The Unofficial Biography Of Kimmay

Book 2: The Nature Of Power

by G. L. Hudson

 

CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

 

Source: Valerie Samantha Kim

As she stood in the middle of the room, she again heard the soft whoosh and pop. Two pillowcases came flying from behind her and landed on the floor. She turned around just in time to hear the sounds once more, and see Amanda materialize out of thin air. "Holy shit!" slipped out of her mouth. Kim stood frozen to the floor. Her feet couldn't move. Her arms couldn't move. Amanda stood in front of her with a huge smile on her face. "Kim, I would like to welcome you to Grand Cayman Island. A true paradise on this Earth."

Kim's pillowcase slipped from her grasp and landed on the floor. Luckily it didn't have far to fall, so nothing was damaged. Amanda walked over and picked up all three pillow cases and set them on the leather-clad couch. "Kim, I suspect that you are hungry and in need of an explanation. Am I correct?"

"Uh huh," she mumbled.

"I take that as a yes. Please, follow me and I'll show you the way to the kitchen." Amanda led Kim into an ultra-modern kitchen. Along one wall was a bay window with a round table in the middle. Outside the window was a beautiful view of the ocean. The water was calm, and little waves rolled over on the edge of a long, sandy beach.

Amanda started opening and closing cupboards as she prepared to cook breakfast. "Kim, take a seat at that table facing the ocean. You are going to love the view. And you will love your stay here. The weather is perfect and the water is even better. You will have to search high and low to find better snorkeling and scuba diving in this hemisphere."

Kim did as she was told, still too numb and confused to even ask a question. Amanda was standing in front of the open refrigerator, "What would you like to drink? We have orange, apple, pineapple and cranberry juice, milk and coffee. There are also soft drinks if you prefer that."

Kim was at a loss for words. Her mouth hung open and she just looked at Amanda. "Of course, you want orange juice. One orange juice coming up." Amanda filled a glass and set it in front of Kim. "Drink up, you're probably dehydrated. You haven't had much to eat or drink for almost twenty hours."

Amanda found a frying pan and put it on the stove. She flipped a pat of butter in the pan and started to melt the butter and coat the bottom of the pan. "How do you like your eggs, Kim?"

"Scrambled," someone mumbled.

"Great. That's my specialty." Amanda put some bread in the toaster. She opened a package of bacon and laid it on a plate covered with paper towels. She slid the bacon into the microwave and pushed the bacon button. Next, she broke open five eggs, poured them into the skillet and added a bit of milk. They started to sizzle and pop as she rolled them around and scrambled them. In little more than five minutes, she set breakfast on the table.

Amanda sat down across from Kim and began to eat. "Now Kim, do you want to ask questions or do you want me to tell you the story."

"You talk," Kim answered. Kim didn't know where to begin and the food smelled delicious. She was hungrier than she had thought.

Amanda swallowed a mouthful of eggs. She washed it down with juice and began. "Let's start with you Kim. As you know, you are a very talented young woman. Other people have also realized that you have special talents. Some of those people are your friends and some of those people are not your friends." As an aside Amanda said, "Just for the record, I am your friend. But I'll get to that later. You have also known that you have enemies. Your intuition has served you well. You felt this after the Todd Reimer incident, and Professor Barnhardt helped to confirm it in your mind. Later, Kristal also confirmed it again for you. And she gave you some very good advice. Advice that I am happy to see that you have followed to the letter."

"How do you know this?" Kim asked.

"Because like many others, I have been following your career. I just happen to have access to better intelligence than most people. Anyway, let me continue. You suspected that your government might have something to do with the Reimer incident. You are correct. They sent a team of assassins to kill Todd. And you are also correct as to why they did this. What you are not correct about is who exactly was responsible."

"Who was it?"

"It was not the Department of Defense," Amanda said. "There is an even stronger cadre within the current government. It is the Department of Energy. You need to have a little background information, Kim. The government of the United States is controlled by a handful of ultra-rich families. These families basically control the world supply of oil, and they use the United States government as their enforcement and control power. They essentially use the U.S. military strength to protect their wealth. The President realizes this and responds to their every wish. Wars have been started to protect this oil wealth. Foreign governments have been toppled, intimidated, coerced and controlled for the benefit of this small group of families.

"These families will do anything to protect their wealth. Along with world politics they watch and control several other areas that are critical to their future. One of those critical areas is alternative energy sources as well as new technologies that affect energy consumption. Your work falls into this area. Brian Kaliber is director of a group that assesses new technologies. They assess the potential that these new technologies might have on the future use and price of oil. Anything that might have a negative effect on oil will be stopped.

"They stopped Todd Reimer. And you are right to assume they stopped him because of teleportation. The Department of Defense was interested in his work. They saw both a threat and some potential with it. But teleportation could lead to cheap transportation of goods around the world. That would mean fewer ships, trains and trucks. In turn that would mean less oil consumption. Profits would suffer. The Department of Energy recognized the threat, and with the help of the White House they stopped the Defense Department from pursuing the technology. Then Brian Kaliber and a team of assassins attempted to stop Todd Reimer and discredit his work. You know the basics of that, right?"

"Yea," Kim muttered. Her eggs and orange juice were finished.

"Kim, you were hungry. Can I get you some more eggs or juice?"

"Orange juice, please." Kim was still absorbing everything. She didn't know enough yet to even ask intelligent questions. She needed to hear more. "So what happened then?"

"So then they became serious about the new physics theories and research. They had been caught off guard by Todd. It was difficult to cover and discredit all of his work. E-mails and phone calls had been sent out, and they had to find all of that correspondence and either eliminate it or discredit it. A lot of people had their hard drives mysteriously fried over that incident. A few people were fired and Brian Kaliber took over full time operation of the new technology division.

"Kaliber then made you his number one target. The people in Washington knew how good you were. You raised a great deal of concern when you moved to Stanford and began studying engineering. They feared that you might be trying to develop and introduce some new technology. They may be ruthless, but they are also smart. Kaliber made you his personal assignment."

"But I thought he liked me," Kim muttered.

"Oh he did. He liked you more than you know. He was obsessed with you. He wanted you in the worst way. Brian Kaliber was in love with you Kim. When you rebuffed him the first couple of times that he asked you for a date, it hurt him deeply. Even in the end, he still loved you. He didn't want to give up on you, but he is a company man. When he had to, he gave you up for the good of the company.

"He set you up for Claire's murder, Kim. It was planned weeks in advance. These people are professionals. They knew exactly what to do. Clothes were stolen from your apartment and taken to the murder scene. Your clothes were soaked in blood and planted in the back of Claire's car. When the police found her car, your clothes and the murder weapon were in the trunk.

"The timing was perfect. Claire was murdered while you were out of town with Brian. No one else knew where you were. You had no alibi unless Brian stood up for you. If you had told him that you would work for the government, he would have come forward to provide your alibi. You would in turn be so grateful that you would fall in love with Brian. At least that was his thinking.

"But you said no to his offer, so he cut you free. He returned to Washington and he would not have come back to help you. You would have been convicted. They had all of the bases covered, and you would have had no defense, Kim. You would have been discredited and thrown in jail for the rest of your life."

"But there was the maitre'd and the waiter at the restaurant, they could have testified for me."

"Not likely. They were probably part of the charade or they had been paid to forget everything. And even assuming that these professionals made a cardinal error in their preparations, they would have recovered. The men would have towed the government line or simply disappeared. No Kim, you had no chance at all. The only person that could have saved you was Brian and he wouldn't have done it. I'm sorry, those are the facts."

Kim had to absorb everything for a couple of minutes. "Ok, if all that is true, who are you? How did we get here?"

"That's where things get a little sticky Kim, and rather interesting. Let me restate the obvious, I am your friend. Please believe that. Who am I? That is a bit more difficult. To put it simply, I am not from Earth. I am a visitor. I came here to protect you."

"I don't believe this," Kim said. "This can't be true."

"Please listen and let me finish. I know this is an incredible story, so give me a chance to explain. You came here through a multi-dimensional, translation portal. When we were in the library a couple of weeks ago I showed you that equation. Do you remember?" Kim nodded yes. "You said that you understood the implications of that equation. Did you really?"

"Of course. I said that my theories supported energy tunneling through multi-dimensional translation, but I thought the possibility of mass passing through was limited. Your equation supports the theory that not only energy can pass, but matter and intermediate particles can also pass through. The equation seemed legitimate. I don't doubt that. But there is a big leap from theory to technology capable integration. That was my problem with it."

"Once you accept the theory, it is only a matter of time before the technology can be developed. We have had a long time to develop the technology. It exists. You have experienced it."

"How exactly do you do it? Do you manipulate time-space, or do you do it strictly through energy interactions?"

"I'm sorry Kim, I can't share our technology with you. You will have to discover and develop that by yourselves."

"What was the feeling I had when I went through the portal? And what caused the noises when we re-entered our universe?"

"The disorientation was the loss of gravity. We pass specific things through the portal, but gravitons are not one of them. You essentially went into free fall. I'm guessing that is what you are referring to, the disorientation part. It would affect your inner ear and your sense of balance and you would feel it in your gut also."

"Yea, that about explains it. And what caused the noises?"

"I'm not sure which noises you are referring to, but here are some things that happen. Our portal checks many things when you step through. Who or what you are, the environment from where you are starting and the environment where you are going. For living organisms or fragile items, the system is more complicated. Inorganic materials pass through with very little adjustment. For an air breathing organism, the relative barometric pressure is extremely important. If we took you from a low pressure atmosphere to a high pressure atmosphere, we could crush your lungs and ears. If we took you from high pressure to low pressure we could cause an embolism or catastrophic decompression. The portal checks both sides and slowly adjusts the pressure from one point to another. There is very little difference in atmospheric pressure between Palo Alto and Grand Cayman, so the adjustment was very quick; probably microseconds. In extreme cases, our portals will hold you in translation for up to twenty-four hours. You would be unconscious and unaware of it. But you would come out safe.

"The portal doesn't match pressures exactly. The time wasted for a slight difference isn't worth the effort. With a slight pressure change, you might hear a low pop noise. I am so used to it that I don't notice it any more. The portal also makes one other obvious adjustment, it clears a space for you to land. Since two particles of matter cannot occupy the same place at the same time, the portal creates a perfect vacuum within the space that you will occupy. The space is slightly bigger than the translating article. And so a slight pop and pressure is felt when the air returns to the boundary vacuum."

Kim just looked at Amanda. She was waiting for more clarification but that was all that Amanda would say about the portal.

"As to who I am, I am Amanda Carson. My planet is roughly 300 million parsecs from here. We are travelers and explorers. And we also like to think of ourselves as protectors and helpers. We search out other intelligent and sentient beings. We study and learn from these beings. In some ways we are anthropologists, sociologists and psychologists. This is our passion. And when these beings are ready, we welcome them to a bigger universe."

"We also protect when we feel there is need. We are not policemen or peace keepers as you would define them. There is always conflict between different species. There are winners and losers. Sometimes we intercede on behalf of one side or the other. We do it seldom, but it is not unheard of. We are reluctant to do this, because we do not believe that we have the right to decide the destiny of others; if there is such a thing. But once every great while we do protect."

"And you are here to protect me?" Kim asked.

"Yes, I am. But you should know the reason. I am here to protect you because my people made an error. It was a very serious error. It was totally by accident, but we cannot accept accidents when we interfere with another civilization. Two observers were on you planet and released information to your species. It was incomplete information and it was interpreted totally incorrectly. It has lead to some serious consequences. It is our responsibility to try and correct our mistake."

"What was the mistake?"

"That I will not tell you. Suffice it to say, our two explorers have been disciplined. They will never again be allowed to travel to a civilization below level four."

"So this is a level three civilization?" Kim asked defensively.

"Categorization is meaningless, Kim."

"Can you tell me what happened? What went wrong that you have to fix it? How serious is it?"

"In the long term, it is not serious at all. In the short term it is very serious. We felt it necessary to try and correct the short term situation. It is like throwing a pebble into water. You get a splash at the point of impact, a rather large effect. Then you get ripples, or in severe cases waves and tsunamis, which spread from the epicenter. Far enough away the water remains smooth and there are no effects. This is much the way your situation reacts. Long term there will be no effect, but for people on islands that have been washed away by the tsunami, that is of little consolation. So we are trying to help here and now."

"You are describing time waves, aren't you?"

"Maybe."

"So how does this affect me? Why am I being protected and not someone else?"

Amanda took a condescending tone with Kim, "What makes you think that you are the only one? You now know that you are important, but do you think that you are the only important person that has been affected?"

Kim bowed her head in understanding. A little of her arrogance had been exposed.

"You are being protected because if not for our mistake, your life would not be in danger. We are partially responsible for your repressive and tyrannical government."

"You put them in power?"

"Not hardly, but we created a …" Amanda was searching for a word. "I'm not sure of the correct word, but we created an atmosphere or societal attitude that certain illegitimate individuals in your society were able to seize hold of and use to their benefit. This situation gave them too large of an advantage over others, and eventually power shifted in their favor. Eventually your people will see this discrepancy and understand the deception that it is built upon. They will correct the mistake and build the societal structure that best works for you. But in the meantime, people are being mistreated because we caused this."

"Many people have been put at disadvantage and in danger. But you still haven't told me why I get your protection."

"Because you are special, Kim. I told you that. My people hold several things to be of extreme importance, and truth is one of them. You bring a form of truth to your people. It is scientific truth. We believe that science can be a strong power in any civilization. It can have negative impacts, but it generally provides more good than bad effects. And as I said, it is a form of truth. No civilization can survive in the absence of truth. A tribe in the depths of the Amazon can ignore gunpowder and claim that it does not exist. But sooner or later they learn that it does exist. At that point, control of their existence is outside their control. The people with the gunpowder now determine their future. Without truth, sooner or later you hand your future to someone else. Then you must rely on their mercy for your very existence.

"Your government is taking that away from your species. That is why you are being protected. Not because of any single thing that you do, but because of what you represent. We are in essence imposing our convictions upon your species. But in this case, I truly believe that you agree with us concerning this specific conviction. Scientific truth and honesty is a cornerstone of survival."

Amanda looked at Kim for a reply. Kim obliged, "I agree with you. I think most people will agree with you also. Probably the only people who won't agree are religious fanatics who want to turn back society and growth." Amanda said nothing, but she gave Kim a knowing smile.

There was something important here, but Kim saw only the edges of it. She would slowly realize the full truth as to why Amanda had come to her, but it would take many years to become totally clear. "Thanks," Kim said. "I guess you saved my life. What can I do in return?"

"I do have a favor to ask of you, Kimmay. It is an extremely important favor, but it isn't a difficult favor. I would like you to live your life. As much as you can, try and live your life as you see fit. Please try not to read my presence or my comments into your future decisions. Live your life as you would have, before I entered your life."

"That's going to be rather difficult now, isn't it?" Kim asked.

"Yes and no. I'll try to help you, but I won't be at your beck and call. Some things that you ask I will do. Other things I will refuse. You will not always understand why, and I do not have to justify anything that I do. I hope you understand why I do some things and not others, but if you don't - that's life Kim."

"I accept. I am still confused though. What do we do next?"

"There are a couple of things that have to be done now. First, do you have a way to contact your family?"

"Yes, sort of."

"I am sure that by now they are worried sick about you. The national news organizations will be broadcasting your story all over the country. You need to assure them that you are safe and that you are innocent. Before you contact them, I suggest a rather unpleasant task. Watch a half hour of the news. See what they are saying about you, so that you know what your family's main concerns will be. It will be distasteful, and for once you are going to know full well how much the media is manipulated and how much it lies. They are controlled by the government more than you ever realized.

"So first check out the news. By the way, we will be the only people on this end of the beach who will be seeing the news for the next several days."

"Why is that," Kim wanted to know.

"I'll explain that later. Second, do you have a way to contact Senator Horn?"

"Sure."

"Are you sure? Can you talk with her freely and tell her where you are?"

"I don't even know where I am, how can I tell her?" Kim was joking somewhat, but her confusion was also showing.

"You are on Grand Cayman Island. You are staying at the Lindon Condominium on the north end of Seven Mile Beach. But that's not what I was asking you. How secure are your communications. Can you safely tell her where you are?"

Kim thought for a moment. "No I can't tell her anything. It is set up so that I leave a calling card, so to speak, and she or Jennifer contacts me. But they won't know where to contact me. What do we do?"

"Can your mother contact Senator Horn?"

"Yes!" Kim almost shouted. "Yes, mom can do it."

"There you go," Amanda said as if congratulating Kim. "After you watch the news, prepare a recording for your family. At this point in time I recommend that you say nothing about me, where you are or how you got here. Do you agree?"

"I don't think they would believe me anyway," Kim smiled. "I can hear them now, 'and Kim popped through thin air and reappeared in a tropical resort in the Caribbean.' I'm sure they will think I have lost my mind."

"My thoughts exactly. How do you get your recordings to them?"

"I send an encoded disk to Simon. He delivers it to Valerie. At the same time I send Valerie an e-mail and in it I give her part of the decipher code. The other part of the code is dictated by the date."

"You can't send Valerie an e-mail. NSA will trace it. You record the disk and write a letter to go with it. Include the usual instructions on which code Valerie should use. I'll deliver it to her myself."

"How will you do that?"

"The same way that we arrived here. Tomorrow is Monday, a business day. First thing in the morning DHL will make a special delivery to Valerie and I will give her your envelope with everything in it."

"That should work, but won't someone notice a special delivery?"

Amanda smiled at Kim, "Did anyone notice our arrival here?"

Kim returned the smile. There were going to be some real benefits in having Amanda around.

Amanda continued, "Do Valerie and your mom have a safe way to open your recording? They are going to be under surveillance."

"Will my hair dryer trick still work?"

"I think so. Include a warning in your note to Valerie for her to use that trick. That should handle them. Now, you need to get a message to Kristal. How does your mother contact Kristal?"

"Mom calls a number and leaves a message. Jennifer shows up a day later and they go somewhere to talk."

"Fine, that will work. Add another sealed envelope and give your mother instructions to turn it over to Jennifer. If you tell your mom to not open the envelope will she do as you ask?"

"I think she will. We don't really have much of a choice do we? Unless you want to make a special delivery to Kristal."

"No I don't," Amanda replied.

"Why not?" asked Kim.

"Some things I will tell you …" Amanda made her point. Tell Kristal to fly to Georgetown on Wednesday. Tell her a woman cab driver will offer to drive her anywhere she wants to go. Tell her to accept the invitation. You can give her my description. Don't tell her about me. Nobody should know anything about me. Is that clear?"

"Yes, but I will have to do some explaining."

"Just say that I am a friend here to help you. My name is Amanda and we met at Stanford. Tell Kristal not to delve into my past at Stanford."

"Why not?"

"Because there is no past. She is going to be suspicious of me, and she should be. You will have to find some way to convince her that I am on your side. But don't give away any of our secrets. Agreed?"

"Agreed."

"Good. One other thing, and you will like this part, the next several days are vacation. You have earned it. You are on one of the most beautiful and relaxing islands in the world. The water is as warm as bath water and crystal clear. The underwater visibility runs over two hundred feet. The condominium has a hammock hut where you can relax all day long. When you get too hot, you cool off in the ocean, then you go rinse off the salt water and jump in the pool, then you collect a cold drink from the refrigerator and return to the hammock. It is a well deserved vacation Kim."

"What if someone recognizes me?"

"That is why the local cable and satellite companies are going to have fits this week. All of the news channels on this end of the beach are going to receive rare solar flare interference, and no one will see any news. I have already checked out the guests at all of the neighboring hotels and condos, and no one has ever seen nor met Kimmay. No one will know you are here until we are ready."

"Ready for what?"

"For Senator Horn to set her trap and catch and expose the people who killed Claire. You will be cleared. But you will still have to remain in hiding. They will keep hunting for you until the government is toppled."

"Can we topple the government?"

"That's not your job, Kim. That job will be left to Senator Horn. Now you should go check out the news shows, but try not to get too mad," Amanda warned her.

Kim started off to take care of her letters when she remembered that Andromeda had been left behind. "Amanda, we have to go get Andromeda. She is all by herself."

"You go take care of those recordings, Kim. I'll go get Andromeda and take her someplace safe."

"Why don't you just bring her here."

"Because some things …"

Kim headed towards her pillowcases and computers. She was starting to feel better.

 

CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

 

Source: Valerie Samantha Kim

 

We first heard about Kim when Rose called us on Sunday afternoon. "Have you seen the news?" she asked. "Turn on the twenty-four hour channel. I can't believe it. It can't be true."

"What can't be true?" mom asked.

"About Kim. That she murdered her professor."

"What?" yelled mom. "What did you say?"

"They are saying that Kim is wanted for murder. She allegedly murdered her professor."

Mom didn't even disconnect. She ran to the living room and turned on the news channel. I had been watching the Packers-Bears game when she switched the channel on me.

"Mom!" I complained. "I was watching that."

"Quiet!" she shouted. Mom hardly ever yelled. I sat there and watched with her. It was the big news story of the day. A leading professor at the University of Stanford had been killed. Her name was Professor Claire Keystone. They showed bloody and gory pictures. She was found nude; stabbed twenty-seven times with a butcher knife. Her lover and graduate student Kimmay, the world famous physicist, was suspected. When they went to interrogate Kimmay, she had fled in a wild car chase. The police finally had to let her go because they were afraid that the high-speed chase might end in catastrophe for some innocent bystanders.

Mom was devastated. She kept repeating, "No, no, no, no …" Over and over she said it. She sat on the floor and watched the television. "No, no, no." I was as shocked as mom. This couldn't possibly be true. We watched the reporting as they jumped back and forth from studio to reporter to police station to reporter and over again. We couldn't help ourselves. It was too strange, too macabre … too bizarre. But we continued to stare at the television.

Mom jumped up and ran to the AV-phone. She pushed Kim's button. A woman answered but it wasn't Kim. "Hello," the voice said. "This is Officer Olsen, can I help you?"

Mom's voice would barely work. "Can I talk with Kim?"

"Kim isn't here right now. Can I take a message?"

Mom pushed the disconnect button. Thirty seconds later the AV rang. "Mrs. May, please?" a woman's voice asked. It was the same woman that answered Kim's phone. Mom just stared at the phone. "Mrs. May, I would like to talk to you about your daughter. Do you know where she might be?" I ran over and hit the disconnect button for mom. She was frozen in place, starring at the AV like it was a serpent.

"Mom, come with me," and I helped her over to a chair.

She slumped into the chair. "Call grandma," she whispered. She was staring at the television again.

Grandma and grandpa hadn't seen the news. I didn't tell them. I just told them that it was very important that they come over right now, and hurry. "Is something wrong with Melissa?"

"No," I said. "Just come over fast!" I didn't think I should say anything over the phone. Neither mom nor I was thinking very straight.

Grandma and grandpa arrived twenty minutes later. I answered the door when they arrived. They were very nervous, "What's wrong, Valerie? What happened?"

"Its on TV," I said. "Go see," and I pointed towards the living room.

They walked in the room and saw that mom was totally devastated. Grandpa quickly ran over to mom and grabbed her shoulders, "Melissa, what happened?"

"Kim," was all she could say before she started crying. Grandpa and grandma turned to the TV, and saw the news banner at the bottom of the picture, 'World Famous Kimmay Murders Lover.' Grandma just stood there while grandpa fell into the nearest chair. They watched the television and didn't say anything for a full five minutes. Then grandma sat down and she started muttering, "This isn't possible. It can't be. They made a mistake. Not Kim."

From there the evening deteriorated. People started calling and I had to permanently disconnect the phone. The four of us spent the evening together, watching the television and crying. It was the worst night that I have ever endured. It was worse than the night that Cynthia had been killed. It was pure hell.

Grandpa put mom to bed after midnight. Her eyes were totally bloodshot and her voice was so hoarse that she could barely talk. She fell on the bed in her clothes and grandpa threw a duvet over her and left her there. Grandma slept with me in my bed and grandpa slept on the couch. He left the television on all night.

The next morning was Monday, and no one felt any better. None of us wanted to get up. We all wanted to lie in bed and pretend nothing had happened. We all woke early, but no one would get out of bed. I finally got up at 8:00, but only because I had to go to the bathroom. I put on the coffee and decided we should eat. I started cooking bacon and eggs. Eventually the smell of the coffee and bacon pulled everyone to the kitchen. We all sat in silence and ate.

The security system began blinking. Rose or one of the other employees had arrived down stairs in the salon. The salon opened at 9:00 but the daily routine started around 8:30. Mom usually went downstairs at 9:00 or a little earlier. It was plain that she wasn't going down to work today. We continued to eat in silence when the intercom buzzed. I reluctantly walked over to answer it. No one felt like hearing condolences and sappy wishes.

I pushed the on button and listened. "Valerie? Melissa? This is Rose, can you come down here please? There is a special delivery letter from DHL and she says that you have to sign for it. She says it is marked urgent."

Mom looked at me and shook her head no. "I'll be right down Rose." I didn't want to go down there anymore than mom, but I reluctantly put on some slippers and headed down stairs in my bathrobe. I walked through the back of the salon to the front. There was a DHL woman standing at the front desk.

"Are you Valerie?" she asked. I wondered how she knew who I was. I shook my head yes. She handed me the envelope and said, "Things are about to look up. Trust those you love."

This seemed like one weird lady. "Where do I sign?"

"You don't have to sign anything," she said, and she turned around and left.

"Then why did I have to come down here?" I grumbled. It was addressed to me. That was weird. Then I recognized the handwriting. I screamed and went running back upstairs. I came flying into the kitchen breathless and squealed, "It's from Kim!"

"What is? Where? What's it say?" Everyone was talking at once. I ripped the envelope open and poured the contents on the table. There was a recording disk and two other envelopes. One had my name on it and one had Kristal's name on it. I quickly grabbed the envelope with my name on it and ripped it open. In huge font across the top it read 'STOP! DON'T SPEAK! READ ME FIRST!' "What does it say?" they all asked again.

I read a little further and quickly understood. "Shut up I yelled." The three of them were stunned.

"Don't you talk like that to your mother!" grandma scolded me. I held my finger to my lips and shushed them. I turned the letter around so that they could see what it said. They all read it and looked at me.

I shushed them again. Then I picked up all of the contents and I said, "Follow me." I led them down the back stairs and into the salon. Rose, Simon and George were sitting at the front desk drinking coffee. They all jumped up and just looked at us. Simon started to offer his condolences and I interrupted him.

"Simon, thanks. Listen I have a favor to ask. Would you all go into mom's office and wait for us? Stay there until we come to get you. This is very important, ok?"

"Sure, whatever we can do to help," and Simon led the rest of them towards the back office.

I took everyone over to the hair dryers and started turning them all on. Mom understood what I was doing, and she started turning on the television, the music system and everything else in sight. Grandma and grandpa were confused, but they said nothing. When we had everything turned on, I had everyone huddle around the dryers. "The letter is from Kim and she says to turn on all of the electronic interference that we can. It stops people from spying on us," I explained to grandma and grandpa.

I read them the letter:

STOP! DON'T SPEAK! READ ME FIRST!

Valerie, turn on all of the electronic equipment in the salon before you read or talk about this. You are being watched!

Valerie 4469.

Love, Kim

 

Mom looked at me, "What does that mean?"

"It's merely part of the code to open her disk. Just a second and I'll get your PA computer from the office." I ran to the office, grabbed the computer and said to Simon, "It will be a couple more minutes. I'll be back."

I returned with the PA and sat down. I slid the disk into the computer and punched in the code. "How do you know what to do?" mom asked.

"Kim and I have been sending each other encrypted recordings ever since she went to Stanford. It was for girl talk and things." Mom looked at me suspiciously. "Here, look," I said. I punched the read only feature and turned the volume off just to be sure. The picture of Kim came up on the screen. The closed captioning began:

 

Mom, Grandma, Grandpa and Valerie;

Don't believe anything that you see on TV or read in the papers. I did not murder Claire. I have been set up to take the blame. Someone has been trying very hard to pressure me into working for them. Valerie can explain. I told them no. They murdered Claire and planted evidence to convict me. A certain individual took me out of town at the time of the murder so that I would have no alibi. No one saw us at dinner. Again, Valerie you know who I am talking about. Please believe me when I tell you this. I did not kill anyone.

I am no longer in California. I am far away from Stanford and I am perfectly safe. I'm safer than you can possibly imagine. I cannot take a chance on telling you where I am, but the weather is beautiful!

There was no car chase. A friend helped me quietly leave before the police arrived. Everything they tell you on TV is a lie. Trust me when I say that this will all be straightened out in public. But it won't happen for several weeks or months. Do not get impatient. Please trust me.

Trust no one, talk with no one. You will all be under constant surveillance. I will not contact you other than by the same way this disk came to you. If anyone tells you otherwise, they are lying.

Mom, the other envelope must be given to Jennifer. You know how to do this. Do not read the letter. It has information that you must not know. Valerie, make sure everyone realizes the immensity of this situation. I will try and remain in contact, but it will be on a very sporadic basis. It might be three or four weeks apart. Do not worry, with Kristal I will have more help than you can possibly imagine. I will be fine. Be very, very careful. Remember, talk with no one, and discuss me only out of doors or with some sound protection.

Valerie, please help everyone as much as you can.

I love you all.

Kim

 

Everyone looked at me. I began to explain, "This started a long time ago. Several years ago when Kim was still at Madison, there was a person out East who discovered teleportation. Like on science fiction movies. He could move matter instantly across space. He was killed in a fire, and Kim thinks he was murdered. Kim thinks the government did it. She thinks they were afraid that it could be used as weapon. Ever since then, Kim has been afraid that the government has been spying on her also. She is one of the few people in the world that understand this teleportation stuff, and they are afraid she might start researching it again. And a year or so ago, Kristal told her it was true. They were watching her."

Mom knew some of this already. Grandma and grandpa knew none of it. They were wide-eyed as I explained everything up to recent events. "The Department of Energy has been openly pressuring Kim ever since she arrived at Stanford. They want her to work for them and they have offered her tons of money. She has always said no. There was one creepy old guy who kept coming onto Kim." Mom's face went ashen.

"Kim said he was a real creep. He kept asking her out and she kept saying no."

"Good," said grandma.

"Yesterday I got another e-mail from Kim. She said this guy took her out to dinner Friday night." I decided not to mention that Kim liked him after their date. "He must be the one who kept her hidden for the night so that she wouldn't have an alibi. Don't you see, it's the government who killed Professor Keystone and they are trying to frame Kim. They wanted her to work for them and she said no. This is their revenge."

"Oh shit," grandpa said. "This is damn serious. If it is the government, they're going to get her. She can't hide from them. They have spies and resources all over the world. She hasn't got a chance."

"Yes she does grandpa. You have no idea how smart she really is. And you saw what she said in the letter. Once Kristal gets involved, she will have all the help that she needs."

"Don't tell me how smart she is. I know how smart she is, and she is no challenge for the government!" He was getting angry.

"Grandpa, she saw this coming. She knew about this for years. And don't forget, they sent trained killers to set her up and frame her, and she escaped. She has more talent than we can possibly imagine. Believe in her, I sure do."

Grandpa quieted down. Grandma spoke up, "You're probably right, Valerie. But I am still going to worry about her until she comes home safe and sound."

I took the computer and started to erase the disk. Then I took it out and broke it into small bits. "Mom, you know what to do?"

"Yes, I'll make the call right now."

"And remember," I said, "We don't talk about this again. And no one talks to the police or the press. Right?" I had unanimous agreement.

 

Kim had finished her recording and letters. She signed everything and put them in envelopes. She sealed the envelopes and took them into the living room area. Amanda was sitting on the sofa and admiring the view. "Here are the messages for you to deliver. You can take them first thing Monday morning, right?"

"No problem, Kim. Your mom will have hers by 9:00 and hopefully she will deliver Kristal's as soon as she can."

"Then on Wednesday you can pick up Kristal at the airport?"

"That's the plan. Kim relax, I don't think there will be any problem."

The two of them sat quietly, looking at the ocean. Kim was formulating questions in her mind. She wasn't sure where to start. Kim's first question went straight to the topic, "You're not human, are you?"

Amanda laughed. "Of course I am human. I am every bit as human as you are. Do you want me to get some tests?"

"But you're an alien."

Again Amanda laughed, "Do you mean like from Mexico or China?"

Kim was getting frustrated. "You know what I mean. You are from another planet, another solar system 300 million parsecs away. You are not from Earth!" Kim yelled.

"That's true. So what is your question?"

Kim wasn't sure what her question was. She was talking with a space alien and that should be strange by anyone's measure. "We've been wondering about intelligent life in outer space and other planets for years, and here you sit all calm like its no big deal!"

"It's not a big deal. Not for me. I've visited over fifty different worlds and met people from all of those worlds. Most of the people are very pleasant."

"Do they look like us?"

"Some do, but not exactly. Everyone looks a little different."

"But you don't. You're from an alien world and you look just like us. How can that be if everyone looks different?"

"Because I'm human."

"Is everyone on your home world human?"

"No."

"Amanda! You're not making this easy! Why can't you give me a straight forward answer?"

"I am, Kim. You're just not asking the right questions."

"Well how should I know what questions to ask? I'm totally out of my league here. Help me a little, won't you?"

Amanda laughed again. "I'm sorry, you're right. I am teasing you, but not because I want to hurt or frustrate you. I'm doing it because I like you. I have so much wonderful information to tell you that I'm not sure where to start either. But I can't tell you everything here and now. It will come out slowly over the next several weeks and months and years. And even then, I will only be able to tell you a few superficial things. I can't give you all the information that you will want."

"What do you mean by months and years? Why so long a period? What is going to happen?"

"You are going to go on with your life. Do you remember a couple of weeks ago when we were hiding in the beauty salon and talking?"

"Yea."

"I asked you if you were going to be afraid to live your life and pursue your dreams. Remember? And what did you say? You said you were going to pursue your dreams. Remember?"

"Yea, that's what I said."

"Do you still want to pursue your dreams?"

"Yea."

"That's the right answer, good. And that is what you are going to do. I'm here to help."

"How are you going to help?"

"That brings us to the good news, bad news scenario. First, we're going to enjoy a nice vacation here. Then we will help Kristal catch the people who tried to frame you for murder. And then you are going to pursue your dreams. That is the good news. The bad news is your government isn't going to quit chasing you. You are still a danger and an embarrassment to them. They will want to exact their revenge, and they will not stop hunting you."

Kim's face dropped and her heart sank.

"But you will remain safe, Kim. They won't find you. I will protect you."

"I can't go home?"

"No you can't. Not for a while. Eventually you will be able to see your family, but not for some time."

Kim was quiet. She pulled her feet up under her and wrapped her arms around her knees. She cuddled into the sofa as if she were cold. "I don't want to be alone," she said softly.

"You won't be alone, Kim. I will be with you. And you are going to meet others. You will be able to write to your family and talk with them. I will set up secure lines of communications. But you can't travel to them, and they can't travel to see you."

"But it is so easy with the portal, no one would know."

"It can't be done Kim. You can't go back to Milwaukee. That is too dangerous. And they can't come to you. They are not allowed to know about the portal. Only you and I will know about it. That's the rule."

"What if I tell someone?"

"You won't."

"How do you know?"

"Because I know you Kim. You're hurt, you're angry and you're depressed. You are allowed to have those emotions. But they will eventually fade away and when you are thinking with less emotion and more logic, you will agree with me."

She was right and Kim knew it. But right now she wasn't happy with any of this. Amanda had said others. "What others? Who?"

"Mostly co-workers, Kim. Much of it depends on you. I am here to help you move forward and work on your dreams. You can't go to a school or laboratory to study and work any longer. So I will arrange to get you the resources and help that you need. Whatever those resources and help are depends on you. You will steer the course and I will row the boat. I will provide the means for you to pursue your dreams, and some of those means will be other people."

"And you know what I am trying to do, of course."

"No I don't."

"That's hard to believe. You know everything else that's going on."

"You haven't told anyone what you are working on. How would I know?"

"I don't know. You can probably just take all your technology and look into the future and see what I do."

"No I can't. The future doesn't exist yet. I can't go forward and learn anything."

"What do you mean it doesn't exist?"

"I'm sorry, Kim. I shouldn't have brought that up. We can't talk about time. Not yet. Just believe me when I say, I really don't know what your intentions are."

"Then how are you going to help me?"

"How do you help yourself? How did you know that you wanted to go to Stanford? Why did you want to go to Stanford? I'll tell you why, because they had something you needed. Whether it was people or facilities or something else, you knew. And you know what you need to continue your work now. When the time is right, you will tell me what you need and I will help you get it. I will not help you with the work itself. That is totally your responsibility. But if you need a pencil, I'll get you the pencil. If you need a litho lab, I'll get you into a lab."

Kim thought about everything. This isn't what she expected. Being kept away from her family wasn't fair. She had almost no friends to start with, and this just made life more difficult. She hated the people that put her here. She hated the United States and her government. This stunk. She was starting to slip deeper into depression. And she was angry with Amanda. She was too smug and she wouldn't answer the questions Kim asked.

"You never answered my questions," Kim said. "You ARE an alien from another world. Aren't you?" It was an accusation, not a question.

"Yes, I am. But I am also human. I'll explain just a little. On my native world I am not human, but I am not that different from you. There are minor differences in our environment that have forced slightly different requirements on us. But I could live, for at least a short time, on your planet and you could do the same on mine. But when I took this responsibility I had to become fully human."

"How human are you? Besides physical shape and biochemistry, do you think like us? Do you have emotions like us? Do you get sick like us? Will you die like us?"

"Yes, yes, yes, and unfortunately, yes."

"How do you switch back and forth? Does the portal do it?"

"Some things I will tell you …"

"You are so frustrating I want to smack you." Kim cried.

"If that will help, you may proceed." Kim just stared at her. "Listen, I have never been through the emotions and trauma that you have gone through, and I can only imagine how you feel. I admit that I have been a little flippant in my comments, but I did that to try and keep this conversation more upbeat. I didn't want our talk to become too morbid.

"I have a suggestion," Amanda said. "There is nothing else that you can do today. There is a beautiful day outside our door. Let's grab an ice tea, put on our bathing suits and go enjoy the sun. It's the giver of all life. Let's get some of that life. What do you say?"

"I don't have a swimsuit."

"Yes you do. Let me show you where I put it."

 

Excerpted from personal conversations with Senator Horn

Jennifer had chartered a private jet to get to Milwaukee faster. She returned less than five hours from start to finish. When she entered my office she had the envelope in her hand. "They have heard from her and she is ok. She sent this to you."

I took the envelope and opened it:

 

Dear Kristal;

I am ok and I am innocent. Everything you have seen on television is a lie. I know who is responsible and I am desperate for your help. Will you please come to Georgetown, Grand Cayman on Wednesday? A woman taxi driver will offer to drive you anywhere that you want to go. She is 5 foot 2 inches and has long black hair. Please accept her ride.

I look forward to seeing you and Jennifer.

With all my love

Kim

 

I handed the letter to Jennifer so she could read it. I took out a piece of paper and wrote out my instructions. I didn't want to take any chances on eavesdropping equipment.

'Make reservations for us ASAP. Book us to Jamaica with a non-direct going through Georgetown. Get our doubles and have them prepare to switch with us when we get to Georgetown.'

I slid the note over to Jennifer. She read the note and gave me an affirmative. I downloaded the pictures that we had received onto a microdisk, and added the encryption. I slipped it into my compact and headed home to pack.

Jennifer picked me up an hour later and we drove to the airport. An hour into the flight Jennifer passed our diplomatic passports to the girls. We kept our back-up papers in the bottom of Jennifer's purse. The girls would have no problems passing into Jamaica without any inspection, and they would return to pick us up at Georgetown without any problems either. But Jennifer and I were going in as ordinary citizens. It was always a dangerous move.

Luckily, Grand Cayman is a tourist hotspot. They welcome Americans with open arms. Our trip through customs was uneventful. It was nothing like the ordeal of going the other way, into the USA. As we walked out of the air-conditioned airport and into the heavy Caribbean humidity, a woman walked up to us. She looked very familiar. She was small, she had long black hair, and I could have sworn that we had met before.

"I have a taxi and I can take you anywhere you want to go. Please, my car is this way."

We followed her to her car. She helped us put our bags into the trunk and then she walked to the wrong side of the car. She sat behind the wheel and pulled out onto the left side of the road. We followed the winding road out of the airport and turned right towards the beach area. When she was sure no one was following us she greeted Jennifer and me.

"Welcome to Grand Cayman Island Senator Horn and Ms. Gayle. It is a pleasure to meet you. I am Amanda. I am a friend of Kim's."

"It's nice to meet you Amanda. How do you know Kim?" I asked.

"I was in one of her classes at Stanford. I recognized her as Kimmay, and I have been a fan of her's forever. So we just sort of hit it off together. She is a remarkable girl."

A pretty bland answer I thought. I could see that Jennifer didn't totally buy the answer. She was in an action position.

"What class were you in together?"

"We weren't in class together. She was the teacher and I was one of her students. It was Transport Phenomena. She was actually the TA, teacher's assistant. Professor Keystone was the responsible professor."

"What happened to Professor Keystone?" I wanted to push her a little and see what happened. I knew Jennifer was prepared.

"I think it is best if Kim tells you that. We are going to the Linden Condominium. It is located on the north end of Seven Mile Beach and will take about fifteen or twenty minutes to get there; fortunately traffic is light today. Kim is very anxious to see both of you. She really needs a friend right now. I have tried to console her, but she loves you like a sister and she really needs you, both of you. She will be so happy to see you. Please, lean back and enjoy the ride."

She said the right words but something didn't seem quite right to me. I decided to sit back and see what happened. Jennifer didn't relax.

We drove through Georgetown and past all of the banks that make Grand Cayman one of the banking centers of the world. We went past the harbor area and saw one large cruise ship sitting off shore. Hundreds of purple shopping bags indicated that the tourists had landed and where looting the local souvenir shops. Five minutes later we passed the Governor's Mansion, the public beach and finally arrived at the Lindon.

"She is in room 203. You go ahead, I'll bring your bags," the driver told us.

"That's ok, I'll come back and get them," Jennifer said. "Let's go together."

The three of us walked to Kim's room. The driver led the way, I brought up the rear and Jennifer was between the driver and me. The driver knocked on the door and then opened it slightly, "We're back," she said. The door flew open and Kim came running out and ran at Jennifer and grabbed her and gave her a big hug. She then grabbed me and gave me a bear hug.

"Am I glad to see you," she said. "I am so glad to see you." We stood outside of her door as she hugged me, and then Jennifer again.

I felt a little uncomfortable standing out in the open. "Kim, we should go inside," and I gave her a nudge in the right direction.

"Yea, come in to my humble abode." We followed her inside and closed the door. Jennifer did a quick look-see.

As soon as we were inside I asked Kim, "Are you ok? Do you need anything?"

"Yes, you," and she gave me another hug. "I have felt so alone since Sunday. Amanda has been great, but I need my own people." An odd choice of words I thought. "I'm fine, but how are mom and Valerie? Did you talk to them? What did they say?"

"Jennifer talked with your mom. Jennifer, what did she say?"

Jennifer finished her walk around. "Your mom is really worried about you. She understands some of the situation, but there is so much that she doesn't understand. It really scares her. She misses you and sends her love. She told me and Kristal to take good care of you and report back to her as soon as we can."

Kim crouched down on the sofa, her knees pulled up tight against her chest. "I really miss them. But I am so happy to see you. This is Amanda. Amanda, this is the world famous Krysallis and her friend Jennifer. Krysallis goes by her real name Kristal when she is with us. Amanda and I met at Stanford. She has helped me immensely."

As we shook hands I noticed Amanda's eyes. "You have such pretty and unusual eyes," I said. "One green and one brown. I had a cat once that also had one green and one brown eye."

"And her name was Andromeda, just like Kim's cat, right?" Amanda knew some interesting details. I had some questions for her, but first I wanted to talk with Kim.

"Kim, can you tell us what happened?"

Jennifer and I sat down, while Amanda went to the kitchen to get us some drinks. Kim told us her story. It was a surprise that she was able to tell it so clearly. The time since Sunday had helped her. She only broke down when she got to the part about finding Claire. But she held herself together for the rest of the story. When Kim was finished, I sent Jennifer down to the car to get our things.

I began to question Kim, "How did you get here?"

Before Kim could answer, Amanda spoke up, "Senator, I'll explain that. But I think Jennifer should hear this also. Let's wait for her to return." Jennifer was back in a couple of minutes. "You asked how Kim got here? She came by way of a portal."

Kim gave Amanda a questioning look. "I thought we weren't going to talk about that subject," Kim said.

"I've changed my mind, Kim. Senator Horn and Jennifer will need to know." Amanda turned her attention back to Jennifer and me. "We came by portal. A portal is a connection between two different parts of space-time via another set of dimensions." Amanda waited for our reaction.

I didn't buy a word of it, and I wasn't sure why Kim was going along with this. I was starting to think she had some type of control over Kim, or we were being set up. I think Jennifer felt the same way because she shifted to an action position. "That's very nice, Amanda. Would you care to show us your portal?"

"Of course," she quickly answered. "I didn't expect you to believe me." She took a small box or cushion from her pocket and squeezed it. "Please look at the bedroom," and she pointed to it. It was completely black inside. "Is everyone hungry? Would you be interested in having dinner at a sidewalk café in Rome?"

"Sure," said Kim. "Should I get a coat?"

Amanda looked at the device in her hand and answered, "It's very warm in Rome tonight. You won't need a coat. Who would like to go first?"

"I will," said Kim. She turned to Jennifer and me, "You're going to love this," and she walked into the bedroom and disappeared.

Jennifer jumped up and I slowly stood up. I deliberately walked over to Amanda and demanded, "What happened to her?" Jennifer was closing in from the side.

"Ladies, please relax. Kim is in Rome. I suggest that we follow her. Kristal, will you please step through?"

"How about if we go together?" I suggested.

"Ok, I understand your suspicion. Jennifer, make sure that you come after we go. You will want to see Rome tonight."

I didn't buy this for one minute, but I took her up on her offer. I clasped her arm and the two of us walked into the room. Immediately my stomach dropped out from under me and I thought I was falling. My ears popped and then it got light. I was disoriented and looking down when we 'landed'. I looked up and saw Kim.

"Wild, wasn't it?"

We were standing in a dim room. It was a very old room and smelled very musty. About ten seconds later there was another noise and Jennifer was standing behind me. She was obviously disoriented also. I turned around to find Amanda. "Where are we?" I demanded.

"You are in a hotel room across the street from the Roman Coliseum. Let's go down stairs and see it."

This was a pretty good act. She opened the door and we followed her downstairs. We walked down two flights of stairs and entered the lobby of an old hotel. There were a couple of small signs written in Italian. There were people milling around and talking. I couldn't catch what they were saying, and I wasn't sure if they were speaking Italian or not. Amanda led us across the lobby and out the front door. We stepped outside and there were several small tables around us. They had couples sitting at them and most of them had glasses and a wine bottle on them.

Amanda stretched out her arm and pointed across the street. "What do you think? Isn't it amazing?"

It was amazing. It was the Roman Coliseum. No doubt about it. I had been there before and knew it was not an illusion. Amanda looked at me and smiled like the Cheshire cat from Alice in Wonderland. Damn, she looked familiar. "There is a very nice café down the street this way. Would you like to sit down and eat, or would you like to visit the Coliseum first?"

"Let's sit down and talk first," I said.

"Good idea," she said. "The restaurant is down this way," and she led the way. We walked only two blocks when Amanda found the waiter at a sidewalk café. She spoke to him in Italian, and then motioned for us to follow the waiter. He seated the four of us at the far end of the café, away from most of the other patrons. After we were seated, Amanda looked at me and asked if I had any questions.

"It was pretty wild, wasn't it?" Kim asked. "How did your stomach feel?"

"It dropped like I was falling," I said.

"That's because gravitons don't come through the portal. For a fraction of a second you were weightless. Interesting, isn't it?"

"Kim, do you understand this?" I asked.

"Yes and no. While we were in Stanford, Amanda showed me some of her work and we discussed the possibility of something like this. I can understand the possibility from a theoretical basis, but I have no clue as to the technology behind it."

"Who does know the technology behind it?"

"I do," said Amanda. "But don't ask me to share any of it with you. As I told Kim, some things I will tell you and some things I will not tell you. I will not discuss or justify any of my decisions. Let me guess your next question, Kristal; 'Who are you?' Am I right?"

"It wouldn't take a mind reader to figure that out."

The waiter came over and Amanda spoke with him in Italian. They both laughed and joked while the three of us sat there watching. "I have ordered a bottle of Italian wine for the four of us. Kim, if you don't like it, go ahead and order whatever you like. He will also bring a dinner menu."

Amanda turned back to me, "Kristal, you still do not trust me. I hope I can win you over, but it might be difficult. If you don't believe the portal, you are going to have an even more difficult time believing the rest."

"I know I did," Kim chirped in.

"I have two responsibilities. I am a protector, like Jennifer, and I am an ambassador."

"Ambassador?" asked Kim. "You didn't say that before."

"I just added the title. Things are rather fluid and I have been given rather wide latitude in my job description." She smiled and waved her hand as if to dismiss her big promotion.

"Who do you protect and represent, Ambassador?" I asked. This was starting to stretch the limits of credibility.

"I am here to protect Kim. As you know, Kim has extraordinary talents and they need to be protected and preserved. And as you and I also know, there are some people who wish to silence her. That will not happen if I can prevent it. Second, I have just been named ambassador to Earth. My home planet is some 300 million parsecs away and they have allowed me to take any title that I wish."

This was ridiculous and it was time to put an end to it. "Listen Amanda, or whoever you are, this game is about to end. This is all hogwash and you know it. We are two minutes away from us getting up and leaving and putting an end to this." I had no clue what I was going to do, but I was going to put as much space as possible between Amanda and the rest of us.

"But what can you do, Kristal? You can't go to the Americans. They are looking all over for Kim. You can't go to the local police, you have no IDs and do you think they will believe you just popped in without going through customs? Come Kristal, have a little trust in me. Kim trusts me."

I wasn't sure what to do. I looked at Jennifer and she was ready for action, but she didn't seem to know what to think of this either. I looked at Kim and she said, "It's pretty hard to believe, but I see no other explanation. I believe her."

"Convince me," I said to Amanda.

"Not here. Eventually you will believe me. And then I think you will trust me also. Wait; here is our chance to order dinner. I highly recommend the seafood pasta. It is wonderful," she said with that stupid smile again.

She assisted us in ordering and then offered a toast, "To our new alliance. Go Kim!"

Kim took a sip of the wine and wrinkled up her nose. "The next time the waiter comes over I will order orange juice for you," Amanda told Kim.

"Kristal and Jennifer, let me tell you your life story, from an alien's point of view." I think both Jennifer and I wanted to wipe that grin from her face. She gave a ten minute oration on my background and it was totally correct. There was nothing in the story 'from an alien's point of view.' It was straightforward and factual.

"Did I miss anything?" she asked. "Oh yes, there is Mr. Dunn. How is the gentleman?"

My heart jumped into my throat. How did she know about him? Was she with the administration? Was I about to be arrested? I was going to say nothing about Mr. Dunn. My only choice was to wait and hear what she had to say. I was starting to REALLY hate that grin she was wearing.

"Kristal, relax. I am on your side. Mr. Dunn can be especially useful to us."

"Who is Mr. Dunn, and how can he help us?" I asked.

"You know exactly who Mr. Dunn is, Kristal. He can help in exactly the same way that you wanted to use him. He can help you bring down the administration and get you elected president."

My first thought was that she was trying to play to my ego. She was trying to build me up like some schoolgirl. I'm not that stupid or naïve.

Kim jumped into the conversation, "President? That would be great Kristal. You could straighten out all of our problems." She turned to Amanda, "Can you do that?"

Kim was too naïve. "No, Kim. She can't do that. She is just trying to buy someone's loyalty."

Amanda said to Kim, "Kristal still doesn't trust me. She is right, I can't make her President, but she is wrong if she thinks I am trying to buy her loyalty." Amanda turned to me, "I don't have to buy her loyalty. She will eventually realize that I am on her side, that I am not making up stories and that I really do want her to become President of the United States of America."

I wasn't sure what to say or how to respond. I decided to take the low road and try and make her angry. I turned to Jennifer, "She doesn't think we're very smart, Jennifer. Do you think she is so delusional that she believes this stuff herself?"

Amanda started laughing. She was laughing so hard that she took her napkin and wiped her eyes dry. She yelled at the waiter to bring water for everyone. 'Damn, she's good,' I thought to myself. The waiter walked over and he said something in Italian. "Our dinners will be out in five minutes," Amanda translated. She turned to the waiter, "Do you understand any English?"

"Of course," he said.

"Good, then I would like to introduce you to the next President of the United States of America," and she held her hand out, palm up, in my direction. "You heard it here first," she finished.

"That's nice," he said sarcastically. "Five minutes, girls," and he walked away.

Jennifer was about to come across the table at Amanda.

"I'm sorry Senator and Jennifer. I did this to Kim also. Maybe it is a personality defect that I have. I have been teasing you too long. I will be more serious. Kristal, you came here, or rather Grand Cayman, to help Kim. After making sure that Kim was all right, what was your next priority?"

I decided to play this part of the conversation honestly. "First was her immediate safety, second was her long term safety. Long-term safety would require clearing her from this murder accusation. And I also wanted to talk about some pictures that were sent to me."

"What pictures?" asked Kim.

"The pictures that I took and sent to Kristal," Amanda said.

"You sent them?" I said. "Who is in the pictures? How did you get them?"

"The woman in the picture is probably the person who killed Professor Keystone. She broke into Kim's apartment twice. Once to steal clothes and remove the camera and bugs that they had planted, and a second time to plant Claire's clothes to help frame Kim."

"There were bugs in my apartment?" Kim asked. "If you knew that why didn't you tell me?"

"I'm sorry Kim, but I couldn't tell you. I wasn't ready to let you know who I was, and I didn't want to tip off the DOE."

"How did you take the pictures?" I asked again.

"Some things I will not tell you."

"What was the reason for Claire's clothes?" Jennifer asked.

"Actually, they were very thorough in their plan to frame Kim. The woman who murdered Professor Keystone, took Kim's clothes with her to the crime scene. She kept them in a plastic bag so they wouldn't pick up any of her own DNA. After murdering the professor, she spread blood all over Kim's clothes. She made the crime scene look like Kim killed the professor, then took off her clothes, took a shower and cleaned up, and finally put on some of the professor's clothes to wear home. The idea of cleaning up makes her look more calculating and cold-blooded. Kim's bloody clothes were left with the murder weapon in the professor's car. The car was left three blocks from Kim's apartment, easy walking distance for her to return home that night.

"Claire's clothes were carried over to Kim's apartment in a clean plastic bag to protect them. She took Claire's clothes and 'contaminated' them with Kim's dirty cloths to get her DNA over them. All of the DNA evidence would show she committed the crime."

I had a hundred more questions, but dinner arrived, and I had to wait for the waiter to leave. Dinner was served and everyone started eating. The food was delicious, but I had other things on my mind.

"Amanda, who is the woman?"

"I don't know. That is your job. You have to find out. I sent you the pictures to help you identify the woman and to use as evidence against her later."

"How do we find out who she is?"

Amanda replied, "Come on Kristal, you're getting lazy. You can think of ways to find out who she is. You can probably think of ways to catch her and get a confession. There are some things … need I continue? Look girls, even though you don't want to believe me, I am here to help, but I can't do too much. You have to do most of the legwork. Think of me as a safety net or a back up. And Kristal, I do expect you to become the next President. In fact, I am counting on it."

I still didn't trust her. It was time to find out more about her. "Amanda, let's say I do believe you, you have to admit this is a big story to swallow hook, line and sinker. An alien from outer space arrives just in the nick of time to help save us from ourselves? Why should I believe any of this?"

"Because for the most part it is true. Although I'm not from outer space, but rather a planet much like yours. Let me save you some time. You can eat your dinner, it's delicious isn't it, and I'll tell you what I have already told Kim."

According to Kim, Amanda's story matched her previous dialog with Kim. Now I had a million more questions. Amanda was starting to sound more and more legitimate, but the only real proof she had was the portal. I wasn't sure how to proceed.

I changed tactics again, "Amanda, why do you want me to become president?"

"Isn't that clear, Kristal?"

"No, not really." I said.

"Because your country is totally screwed up, Kristal. And your country is now screwing up the rest of the planet. You all know this. It is screwed up and I am responsible for it. Not me directly, but my people. I am here to help correct that mistake that we made, but I cannot do it unilaterally. It is a matter of principal for my people. You have to do the actual work. You have to mold your own future. It can't have my imprint on it. And the start to that future begins with you Kristal. You and Kim are the two key players in this melodrama."

"How is that?"

"You two must carry forward with your dreams and plans. You must make things happen. I will help."

"What are we supposed to make happen? What are our dreams?"

"I don't know Kristal. I'm not a mind reader."

"I find that very difficult to swallow - you don't know. You seem to know everything else that is going on. Why all of a sudden don't you know?"

"Because it is your future. You make your own future. I will not help you make that future, in that I will not influence your decisions. I will help you in that I will give you the opportunity, but everything else is up to you. You and Kim that is."

"Is this your version of the Prime Directive?"

"Exactly. Well stated."

Kim was confused, "What is the Prime Directive?"

"It's from old science fiction shows. The older and more technically advanced civilization will not intercede in the affairs of a less advanced civilization. But Amanda has already influenced our civilization. We now know about portals, for instance."

"That is true," Amanda admitted. "So when do you think you will build one?"

"But we know something we didn't know before," I said.

"No you don't," she answered. "Kim?"

It was Kim's turn to contribute, "Well actually Kristal, I was almost there from a theory standpoint. It was the next iteration of my last equation. Amanda just led me there a little faster than if I had been working on my own. But it doesn't make much difference in the grand scheme of things, because I wasn't going to publish anything yet, and I'm still not going to publish anything."

"Why not? Is there a reason?"

"Yes, I do have a reason, or rather I did have a reason," Kim said.

"What is the reason?" I asked.

Amanda stepped in, "Perhaps it would be best if you don't answer that Kim." Amanda looked at me, "I don't know what her reason is, but it probably wouldn't have come up if I hadn't brought us here for this conversation. I think it would be better if we dealt with the business at hand. Will you agree?"

I thought about it for a minute and couldn't see any reason to disagree. If she truly was who she said she was, or what she said she was, her request was reasonable. "I agree."

"Let's finish dinner and go back to the condo. Jennifer, you haven't said much tonight. How was your dinner?"

"The food was delicious, the conversation was fascinating. I wish I could believe you. It's a wonderful fairytale."

Amanda laughed again. "You and Kristal are exactly alike. You will eventually believe me, but in the meantime I will respect your trepidation."

Dinner was finished and we returned to the hotel. Amanda led us up to our original arrival room. When she opened the door, she again took out her little, black device and held it in her hand. She did something and the room went blank. One by one we stepped through the door. Again my stomach felt like I was falling, but this time I was expecting the effect. I stepped into the condominium on Grand Cayman Island.

"Kristal and Jennifer, you have the room to the right," Amanda began. "Here is your key. I have the room on the left. This will be Kim's room. We still have a couple hours of daylight. I would suggest that everyone go back to her room and get situated. Put on your bathing suit and we will meet at the pool. The sun is still strong, so don't forget your suntan lotion. Kristal, if you and Jennifer need either a suit or lotion, I left them in the top drawer of your armoires.

"Also, I have checked out the other guests. There are only a couple other people and no one should recognize Kimmay or Krysallis. I have eliminated all news channels on this end of the island, so no one should be aware of the Stanford incident. Kristal and Jennifer, I have tried to set up everything so that you also get a couple days of vacation. When things start getting hectic, you will be happy you received a bit of R&R. See you at the pool." Amanda turned towards her room and left.

I looked at Kim and Jennifer, "What do you think? Is she legit? Is she on our side?"

"I think she is for real, and I'm pretty sure she is sincere." Kim said.

Jennifer sort of shook her head. "It's an awful tall story. She seems legit, but the part about being an alien from another planet … that's a large pill to swallow."

"What do you think we should do?" I was asking both of them.

"I think we should believe her," Kim said. "She does have that portal and she got me away from the police and the government assassins. Plus, she wants me to continue my work. That is something I want to do more than anything now. It will be my revenge against Kaliber and the Department of Energy."

"What are you trying to do, Kim?"

"I'm going to develop unlimited, cheap power in micro-sized chips."

"That should do it," smiled Jennifer. "If you do that, their oil based economy will collapse."

"I can see other problems if their economy, and our economy, collapses. But I like the idea, Kim. Can you really do it?" I asked.

"I'm pretty sure I can. The theories say I can, and some of my last work on chip manufacturing says the toughest part of that should be behind me. There is still a lot of work to do, but I see no insurmountable problems."

"How long do you think it will take?"

"Probably a year or two, depending on facilities and luck."

"That would really be something if you can do it," I told her. I wasn't sure what to do next, so I decided to follow Amanda's advice. "Well, since I don't know what else to do, let's go to the pool and enjoy the rest of the day."

By the time Jennifer and I reached the pool, Kim and Amanda were already there. Amanda had a small cooler and she handed each of us an ice tea. "Are you all greased up?"

"Yes," I answered.

"Good. I suggest that you enjoy the rest of the day. Go swim in the ocean. I left some masks and snorkels by the shuffleboard pad. Or you can swim in the pool. The hammocks are fun and relaxing to swing in, but lay your towel over the netting or it will eventually start cutting into your back. Or if you want," and she looked at me, "we can sit here and talk. I would recommend that after the sun goes down, we meet in Kim's apartment and discuss catching some criminals."

I went snorkeling for the rest of the afternoon.

 

Collected from the Department of Energy using the Freedom of Information Act

Secretary of Energy Allen Kurtland was a bright shade of red. Brian Kaliber was sitting in a chair, subconsciously covering himself from Kurtland's onslaught. It was not a pretty sight. It took the secretary a full ten minutes of ranting before he sat down behind his desk. This was very difficult for him. Kaliber was the best in the business. He had never failed before, and now he had failed in a colossal manner. His target was not only alive, but she was possibly in a position to point fingers.

"We have no friggin' idea where she is or what she knows." Kurtland was coming to an end. "Does that about sum it up?"

"Yes, sir." Kaliber knew better than to say more than yes or no.

Kurtland was starting to settle down. While he could get extremely agitated at times (his temper was legendary) he was smart enough to eventually get back to facts and actions. "What do you know?"

"Almost nothing. It was like she disappeared into thin air. The cops are 90% sure she was in the apartment. There is only one door, all the windows were watched, and there is no attic or cellar access in the apartment. We checked the local people, all the transportation methods, and nothing turns up."

Kurtland spit. "What does she know?"

"We have to assume she knows enough. She might not know all the details, but she isn't stupid. She probably suspects my involvement in the murder."

"What are you doing?"

"We have given NSA a code blue request. We have asked TSA to alert all their agents and watch all of the potential exists from the country. We have her family on full surveillance. She had one other friend at school, but we can't find her either. In fact, we can't identify anything about her. She worries me more than anything else."

"Why?"

"Because she is totally off the chart. If I had to guess, I would say some one planted her there to help the girl. The only people capable of that are foreign entities. France owes us one, maybe they're behind this."

"I'll call NSA and put a full alert on all of the French intelligence agencies. I'll also ask the CIA to get involved on French territory. We'll call in some assets and see if they know anything. I want you to stay behind the scenes. Get your team prepped and ready to go at a minutes notice. Get clearances with whomever is necessary, but be ready to go anywhere in the world immediately. If she is getting professional help, you may have only one chance. Make sure that you don't blow it!"

As it turned out, Kaliber did have only one chance. And he blew it.

 

Source: Valerie Samantha May

By the time Kaliber and his team started into action, they had already lost the battle. On the third day of their vacation, the girls had finalized their plan and had started their preparations.

Senator Horn, dressed in her best Krysallis' sundress with plenty of jewelry and makeup, called on the Governor's House. She made the call unannounced, since they wanted to minimize any chances of the CIA or NSA learning about the social call. The governor was taken by surprise, but was very happy to entertain the famous movie star. Krysallis eventually convinced the Governor to take a sunset walk with her on the beach. With bodyguards trailing behind them, she walked the Governor towards town and away from the Lindon Condominiums.

Once they were out of range of the bugs in the Governor's House, she explained her purpose to the Governor. It took a bit of convincing, but Krysallis could be very convincing. She explained the situation with Kimmay and the expected hit team that a certain foreign government was going to send after her. Krysallis never said which government was sending the team. She ran over the potential scenarios, "They may come in as exempt government officials, or tourists, or surreptitiously through sea or air," Krysallis told the governor.

Krysallis wanted the other condominium guests moved to comparable accommodations for their own safety. She would need police back up and of course the use of the Governor's quietest jail quarters. The prisoners would have to be moved in and out without notice.

Step by step she took the Governor through the possible scenarios that they had discussed. Krysallis would need to discuss details with the police chief in a clean environment, meaning no bugs. After everything had been laid out, Krysallis gave him the bad news.

"The most important item I left until the end. You can still back out, and we will go someplace else."

"I am most intrigued, Krysallis. This all sounds very well planned. What else is there?" the Governor asked.

"The foreign government is the United States," she told him.

"Ahhhhh. I see the problem here." They stopped their walk and faced each other. "It does not surprise me one bit, but it is a problem and a serious concern. They will not make life easy for us here. We depend on the USA for the majority of our tourists and economic vitality. Without saying anything public, they can squeeze us very, very hard."

"That is why everything must be kept incredibly quiet. Once they lose their team, they will start looking for them. They will have a tremendous problem that they will be desperate to cover up. If they think this was premeditated and a trap, life will get very sticky. That is why I will fully understand if you say no. I can move Kimmay to another location. But Governor, mark my warning, there can be no halfway cooperation or change of mind. That will be the worst thing that you can do."

"You give me a difficult choice, Krysallis." They walked a little farther until the Governor came up with an idea, a little insurance in case the USA squeezed their tourist industry. "Let's make a deal, you become the spokesperson for our new, international advertising campaign and I will agree."

"Governor, normally I would say yes, and you would get better PR than you can possibly imagine. But in this case I must say no. As a Senator of the United States I cannot agree. But I tell you what I can do, give me your second choice and I will get that person for you free. If she doesn't agree to do it free, I will pay her personally. That's the best offer that I can give you. Will you accept?"

"There is no equal in the entire world to Krysallis. You know that."

"I thank you for the compliment. But ethics and other pressing concerns make it impossible for me to accept. I cannot make a better offer Governor. You name the celebrity and I will get her."

"Let me talk it over with my people and I'll give you our choice later. I will accept your offer. I will give you what you need, I'll give you my best people and I will make sure that every thing stays quiet. To be honest, I would have tweaked the President's nose even without a new celebrity spokesperson. Send Jennifer to me for lunch tomorrow. I will find a quiet place for us to finalize plans, and I will bring my chief of staff."

They shook hands. "Thank you Governor."

 

That evening the call went to Mr. Dunn. He arrived late the next evening with a full camera crew and his best reporter. They had left London on urgent business and no one had been briefed. Their taxi drivers, Amanda and Jennifer, brought them to the Lindon Condominium where they were introduced to Krysallis and Kimmay. Everyone was impressed to meet them both, and speculation concerning Kimmay started almost immediately. Before starting, Krysallis had all personal phones confiscated and the central phone system at the office was disconnected. There would be no mistakes.

The crew turned out to be very professional and quite exceptional. They were excited with the scenario laid out by Krysallis. They had several excellent ideas and suggestions to add to the plan. Early the next morning they were already climbing over the building and putting their equipment in place. A private jet was chartered and sent back to London to pick up some additional infrared cameras and to deliver a note to each member's family. They would be filming guerrilla activities in Colombia for at least a month, and there would be no communications. Sorry.

Mr. Dunn was probably the most excited of everyone in the group, and he showed it the least. His external demeanor was almost impossible to change or interpret. "Kristal, this is the big break. This is what we have been looking for. This could be the beginning of the end."

"Don't get ahead of yourself Mr. Dunn. A single scandal rarely brings down an administration. He has just won a resounding re-election, so he has common support. He also controls all of the news media in the country. It will be difficult to get the truth out to the people. Don't forget our potential scenarios; in one of them we hold this for release a year or two from now. We might have to do that," Kristal told him.

"Details, details. One step at a time, I know, but this is a giant step. I have a special intuition, and I am much more optimistic than you Kristal. Will you run for the White House?"

"You are way too far ahead Mr. Dunn. But if I did, would I get your endorsement?" They both laughed. They were all feeling a little too giddy. This was going to be very dangerous. Everyone needed to get back to reality and plan, plan, plan and plan some more.

They spent another two days reviewing details and arranging equipment. Jennifer spent every lunch with the Governor, his chief of staff and chief of police. After those two days, a specially selected group of policemen came to the condominiums. They spent an afternoon reviewing the plans, making adjustments and re-thinking contingencies. Meeting Krysallis and Kimmay helped cement their allegiance. Krysallis especially helped - she dressed very attractively for the men.

A week after contacting the Governor and putting the plans into action, Krysallis announced that they were ready. It was time for Kimmay to set the bait. From her room at the condominium, she made an AV-phone call to the airline. She ordered a one-way ticket to Paris for Margaret Washington. The flight was to leave in two days.

 

(continued)

  

  

  

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