Storm Chaser: Chapter 20

Chapter 20

Later, when Andre had returned to his drawings, Elena sat on Mateo’s couch while he began to unpack the crates.

“It isn’t so bad actually,” Mateo said. “Nate was never really in Therese’s aegis so who he marries is less of a concern for her.” Mateo looked up at Elena, a sarcastic grin on his face. For a second Elena was reminded of old pictures of their grandfather.

‘Except for the eyebrow of course,’ Elena thought. Mateo’s left eyebrow had a scar cutting across it. ‘Without that they could have passed for twins.’

“Of course I was informed I needed to set my sights higher.”

“Uh, huh,” Elena said shaking her head. “Did you tell her you were holding out for a pot head?”

“You could at least pretend not to know my best lines.” Mateo said with a fake pout.

“Sorry, of course,” Elena corrected. “And what was your of so wise and noble comment to this suggestion of our dear cousin Therese?” Elena tried for serious but broke out into a grin midway through. Mateo grabbed a pillow from the chair near him and threw it at her. “I don’t think she has to worry.”

“About me not marrying up?” Mateo asked.

“About you marrying.”
“I could marry,” Mateo said.

“Uh huh.” Mateo had always been known for flitting from woman to woman like a hummingbird in a field of flowers.

“It could happen,” Mateo said. “Eventually.”

“Whatever you say.”

“It isn’t like your are rushing to the alter either,” he said.

“True enough,” Elena replied, thinking over her last few boyfriends. While they had all been fun in their own way none of them had been people she wanted to spend the rest of her life with. She shrugged.

“Of course this way we can both end up in the old folks home together and have wheelchair races in the corridors.”

“True,” Elena said. “As long as Therese gets married and ends up in some other nursing home. Otherwise I am allowed to play senile and run over her toes every chance I get.”

“Only the left one. As I am older I have prior claim to the right.”

“You are only older by three days,” Elena said tossing the pillow back at him.

“Still counts.” Mateo extracted a large box from inside the crate and set it carefully aside. A few other boxes had been treated likewise while his tools had received less care in their placement.

“So what exactly is this thing of yours supposed to do?”

“Well,” Mateo said, brightening as he focused on a new invention. “In layman’s terms, since you think technology consists of a big red magic button. You know how when a channel is opened it is almost as if the ship is sliding down? Almost like it was going over a waterfall?”

“I do know that magic red buttons come in a variety of sizes,” Elena told him. “And yeah, it is the point where gravity takes over. But that is only in a sky to land channel. It is different land to sky or sky to sky.”

“Exactly,” Mateo continued, ignoring the red button logic. “Well you mentioned that the one that was drawing you the most in your dreams and on the ship, so I worked on that one first.” Mateo paused. “You did mention that you knew it was sky to land on ship and not just in dreams right?”

“Yes,” Elena said with a nod. “I made notes in my log book but copied them out for you. They are at the store.”

“Good well these will work then. This system is designed to act as a dam against the waterfall effect. It should stop the ship from being pulled into the new channel while we study it. That way you won’t have to divide your energies between guiding the ship and the new channel.”

“That sounds like a good plan,” Elena said turning it over in her head. Part of her energy drain had come from her trying to keep the ship on course and open the channel at the same time. Since normally the newly opened channel was the ship’s course it had been difficult. Elena’s cell phone rang, jarring her out of her thoughts.

“Go ahead and answer it,” Mateo told her as he reached for another crate. As the number was from the imports store she clicked the button to receive the call.

“Hello, Elena?” Susan’s voice rolled out at Elena’s greeting.

“Yes, is something wrong Susan?”
“No at least I don’t think so. Your grandfather is here and he has asked to see you and your cousin. I told him you had taken a personal day but he did say he needed to see you.”

“Of course Susan,” Elena said. “Tell him we’ll be right over.” Elena hung up and stood.

“Problems?” Mateo asked.

“Grandfather is in town early and wants to see us now. He also didn’t call me directly on his own cell phone.”

“I’ll get my coat.”

Storm Chaser: Chapter 19

Just got back from Wyoming.

Chapter 19

The next morning Elena stood on the corner in front of All Wrapped Up with Andre. Together they watched her cousin direct the unloading of his moving van. Two large men worked following his waving arm movements. Nearly everything that came off the truck was packed in small wooden crates.

“Do you think any of that is actual clothing and things or is it all scientific type equipment?” Andre asked. He took a sip of coffee from his travel mug as they watched yet another crate make its way up the back stair case. Elena shrugged and took a sip from her own travel mug.

“With Andre, it is possible. The apartment comes furnished at least so he won’t actually be making furniture out of the empty crates this time.”

“This time?”

“Yeah,” Elena said with a nod. “He did that in one of his other places.” Elena grinned. “Grandfather nearly skinned him alive for it during a surprise visit and made him promise to rent only furnished places until he married someone with sense.”

“Ah,” he said. The flow of crates stopped and each of the large men grabbed a large black duffle bag from the back of the truck. Each of the bags looked large enough to hold an average size man.

“See,” Elena said gesturing to the bags. “I bet those are clothes, sheets and towels. He doesn’t cook any more than you do so he wouldn’t need much in the way of kitchen supplies.”

“I will be living above a sandwich shop,” Mateo said walking towards them. “Why would I need to cook?” He grabbed Elena in a bear hug and swung her around in a big circle, her feet dangling a few inches above the ground. He dropped her back in place. “And you must be Andre,” he concluded.

“If I must,” Andre said with a grin.

“I have to say, you don’t really look much like your infamous cousin.”

“You don’t look much like your infamous cousin either,” Andre returned, inclining his head towards Elena.

“Only because you haven’t seen me in a dress,” Mateo replied.

“He hasn’t seen me in a dress either,” Elena told him.

“I don’t doubt it. Such things are usually reserved for affairs of state.” Mateo looked over towards his movers who were patiently waiting with the final paperwork. “Hold on a sec.” Mateo turned and signed his name with a flourish. The movers took their now empty truck and trundled away. “So I’ve worked up a system for testing the new channels or potential channels.”

“Don’t you want to unpack and settle in first?” Elena asked with a smile. Mateo waved away the comment.

“I can do that later,” he said. “But I need my notes. I kept them separate.” His stomach rumbled. “I also need breakfast.”

“There is a diner down the street,” Elena said.

“Excellent, I’ll grab my stuff and we can go.” Mateo turned and fairly bounced up the stairs and into his new apartment.

“Is he always so…” Andre began.

“Only when he has a project,” She told him. “He calms down once it isn’t quite so new anymore.”

“Like a new toy at Christmas.” Andre said as Mateo reappeared with a messenger’s bag over his shoulder.

“Something like that,” Elena confirmed.

“Something like what?” Mateo asked.

“Andre wanted to know if you were always this manic or if you had skipped your meds.”

“I never used the word meds,” Andre said.

“True, that was my term.”

“I am merely excited by this new venture of yours,” Mateo said with exaggerated dignity. He managed to hold an affronted pose for the space of a few heart beats before a grin swept over his face. “And if they medicated me I wouldn’t be as brilliant.”

“Of course not,” Elena said. “Oh speaking of brilliance,” she continued as they began walking towards the diner. “I need a brilliant name for a recipe.” She pulled out a recipe card where she had copied Consuelo’s chicken dish with the names of the ingredients changed to fit the items in the store. She handed it to Mateo who read it and passed it to Andre while she related Smith’s visit and subsequent thievery. Mateo frowned, his good humor dimmed.

“I’m not so sure I like this Smith character. Does he come often into your home?”

“No he usually stops at the door. And hopefully that will come to an end.”

“So what are you going to do about the theft?” Andre asked.

“Well,” Elena said with a wicked grin. “Since he enjoyed one ingredient so much I figured I’d send him a small gift basket with a recipe card and let him know that all of the ingredients are available for purchase at Nibbles, should he run out.” Both men chuckled.

“Sounds like you had an interesting night,” Mateo said.

“You don’t know the half of it.” Elena replied. “I also got a couple of very interesting letters. I am going to have to figure out a response.” She told them about the relocation request and the near desperate test subject volunteer.

“Do you think it is safe to bring more in with the military watching?” Andre asked with a frown.

“I don’t know. Someone smart is pulling Smith’s strings and they are bound to notice more pilots in the area.”

“Why?” Mateo asked.

“The military isn’t stupid.” Elena said with a shrug.

“I realize that but why would they connect Jasmine or Maria with the guild? Jasmine is grounded and might not have her own ship and even if she did it would stay up at Grant’s Inlet, as would Maria’s. You have other female friends. Smith can’t suspect all of them of being pilots.”

“True but he could look into new people,” Andre commented.

“Do you think he has a complete list of everyone Elena knows in town? The two women could just be friends of hers. He may not even realize they just moved here.”

“My other friends have obvious jobs though,” Elena said, slightly uncomfortable with the fact that she might have caused her friends to be investigated. All three fell silent as they reached the diner. Andre tugged the door open and the scent of bacon and coffee engulfed them. The hostess pointed them towards an empty table and told them their waitress would be right with them.

“They would have to have jobs,” Mateo said as they settled. “Or at least look like it.”

“Maybe they could set themselves up as consultants,” Elena said thinking of the new firm moving in around the corner from Nibbles.

“But consultants of what?” Andre asked as he opened his menu. “People will want to know.”

“I don’t know if you have to state it,” Elena said. “There is a place called Zolotoy Consultants moving in around the corner and there is no notice of hat they consult in.”

“Obviously they’d have to say something,” Mateo said. “Even if it was gibberish sounding. I bet we could make something up. It would have to not relate to the guild though.”

“Did you say Zolotoy?” Andre said with a frown.

“Yeah, that’s what the sigh said,” Elena told him. “Why?”

“No reason,” Andre said. “I’m sure it is just a coincidence but Zolotoy is Russian for gold.” Elena and Mateo looked at Andre and then at each other.

“You don’t think…” Elena began.

“That Peter would set up a faux consulting firm to be on hand to watch his investments?” Andre finished, a sardonic smile on his lips. “It would be fitting.”

“Great, something else to worry about,” Elena muttered. Mateo just grinned. The waitress arrived and they put in their breakfast orders. “What’s so funny?” she asked when the waitress left.

“Nothing really,” Mateo answered. “Just amused by the fact that you now have to deal with politics and that I still don’t because you are my head of house and therefore I am protected. I just have to work on the tasks assigned me.”

“Thanks a lot,” She told him.

“Don’t mention it. Speaking of the tasks assigned to me. I think I have some safety features you might be interested in.” Mateo pulled a large file folder from his bag and passed it over. Elena began flipping through scaled down images of schematics. She sighed.

“You know techno speak isn’t my first language,” she told her cousin.

“Actually I don’t think it is even your second or third.” He responded with a grin. Andre alighted. “There is a sheet with just the details in the back.” The plates arrived and Elena pulled the last sheet from the folder.

“You could have put this on the top.”

“True,” Mateo said taking a bite of scrambled eggs. “But then I wouldn’t have seen your face when you had to page through the schematics.” Elena shook her head and scanned over the simplified text. Essentially Mateo had outlined a plan to keep both her and the ship safe while investigating this new ability. She could see it involved several gadgets which was probably the reason for Mateo’s good humor and manic energy.

“How long will the build out take?” she asked taking a bite of her own omelet.

“Most of it is already done,” Mateo told her, gesturing with his fork. “That’s what the boxes were. It mostly just needs assembly and transport. Kind of like a giant jigsaw.” Elena passed the sheet to Andre. His eyes got wide as he read down the list. He passed it back.

“So you really are as good as they say huh?” Andre commented. “That could really get annoying.”

“He’s only that good if it works.” Elena said. Mateo frowned at her.

“Have you ever known my toys not to work?”

“Not once you say they are ready for the field test,” she admitted.

“They are ready for the field test. Or will be once assembled.”

“That,” Elena said pointing her fork at him “is why you are so annoying.”

Storm Chaser: Chapter 18

Chapter 18

Elena stared at the empty spot on her counter for a second and then let out a heavy sigh. She took a second sip of wine and closed her eyes.

“I will not let this ruin my meal,” she told herself. I will think about other things and enjoy my dinner. Then I will throw things.” She opened her eyes and picked up her fork. While her dinner had cooled slightly it was still hot. “I would have had to let it cool a bit before eating anyway,” she told herself. Spin came out of the back room where she had skittered off to when Smith and Jonathan had come in. The cat had a decided aversion to both men. She returned to watching Elena’s plate with soulful eyes. Elena sighed and cut a small bite of chicken from her plate. She dropped it into Spin’s bowl where the cat immediately pounced.

“I knew I’d give in first,” she said. “The force is strong with you,” she told Spin. The cat ignored her, giving the chicken her full attention. Elena decided to do likewise and began eating. It was fully as good as the smells had promised. Her mind still threatened to dwell on the missing powdered geras so she pulled her stack of mail towards her and began sorting through it as she ate. As she had suspected the mass of the pile was junk mail. She weeded out the credit card offers to shred and put the circulars in another pile for the trash. Most of them were for stores she didn’t even shop in. All of her bills were on-line at this point as were most of her family and friends communications. It made actual mail rather rare. She did have a couple of promising letters though. The first she noticed was a small invitation on thick, cream colored stationary. The Calabrese crest was intertwined with a second crest she didn’t recognize on a sticker used as a seal. Elena slit the envelope open while avoiding breaking the seal. It was an invitation to her cousin Nate’s wedding. She recalled her grandfather saying he was marrying a pilot.

“That must be her crest.” The fact that both the crests were on the envelope was somewhat significant, socially at least. Since Nate’s soon to be wife was a pilot the invitation should have borne her crest alone. The fact that it had both crests embossed equally meant that the Calabrese family was higher on the social food chain.

“Therese must love that,” Elena muttered forking up another bit. To Therese’s mind the only way to marry was up. Elena wondered if Therese was causing any problems for their new family. She tapped the invitation thoughtfully. Mateo might know. She would ask when he arrived in the morning to begin his move into the apartment above All Wrapped Up, the sandwich and wrap place a few blocks over. Elena noticed a small note in the envelope and pulled it free. She recognized her Aunt’s handwriting from numerous birthday and Christmas cards.

“I’ve already put you on the RSVP list so you don’t need to send the card in. See you in the Fall, Love Aunt C.” Elena shook her head with a smile at the note. Apparently she would be going to the wedding. She put the invitation to the side to mark on her calendar later. The second actual piece of mail was for a baby shower and Elena put it on top of Nate’s wedding invitation. She would check her calendar for that date as well. That left two final pieces of mail to deal with. Both were in the blue international envelopes and were thin to save on postage. Elena opened the first one. It was a very short letter and she read it twice. She blinked hard. The wording didn’t change. She resisted the urge to read it out loud incase the kitchen were still bugged. The letter was from a woman named Maria Sanchez. Elena flipped over the envelope. The post markings were from Madrid. The letter was a request for transferring to Elena’s home port of Grant’s Inlet. It listed several contact names for references including Maria’s own head of House.

“Huh,” Elena said leaning back in her chair. She took another sip of wine. She didn’t know what was involved with such a transfer. She knew that to get her cousin Mateo to work with her paperwork had to be done so that she was his head of House rather than his mother, Catherine. “But that’s family,” she said to herself. Her self taught crash course in what rights the title Head of House granted her didn’t cover non family transfers. Elena had the feeling she would need to call her grandfather for some pointers as well as council advice before contacting Maria or any of her listed references. Elena slid the letter back into its envelope and set it down with the invitations in what was now the things to check on pile. She picked up the second international envelope and spit it open with her thumb. She checked the address before sliding the letter out. Hong Kong. The pulled the letter from its envelope and opened it. This letter was a little longer.

“Damn,” Elena said. The letter was from Jasmine Anderson. Jasmine was a pilot who had been grounded. She was also blood tied to both Riko and council member Anderson. Elena thought she vaguely remembered meeting Jasmine a while back although she was somewhat younger than Elena. Apparently Jasmine had heard Elena had solved the problem of the Calling and that she and Mateo were working on a solution to un-ground pilots affected with the Calling.

“Make that my supernaturally brilliant cousin,” Elena said reading the line aloud. “I’m sure he will love that.” Elena wondered what the gossip going around was. Elena shook her head. In the letter it sounded almost like Jasmine was volunteering to be a test subject for whatever she and Mateo were concocting.

“Of course she could be a spy,” Elena muttered, thinking of Riko. She refolded the letter and put it in the stack. “Well hell,” she said. The tone of the letter had sounded almost desperate and Elena wondered how bad her current situation was. She didn’t have the heart to ignore the letter but at the moment she didn’t have the understanding to answer it.

“Alexandro would,” she said thinking of her grandfather. She looked down to see Spin staring at her forgotten plate. Elena picked up the plate and walked over to Spin’s bowl. She added a few of the remaining bits of chicken to the cat’s dish and then began to clean up from dinner. She put spices in the cabinet and left over’s in the fridge. Dishes were washed and set to dry.

“I need to talk to him,” she decided. The problem she faced was how. She of course had his numbers and as long as it wasn’t Sunday he would answer the phone regardless of what hour she called. However she was pretty sure the apartment was still bugged as was the car and she had no idea about the shops or even Andre’s apartment. Somehow letting Smith know there was the potential to have more pilots moving into his vicinity didn’t seem like a bright idea.

“Although I’m sure he’d pick up on it sooner or later.” Elena thought about it a second remembering the earpiece Smith often wore during their interviews and how he would cock his head to the side a little as if listening to instructions. She often had the feeling that Smith was the blustering, bumbling front man the military put out so that she would think they were inept while the bright boys worked behind the scenes. “Well maybe not Smith, but someone.” Alexandro would be coming into town for the grand opening of Nibbles. That was only a few days away, perhaps the matter could wait and she could talk to him in his hotel room. After all they couldn’t have bugged every hotel room in the city.”

“Could they?” she asked Spin. Spin looked up from her bowl, gave Elena a rather sardonic look and went back to her chicken.