Jason Low as Project HEARD presents DIMENSION OUT OF RANGE NOW, AND ALWAYS 12 JUNE 2019 ATLANTA, GEORGIA The day was a beautiful one, the sun shining and birds chirping, not a cloud in the sky. It was the perfect day for a wedding. A crowd of about 350 people gathered in the front yard of the church, watching the main group, consisting of about 20 people, have their pictures taken. There was a series of tables set along the side of the yard with plenty of food and, of course, the wedding cake right in the center. Jason Low was not one of the twenty, but he was hanging around near said group, waiting for some of his friends and relatives to finish with the photo shoot and return to him. He smiled and shook his head, watching the photographer arrange the group for the best shot. One thing he'd never expected was Seance and Genn to get hooked up. His eyes wandered away from the group briefly, passing over the tables with the food and wedding cake on them. Something odd caught his eye, and he did a double-take, only then noticing the man near the tables steal a glance at him and walk away. What Jason had seen was the man putting a bag down beside the center table, with the cake on it. From his vantage point, Jay thought it looked like there was something about the size of a shoebox inside the bag. Jason said, slowly making his way over to the table, Jason picked up the bag as he got to the table, then swiftly walked up the steps of the church and inside, unnoticed by the throng of people concentrating on the wedding festivities. Once inside, he perched on a pew in the main hall, setting the bag beside him and sliding the plastic bag out from around the box. As he raised the lid on the box, his eyes widened and he activated his bio- implant's communications system. [Brianna, I need you. Now.] [I'm a bridesmaid, I just can't up and leave!] she protested. [I really would like your company right now,] he urged. [I'm almost done with the photo,] she told him. [Ten more seconds.] [That'll give me about eighty left,] he said, immediately sending her an image of the bomb in the box, as seen through his eyes: A timer and five sticks of something, as if the device was straight out of an old cheesy movie. [What the heck?!] Brianna said. [If you see this guy out there,] Jason added, sending her an image of the fellow who'd put down the bag, [get someone to hang onto him.] [Okay,] she sent with some urgency. [I'm coming.] Jason leaned over to inspect the device more closely. The timer was counting down, as mentioned, from about ninety seconds. The sticks of whatever-they-were weren't dynamite, but easily could've been home- brewed pipe bombs. Everything was connected with the same colored wire, and it was set up in such a way that he wouldn't have a hope in hell of disconnecting it before the timer ran out. Jason heard footsteps behind him and said without looking up, "Good, I'm glad you're here." By the time he realized the footfalls were of a man's shoe and not a woman's, the person was already saying, "Are you really?" Jason stood up and turned around to see the man who'd planted the bomb standing directly in front of him. He was stunned into silence for a moment, which allowed the man to continue speaking. "You do realize you have no hope of stopping it, don't you?" he sneered. "Besides, what you have there is the lesser of two evils. A distraction of sorts. My.. employer, if you will, had great foresight. He had very special plans for this day, plans that even survived his death. My final objective is to see those plans through to fruition. You have NO idea of the power you're dealing with.. this CANNOT be stopped." The man grinned. "Give my best to the newlyweds," he said, lifting his hand high. "For what little time they have left together." He threw a scroll to the ground, and it belched out thick grey smoke, enveloping him instantly. As it dissipated, the man and the scroll were gone. Jason looked down and saw that the timer was down to 15 seconds. He pushed the box and contents back into the bag and leapt to his feet, just as Brianna was entering the church. "Jay! Wait, I'm here!" she called out, running after him as he sprinted for the back door. She followed, restricted by her clothing to running only as fast as he was, and caught up as he stopped at the back door and shot-putted the plastic bag and its contents into the church's back yard. The bag bounced once, tumbled and spilled its contents at the base of a small tree, and a moment later, everything exploded in a burst of light and smoke. "DOWN!" Brianna hollered, throwing her body over Jason's and knocking them both to the floor. The effects of the blast washed over them from afar; they felt a slight bit of warmth and smelled some smoke, essentially. Brianna lifted her head and smiled at Jason. "Hi," she said. "You okay?" He smiled back and said, "You know, the GUY is supposed to be the one covering the damsel in distress, not the other way 'round." "Do I look like a damsel in distress to you?" Brianna grinned back. "No, but Genn might if we don't move fast," he said, extracting himself out from under her and standing up. She took his proffered hand and allowed herself to be helped to her feet. "What do you mean?" "The joker who planted this thing," Jay said, heading outside and around to the front, "said there was more, and furthermore, he said that Genn and Seance's time on this world would be limited." He shook his head and corrected himself. "Actually, he said he wished them the best of luck in their brief time left together. But you know, six of one.." Brianna nodded. "Half a dozen of the other," she finished the sentence, coming around the corner into the church's front yard. Waiting for them were about 348 people wearing surprised, confused expressions, waiting for someone to explain just what was going on. "Everyone stay put," Bri' called out. "That was probably just someone's silly idea of a practical joke, but we'll have to check the place out just to be safe." Gina and her daughter Megan sprang into action checking the gifts, while Brian and the Low children, George and Julia, examined the area of the food tables. Brianna and Jay inspected the limousine due to whisk Genn and Seance away later in the afternoon. "By the way," Megan said to her mother as they inspected the gifts for any odd or ticking ones, "May I please borrow a car next week?" "When next week?" Gina wanted to know. "Um, all of it." "What do you think you're up to?" Gina asked. "Just a little something offshore," Megan said. "We found--" Gina cut her daughter off by shaking her head. "No, you don't have 'little somethings'. You don't go out on your own." "But I won't be on my own!" Megan protested. "George and Julia are coming with me and we're all gonna pick up Alex in Charleston on the way!" "You better rethink your plans, young lady," Gina said. "Because unless you have at LEAST one adult with you, you're not going anywhere." "Don't you understand?" Megan pushed. "We wanna do it all on our own!" "This is neither the place nor the time," Gina said with an air of finality. "We've got work to do here." Brianna and Jay had checked the front, outside, underside, and trunk of the driverless, AI-controlled limousine car, and were in the back, in the passenger compartment. "Hello," Brianna said from inside, "what's this?" "What's what?" Jason said, leaning into the open doorway. Brianna picked up a scroll from the rearward-facing seat across from her and sat back to read it. "Be careful," Jay suggested. Bri' smiled. "Don't worry, I will be." She read the scroll aloud: "To the happy couple. By now, you're already enjoying my gift to you, whether you know it or not. It is from the heart that I give this to you.. especially to Genn. I've never forgotten about you. And I promise that the gift will last a lifetime." "That's it?" Jay said. "That's it," Bri' answered, turning the scroll over. "Nothing about what it is, or who it's from.." "Well, the guy I was talking to said it was basically from beyond the grave," Jay said. "So I think we probably got a good idea of who it's from." He climbed into the car. "Here, let me take a better look at that." As he sat on the car's seat. a bright flash of magic energy filled the cabin with a poofing noise. Brian came running over to the car. "You guys all right?" he said urgently. "Yeah," Jay said. "Just little miss shoot-first-and-ask-questions-later set off a trap here." "*I* did??" Brianna shot back. "YOU'RE the one who put his ass on the seat! Now get it OFF the seat so I can get outta here!" The two of them extricated themselves from the car, grumbling, as Genn and Seance hurried over. "Are you two all right?!" Genn asked. "Yeah, yeah, we're okay," Jason said. He looked over his shoulder and shrugged. "Well, here's your car.. I guess we must've set off the trap." "Whaddaya mean 'we', clumsy?" Brianna griped. Jason ignored it and said to Genn, "So I guess it's safe for you." "If it's all the same to you," Genn said, holding on to Seance, "I think we'll find another way to head off tonight. I just hope that you two weren't affected." Jason shrugged. "I think it was just a flash-bang like the first device," he said. "If it was something, I don't think it affected us." "Of course it didn't affect us, you twit," Brianna murmured beside Jason. "It was designed for them!" "Will you SHUT UP?!" he snapped back at her. Brian and Gina quickly got in between the two. "Guys! Guys!" Brian said. "Take it easy!" "Yeah," Gina said. "Nobody's at fault except the prankster who did this. What happened to him, by the way?" "He teleported himself away or something with a scroll," Jay explained, "just as the first bomb was about to explode." Brianna scoffed. "Typical. *I* would've caught him." Jason appeared to be biting his tongue, trying to hold in a bitter retort. The crowd around dissipated, and everyone eventually sat down to dinner. Halfway through the dinner, as Ryan Tabbot was up toasting the new couple, Brianna leaned over and whispered to Jay, "That is the stupidest thing you have done in a long, long time. And I mean that." "Well, gee, thanks for telling me that right now," Jay shot back quietly. George, the younger of the two Low children by ninety seconds, with a mop of short brown hair topped off with black spots, blue eyes, and pointed catlike ears, looked at his sister Julia, also brown-haired with spots and hazel-eyed. She looked back at him with the same uneasy expression on her face. "Is it okay for us to go see Megan for a bit, so we can plan a trip we're going to be taking?" George asked his parents. "Sure," Jay said. "No," Brianna bit out. "We're going home." "Awww.." Julia said. "Why?" "Don't punish them because you're feeling snarky," Jason frowned at Brianna. "I'm not 'feeling snarky', she snapped back. "I just want to go home." "Fine, we'll go home," Jason said, rolling his eyes. They got up at the end of dinner and found Genn and Seance to say their goodbyes. Jason was congratulating Seance while Genn wrapped her arms around Brianna and smiled. "Thanks again for today," Genn said. "Aw, it was nothin'," Brianna smiled. Gina approached, along with Brian. "Now," Gina said, "You two go home and get some rest, okay? You've had a long, stressful day with that bomb thing." "We will," Jason said. Brianna leaned towards Gina and whispered, "If he gets any rest tonight, it'll have to be on the couch or in his truck, 'cause he ain't gettin' in the same bed with me." Gina looked with concern at her sister. "Brianna.. is everything okay?" "Yeah," Brianna said dismissively. "It's just, it's my best friend's wedding, and my stupid annoying husband has to be a complete bastard about it." Gina decided not to get into it any further. "Okay," she said. "Well, stay in touch, all right?" Bri' smiled and waved to her sister. "Sure," she said. Jay was walking to the driver's side of the truck when Brianna strode up, elbowed him aside, and climbed in. He stared at her for a moment, then finally said, "Fine! I'm tired anyway," and stomped to the passenger side. The kids were about to climb into the back seats when they both heard a voice over their bio-implants. [Kids?] Gina said, and they turned to look at her. [Keep an eye on them,] Gina urged. [But be discreet. Don't arouse suspicion. If anything weird happens, get a hold of me, okay? I get the feeling something's up, but I can't act on it without proof.] They nodded and added their silent affirmatives to the bio-implant link, and then got into the truck to the sounds of more bickering from the front seats. The next morning, Brianna stopped by the living room on her way in from her run and gave the unconscious lump on it a kick. "Get up." "Unnnnh," it said. "I said get up!" she repeated, pushing Jason off the couch onto the floor with her foot. He looked blearily up at her, outfitted in her runners, tight shorts, and tight "Work Hard/PLAY HARD" T-shirt. he told himself. "What the hell do you want?" he said. "You're going to clean up your workshop today," she said. "What?" he responded. "Why?" "Because I'm sick and tired of seeing that mess," she said flatly, turning around and heading out of the room. "You CONTRIBUTED part of that mess," he pointed out. "Just do it, dammit!" she said as she left the room. He got up off the floor, tossing the blanket he'd been using onto the couch and stomping his way into the lab/workshop area. The rest of the day continued on in similar fashion: Jay showed up for lunch and Brianna had only made enough for herself. He went into the fridge for a glass of milk, but she'd drank the last of it. She wanted to watch a gun competition on TV, but he was busy watching a movie. That night, Brianna got up from her chair after reading a magazine and said, "I'm goin' to bed. G'nite, kids." "Night, mom," the twins stereoed. "And as for you, you're back on the couch," she shot over to Jason. "Just as well," Jason groused, making a face. "You smell like you bathed in a seafood sauce today." "Hey! I don't complain about the stench from your bacon cheeseburgers," she answered, "so you don't gripe about my food, okay?" She stormed off alone to their bedroom. Julia and George waited for a moment until their mother had left the room, then turned to their father. Julia said, "Dad, we need to talk." "Sure, honey," he said as pleasantly as ever. "About what?" "Don't you think you and Mom are being a little hard on each other lately?" she said. "Your mother," he said, shifting to a supine position on the couch, "is just being stupid." "No, she's not," Julia countered. "You two haven't stopped fighting since the wedding. Don't you see a connection there?" "Yeah," Jay nodded. "That's when she started pissin' me off." "That's not what we mean and you know it," George said. "Ever since that moment that the thing in the car went off, you two've been at each other's throats! Don't you think it's possible that it could've affected you?" He sat up again and spread his arms wide. "But it DIDN'T affect me, I feel great! I'm perfectly fine." He lay back down again. "If anyone was affected, it was more likely your mother--SHE was the one holding the scroll. (Shouldn'a picked it up in the first place..)" "See?!" Julia said, pointing accusingly as if the words were hanging right in front of her father's mouth as he spoke them. "That's what I mean!" "Please," George said. "Just promise us.. tomorrow.. we will ALL sit down together and try to work it out.. and if it doesn't work.. we'll talk to Aunt Gina." He shrugged. "I don't see what Gina can do, and I don't see how your mother and I can see eye to eye right now, but for you, I'll do it." The next morning found the four of them seated at the kitchen table. Brianna and Jason were faced off on opposite sides, like negotiators at an arms control summit, complete with the harsh stares. Julia and George took the seats on each side, acting as mediators in the supposedly neutral territory. Julia began: "Mom, what happened on the wedding day that made you so upset with Dad?" "It was when he pulled that bonehead move of stepping into the car and setting off the trap," Brianna said flatly. "Did he know it was there?" "Well, of course! We WERE looking for it." "Yes, but I mean.. did he know it was RIGHT there? Exactly where you guys were?" "Well, he should've been keeping his eyes open for it." Julia tried a different angle: "You sat down on the seat, didn't you?" "Well, yeah.." Brianna answered. "Well," Julia said, "Don't you think it would've been reasonable for him to assume that if you were sitting on it already, that he could sit down without any problem?" Brianna paused for a moment. "I.. GUESS so! I don't know!" Julia turned to her father. "Dad, when did you first get upset with Mom?" "When she started accusing me of setting off the device," he said, eyeing the angry Brianna. Julia muttered, "Okay, I think we established that part already." She carried on in normal tones: "Have you been upset with her in a similar way before?" Jay shrugged. "Yeah, probably," he acknowledged. "And were you still angry with her two days later like you are now?" "Probably not," Jay conceded. "But this is different." "How so?" Julia wanted to know. "Everything she does irritates the hell outta me," Jay said with an exasperated sigh. "How about an example?" George asked. "Okay," Jason said, leaning closer. "Naming the make and model of every weapon she sees on TV or in print." "Oh, like you and your fire trucks, huh?" Brianna cut in. She mocked him: "'That there's a 1956 American LaFrance ladder truck..'" George put his hands up and semi-stood. "Hey, hey! We both--we ALL agreed that there'd be no arguing this morning. Remember?" Brianna and Jason mumbled words under their breath as they both calmed down. "Now listen to this," Julia said. "You two started arguing as soon as that thing went off. "Don't you.. CAN'T you accept that your problems are being caused by it?" After a moment she added, "It's almost like a curse." Brianna was the first one to speak, and even so, only quietly. "Now let me tell YOU something, dear," she said at a level just above a whisper. "This isn't something that's happened overnight. It's something that's built up and up and up over the past 25 years, and it just so happens that right now is the breaking point." "Yeah," Jason contributed. "You know, this isn't a curse, but a blessing. "This whole 'curse' has actually opened my eyes to the REAL truth, of how wrong this relationship was from the start." Julia frowned. "Don't say that, Dad. That's the power of the spell talking." "No, it's ME talking," he clarified. "I'm not under any external influence." "Dad.. Mom.." George spoke up. "You need help." "No we don't!" Brianna shot back. "Let us be; it's better this way." "Yeah.. if you try to get us help," Jason stated, matter-of-factly, "You'll only prolong the inevitable and delay our separation." "Good," Brianna said with a nod. "I was HOPING you were gonna bring that up." "Augh!" George exclaimed, burying his face in his hands. "Why is this happening?" Brianna turned and snapped at him, "Oh, stop crying like a baby!" Jason jumped out of his chair into a standing position and pointed at Brianna, shouting, "DON'T YOU RAISE YOUR VOICE AT MY SON!" "Make me!" she shot back. "Mom! Dad! No!" Julia cried out, but it was too late. The two young spectators watched in horror as Jason climbed out of his chair, up onto and down over the table, tackling Brianna to the ground. The two rolled about for several moments, throwing punches at one another (and landing some pretty solid blows from time to time) and ignored their children's cries of protest, until Brianna finally wriggled free and ran off down the corridor. Jason picked himself up and followed suit. She was faster, but there was very little room with which to work; the complex was not large when one could run so fast. Brianna stopped and faced Jay in the truck bay, just as he was arriving. The door shut behind him and he locked it to keep the kids out of the way, then hit the deck as Bri' levelled her GyroJet in his direction. He rolled and crawled along the length of cover provided by the toolbench, until he reached his own gun and snatched it up, standing up and pointing it point-blank at Brianna from about three feet away. He watched her watching him, both of them at a stalemate. "If I shoot you," Jason said evenly, "my kids lose their mother." Brianna shrugged. "If I shoot you, it means I have to recharge this thing." There was a loud banging on the door to the bay just then. "MOM! DAD! STOP!" The two of them listened for a moment to their kids screaming for them, then Jay said, "Maybe we should consider what they're saying. Give them a chance to prove that we're wrong about each other." "Listen, buddy. If you believe what you said earlier, what's the point?" "So what are we gonna do, then?" Jason asked, still sighting down the barrel of his GyroJet into another. "Well, I guess shooting each other is out of the question. ..Though it would be pretty satisfying." Brianna sighed and adopted a pained expression as she lowered her gun. "Dammit, I was in LOVE with you. How could you let me down like that?" "Funny," Jason said, letting his own weapon drop, "I was just thinking the same thing about you." In the hallway, the kids continued to fret, being unable to get through the locked blast door. They slumped down into sitting positions near the hall's terminus at the door, and George looked over to see how his sister was holding up. He blinked as he saw her gripping the spare GyroJet their mother normally kept in her and their father's bedroom. "What in the hell are you doing with that?" he blurted out. "Insurance," she said. "Just in case. Don't worry. It's on Stun, in case it ends up being used." "Goddess, I hope not," he breathed, crouching down beside the door again. Momentarily, that same door slid open and out came their mother, quite calmly. "Mom! Where's Dad? Is he okay?" "He's gone now," she said quietly. Julia took in a breath sharply, and George sputtered in disbelief. Julia grabbed hold of her brother and buried her face in his shoulder; he turned to his mother and said, "I didn't hear any shots.." "Of course not!" she scoffed. "I couldn't bring myself to that.. what I mean is, he departed. Elvis has left the building." "Where?" Julia said, arresting her sobs. She and George edged past their mother to see that the truck bay was empty. "I don't know," Brianna said flatly. "The farther, the better." She turned her back to them and headed out into the hallway. "I'm goin' to the firing range; I have a bunch of energy I need to burn off." The twins stared at each other with troubled expressions as their mother walked down the hall. After a few moments, George headed in the direction his mother had gone, talking to Julia via his bio-implant. [You go into my room and use our private line to contact Aunt Gina,] he told her. [Once I confirm that Mom's really going downstairs, I'll be right with you.] Jason drove down the highway, still muttering to himself. "Dammit.. how could I have been so blind for all these years.." He'd already shut off the truck's phone, anticipating that the kids would try to call him to get him to turn around and return home. He couldn't stay in the same house with a woman who'd pull a gun on him. he told himself. he carried on. Traveling along in the bumper-to-bumper traffic on the 401, he looked up and saw that the next exit was for Highway 400 North, which wound its way up through the central part of the province. After a moment's deliberation, he shoulder-checked and then quickly dove at the offramp. Gina dropped her head into her hands. "Jinkies.. it's as bad as I thought." George and Julia looked out at her from the videophone screen. "Yeah," Julia said, "and it doesn't show signs of it getting any better. She doesn't even have a clue where he went and he turned off the phone, so calling him doesn't work." "Tried the AVL?" Gina asked. "It's not tracking," George said, speaking of the satellite-based automatic vehicle locator. "He must've circumvented it too." "Wouldn't be the first time," Gina muttered, then said in a normal voice, "And neither of them were willing to accept that they're under control of a spell?" Julia shook her head. "That's not entirely true. They said even if they are under a spell, it's helping them to see the truth. That they weren't meant for one another. And that scares me." "I know," Gina said comfortingly. "I can hear and see it. Don't worry, kiddo, they don't really mean it; it's just part of the curse." "I hope you're right," George said. "Trust me," Gina said. "I'm gonna get off now and go to your grandparents' place to see if Dad has any ideas. Are you two safe?" "Oh, yeah," George dismissed. "She's completely happy with him out of here. It's so obviously a curse--she's her usual self until something reminds her of him." "Well, you two hang in there, and I'll get back to you soon as I can," Gina said. "We will," Julia said. "Talk to you soon." "Bye," Gina said. She hung up and turned around to see Megan standing behind her. "Where're we going?" Megan asked. Gina grabbed her glasses and headed towards the exit of the lab, where Brian had suddenly arrived. "WE," Gina said, walking past her daughter, "are going to your grandparents' place for a bit. YOU.. are going to stay right here and do nothing." "Aw, mom.." "'Aw mom' nothing," Gina said. "I mean it, girl, this is dangerous stuff." Megan decided not to argue any more, and turned away slowly. Gina rolled her eyes and joined Brian in heading to the car. Genn awakened and rolled over in bed to find Seance leaning over her with a grin. "'Morning," she said sleepily, smiling back. "Good morning," he said. They kissed a couple of times, and Seance said, "How would the lady like to go out for breakfast this morning?" "The lady would like that very much," Genn smiled, "if you'll let her wake up first." He smiled and stood up. "I could find a way to wake you up if you wanted." She grinned back and sat up in the bed. "Save that for tonight." They got up and went through the usual morning routines, then headed out of their hotel room and down to the parking lot. Genn hmm'ed and said, "The car ended up here after all. Perhaps we should make use of it, since we're paying for it anyway?" "All right," Seance nodded, and led his wife over to the limo. He pulled the door open for her and nearly collapsed. "What is it? What's wrong?" she asked, crouching beside him. "It's.. overpowering," he managed. "What? What?" "The magical residue inside," he said, gesturing weakly to the car. "It's almost like being enveloped in a cloud of smoke." "Are we in any danger?" Genn asked urgently. "No, no; the spell's long since been invoked," he said, struggling to get to his feet, then shaking off the effects of the excess magical energy washing over him. "I just wasn't expecting it." She peeked into the car, and eventually, he did too. "Where's it coming from?" she asked. Seance looked around for a moment, then nodded at the rear seat cushion. "There," he said. She shifted slightly, turning into a somewhat more muscular version of herself, and said, "I'll get it," reaching in and lifting the seat cushion out of the car. They turned it over and saw, tucked in between the springs and the foam, a scroll of parchment. "Oh my," Genn whispered. She pulled it out from its hiding spot and unfurled it, reading it; her brow furrowed and she frowned deeply. "It's a Division Spell," she said. "It's basically designed to make the couple involved magnify their minor differences in opinion, shortcomings, and the like, more and more, until they reach the point of no return and can't stand one another's presence." Seance looked at the scroll. "You can tell all that from the invocation script?" "Um, no.." Genn admitted quietly, shaking her head sadly. "I've seen it.. I've used it before." Seance was surprised to say the least. "What?" "This is all the work of Daen," she said, gesturing to the scroll. "He meant this for me so that we wouldn't be happy. I'm sure of it." "Do you think Brianna and her husband have been affected?" Seance queried. "Most certainly," Genn nodded. "Do you know how to counteract it?" She shook her head. "Yes, but I need the actual scroll for the counterspell. I think I know where there might be one.." Suddenly she seemed renewed with energy. "Brianna got rid of Daen for me.. and now this.. I have to talk to her." She turned and hurried back into the hotel. Seance was caught off-guard, still holding the car's seat. He put it back in and locked up the car, then rushed after Genn. "Oh no!" Genn exclaimed as Seance caught up. "What is it?" Seance asked her, coming up beside her, standing in front of the telephone. "They're not answering the telephone," she said with dismay. "I can't get through to them." "Perhaps you should let Gina know," Seance suggested. Genn nodded and began dialing. Megan answered the telephone when it rang. "Hello?" she said. Genn and Seance were looking out from the screen. "Megan, is your mother there?" Genn asked without preamble. "Uhh.. no," Megan said. "She's gone out in the car to Gramma and Grampa's place, to talk to him. I guess there's some kind of big problem with Auntie Bri' and Uncle Jay." Genn's shoulders sagged. "I was hoping I was wrong," she said. "Listen, when your mother gets in, tell her we're coming back to Atlanta right away, and to wait for us. Then we have to go to Iran." "Iran? What's in Iran?" Megan wanted to know. "We need to go to the place your mother originally rescued me from," Genn said, "and find.. a scroll that I know.. I HOPE.. is still there. Provided the site is still secure and hasn't been plundered." "Okay, Genn, I'll let her know," Megan said. "But what about your honeymoon?" Seance leaned in. "Dear girl," he said, "The two of us have the rest of our lives together. We can have a honeymoon whenever we choose. Your aunt and uncle, though, need dire help straight away." "Okay," Megan nodded. "See you in a while," Genn said, and the connection closed. Megan sat down in the chair and drummed her fingers on the desk, contemplating things. Then, swiftly, she dialed George and Julia's private line. "Hello?" George said, looking relieved to hear from his cousin. "Can you two get away?" Megan said. "Without arousing suspicion?" "Yes," George nodded. "She's mad at Dad, not us." "Good," Megan said in response. "Teleport yourself down here, and bring your adventuring stuff with you." TOLUM GOTE RESIDENCE Mitch stood back and looked at the suitcase on the bed. she told herself, and closed it and zipped it up. As she placed it on the floor beside the one she'd packed for Valsen, the doorbell rang. She viewed the doorway camera via her bio-implant while she headed in that direction; it was a surprise to see Jason Low standing there. "Hello," she said. "How are you?" "Oh, not bad," he smiled back. "Can I come in?" She stepped aside, and as he entered, she said, "Jay, what're you doing here?" "Oh, not much," he shrugged, still smiling. "Just needed someone to talk to." "What--are you okay?" "Yeah.. well, yeah, now I am," he said, leaning against the wall. "Now that I'm away from my wife." "WHAT?" Mitch said. "What's happened?" "Nothing much really," he shrugged. "We just realized we can't stand each other." "Jason, that's garbage and you know it!" Michele said. "You two just had a fight, I'm sure; that's all.." "No, we didn't 'just have a fight'.. we split up, and it's the best thing that's happened to me in years, no matter what anyone says." She led him to the dining room and sat him in a chair, taking another for herself. "'Any'.. who else have you been talking to?" "Oh, the kids were upset," Jason shrugged. "They just can't see it like I do." "Can you blame them?" Mitch returned. "I'm afraid I can't see it that way either.. you'll have to explain it to me from the beginning." "What's to say?" Jason asked, spreading his arms wide in a gesture. "She's an annoying, childish pest." "JASON! You take that back right now!" Mitch blurted out in shock. "Why?" he said. "It's how I feel." "I can't actually believe that!" she said. She looked away for a moment, as if when she looked back, all would be better; then she looked at him and said, "There has to be some other reason!" "Well, the kids would have you think there's this magical curse involved," Jason shrugged. "But I think the only magic that has anything to do with this is the magic that's disappeared between her and me." "Waitwaitwaitwait.. back up a bit there," Mitch said, holding up her hands. "A magic curse?" "Yeah," he said. "We tried to defuse a magic trap, a spell-bomb aimed at Genn and Seance. It was in their car last weekend at their wedding and it went off on us. Largely due to her 'jump in with both feet' tactics." Mitch said in accusing tones, "Jason, I can't BELIEVE you. This is so OBVIOUSLY something that's been cast upon you! Can't you see that? Why don't you try to get rid of it?" "Because I don't WANT to!" he snapped back. "How come you people can't understand that? I mean, you yourself know I've been blessed with several wonderful marriages in my lifetime, but *this* *one* *just* *didn't* *turn* *out*." Mitch threw her hands in the air and made a frustrated sound. "I can't believe I'm hearing this!" she railed. "What happened to the man who went mining for his OWN diamonds to put in a necklace for her for their tenth wedding anniversary?" Jason said plainly, "His eyes got opened." She was dumbfounded when he continued on nonchalantly, changing the subject as if they'd been talking about the weather. "Anyway, the reason I'm here is, it's just me and the truck right now and I need a place to hang out until I get back on my feet. I was wondering if you had any room." Mitch's stunned pause was disrupted when the door opened and Valsen came home. He greeted his wife, then Jay, warmly, and Mitch turned back to Jason. "I'm sorry," she said. "We're actually leaving on our summer vacation tonight and we already have a sitter for the house." "Hey, that's okay," Jason smiled. "In that case, do you have the spare key for the hangar? Mine's at the house and all, and I can't stomach going back into that place while she's still there." "Uh.. sure," Mitch said, standing up. She went to a pegboard on the wall by the door and, after a few moments' search, found a key on a plastic tag, and handed it over. "Thanks," Jay said with a smile, and stood up. "Have a good vacation, you two. When you guys get home, get in touch, okay?" "We will," Mitch said as Valsen nodded along with her. "Thanks again," Jason said, heading for the door. "Jay?" Jason turned to look at Mitch. "Hm?" he said. "I'm really sorry." He shrugged. "Don't be. I'm not." As the door closed behind Jason, Valsen turned to Mitch. Having already been brought up to speed via silent transmissions over his bio-implant, he asked Mitch, "You're worried about him, aren't you?" "Both of them," Mitch nodded. "Very much so. It's SO not like them to be like that." "What can we do?" "I don't know," she said, shaking her head, and accepting the hug her husband embraced her in at that moment. "I just don't know. I hope they'll be all right." "I think they will," Valsen comforted her. "They've both always struck me as being the types who can always be counted on to pull the proverbial rabbit out of the hat." "I hope you're right," Mitch murmured, hugging Valsen back. Thirty minutes later, after a quick preflight and the filing of a flight plan, Jason was in his Veritech Fighter circling Tolum on a pleasure flight. The fighter had been recovered from an alternate reality almost 20 years previous, and it was still in pristine condition at present. He enjoyed flying it, as it helped him to clear his mind. He watched the altimeter roll its numbers past on the HUD as he set up for a 72,500 foot high racetrack orbit of the Tolum area. That high, he was above nearly everything else except the suborbital craft and the high altitude passenger transports. And he could see almost forever. Being back in the plane was like stepping into a past life for him; it brought back memories from hundreds and thousands of years past. he wondered, and then the answer came to him. he said, realizing he might've been close enough for Him to hear. He looked out the canopy at the planet curving off in all directions below him. A thought formed in his mind, and after a moment, he decided to act upon it. He keyed up the radio. "Tolum Center, this is X-ray Delta One, I'd like to file a new flight plan. My final destination will be the northwest coast of Australia." Gina and Brian drove into the underground parking garage and got out of the car. "So what did your Dad say?" Brian asked of his wife. Gina sighed. "He can't do anything unless we know the exact spell that was used," she said. Brian nodded. "So all you did is succeeded in putting fear into your parents' hearts," he said. "Don't remind me," she moaned back. He wrapped an arm around her. "Hey, it'll work out. It always does." "It HAS to," she nodded, buoyed by his comforting gesture. She raised her voice as they walked on. "Meg, we're home.. Did anyone call?" After a moment of dead silence she said, "Megan?.." Gina's expression turned sour a moment later. "MEGAN!" she shouted. Husband and wife stopped short when they saw a sticky note attached to the door of the lab. Brian plucked it off and read it, as the anger built up inside Gina. "Mom and Dad. Genn called, says she is coming here and to wait for her. Knows how to help Auntie Bri' and Uncle Jay. See you in Iran. Meg." "What was that about putting fear into the hearts of parents?" Gina asked. IN A GINAMOBILE OVER THE MIDDLE EAST George leaned around the backpacks sharing the back seat with him and poked his head between the seats. "You sure you know where you're headed, right?" he asked. "Oh, sure!" Megan answered. "Mom has this file on her computer with a map with all the places she's ever been highlighted." "Must be one crowded map," Julia said. "Yup," Megan smiled. "Anyway, trust me, I'm heading the right way. Did your mom ask where you guys were going or anything?" "Nah," Julia said. "She was too busy playing on the GameStation." "Huh," Megan observed. "Pretty much taking it in stride, isn't she?" George shrugged. "To them, this's the best option. I can't believe there isn't a part of them deep down somewhere that doesn't realize how wrong this is, but it's true. I mean, they fully, completely hate one another." Julia looked like she was about to become sick. "Guys, can we talk about something ELSE, please? I really, REALLY am having a hard time with this." "Well, we could talk about how little you'll be seeing of me once this is all over and done with," Megan said with a wry smile. "Huh?" George asked. "Mom said I wasn't to leave the house," she explained. "She wouldn't even let me plan that trip with you for next week. So I figure when I get back home, I'm gonna get grounded until, oh, when I'm 30 or so." "Wow," Julia said. "Coming from Gina, that's a surprise." "Yeah, you'd think she would want you to follow in her footsteps," George added. "I think she does," Megan said. "Just not without her at my side. I mean, do your parents let you go off on adventures yet?" "Nope," Julia shook her head. "If they think we're going any farther than the mall, we have to have a constant escort. Until we're 20." "That's SO unfair," Megan said. "Eh, they're just looking out for us," George said. "Yeah, well, when I have kids of my own, I'm gonna be different," Megan declared. "I'm gonna remember this, and if my daughter wants to go off on a job when she's 18, and OBVIOUSLY capable of handling herself, I'll let her." "Attagirl," George smiled. "Yay, Megs," Julia said, also with a smile. She pointed out the windshield. "HoloHUD should have the final approach locked in now." "Got it," Megan said. "We're goin' in." Jason landed the plane in Guardian mode without the aid of a control tower or airport of any kind. The only guidance he had to the location was a set of GPS coordinates he'd recalled from his memory. he observed. He climbed down out of the fighter and looked around. While surveying the land, his mind began to wander. he said to himself. He climbed back up into the fighter and recovered a tent and other such things he'd acquired during a stop on the way in. Brianna sat in the family room of the house, without a family, content to keep on playing the videogame she'd been working on all day. It was a game based upon her and her sisters and their families' adventures, and was doing fairly well in the stores. Brianna had it set up so that she was playing herself, and the timeline was set up so that it was just her and her sisters, pre the arrival of Jason and Brian. she decided, remembering certain missions and adventures as she played them in the game. she said to herself, looking up and realizing it was dark outside. Then realization dawned upon her. <... Oh. Well, I guess I can't fault them; after all, he IS their father. But I can sure make sure they don't grow up like he did.. or didn't, as the case may be.> Gina ran to the car as Genn and Seance arrived at the complex. Without a greeting, Gina simply blurted out, "Where did my daughter go? And what's this about Iran?" Genn's hands flew to her mouth as she gasped. "Oh no! She didn't leave on her own, did she?" Brian showed her the note, and she looked upset as she read it. "Oh, I'm sorry.. I shouldn't have told her. Let me explain." "Brianna and her husband are most likely under the control of a Division Spell, according to a scroll that we found hidden here in the car. The scroll, and the spell, is one that I'm very familiar with.. because.. it's one of Daen's." "What? But he's dead!" Brian pointed out. "We killed him waaaay back when Bri' first found her alternate form." Genn nodded. "And his reach seems to extend beyond the grave, as the man at our wedding claimed. Daen surely knew that one day I would fall in love, and.." She looked up to Seance, who squeezed her hand in return. "And take a mate," she went on. "And the plan was to completely ruin my marriage, by forcing me to hate Seance." "Who was the guy at the wedding, then?" Gina wanted to know. Genn shrugged. "Perhaps nobody," she said. "A lackey employed by Daen all these years specifically for this purpose--to follow me, seek me out, and set in motion the events that would let Daen have his final revenge." "But listen, the spell.." Genn continued. "It takes control totally; one under its effect would not even notice. It's simple enough to break in the early stages--a recitation of the counterspell, from the counterscroll, is all that's required. But if we take too long, though, the spell's power will start reinforcing itself in different ways. They'll start to believe it more and more, until eventually there'll come a time when there's nothing we can do--its effect will be permanent. So we'll have to hurry." "You say we need to go to Iran and find something?" Gina asked. Genn nodded again. "Back in the tomb that you and Britanny found me in, there are some scrolls stored in a secret place. I need one of them in order to reverse the spell." "Genn, how come you know all this about this?" Brian asked. Genn took a long moment before she answered, and when she did, it was in hushed tones and with a downturned face. "Because.. I've.. used this very spell. Often." "You what?" Gina said. "If a mage that Daen wanted to steal something from already had a mate, it was that much harder for me to seduce him," Genn whispered. "I'd invoke the spell.. let it do its work.. and then, when the two were separated for good, I would come back and fill the void, so to speak, in the mage's life." "I'm not proud of it," she said, trying to speak up and failing. "It's not a part of my life I treasure. I was a slave at my master's mercy." "None of us here will judge you," Gina told Genn. Urgently, she added, "How quickly does this thing work?" "Depends on how close in contact they still are," Genn said. "If they've stayed together to this moment, with each other right there to provide more reasons to get angry or frustrated, it's going to be pretty close." "They're not," Brian said. "The kids said Jason left this morning." "That's a relief," Genn sighed. "That buys us a lot of time. If they're not together, they're not necessarily spending every waking minute thinking about one another, and the spell's effect will work on them more slowly. But we can't waste a second." Gina turned to Brian. "You heard the lady. Grab one of the supersonic cars and meet us up top." "Already on it," he said, heading for the parking stalls. With sarcasm, he added, "I'm quite interested in seeing what our lovely daughter has found." IRAN Megan and Julia got out of the car and surveyed their surroundings. George momentarily emerged from the back seat. "I hate to play devil's advocate here," he said, "but do we have a plan?" "Of COURSE we do!" Megan said, hands clasped behind her neck. "We just gotta find that scroll for Genn." "Any idea what it looks like?" "Or what spell it is?" Julia added to her brother's question. Megan froze. "Uhmm," she said after a second, "We'll I'm sure Genn will know!" George smiled and said, "I think we all need some more practice before we can run with the big dogs." "Oh shut up! You sound like my mother." George was about to respond when he noticed Julia standing there, rather still, facing the opening that would lead them down into the tomb, just staring at it. "Sis? You okay?" "This is where it all began," she said. "This is where Mom was born." "Yeah, I guess it is a bit ironic," George nodded slowly. "To save her, we have to come back here." "So what do you want to do," Megan said, "wait for the others?" "I think it might be a better use of our time for us to go through the place and 'clear' it, make sure there're no bandits or other nasty surprises hiding about." "Yeah, good idea," Julia said. "Make it a quick in-out thing for Genn and the rest." "So let's go," George nodded, heading for the tomb. They headed inside, and in no time at all, found their first hurdle: a lava pit with no visible way across to the corridor on the other side. "Too far to do a running jump, I think," Julia observed. "Nah, won't need to," Megan said, extracting a device from her backpack. "I got something right here." She pulled out a Gina-Line gun. George looked concerned and said, "You know how to use that thing?" "Relax! It can't be that hard," Megan said dismissively. "You just aim and shoot and--" POF! The plunger shot from its barrel and attached itself to the ceiling of the tomb in a flash, holding strong. "See?" Megan said. "Nothing to it!" She grabbed hold of the gun with both hands and swung across, hollering in a Tarzan-like way. "AWRIGHT!" she exclaimed as her feet touched solid stone on the other side. "Just like Montana Smith!" "I think he used a bullwhip, though," George observed with a smile. "Just throw it back, okay?" Julia said, holding her hand out. In no time, the other two were across, and the gun was being stowed again. "Didja think to bring a light?" Julia asked Megan. "Erm, hang on.. I know I have one somewhere," she said, taking off the pack and rummaging through it. She pushed aside all the junk she'd brought along, looking for the light, and held it up triumphantly when she found it. "Ah-HAH!" She looked up to see George holding a wooden torch, burning brightly. He and his sister looked back at her with bemused expressions. "Where'd you get that?" Megan asked. "Off the wall," Julia pointed. "Lit it on the radiant heat from the lava pit." "Feh!" Megan said, shrugging the backpack back on and following them. She pulled something out of the pack as it started to dig into her back. "Oh yeah, you guys should take these, just in case." She handed spare GyroJet pistols to the twins. "Wow, this sure is different compared to Mom's design," Julia observed, turning the gun over in her hands. "Yeah, I guess your mom and mine have some different philosophies," Megan grinned. "Anyway, they function basically the same. Here's to hoping we don't need 'em." "Amen to that," George nodded. Julia headed off first, taking the torch with her; Megan was behind her, with George bringing up the rear. Julia asked, "You got a map of this place, Meg?" "Oh yeah, hang on." Megan produced a holo-display and activated it, bringing a spherical map up between her and Julia. The latter turned around to view it. "Hmm," she said. "I think we should start here, and work our way around this way, clear everything on this level, see if we can't find scrolls lying around anywhere, then see if there's a way to get to another level or not." "Fair enough," George said. "Let's just get moving and see what we can find." The group headed off, and after a while, Julia said, "So what're we gonna do about the offshore thing next week?" "I already told you--this room's clear--I'm going to be grounded," Megan said, "So.." "I think what Jul meant," George said, "is when we eventually go ahead and do it, how are we going to go about it?" "Well, it's not often you find a new species of sea life, with such a small population, in such a concentrated area," Megan said. "We're going to need at least one underwater camera," George said. "To document them properly. A boat or something else to base ourselves off of.. Clear.." "Our scuba gear," Megan prompted. "Our scuba gear," George said with a nod. "A skillet to fry a couple in," Julia said with a grin. "Yes, a sk--NO!" George blurted out. The girls laughed. "This is a scientific find," he groused. "Not a food run!" "Clear. Oh, c'mon, aren't you interested in knowing what one of those things tastes like?" Julia asked with a grin. "Look, I like all seafood as much as you do, but this is a purely scientific expedition." "So? You think other scientists don't snack once in a while?" "Not on the items they're studying!" he retorted. They giggled, and he rolled his eyes. Gina turned around and said over her shoulder into the back seat, "Sorry about your honeymoon, guys.." "Like we told Megan, Gina," Genn said, "We can always have another honeymoon. We've got a long and happy marriage ahead of us. The pressing matter now is to make sure that Brianna and Jason do too." "I'm sure they'll be grateful," Gina said, turning around again to resume her job as navigator for Brian. "Actually, they probably won't," Genn said. "They'll probably resent us for trying to reunite them. They're probably quite happy apart, since right now they can't stand one another." "It's making me ill just thinking about it," Brian said with a grimace. "Don't fear, Brian," Seance said. "If Genn says she can take care of it, I have every confidence in her." "Oh, I do too," Brian said. "It's just that.. well, Jason has this weird phobia or something. It's probably got something to do with the stuff we used to do to combat deltaReality--the changing of the multiverse. Anything that involves reality getting altered--their surroundings, their personality, ANYTHING--he starts to flip out. For example, one time we were in our craft, and we found out that the protection field--a highly technical thing that semi-phased us and prevented us from being affected by the changes to the rest of reality-- was down. We couldn't tell if our reality had been changed once, or a million times, or none.. because with the field down, any changes to our reality wouldn't show up on the scanners, because the scanners themselves would've been changed to include that new reality too. Anyway, Jason became a basket case, and we had to finish that mission with only three people, essentially." "I see," Seance nodded. "I believe there's a similar affliction among magic users. Would it be safe to say that if he were under the protection of a Disguise spell, he would have a difficult time coping?" "No, not really," Brian said. "Actually, he might get a kick out of that, he might have fun pretending to be someone else. But if you were to affect his mind, or his memory, so that he couldn't tell he'd been changed.." "Right," Seance nodded again as Brian trailed off. "I understand now." "Anyway," Brian went on. "What I'm saying is, to hear that Jay is just readily accepting despising Brianna as something that would come natural to him, I just can't accept it. He's not like that." "He may not have an opportunity," Genn pointed out. "The spell has immense power behind it. Even though he's been told about it point- blank, he may still feel with the utmost convictions that the feelings he feels in his heart and head are his and his alone. In other words, it's not his fault. Give him the benefit of the doubt." "I guess," Brian sighed. Gina pointed. "Head down there. I can see the other car in the zoom lens." "Gotcha," Brian said. "Heading in." LAVERTON, AUSTRALIA The Ettamogga Pub certainly had a legendary reputation to keep up. It proved so in its patrons' sheer enjoyment of their favorite pastime. That was being exhibited at the time in question by no less than three impromptu singing contests, all trying to drown each other out, two jukeboxes blaring out different tunes, and many, many liters of alcohol, most of it actually entering people's bloodstreams. Jason sat at the bar, fitting in somewhat but not completely; he was grimy from head to toe from the work he'd spent the day doing, and his shirt was soaked with sweat. Still, he found enough energy to hoist a mug up to his face periodically. He was enjoying himself, whooping it up with the other patrons, getting into anything and everything that passed his way. he figured, The part of his mind that was still sober, and watching detachedly with a disappointed feeling as the rest of his being worked its way into oblivion, thought back to when he used to help drain some of the finest pubs in Taupal, Salusia's capital, back when he lived on that world. he decided. He worked on his drink again and only passively noticed someone sit down beside him on an adjacent stool. After a moment, the person said, "You look like you've put in a decent day's work!" He looked at the girl; she was a local, judging by her accent, and though he'd never seen her before, she was indeed attractive, and smiling broadly at him, so he smiled and shouted over the noise of the crowd: "I guess so.. I'm buildin' a house about ten K north of here." "Really?" she said. "That must've been near where the Mystery House was about twenty years ago." He grinned; she was speaking of the house belonging to him, Brian, Jenna, and Amy, that had appeared in a hiccup in deltaReality some time back. "Actually, it's really close to there," he said. "So," she said. "You a Canuck or a Yank?" "I'm originally from Canada," he said, "Though I've decided to move here now." "Oh?" she said, raising her eyebrows. "Don't have anybody you care about back home?" He called for refills of his mug and hers. "Yes," he said, "But I've got a past I want to leave behind." "Oh? Runnin' away never solves anything, y'know. Thank you!" "No problem." He shook his head. "Nah, trust me. It's for the best. So what about you?" She paused for a moment, then said, "Me? I'm just a free spirit, I kinda run around from place to place, doin' what I can." He smiled and offered a hand to her. "I'm Jason." She shook his hand gently, then said, "A pleasure. I'm Sheila." He laughed a little. "Of course you are." "Well, okay," she admitted. "But it's all you need to know for now." She finished off the mug in front of her, and he did the same to his. "Listen. I don't have much of a place right now, but ya wanna go back to it? Just drinks, nothing else. You have my word." "I'd LOVE to," she grinned. George and Julia and Megan trudged through the corridors of the Iranian tomb. George snuck a look at his watch. "Man.. it's after midnight local," he said. "That's why I'm beat." "Yeah, I guess we should find a place to camp," Julia nodded. "We'll find a room and park it there for the night," Megan suggested. A voice from behind them intoned slowly, "When you find that room, you can go to it and stay there for a while." All three whipped around to see four people standing before them. "Mom! Dad!... uh, hi!" Megan said with a hopeful but nervous grin. "Don't you 'hi' me, young lady," Gina snapped. "You were TOLD not to do something and you did it anyway. I SHOULD send you home right now, but I think, being unsupervised there, you'd probably just disobey me again." "But Mom--" she began, but Gina held up a hand. "Not a word," Gina said. "Go set up your camp." Megan turned and walked away silently. "Aunt Gina, we cleared and secured most of this place already," Julia said, "but we didn't find anything." "And you won't," Genn said. "It's stashed in a secret place. I hope I still remember where it is." "We'll find it," Gina said, reassuring not only Genn but herself. She looked at her watch. "It's getting late. Let's get this camp together and we'll get moving in the morning." The rest of them started following Megan, but Genn and Seance stayed put. "We're going to look for the scroll right away," Genn said. "You go ahead and get some rest." "All right," Gina said, "If you think that's okay." "We'll be all right," Seance said with a smile. "Rest up." "Okay. C'mon, Bri." Brian yawned. "Right behind ya." Gina spoke to the twins: "Under normal circumstances, I'd send you home, or at least have you phone your mother and tell her where you are. But considering why we're here, I figure she'd be downright livid if she found out, so I'm willing to waive it this time." "Thank you, Aunt Gina," George said quietly. Julia followed suit. "Now let's go help your cousin set up a camping spot. And no picking up any treasures you find here, okay?" "Deal," the twins said, knowing the story well. "I don't imagine you ever expected to be back here again, did you?" Seance asked as he and his wife walked down corridors, occasionally peeking in a room or a corridor. "No," she sighed, "And it's not a very pleasant walk down memory lane, either. There are a lot of things I'd like to leave behind in this place." "Well, I admire your ability to put your own feelings aside and deal with this," Seance said, wrapping one arm around her shoulders and taking her hand with the other. "It's a very kind thing to do." "She's my best friend, Seance; she's almost like a sister to me. And her husband Jason means a lot to her. ..Before this happened. I can't stand by and let their relationship crumble." Seance squeezed her hand as they continued to search. "That's one of your most likable qualities, dear," he smiled, then kissed her. She returned it and said with a smile, "Flattery will get you everywhere in this relationship, you know." She looked in a seemingly empty room and blinked. "Ah! I think this is it." She stepped away from Seance and waved her hands in front of her face, then grinned. Seance came into the room and blinked as well. "I can see why the kids would've had a hard time finding this," he said, "what with the ward." "I placed it here when Daen was transformed," she explained. "I didn't want anyone else finding the mass quantity of magic, good and bad, that he'd accumulated. I guess I must've missed a way in, or he must've held out on me, something; I don't know how else the man at the wedding would've gotten the scroll. In any case, I know it looks solid, but please throw some sort of breaching or dissolving spell at that wall." Seance faced the one she was pointing to and cast a spell; suddenly, the wall faded away, showing the true wall several meters further back, with a series of cubbyholes along its length and height. "It's.. it's FULL of scrolls," he whispered. Genn nodded. "I told you he had a large quantity of them." She moved forward and started to look through them. "Don't you know which one it is?" "Seance, dear, think of this like your library back home. Try to find a book in the shelves there without needing to get your bearings first." "I understand," he nodded. "Forgive me. What can I do to help?" "Go ahead and start checking them," she said, gesturing further along the wall, "but DON'T voice them out loud." "Trust me," he said, walking to the spot she'd indicated, "I won't." They searched in silence for a while, until he said out of the blue, "By chance are you feeling at all adventurous?" She looked over her shoulder at him. "What?" He looked up from the scroll he was reading as he put it in its place and removed another. Grinning, he said, "Just barely married, running around a dusty old tomb, searching for the magical item that'll save the day.. some might accuse us of trying to follow in Dr. and Mrs. Diggers' footsteps." Genn smiled and returned to the search. "But I'm not a legendary sword- wielding armsmaster." "Ah, but you COULD be if you wanted." "Hm?" "Just change," he smiled. "Of course," she answered with another smile, shaking her head slightly. "There are SO many powerful scrolls here," Seance said after another while. "Shapechange.. Matter Transform.. Teleportation.." Genn nodded slightly and said, "The product of all my time spent with.. no, as a slave of Daen. Most of these were, of course, stolen. And as I said, I'm not proud of that." "It's understandable," Seance said. "You were forced to, against your will." "Yes, yes.. of course.. right," Genn said distantly. Seance changed the subject: "There's no chance of anything going off by accident, is there?" "No, unless a spell is invoked verbally. Otherwise, they're all perfectly harmless." "Good." Seance knew that, of course; he was simply making conversation to get his wife's mind off her past. "Aha!" Genn said triumphantly, pulling out a scroll. "Here we are." Seance came over and looked at it. "'Attraction'?" "Don't be fooled by such a plain name," Genn cautioned. "Some of these are intentionally mislabeled to thwart thieves. This IS the proper counterspell to the one they're under the influence of." "Then let's go," he said. "It's been a long day and we both need some rest. We'll go stay with the others and all go set things right in the morning." "Yes, let's." she added silently. "And maybe sometime we should consider transferring these to a more secure location," he said, gesturing to the scrolls. She grinned. "You just want to take them home and study them," she accused. Her grin evaporated and she added, "So long as you never, EVER work with them WITHOUT my direct supervision, I'll agree." He realized how serious she was and why she was being that way. "I understand," he said with a nod. "You have my word." Jason and Sheila climbed out of the taxi, and as he paid for it, her eyes boggled at the jet-mode Veritech Fighter. After a moment, she said, "Does the military know you made off with one of their toys?" Jason chuckled a bit. "Actually, it's mine. I'm ex-military myself." "Oh, really? Which force?" "Actually, a place pretty far from here. Explaining would be more trouble than it's worth." "Why's that?" "It would just pose more questions than it would answer, really." "Suits me," she grinned. "I like a little mystery in my life." He smiled and nodded. "And so," he said, gesturing to the bit of structure visible above ground, "This is my new home. Or will be, eventually." She walked up to the edge of the foundation and looked in. "You've done this all by yourself, all in one day?" she asked incredulously. His mind's sober section asked how she knew it'd only been one day, but he shoved that aside. "Yup," he said. "I've had a lot of energy to expend." "My, you work fast. Did you hire the camper?" Jason looked over his shoulder at the travel trailer parked nearby. "Actually, I bought that from someone in town today. I need some place to stay while I'm building. C'mon inside, we can sit down." "Okay," she smiled. As they sat down inside the trailer, she said, "At the risk of sounding like a walking pickup line, what's a guy like you doing all the way out here, all alone, building a place for just himself, miles away from anyone else?" "Sorry," he said, pulling a bottle of champagne and a pair of paper cups out of a cupboard. "This is all I had with me in the plane." "I won't ask," she grinned, taking a cup and letting him fill it. "Thank you," he smiled. "To answer your question.. I just made a few mistakes in my life, that's all." "We all make mistakes," she said in a defensive sort of way. "Well, I made a big one recently, and I'm just using this opportunity to start over anew." He sat down. "So how 'bout you, what's your story?" "Me?" Sheila responded. "Oh, I just roam about, from place to place, where ever there's a job to do.. you know.." He chuckled again. "I've had periods in my life like that. You must see a lot on your travels." "Ah, enough," she acknowledged with a nod and smile. "How do you cope with some of the stuff you see sometimes?" "How do you mean?" she said. "Well, if you travel like I think you do, you must have a lot of interesting stories that unfold before your eyes." "Well, I guess I just take it in stride," she shrugged. "I mean, you have to weigh the pros and the cons of everything, and decide if it's worth ruining your life over. I mean, have you ever stepped back and taken a look and asked yourself, 'Have I had a good life'?" "Actually, yes, I have," Jason said after a moment. "And what was the answer?" He paused a long moment again, then said, "I guess so, for the most part." Genn and Seance returned to find the younger adventurers still awake, while Brian and Gina were fast asleep. "Did you get it?" Julia whispered. Genn produced it briefly, then concealed it again. "We got it," she said. "Good," Megan said. She stood up quietly, and Genn realized that none of the children had any bedrolls laid out. "We're gonna go and find Uncle Jay." Genn blinked. "Are you sure that's wise, considering how upset your parents are that you came here alone?" "Look, you need to be in close proximity for this counterspell to work, right?" Megan said. Genn nodded. "That's correct," she said. "Yeah, well, we KNOW where Aunt Bri' is.. that part's a cinch.. but we don't have a clue where Uncle Jay is. We have to find him before time runs out, right?" "Well, being that they're separated, it shouldn't be as urgent, but you're right, time is of the essence," Genn agreed. George spoke up. "We've been discussing things and we've decided it's better for us to go find Dad now than to have to run around trying to find him after you help Mom, and being too late." Megan grinned. "Tell Mom you argued as hard as you could, but I ended up being just as stubborn as she is. 'Kay?" "If you feel it's really necessary," Genn said. "I sure do," Megan said as the threesome headed for the door. She paused at the edge of the corridor and said, "I just can't shake the image of Uncle Jay dying somewhere with a broken soul." Several hours passed with Jay and Sheila simply talking and drinking, until the bottle of champagne was done. Then they resorted to just talking. For some reason, she was interested in listening to him. "Can I ask you a personal question?" she said out of the blue. "I guess so, yeah. What is it?" "The 'mistake' you said you made, the one that made you decide to come here.. what was it?" He paused for a second, then said, "Ah, not much.. I just think I married the wrong girl, that's all." She shifted a little beside him and said, "..You're married?" "Separated," he said quickly. "And a divorce as soon as I can get my affairs in order." "Sounds kind of harsh," she said. "Is it that serious?" "Well, we've found in recent times that we hate one another." "Oh, come on," she said. "I find that hard to believe. A charming guy like you? Who would hate you?" "You haven't met my wife," he smiled humorlessly. "You never know," she said. "I'm told I'm a very good judge of character." She looked away for a moment, then asked, "How long have you been married?" "This is our eighteenth year," he said. She sputtered. "Dear God, boy! Eighteen years and all of a sudden you decide, you can't work it out, let's toss it away? Just into the bin like that?" "Well, it's not like it came on subtly," he pointed out. "You have any kids?" "Two, twins. Boy and girl, 18." She shook her head. "You're giving up way too much! Way too easily! Listen to me here--what do you think your kids are thinking right now?" He paused and then shrugged and said, "They think their mom and I have gone around the bend. But they don't know the whole truth." "Sounds to me like a severe case of overreacting," she said. "Let's suppose.. just hypothetically.. that you wanted to do the nasty with me right now. And I said, no way, not after what I've just heard. What would your response be?" Jason, a little flustered at her statement, said nothing for a moment. She provided: "You'd want me to give you another chance, wouldn't you?" "Hypothetically speaking, yes," he admitted. "And yet the woman you've spent a quarter of a lifetime with, fathered two children with, she doesn't get that same second chance? That doesn't sound very fair.. Listen, have you ever squabbled with her before?" "No, never," he had to admit. "Then I think she deserves another shot, don't you?" "Every time I think about her, I get more and more angry," he protested. "That doesn't make sense! Even when you think of the happy times?" Sheila asked. "Tell me about something you enjoyed out of the past 18 years." "Well.." "C'mon, tell me." "Okay," he said. "We went back to my parents' home with our kids. Into the Rockies, did some downhill skiing. Stayed with my parents for Christmas." "Sounds enjoyable to me," she said. "All the time we were skiing," he explained, "she wore these goggles with mirror lenses, and I couldn't see her eyes. No idea what she was looking at." "Oh, now that's just absurd!" Sheila blurted out. "Surely you don't believe that that's contributing to your troubles! Don't you agree that that sounds a little silly?!" He slowly nodded. "I guess you're right," he said quietly. She stood up. "You said you'd MADE a mistake, Jason.. but I think you're actually still making it right now." She headed to the door. "Do something for me here. Go back to your wife and try to work things out, will you? If not for you and her, then at least for your kids. Try, willya?" he wondered. "I guess I'll try.. It's gonna be really hard, though." "Just keep those things in mind.. all the fun times you've had. And don't think of any of the bad stuff. Please?" "I'll try," he repeated. "You're leaving?" She smiled and arched her eyebrows. "My work here is done," she said. "Time for me to move on." "Do you want a drive anywhere?" "No.. walking will do me good." "Okay," he said. "Thank you, Sheila, and take care." She smiled and simply slid out the door. A couple hundred yards down the road, she stopped, made sure he wasn't following or watching, and, with adequate cover, spoke over a bio- implant. [All right, I'm done. Turn off this disguise and bring me home.] [I'm ready when you are, dear,] came the answer. [Do you think you got through to him?] [God, I hope so,] she said. [I don't know if I could live with myself if they didn't get back together.] [Some vacation, huh?] [We'll start in the morning,] she promised him. Genn and Seance woke up to a slight amount of panic in the room. "What's the matter?" Seance asked when he regained consciousness fully. "The kids are gone," Brian said. "They're nowhere to be found." "I know where they went," Genn told them. "They wanted to go find their father and uncle. They figured it would be more efficient if they did that while we were curing Brianna." "I don't believe it!" Gina seethed. "She did it again!" "Gina, before you judge them," Genn said, "you should know, they left with my permis--well, not with my permission. But I didn't try to stop them. They know what they're doing, Gina, and what they're doing is probably going to help us out a lot in the long run." "Maybe," Gina said, "But they still disobeyed me." She extracted a GinaCom communications screen from her pack and turned it on. After several moments, Megan's sleepy face appeared. "H-hello?.." she said groggily. "Where are you?" Gina bit out. Megan's eyes widened and she jumped up, hitting her head on the roof of the car. "Ow! Dammi--" "Megan," Gina cautioned. "We're in Tolum," she said, rubbing a bump on her head. "The truck's here, but Uncle Jay isn't. And his plane is gone." "Where are the twins?" "Sleeping beside me," Megan said. "We were up all night searching." "Go back to Brougham and get ready. We're on our way and we'll meet you there." "Shouldn't we keep looking for--" "For once in your life, do as your mother says!" Brian leaned over and shouted at the screen. Megan cringed and shut down the link with a frightened look on her face. Brian said quietly, "I wish she'd learn." "Please forgive me, Gina, " Seance said, "but you and Britanny were living on your own and doing this sort of thing when you were only a couple of years older than she is now." Gina said, "I know.. it's just.. well, now I know why my Dad's hair was all grey when he was 40." "Anyway," Brian said, having rolled up his and Gina's bedroll, "Let's get moving." Jason awoke with a splitting headache and decided the sun was way too bright. He rolled over and, squinting, made his way through the trailer to his clothes, put them on, and poured a cup of water from the tap, drinking it, tasting a champagney aftertaste, having used the same cup as the night before. he said to himself. He wandered around and rubbed the sleep out of his eyes, then found something he could cook for breakfast, and started in on it. he decided. He looked out the window and the partially-completed house. he said. BROUGHAM COMPLEX "Hello? Mom?" Julia stood in the middle of the labs and threw her hands up. "Great. Just great!" "Maybe she just went out," Megan suggested. "Don't worry." "Or maybe she went to hunt him down," Julia said. "Jul, take it easy. There's gotta be a good explanation," George said. "Okay, then, what do we do now??" "Well, if we go and look for her ourselves, Aunt Gina will have a kid," George said. "And if we don't, who knows where she could be?" "Well, the other car's gone. Maybe she just went for a drive." "Okay, okay," Julia said. "You win. I'll assume she just went out." "Anyone else hungry?" George said. "Let's go get something to eat." The three of them headed towards the kitchen, their route winding through the bedroom areas. As George passed his parents' room's door, which was open as usual, he blinked. "Holy crap.. look at this." The other two crowded into the doorway and saw that the room was considerably lighter in load than it had been the day before. "Where'd all Dad's stuff go?" Julia said. "When I broke up with my boyfriend, I burned all his stuff," Megan said. "It's in here," George said, pointing to the farthest-away guest room from the master bedroom. Megan and Julia headed in that direction and looked into the room, a pile of objects literally in a heap just inside the door. "Well, it's not burnt, but a lot of it is broken," Julia observed. "She must've just been flinging it in here." "I hope your mom's coming with the solution," George said to Megan as they carried on towards the kitchen. "Trust her," Megan said confidently. "If she says she is, then she is." They got to the kitchen and the girls sat down while George took out some bread and some plastic containers from the fridge. "Tuna salad sandwich okay?" he asked Megan. "It is with me!" Julia grinned. "I KNEW it would be okay with you," he shot back. Megan said, "It's fine, I guess. I think you two are the most like our parents, y'know?" "How's that?" "Well, your love of seafood, for one thing. Haven't you ever had them tell you any stories? I mean, Mom, Aunt Bri', and Aunt Brit' used to have fistfights over the last can of tuna in the house." Julia and George grinned at one another. "Actually," Julia said, "We do the same thing." "See, this is what bugs me," Megan said. "We're so much like our parents, yet they won't let us do what they did when we were their age." George shrugged as he passed the food around. "Good things come to those who wait, I guess." Megan frowned. "I been waitin' almost 18 years." An empty dish with a spoon in it was placed beside Megan's plate of sandwiches. "What's this?" she said. He jerked a thumb towards the freezer. "Ice cream," he said. "I'm told it heals all wounds." She laughed. "So what do you guys think?" Julia said. "This magic gonna work?" "Well, it worked to START the problems," George pointed out. "True." "Say," Megan said, "Have your parents ever tried to urge you into doing magic?" Julia and George looked at one another. "We took a test at age 12," Julia said. "Didn't work. Why?" "Just wondering," Megan said. "Guess I had the same test. Except.." "Except what?" "Well, I could levitate little things.. marbles, pebbles.. stuff like that." "Wow.." George drew out. "You can do magic, huh?" "Show us a trick!" Julia grinned. "No! I don't 'have magic'," Megan feh'ed. "Nothing refined, at least. Just the ability." George finished off his sandwich. "I think you have your answer, why your mom doesn't want you to go off adventuring." Megan was about to respond when the other two's ears twitched. "Someone's home," George said, and the three of them got up and headed to the garage. There, they found Brianna getting out of the car, wearing a wetsuit. "Hi, mom," George said. "Where were you?" "Oh, just out," she smiled. "What about you guys?" "The same," George answered. "Just doin' a little bit of exploring." Brianna tsk'ed. "What's the golden rule? Never Go Out Without Mom's Approval!" George didn't bother pointing out she'd convieniently omitted the "And Dad" part after "Mom" in the rule. "Sorry," he said. "Won't happen again." "All right, fair enough." She headed over to the trunk of the car. "Hey! You guys should see what I found. C'mere!" She pulled a cooler out of the trunk, set it on the ground and opened it. George, Julia, and Megan looked inside, and all three blinked when they saw it was packed full of ice and a new, exotic species of sea life, one they were fairly familiar with. "I found these just off the coast," she said. "Below a subterranean shelf off South Carolina. Don't they look yummy?" Megan winced and ran a hand down her face. George said slowly, dumbly, "Y.. yes, they do.." He gulped. "Can't wait to.. eat.." He peered into the recesses of the cooler. "Every.. last.. one of them." The garage door opened again and the Ginamobile arrived, then disgorged its passengers. Brianna waved joyously and said, "Hey, sis! Look what I got!" Gina said, "Jinkies! Those look pretty tasty!" "Don't they? You can stay for supper if you want--" Brianna cut herself off. "Genn? Seance? What're you doing here? What happened to your honeymoon?" "We just postponed it for a little bit," Genn said with a smile. "Something urgent came--" Genn stopped as Brianna turned around and fixed her kids and niece with a glare. "I'm very upset with you, you know," she said. "Sis, don't blame them," Gina said. "They didn't send for us; we came on our own." "Well, they had to have told you about it!" Brianna snapped. Gina adopted a very pained expression. "Yes, they did! But SURELY you have to see that this is not healthy!" Genn cut Gina off and stepped forward. She spoke quietly. "Brianna.. we need to talk." "NO WE DON'T!" Brianna argued. "The matter's closed! He's gone! And that's how I want it to be!" "Brianna? Do you consider me a friend?" Genn asked. "... Yes," Brianna answered quietly. "You're my best friend." "Then you OWE me a talk." "All right, but ONLY talking!" Bri' shot back, waving a finger. "And only for ten minutes. No longer!" "Very well," Genn nodded. "I don't believe I'll need that long." "And then the matter's dropped?" Genn looked over her shoulder as she led Brianna to the bedroom. "I promise. When I'm done, I'll never bring it up again." "Quick! Turn on the snooper!" George whispered as the door to the bedroom closed. "The what?" Gina said. Julia went to the nearest phone and typed in a few commands, and suddenly they could all hear what was going on inside the room. "Oh, just a little something we whipped up a year or three back," she grinned. Brian, Seance, Gina, and the children gathered around the phone to listen. "All right, Genn, your ten minutes start now," Brianna said. "I'm hoping it'll take a lot less than that, Brianna. With your co- operation, this will go a lot smoother, in any case." "Co-operation?" Brianna could be heard to sigh heavily. "You don't really want to be angry at Jason for the rest of your life, do you?" "Dammit, I KNEW it!" Brianna swore. "I WOULDN'T be angry at him if you guys would stop reminding me of him! Just let us go our separate ways. Why can't you people leave this alone?" "Because it's NOT RIGHT, Brianna," Genn said forcefully. She could be heard to unfurl the scroll over the phone. "I can do this without your assistance, but you'll feel somewhat uncomfortable for a period of time." "Damn right I'm uncomfortable!" Brianna said. "Sometimes, marriages don't work. You've got one that's great, and I really do wish you the best of luck. But Brit' was like this and so are you now--you have to get everyone hooked up after you're married! Well, --" There was a pause. "What the hell are you doing?" Brianna said. It was only then that the people listening on the phone could hear Genn murmuring a little in some undecipherable language. "What is with that scroll? WHAT ARE YOU DOING?" Brianna shouted. Megan complained, "I can barely hear Genn!" "Ssh!" Brian told her. Genn finally said something audible: "Your heart Division Spell did rend, but with this one it soon will mend." "It rhymes??" Megan blurted out. "That's so corny!" "Shush. Most enchantment types do," Seance said. "Now listen." Genn had already spoken half of the next line, and finished off with: "..you'll resume to be mates for life." Genn looked at Brianna. The latter was lying on the bed, feet draped over the edge, holding her head and grunting in pain. "NNNNGH.. What's happening?" "Brianna?" Genn asked. "I'm still here.. are you all right?" "Genn, WHAT DID YOU DO?!" Brianna yelled, still squeezing her eyes shut and holding her head tightly. "What about Jason?" Genn said with her heart in her throat, ignoring the question. "What? Is he responsible for this? I'll KILL HIM!" Genn felt a chill wash over her. "It's not working," she whispered. Upon hearing Genn's declaration, George and Julia collapsed against one another and all but fell to pieces. Brian and Gina turned away and muttered "No!" under their breath. Seance stepped towards the bedroom door. "Seance!" Gina said. "Where are you going?" "Genn just called to me in her mind," he said. "I'm going to help her." As he walked past Julia, she grabbed his arm, and he looked down into a tear-stained face as she looked up at him. "Please help my mother," she begged. "Please make her better. It's all I ask." He nodded and put a hand on her shoulder briefly, then walked to the bedroom door. "Good luck, Seance." He turned to Gina and nodded again, then went inside. Genn looked up as Seance arrived. She shook her head and forced out a sigh. "It's not working. I need some help." "AAAAAAAAHHH!!" Brianna wailed, trying to bury her head in the pillows, gripping it tightly, trying to get rid of the mother of all migraines. "Just tell me what you need me to do," he said. "seance?" Brianna murmured in between panting breaths. "'zat you? ... help me... please?..." "She's trapped in between," Genn explained. "She's bridging two personalities--the one we know and are trying to recover, and the one Daen brought to life. The spell itself won't bring her back.. what I need you to do is recite the spell while I try to help it along." Brianna screamed, interrupting Genn. Seance asked when it was quiet again, "How are you going to do that?" Genn handed him the scroll. "Just read, and leave the rest up to me. Do it exactly as I did, and when I tell you to." She er'ed and said, "Actually, you may want to look away.. you may not be prepared for what I have to do here." Seance saw it in her mind. "I have a pretty good grasp of what you're going to do," he said. "And I can handle it." She nodded and faced Brianna. "Brianna?" she said. "Bri', honey, listen to me.. deep breaths and listen to me.. focus only on me. Listen to me." Brianna managed to get herself down to only mild hyperventilation, and lifted her head enough to look at Genn. Then she gasped. Seance looked up and blinked, seeing his wife turn into the hulking, male Genn that Brianna spent so much time with early in her life. "G-g-genn?" Brianna stammered through the pain. Genn smiled warmly and bent over the bed. "Yes, it's me, Brianna," he said. "Sit up with me.." Brianna managed to get to a sitting position, and Genn hugged her tightly. "Start now, Seance." Seance nodded and started chanting the introductory parts of the spell. "Genn, it hurts so much," Brianna cried. "Sssh, Bri', I'm here," Genn said. "I'll always be here for you." "Your heart Division Spell did rend," Seance intoned. "I'm.. so.. confused," Brianna barely managed to get out. Genn continued to hug Brianna tight. "I'll never leave you. I'll always be here for you." "..but with this one it soon will mend." "Please help me!" Brianna wailed. "I'm not going to leave you," Genn repeated. "I'll stay right here and be there for you." "I need you.." Genn said, and underwent another change. Seance had been watching, and faltered through his delivery of the spell, but recovered enough to finish the lines, which was a feat. The act of seeing one's wife first turn into a hulking male, then into the husband of a dear friend, was certainly more than enough to make anyone fumble. "And I will always love you," Genn said with Jason's voice. Brianna's eyes came wide open and she stared at the person in her arms. "j-jason?" she sobbed. "..you'll resume to be mates for life," Seance said. "Love me back, Brianna," 'Jason' said softly to her. "I know you can." She let out a wailing scream which dissolved into bawling, and then she slumped against Genn. Genn returned to her normal female form and cradled Brianna gently. "Brianna? Are you okay?" "I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" she continued to wail. "It's okay, it's okay," Genn said. "Everything's going to be okay." "NO IT'S NOT!" Brianna cried out. "Where is he?! We have to find him!" George and Julia couldn't take it any more, and burst into the room, group-hugging their mother and Genn, tears flowing. Brian and Gina and Megan followed in quietly. "Where is he?!" Brianna asked the kids. "Did you find him? You've got to find him!" "We will, Brianna, we will," Genn said calmingly. "Right now I need to be sure you're OK." "I am, oh God, believe me, I am," Brianna said. "Thanks to you." Genn smiled with relief. "I can feel it in your mind," she said. "How come I couldn't fight it?" Brianna said. "It's a very powerful spell," Genn said. "Even the strongest mage would have a hard time being able to discern between his own feelings and the spell's influence." "Why didn't the counterspell work the first time?" Brianna wanted to know. "You had a lot of hatred for him, so strong," Genn said. "I needed to artificially create some love for him within you. I hope you don't mind." "Mind??" Bri' said, sniffling back tears and trying to smile. "Genn, I owe you my marriage." Genn nodded. "At least half of it," she said. "Let's go find Jason before it's too late." "Where did you see the truck?" Gina asked the kids. "In Tolum, at the hangar," Megan said. Brian turned to the phone on the wall. "I'll get hold of Mitch right now." Gina stepped over to Brianna and put a hand on her back, to comfort her. Genn turned away and faced Seance. "I know you watched," she said. "I could feel it. And I want you to know.. what I said.. what I did.." As Genn trailed off, Seance smiled and put his hands on her shoulders. "I know," he said. "It was a very heroic thing for you to do." She smiled and hugged him, and he returned it. Brian coughed and everyone looked up to see Mitch on the screen, while Brian gave Mitch a rundown of what had transpired. Mitch sighed. "You don't know how relieved that makes me," she said. "Listen. You'll find him just north of Laverton, Australia. If he's not there, look in town at the Ettamogga Pub." "Thank you, Mitch," Brian said in a heartfelt tone. "You can thank me by getting him back to normal," Mitch said. The next morning found Jason working hard on the house. Three of the four exterior walls were up, and he began working on the fourth at the crack of dawn. In the midmorning, he looked up from his work and saw something approaching on the horizon. He stopped working and watched as it resolved into the shape of a very familiar ancient Dodge Ram truck. "Cool, the kids must be bringing it to me," he smiled. He finished the stud he was nailing into place and stood up, wiping the dirt off his hands and walking to the trailer. It was only then that he noticed the other vehicle trailing close behind, the Ginamobile. He was confused, until the Tonka Truck got close enough that he could see the people inside. At the wheel was not one of his children, but.. "Dammit, why'd they bring HER?" he muttered, going into the trailer. He rinsed off in the sink, noting that the trailer's water supply was all but used up. By the time he looked up again, the truck was parked, the GM was coming in for a landing, and Brianna was standing there at the open driver's door of the truck, staring at him through the screen door of the trailer with a pained look. "What the hell do you want?" he said, opening the door and stepping down onto the parched ground. "Jason.." she said quietly. "Look. You've already taken my home. Now you have my kids and my truck. What more do you want from me? Blood?!" By then, everyone else was out of the vehicles too, and they gathered around the truck. Brianna took a few steps forward and reached for Jason. "Jay, listen to me. PLEASE. You need help, like I did--" "The hell I do!" he shot back, snatching his hand away from hers. "What I need is for you to get out of my life!" "Dad," Julia said from her position beside the truck with her brother. "Please, listen to her." "Geezus, Jay, listen to your kids," Brian implored. "If you won't listen to Brianna, for Goddess' sake, liten to them." "Don't you understand?!" Jason yelled, arms stretched wide. George took the opportunity to run up and tackle his father, bearhugging him. Jason tried to wrestle with his son, but George said, "Dad.. you know how strong I am, as a part-werecheetah.. do not make me squeeze harder. I don't want to break anything." "Dammit, let me go!" Jason yelled. When it was obvious he wasn't going to be freed, he stopped struggling and looked around. Brianna stood over him on one side, Julia and Genn on the other, and George still gripping him tight on the ground. Genn opened the scroll. "Brianna," she said, "You're going to have to do for him what I did for you." Brianna nodded once and looked at Jay. "Believe me, hon.. this is gonna work out." She stepped forward and took hold of him, as George let go. "NNNGH!" Jason squirmed, trying to get away from her embrace. Genn began the spell invocation, and Brianna said to Jay, "Jay, open your mind and clear your thoughts. Remember the truth. Remember what it's really like." "AAARGH!" "Remember all the fun we've all had together," Brianna continued on. "Remember everything. Tell me you want to come back." Genn was almost done the spell; Jason was screaming and hollering in pain; and Brianna squeezed him tight, leaned over, and whispered in his ear, "Tell me you love me." "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!" he yelled, and it rapidly degenerated into crying, as it had with Brianna less than 24 hours previous. Brianna started sobbing too, as she realized he was now hugging her back, free of the spell. "Forgive me.. forgive me.." he stammered in between sobs. Julia stepped forward. "Mom? Dad? When you said all that stuff about the curse only being part of it.. about how it helped show you that you really truly did hate one another.. tell me.. please tell me.. you were wrong?" "Mom?" she said a moment later as they kept crying on the ground. "Dad? Please?" Genn put an arm around Julia's shoulders as Jason and Brianna kept babbling apologies to one another through their tears. "I think you have your answer," Genn said quietly to Julia. Brian and Gina had to turn away while wiping tears. Seance came and embraced Genn again, while Julia and George rushed up and fell on their parents in a mass hug. "Forgive me!" Jason continued to repeat over and over. "Forgive me!" "I do!" Brianna wailed back. "I do! I do!" TWO WEEKS LATER BROUGHAM CHURCH "..I do." The minister nodded at Brianna and smiled, then turned to face Jason. Jason took the cue and turned to Brianna, saying, "Brianna, we've been through a lot together.. in truth, more than any couple should ever have to face." His voice started to break and his lip began to quiver, but he plowed ahead bravely. "The fact that we've made it this far is proof that we were meant to be. And so it is, with all my heart, and in front of all our friends and loved ones, that I pledge to you my heart, my soul, and my life.. for now, and always." The minister began asking Jason the traditional question, and Mitch, sitting in the second row, conversed via bio-implant with her husband Valsen beside her. [Did you tell him yet?] Valsen asked. [No, I haven't had a chance,] she said. [Don't you think he'll notice? After a few years, you won't have..] [I guess I'll have to deal with that when the time comes,] Mitch said. Jason, meanwhile was smiling, and turned to eye Brianna while he said, "I most certainly do." "Then it is my pleasure to reaffirm you as husband and wife," the minister told the happy couple. "Congratulations." There was raucuous applause from the crowd packed into the church, yet Brianna and Jason were in a world of their own, staring into each other's eyes. [I'm so lucky I didn't lose you,] she told him. [I'm so lucky we have your family,] he answered her. And then, there was nothing left to do but kiss. THAT EVENING Gina and Brian and Megan got out of the car. Brian headed off to check the phone for messages, and Gina glared at her daughter. "Come with me," Gina said sternly, beckoning and walking away. "Aw, mom!" Megan protested, even while following her mother. "You're still gonna punish me?! This isn't fair!" "Life isn't fair," Gina said, continuing on. She led her daughter into the master bedroom and shut the door. Megan stood by the door and said, "I can't believe this! I'm SEVENTEEN, mom! At least give me some credit!" Gina stood there. "I'm listening," she said. "Well.. come on!" Megan said, searching for words. "Right now, I just want to hear why you went out after I asked you not to." "I had to help!" Megan protested. Her mother didn't answer, and she went on, "I knew what I was doing! I was with George, AND Julia.. the three of us were perfectly safe! We had some of your stuff with us.. umm.. forget I said that part.. but we knew EXACTLY where we were going and EXACTLY what we would find there.. it wasn't like one of your adventures into the unknown like you took when you were MY age, might I point out.." "You want to know why I went out after you'd told me not to?" she added hastily. "Fine. I did it because my uncle needed major help, and I wanted to be there for him. I figured it was important." Megan stood there staring defiantly at Gina, who stood beside her closet staring back. "Very well," Gina nodded evenly, "I guess that's a good enough reason." "Uh, YEAH, I'd say," Megan nodded. "Are you finished?" Gina asked. "Because when you are, we can get down to why I asked you to come in here." Megan was confused. "You mean.. you weren't going to scold me?" Gina turned and entered her closet, smiling. "I couldn't possibly," she called out to her daughter, "not after all we've been through, and how important what you were doing meant to us. I'd already made up my mind before I sent you home." "So.. what is.." Megan began, trailing off. "I disapprove of you going out without the proper equipment, though," Gina said, still in the closet. "But I said I had some of your gear! We had a line gun.. we ALL had GyroJets.. we even put a shockrod in with it!" "All very useful, but there's one thing you need most of all if you're going to go out adventuring." "What.. what's that?" Megan said curiously. Gina turned and emerged from the closet, smiling. "I want you to have this." Megan gasped wide-eyed. "What?" Gina looked down at the object in her hands. "It's served me well, and your grandfather too.. now you're going to be adventuring, and you'll need it.." "Mom.." Gina raised her hands and put the fedora on her daughter's head, smiling still. "How does it fit?" she asked after a moment. Megan, realizing what her mother's actions were implying, that she was to pick up where her mother left off, turned to look at a mirror, and reached up to touch the hat, wearing a wide smile, eyes threatening to tear up. "It fits," she said. "It fits really well." ONE MONTH LATER Jason lay on the lounge on the deck of the new house, sunglasses and bathing suit on, soaking up some very warm sun. The house was a few kilometers north of Laverton, Australia, and had been completed a few days before. However, it'd been finished not by Jason alone, but by Jason and Brianna, working together, sharing the tasks, and pooling their talents, as they always had. Brianna emerged from the sliding patio door and stepped onto the deck. She too was in her swimsuit and a pair of sunglasses and nothing else. She handed Jason another cold drink and sat down with her own. "There ya go." "Thanks," he said, taking a sip. "Who was on the phone?" "Just the kids," she said. "Oh, is today Friday? They're heading out today?" "They are," Brianna confirmed, sipping her own drink. "They go pick up Meg, then Alex, then they're spending a week or two at the dig site, then they're going to come home via here, stopping by for a visit and to show off their loot." "Cool," Jay grinned. "Did you wish 'em the best of luck?" "From both of us," she nodded. "I'm glad we decided to let them give it a shot," Jay said. "I'm glad Gina suggested it," Bri' added. "Agreed," Jay said. "And if their first find is as big as it's supposed to be, they're going to be bringing home the rewards in no time." "Ain't retirement grand?" Brianna smiled. "We sure do have a lot to be grateful for," Jason said, nodding. "I hear that," Brianna said emphatically, turning to kiss him briefly. Jason smiled. "D'ya hear this?" He turned and whispered something into her ear. A huge grin spread across her face from ear to ear. "I was starting to think you'd NEVER ask," she said, sitting up. "Besides, if we stay out here all day, we'll just get all burnt." "And we don't want that," Jay said, standing up. "Not in the least," she agreed, standing and taking his hand. The two of them walked inside the house. THE END AUTHOR'S FAREWELL What you've just read is the end of the Dimension Out Of Range series, which involved Brian and Jason in a phase of their lives that included the Gold Digger universe. (And if that isn't a big enough hint, along with all the hints and implications dropped in the story, I'll let you figure it out on your own.) Writing this series was enjoyable as hell, and I now find I wish I'd left more gaps in places so that I could go back and write more stories. As you may have noticed, there *are* some places where there are some opportunities for new stories to be written, and I may one day fill those places, since I have several plots that I started in the series and never quite developed. But I have to end DOOR sometime. I hope you've all enjoyed taking this trip with me, and I hope you enjoy my other fictional endeavors as well. I have many more projects on the burners, and I hope that one day, I can get to them all. I need to offer some thankyous and best wishes before I close this one off. First and foremost, I need to thank my writing partners, Mike Sugimoto and Mario Di Giacomo. Mike collaborated with me on much of the Mobius and deltaReality stuff that came before Dimension Out Of Range, and Mario has co-written, collaborated, or consulted on many of my Gold Digger stories after DOOR. In addition, I have bounced many story ideas, partial stories, and complete stories off of Heidi DuMont, who has always given me her honest, unbiased opinions on my work. I owe a great debt to these three for helping me to improve my writing over the years, and giving me a reason to continue. I also have some more people to thank. Fred Perry, for creating the Gold Digger series, entertaining us and allowing me to write all these fanfics; and for providing some much- appreciated encouragement whenever we've discussed my writing; Michele Scott, for obvious reasons; Richard Sirois, who stunned me a year ago with actual fan art of my fan fiction, which has provided me with encouragement and inspiration I can't even begin to describe; Everyone who has written me and told me that my writing has inspired them to keep working on their own works--that's exactly how I got my (re)start and it brings a little warmth into my heart to know that I can do the same for others; Last, but not least, the entire Fred Perry Fan Club and everyone else that reads my work. I'm honored to have been able to entertain you for this long, and I promise, I'm not letting up any time soon. Thank you to each and all. See you on the next one.. Jason Alexander Low lowj@cadvision.com 22 December 1999, 22:22 MST