A thunderous sound suddenly roared just above her. Jackie jolted upright and Rufus barked. What she saw out the windshield didn’t make sense. Powerful thrusters were churning up dust all around. The Howsh spaceship! The Revenge was landing on the same exact spot it had taken off from. She quickly wiped her cheeks and studied her shocked reflection in the rearview mirror. Assholes.
Jackie waited for the dust to settle a bit before climbing out from her car, then held the door open for Rufus to jump out. The now-landed alien ship rested twenty yards farther down the road, its gangway already descending. She leaned back against the car’s hood and waited, her arms crossed defiantly over her chest.
The first one down the ramp was Tony Bone. He spotted her and confidently nodded. He wore a pompous expression that only made her want to slap it off his pimply face. Next, came Kyle, then Cuddy. Both looked most surprised to see her.
“Jackie… what are you doing here?” Cuddy asked. “How did you know…”
“You don’t think I fell for that obvious ruse about your ship disintegrating in space, do you? I knew you’d be coming back here, so Rufus and I cruised on over. And guess what, here you are.” Jackie avoided making eye contact—afraid Cuddy would pick up on her load of bullshit.
She watched the AI orb emerge from the ship as the gangway began to retract upward, back into the ship. The three guys, looking highly satisfied with themselves, approached her.
“So what now?” she asked. “It won’t be long before you have a combination of U.S. military forces here… and they’re not going to be happy.”
Cuddy said, “That is why we have to go… take the Evermore back into space.”
“We? Who’s we?” she asked, gazing from Cuddy to the other two.
Tony said, “Me and Cuddy. Kyle’s a pussy and wants to stay home with his momma.”
“Screw you, Bone,” Kyle said back.
“No!” she said vehemently, as the three squinted at her in confusion.
Cuddy asked, “No? What do you mean no?”
“I mean not this time… you’re not leaving without me.”
“We talked about that, Jackie. I’m sorry, but—”
“But nothing! I’m part of this too and there’s nothing you, or anyone else, can say that’s going to make me change my mind. The sooner you three get that through your heads the better. And as far as your momma is concerned, Kyle, it seems she’s got herself a new boyfriend.”
“What are you talking about? What new boyfriend?” Kyle asked, looking hostile.
Cuddy, too, looked ready to pounce.
“It’s my father. They’ve been making goo-goo eyes at each other ever since she collected him from the hospital and took him home.”
“Really?” Cuddy exclaimed.
“Your dad? I thought he died in the hospital… a heart attack, or something,” Tony said.
“Believe me, he’s still very much alive,” Jackie said, glaring at Tony, who was really starting to annoy her big time.
Both Jackie and Cuddy turned to Kyle, who seemed to be mulling the news about his mother over in his mind. He suddenly smiled. “Then there’s no reason for me to stay behind. I’m in.”
“And I’m going too… right?” she asked.
Cuddy smiled, then winked over at her. Jackie had never seen him do that—wink at her like that. It was so out of character, she laughed out loud.
The hovering AI orb approached them then stopped. “There are vehicles approaching at a high rate of speed.”
“From the sky?” Cuddy asked.
“No, on this same road.”
Then Jackie heard it, a car coming fast. She recognized it—it belonged to Dr. Horowitz. Dr. Brian Horowitz. Driving his pride and joy, a brand new red Mercedes 500 SL convertible, Brian was leaving a rooster tail of dust behind him as he sped toward them.
“Oh crap!” she said.
Chapter 38
“Who’s that coming?” Tony asked.
“That’s Brian,” Jackie said.
Cuddy looked from the fast-approaching convertible over to Jackie, who seemed highly agitated. He heard her cursing under her breath. “Why’s he coming here?” he asked.
Jackie shrugged, keeping her eyes on the car as it skidded to a stop behind her VW bug. Cuddy could see that Brian was older than the rest of them—maybe in his thirties—though he wasn’t all that good at guessing ages. He had curly black hair—probably longish—and it was bound up in some kind of a bun near the crown of his head. Wearing sunglasses, he sported a perfectly trimmed goatee. He exited his car, never taking his eyes off the spacecraft that loomed above them.
“What are you doing here?” Jackie asked. “You can’t be here, Brian…”
He continued to stare at the ship in awe, then said, “I had to see you… find you.”
“Well, you’ve found me. But you have to go. Now!”
Cuddy, deciding to introduce himself, held a hand out for Brian to shake, but he either didn’t see it or chose to ignore it. Cuddy wasn’t sure which one.
“This is the spaceship the military think exploded on entering the atmosphere. Why is it here… What have you done?” Brian asked in an accusatory tone.
“You mean beyond saving the planet, along with your sorry ass?” Tony threw in.
For the first time, Cuddy watched Brian acknowledge Jackie, looking her over, from head to toe. Cuddy had silently been admiring the same spectacular vision. Wearing a yellow and black plaid shirt, and faded blue jeans that seemed to be painted onto her long slender legs, she wore only the slightest hint of makeup. Highlights in her long, straw-colored hair shimmered in the light as she moved. Cuddy was totally mesmerized by the sight of her, ever since walking down the ramp. He again questioned himself: Why hadn’t he truly appreciated her beauty long before now?
“So what’s this guy to you anyway, Jackie? Is he like a boyfriend or something?” Kyle asked.
Suddenly flustered, she snapped back, “What does it matter to you?” But her worried eyes defied her feigned anger. She glanced toward Cuddy, who only now was processing the deeper implications of her relationship with Brian.
Could Jackie belong to someone else? Cuddy wondered. That hadn’t been something he’d considered before, but now it made complete sense. What had he ever been to her, but a pathetic man-boy? A simpleton—one who’d never leave the safety of his Momma’s ranch.
The orb, which Cuddy had noticed was good at going undetected, if it chose to, was now rising higher into the air and hovering in place. “There are other vehicles approaching. We should hurry, Cuddy.”
As much as the spaceship, then Jackie, captivated Brian’s attention, the orb’s sudden appearance did more so. “What… is… that?”
Cuddy ignored him. “What other vehicles are coming, orb?”
The orb, rising higher, reported after several moments, “Military vehicles… three… approaching fast.”
Jackie spun on Brian, shouting, “What have you done?”
“I did what was necessary… what was right. With much reluctance, your mother told me what happened here. About the spaceship, and the battle with the aliens. I thought you might come back here.”
“So… what… you called out the Army?”
He nodded. “I thought you were in danger. Your little gang of misfits is in way over your heads. You have to know that, Jackie. You do have an education beyond the third grade. But these guys…”