Jo-el

Chapter 39 ADRIANNA

“Where am I really weak, Sally?”

“Well, I told you about Japan and Taiwan, the coast of Chile. There’s no coverage across many of the great deserts, the Gobi, Sahara and others. No point really, not much life there. We moved what we had to better locations.”

“Yet we went to Antarctica?”

“Station in Tierra del Fuego.”

I nodded, what did it matter really. I just needed to stay away from those areas.

“What happens when I go underground?”

“The signal weakens as you go deeper. It would vary based on where you are in the world but three stories would probably cut off your ability to bounce. You can still receive data at three stories but it may be spotty at five.”

“What about flying?”

“No problem with flying, that’s built into the belt.”

“What about protection?”

“The shield will work at any depth, that’s in the belt, but firing electrons at people comes through the network, so that will dissipate with depth. You can project holograms underground, from maybe two hundred feet.”

“The smart-suit?”

“That’ll work, again part of the belt.”

“So, I’m still powerful underground, but I can’t bounce or see anything on my heads-up monitor. One more thing, how long does the power last?”

“Five days at least, depends on the amount of light, sun or irradiant, both work.”

I was happy with the education, didn’t feel so useless. I’m sure Sally imagined my reasons for asking.

“Vogel is about to meet with the station chief,” Sally said.

“Oh, okay, let’s watch.”

Sally put it on the monitor. A larger, corner office appeared with a grey-haired man behind a leather desk, dressed in dark-grey pants and an open neck white shirt. He didn’t look particularly happy. Vogel entered the office.

“Hey Stew, they dragged you in, too?” she said.

“Sit down, Cathy. How did this happen? It’s Easter Sunday I should be home.”

Vogel took one of the two seats in front Stewart Nolan’s desk. She was pensive and seemed unsure how to begin.

“This is big, Stew, I mean enormous. Maybe it’s the biggest story since 9/11?” Nolan frowned, he didn’t like histrionics. “It’s all about that guy with the wings, Jo-el he calls himself. He met with various government agencies and they’re frightened of him and now they’ll do anything to catch him.”

“Did you talk with him?”

Vogel nodded. “I received an email from him saying he wanted to be on a show for ten minutes.”

“To say what?”

“He didn’t say,” answered Vogel.

“How did you know it was really him.”

“Well that was funny. Normally, nothing gets through to me, but this email wouldn’t delete and didn’t go to spam. Then he told me something about myself that nobody knows. He said it was to prove that he was for real.”

“What?”

“I’d rather not say, but trust me he was spot on and there’s no way anybody knows what he told me, it was quite scary. I mean, how could he possibly know something about my past life that was so secret.”

I turned to Sally, who was sitting in her armchair. “What did you tell her?”

“I mentioned the name of this guy she’d had a crush on at high-school, she’d given him a hand-job, which was her first time. Guess it’s something you humans never forget.”

“Oh Jeez! No wonder she was sheepish when I bounced in there.”

“Gotta get their attention, Joey.” Sally smirked.

I turned back to the monitor.

Vogel was talking. “So I said okay and sent some emails asking the usual questions, but he didn’t reply, except just to trust him and he’d be here tonight at seven.”

“Well that’s not going to happen,” said Nolan.

“They monitor our emails, Stew. That’s not right.”

“Damn right about that, but let’s cover that another time. What else happened with this Jo-el?”

“So then the troops came in and they shut us down.”

“That’s it! Why does this guy garner so much attention from the security services?”

“Stew, wait. The best bit is what happened about an hour ago.”

Nolan was quiet and motioned with his eyes for Cathy to continue.

“He came to see me.”

“Who?”

“Jo-el.”

“What? Where?”

“Here.”

“He came to the studio with all these troops all over the place?”

“Yes.”

“What, he just strolled right in.”

“No, Stew, let me finish please.”

“Okay, go on, sorry.”

“Now Stew, you’ve known me for a long time, right? I’ve never brought you a crazy idea that didn’t pan out. So, you’re going to have to relax and bear with me when I tell you what happened, because you are probably going to have difficulty believing it.”

“Sounds like you’re setting me up, Cathy.”

Vogel waited, she knew that what she was about to say was going to sound ridiculous but she didn’t know how else to explain it.

“Firstly, he overwrote my computer, telling me the FBI etc. was monitoring my email.” Stew was quiet. “Then he said, via the email, that he wanted to come to my office, and I said how and you know, all the troops in the studio. He told me to lock the door.”

I watched Nolan’s expression, his face had creased up and his lips were pressed solidly together. He fiddled with a pen on the desk.

Cathy continued. “He said he would bounce into my office.”

“Bounce!” exclaimed Nolan.

“That’s the word he used, yes.” Nolan waited. “I said, okay and suddenly there was this man, Jo-el, standing in front of my desk.”

“What?” Nolan laughed. “You’re kidding me, no way? Don’t be ridiculous, Cathy, you can’t expect me to believe that. Have you been drinking?”

“It’s true, Stew. I have no idea how he just appeared in my office, but he did. You wanted to know why the government is going ape-shit, well there’s one damn good reason.”

I turned to Sally, “how can I contact Nolan?”

“His cell phone is on his desk; I can call it.” Sally told me, “Just speak out loud.”

“Do it!”

The phone rang with a charming melody. I watched Nolan as he glared down at the phone. The small screen showed my name ‘JO-EL’ in large letters.

“Look,” he said to Vogel. He picked up the phone and showed it to her.

“It’s him, he knows we’re talking, he knows you don’t believe me.”

“He can see into this office? How for Christ’s sake?”

“I don’t know, Stew, but why would he call just at that moment?” Vogel voice was pleading.

“What should I do?” Nolan was suddenly nervous.

“Answer it.”

He paused for a moment then pressed the ‘accept call’ button. “Hello.”

I answered. “Mr. Nolan, would it be okay if I joined you?”

Nolan looked at Vogel. “He wants to come here.”

“Say yes, Stew,” she was beaming a broad smile across her face. This would prove to Nolan what she’d said earlier.

Nolan said gingerly into the phone, “Okay.”

“Mr. Nolan, I will bounce into your office, by the picture of you and President Bush. Please don’t be frightened. Close the call, don’t say anything else.”

I suddenly realized that the cell phone could have been used to listen to the conversation. “Sally, did the NSA pick up that call?”

“Oh shit! They were listening to everything through the phone. Sorry boss, missed that.”

“Damn, how long till they arrive.”

Sally’s face went blank. “One minute, maybe two.”

“Bounce me in.”

I was in Stewart Nolan’s office, standing by his picture of himself and George W. Bush. Nolan’s face was aghast.

“Mr. Nolan, Cathy, thanks for allowing me to come, this has to be short, the NSA were listening to your conversation through your cell phone,” I pointed at the device on the desk. “Please set up an interview on camera, outside of America, I’ll be there, okay. The FBI will be here in one minute, so I have to go.”

I bounced back home just as the door flung open and two FBI agents with pistols drawn rushed into the room. Sally and I watched on the monitor, it wasn’t fun.

The lead FBI agent was speaking into a microphone on his shoulder. Then he turned to Nolan. “Mr. Nolan, we need you and Miss Vogel to come with us.”

“What the hell for?” screamed Nolan.

“Aiding a wanted terrorist.”

“You’ve got to be kidding me?” But he wasn’t and within ten minutes Stewart Nolan and Cathy Vogel were carted off in a police car.

I was standing still, staring wide eyed at the monitor, fuming. Then I began pacing around the room. I was livid, I was so mad. “Now look what I’ve done. Fuck! Fuck, fuck!” I screamed at no one. I needed a drink, I needed a large drink. Now!

Sally stood up, her expression exuded apprehension. She placed her holographic arms around me and snuggled her body up close. I felt nothing but allowed her to come close to me. Then she kissed me. I was shocked. I pulled back instinctively and stared at her, she was truly beautiful.

“I felt your kiss, I felt your lips,” I said.

She smiled.

“How did you do that?”

“Kiss me again, Jo-el.”

I kissed her again, long. Her lips were soft and I felt her tongue reach inside of my mouth. But it was weird, I had no body to hold close. I pulled back.

She smiled again, then sat down not uttering a word. She looked content, happy. It calmed me, somewhat. I fixed a large Black Label and Sally played Jason Mraz on Pandora. I mellowed.

Time drifted by and my thoughts whizzed back and forth, from Vogel and Nolan to the whole bloody mess. I sipped my second scotch lovingly, Sally was still sitting patiently in the armchair. “What did they do with Nolan and Vogel?”

Sally glanced over, I could see she was reviewing data. “They took them underground.”

Damn. “I might have guessed. I bet they wished they’d never met me. I feel sorry for them.”

“They can’t hold them forever and no court will convict them for what they did.”

“I thought the US can hold you indefinitely on terrorist charges?”

“The military can, if they ship them to Guantanamo Bay.”

“I’ve been upgraded to a terrorist, it’s incredible.”

“That’s just so then can hold you, Jo-el.”

“I wonder if they can set something up outside of the US? Somehow I doubt it.”

“Not until they’re out, they are the only ones who know about you. My guess is they’ll be kept overnight then let go if they do nothing to assist you.”

“So, back to square one. Time to exit the American media. Who was Cathy Vogel planning for me to meet in Australia?”

Sally began reviewing again. “Oh, wow, you’re not going to believe this. She called this lady before emailing about Australia. The reporters name is Adrianna Murphy.”

“Murphy,” I laughed, “one of the clan. That’s funny. Show me this Adrianna Murphy?”

Sally initiated the disc monitor and a very attractive, young woman wearing business attire appeared in view. She was sitting as a curved desk with a handsome, equally young man, discussing the events that had recently taken place in New York. It was a morning news show in Sydney.

“Did Vogel explain what she wanted?”

“Sure, she told Murphy that you wanted a live interview in Australia and she’d picked Murphy to conduct the interview.”

“Why Murphy?”

“Up and coming reporter, well respected.”

“So, how did Vogel leave it?”

“She’d get back to her.”

“Well, I think we should do that in person, what do you think?”

“You’re the boss, Joey.”

“When does Murphy finish the current show?”

“About twenty minutes, then she has to debrief, followed by a break for an hour or so before reviewing stories for the evening show. It’s eleven-forty, Monday morning there right now.”

“Well I think I should zip down there and buy her lunch.”

“You’ll need cash for that and I would lay off the Scotch.”

“Right, good idea. Can you get me some local cash, you said you had a plan for that?”

“Steal it.”

“Huh!”

“From a crook. I’ll tell you where and you just go get it.”

I considered Sally’s new cash acquisition solution and decided I liked it. “Okay, cool.”

The news studio was downtown Sydney but it was Easter Monday so the streets were mostly empty and many shops were closed. The weather was sunny and warm, a faint haze hung over the tall office buildings. Sally had chosen a small-time car thief to fund my lunch. He was away at Manly beach, a favorite hang-out for youngsters in Sydney. I bounced into his apartment, south of the city and helped myself to two hundred and fifty Australian dollars. I had no feelings of guilt, which surprised me somewhat.

Adrianna Murphy had completed the news show and was headed to a sandwich bar in the studio building. I waited in the building foyer until she came out of the escalator. She was tall, with long blond hair, layered loose around her face, streaked with thin brown highlights. Her blue eyes sparkled brightly and her skin was pure silk. She walked with confidence, keeping her head forward, avoiding the glances from men who couldn’t help taking a second look. She had no one in tow, so I moved in quickly behind her as we reached the line to order.

“Miss Murphy,” I said. She turned and almost didn’t look at me, no doubt trying to avoid my approach instinctively. But she must have noticed me in the corner of her eye and recognized me immediately. I was dressed in a light-weight suit, white shirt and tie. I was as handsome a man as she was a beautiful woman.

She stopped dead in her tracts and looked directly at me, her lips parting briefly as she considered her reply. “Are you…?”

I nodded and said, “let’s go somewhere more private.” Adrianna Murphy was from Tumby Bay in South Australia, I planned to take her there.

“Where are the wings?” she asked.

I told her to turn off her cell phone and that I’d explain why later. She complied. “I thought we could go to the Tumby Bay hotel,” I smiled.

She was surprised, “that’s a long way from here, Mr….”

“Call me Jo-el.”

“Jo-el”, she pronounced the -el emphatically with a broad Australian accent.

“Follow me,” I gave her my hand, she didn’t take it, but she followed me along the foyer and around a corner into a vacant corridor. I stopped. “I need to hold your hand.”

She hesitated, then reached out with her right hand. “Don’t be frightened, shut your eyes.” She did what I asked.

We bounced to the Tumby Bay Hotel, across the road, behind a wall. I told her to open her eyes. She let out a silent burst and pulled immediately away from me. She raised her arms defensively and searched around, the two-story hotel was to her right, she recognized the red roof. Her mouth opened and remained that way. She looked at me then back at the hotel.

I watched as she fought off a myriad of urges to object. Then she said calmly, “did you make reservations?”

My heart melted, it was fantastic, I grinned from ear to ear. Then I heard Sally in my ear. “Oh God, another one.”

“Of course.” I said and led Adrianna by the hand across the road.

We were seated at a table for two in the back, as I had requested, a little away from the busy main area. Our walk past the tables solicited many glances, we were a little overdressed for Tumby Bay, but no one seemed to recognize either Adrianna or myself, I assumed the inference was hard to assimilate.

I ordered mineral water when the waiter arrived.

“Mustn’t drink and fly,” commented Adrianna, quietly.

“You weren’t fazed?”

She held her glass in mid-air. “You want to really know?” she said. I raised my eyebrows. “My stomach is doing bloody loops from here to the outback, I’m struggling to hold it together.”

“You’re doing great,” I said. “Most people would have fainted.”

“I’m close, believe me.”

And then the usual questions. How? Who are you?

“Well you know my name.”

“Look, mate, I know that’s not real.”

I loved her Australian idiom.

We both ordered seafood salad, generous portions and wonderfully prepared.

I explained that I was human and had been given technology way ahead of what was currently available on earth. I told her about my ability to bounce anywhere in the world. I told her I’d met with various agencies in the US and they distrusted me. That was the real reason for the commotion at CNN in New York. I described what happened to Cathy Vogel and her boss, Stewart Nolan. Then I revealed that it was me behind all the information that led to the arrests of criminals and terrorists in America and England and that I’d now given similar information to all the remaining authorities in Europe.

“Why not Australia?” she was offended. I said Australia was on my list.

She told me about the call from Vogel, that her station was an affiliate of CNN. She grew more and more excited during my narration. She realized that the person sitting across the table would make her famous.

I asked her if she believed me.

“I’m in Tumby bloody Bay, aren’t I? Not sure I have a better explanation how I got here.”

“Adrianna, I can’t tell you everything. It’s too much to absorb right now. But I plan to tell the world everything, eventually. I want to do a live interview.”

“When?”

“As soon as you can be ready.”

“Then I need to get back. I assume you’re not going to leave me here?” I smiled kindly. “Good. I love this place but it’s not Sydney.”

“How about we take a detour on the way back?” I asked.

She hesitated for a moment, “what have you got in mind?”

“Joey, what’re you up to?” Sally.

“Come on.” I led her outside and away from prying eyes then bounced her to the top of Ayres Rock. It was spectacular in the daylight, the views into the outback went on forever. Adrianna said she’d never been there but as a kid she always wanted to. I could see people milling around the base, so I bounced her to an uninhabited island in the Pacific Ocean, palm trees and clear blue sea surrounded us on all sides.

“Hold my hand,” I said. She took it without hesitation. I took off into the air, gently. Adrianna looked down, fear swept across her face, she gripped me tighter. We flew with our arms outstretched, like birds, above the small island, swooping up and down, the warm wind caressing our bodies. There was a small beach on the east side with a curve of rocks on one edge that created a natural pool without waves. You could see right to the bottom, maybe twenty-five feet. Brightly colored coral shone in the sunlight, small multi colored fish picked food from the rocks. We landed on the beach, the sand was a soft yellow, the water at the edge lapped peacefully along the shore.

Adrianna looked at me and said, “let’s swim.” Before I could object that we didn’t have swimwear she was removing her dress.

“Oh please, the little tart.”

“Let me be, Sally.”

Adrianna was naked, I was mesmerized. Her body was perfectly formed, tanned and firm without an ounce of fat. She clambered gently into the pool, then turned around and beckoned for me to join her. I stripped instantly, which brought a shriek of laughter from Adrianna, and joined her in the warm water.

“I might have guessed you could do that,” she wrapped her arms around my neck. I was hard, I pulled her closer, she didn’t resist.

“She a relative, Jo-el, you’re going to do your cousin.”

“Shut-up, Sally.”

We made love in the water, then again on the beach, in the little waves washing along the edge. The sun caressed our skin, the sand was cool against our naked bodies. Then we lay still on the beach, listening to the ripples washing the sand and staring up at the clear, blue sky.

“I could get used to this, Jo-el,” Adrianna said.

“Me too.”

“It’s a fairytale. I shut my eyes and I marvel at what’s happened in the last few hours. It’s doesn’t make sense and no one would believe me. I must have died and this is heaven.” She turned to look at me, her face a question.

“No, Adrianna, you didn’t die.”

“Oh good.” I felt Adrianna’s hand reach out to hold mine in the sand.

“I could fix that, you incestuous slut.”

“Give it a break, Sally.”

“Tell me about your name, Adrianna.”

She twisted her head to see me, “simple, my dad is Irish and my mum Polish. Both second generation Aussie, my grandfather left Ireland for a better life, my grandmother escaped the Nazis.

“She’s your cousin, Jo-el, I checked. Sixth cousin, once removed, only a couple of years older than Maggie.”

I ignored Sally, hoping she’d give up.

“Can we stay here forever?” said Adrianna.

“Gets my vote.”

She rolled over on top of me and kissed me hard on the mouth. “Want to go again?”

I stared into her bright green eyes, her long blond hair, tangled and wet, hung in my face. “I might need to remove some sand first, you know….” I laughed. She stood up and dragged at my arm and pulled me into the sea. We washed away the sand then fell back onto the beach, Adrianna on top and made love once more.

“How long have we been gone, Jo-el?”

I had no idea, “Sally, what’s the time?”

“I’ll tell you, but I’m not telling her,” was the reply.

“Jesus, Sally, are you jealous?”

“You only met her a couple of hours ago and you’ve bonked her three times.”

“Who’s counting? Now, what’s the time?”

“Ten past two, Sydney time.” She answered, curtly,

“It’s two-ten, Adrianna.”

“I better check in.” She got up and went back to the ocean to wash the sand away. I watched her and marveled at her figure. “Can you get some towels?”

I stood up. “Better idea, let’s go straight to your place.” Adrianna had a two-thousand-foot apartment on the tenth floor in Sydney.

“It’s so damn easy,” she grinned. “Man, I like travelling this way.”

We gathered our clothes, I told her to wrap her hand around my arm. “The bathroom, I don’t want to drip salt water on the carpet.” She said.

“Your wish is my command,” and moments later we were standing in her small en-suite bathroom.

“Ooh, weird feeling, even when you know what to expect.”

We both eyed the shower at the same time, neither of us said a word.

“Oh God, not again!”