004 - Meet the Caplan’s

Roxanne Caplan stirred, and then slipped deeper into sleep. She dreamed. She was on a ledge on the side of a high mountain, looking west. Footprints that were not hers led into the center of a formation of rocks. Then she was flying. Faster than she had ever moved before, accelerating up, and across space at the sun, until it consumed her.

Rox awoke, just before her alarm started. Carefully she pulled herself out of bed, doing her best not to disturb Steven. After pulling on some sweats and picking up her gym bag, she slipped out the back door and crossed the yard. The crisp Sierra Nevada mountain air refreshed her as she walked. One of the dogs noticed her as she crossed the yard, but did not otherwise stir from its house. Behind the backyard, in her garage, she kept the latest car. She put the bag in the front seat of the ‘67 Camero, and then opened the swinging garage doors. Climbing into the Camero, she started the car up.

The engine growled to life. Rox sat for a few moments letting the custom restored V-8 idle, and warm up. She then backed it slowly out of the garage. The pre-dawn light was bright enough to see by, but she still turned on the marker lights as she stopped, and closed the garage. Rox then slipped back into the Camero, and secured the four point harness. That done, she eased out the gravel driveway to the road, and drove to the gym.

She had had several vivid dreams the last several nights, but no real memories of them. Try as she did with her workout, she could not completely put off a sense of foreboding. This wasn’t about the tournament that night. Something else was going to happen.

Living in a small town in western Nevada has several advantages. One was that everybody knew everybody, for good or ill. Another was that Rox had some influence over the gym and it showed. At the gym, Rox changed into her workout clothes, black pants and a torn up red tee-shirt over a spandex top in the ladies locker room. She warmed up on a treadmill, and then started working through the dumbbells. Two brothers were the only other people in the place, and all three kept to themselves as they exercised. Quickly finding her usual rhythm for lifting, Rox lifted mainly for the exercise of it today, rather than to build strength. She preferred to come in the early morning, or late evening, to avoid the posers who came to be seen, not that there were many; most of them preferred to drive north to Carson, or Reno. As such Rox had most of the rack of weights to herself, for most of an hour. She moved through the various lifts in a steady rhythm and then finished, and moved to the rooms where she trained and taught a second level martial arts class.

*          *          *

Steven Caplan got up to find his wife had already left. That was fine. She did not like to be disturbed before matches and tournaments. So he had the kids today. He was going to take them with on the errands, then out to play. A warm shower and clean clothes started the day. He roused Diana and Alex and took then into the kitchen for breakfast. They sat on the stools as he cooked a skillet of eggs, bacon, and toast. They munched on some peaches as the rest cooked.

Diana, ten, and Alex, eight, rarely squabbled over dividing up the food. They preferred to fight over other things, such as who got to shower first. The winner showered upstairs. The looser had to wait, or go downstairs and use that one. Steven cleaned up breakfast as his children cleaned and dressed themselves.

Steven let the dogs in and gave them the scraps, and their normal breakfast. Tyrell and Dru, retriever-mix breeds, then went back out. They were staying home today. Steven briefly wondered if it was yet time to have Drusilla bred or fixed.

He then went into his bedroom, and to the closet. In the side was a small safe. He opened it, and pulled out his gun, and its stuff. The holster would go onto his belt behind his right hip, magazine holder sitting opposite on his lift. His belt went on, with all of its other paraphernalia. His Batman-utility belt was a running joke, and a holdover from his combat gear from his years as an active duty Marine. His cell phone, a leatherman, and one or two other things were threaded through his belt as Steven put it on.

Steven went around the house once, gathering the things he wanted to take, and generating the list of errands to be run. That done, he went to the front garage, which attached to the house, and began to load the truck. The target stands and gongs were put in first, with some 2 x 4’s put over top, and the other stuff put on them and tied down. Diana helped him get the last bit in. Then Alex showed up, and they went downstairs to the locked room.

In here, Steven kept all his other gun stuff, among other camping and similar things. He opened the gun safe, as Diana and Alex each set out an open rifle case. Steven put his ‘toy’ rifle in one, and the kids’ .22’s in the other. These were then closed and locked. Alex then took one case and Diana the other, up to the truck. Steven grabbed a brick of .22’s, and two other boxes of pistol ammo. These went into the range bag with all the ear muffs, safety glasses, and field cleaning stuff. Last he grabbed one of the five gallon buckets of reloaded ammo, segregated into two bags, and closed the room back up.

The range bag and bucket ended up in the bed of the truck, the two rifle cases on the floor in the back seat, and the kids on the front bench with Steven. Alex, sitting in the middle, got to push the button to open the garage door. Once it was going up, Steven started the truck, and rolled out. Diana got to close the door once it was stopped, and the truck out. Steven turned onto the road and headed for Carson, waving to Mrs. Winchel weeding her front lawn as they drove by.

*          *          *

Rox thumped the bag, going round and round, sweat starting to show on her light haired brow. Her eyes focused on the bag, but the tournament this evening occupied her thoughts. Her mood was still set by the unease she felt. With a final set of thumps she stopped, leaving the bag. She didn’t want to wear herself out before getting to the contest.

She went into the dressing room, stripped, and showered. At six foot two, Rox was the tallest woman in the gym, most of the time, and had to duck to get under the shower head. Easily one of the stronger women to workout here, she was considered overly skinny for her height, measuring little more around than a woman a foot shorter. Having those measurements she always looked a bit ungainly. But thanks to daily time at the gym she was too muscled to be called delicate, while not showing excessive overall definition; just a smooth, hard figure.

After drying off she dressed in her street clothes, left the gym, and drove the hour long drive to Sparks, just east of Reno, and the school where the Martial Arts Tournament was being set up. Roxanne’s agitation distracted her from her habitual driving pattern to only moving through the traffic instead of leaving it behind.

*          *          *

Steven’s first errand was to get some hiking boots for Diana and Alex. They would be camping over summer vacation, and neither had adequate footwear. Diana had outgrown hers. Alex had worn his out. Steven considered getting a new pair for himself, but there were none in stock to fit his size 12 feet that he liked. And his were not worn out yet.

With new shoes on, they went shopping for new binoculars. Alex kept quiet about this, and seemed extra careful about what he touched in that store. Steven had said very little about ‘the binocular incident.’ Alex had learned that lesson very well. On the bright side, Steven ordered a new top-end set with an integral digital camera. He then purchased for each child a quality mini set.

Steven was pleased to see how much care Alex took with his; Diana dropped hers twice, to no effect.

Next, they traveled to Reno for lunch.

005 - Meet The Caplan's part 2

The staccato of gunfire had echoed in the small box canyon all day. Vehicles of various kinds cycled through the parking area of the narrow valley in counterpoint to the shooting. They parked in a rough line at the base of the shorter hill on the south side, facing the larger one to the north. The intervening valley was about the size of a small athletic field, and strewn with mostly biodegradable debris. Several metal targets, and other larger objects, stood in rough order across the valley. Sometimes the gunfire ceased and figures would walk out and add, adjust, or remove things.

As it was, the sun was now behind the high hills to the west, and the shadows were disappearing. There were only three trucks left scattered across the informal line. It had been a good day of shooting, but there were other things to do. Steven had put the long-arms away, while his two kids picked up the loose brass. The targets were still set up, for one last drill.

Diana and Alex stood aside, Diana holding the stopwatch. Steven waited, standing as relaxed as he could. He stood in about the middle of the firing line. The other men were sitting on the tailgate of one of the trucks several yards away, watching while talking to each other. Everybody had earmuffs and safety glasses on. When Diana was ready, she pushed the start button. The beep from the watch was Steven’s cue.

In one movement Steven bent his knees slightly, shoulders dropping, head going forward, right hand going under his jacket to draw his gun. He pushed the gun forward at the targets, left hand wrapping around the right. Starting on the left, Steven squeezed the trigger before he was at full extension. Each steel circle, mounted to its post, rang as the bullet hit. Steven swept to the right as each gong rang once. The cardboard targets were in the middle with the steel silhouette plates, and more gongs to finish.

The last gong rang as the slide locked back. The magazine dropped from the pistol as Steven’s left hand went for the next one on his belt. His focus did not leave the front sight of the gun as it he brought it back to reload. Slamming the magazine home, he thumbed the slide return, his left hand resumed position as the pistol went back forward. Steven swept back across the targets. After reloading a second time, he swept across a third time. When his slide locked back again, he ejected the last magazine.

As soon as the third magazine dropped, Diana stopped the watch. 45 rounds, 2 magazine switches, all swept across ten gongs, three steel plates, and two cardboard targets. All fifteen targets had been hit three times. All in under 25 seconds.

Not his best, but Steven was satisfied. He did not compete, but he practiced regularly. He checked and then holstered his pistol, and picked up his magazines. While Diana and Alex gathered his spent brass, Steven knocked the little bit of grit and dust from the magazines and turned back to the truck.

Looking at the other two guys at the far end of the line, Steven saw that they had removed their earmuffs. He took his own off and put them into his range bag that sat on the tailgate. Pulling out a fresh box of shells, he reloaded the magazines with fresh carry ammo. When full, two magazines went back into his belt. The third reloaded the gun, which was then safed and reholstered. By this point, the kids had put all the brass they could find in a stuff sack, and dragged in a gong each.

Alex climbed into the bed of the truck, as Diana handed up first the gong, and then the stand. Steven took the bag, and put it in the back seat of the cab as they got the second gong into the truck.

“Climb in.” Steven got in as Diana climbed into the bed. He then backed the truck up to the arrayed gongs. Alex and Diana began loading these as Steven walked to the steel plates, and pulled them over to the truck. While Alex stood on the tailgate and held the plate, Steven disassembled the bolt and spring that held it to its post. These were stored away, and then the other plate was likewise disassembled. Diana had the close gongs loaded. They quickly retrieved and loaded the last four gongs and the target stands.

Once everything was loaded and secured, they did one last police of the area picking up the smaller trash, and some of the larger junk and putting it in the truck to be tossed in a convenient dumpster. It was getting dark now. They all climbed into the cab, and left the practice range. Steven drove quickly west back to Sparks, and to the high school where Roxanne’s tournament was being held.

They got there and parked next to Roxanne’s custom ’67 Camero. After securing the guns inside the cab of the truck, they entered the school building. Their reek of gunpowder put a few people off, but Steven’s six-and-a-half-foot height, close cut brown hair, and martial build discouraged anymore than slightly annoyed looks. On the other hand, most of the populace of the area shot, or had friends that did at some point. Steven’s slightly amused and benign expression discouraging any further curiosity. Diana and Alex quickly wended their way out front to watch, while Steven scanned the room, and then moved to sit on one of the upper bleachers.

All attention was on the martial arts tournament. It had been going for some time, but there were a lot of contestants. Three rings filled the gym, with matches going on in each one. As Steven scanned the room, he spotted many familiar people. There was his wife over by the left ring. Steven first spotted the outfit, and knew it was her. Roxanne wore a white gi and black belt, with most likely her usual black spandex top and trunks underneath. The school logo was printed on the left side of her sports-bra, and on the back of her gi. She also wore slippers, until she stepped onto the mat to fight. Her mid-length hair was pulled into a tight, short tail. She kept the front long enough to be even with the back when tied together. And like all the competitors, she had removed all her jewelry, what little she wore.

All the rest of the competitors, students and instructors alike, were similarly dressed. White gi with the school logo on back for those from Rox’s school. Black gi with logo on the left breast for a second school. A tan gi with a logo on back for a third school. A few were in generic gi’s with no logos. Everybody had his or her various colored belts.

Roxanne stood out from the rest on the floor just by her unique build. Her skin was as pale as herself-tailored gi, but always looked a bit blue under stadium lights. At the moment, she stood by as one of her students fought with one from another dojo. Her bright amber eyes did not miss a move. A hesitation, a stutter in movement, an opening. Her open smile showed approval as her student scored a point.

As the tournament had progressed, Roxanne encouraged her students. She also kept notes on what to drill them on. Occasionally she yelled instructions and compliments. Only half of her class entered the tournament, though most were in attendance. Being second level students, she had to be careful not to push them too hard. But more were winning than not. She was pleased with that, compared to the last tournament.

Then her class level was done. One of her girls had fought one of her boys point for point for the final. He was better, but made a mistake, and she won the group. Roxanne’s notebook was full of things to review over the summer when she put it away in her gear bag, next to her towel and water bottle. The instructor of the other school came over and congratulated her. They would meet again in less than half an hour, when they took to the center mat for the top level adult competition.

Everybody took a few moments to mull about as the outer ring mats were folded and the adult contestants introduced. These had drawn for a best-of-three round robin course. As he sat and watched, Steven could see that something was bothering his wife. But he kept his place, as she had previously asked him never to come to her during a tournament. The kids respected this as well, waving from among their friends, but staying put. Roxanne waved back, and then spotted Steven and blew him a kiss. Steven caught it, and blew one back. Then the matches began.

Roxanne’s first match was the third on the mat. The adults went faster than the children, and were more aggressive, fighting without pads. There were also fewer of them. Roxanne lost this match, but won her second and third matches. Steven could see that she was off her concentration. She had won only by reflex.

Roxanne next faced the instructor from the other school. She was taller and faster than her opposite number, but he was stronger, and got inside her guard. She was distracted, not concentrating from the start, so she lost. After her round was done, she sat down off to the side. But she was not overly upset. She had won this tournament twice before.

Steven got up, went down the bleachers, and gathered the kids. Together they went and sat by Roxanne. The tension in her was almost palpable to Steven. He began massaging her hand and arm, working on the bruises, to keep them from getting too black and blue. She sat quietly as he did this, watching the contest. But her mind was obviously somewhere else.

Finally Steven spoke. “What’s wrong?”

Rox shook her head. “I don’t know. I just have a strange feeling that some thing is going to happen, soon.”

“What, when?” He moved her hair over her left shoulder, to massage her neck.

“Something both good and bad, and soon. I haven’t been able to shake it for a while. I’ve had a hard time focusing lately.” She shook her head.

“When it happens, you will know it. Until then, don’t worry.”

“Easy for you to say.”

006 - Meet The Caplan’s part 3

They quietly watched the rest of the matches. Steven pulled her gi top off her shoulders, and massaged her shoulders and back. He could feel the tension in her, and even after he finished with a muscle, it remained tense.

Once the contest was done, Roxanne went to stand with her class as they received their awards. Most of her kids had already changed clothes. They started to leave once the match was officially closed. Roxanne then took her bag and went into the women’s locker room. Twenty minutes later she came out having showered and dressed in street clothes, smelling lightly of pain-rub. Roxanne was starting to limp a bit from a thigh-kick she had taken. She was embraced by her family, and they all went out to the car and truck. Alex and Diana squabbled about who would get to ride where.

“I get to ride in mom’s front seat.”

“But you got to last time.”

Back and forth it went, and then Steven joined.

“Who’s going to ride with me?”

And around it went again.

“Tell you what.” Steven said. “You two drive the truck, and mom and I will take the car.”

“No. That’s silly.” Diana said. “We can’t drive.”

Rox joined the game. “I don’t know. I like it. That way, I get to ride with dad.” She moved to the passenger side of her Camero as she said this, yawning. While the kids carried on a bit with Steven, she opened the door, and tossed her gym bags in the back seat. The kids were still arguing. But it seemed mostly they were just going on for the fun of it.

Steven ended the squabble. “Fine. Diana rides with me to go get dinner. Alex rides with me home from there.” Steven had the truck unlocked and open.

Rox turned and looked at Steven when he said this, about to say something then decided not to. She had not eaten either, and really did not want to cook. It was the middle of the evening, they still needed dinner, and home was most of an hour’s drive away. The kids agreed to this as Rox waved to one of her students driving away, waving his ribbon at her. Rox then climbed into her car, with Alex climbing into the passenger seat and tugging the door closed.

They put their seat belts on, with Alex adjusting the straps on the high back bucket seat to hold him. The four point harness held him a bit awkward, until the chest strap was in place. Rox checked his belts, and then put the key in the ignition. The truck next to her rumbled to life right then. She smiled at the sound, then pushed in the clutch and turned her own engine over.

The throaty growl of the Camero’s custom built supercharged engine easily drowned out the truck. Rox let the car sit in neutral a moment to warm the big engine up. While she did she watched the gauges, snugged her own four-point harness, and turned on the radar detector, and scanner. Alex all but shivered in tune with the car. Both of Roxanne’s children enjoyed riding with her.

Steven pulled out of the parking spot, and drove to the road, Rox following. She drove carefully, as she could break her wheels loose if she pushed her car at all. Once on Baring Blvd. they drove through the streets sedately, Steven leading until they got to McCarran. They turned left/south onto the road, and started toward the freeway. Here Roxanne took over.

Six traffic lights were between them and the on-ramp. Roxanne drove sedately to the fourth one, which crossed a local thoroughfare. Turn left at this one and go two miles and you find a police station. She had no desire to risk meeting them, and having a donation solicited by them, in reward for her driving as fast as she liked. Once clear of that light, the traffic dissipated, and Roxanne moved quickly through it, the lights in her favor. Steven plowed the truck through the holes she made, keeping back, but keeping pace. She right-turned onto the on-ramp to I-80, at the posted speed.

They were significantly above the posted speed the rest of the drive, Alex howling in delight the whole way. The freeway traffic was mostly long-haul trucks and she passed these easily. She coasted through the interchange switching from west bound I-80 to southbound 395. The southbound traffic was light enough that she only had to slow down to keep control, and not to evade other cars. She went south four exits and hit the fifth ramp just over the posted limit, having had her detector go off hard as she passed the Reno airport radar tower.

The Camero only got to fifth gear this time. Sixth would have to wait for the trip home. They had lost Steven just before the interchange, and did not see him again until he pulled into the lot to park. Roxanne and Alex were already walking into the Chinese restaurant.

Once dinner was done, they trooped back to the car and truck. Diana got into the Camero with Roxanne this time. Once back on the south bound freeway, they left Steven and Alex in the truck behind. They saw them briefly where the freeway ended and switched to a highway, bottlenecking traffic some.

Once the traffic spread out to wander through the next valley south, Rox commenced to test the speed traps. Nobody was watching them tonight. Over a long hill, into a larger valley Rox continued to pass the traffic. She wanted to find sixth gear, but was not yet able to without being reckless, or move to a flatter part of her power band. The road wandered a bit with the terrain, then headed south again in a long straight on the shore of a small lake. Diana grinned where Alex had laughed. The Camero launched down the road, and Rox found sixth gear.

They slowed to the speed limit as she drove over and down the hill into Carson. Driving through took a quarter of an hour. Once over the last hill and out of town, the highway shot straight south across a rural valley. Again Rox found sixth, and a few large bugs to wash off later. Again they slowed down at Gardnerville, and left the highway. Rox idled along the rural streets, to the house. Once upon a time she had roared down these roads, and nearly hit a kid riding a horse.

Rox pulled onto the gravel driveway for her garage and let the car idle. Diana was almost asleep. Rox set the parking break and got out to open the doors to the garage, which occupied most of a barn. Rox swung the doors wide, then pulled the car in and parked it, checking the gauges. Satisfied that it had cooled down enough, she shut it off.

Diana roused as the car moved again, and then parked. She unbuckled and got out, taking the gym bag for her mother. Rox took the gear bag and they closed the swinging doors. Rox latched and locked them. They went around the side of the garage, and through the gate into the backyard. The automatic lights turned on as the motion sensors were tripped. The dogs both bounced around the yard having been alerted by the sound of the car.

Diana and Roxanne were about halfway across the yard when Roxanne stopped. She looked up at the stars. The nagging feeling that had bugged her all day seemed to direct her to look at one particular star. That star had always been special since her grandmother had pointed it out, before Rox was Diana’s age. The neighborhood lights washed most of the sky out, but that star was barely visible.

Shaking her head to clear it, Rox got her house key out and unlocked the French Doors and let Diana and herself in. The dogs crowded each other through the door after Rox and Diana had gone in. One stopped and nosed the door closed. They then continued to jumble around the living room. Rox pulled a trophy from her bag, and set it on a shelf next to others in the living room. Later she would take it to her Dojo and put it with the others for her class there. Rox then followed Diana into the hall to the bedrooms. Here she unlocked her own bedroom door, and entered.

Diana dropped the gym bag by the laundry, and then went to her own bedroom. Rox had the bags emptied and the dirty clothes down the chute to the laundry room by the time she heard the truck pull into the garage attached to the house. Shortly Steven and Alex were in the house.

Rox closed the bedroom door, gathered her bathrobe, and went into the bathroom. She stood under the shower until Steven came in to use the bathroom prior to going to bed.

Steven lounged on his side of the bed, reading, as finally Rox left the bathroom. A few of the bruises on her were visible, and obviously sore as she dropped the towel, hung up the bathrobe, and put on her underwear and nightgown. He watched her slip under the covers. She was always sore for a few days after a tournament. He finished what he was reading, leaned over and kissed her lightly, then turned his light out and settled down to his own pillow, watching her.

A warm glow effused Rox briefly as her husband kissed her. She wanted to return it, but was too far asleep by then.

007 - One More Illegal Alien In California

Caspian felt his senses gather back around him, as his body was instantly put together. If he had not been leaning on his staff, he would have collapsed, even with less of a pull from gravity than he was used to. Cyrril was draped across the back of Caspian’s neck. Caspian shook his head, squeezing his eyes closed to clear the flash blindness. A light breeze carried pine forest smells past him, as he took a few deep breaths. The air was thinner than where he had left and warmer, but more humid. Sounds filtered in, of night time. After an interminable handful of eternity, Caspian looked around.

He stood in the center of a small clearing of trees, with a ring of short stones at the perimeter. Looking farther he could see two more rings of stones. To an untrained eye this place was unremarkable. Adding to the stones, a few ash trees ringed the place, along with a loose circle of mushrooms. The ash trees were of note, not being indigenous to the place. A few large pine trees, a scattering of aspen, and miscellaneous forest growth finished the flora.

Caspian waited longer for his senses to clear. Travel by ley line was always exhausting. Finally, he noticed a bit of native fauna. A young couple was wrapped around each other in just a bedroll, about ten strides away. They were both looking blearily at him. Probably disturbed by the sound of his entrance. Caspian looked at them a moment, then looked at the few stars he could see through the trees.

Judging the stars against what he could feel of the ley lines and the terrain, and coming to no conclusion, he oriented to down hill and started walking down the mountain. He was not sure but thought he was moving toward the equator. Shortly he would need to establish his terrestrial location. Then figure where the descendants of the elf he was looking for were, relative to his location. But first, he needed some rest.

He walked a distance, in the dark. After tripping over roots for the third time, he found a small hollow at the base of a tree. Wrapping his coat and cloak around him and hooding his face, Caspian leaned against the tree, and went to sleep.

A gentle kick against his foot startled Caspian awake. The sun was coming slantwise through the trees, from Caspian’s left. A man spoke. Caspian felt sure he should know what was being said, but was a bit confused by his surroundings.

The most immediate thing that concerned Caspian was the absence of his staff. He looked around, and patted the ground briefly. Noticing that Cyrril was also missing, as also any sense of ambient mana, Caspian suddenly remembered where he was. The lack of mana and the scent of the wind brought everything back to him, filling in the gaps of his groggy memory. The clear feeling of the mana stored in his staff, and Cyrril, about thirty cubits above in the tree was reassuring.

“I said what are you doing here, buddy?”

Caspian turned and looked up into the top of his hood, in the general direction of Cyrril and the voice, still not paying attention to the man or language. All he could sense was Cyrril’s agitation at being disturbed from sleep. The man spoke a third time, and Caspian was chagrinned to remember that he had forgotten to refresh his memory of the language he had learned while he spent two years here in one of their colleges: right now was not the time to do that either. Caspian pushed his hood back enough to see out, and rubbed his head. A young man in brown clothes and a round brimmed hat stood at his feet.

“I just traveled in from my home.” Caspian doubted the man understood his language anymore than Caspian understood the man’s. He stood and stretched, yawning wide, and tossing back his hood. He then opened his cape and coat, and shook the opening back and forth to air it, and him, out a bit.

The man stood and watched. A device on his belt squawked, and a voice came from it. The man pulled the box from his belt, and held it to his mouth, talking into it.

“Looks like a vagrant. If he speaks English, he is either too whacked right now to understand, or a good actor. Doesn’t seem dangerous, though.”

“Bring him on in. At least until we can determine for sure who and what he is.”

“Copy that.”

He put the box back on his belt. “All right pal. Let’s go for a walk.” He took Caspian’s arm in a solid grip as he spoke, and gently directed him down the hill.

Caspian thought better of his instinct to argue. At least until he knew where he was. He figured it was better to be thought debilitated, than criminal. They walked a distance on a game trail, and then crossed onto a hiking trail. This was narrow enough to cause them to walk single file. Caspian was put in front. After a bit of distance was covered, they came to a dirt road. A large vehicle was parked just off the road, by the trailhead. Seeing this, Caspian was delighted. By the general condition of the vehicle, he had a good idea of where he was. And looking at the alphabet on the side, he was all but sure of it. But it had been nearly ten years since he had been here, and his memory of the language was still a bit fuzzy.

The man opened one of the rear doors on the metal transport. He helped Caspian in, and buckled him into a restraint harness. As he did this, he noticed Caspian’s knives, and crossbow.

“Stupid.” The man muttered. He then pulled Caspian back out.

“Put your hands against the truck.” He turned Caspian to face the vehicle.

Caspian had been searched rarely enough that he was not sure what to do. The man was still being patient, but forceful. He put Caspian’s hands against the side of the vehicle, and forced his legs apart, so that he was leaning over a bit. He then pulled Caspian’s cloak and then his coat aside, and removed Caspian’s belt. He patted the vest down, and dug into its pockets checking for weapons. The man also removed Caspian’s food sack and water bag. He then found the knife on Caspian’s wrist and removed it. He left all this on the ground as he again put Caspian back in the vehicle.

The man put all Caspian’s stuff in the rear compartment, and walked around the far side of the vehicle. He then climbed in and sat at the controls. Caspian watched with some interest, as his memories slowly worked their way back to him.

The man operated the vehicle along the road and off the mountain. He crossed one valley and into a second. Here he pulled into a small cleared area around a medium sized house. A large metal frame tower with a watch house at its top connected to the house.

Caspian was helped out of the vehicle and into the house by the man. He took Caspian into the main room and sat him on a chair against a wall. The room was longer than it was wide, a short wall running across the long way with a counter on top of it. This side of the counter had several pieces of domestic furniture scattered about it. Two desks and a table were on the other side of the counter. Several objects and devices were scattered across these, many of them duplicates of each other. A woman, doing something to a flat box of some kind while watching another tall thin box, sat at a desk. A man stood at the table, and drew on a chart with several drafting implements scattered about him. He appeared to be plotting something. A large dog, with short brown and black fur sprawled under one of the windows. It noticed their entrance, but made no other move from where it lay. Its large pointed muzzle and triangular ears showed it to be quite alert, though currently harmless.

The people talked a bit and then the man that brought Caspian went outside, and came back with his things. These were placed on a desk behind the counter. The first man then began writing on a pad of paper.

Caspian still had not had breakfast, and was feeling quite dehydrated. And looking at the sun, he figured it was mid-morning or late afternoon. Either way he was hungry and thirsty.

“Mind if I eat something?” He spoke in his native language, knowing that he would not be understood.

The map man and the first man both looked at him. Caspian reached carefully into one of his vest pockets, and pulled out a chunk of jerky. Not filling, but enough to take off the edge. He chewed on this while these people decided what to do. He also carefully retrieved a water skin from across the counter and quickly sipped it dry.

008 - Getting Local Help

Caspian listened as the people here talked back and forth, and quickly recognized particulars of the language. The dialect was a bit off, as was the vernacular. But the language was the one he had learned. Caspian reached into another pocket in his vest. From this he pulled a small stone big enough to pinch between his thumb and two fingers. Nonchalantly he worked the stone back and forth in his hand, concentrating on his memory recall techniques, and on the time he had spent on this planet.

The rangers had evidently decided to just let him sit there until he did something. After an hour of their banter Caspian was beginning to understand the conversations, and the script on the posters and maps that hung on the walls. Then a need hit him. Time to see if his recall was right. He cleared his throat.

“Where shall I locate the lavatory?”

The rangers turned as a man and looked at him. The german shepherd lifted his head in notice at the movement. The one at the map returned to it. The first one Caspian met went back to his paperwork. This left the woman.

She pointed her thumb at a doorway behind her. “Second on the left.” She then went back to the computer she was doing something with.

Caspian stood, took off his cloak, and coat and cargo vest. He left these all on the chair. Then he walked into the indicated doorway. It had five closed doors, two on either side with one at the end. The dog followed. Caspian was not fully sure of what the woman had said, but guessed correctly.

The lavatory brought clear memories back, mainly at how efficient they were compared to where he lived. He finished, spending several moments washing his hands, and rinsing the several days’ growth on his face. Caspian found the fresh water quite enjoyable. He returned to his chair feeling much better.

“Now, how about lunch.” He reached over the counter to where his stuff was. The paranoia of the world also had returned forcefully, earlier. So he pushed his belt and things aside, and dumped his food sack out. He quickly put what he did not want back in. Caspian started into a piece of fruit with his fruit knife. That reduced to a core, he picked up a meat roll and munched through it, while sipping at his water skin.

The rangers intermittently watched him as they worked. Finally the map man rolled his map away and put his tools in a drawer. He then disappeared down the hall and through the door on the end.

Caspian had sat for a while, when the Ranger who had left came back into this area of the building with a plate of sandwiches, and pitcher of liquid. The three of then started in on the food.

The first one turned to Caspian. “You are welcome to one, if you like.”

He indicated the platter of sandwiches on the counter, and the cups next to the pitcher.

Caspian had to dig a moment to remember. “Thank you.”

Caspian took one of the sandwiches, and poured himself a cup of red liquid. The sandwich was two slices of a soft, light brown bread, with a yellow paste between. In the paste, Caspian found bits of crunchy vegetable, some agreeable spices, and some small cubes of something he did not recognize. Combined with the food from his stash, it was quite satisfying.

Caspian felt that he had remembered enough words of the language. And that he had spent enough time sitting. He had a general idea of where he was, after looking at the maps, and listening to the language. And that allowed him to call in an unexpected marker. If he could just figure out how to. Only thing to do was ask. He leaned over the counter toward the first man, at his desk.

“How do I go about contacting a specific person?”

They all looked at him strangely for a moment. Then the map man spoke.

“Are you on something, pal?”

Caspian was not sure of what he had been specifically asked, but understood the general nature just by the tone. “No. I have been away for a while, and do not remember precisely how to contact my friend.”

“D’you know his number?”

“Number?”

The man picked up one of the devices from the counter, and put it down in front of Caspian. It had several arrayed sets of buttons, and a handle attached to a cord. A different cord attached to the back of the device and disappeared through a hole in the counter.

“His phone number.”

Caspian remembered now. “Ah, no. I do not remember. His name is Alistare Kevan. He is an Adjudicator, if I remember correctly.”

“Where?”

“In a court of law, I presume. That is usually where one does that.”

The man was obviously being as gentle as he could, but was loosing patience. Caspian understood and felt frustrated. If he had just reawakened his memory before coming to this magically dead place, he would have been more able to get along.

“What city does he live in?”

Caspian had to think about this, wishing he had written down and kept this information. “Um… Sack…Sacro…Sacra…um…”

The woman looked up. “Sacramento?”

Caspian looked at her. “That is it. Sacramento.”

Caspian just stood and looked at the man. He could remember using the phone many times when he was last here, but its use in this case was still beyond him.

The man let out an exasperated sigh. He then took the phone back. He pushed one button, and the little box began to make a humming noise. He then pushed a bunch of other buttons, causing various tones to be emitted. He then picked up the handle and held it to his face, with one end over one ear and the other end to his mouth. After a few moments he spoke.

“I need some numbers in Sacramento…Yes. One moment.” He picked up a pencil and pulled a pad of paper to write on. He then looked at Caspian.

“What is the name of your friend?”

“Alistare Kevan.”

“And he’s a judge.” He wrote this on the top of the paper.

“I think that is what you call it.”

The man turned his attention back to the handle. “Yes ma’am. I’m looking for the work and residence numbers of an Alistare Kevan…I’m told he is a judge…No, I don’t know which court.” He made a face slightly exasperated. Then listened again. “You’re sure…Yes Ma’am.” He then spelled out the name as he wrote it. “Yes ma’am…I’m ready.” He then began writing numbers on the piece of paper. “Thank you. Good afternoon.”

He pushed a lever in the spot for the handle on the box. Then he began pushing buttons, referring to one of the two sets of numbers on the pad. He listened to the handle for a bit. “I’m looking for an Alistare Kevan. Yes. One moment.”

He then held the handle out to Caspian. “Your friend’s home.”

Caspian took the handle and put it too his face. He could hear a bit of static as something happened at the other end. Then a vaguely familiar voice came on.

“This is Judge Kevan.”

Caspian spoke in his native language. “Alistare. This is Caspian. How have you been?”

There was silence for a bit. “Caspian?” Then a familiar language. “What are you doing on Terra?”

“I would rather explain that in person. But I have no idea where I am, or how to get around. I need your help.”

“Tell me from the beginning.”

“I traveled in along the ley lines last night. This morning I was awakened by a young man in a brown uniform. We walked to his vehicle, and he brought me to this house, where there are another man and a woman in the same brown uniform. I have had a bit of trouble remembering the native language.”

“Let me talk to one of the people there.”

Caspian handed the phone back to the first man, as the map man had left. “Talk.” Caspian felt stupid for not bring more eloquent. But the idea got across.

The ranger took the phone and put it to his ear. “This is Ranger Smith. Yes sir. Yes sir. Nothing so far, but we have not really been able to question him. O.k. We are in the Lassen Forest. Get off the 5 at Red Bluff, take the 36 up to 89 North. Keep on 89 North for about nine miles, to a marked Forest Service Road on the right. Five miles up that road and you are here. Yes sir, we can do that.”

He held the handle out to Caspian.

Caspian took it. “Hello again.”

“I will be up to get you sometime after dark. Just stay put, and be friendly. Keep your dragon out of sight.” The line then went dead.

Caspian looked at the handle for a moment, and put it carefully back on the phone. “I am to stay until he comes.”