Sapphire's Place - Bob Arnold's " Zapped! "

Zapped

Chapter 12 "Thanks for the ride, guys!"

By Bob Arnold

Reserved

If anyone reading this story discovers a typo or other error, please let me know. You can send an email to: barnold@ralabs.com. Please let me know where you saw the story and what the error was. I'll attempt to get it corrected.

This is a work of fiction, with a few real life experiences added in. All of the characters in this story are fictional, and any resemblance to anyone else living or dead is probably a coincidence. Please notify me if you are archiving this and the other chapters of the story on a web site. Permission specifically granted to Sapphire’s Place and Crystal’s Story Site to archive this. If you intend to publish this story in magazine or book (paper or electronic) format, please contact me for arrangements. Additional information on this story may be found at: http://www.ralabs.com/zapped/ .

Thanks to my "beta readers" for keeping me on track and to Amelia R. for help with editing this chapter.

This chapter is in memory of my friend Rebecca Anne Stewart. She passed away from cancer in early May 2003. She will be greatly missed.

From the Diary of Jennifer Stevens…

Monday, January 6, 2003

As I lay very still in my bed I was trying to decide which was worse, the pounding in my head or the pounding on my bedroom door.

"Jennifer, are you OK in there? It’s almost ten AM!"

I recognized Barb's voice through my hangover-induced mental haze. I tossed the covers aside and started to get up to answer the door until I discovered that I was completely naked. I pulled the covers over myself again, groaning a little as the world started to spin.

"Come in, Barb." I winced at the sound of my own voice booming in my ears.

The door slowly opened as Barb peered around it. "You decent in here?"

"Close enough. Did anyone get the number of the wine bottle that hit me?" I groaned again as I tried to lift my aching head.

"Yup, they were right." Barb sat on the edge of my bed. I winced visibly as the jolt made the room spin. "Good thing Adam called Tammy last night and she called me."

"Umm…Barb, did anyone say how I got naked?"

"Something was mentioned about Adam putting you to bed last night. Seems he planned to spend the night with you but you were so far out of it he decided to just put you in bed and leave. He was NOT happy, Jennifer."

"I really screwed up didn't I? A night alone with Adam for the first time in almost TWO MONTHS and I messed it all up! I never drank that much before last night, Barb. Who would have thought just a few glasses of wine could do this to me! My old body couldn’t handle it with all the health problems I had. Apparently this new one can’t either. I’m never gonna do THAT again." I buried my aching head under the pillow and closed my eyes tightly. Even the light hurt this morning. The fact that I hadn't spent a pleasurable evening with Adam made me feel even worse.

"A few glasses, Jen? According to Adam it was close to the whole bottle. I can see you wanting to ‘let your hair down’ a bit last night and relax but that’s NOT the way to do it!"

"I know, Barb, and I’m paying for last night right now."

"Well, I can fix you a little something that should get you going again. Right now, you need to get yourself in the tub for a good soak. That will help. I’ll be in later with something to help that hangover and some breakfast."

"Thanks, Barb. If anyone calls tell them I’ll be available this afternoon after lunch."

"MouseWorld called. I told them you’d call back around one-thirty this afternoon."

I pulled my head out from under the pillow and looked up at her. "Thanks again, Barb. I think you’re right. A good soak in a tub full of hot water will do me a world of good. Just knock before you come in, OK?"

"You got it." The bed shifted as she got up sending the world spinning again. She looked back at me and smiled. "Do you know you've got bloodshot eyes? They look terrible."

"You think they look bad to you? You should see 'em from in here!" I rested my aching head back on the pillow. " I'll be OK, Barb. Let me get to the bathroom. I gotta go so bad…" Barb simply nodded and giggled as she left the bedroom.

I tossed the blankets aside and let the colder room air wash over my body. The shock managed to clear some of the fuzz from my head. After about two minutes I sat up on the edge of the bed close to the makeup table. The world wasn't spinning so I stood up. Big mistake! Now the world was starting to spin so I grabbed onto the back of the chair in front of the makeup table. I, and the world, stopped spinning so I stood there for a few seconds getting used to being vertical again. I started a slow shuffle to the bathroom since the urgent message from down below said I had better get moving.

Opening the door to the bathroom was easy but somehow I missed grabbing the doorjamb to keep myself vertical. That sent me sprawling on the cold tile of the bathroom floor. I lay still for a moment checking my various body parts for any signs of damage. When nothing serious turned up I hauled myself up by leaning on the edge of the tub. I sat on the edge of the tub catching my breath and balance as the water splashed noisily into the tub. To my poor aching head it sounded like Niagara Falls thundering just a few feet away. While the tub was filling I used the toilet being sure to hang onto something as I sat down. The relief felt wonderful. I stayed on the toilet until the tub was ready then eased carefully into the inviting water.

Twenty minutes later most of the aches and pains were gone and my head had cleared considerably. If only my stomach would stop making little flips every few minutes I thought that I might be able to make it through the day. The water was getting cold so I pulled the stopper and let it drain away. As I stood up this time I found that I was much more stable and didn’t need to hang onto something any more. I wrapped a towel around my wet hair and another around my middle then walked back to the bed. I was using the towel to dry my hair when I heard a knock on the bedroom door.

"Are you decent, Jen?"

"Sure, Barb, come in."

Barb slowly opened the door again and peered around. "Oh, you’re not dressed yet. I’ll come back."

"It’s OK, Barb. Come on in anyway."

"OK." The door opened wide as Barb stepped into the room carrying a small tray with a glass and a plate with toast on it. "I made my grandpa’s hangover cure for you."

She handed me a glass of red liquid that I accepted using both of my slightly shaking hands. I sniffed at it but all I could smell was tomato juice. "So what’s in this stuff anyway?" I sipped at the dark red liquid and found a salty and rather bitter taste.

"If I told you, you probably wouldn’t drink it, Jen. Bottoms up and drink the entire glass of the stuff, OK?"

I waggled my finger at Barb. "If I start growing hair on my chest I’m holdin’ YOU responsible." I raised the glass to my lips, took a big breath of air and held it as I chugged the contents of the glass. As I raised my arms up high to get the last few drops of the liquid the towel slipped revealing my breasts.

"Well, one thing is for certain, Jen, there’s no hair on those now." Barb was giggling as I pulled the towel back into place.

"OK, so you’ve seen 'em, big deal."

"Nice pair ya got there, hon. I wish mine looked that good. Now will you start in on the toast while you're getting dressed? If you can keep that down I'll fix you lunch later."

"OK, Mom…" I put the glass back on the tray and started nibbling on a piece of the very lightly buttered toast. I had just swallowed the first mouthful when a huge belch forced its way out. "EWWWWWWWW! That tasted like old used, unwashed gym socks smell. What was in that stuff anyway?"

"Like I said, you DON'T want to know. Just finish your toast and expect a few more of those god-awful noises. You can have some water if you need it but NOTHING ELSE for at least an hour or so. You'll be sorry if you do eat anything else before then!"

I belched again. "I'll take your word as law on that. Now let me suffer in peace, OK?"

"OK, Jen." Barb slid out the door and closed it behind her. I decided to lie back down for a few minutes while I finished the toast.

By the time the last of the toast had disappeared, I was feeling much better. Although I wasn't quite up to speed for a normal day I felt good enough to get dressed and catch up with Barb in the office. I rummaged in my closet for a pair of shorts and a sweatshirt then grabbed a bra and panties from the dresser. As soon as I was dressed I brushed my hair to get the tangles out then decided not to put it in a ponytail today. I really wasn't planning on going out so I shouldn't have to fix myself up too much.

I made my way down the hallway to the office then plunked down in the chair next to Barb's desk.

"You look much better, Jen. Feeling better too?"

I nodded. "Yup. A bit better anyway. Is that the stack of messages from this morning?" I pointed to a pile of message forms nearly a half-inch high.

She nodded. "Those are just the media that want to talk to you about the play. Oh, be careful if you use the bathroom in here. I had to start putting the flowers in there too."

"Flowers?" Barb pointed to the overflowing counter on the other side of the file cabinet that blocked my view. I leaned forward in the chair to look around the offending cabinet. "All these are for me?"

"You should see the ones in the bathroom…"

I wandered into the bathroom off the office to be overwhelmed by the scent of the flowers in there. They were everywhere in almost any color you could get a flower in, big bouquets, little ones and even a few potted plants for good measure. Each one had a card attached. I browsed through the cards reading each one. There were bouquets from the TV station, the radio station, another huge one from MouseWorld and many more from friends and cast members.

"Well what do you think, Jen?" Barb had walked into the bathroom behind me.

"I don’t know what to think, Barb."

"Looks to me like all these people really appreciated your effort this past weekend doesn’t it?" I nodded in silent agreement. "So what are you going to do with them?"

"I can’t keep all of them, I just don’t have the room! How about we give them to the local hospitals for their patients? That should brighten up a few faces!"

"I’ll make a few calls. Do you want me to save all the cards?"

"Yes, please, and do you think we could send a short thank-you note to each one if we have an address?"

"Sure, I can do that, Jen. Now why don’t you take that stack of media requests and go make some calls of your own? I bet you could take care of a lot of it over the phone."

"Sounds good to me as long as they don’t speak in words of 2 or more syllables. I’m not certain if my poor brain can handle more than that right now." I picked one of the bouquets of flowers to keep and started back to my office.

"Don’t worry about that. The stuff you drank will fetch you around pretty quickly."

"If you say so, Barb. I know I wouldn’t feel as good as I do now if it wasn’t for you taking care of me. Thanks for being a good friend!" I tossed my arms around her and hugged her as tightly as I could. She very willingly returned the hug then gently pushed me toward my office after handing me the stack of call slips.

About an hour later I had worked through most of the pile. Most simply wanted a quick interview and a chat over the phone about what it was like was sufficient for most of the reporters. The radio folks wanted that prized sound bite of course. The TV folks were a bit more demanding and wanted to come interview me with a camera crew. After getting their promise to keep my home address a secret I arranged for all of the major stations in the market to visit me in the afternoon. All of the interviews would be done in my living room and completed in time to let them edit the story for the evening newscasts.

Ever so slowly the aroma of baking chicken built up in the office as I worked. My tummy started to growl a few moments after I hung up the phone from my last TV station call. Giving in to the hunger pangs, I sniffed my way toward the kitchen.

"There you are! I was just coming to get you for lunch!" I watched as Barb took a pan out of the oven with a large roast chicken in it. A couple of aluminum foil wrapped potatoes were also carefully retrieved from the oven.

"You didn’t have to do this, Barb!"

"I wanted to, Jen. This is good solid, PLAIN food. Just what your stomach needs right now to recover from the rest of that hangover. And before you say anything more, I paid for this out of the petty cash funds. I put a receipt in the cash box already."

"OK, I’m not going to argue on this one. Boy that smells good! Let me help you."

"Nope. Go sit. I have this all worked out." I shrugged then slipped into a chair at the kitchen table. Barb transferred the chicken onto a large serving platter then placed the two baked potatoes alongside. She then set a small pan full of green beans on the table.

"There, all set. Go easy on the margarine on the potato, OK? Your stomach might complain if you had too much right now and it won’t be pretty either."

"Right!" I set a baked potato on my plate then stirred in a bit of margarine and a little salt and pepper. As I was fixing my potato, Barb served up a portion of the white meat from the chicken and a large spoonful of the green beans. She also placed a glass of ice water next to my plate.

"No soda or milk for you for a few more hours. Ice water will have to do. Dig in! It's getting cold!"

My stomach complained bitterly when the first few morsels of food reached it. I managed to resist the urge to throw up. The feeling passed after a few minutes as I slowly munched on the food in front of me. Despite being prepared without spices, the lunch was one of the most satisfying that I had eaten in quite a long time. I sighed and lightly patted my tummy as I pushed the now empty plate away from me.

"Barb, that was just right. Thanks. I think I feel almost back to normal now."

"I'm glad to hear that. You've got a busy afternoon ahead. You need to change clothes then call MouseWorld."

"Why do I need to change clothes before I call MouseWorld? It's just a phone call."

"Well, the TV people are coming over right after that. Do you wanna be interviewed in THAT?" She pointed to the baggy sweatshirt and shorts.

"I guess not. I'll help you clean up then I'll go get changed."

"Jen, you'll do no such thing. I can take care of this mess, you just go get pretty for the public. Have you taken a good look at yourself in the mirror today?"

"That bad, huh?" She nodded yes slowly. "OK, I'll go take care of myself. You can leave this for later and I'll take care of it, Barb."

Barb shooed me out of my own kitchen as she began putting the unused food portions away and loading the dishwasher. I walked back to my bedroom and sat down in front of the makeup table.

The sight wasn't a very good one. The face I saw in the mirror had dark spots under both eyes and a rather pasty white complexion instead of my usual rosy pink one. Fortunately, I had gotten better with cosmetics over the last few months and knew just what to do. In short order the bags under my eyes and the lack of color in my face were both hidden under a layer of makeup.

Now that I resembled my normal self I started to work on my hair. I hadn't noticed earlier but there were still several tangled spots. I worked those out then brushed my hair so that it shined again. The ponytail was back in place.

The question next was what to do about the clothes. Wearing an outfit like I had worn to the play would have been way too showy for an interview in my own home. I settled for a nice pair of jeans and a satin blouse. The blouse was rather low cut in the front. A small golden heart-shaped charm on a gold chain dangled teasingly at the top of the space between my breasts. The jeans fit me like a second skin revealing all my curves in the right places. I had learned that my appearance helped greatly and the interviews were, after all, just another public appearance.

The response from Barb was worth the effort I had gone through when I walked back into the office.

"Now you look like you!"

"HUH?"

"You know what I mean, Jen. You look like your old self now."

"If I looked like my old self I'd have a scraggly beard and weigh over three hundred pounds. I'd be going bald too." I actually shuddered at the thought of going back to my old body. "Why would I want to look like that now?"

"I give up!" She tossed her hands in the air while smiling. "All I know is that you look much better than this morning and I'll bet you feel better too."

"THAT we can agree on, Barb. So what am I doing now?"

"Well, it's almost one-thirty. You need to get comfy at your desk and take a look at the sheets I left. MouseWorld faxed them this morning. Then you can call Mark and talk a little more about the show."

"OK. Anything else?"

"Yes. Do you have any other checking accounts that you haven't told me about? I got a call from the bank on Friday. Here, look at these." She handed me several faxed sheets from the bank.

"Hmmm… This IS strange. That was an old account of mine but I don't know a thing about the address or name change let alone the transactions going on. Can you let the bank know that it's not mine?"

"That's just it, Jen. It has your identification all over it."

"Well, what can we do about it?"

"I'd suggest an investigator, Jen. Something odd is going on there."

"OK, is there anyone you recommend to look into this for me?"

"I know just the person. Let me make some phone calls. First I'll call the bank and tell them what's going on then I'll call my contact. Now scoot and go talk to MouseWorld."

"Thanks, Barb. D'ya think my tummy can handle a cup of coffee now?"

"Nope, not yet but how 'bout a cuppa hot chocolate instead?"

"Works for me." I started to make the hot chocolate then got shooed toward my office.

"I'll bring it in, go talk to MouseWorld! STOP DAWDLING GIRL. GET IN THERE!"

I headed for the office by forcing myself to move. As I plunked down behind the desk I had to admit to myself that I was scared at the prospect of doing the show for MouseWorld. It would be the largest project I had worked on and probably the most risky one as well. I would be on live national television as I hosted the TV special. What if I froze on the air? What if I …

ENOUGH… enough of the 'what if' games I was playing in my head! Here the chance of a lifetime had fallen directly into my lap and I was playing mental games about my fear. With the things I had gone through in the last six months why am I worried about this now? Determined to overcome the last of those little nagging doubts about myself, I picked up the faxed sheets and read them completely.

The bottom of the last page contained a list of contact numbers at MouseWorld. I figured I'd start out with Mark and work from there. I waited for a few seconds while the phone rang.

"Hello, MouseWorldMediaCenter. If you know the extension number of your…"

The canned greeting stopped as I pressed the numbers of Mark's extension. "Mark Townsend, can I help you?"

"Hi Mark, Jennifer Stevens calling. How are you today?"

"I'm doing fine, even better now that you've called. I take it you survived the weekend?"

"Barely, Mark. There was an accident…"

"I know all about it. The local station sent me an updated packet on Sunday night. Quite impressive."

I wondered if he could tell how much I was blushing over the phone. "Thanks, Mark. Now about this contract…"

"Jennifer, instead of talking about this on the phone, we'd like to have you visit us in Orlando to talk about it and show you some of the new attractions. Are you available tomorrow? Barb says you have an open day."

"Mark, I'm not certain that I can arrange trans…"

"Already covered, Jennifer. I can have the company jet pick you up in Syracuse tonight and a hotel room is already booked and waiting for you. Please say you'll come?"

"If you really want me that much I guess I'll just have to say yes, Mark. Am I to assume that you and Barb have worked out all of the details already?"

"Of course! Hey, keep in mind that it's in the middle sixties here right now with lots of nice WARM sunshine. Think of it as a vacation from that cold central New York winter of yours."

"Hmmm… let's see. Warm weather in Orlando or freezing my tush off here. Gee, Mark, I don’t think you have to twist my arm any harder. I’ll see you in Orlando tomorrow."

"Great! See you then ,Jennifer!" The line clicked then went dead. Barb walked into the office moments after I hung up the phone.

"Here’s all the details of the trip. I assume you said yes, didn’t you?" She placed a stack of paper on the desk.

"Yes, I said yes. If I were a suspicious person I’d almost be forced to conclude that you two are ganging up on me. Is this some plot to take over my business or something?"

"Jen, honey, you ARE the business! Where you go, the business goes. Haven’t you realized that yet?"

"What are you babbling about?"

"Look, you're the product we're selling here. You go out and make public appearances, you do the radio show every week and now you're probably going to host that TV special. Jen, you're the cornerstone of this business. Without you there is no business."

I leaned back in the chair and thought for a few moments. "I guess I've always known that but just never really thought about it. I've been so busy doing things that I haven't stopped to think about where all this is headed. I don't have any kind of plan of where I want to be five or ten years from now."

"Did you have any kind of plan before your change?"

"Hell, no. I wasn't expecting to live past fifty-five years old, Barb. I couldn't make any plans then. I never was certain that I'd be around to carry them out. I guess I still have that old habit hanging around inside me."

"Old habits are hard to break, Jen. Don't worry that you don't have a long-term plan. Just start thinking about where you want to be with your new life in, let's say, five years from now."

"I'll try, Barb. I'll really give it a try." I picked up the pile of travel plan sheets and glanced at them. "So I leave at around six PM today and I'll be in Orlando at around eight PM?"

"Something like that, yes. The reservation is at their best hotel. Their limo will take you from the private airstrip to the hotel. Looks like you're getting the royal treatment on this one, Jen."

"It certainly does look that way doesn't it? I wonder how much they're spending just to get me down there to talk about this?"

"Enough that I'd say they were quite serious about getting your services."

"Are you coming with me, Barb?"

"No, you're on your own on this one, Jen. I have an appointment tomorrow about the surgery. I can't miss it. It's when we set the final date."

"Tammy can't come along?"

"Nope, I called her already. She has several papers due next week. She has to get those finished. You’re going solo on this trip."

"OK. I guess I’ll need a ride to the airport. Can you take me over on your way home, Barb?"

"No need for that. I’ve arranged for a limo to take you. MouseWorld insisted on it and they’re paying for it too. Mark said you were to get the red carpet treatment all the way and that’s just what you’re going to have."

"I give up. With treatment like this you’d think I was a movie star or something. I’m NOT that special, Barb."

"All that matters is that you’re special to them, Jen. Just go with it and enjoy the attention."

I shrugged then went back to work on the pile of paper on the desk. Another half-hour went by before Barb answered a knock on the office outside door. A few moments later she came into the office.

"Jen, the first of the TV crews is here. Is it OK if I have them set up in the living room?"

"Sure, I’ll be right there. I need to freshen up a bit then I’ll be right with them."

I headed for my bedroom as Barb steered the crew to the living room. I ran the brush through my hair one more time and checked that the makeup was still intact. Satisfied that I looked ready I stepped into the living room with a big smile on my face.

Half an hour later the first interview of a total of three was over. I was amazed at the number of questions they asked and how much they wanted to know about things best left private. They seemed intent on probing my love life and any other lurid details they could dig up. I resisted of course and steered the conversation back toward the play or other public matters every time. When they finally turned off the bright lights and the camera I felt like I’d been totally drained.

Just after they left Barb brought in a snack and a soda. "Thanks, Barb. That was quite a session."

"I know. I was watching from out of camera range. Pesky little buggers aren’t they?"

"They wanted to know way too much about my personal life. What business of theirs is it to know who, if anyone, I’m seeing or if I’ve gotten used to having periods yet?"

"It’s all part of the game, Jen. Better get used to it."

"I know I have to but I still don’t like it." I bit off a bit chunk of a brownie then followed it up with a sip from the soda can. "Great brownies, Barb. Where did you get these?"

"I made them this morning. I had a chocolate craving so I baked a batch. I hope you don’t mind. I’ll pay you back for the ingredients I used."

"No you won’t, as long as you make these again sometime."

"You got a deal. Now relax a bit before the next onslaught. The next TV crew will be here at three PM then the last one at four PM."

"One down, two more to go. I’ll make it through this, I know I will." I took another big bite of the brownie and savored the flavor for a few moments. Barb was smiling as she left to grab the phone that was ringing in the office.

The other two interviews went almost exactly like the first one did. I almost asked the reporters if they had photocopied the same set of questions for all three stations. At least the second and third interviews didn’t probe into personal matters as hard as the first reporter tried. I think that one or two side-stepped answers were enough to tell the reporters they weren’t going to get answers out of me to those types of questions.

As the crew from the third interview was leaving Barb popped into the living room with a plate of food.

"I figured that you could use a break. It’s getting late and you need to eat something before the limo gets here."

"Sheesh, is it THAT late already? How long have I been working on the interviews anyway?"

"About 3 hours straight, Jen. That last one took almost an hour. It’s nearly five and the limo will be here in another half an hour or so. Now eat!"

"Leftovers?"

"Sort of. I made you a chicken sandwich and chips with a soda. That should hold you a while. I packed your bags too. You’re all set for the trip. Now sit back and enjoy the food."

I have to admit that I was ravenous and had no trouble polishing off the sandwich and chips. When I finished the sandwich I made a dash into the bedroom to change into something more appropriate to traveling. A nice warm flannel shirt replaced the satin blouse I had worn for the interviews. I also replaced the strappy heels with warm comfy boots better suited for the cold central NY temperatures.

I left my hair in a ponytail and added a few bobby pins to keep a few strands of fly-away hair out of my face. All that mattered for this trip was that I was comfortable and warm.

The limo arrived right on time. The driver loaded my bags into the trunk then helped me into the huge car. The traffic was rather light so the trip to the airport didn’t take very long. As we pulled into the private terminal the ground crew directed the limo alongside a waiting private jet. I looked up to see that the tail carried the familiar mouse ears corporate logo.

I waited briefly in the car as the ground crew completed refueling the jet. As I stepped out of the warm limo the cold wind hit me full in the face sending a chill up my spine. I pulled the coat tighter around my neck and shivered as I walked up the short set of steps that extended from the side of the aircraft.

"Hello, Miss Stevens. I’m Bill Tyler and this is the co-pilot for tonight’s trip, George McReedy. We’re pleased that you could make the trip tonight."

I shook hands with both of them then followed them to the seating area. "Thanks for making the trip up here to pick me up. How are the flying conditions tonight? Any weather issues?"

"Are you a pilot?"

"No, I’ve just been flying a lot recently and I’ve had an interest in weather for years."

"Well, there may be some problems with a line of thunderstorms as we get further south. It could get a bit bumpy later. We figure the flight time is around two hours or so."

"Would it be all right if I visited you on the flight deck after we get in the air?"

"We’d love to have the company, Miss Stevens."

"Ah, guys, please call me Jennifer or Jen. I’m not big on the formal stuff, OK?"

"Sure, Jennifer. You all set here?" He watched as I buckled up in the seat.

"Yup. I’ve been through so many emergency procedure lectures that I could give one by heart."

The pilots left for the cabin. I watched out the window as a small tug moved the plane away from the hanger area out onto the flight line. The tug pulled up alongside then attached a couple of lines to the side of the jet. A few moments later I heard one of the two small jet engines at the rear of the plane start up. It ran for almost two minutes then the other engine started. We sat on the tarmac for another three minutes as the jets warmed up and the pilots completed the take-off checklist.

A slight increase in the jet noise accompanied the slow rollout of the jet onto the runway. We sat for a few seconds as the jets revved up to full power then throttled back to idle. I knew from experience that we were moments from starting the take-off roll down the thirteen thousand foot runway. The little jet would only need about three thousand feet to accelerate to lift-off speed. The engines screamed at full power as the jet rolled smoothly down the runway gathering speed.

Once again the lights along the runway passed by so fast that they became impossible to count as the jet hurtled down the runway. All of a sudden I was pressed downward in the seat as the jet literally leaped off the runway and clawed its way into the night. I wasn't concerned at the severity of the takeoff since leaving on this particular runway required a steep climb-out angle. The residents of the surrounding area had protested that the noise from aircraft taking off was too great. A court order had forced the somewhat unusual takeoff procedures to put more vertical distance between the planes and the houses below. A couple of minutes after take-off the climb angle lessened and the engines throttled back just a bit. I knew that we were well above the houses below and that the plane could return to normal climbing speed until we reached the proper cruising altitude.

Fifteen minutes later the seat belt light went out. I unbuckled then stood up to take off my coat. I'd decided to leave it on during take-off until the cabin had a chance to warm up a little more. The cabin was nice and warm now so I no longer needed the coat. I put the coat over another seat and got comfortable to wait out the rest of the trip. A few minutes later Bill came through the flight deck door.

"You mentioned you'd like to visit us up front. Would you like to do that now?"

"Sure! Lead the way!"

"Let me get a cup of coffee and we'll go right up." He stopped in the small galley area and fixed two cups of the dark brew. "Would you like something? We have coffee, soda and spring water."

"Just a spring water, please." He handed me a chilled bottle from a small refrigerator beneath the counter. "Thanks."

"All set. Right this way…"

We walked through the door to a smallish cabin area. There were three seats, two at the front of the cockpit and a third on the right side behind the first two. It was next to a panel filled with switches and readouts. It looked like some type of engineering station to me.

"Here you go." He motioned to the third seat. "Just watch out for the panel there. Please don't touch anything on it, OK?"

"No problem there, Bill. I know what that is and I won't lay a finger on it."

The conversation began and we talked for well over an hour about a wide range of topics including my background and recent events that led me to be on board tonight. During a lull in the chatter in the cabin they got a call on the radio.

"Thirty-two Mike William Charlie this is MemphisCenter calling. Copy?"

"Roger, MemphisCenter. Go ahead."

" Thirty-two Mike William Charlie you have a heavy line of thunderstorms ahead of you. There's activity all around the front associated with it. We suggest you climb to flight level three-seven-zero to get over the worst of it. Your option, over."

The pilots studied their on-board radar for a few moments. "Roger, Memphis. We agree. Climbing to three-seven-zero. Over."

"Confirmed Thirty-two Mike William Charlie. Climbing to three-seven-zero. Maintain current heading and speed. Call when clear of the storm. Out."

"Ummm… Jennifer, we…"

"I heard, Bill. There's a storm up ahead and you're climbing to thirty seven thousand feet to try to get over the worst of it. Do you want me to go back to my seat?"

"Actually, no. Just buckle up where you are. The multi-point harness on that seat is better than the standard seat belt back there. Just cinch it up tight. This could get nasty."

It took a minute or so for me to figure out the arrangement of belts and how it could fit my new anatomy comfortably. "Will one of you check this and make sure I have it right?"

George turned his seat around and checked the belts. "That's perfect, Jen. Now hang on 'cause this is gonna get rough."

"I'm all set guys, do what you need to do to get us through this." I watched quietly as they concentrated on the radar screen. Since there was a screen displaying the same image on the tech console I watched that as the storm grew in intensity ahead of us. I wasn't thrilled about the chatter between the two pilots.

"Jesus, Bill. Look at that. It's closed in around us. The peaks are up to sixty thousand feet. We can't go high enough to fly over it and there's no way to turn back the way we came. It's worse at lower altitudes than it is here. What do we do?"

"We don't have a choice, George. We have to try to pick a spot and go through it."

"All right, call Memphis control and let them know."

The conversation with the control center was short and to the point. The control center wasn't very happy about it but they couldn't see any other solution either. We were cleared to take whatever course corrections the pilots thought were needed to make it through. We were the only aircraft within a few hundred miles of the massive storm.

"We've got to dive in somewhere, George. See any likely spots?"

"There off to the east. The storm seems to be splitting in that area. We might be able to sneak through there."

"All right. That's where we're headed. Changing course to intercept."

I listened in silence as they carefully aimed the tiny jet at the small opening in the huge storm front.

"About a minute to contact, Bill. Are we ready?"

"All backup systems on standby, everything checks, George. Let's do this."

Less than a minute later the jet plowed into a huge cloud. The little plane started to shake like a dog shaking an old rag. Lightning flashed all around us in the inky blackness outside. The shaking lasted for several more seconds then started to smooth out.

"Looks like we're through the worst of it, Bill. The radar says th…"

A huge white flash lit up the cabin followed immediately by a sharp crack. As our eyes and ears recovered we all realized that all of a sudden it had gotten very dark and quiet in the cockpit.

"OH SHIT! The power's gone and so are the engines. What the hell was that anyway?"

"A lightning strike, Bill." I said as calmly as possible. "OK, guys. Lay it out for me."

"We've got to get the power back on and light up one of those engines or we're going down. This thing has about a seventy-mile glide range and we're nowhere near enough to an airport to make it without an engine. We still have limited control since this is an older jet that doesn't use electric power for the controls like the newer ones do. I figure we've got maybe ten minutes or less before we kiss the ground hard."

"OK, Bill. I've got the picture. Where do we start?"

"That panel next to you. Check the breakers to see if any of then need to be reset."

"Got a light?"

He passed me a small flashlight and I scanned the breakers for any that had popped. I found at least two that had tripped. The first one reset when I cycled it giving us back the lights in the cabin. The other one didn't go as smoothly. I cycled the breaker several times each time noting a mushy feeling instead of a sharp snap when the breaker closed. I felt the panel around the breaker. It was warm to the touch and my fingers had a smoky smell after I touched the panel.

"Damn. I think the breaker has failed. The panel felt hot around it and there's some soot around the breaker handle. Looks like it turns on the avionics in the console, the radio, the engine controls, and most of the readouts."

"Shit. Well we have to go with what we've got then. George, get out the charts and see if you can find us a place to get this damned thing on the ground. Somewhere with a lot of space, OK? We're not gonna make it to an airport."

"Right." George grabbed the charts and started sorting through them. I sat there a moment staring at the panel.

"Umm… guys, can I have a go at trying to patch something together?"

"Have something in mind, Jen?"

"I think I can patch the avionics circuit through the lighting breaker if you can do without cockpit lights. It might let us start an engine."

"We got nothing to loose. Go ahead, Jen. George, give her a hand."

"Got any tools here?"

"There's a small tool kit under the workstation in a drawer, Jennifer." George unbuckled when I did and retrieved the kit from storage. "Let's get this panel open."

He handed me a screwdriver then got the flashlight ready. I released three panel locks and was pleasantly surprised when the panel hinged downward and stopped at the end of two short supporting chains. George played the flashlight along the row of breakers. We quickly found that the avionics breaker had failed since the panel around it was covered in black soot. I looked at the panel for a moment then shook my head.

"Damn. The lighting breaker is only a fifteen amp. The bad one is a twenty amp. I can do the cross-circuit but I'm not certain how long the breaker will hold. The other possibility is that I simply strap around it. That's chancy too."

"Go for the strap around, Jen. It's our best chance."

"Right." I fussed over the panel for another minute. Damn! The wire isn't long enough to reach. Why can't they leave a little extra? George, do we have any wire in that kit?"

He spent thirty seconds searching the small bag. "Nothing. Not even a scrap. What do we do now?"

I blew an errant strand of hair out of my face then remembered that I had put some bobby pins in my hair to hold it out of the way. I grabbed one of the pins and went about bending it.

"You're gonna try fixing this thing with a bobby pin? Are you out of your mind?"

"Just WHAT would YOU suggest George?" I glared at him for several seconds.

"George, look, she's got a good idea there. Let her try it, otherwise we're not gonna make it."

"But she's…"

"Go ahead, Jen. Do it and it had better be NOW!"

"Got a knife in there, George, and a pair of wire cutters?"

"Got the cutters, no knife though."

"Go grab my purse will you?" He left the cabin returning moments later with my purse.

"You've got about two minutes more, Jen. We need time to start the engine. We're running out of altitude here."

"I got it, Bill." I snipped the bobby pin to length then took the Leatherman tool out of my purse and folded out a very sharp knife blade.

"What's that for?"

"I have to scrape off the varnish coating to get down to the steel underneath." Another minute passed as I cleaned the wire.

"Any time, Jen."

"I'm working on it, Bill, I'm going as fast as I can."

"George, get back in your seat and get ready to start an engine. We're only going to have one chance at this before we get too low."

I inserted one end in the fitting on the breaker that connected to the equipment. The other side of the breaker was the live power. I used the insulated cutters to slip the wire under the screw on the power side of the breaker. A huge spark jumped across the joint as I inserted the wire. I tightened the screw then looked over at Bill. He gave me a thumbs up then pointed to the console awash in live instruments.

"We're live folks. Let 'er rip George."

"OK, Bill. Attempting a start on number one."

The engine sputtered to life then died. The scene was repeated twice more. "Come on, baby. Light off. Just one more try…"

George hit the start button again and held it. Slowly, oh so slowly, the engine sputtered to life until it was running steadily. George scanned the gages. "We're up, Bill. It's all yours."

Bill slowly advanced the throttle testing the stability of the tiny plane on a single engine. "We're good. The air speed is up and we're climbing slowly, it's slushy on the controls but I think we'll make it. George, get on the radio to Memphis and let them know what happened. Declare an emergency and get us cleared for the nearest airport."

"Right." George popped on the headset. After several calls he finally got through. A red light on the engineering panel grabbed my attention. I tapped the gauge hoping that what I saw wasn't true.

"Bill, we've got a failure on the hydraulic pressure. The gauge reads zero and there's an alert light."

"DAMN! That means we aren't going to be able to drop the landing gear. We'll have to try a manual crank-down."

"Bill, is there another pump on engine two?"

"Jen, you're beautiful. George, put the tower on hold and try to light up number two. We need to get the hydraulics working again. The pump is out on number one."

George ripped off the headset and began to start number two. It sputtered briefly to life then quit. As it died we heard a small explosion from the rear of the plane and the fire indicator came on for engine two. The plane lurched to one side then started bucking like a horse again.

"Jen, pull the fire bottle switch for two NOW!"

"Pulled."

"Good. Go take a look from a window over the wing. You should be able to see the engine nacelle. Give me a report."

"Right." On my way back to the passenger cabin the plane continued to lurch side-to-side sending me flying across the cabin. I bounced off the seats and bulkheads like a child’s rag doll. If we made it out of this alive I knew I was going to hurt like hell in the morning.

I make it to the appropriate window and gazed out into the inky darkness. There was no fire that I could see. Suddenly a flash of lightning lit up the sky enough for me to see that the engine nacelle was quite simply gone. The tail on that side was missing about a third of the horizontal stabilizer while the remaining part hung downward. I hurried back to the cabin.

"How's it handling?"

"Bad. I'm having to fight to keep her in the air. What the hell’s going on back there anyway?"

"It's not good, Bill. The stabilizer on the right side has been damaged. About a third of it is gone along with the entire engine nacelle. The rest of it is bent down at an odd angle. That's what's upsetting the balance."

"Shit! Even if the hydraulics were working we can't drop the wheels. The extra drag would send us out of control. I'm barely keeping us in the air now with the single engine at full throttle."

The look on both of their faces didn't encourage me much. "Will we make it?"

"If you have any connection with the folks upstairs some heavy laying on of prayers would sure help out right about now. George, bring Memphis up to speed on what happened. Let 'em know if we make it that far we'll be coming in gear up on the grass next to the runway."

I sat in stunned silence as the jet lurched its way toward the airport. George broke the quiet a few moments later.

"Memphis says that there are two airports open for us. Charlotte or Atlanta. Charlotte is closer but has a shorter runway. Atlanta is further away but has better facilities to handle us. Which one?"

"Charlotte. We'll never make it to Atlanta. Tell them to have foam standing by."

"Right." George returned to the radio.

"OK, Bill, the truth."

"The truth." He took a deep breath and slowly let it out. "Truth is we're lucky to still be in the air. We've got a fifty-fifty chance to reach the airport if nothing else goes wrong. As for setting this crate down in a single piece, that's debatable. If we don't hook a wing when we come in for a belly landing we just might make it. That is if we don't have a fire start and ignite what's left of the fuel in the tanks."

"Damn, and I forgot my bag of marshmallows for after the weenie roast. Well, thanks for the ride, guys. It was fun while it lasted."

"Hey, if you hadn’t been able to get the power restored we wouldn’t even have those chances. The left engine is still good and seems to be holding. We’re past the front so getting into the airport won’t be as bad as it could have been if we had to try to land in the middle of a storm. I think we have a better than fifty percent chance of walking away from this one."

"I’ll have to take your word on that, Bill. I don’t do this kind of stuff every day myself." I looked out the window of the wildly bouncing jet to see a strip of light on the horizon. "Is that the airport?"

"Yup, good eyes, Jen. I’m not going to be able to look at the gages much. I need you to call out our altitude for me as we get under a hundred feet, ok?"

"Got it." I located the altitude gage on the engineering panel and spent several moments making sure I knew how to read it.

"Charlotte tower this is Thirty-two Mike Whiskey Charlie on final. We’ve got one chance at this. Gear is up and we have heavy damage to the horizontal stabilizer and tail. Will attempt belly landing on the grass next to the main strip, over."

"Thirty-two Mike Whiskey Charlie, Charlotte tower. Confirming… landing on grass next to main runway. Rescue crew standing by with foam. Crosswind gusting from the south to ten knots. You’re on a straight-in approach on the proper glide slope. Good luck, over."

"Roger, Charlotte tower and thanks. Thirty-two Mike Wiskey Charlie out."

"Jen, George, buckle in again and cinch ‘em tight. We’re gonna take a beating when this things lands on her belly. Please put your seat backs in the vertical position and lock your seat trays away. Thanks for flying MouseWorld Air."

"I bet you say that at all the emergency landings don’t you, Bill?"

"Company policy I’m afraid." He winked at me. "Now give me altitude every five feet when we get below a hundred feet, OK?"

"You got it." The tension in increased as the jet dropped closer to the hard earth below.

"Charlotte tower to Thirty-two Mike Whiskey Charlie… low on glide path, pull it up a little. You’ll be over the outer marker in about thirty seconds. Good luck."

"Pull it up a bit, Bill. We’re coming in just a bit steep."

"This is all the UP it’s got, George." The lone jet engine was screaming at full power just to keep us in the air. There simply wasn’t any more power available to climb. "I hope the ground cushion effect helps us some. Otherwise it’s gonna be a hard hit."

"One hundred feet, Bill."

"OK everyone. Brace yourselves. This is it…"

"Ninety-five…"

"Drifting to the right, Bill. Can you compensate?"

"I’ll try."

"Eighty feet." The numbers were changing too fast for me to call out every five feet.

"That’s good. We’re lined up on the grass."

"Seventy feet, Bill."

"Crosswind’s picking up. Drifting to the left now." The plane lurched to the right as Bill tried to correct for the wind.

"Fifty feet."

"Damn we’re coming in too steep. Can you flare her out, Bill?"

"I’ll try."

"Thirty feet."

"Nose coming up a bit. We’re getting close to stall speed." An alarm went off in the cabin. "That’s the stall warning. We’re still OK."

The numbers flying by on the dial slowed a little. "Fifteen feet."

"Come on baby, just a few more seconds…"

"Ten feet… "

"Brace now!"

I pulled my arms to my side and crossed my legs to help brace against the crash I knew was coming. The plane bounced as it hit the ground then settled down skidding sideways. We felt and heard a loud explosion then the plane rolled over several times finally skidding to a halt on the roof. It left us hanging upside down in our seats. The smell of burning jet fuel invaded the cabin along with thick black smoke.

"Everyone OK?"

"I’m here, Bill. How about you, George?"

"I’m OK. Let’s get the hell out of here!"

George unbuckled the belt and fell to the roof of the plane. Bill did the same then they both helped me unbuckle and stand up after flipping me over. The smoke coming into the cabin was starting to make us cough and it was getting harder to see. We stumbled for the door only to find it jammed shut by the crash.

"Back to the flight deck. We’ll kick out a window!"

Bill managed to break one of the windows over the console after several tries. He pushed me out and crawled out after me. George followed right behind him. We stumbled to our feet then ran at least a hundred feet away from the burning wreckage. As I looked back part of the fuselage exploded in a ball of flames and debris.

"God that was close." I collapsed on the grass. Bill and George sat down beside me as the rescue crew sprayed foam everywhere. A couple of firemen walked over to us.

"Everyone out?"

"Yes, just the three of us."

"Lets have a look at you then." He took out a flashlight and looked us over. "What’s this?" He took out a sterile pad and wiped something from the side of my head then shone the light on the pad. "Blood, looks like you got a bit of a cut there. Charlie, get the ambulance over here."

A few moments later a huge ambulance stopped next to us on the grass. We were all helped inside then my wound was cleaned and bandaged as the ambulance pulled away from the wreckage of the jet.

"Where are we going?"

"We’re taking you to the terminal area first. The accident investigators will want to talk to all three of you about what happened up there."

"And then?"

"After that we’ll make overnight arrangements for you."

"What about my bags and…"

"If anything survives the fire we’ll make sure they catch up with you." I nodded as I realized that I was now quite happy that I had taken a few seconds to locate my purse as the pilots were breaking out that window. At least with my credit cards and identification I could replace all of the contents of my bags with just a few hours of shopping. I also had my cell phone and my daytime planner with all of my contact information.

When we got to the terminal we were escorted into a conference room in the administrative area of the main office. Six people were waiting for us in the room. They introduced themselves as members of the crash investigation team then we split up into three groups. Each of us was taken to a separate room with two of the investigation team to discuss what happened. For me, it took about an hour for the investigators to ask their questions and record my answers. I imagine it was quite a bit more involved for the two pilots.

I had hoped to see the two men that saved my life again but when I returned to the conference room a tall man in a dark suite was there as there to meet me.

"Miss Stevens, I'm Jack Pomeroy, the airport manager. I wish that I could welcome you to Charlotte under better circumstances."

"Better circumstances, Mister Pomeroy? We walked away from that with only minor cuts, scratches and bruises. How can it get any better?"

"Point taken, Miss Stevens and please call me Jack."

"All right, Jack, and please call me Jennifer. Now where do we go from here?"

"Well, if the investigators are done with you I have a pack of press people out there about to go crazy to talk to you. The word leaked out that you were on that jet."

I sighed then shook my head. "They always find out somehow, don't they? Do you have somewhere we can use for the press conference?"

"We have something set up already. Are you up to doing this in a few minutes?"

"Sure. I want to get this over and then get some sleep. Can I talk with one of the investigators first? The reporters are sure to ask me about the crash and I don't want to jeopardize the investigation by saying too much too soon."

"Let me go get someone." Jack left the conference room then returned a few minutes later with one of the investigators. I talked with the man for a few minutes to get an idea of what I could safely say then I asked him to attend the meeting with me to answer any questions I couldn't.

The press conference went much faster than I thought it would. Once I said I was fine and gave the reporters their sound bites and quotes, they pounced on the poor investigator bombarding him with questions for which he had no answers. The press session ended after around thirty minutes then I was escorted back to the conference room that served as the holding area.

I entered the room to find that my bags had been retrieved from the airplane. They were badly singed and soaked with the foam that had been used to put out the fire. As I went through the bags I quickly concluded that there was very little in them that I could use immediately. I guessed that most of the clothes might be salvaged with a thorough washing or dry cleaning. The rest, my makeup and personal items, were beyond hope. I heard someone open the door behind me and turned around to face my visitor. It was the airport manager.

"I see they found your bags. How bad is the damage?"

"Bad enough, Jack. All I really have is what’s in my purse and what I’m wearing at the moment. The rest isn’t useable right now."

"Too bad. I came in to let you know that we’ve arranged a room at a nearby hotel for you overnight. The pilots took care of contacting MouseWorld. They’ll have another jet here in the morning to either continue your trip or take you back home. The pilots wanted me to tell you that someone from the company will call in about an hour or so on your cell phone. Did that survive the crash?"

"Yes, it was in my purse along with a few other things I’m glad I have. I might need to get the charger plugged in to give the battery a boost though." I rummaged in the bags until I located the charger sealed inside a plastic bag. It looked to be in good shape.

"The investigation staff is finished with you and so, it appears, is the press. Do you want to go to the hotel now?"

"I most certainly do. I’m running on adrenalin right now and really need a bath and some sleep."

"Then you can give this to the people at the front desk." He handed me an envelope. "This will tell them to bill MouseWorld and give you whatever you need. They faxed this to us to give to you."

"Thanks, Jack. I really do appreciate this." I don’t know why I did it, but I gave him a huge hug and a little kiss on the cheek. He was smiling from ear to ear as I followed him out to a van waiting to take me to the hotel.

The trip to the hotel took just a few minutes since it was located on the outskirts of the airport. They seemed to be expecting me since someone was waiting to unload my soggy bags from the van. They even offered to run several loads of clothes through their laundry if I would sort out what I wanted washed. I decided to take them up on the offer and made up a load of underthings and enough clothes to get me through a couple of days. The rest I would take care of at home.

As soon as someone picked up the clothes to be washed I headed for the small bathroom to soak in the tub. I didn’t have any of my usual bath oils so I made do with the supplies provided by the hotel. I reeked of smoke and wanted desperately to get rid of the smell on my hair and skin.

Almost half an hour later I finished bathing and slipped on the hotel-provided robe. Now that I felt human again I decided to make some phone calls. I took the cell phone out of my purse and found out that the battery was drained. The charger brought it back to life and it started ringing almost immediately.

"Hello?"

"Oh, thank God! This is Mark Townsend at MouseWorld. I just got the news a little while ago! Are you all right?"

"Just some scrapes and bruises. Mark. I’m fine, really!"

"So what do you want to do now?"

"Why come and visit to complete our business, of course!"

"But…"

"Mark, I don’t blame MouseWorld or the pilots for this. It was just bad weather that caused the problems."

"Are you sure, Jennifer?"

"Yes."

"Good. I’ll have another jet at the airport to continue the trip in the morning."

"What’s going to happen to the two pilots, Mark?"

"Well, corporate isn’t very happy that we lost an expensive aircraft. They might loose their jobs."

"Well, you tell corporate that they should get a medal for getting that crate down and us out of there alive. Those two fought that plane every mile after the lightning hit to get us to that airport. I won’t be very happy with MouseWorld if they’re fired over this. It wasn’t their fault, Mark."

"So I’ve heard. It seems that you had a part in the whole thing too. Using a bobby pin to bypass that bad circuit breaker? Where did you come up with that, Jennifer?"

"HEY! It worked didn’t it? I needed a piece of wire and that’s what was available."

"I’ll pass your comments along to the corporate folks. Now get some sleep and I’ll see you in the morning, OK?"

"G’nite, Mark, and thanks!" The line clicked then went dead. I pressed the button on the cell phone to hang up and, as I released the button, the phone started ringing again.

"Hello?"

"JEN! Thank God I got through! You had Tammy and I worried to death!"

"Calm down, Barb! I’m fine. Other than some scrapes and bruises that is. How did you find out?"

"Are you kidding me? You’ve been the topic of the TV news for the last two hours! They carried that press conference you did live on the major news networks."

"What’s all the fuss about? We made it down and we got out alive."

"Well, I'm glad that you're all right. What's the plan? Are you coming back home tomorrow?"

"No, I'm going to continue onto Orlando in the morning. MouseWorld will have another jet here then."

"You're flying again?"

"And why not? The accident was a fluke, Barb. I'm just going to make sure before we lift off that we won't be running into any more thunderstorms."

We talked for another twenty minutes or so then I had to hang up to call Adam. I was more than a little worried that he hadn't heard the news yet. I dialed his home number and waited while the phone rang.

"Hello?"

"Hi Adam!"

"JEN! Is that really you? I just got home about fifteen minutes ago and heard the news on the TV. Are you OK? Do you want me to come down there?"

"Yes and no, Adam."

"Yes and no? What kind of an answer is that?

"Yes, I'm fine and no, I don't need you to come here."

"You sure? I can be there in the morning."

"I'm sure, Adam. By the time you'd be able to get here I'll be heading out for Orlando again."

"You're still going through with the meeting?"

"Why not?"

"After what you've been through I just want to hold you and be near you. I had it all arranged to spend last night with you, you know. I even had today off so I could spend some extra time with you."

"Barb told me, Adam. I'm so sorry about last night. I was just so wound up from the show that I overdid it. I'm NEVER going to do that again."

"I hope so, Jen. I didn't like putting you to bed and having to leave last night. I wanted so much to make wild, passionate love to you. I love you, Jennifer Stevens."

My heart felt like it skipped a few beats as I heard those wonderful words. "I love you too, Adam."

We sat in silence for several seconds, neither of us quite knowing how to proceed.

"So you're still going to Orlando in the morning, Jen?

"Yes, Adam. I want to see what they have to offer. It might mean a whole new direction for me in my new life."

"Does this new direction include me, Jen?" I could hear the edgy quality in his voice.

"Adam, whatever direction I take I want you to be a part of it however and wherever we can be together. I promise that we'll send as much time together as we can this weekend."

Adam and I talked another half an hour then played the "you hang up first" game. I lost when I pulled a little too far on the charger cord and the cell phone turned off dumping the call.

A quick glance at the clock showed that it was nearly midnight. I decided that I had been awake long enough today and settled in for bed. Since my things were still being cleaned I slipped out of the borrowed robe and into bed naked. It took just a few minutes for me to drift off.

Tuesday, January 7, 2003

The sun was streaming in the window when my eyes fluttered open. It took a bit longer this morning than most for my bewildered mind to connect with the reality of who I was and especially where I was. I tossed aside the covers then headed for the bathroom.

With the bathroom business completed, I was glad that I had the foresight to rinse out my panties and leave them to dry. Despite the fact they still reeked of smoke, I got dressed in the same clothes I had worn on the flight since there wasn't anything else currently available. I wondered how the hotel had done with my laundry so I called the front desk to check.

A few minutes later a hotel staff person knocked on my door and left my now freshly washed clothes. It looked like they were able to salvage most of the stuff with only a few things having stains from the foam used to put out the fire. I changed into a nice cotton blouse and skirt with panty hose after checking the weather forecast and learning that temperatures were expected to be in the low seventies both here in Charlotte and in Orlando by the time I got there. The dirty clothes went into a plastic bag tucked into a corner of the singed luggage. The clean stuff went into plastic bags in the luggage too since the damaged luggage was all I had to work with.

As I was completing my packing my cell phone started to ring. "Hello?"

"Good morning, Jennifer. Mark Townsend calling. Are you ready to come visit us this morning?"

"I just finished packing, Mark. When will the plane be here?"

"It's here already and I'm here with it. Where are you?" I gave him the name of the hotel. "Well, get ready to leave. I'll have someone there within twenty minutes to pick you up."

"OK. Do I have time to get breakfast first?"

"Don't worry about that, Jennifer. Just be ready to go, OK?"

With the cell phone put away in my purse I made a call to the main desk to have my bags moved downstairs. I had just arrived in the hotel lobby when someone came in and walked over to the front desk looking for me. The clerk pointed in my direction as the man tipped his hat. The man that walked toward me was in his early thirties with a lean and extremely fit body. A somewhat windblown mop of black hair topped his head. Two brilliant blue eyes punctuated a pleasant face with a strong nose and handsome jaw.

"Hello, Jennifer. I'm Mark Townsend. I'm so pleased to finally meet you in person!" He took my hand and kissed it gently. I think I blushed about three different shades of red.

"Thank you, Mark. I thought that you'd send someone else. I never expected you."

"I would never think of sending someone else on an important job like this one, especially after what you went through last night. I'm so sorry about that, Jennifer."

"You needn't be, Mark. It was just an accident. Fortunately we all made it through without much damage."

"Were you hurt?"

"Some bruises and a few cuts. Nothing that will leave any long term problems, Mark."

He seemed to relax some with that little bit of news. "That's good. Shall we get going? I have a few surprises for you."

"No more surprises like last night I trust?" The smile on his face immediately disappeared.

"I hope not! I… I…"

"Oh, Mark, stop sputtering. It's all right, really! I was just teasing!" I gave him a hug and a kiss on the cheek. Now it was his turn to blush.

"I feel so bad about what happened…"

"Well, Mark, put it all behind you, OK? Now tell me what's planned for today."

He visibly relaxed. "I'd rather just show you. Shall we go?" He presented his arm.

I wrapped my arm around his. "I'm all yours, Mark. Lead the way!"

The trip back to the airport took only a few minutes. The van pulled up alongside a Boeing 737 with the MouseWorld corporate logo high on the tail. I was more than a little stunned that they had used such a large aircraft to transport me and said so to Mark.

"Well, Jennifer, when the CEO heard what happened he authorized the use of his personal jet to come and get you."

"I would have settled for a first class seat on a commercial flight, Mark. I don't expect treatment like this you know."

"I know but forgive us please? It's an attempt to make up for the disaster of last night."

"I understand, Mark." I walked up the steps and into the passenger area on the plane. There, sitting in two of the seats, were Bill and George, the pilots from last night.

"Hi guys!" I gave each of then a huge hug and a heartfelt kiss. "What are you doing here?"

Bill spoke up. "Heading home, Jennifer. We're passengers on this flight just like you."

"So what going to happen, George?" I was worried that the two of them were going to be out of a job because of last night's disaster.

"We're headed back to home base for re-assignment. Mark told us you went to bat for us with the corporate folks."

Mark turned toward me and smiled. "That's right, Jennifer. The other thing that helped was the fact that the investigators found the lightning strike points on the plane. One was on nose of the plane. The other point was just where the engine that exploded attached to the hull. The strike must have damaged a fuel line and knocked out the power. The ruptured line caused the explosion when the engine tried to start. Pulling the fire bottle switch shut off the fuel pump for that engine stopping the fire. Everyone was surprised that you were able to make it back at all. The damage was much more severe than even you knew about. It will be months before the final report is out though."

I felt more then a little light headed and sat down heavily in the seat. "I guess we were really lucky after all."

"Lots of luck and some skill on everyone's part, Jennifer. If you hadn't been able to get the power restored we wouldn't be standing here talking about it."

"Thanks, guys. Look, can we change the subject please. I'm a little rattled already."

Mark took my hand and squeezed it. "Of course. Let's get into the air then we'll all have something light for breakfast. How do croissants and coffee sound?"

"That sounds wonderful." As if to punctuate my statement, my tummy picked that exact moment to make a growling noise. Everyone, including me, laughed. The plane quickly reached cruising altitude after take-off and a large tray of croissants appeared soon after the seat belt light went out. I must have had at least half a dozen of them since I hadn't eaten much last night.

The plane touched down in Orlando around an hour after we left Charlotte. We taxied off the runway to a large private hanger with the corporate logo on the side. A limo was waiting by the ramp.

"Jennifer, would you like to go to the hotel first to freshen up or should I send your bags on ahead and we'll go to the office?"

"I think I'll go with you to the office, Mark. I'm fine at the moment."

'All right. I'll be with you in a few moments then." He walked toward a waiting aide. A few moments later he motioned for me to follow him down the stairs from the jet.

As I neared the bottom steps I tripped about three steps up and screamed. Mark instantly turned around and caught me as I fell. His strong arms held me tightly as I shook.

"Are you OK, Jennifer? What happened?"

"I tripped on the step. Damned heels… I don't think I'll ever really be used to wearing them."

"It must get a little strange from time to time I guess?"

"Yup. Like right now. Ummm… Mark, you can let go of me." The tight hug he was giving me was starting to do things to my female anatomy that I didn't want to go any further.

"Oh, sorry. It just felt so nice." He had one of those kilowatt smiles that warmed me all the way to my toes. Reluctantly he set me back on the ground and released the hug.

It took several seconds for me to regain my balance and composure. Unfortunately, when I took a step I felt a sharp pain in my left ankle. "DAMN! That hurt!"

"What hurt, Jennifer?"

"I think I did something to my ankle." Mark put his arm around me and helped me toward the limo. I managed to climb in with Mark following close behind me.

"Let me take a look at that." He reached over and gently prodded at my ankle. His touch sent little electric shocks shooting up my leg straight into my estrogen-soaked brain. The way my body was responding was the stuff that steamy romance novels are made of.

"I'm fine, Mark, really." I pulled my foot out of his warm hands and placed it back on the floor of the limo.

"OK." The look of disappointment on his face was quite clear. We rode the rest of the way to the corporate offices in silence. The limo finally rolled to a stop just outside the main entrance of a huge building just north of the entrance to the theme park. "This is it, Jennifer."

Mark opened the door then extended a hand to help steady me as I got out. I winced visibly when I put my weight on the injured ankle and Mark was looking directly at my face when it happened. Without a word he again offered his arm to help me steady myself as we walked into the building. Since I didn't want to risk hurting myself further I willingly accepted his offer of aid.

The conference room turned out to be on the third floor of the massive building nearly halfway down the long hallway from the elevator. The walking did help to limber up the tensed muscles in my ankle and by the time I took a seat at the huge table in the room I was feeling quite a bit better.

There were at least a dozen other people at the table. All were introduced but as I write this a few days later I can't remember any names. The meeting started off with Mark introducing me to the rest of the people and then he presented a short video with information about me. I put my hand over my eyes as the pictures of my transformation flashed briefly on the screen and did the same again when video of me before and during the play popped up. Part of the video was me singing "The Future is Now" on the stage at the theater. I was never one to watch video of myself before my change and I guess that habit had survived the change as well.

If the first part of the meeting was targeted at introducing me to the MouseWorld decision makers, the second part of the meeting was targeted squarely at me as far as the extent of my involvement with the project. The video talked about my hosting duties at the opening ceremonies of the attraction then went deeper into the plans for the live television show to introduce the attraction to the public. The second video lasted nearly thirty minutes. The room lights slowly returned to normal as the video ended.

"Well, Jennifer, what do you think so far?"

"It's pretty much what we talked about on the phone, Mark. I think I'd like to go ahead and commit to doing it."

He smiled broadly then sat back down in his chair. "But we have more to tell you. First, we want to use your song as the theme for the attraction."

"You want to use 'The Future is Now'? But it's just something I tossed together because I couldn't get the music out of my head. Why do you want that piece of trash anyway? The song was never really intended to be heard by anyone else."

"Well, we're delighted that it leaked out anyway. It's everything we wanted to say about the new attraction and more. Even if you declare it as a piece of trash remember that someone's trash can turn into someone else's piece of gold. We think that it's our piece of gold. So much so in fact that we're willing to offer you a half a million dollars for total rights to the song."

"Half a MILLION dollars? For that?" My head started to spin.

"Yes, five hundred thousand dollars for the rights to the song. There's a catch though. You'll have to sing it for us. We'll pay you another five hundred thousand dollars for that."

"A MILLION dollars for the rights to the song with me singing it? Are you crazy? IT’S not worth that much! I'M not worth that much!"

"But we think you are, Jennifer. And there's more."

I took a few moments to try to calm myself down. "And that is…?"

"We'd like you to perform the song live at the opening ceremonies and again on the TV special. Both will be large scale production numbers complete with dancers, backup singers and a large orchestra to back you up."

The shock of it all was just starting to sink in. "And…?"

"We'd like to have you provide the voice for a computer animated character based on yourself that would serve as the greeter to people for the attraction. We’d also like you to do that same voice for a half-hour pilot series for television based on the same character."

"Is there anything else?"

"Well…"

"Spit it out, Mark."

"We think that 'The Future is Now' should be a big hit. We'd like to offer you the chance to record enough other material for an album we can release."

I fainted as my poor mind finally went into total overload.

When I woke up I found myself in a darkened room with something cold on my forehead. I groaned a little as I tried to sit up only to have a pair of strong hands push me back down. I heard a few footsteps then one of the blinds over a window was moved aside to let a little more light into the room. I made out Mark's smiling face hovering over me.

"I guess that was a little bit much to try to absorb all at one time wasn't it?'

"You got THAT right. Where am I anyway?" I started to sit up again. This time Mark helped me and then sat down beside me on the couch.

"You're in a smaller meeting room off the conference room. We thought that you probably needed to lie down for a little bit. I hope you don't mind."

"Mind? I don't mind. It sure beats waking up to find my face mashed into the table don'tcha think? HEY! Where did my shoes go?" I looked down in astonishment at my bare feet complete with the red polish that I had put on my nails that morning.

"Oh, they're in the conference room. I didn't want you waking up and possibly thrashing around with those spikes on. How do women wear those things anyway?"

"They… I… got used to them. Comes with the territory." I stretched briefly to work out a few kinked muscles in my neck from lying at an odd angle.

"Need some help?" Mark started to work his warm hands into the tense muscles at the base of my neck. It felt so good that I started to make little mewing sounds as I relaxed. His hands slowly worked toward my shoulders then continued down my back. The feeling was incredible and I almost started to melt on the spot until I realized what was happening.

I gently pushed his hands away from my hips and turned to face him. "Umm… thanks, Mark, that felt wonderful. I think we'd better get back to the meeting though."

He deflated just like I had poked him with a pin. "The meeting ended almost two hours ago, Jennifer."

"Just how long have I been out anyway?"

"Almost two hours. We… I decided you needed the rest. You had to be pretty wound up still from all that happened yesterday. You just don't get over something like that overnight. It takes much longer."

"And how would you know, Mark?"

"The Gulf War." I gasped a little when I heard that. "I went down on board a chopper taking my platoon to secure an area. Most of the guys didn't make it. I was laid up in the hospital for over six months."

"Oh, Mark, I'm so sorry to hear that."

"It's behind me now but it took me a long time to get past what happened and go on with my life. It shouldn't take you very long though. Nobody with you was killed and you managed to walk away from the crash. That's some luck you have there, lady."

I giggled a little. "Yeah, talk about luck. I shoulda fried when the lightning hit me. Instead I turned into this." I pointed to my now female body.

"What's it like?"

"What is WHAT like?"

"What's it like living as a woman?"

"You know, I've never really thought much about it. I suppose it's a lot different but it's still the same. A woman still has the same… Hey, I don't think I really wanna have this conversation, Mark. It's kinda personal for someone I just met this morning."

"I understand, Jennifer. Maybe after we get to know each other better at some time in the future. Are you feeling up to continuing with the tour?"

"Tour? There's a tour? This isn’t one of those ‘three hour tours’ where I get stranded with six other people on a deserted island is it?"

"Well, we were going to show you the attraction and how we're doing with it. Do you want to see it?"

" I suppose I had better before I make a final decision about what I'm getting into. I need my shoes too."

Mark produced a pair of boots and some socks. "We got these for you. The site is still under construction and we didn't want you hurting your feet. You'll have to wear a hard hat too." He set a hard hat with my name stenciled on the front on the table.

"Umm… isn't it a little early to start personalizing equipment for me? I haven't even signed the paperwork yet."

"We do that for all of our guests, Jennifer. All the people on the job are expecting to meet you too. Seems you have quite a following among the techie crowd out there."

"Ah, more fans from the radio show. I love meeting them."

"So change into your boots and we'll get you something to eat then go visit the new attraction. On second thought, take the boots with you. I'll get your shoes." Mark jumped up before I could say a word and returned moments later with my heels.

He kneeled at my feet then looked up at me. "Umm… may I?"

I nodded my agreement as his warm hands gently placed the shoes on my feet. Little tingles traveled up my legs into my spine and straight to my brain. I blushed at the thoughts running through my brain at that moment. Mark stood up then extended his hand to help me up. Again, little tingles traveled all the way to my brain as our hands touched. I recognized what he was trying to do and at that moment I really didn't care. The feelings nearly overrode any shred of control I had left. I had my limits of course but at the moment I felt like a princess being courted by her Prince Charming. I rationalized that as long as Mark didn't go past my limits there was no harm in surrendering temporarily to the wonderful feelings I had.

He extended his arm and I wrapped mine around his as we walked out of the meeting room to the bank of elevators. We entered an elevator then he pressed the "Basement" button.

"The basement?"

"Yes, Jennifer, the whole complex is connected by tunnels. There's more of an underground city that supports the attractions than anyone knows about. We're going to the basement so I can get a battery operated golf cart to take you for something to eat. Then I'll use the same tunnel system to take you to the new attraction."

"I was wondering how that worked! Now I know."

"Jennifer, you're going to see more of the behind the scenes things than most non-company people see even on the special tour we run. I have to ask you to keep most of it to yourself. You wouldn't want to give away the magic would you?"

"I wouldn't dare, Mark. Parents and kids would roast me for all eternity if I ever gave away the magic behind MouseWorld. Your magic is safe with me."

The elevator stopped with a slight jolt then the doors opened to reveal a bustling basement area full of people and golf carts moving everywhere.

"This is one of the hub areas that connect several other areas together. That's why it's so busy. Let me get a cart. Stay right here!"

I wished I could have melted into the wall. There were several kinds of electric carts whizzing by carrying people and supplies along with a considerable number of people using bicycles. The pace was a bit frightening as was the volume of traffic flowing in the rather confined space. I was almost ready to press the button to call the elevator when Mark glided to a stop with a golf cart.

"Sorry it took so long, Jennifer. I had to make sure we got one with a full charge. We'll be on the go all afternoon. Hop in!"

I slid onto the bench seat next to Mark as the cart started to move. Soon we were flying down one of the hundreds of connection tunnels. I had absolutely no idea where we were headed so all I could do was watch as the signs and scenery flew by. It seemed like we traveled for about fifteen minutes after stopping several times for stoplights at intersections in the tunnels.

We stopped near a sign that read "The Islands". Mark again presented his arm and once again I accepted it. We walked up a flight of stairs into a short hallway. We were headed toward a set of double doors at the end of the hallway.

"I should warn you that we're headed outside now. It's gonna be kind of bright out there after being in the tunnels this long. Ready?"

I nodded then we stepped out into the bright sunlight. I blinked several times as my eyes adjusted to the bright light. When they finally came into focus I found myself in the middle of what seemed to be some kind of tropical forest, behind us was the building we had just come out of. I heard the noise of the crowd in the park all around us.

"Where are we, Mark?"

"We're in the Hawaii/Polynesian area, Jennifer. This is one of our access points for the underground tunnel system. Most of them are sort of hidden like this one while others are disguised as part of the various attractions. We need to go this way…"

I followed Mark as we walked for a few seconds toward a small opening in the grove of trees that surrounded the building. We stepped out next to one of the main walkways in the area. Across from where we stood was a restaurant with island food.

"How about it, Jennifer? Want to try a taste of the islands?"

"Sure. I like to try new foods. Lead the way." He gently took my elbow as we walked into the restaurant. The staff must have recognized him since they waved him over to a table off to one side of the main dining room.

"What can I get for you, Mister Townsend? Your usual today?"

"Of course, Albert, and a menu for my guest please. This is her first time here."

"Miss Stevens, how nice to meet you in person. I've listened to your radio show from the start, most impressive. Can I get you something to drink while you're looking at the menu?"

"Sure, I'd like a nice large ice cold lemonade if you have it?"

"Sure, one Townsend Special, a large cold lemonade and a menu coming right up!"

"A Townsend Special? What do you do, eat here every day?"

"Well, almost every day. They have the greatest pork barbeque here and they make the best fried pineapple I've ever had."

"Sounds yummy. I think I'm going to try that."

"Really?"

"Sure. When you're in a new place always try what the local folks recommend. They've lived in the area the longest and usually know the best places to eat and what to eat there. That philosophy hasn't failed me yet in all the traveling I've done."

Albert returned with Mark's platter and drink and my lemonade. Mark slid the platter to me and turned to Albert. "Will you bring another platter for me, please? Jennifer's decided to try the special today." Mark passed the menu back to Albert.

"Of course, Mister Townsend," was the reply as Albert rushed off to the kitchen.

I looked to Mark to see it I should wait for him to get his food.

"Go ahead, Jennifer. I can wait a bit. The smell always drives me crazy so dig right in."

"It's having that effect on me too. I can't wait to taste it!" Try as I might I just couldn't pick up the huge sandwich from the plate. I used a knife to cut the sandwich in thirds and managed to take a bite of one of them. The flavors that exploded in my mouth were incredible. The bun had the soft buttery quality of a croissant while the barbeque pork literally melted away in my mouth. After a few more bites of the delectable sandwich I got a little rosy glow in my mouth and lips indicating that there were some subtle spices in the sauce.

The other part of the meal was two slices of battered and fried pineapple with a cup of something that resembled duck sauce. I cut several pieces of the pineapple then added a little of the sauce to the pieces. When I popped a piece of the pineapple in my mouth the contrasting sweet of the pineapple and the slightly bitter flavor of the sauce were a wonderful contrast to the afterglow of the barbequed pork. I must have rushed through the sandwich and pineapple because Mark was smiling as I looked up from my now empty plate.

"I guess you were really hungry, huh?"

I must have blushed five different shades of red. "Yeah, I guess so, Mark. I don't usually go through my food that fast but it tasted so great and I was SO hungry!"

"I thought so. I've never seen anyone put that sandwich away that fast before. God knows I've tried myself though. The taste combination is just incredible isn't it?"

"I love spicy food but I absolutely HATE food that's so hot with spices that it's all you can taste. I love it when you get that little rosy glow in your mouth and lips as the spices sort of sneak up on you."

"Me too. Umm… I'll be finished in a few more minutes." Mark glanced at his watch. "It's almost time we were heading to the construction site. I suggest that if you need a stop in the ladies room that you use the facilities here. It's still sort of primitive at the site if you know what I mean."

"Mark, I used to be on construction sites quite frequently. I know exactly what you mean. Thanks for the warning. I think I had better go now."

I grabbed my purse then followed the signs to the rest rooms. A few minutes later I had relieved myself, repaired my makeup and returned to our table. Mark was waiting for me. His platter and mine had disappeared to be replaced with two plastic mugs with lids and a straw.

"I took the liberty of getting us something to drink. It's awfully dusty on the site at the moment with all of the sheetrock work."

"I'm ready, Mark, lead the way." We waved to Albert on the way out of the restaurant and returned through the hidden access to the underground tunnels where the golf cart was still parked.

As we flew through the underground tunnels I tried to change from my heels into the boots Mark had supplied. I was having only a little trouble until Mark had to swerve the speeding cart to avoid another cart headed straight for us. The swerve slid me across the seat almost a foot and a half right into Mark. His arm came up around me as the cart swerved from side to side. Mark finally managed to get the skidding cart under control and brought it to a complete stop.

"Oh my God! Are you all right, Jennifer?"

"Other than my life parading before my eyes for a second or two there I'm ok. How I LOVE parades!" I sat there shivering for a few more seconds then started to calm down as he hugged me tightly.

He must have detected that my breathing was returning to normal since he gently put his finger under my chin and lifted my head to look directly into his smiling face. "All better now?"

"Umm… yes, I think so."

"Is there anything I can do to make it even better, Jennifer?"

"Well…" Our lips drifted close together and I felt his warm breath caress my cheek. It seemed like an eternity as our lips moved closer and closer to kissing. Our lips were just millimeters away from touching. My heart was pounding more now than when I was scared just moments ago. My body was sending me all kinds of signals that said "GO FOR IT!" while my brain was screaming "JUST WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THING YOU'RE DOING?"

"BEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEP!' The shrill horn of another golf cart behind us broke the mood and we quickly pulled apart.

"Mark, I think we need to get moving." I forced myself to take several deep breaths to try to shake off the sexual tension that had built up inside me. I wasn't having as much luck as I wished I could.

He sighed deeply then nodded his head in agreement. The golf cart moved out again. Strangely, I made no effort to move away from him on the seat and he made no effort to remove his warm inviting arm from its tight hug around me. I sat snuggled tightly against his side for the rest of our trip.

In about five minutes we were at the entrance of a hallway section that had warning signs all over the walls. Mark slowed down considerably as the cart climbed a rather steep incline into the building above. At the top of the incline the ramp became wider and blended seamlessly with the concrete floor of the building.

"This is it, Jennifer. What do you think of it so far?"

"So far I can’t really say much yet, Mark. If you’ve seen one construction site you’ve seen most of them. What makes this one so special?"

"Just follow me and I’ll show you!" He stepped out of the cart and extended his arm. Again, I accepted and we made a top to bottom sweep of the massive structure.

I saw the beginnings of a huge theater, some sort of amusement ride and several exhibit areas. The whole tour took almost three hours as he described how each part of the building would look when finally completed and what the various sections would be used for. Near the end of the tour we walked through the area where the people would come into the attraction. The construction crew was busy running cabling then putting up sheet rock to cover the walls. As we walked past everyone stopped and gathered around us.

Mark introduced me to the crew then I spent another hour signing autographs and talking with the crew about the project. The excitement level was quite high on the crew despite two major design problems and several setbacks caused by design changes. It was here that I learned I was partially responsible for some of the problems.

I thanked the crew for their support and excitement for the project then walked with Mark back to the golf cart.

"Mark, what did they mean when they said that I was partly responsible for the delays in the project? What have I done?"

"Nothing yet, Jennifer. We’ve been holding off on several key pieces of the project until we knew if you were going to participate or not. If you are going to come on board we wanted to incorporate you in the actual design of the building and get some of your thoughts and recommendations. You know that we want to use you to greet the people via a video presentation of course and we had hoped to make several animated figures of you for the various venues in the building."

We got into the cart and left the building for a quick stop for some supper before I was to head back to the hotel.

"So you’re telling me that I’m going to be a very large part of the project?"

"Much more than when we first talked last week, Jennifer."

I rode in silence for a few minutes. "Well, I need a few days to digest all of this and make a decision. How soon do you need to know to keep the project on schedule?"

"Next week will be fine. I should tell you that if you do decide to participate we’ll be delaying the opening until late May or June instead of March."

"There’s that much more to do?

"Yes. Oh… here we are. I picked out a nice quiet place for us to eat."

Mark and I walked out of another concealed entrance to the underground tunnels into a quiet setting resembling a garden. Off in the distance a fairytale castle rose up over the trees. We walked a few hundred feet and slipped through a small gap in a high hedge onto a busy small town street.

"This is our ‘middle America’ area. There are several good places to eat here. Would you like anything in particular?"

"Just a salad and something to drink, please. I stuffed myself at lunch today."

He nodded then motioned toward a small outdoor area with tables and chairs under brightly colored canopies. We seated ourselves at a table and moments later a waiter was taking our orders.

My salad was fantastic with lots of veggies and some chicken. The iced tea was ice cold with just the right twist of lemon in it.

Mark watched me eat in silence for a few minutes then started the conversation again.

"So did you have a good time today?"

"Other than the shock I got this morning I had a great time, Mark. This is a truly amazing place."

"Thanks, we worked very hard to make it that way. Umm… Jennifer, did you really mean it earlier when you said you liked parades?"

"It’s true, Mark. I’ve enjoyed parades since I was a little kid. I even have a few record albums of parade music in my collection. There’s just something about a big marching band or the big band musical sound that really gets me going."

"Do you have to be back at the hotel early tonight to leave or can you stay over a day or two?"

"I have to be back home by Thursday. I have a play rehearsal then performances over the weekend. What did you have in mind?"

"Ever heard of the Festival of Lights parade?"

"Yes I have. I use the original theme music for the parade as my theme for my radio show. You know, ‘Baroque Hoedown’ by Perry and Kingsley?"

"How would you like to see the parade from the inside out?"

"Do you mean see the behind the scenes activity? I’d love to, Mark!"

"Great, then finish your salad and we’ll go over to the preparation area."

I was really looking forward to the parade. This was the one where they had over twenty different floats all lit up with colored lights. The parade was held at night and wound through several areas of the theme park to the accompaniment of music from speakers along the parade route. The parade culminated in a fireworks show over the huge lake in the middle of the park. I was going to get the chance to go behind the scenes and actually see the floats and how the parade was put together before it started.

Not wanting to miss a single thing, I hurried to stuff the rest of the salad in my mouth and wash it down with the iced tea.

"WHOA there woman! I don’t want you getting sick on me! SLOW DOWN! We’re got about three hours yet before the parade starts. There’s plenty of time."

"OK, Mark. I’m just so happy that I’ll be seeing the parade close up."

"That pleases me, Jennifer. I’ll make certain that you get a front row seat for the parade." He had a big smile on his face at the fact that I was so excited about seeing the parade.

Since I really didn’t want to get sick and toss the wonderful salad I slowed down and in about half an hour we had both completed our meals. The ride to the parade area through the tunnel system took another twenty minutes since traffic at that time of day in the tunnels was heaviest with one set of staff leaving and another set of staff members coming in for the evening hours.

Mark slowed the cart to a crawl as we neared the dressing area for the parade’s costumed characters. We slowly inched past the congestion in the area then continued along to the float area above ground.

I spent the better part of an hour and a half looking at almost every float in the parade. In the light of day they were almost ugly in their simplicity. A skeleton of metal rods supported hundreds of colored light bulbs in whatever form was needed to give the float it’s "lighted" shape, everything from a dragon to a huge corporate logo in the form of a hat to a mouse drawn carriage in the shape of a pumpkin. Each float had space for a driver and a huge bank of batteries to run the lights and electric motors to move the floats along the parade route.

Mark finally caught up with me and pulled me away from the floats. "I promised you a front row seat for the parade. We need to get you ready now."

"Ready? Ready for what?"

"For the parade of course. You have to change into your costume."

"Costume? Whatever for?"

"Remember that pumpkin coach you saw?" I nodded in agreement. "Well, you’re going to bet the princess riding in it. We need to get you into your costume now."

"But I…"

"Hey, YOU"RE the one that said she loved parades, remember? I just arranged for a front and center seat for you. Do you want to be in the parade or not? All you have to do is ride in the coach and wave to everyone. That’s not a very hard job, Jennifer."

I gulped away my fear and slowly nodded my agreement. Mark gently took my elbow then guided me back over to the waiting golf cart. A few minutes later we were at the underground costume area.

"Jennifer, I’d like to introduce you to Rose Bartell, our costume director. She’ll get you all set in the Princess costume and take care of your hair and makeup. If you’ll excuse me I have a few things to attend to before the parade." Mark left me with Rose.

"Hi Rose, I’m pleased to meet you."

"Me too, Jennifer. Let me get some measurements and I’ll get a costume for you." She took out the tape measure and jotted down my measurements then went off in search of the proper costume among an endless sea of clothes racks.

"I found one that will do the job. There’s a screened off area in the corner, you can change into this there. Bring your street clothes back here and I’ll make sure they’re secure for when you return." She handed me a large garment bag and pointed to a corner of the room.

The bra in the bag was strapless and rather low cut leaving loads of breast exposed and lots of cleavage on display. The sleeveless dress was cut to match the bra and hugged every curve I had tightly. Fortunately the dress extended to my ankles with huge petticoats to make the bottom extend out at least a foot or more. The shoes that Rose gave to me were totally clear and resembled the fabled glass slippers of the popular story. These were made of a heavy Lucite material instead of glass and fit my feet perfectly. The red polish on my toenails gleamed inside the see-through shoes. I put on my best Princess manners and stepped out from behind the screen.

"Enchanting, my dear, absolutely enchanting."

I curtsied to Rose them glided over to the makeup table and seated myself regally.

"Good! I'm glad to see you're in character. Please STAY in character until you come back here to change out of the costume. While you're out in public remember you're a REAL Princess to our guests."

"Thanks, Rose. I'll remember that."

"You know your hair is almost perfect already. Is this your normal style?"

"The ponytail fixed like this, yes. I wear it almost every day. People expect to see me like this after having my picture on all those billboards."

"Then we'll work with this. Mind if I fluff it up a bit and add a few highlights?"

"No problem, go ahead."

Rose worked on my hair for several minutes then removed my old makeup and applied much heavier and more colorful makeup to stand up to the lights that would be shining on me inside the coach. The view in the mirror when she was finished was amazing. I really did look like a Princess waiting for her Prince at the dance.

"WOW! Are you ready m'lady?" I jumped a bit at the sound of Mark's voice coming from behind me.

"I'm ready, Mark how do I…" I stopped talking as I turned around to see Mark dressed as a Prince complete with a large jeweled crown on his head. He held a golden tiara encrusted with jewels and a long flowing cape.

He simply smiled back at me and said, "Well, you didn't think I was going to let you have all the fun by yourself did you? Are you ready, my Princess?"

"I am, my Prince." I stepped closer to allow him to place the tiara on my head and the cloak around my shoulders. He extended his arm and I again willingly accepted it playing Princess to his Prince.

"Just remember m'lady, act the part in front of our guests. As for looking beautiful you can't improve on the perfection I see in front of me right now." He raised my hand to his lips then kissed it. Little jolts sped up my arm and blasted into my brain. I blushed a deep red. We got into the waiting cart and sped off toward the parade's starting point.

Within minutes of our arrival we were onboard the pumpkin coach all ready for the parade. Promptly at eight PM the lights in the park started going out leaving the parade route in near total darkness. Only a few pools of light were left to light the designated crossing zones where people could cross the street during scheduled breaks in the flow of the parade.

The lights on the coach gently ramped up to full brilliance as the coach started to move. I could hear the sounds of "Baroque Hoedown" echoing all over the park. The pomp and majesty of the opening fanfare sent little shivers of anticipation streaking up my spine.

As the coach cleared the assembly area the crowd erupted into a roar of applause as we waved to them. I doubted that anyone would recognize me the way I was dressed but I soon found out I was seriously mistaken. Someone yelled my name then pointed to the carriage. The noise from the crowd ramped up a few decibels more as word was passed ahead of us that someone special was in the coach.

The entire parade route was one huge wave of applause that traveled with the coach. In some spots it completely drowned out the music. The feeling that I had from the crowd response was beyond words. Up until now I had absolutely no idea that I was that well liked because of the radio show. It certainly wasn't the play since that was a local thing back home. Maybe it was the television appearances on the morning show too. Whatever the reason, I was on an incredible high that no drug known to science could duplicate.

The coach stopped in the parade end area that was screened off from the rest of the park. I was a jumble of nerves as we transferred from the coach to a waiting golf cart. Mark climbed into the driver's seat while I sat beside him.

"Want to see the fireworks before you go back to change?"

"Yes, I do. I need a little time to wind down if you don't mind, Mark."

He simply nodded then pointed the golf cart toward the large lake in the center of the park. The cart eventually stopped in a secluded area on a little bluff overlooking the lake.

"I hope you like this spot. I come here often myself to watch the fireworks in summertime." He looked over at me to see that I was starting to shiver. "Cold?"

I nodded my agreement. "I have just the thing." He reached behind us and pulled up a large blanket from the storage compartment on the cart. "Slide over beside me."

I just sat there looking at him. "What? Haven't you ever heard that two people in a blanket were warmer than just one?"

I shrugged then slid across the bench seat to snuggle up beside him. He wrapped the blanket around both of us and pulled it tightly closed after he put his right arm around me. We sat there watching the moonlight and the lights of the park shimmer on the small ripples in the lake. The soft smell of flowers and the fresh outdoor air washed over us in little waves as the wind playfully rippled the lake.

It was true. Two people in a blanket ARE warmer than just one can be especially when one of then is a man turned woman with an estrogen soaked brain. The feeling of our two bodies snuggled tightly together under the blanket was an incredible turn-on for me. Even the lingering smell of his cologne had an effect on

my sex-starved body. It had been at least two months since the last time Adam and I spent a night together and I was decidedly feeling the effects.

"Jennifer, did you have a good day today?"

"I had a great day, Mark. An incredible day in fact."

"Is there something I can do to make it even better?"

"Well…" I buried my head in his chest afraid to admit that what I wanted most now was a soul-shattering kiss.

Once again his warm hand lifted my face toward his. Our lips slowly inched toward each other. I couldn't stand the suspense any longer and closed my eyes to await the heat of his lips against my own. Suddenly our lips were locked together in the most shattering kiss I've ever experienced either as a man or a woman. My mind simply went into near-total meltdown as our lips danced with each other.

The only thing that stopped that kiss was the first volley of fireworks going off high over the lake. We broke the kiss as the loud crack of the first explosion reached us from high overhead. My heart was racing as I leaned up against Mark and put my head on his shoulder to watch the show above us. I didn't think it was possible but Mark held me even tighter until the last flash and crash of the last shell echoed off the lake and buildings surrounding us.

"I guess that's it for the night, isn't it, Mark?" I was hoping that he might have had something else in mind. One more kiss like that last one and the right words and I could have been his for the night quite willingly.

He looked at his watch after hitting the light button on it. "Yes, we'd better get you back to change then get you to the hotel. You must be exhausted from the day's activities."

"I am tired, that's true, Mark."

"Hang on then."

I wrapped both of my arms around him as he backed the cart out of the parking area. We rode quietly back to a nearby tunnel entrance then sped underground across the park to return to the costume area.

Rose was waiting for us when we returned. Mark went off to another dressing room to change. "I was wondering where you two went. I was getting ready to send out the security folks to check on you."

"We stayed to watch the fireworks, Rose."

"On the bluff overlooking the lake?"

"Yes. I had a wonderful time."

"Oh, did he wrap his arm around you and hold you tight during the fireworks? Did you kiss just as the first shell went off?"

"How did…"

"Honey, listen, Mark Townsend is one smooth operator. You’re not the first skirt he’s chased and you certainly won’t be the last."

What little hair there was on the back of my neck was now at full attention. "Oh really? And how would you know?"

"He did it to me too. That kiss in the moonlight, the hugging under the blanket, that swerve on the golf cart, it's like he has it all planned out."

I sat down heavily in a chair and put my head in my hands.

"It worked didn’t it? You were almost going to give yourself to him weren’t you?"

"Rose, one more kiss and the right words and I would have gone to bed with that creep. Are most men like him?"

Rose walked over and put her hand on my shoulder then handed me a tissue for my teary eyes. "No, sweetie, they aren’t. I’ve met a few that cared about the love of their life very deeply. I just bet you have someone like that already back home don’t you?"

"It’s just that we haven’t been together in almost two months. I’ve got this burning…"

"Ah yes. The itch you can’t quite scratch, eh? I know all about it, dearie. If your man is as devoted to you as you seem to think he is he’ll have the same ‘itch’ as you do. I can just about guarantee that he’ll be in your arms real soon if that’s true."

I remembered what happened on Sunday night with Adam, or rather what didn’t happen. Rose was right! Adam really DOES care deeply for me! Otherwise it wouldn’t have upset him so at what happened that night.

"So what do I do about Mark?"

"You’ve got a few choices there. You can let him go ahead and scratch that itch of yours if you want. Just remember he’ll be a one-night stand. If anyone even hints at marriage he goes running off to his wife."

"HIS WIFE?"

"Yup. She’s the one with the money in that family. She got an inheritance when she turned twenty-five and had to be married to get it. She’s got to STAY married until she’s thirty to get the whole thing and keep it. She just keeps him around to get to her money. Other than that there’s very little between those two."

"That dirty son of a…"

"Easy there, dearie. Remember you’re still in costume. Words like that shouldn’t come out of the mouth of a princess!" My anger deflated as we both laughed.

"So what’s another choice?"

"String him along until your deal is all set then dump him or you can tell him off now. If the company wants you as bad as the rumors say they’ll have someone else available to negotiate the deal in his place."

"So how should I handle this, Rose?"

"I have absolutely no idea how YOU should handle this. Hon, I'm just giving you the facts as I see them, what you do with that information is entirely up to you."

"I can understand that." I walked over to the screened-off corner and started to change back into my street clothes.

"And I'll tell you one more thing from the rumor mill. Nobody has been able to get a solid lock on this one though. Ya know that huge theater they're building at the new attraction?"

"Yup. The thing is huge. Looks like they'll have a complete HDTV production studio setup there."

"Ah, you did notice that then. You know what they're gonna use it for?"

"Mark mentioned something about a live TV show from there once a month after the opening ceremonies."

"That's what we hear. Ya wanna know who's the leading candidate to host those shows?"

"You can't mean…"

"Yup, YOU! Face it girl, you're HOT right now. Did you notice what happened the last time you appeared on the morning show?"

"Well, I was supposed to do just the gadget segment but they talked me into doing quite a bit more: doing the weather outside, talking with the crowd outside, a cooking segment inside and I even got to sit in on a book review with the book's author. Thank God I'd actually read that book!"

"Wanna know why they did that?"

"I sure do!" I had shimmied out of the costume and was starting to put on my own clothes again.

"They wanted to see if the ratings the show got that day were as good as the ratings for your first appearance on the show. Was the first show just a fluke or do you have real drawing power? Know what they found out?"

"COME ON, GIVE GIRL! The suspense is killing me!"

"Your last appearance totally trashed the ratings your first appearance generated since they were able to promote you for a week ahead of time. You're so hot, girl, you're almost radioactive. The execs around here have been drooling over the prospects of getting you into something regular on the TV network. If you do the special and the ratings are as good as they think they should be, you're almost certain to get an offer of a variety show."

I finished dressing then plopped down in a chair next to Rose. "So I'm sort of in the center of all this, huh?"

"Girl, if there was ever one of us that had a chance to grab that brass ring and turn it into a jewel encrusted golden ring it's you. If it was me I'd go for it for all I was worth but that's just the way I am. So what are you going to do?"

We heard a knock on the locked door to the costume room. "Are you almost finished, Jennifer?"

"Almost, Mark. I'll be out shortly." I turned back to Rose and whispered. "Rose, how come you didn’t tell me about this BEFORE I went out into the park with him?"

"The company has a rule. NO SEX IN THE PARK. If you’re caught screwing like rabbits on the Tilt-A-Whirl it’s grounds for immediate dismissal and he knows it. You were completely safe from him in the park. Outside of the park though…"

An eerie shiver went up my spine at the thought of what would have happened in my hotel room tonight if Rose hadn’t filled me in.

"Rose, I think I'm going to run a delaying action so I have some time to think this through. The only problem is what do I do about him?'

"Whatever you do, let me know, OK? I slipped a card with my number in your purse. I gotta know what you do to that lounge lizard." She handed me my purse then pushed me toward the door after unlocking it.

"G'nite, Jennifer!"

"Thanks for all the help, Rose! BYE!"

Mark extended his arm and I accepted it again. This time I was able to maintain my resistance to his charms but I didn't let on that I no longer felt the same depth of emotion as before when he pulled me close.

"I have a limo waiting. Where can I take you?"

"Just back to the hotel I think, Mark. I'm very tired from the activities today. I need to get some sleep."

"All right." He seemed a little disappointed that I hadn't taken the bait to go out with him tonight. I had something just a bit different in mind to keep this fish on my hook.

We arrived at my hotel and, as I figured, he offered to escort me to my room. I decided to let him and spring my own trap outside my hotel room door. He accepted my hotel card and scanned it in the lock. The door popped open as we stood facing each other in the hallway.

"Thanks for a wonderful evening, Mark. I really enjoyed our time together. Can you set up another meeting at around nine AM in the conference room? I want to talk with everyone a little more about their plans for me after I've seen what's involved today. The entire day has been quite an eye-opener for me."

"Consider that meeting scheduled. Jennifer… do you want to go somewhere for a nightcap? My treat?"

"I don't think so, Mark. I just want to go soak in the tub for a little while then crawl into bed. I will give you something to think about overnight though."

I threw my arms around his neck and pulled him very close to me. Our lips locked together as I played a little tongue tag with him. I slid one hand down his back and gently groped his firm butt. I felt him stiffen briefly and his body shook just a bit. Feeling that I got my message across, I broke my hold on him and watched as he tottered unsteadily for a second or two. I turned on my heels and waved goodbye as I disappeared into the hotel room locking the door behind me.

The peephole in the door let me see that he stumbled back toward the wall opposite my door then stood there for a few more seconds as he recovered from my little trick. He was walking rather stiffly as he passed out of view of the peephole.

Giggling softly to myself, I watched for as long as I could see him through the peephole. I knew that he was probably mentally primed for sex and my little trick had paid off big time sending him into a mental meltdown. My plan now was to fend him off until I could make a deal with the MouseWorld organization. Thanks to getting the word from Rose I was no longer under the influence of Mark's advances.

One thing that I told Mark was true, I was very tired from the activities of today and the day before. I skipped getting into the tub and showered instead. Within a few minutes I was stretched out in bed deep in thought. It was going to be an interesting night if I couldn't get any sleep.

---------------------------------------------------------

Monday, January 6, 2003 – Jennifer’s office

Barb sat at her desk idly drawing doodles on a sheet of paper as she waited for a knock on the office door. She deeply dreaded this visit and the memories it would dredge up but there was no way around it. Her friend was simply the best person for the job of finding out what was happening with one of Jennifer’s checking accounts. With Jennifer on the way to Orlando, the task of finding out what was going on was up to her.

Just as the clock on her desk turned to six PM, there came a gentle rapping on the outer office door. Barb smiled then commented out loud to the empty office. "As punctual as ever…"

She opened the door to reveal a woman standing in the cold. "Hi, I see you found the place. Come on in."

The woman smiled and stepped into the warm office. As soon as the door was closed the woman gave Barb a big hug and the two woman cheek-kissed like they were old friends. Barb toOK the woman’s coat to place it in the closet then they both got comfortable at Barb’s desk.

The woman handed Barb a business card. It read…

Stewart and Company
Private Investigations
Rebecca A. Stewart

Barb looked up from the card to the woman seated across the desk from her.

"It’s good to see you again, Becky. How’ve you been?"

Becky frowned. "Shouldn’t I be asking you how you’ve been? You’ve certainly changed since the last time I saw you over a year ago, Barbara."

"I suppose I do owe you an explanation." Barb fell silent for a few seconds trying to think of how to begin.

"I’m waiting…"

"You know most of it, Becky. You and I were partners in the city police task force investigating the sex slavery ring that had moved into the city. Women were being kidnapped and sold as sex slaves in foreign countries. I had to go under cover to try to crack the ring."

"I remember. You were doing pretty well at it for a while there"

"Then my cover got blown. I still don’t know who or how that happened. Instead of just killing me they got creative. I woke up to find I had tits and a woman’s voice and overall appearance, and quite a striking appearance at that! They removed the family jewels but left the rest of me intact down there. When I healed I was sold as a shemale sex slave in Thailand."

"I remember from your report that you spent most of a year planning how to escape and bring the ring down. I was involved in the arrest of Joey Scarvone and the mob that ran the operation. After your return from Thailand you just disappeared."

"Yes, I did."

"You know I quit the department and spent over eight months looking for you when you disappeared? WHERE THE HELL WERE YOU?" Becky glared at Barb. The look of anguish on Barb’s face was all that Becky needed to see.

"Trying to make some sense out of what happened, Becky. Trying to see if I could ever return to something approaching a man again. The government helped me and set up appointments with one doctor after another trying to reverse the damage those bastards did to me." Barb lowered her head and stared at the desktop. "After three months of the best doctors in the world looking at the problem the only recommendation anyone could come up with was for me to go ahead and finish what those people started."

"I didn’t know, Barb… I…"

Barb raised her hand to stop Becky. "Look, I’m sorry I left like that. I needed time to try to adjust to this. To have everything I knew, everything I was, just ripped away and be told I could never restore things to the way they were devastated me. I spent the past nine months trying to adjust. I finally got a new identity thanks to my government connections. I only started here a few weeks ago." Barb waved her hand around the small but cozy office.

The office was quiet for a couple of minutes as the two women simply looked at each other.

"Are you happy now, Barb? You were always so happy and easy-going when you were Jeff…"

Barb raised her hand to silence her former partner again. "He’s dead, Becky. He died when they did this to me. Let him rest in peace."

"All right, Barb. I can accept that. Now, are you happy here? Are you really adjusting to all of this?"

"I am adjusting to the change, Becky. It’s a day-by-day process. Am I happy here doing this job? I’d have to say yes. I’m needed and I can make a difference here."

"As an office manager? Why not go back to the force?"

"And do what? Ride around in a patrol car or go into public relations? I’d never be able to go back to under cover work again so why bother. Besides I'd be the laughing stock of the department. You know what it was like for YOU when you joined the force, right?"

"I remember, Barb. It was hell until I proved myself to those male swine." Becky took a few moments to suppress a growing rage as she remembered her first few months in the police department. She sighed then looked at Becky again.

"What makes this job so special, Barb?"

"My boss."

"Is that the one that got hit by lightning and…"

"That’s her. She’s such a unique person. In some ways she’s wise beyond her apparent years and in others she’s like a six-year-old child all wide-eyed to explore the world and savor every second of it. I can make a difference for her, Becky."

"Is this what you really want, Barb?"

"Yes. It doesn’t matter to her what I am or what I was."

"Does she know the truth about you?"

"NO!… and I’m NOT going to tell her anything either."

"She deserves to know, Barb."

"Maybe one day, Becky but not right now. Both of us have too many unresolved personal issues to deal with."

Becky sighed deeply again. "So why did you invite me here? I’m certain it wasn’t to talk over old times."

"I have a job for the best private investigation firm in the city. One of her old checking accounts was re-activated by someone and we want to know who and how." Barb pushed a stack of paper across the desk toward Becky.

Becky took a couple of minutes looking through the evidence the bank had faxed. "This is all you've got?"

"That’s WHAT we've got, yes."

"Not much to go on." Barb put the stack of paper back on the desk. " Well, I can start by finding out more about that address and who or what lives there. That’s the first clue. I’ll look into some of these other organizations that had funds moved through the checking account. I'll bet I find a few that aren’t quite legitimate businesses or charity organizations."

"Then what happens?"

"We need to get more evidence before we turn it over to the police, you know that or you wouldn't have called me. What you have there isn’t even close. We need enough information to make any conviction in a trial stick beyond any reasonable doubt."

"Any idea how long this could take, Becky?"

"A day, a few days, a week? There's no way to tell on something like this. If someone did set this up they need to get sloppy for us to catch them. If they pay attention to what they're doing then we won't get much up front."

"All right, Becky. Do whatever it takes to find out who's behind this."

"Do you have any idea what this could cost, Barb?"

"I have and knowing my boss it won't matter to her one bit."

"I'll get started on this tonight, Barb. Can I take these?" Becky picked up the pile of papers.

"Yes, they're photocopies."

Becky glanced at her watch. "I've got to go, I have another appointment. You gonna be OK?"

"I'm getting better about what happened to me, Becky. I'll be fine."

"I have to ask, have you had the surgery to…"

"Not yet but very soon now, Becky. That will bring some closure to the whole mess. I've accepted who I've become and the surgery will remove the last painful reminder of who I used to be."

Becky rose and hugged Barb tightly. Barb watched as Becky let herself out the door of the office into the cold black night.

Barb glanced at the clock on her desk noting that her boss was just about halfway through her flight if the plane took off on time at six PM. Another hour and the plane should be landing in Orlando. Somehow Barb couldn't shake a nagging feeling of impending disaster. She grabbed her day planner with a duplicate of all of Jennifer's travel information and switched out the lights in the office. She pulled the collar of her coat tightly around her neck as the cold wind hit her full force when she locked the outside office door behind her.

To be continued in Chapter 13 of Zapped!

To my more technically oriented readers,

I freely admit that great liberties were taken with the airplane segments of this story and that the scenario would most likely happen in a quite different manner. I went for dramatics effect and not accuracy in that section of the story. This is, after all, a work of fiction isn't it?

Bob Arnold

since 06/02/03