Lucy Kelly (9 page)

Arjun paused in his walking and turned again to look at the man walking beside him. He looked closely at his features to gauge his thinking. 

Brothers Ishme and Nyal Namkin, as well as the twins Kai and Ari Draama, were all from the province of Celestia.  They were the shortest of all the Nephilim and would have had the ability to blend in with the Earth population a little easier if it weren’t for their eyes. 

Celestians had greenish-yellow eyes that Addie said were chartreuse or citrine in color.  This made them stand out in a crowd.  They also had blonde hair and preferred to wear it long.  They wore braids at their temples and sometimes more. 

Ishme, like his brother, was six-foot-six with long, golden blonde hair.  They both wore braids at the temples, with the rest of their hair unbound. 

Kai and his twin preferred to tie their hair at the nape with a leather thong.  Kai and Ari were also an inch taller than Ishme and Nyal.

“Your concerns for Becky are valid,” said Arjun.  “Thank you for bringing this to my attention; we have been remiss.  Why don’t you contact Jalen and see if Rune can be spared?  He is closer than us.”

While Ishme relayed the message, he noticed his shoulder twitching.

“Are you all right, Ishme; were you injured earlier?” asked Arjun, when he had Ishme’s attention again.

“I may have pulled a muscle in my back.  There is a little ache between my shoulder blades.  I will be fine.  I am still able to stand my post,” he answered.

“Hmm, good,” said Arjun.  “I must be leaving now to meet the ship.  Do not worry; Becky will get the protection she needs,” he finished. 

And likely more than she was expecting, if what I suspect is true,
Arjun thought, as he noticed Ishme twitch his shoulders again.

Chapter Six

Becky had been able to log off the FBI’s Mainframe just after five-forty in the morning.  It was past time to leave for the rendezvous point.  She still had about thirty IDs to finish, but each person had at least a US driver’s license or foreign passport, as well as a credit card. 

Suzanna and Heidi had been a big help in the last two months, giving lessons on speech and modern slang, in addition to explaining current events to the men chosen to land on Earth.  The biggest help had been figuring out how to dress them to look the part.

All five of the women who had gone up to the space station had a new lease on life.  The biggest change had occurred with Carol, who was Gilda’s sister and Suzanna’s mother.  The Medical Cluster had halted the failing of brain cells causing her disease.  With gene therapy, they were able to keep her from having the disease recur.  Gilda and Suzanna were helping her regain memories that Carol had lost.

Becky was a little surprised when Rune arrived at her house.  She thought he was going to stay at the hospital.  When he told her why he was there, she went back and forth, deciding whether she was angry or pleased that Ishme had sent her protection and decided to be pleased.

“Rune,” she called out as she shut down her systems, “it’s time to leave.”  She walked over to her safe and opened it.  Returning the BEIP and glasses, she pulled out the box with all the IDs in it.  Inside the box were a hundred and twenty-six wallets and fifty-nine passports. 

Each man would be given a wallet with a thousand dollars in used bills, a credit card with a two thousand dollar credit limit, various store cards that were just for show, some form of photo ID and some even had mocked up family portraits.  She’d scoured second-hand shops, so she had acquired more used wallets than new ones. 

Some of the guys would be getting money clips; all would get some spare change for their pockets.  She also bought a lot of second-hand luggage, filling it with clothes for big and tall men. 

The UPS guy had started giving her strange looks because he’d dropped off so many boxes with men’s store labels on them.  She told him she was starting a men’s store and was building inventory.

Becky, Miranda, Johanna, and Valerie had a packing party just before Miranda received the call about her mom dying and had to leave for Florida.  The buses they rented already had the luggage in place for the arriving men.  When they were dropped off, they would have everything they needed.

It was a good thing Gilda had put her stocks and bonds into their hands; they could only sell a certain amount of gems the Nephilim brought before it became noticed, and the stocks and bonds had netted over a million dollars.  As it was, both Valerie and Johanna had made trips to other cities to sell the gems. 

Addie had turned over all the proceeds of her house sale, along with her remaining inheritance, to fund the ongoing plan to find other Nephilim descendants’ on Earth and make a plea for them to emigrate to HeVan.

Most of the money was going to purchase land up in Wisconsin and start a small farming community there with a women’s retreat.  They were dedicating it in the name of Tamiel, the Queen who had given up her life for the Nephilim on Earth.  They were calling the project HeVan’s Gate, with the retreat called Tamiel’s Rest.

Rune caught up to Becky just as she was putting on her coat and scarf.  October nights were cold and it wasn’t dawn yet. 

“Would you like me to drive Becky?” he asked, as he looked her over carefully for signs of her weariness.  He knew she must be very tired.

“That’s okay; I’ve gotten my second wind.  We’ll get there faster if I drive.  I know all the shortcuts the GPS won’t give you,” she said.

They went out to the garage and she unlocked the doors of her Jeep with the remote.  They’d rented three passenger buses from Bus Max.  Each bus held 44 passengers with overhead luggage racks. 

Arjun, Jalen and Jett were supposed to have been the bus drivers, but they had some last minute scrambling because of the night’s events. 

Valerie and Johanna picked up the two buses in the City from where they’d stashed them the prior Saturday instead of the two guys.  Arjun was driving the third bus as planned.  Becky was glad Jalen had insisted on a backup plan and all the ladies had volunteered to learn to drive the buses.

I’m glad I won’t be driving one; this is hard enough.  I’d probably wreck us,
she thought on a yawn.

They were going to rendezvous at a campground.  This time of year, not too many people went camping and they were able to rent the entire space.

Addie should be arriving at my house with Rapha and her guards’ right about now,
she thought
.  I wonder what that guard, Ishme, looks like.
  She had time to think now that she wasn’t working so furiously.

Once again, Becky was happy that her forward planning had worked out.  They had rented the campgrounds for a full week.  Valerie had found out that two of her local fans were Nephilim, so she told them they were helping set up the surprise event for Saturday. 

They were staffing the campgrounds; when Becky woke them up around three in the morning, they had happily run out to stock up on fresh groceries.  They were going to be running the camp for the next two days.  Well, today and tomorrow. 

Tomorrow was Thursday and the guys would be able to start checking in to their hotels then.  She didn’t want to raise any flags by adding so many reservations at once.  All the Thursday-through-Sunday reservations had been made in twos and threes over the course of the last two months.

By the time they drove into the campground situated on the Pecatonica River, Northeast of Rockford, two hours had passed.  It took them that long to get there.  It was nearly eight in the morning when they arrived; they saw that all the buses were already there. 

The sun was up.  Natalie and Jennifer seemed to be trying to cook breakfast with more helpers than they needed surrounding them.  They didn’t look unhappy about the help, given the smiles on their faces.  They were young, good-looking women surrounded by over a hundred approving hot looking men. 

What woman wouldn’t appreciate that?
  she thought, putting the Jeep in park. 

Becky stepped out of the Jeep and took a few steps forward but started to sway on her feet.  She tried to take another step and everything went black.  The next thing she knew, she was waking up on the ground.  People were shouting excitedly.  Looking up, she saw that she was surrounded by men three feet deep.

She raised a hand to her face; her skin felt clammy. 
Uh, oh,
she thought,
pushed myself too far, and forgot to eat again.

“I’m fine, really.  I just need some water and maybe some food,” she said to the men. 

None of them moved.  She heard Rune shouting to make way.  The men moved back and Rune stepped forward with another man by his side.  He was the oldest Nephilim she had seen so far.  He actually looked to be in his forties and was very distinguished looking. 

I wonder how old he actually is
, she thought.

“I’m three hundred and forty-eight, young
Beleti
,” he said.

“I’m sorry.  Did I say that aloud?  I didn’t mean to be rude,” Becky said.

“Do not worry; my appearance is such because I don’t choose to extend my life.  I have stopped taking the necessary therapies needed to keep myself youthful.  It is a personal choice, you see,” he said, as he began passing a small box over her body.

“Many of us are not happy with your choice, Markus.  Your line ends with you.  That is why you and your two brothers were urged to extend your lives and why you were chosen to come on this mission,” said Rune.

Markus spared Rune a glance.  “You may be my Elder, Rune, and also one of my Commanders, but you cannot force me to live longer than I wish.  You know my reasons.  Now stop complaining.  I’m here, am I not?”

He went back to examining Becky.  After another moment, he put the small box away and took another device out of a small leather-looking bag attached to his belt.  This one looked like a pencil in shape but was also black in color.  He slowly passed the wand-like device over her body from her feet to her head. 

“Well
Beleti
, do you want to hear my diagnosis here or in private?” he asked.

She looked up at what looked like his serious face.  He wasn’t using the laugh lines she could see by his eyes and mouth.  Yep, this was definitely his,
I’ve-got-bad-news-for-you face.

“In private, please.  Am I allowed to get up on my feet now?” asked Becky.

Rune immediately leaned over and picked her up.  Looking over at Markus, who must be a member of their Medical Cluster, he raised an eyebrow.

Markus began walking over to the nearest bus.  He knew the seats there reclined and wanted his new patient to lie down.

Once she was ensconced in the seat and covered with a light blanket, she turned to Markus and said, “Okay, Doc, lay it on me.”

He looked confused for a moment and then his face cleared up, “One of your idiomatic phrases.  I shall remember it, Beleti.”

“You don’t need to call me
Beleti
; I’m not royalty, so ‘
Lady’
is a title I don’t need.  I’m just plain old Rebecca Anderson.  You can call me Becky,” she said to him.

“Thank you, Becky, you honor me.  Now, as I heard you say, you do need water and rest.  However, you have several other physical issues you are going to have to deal with.  If you continue to stress your body, it’s going to break down on you. 

“Your blood pressure and cholesterol readings are far beyond where they should be, from my study of your species.  You are inviting a heart attack or stroke. 

“Also, I detect the formation of ulcers in your stomach lining.  For today, you will rest and sleep.  I will give you a treatment to deal with the current problems.  However, without a Nephilim medical facility, I cannot cure them.  Therefore, for the time being, you may only work a maximum of three hours per day.  The rest of the time you must rest and take part in less stressful activities,” Markus concluded.

“Three hours!  But I have so much to do…”

He cut her off.  “Three hours is the most I’m willing to give you.  Be lucky I’m not cutting you off altogether.  I know how important you are to our Queen, even if you are not
Beleti
,” he said with a smile, “so I’m sure that Arjun will do whatever is necessary to ensure your health.”

“Sure, show off that great smile now that you’re getting your way,” Becky grumbled.  “Okay, okay.  I’ll rest for today.  I’m somewhat tired anyway.  However, later, I’m going to have to work because not all the guys have their full identities yet.  I’m the only one who can do that.”

“We’ll see,” he said, as he got up to leave the bus.  When he stepped outside, Arjun, Rune, and Kylan were all waiting for him, along with Valerie and Johanna.  He related his diagnosis and the treatment he was prescribing. 

“We’ll make sure she doesn’t overdo, Markus,” said Arjun.  “Ishme has also expressed concerns for her well-being.  I believe that he and his brother Nyal might be good candidates for looking after her.” 

He started to grin. “His back was bothering him earlier after he had spoken with her.”

Markus’s brows went up and after a moment, he smiled.  “Good.  That will be very good.  We are living through exciting times, my old friend.” 

When he saw his friend opening his mouth to talk, he held up a hand. “Rune has already tried to convince me to change my mind about extending my life, so you needn’t bother.  Now, I think I’ll go and see about some food and water for my patient,” he said before walking away.

Arjun turned to Rune, “Well, we better distribute the IDs that Becky was able to complete.  Where are they?”

Rune went back to the Jeep and pulled a box from the back.  He and Arjun would pull the men aside in small groups and pass out the wallets.  This time, Becky had used all of their real names to avoid confusion and mistakes.  She had carefully organized the box in alphabetical order so it wasn’t hard to find the correct item.

By eleven thirty, Becky had slept all she could in a reclining bus seat, fully clothed.  She had to get home and help Addie in to see Grace and Justyn.  Then she had to move them out of the hospital and to a safe house.  She had to finish the remaining IDs and get the results of her searches into police hands in such a way that it would allow the new bank accounts to fall under the original search and seizure warrants.