipment?” Cifredo quizzes.
“It will never make it to impound, the flatbed is already on its way to Zona Norte as we speak.” Santoro emphasizes. “But sir you did not mention the second young woman in the back of the truck.”
“Don’t disappoint me now James, there was no second woman in the back of the truck!” Cifredo insists. “Just take care of your next task!” he orders before hanging up the phone.
James Santoro has seen many amazing things in the time he has worked for Antonio Cifredo but nothing like what this girl did, not without some kind of device. She simply vanished without so much as snap of her fingers. Santoro experience with alien technology is only surpassed by that of Mr. Cifredo. The one thing he knows nothing about is whatever in the case that his boss seeks from his granddaughter. Perhaps that other woman is linked to all of this somehow.
Coastal Medical Center
San Diego, Ca
Eileen has been placed in an exam room as she waits for a doctor. She feels fine, there is no pain from the strange marks on her chest and side. She can only assume the thug used some kind of taser on her to knock her unconscious. Eileen is still trying to explain the mysterious Diana Carter to herself in her head. She told Diana to get to safety, but once the other police arrives she should have come out of hiding.
A handsome middle aged doctor enters the room, the same one that treated her husband months ago. “Hello I’m Dr. Bellow.” he announces as usually, he is the doctor that treats policemen when they are brought in. “Well Officer, what do we have here today?” he asks laying down his chart holder.
“I think they are just taser burns,” Eileen replies unbuttoning her shirt to reveal her black bra again. She slips off the shirt to lay it on the table next to her.
“These don’t look like taser hole, more like a through and through bullet wound,” the doctor says holding up her shirt to see holes in the back of it for the first time. The doctor moves to get some sterile cotton gauze soaked in alcohol to wipe off Eileen’s wounds. He wipes over her back first to say, “Amazing.”
“What is it doctor, have I been shot, because I must be in shock because I can’t feel a thing,” Eileen says with more than a little worry in her voice.”
“Let me show you,” Dr. Bellow says getting a clean gauze pad to wipe the blood from her chest. “Someone has played an elaborate trick on you or these wounds have healed completely, leaving no scars.” “Not even any sign of taser burns.” “But that is impossible!”
In the past months Eileen has learned that pretty much nothing is impossible. By now Eileen is fairly sure that she was shot in the back. The next thought to come to her mind is of the college girl, Diana. She must be a Zeni-human, that would explain why and how she was the truck. She wasn’t just checking to see if Eileen was okay she was making sure she was by healing her. Then Eileen contemplates the idea that her assignment to the airport was another of Redmayne’s set ups. A thought she quickly dismisses.
“I can send these blood samples to the lab, if you like, find out where it came from,” Dr. Bellow says.
“No that won’t be necessary,” Officer McCoy tells the doctor. “There was a fight, I’m pretty sure I know who’s blood that is.”
“Well, alright then, you are free to go,” Dr. Bellow says filling out her paperwork. “You are the healthiest cop I have ever treated in emergency.” The doctor leaves to allow Eileen to get dressed.
Eileen examines her shirt before she puts it back on. There are clearly entry and exit holes in it. Diana is a Zeni-human is the only answer. Either that or she is. But Eileen has never healed like this on her own before today. Why would that change and how would she test such a thing without doing something completely insane. Buttoning up here shirt she leaves the exam room and heads out into the hallway.
“Excuse me, Officer McCoy is it?” A man with dark wavy hair says approaching Eileen. “I was wondering if I could ask you a few questions.”
“Not now, I have to report back to the station,” Officer McCoy replies.
“Well then if you don’t have a ride perhaps I could give you one?” he says very confidently.
“As a cop I know better than to accept rides from strangers,” she replies looking this guy over. He is somewhat familiar to her, possibly someone she saw in a mug shot.
“Well then let me introduce myself, Alexander Stormstrum, Private Investigator,” the man says putting out his hand. “My questions are about the girl you had lunch with at the airport, Diana Carter.”
Eileen has no idea who this P.I. is, but if Diana is hiding from the police, she surely must be hiding from this man too. “There is not much to say, we shared a table in a crowded airport cafe.” Officer McCoy continues on her way out of the Hospital.
“But you gave her some money?” Stormstrum calls after the cop. “Didn’t you?”
Eileen turns around in anger. “Were you watching us?” “Stalking is a crime in this state, I could arrest you right here!”
“Please Officer McCoy, I have been hired by her family to find her and she alludes me at every turn,” Stormstrum explains. “I’ve come to believe she could possibly be a very dangerous young woman.”
“Dangerous, don’t be foolish!” Officer McCoy replies to the charge. But Stormstrum’s attention has been turned to a young male orderly who he watches walk by them in the hall. Eileen can clearly see that Stormstrum is looking at the front of the orderly’s loose fitting scrubs. “That is were I know you from!” Officer McCoy announces. “You’re that Detective from that sex scandal up in San Francisco, with the Police Commissioner and the Chief’s husband!”
“That was a misunderstanding,” Stormstrum says changing the subject. “Did she tell you why she left school?” he asks quickly. Eileen has no answer so she does not reply as she tries to remember the details of the San Francisco case. “There was a rumor of sexual assault.”
“Oh that poor girl,” Eileen says under her breathe.
“She was not the victim,” Stormstrum says making Eileen distrust him even more. How could such a sweet girl do such a thing, even if she is a Zeni-human. “If she told you where she was going, it could be important to the safety of others, Officer,” the P.I. says trying to pray on her responsibility to the law.
“She told me she was going home,” Officer McCoy answers as she looks at her watch. “Her plane should be loading right about now.” “There is no way you could get to the airport to stop her.” In truth Eileen thinks that there is no way Diana could get back to the airport in time to catch her plane. “Now if you will excuse me, Stormy, I have a job to get back too,” Officer McCoy calls him by the name the paper used when reporting on the sex scandal in San Francisco, the Stormy Detective. The name was coined because he brought a shit storm down on the whole department.
San Diego International Airport
3225 N Harbor Dr
San Diego, CA
It is around five o’clock when Officer McCoy arrives back at the airport to check on Diana. She goes straight for the flight departure desk. “Are you sure Miss Carter was on that plane and it left on schedule?” she asks the clerk again.
“Yes Officer, everything went without any delay and Miss Carter checked in on time!” Eileen turns ways from the desk to walk past the people in line behind her. Whatever this Diana Carter’s powers are it is a miracle that she got back here in time for that plane. At least she is out of reach of Stormy Alexander, Eileen thinks!
Deciding to call it a night, her shift over, Eileen heads out of the airport when she is again approached, “Well Officer McCoy, what a surprise to see you again.” It is that P.I.
“Remember Stormy, stalking is a crime in this state!” she says bumping her shoulder against his as she walks by him out the door.
Southeastern Police Division Headquarters
San Diego, Ca
It has been a long day and Officer McCoy only wants to go home to her husband as she fills out her daily reports, leaving out the name of Diana Carter. She doesn’t want to give Redmayne the satisfaction of acknowledging the girl was even at the scene.
“McCoy could you come in here,” Lt. Redmayne calls from her office door. Eileen looks up to see Sgt. Hopkins leaving the office as Redmayne returns it. What now? Eileen thinks as she gets up from her desk. Crossing the squad room to the Lt.’s office all eyes are on McCoy. She has become something of a celebrity in the past few months. “Take a seat,” Redmayne instructs. Officer McCoy sits as instructed. She has learned that questioning Redmayne is useless, the Lt. usually not honest with her anyway.
“Hopkins informs me that you performed above and beyond today,” Lt. Redmayne tells her. “I am tempted to return you to your old status.” Redmayne sits down at her desk staring across it at Officer McCoy. The cop is completely un-intimidated by this act now. Eileen simply waits for the other shoe to drop. “I would be inclined to do so if I could get a good report from Dr. Cain.” “Dr Cain’s reports have not been so favorable of late.” Eileen still has no response to her commanding officer. “Perhaps, this would be a good time to thank me?”
“Can I see Cain today, before I go home to get it over with?” Eileen responds.
“As a matter of fact she is waiting in her office right now for you, you can finish your paperwork after,” Lt. Redmayne replies.
“Than, Thank you Ma’am,” Eileen replies, “May I go?”
“You know what I want to hear,” Lt. Redmayne says, “Now make me happy.”
Eileen gets up from the uncomfortable metal chair to leave the Lt.’s office. She still has no idea what Redmayne’s game is after all of these months and it pisses her off to no end. She is tempted to call Steve Roberts, to talk to him without Redmayne present. But fears it will do no good, there was something different about him the last time they spoke. The ride in the elevator up to Dr Cain’s office is uneventful. Unless you count Joel White farting. That is one of the things she will never miss from being partnered with that cop. His gas was always deadly and impossible to prevent. She spent most of her time riding with him trying to find something he could eat that wouldn’t nearly kill her when it found its way out.
Newton Motors Auto Body Shop
Southeastern, San Diego, Ca
The shop has been closed since the massacre of drug cartel members and the death of its owner last year. Police tape still billows in the wind outside the garage doors. Inside on the floor chalk lines still represent the last resting places of several bodies.
In the alley behind the buildings a stylish black car pulls up outside the garage. The trunk of the car pops open as James Santoro steps out of the car to walk around to the back. From the compartment he takes a device about the size of a Dustbuster hand vacuum. It is similar in design although it is made from a strange metal with many more dials on it. Also grabbing a crowbar from the trunk, he walks down the alley where last August several bodies laid for discovery by Officers McCoy and Byrnes.
Without a care he breaks the police warning tape still strung across the door frame. Using the crowbar he pries open the door with no concern for possible incrimination. The interior of the large auto garage that was once a cover for a drug distribution center is dark and empty. Very little has been done to repair or clean the place up. Santoro proceeds to the management office at the back of the building. Once inside Santoro makes some adjustments to the device he carries. He raises a four inch by three inch frame from the top of the device. Turning a knob on the side of the hand held device, the frame becomes a view screen with which he scans the office. Moving around the room he searches for something, the smallest of particles to use. Opening the desk drawer Santoro finds a nail clipper and clippings in a narrow tray inside.
Running the scanner screen over the contents of the tray a DNA test is performed instantly. The words “Positive Match,” are displayed within the metal frame. Santoro then lowers the device into the tray pressing another button on the top to retrieve the nail clippings. He makes several more adjustments to the device as it begins to hum louder. He places the device on the desk chair to step back away from it.
From several openings on the sides of the device a gelatin begins to ooze out to form a shell around the device. The shell grows to take shape, human shape. It takes about five minutes for the human body to be fully around the device, leaving no trace of it. In another ten minutes a perfect replica of the garage’s former owner Nick Newton sits nude in the office chair.
“What the Fuck!” Newton shouts in Russian.
“I will thank you to speak English, Romanoff,” James Santoro tells the reborn man. “Mr. Cifredo has uses of you!”
“What is going on?” Newton demands. “Where are my clothes?”
“Dead men don’t need clothes,” Santoro tells him. “Don’t for a minute think you are anything other than that!” “You were killed months ago by an Argoian device that absorbed your spirit or at least part of it.” “I have used another device to reclaim your DNA to create this replica body for you.”
“Replica body?” Newton shouts standing up to inspect himself. “This is my body, not some replica!”
Santoro grins at the nude man as he takes another small device the size of a garage door opener from his pocket. “I can un-create your body just as easily,” James says pressing the button on the remote control. Newton suddenly feels a sharp pain in his left hand. He holds up his hand to see his fingers begin to dissolve before his eyes. Releasing the remote button Santoro says, “It would take only minutes to dissolve your whole genetic structure.” Looking back to his hand the gelatin again oozes from where his fingers were dissolved to reform them. “As I said Mr. Cifredo has a job for you,” “It is time Corey Byrnes was taken out of play.”
Southeastern Police Division Headquarters
San Diego, Ca
Dr. Cain is a reasonable woman, Eileen thinks as she walks down the hall to the psychiatrist’s office. She has no reason to betray her. The bad reports Redmayne mentioned were true. Eileen has become frustrated with her job since Christmas and all that has happened. She and Corey were certain that helping the FBI to bust up that Thelema Lodge cult would help ease the ramifications of what they had done. But it almost made it worse. The dishonesty that the couple had practiced with the department for months caught up with them. That was even without anyone finding out about Corey’s drug problem.
Being after Dr. Cain’s regular office hours it is she who waits for Eileen in the outer office not her assistant. “Come right in Eileen, I’ve been expecting you.” The two women take seats in Dr. Cain’s office. Eileen on the couch and Cain in a high back chair. “So I understand you had an eventful day.”
“More eventful than the last week at the airport if that is what you mean,” Officer McCoy replies.
“Made a new friend I understand,” Dr. Cain says catching Eileen by surprise. The only person she told about Diana was Sgt. Hopkins.
“I’m not sure what you are talking about?” Eileen replies.
“Okay, why don’t you tell me what happened today then,” Dr Cain asks. Eileen explains the events of the day leaving out her lunch date and waking up to find Diana in the back of the truck. “I must have been given bad information then,” Dr. Cain says when Eileen finishes her report. “You know that these sessions only help if you are total honest, we have disgusted that before.”
Eileen is irritated when Dr. Cain brings her honesty into question. She has never lied to Cain only withheld details. “Why is my honesty always in question?” Eileen demands. “I have never once lied to you, can you say the same?”
“What about your marriage to Officer Byrnes?” Cain accuses.
“I never lied about that I just never mentioned it,” Eileen responds.
“What are you not mentioning this evening?” Dr. Cain questions. “I am fully cleared to listen to all police matters, there is no reason to withhold anything.” Eileen doesn’t respond. “If you what to be done with the airport, it all hangs on my report.” The doctor takes a stance Eileen has never seen.
“There is much more at play here than most people can comprehend,” Eileen begins making Dr, Cain feel uncomfortable knowing she has secrets of her own. “Do you have any idea what Lt. Redmayne did in Philadelphia?”
“She was on a special unit, her experience there moved her up through the ranks quickly,” Dr. Cain tells the cop. “But we are not here to talk about Lt. Redmayne.”
“In a way we are,” Eileen begins. “From the time she arrived here she has singled me out for case that are special.”
“Why do you believe she did this?” Dr. Cain asks.
“I met two of her co-workers when I was in Boston, they introduced me to their “Specialty”.” Officer McCoy explains.
“And what was this “Specialty?” Cain requests. Eileen is reluctant to tell the doctor, thinking it might seal her fate. Saying super-human people exist does not look good on a psych evaluation.
“I was a damned good cop before all of this happened to me!” Eileen affirms. “When Redmayne showed up here I wanted nothing to do with her secrets, special unit!” “I told her NO!” “But she wouldn’t take no for an answer!” “She sent Corey and I on cases that put both our lives at undue risk!”
“You are police officers, isn’t that your job?” Dr. Cain suggests.
“Not like this!” Eileen exclaims. “In the past year I have seen things that should be impossible!”
“What kind of things?” Cain asks on the edge of her seat. At last a breakthrough!
Eileen finally just breaks down, it has all been too much to hold inside for too long. “Men aging hundreds of years in seconds, then vanishing.” “Witches! real live witches!” “Musicians who control people’s minds!” “Bulletproof women!” “Drug dealers who’s screams are deadly!” “Women who seduce men into being murderers!” “Cultists that rape and murder to steal power!” Eileen is left sobbing on the couch when she finishes. “It is too much too bare, I’m near overload!” Wiping her tears she is surprised to see Dr. Cain is not at all alarmed by her outburst.
“Doesn’t that feel better?” Dr. Cain asks. “So Redmayne has been running a secret Zeni-human unit?”
The words are like music to Eileen’s ears, “You know about Zeni-humans?” she asks wiping the tears from her eyes.
“My Great-grandmother told me about such things,” Dr. Cain explains. “I have never met such people, but I know they exist.” “Was that girl today one?”
It is back to the girl that she has never mentioned to anyone beyond Sgt. Hopkins. She glares at Dr. Cain for a moment, not sure what to say. “I think so,” Eileen mumbles before she knows what she is saying.
“Why did you deny it before?” Dr. Cain quizzed.
“When the girl disappeared, I feared it was another of Redmayne’s tests.” Officer McCoy answers. “I didn’t want to feed into her plans.”
“What do you believe her plans are?” Cain asks taking notes on her pad.
“I have no idea, but I know what happened at Christmas did not play into them,” McCoy reveals. “The bust Corey and I participated in was all too human for her tastes.” “I have no idea why or how she keeps finding these Zeni-human cases to throw us into.”
“Is it possible that she believes you have a potential that you are unaware of?” Dr. Cain proposes.
“What me a Zeni-human?” Eileen retorts. “That is ridiculous, I’m as human as they come!” Having regained her composure Eileen thinks, “How is it your Great-grandmother knew about Zeni-humans?”
Dr. Cain is not one to share her personal life with patients but this is a special case. Eileen McCoy is a special case. She could be the one to get her out from under Cifredo’s thumb. Cain has no idea what Cifredo wants with Eileen McCoy. She has spied on many people over the years for Cifredo but McCoy is the first target of his that has a chance of stopping him. She is both a cop and smart, she knows about things of which Cifredo has no idea. Redmayne may be her superior by Cifredo threatens her very life. She must take this chance to free herself. Dr. Cain gets up from her chair and walks around her desk. Silently she lifts a recorder from the drawer and clicks it off. “You know a lot about the world, maybe more than you realize, but there is more.” “In the history of the world, Zeni-humans are relatively new.” “Long before Zeni-humans there was something else, something different.” “As humanity evolved and grew these people slipped between the cracks.” “My Great-grandmother was one of those people who was versed these old ways.”
Eileen is taken aback by what her doctor says to her. She has too much to deal with now to ask any more. “So you understand what I’ve been through these past months,” she begins not sure what to say.
“I have a much better understanding now of why you have been holding back,” Dr. Cain explains. “Perhaps now we can truly work together.”
“I think I would like that,” Eileen says with a smile. It is such a relief for her that she can now talk bluntly about what Redmayne has put her through, perhaps together they can even figure out the Lt. Redmayne’s true motives.