Regan's Reach (35 page)

Marin stood waiting at the door where he
could hear Regan's voice.

"Mom!. . . Mom! It's ok, it's ok, it's
me, I'm so, so sorry."

He paused to give them space, feeling sure
the woman had only fainted, and out of his view he could hear Regan crying, then
voices.

"Mom, it's ok, it's me, Regan, and I'm
home."

"Regan, is that really you?"

Marin could hear them shifting, sitting up
on the floor. He peered over the bench top just as the woman's sobs started
with Regan trying to settle her.

"Regan darling, why didn't you talk to
me? Why didn't you tell me you had cancer?"

Marin walked around the bench and helped
Regan lift her mother to her feet. Together they maneuvered her to the dining
table and sat, Regan beside her mother, Marin opposite.

"Mom, listen, what are you talking
about? I don't have cancer."

Marin could tell the woman had hardly
noticed him; she only had eyes for Regan.

"Your hair, you can't hide it from me,
and you're so pale. You should have told me you were going for treatment; I
could have looked after you."

Regan sighed, took her mother's hands and
looked her in the eyes. "Mom, look at me. I . . . don't . . . have . . .
cancer, or any other illness. This is just a new look. Look, I'm sorry I
startled you but I wanted you to know first that I'm home and that I'm ok. I
don't have much time Mom, there are people coming to talk with me now so you
and I are going to have to talk later. But I'm ok, alright?"

"Yes dear, if you say so." Jean
smiled and hugged her.

Regan could see movement over Jean's
shoulder. Through the windows she could see officers in black, armed defenders,
moving cautiously across the lawn.
Oh fuck,
she thought,
that didn't
take long!
There was a loud knock at the door.

"I'll get that dear." Jean Stein
rose and walked through to the foyer.

Regan met eyes with Marin and nodded to the
yard. He looked out at armed police crouching, then back at Regan, eyebrows
raised. She made a ridiculous action with her arms, mimicking a weapon.

"They're called guns." she said
in a stage whisper, joking.

"I have been here before you know."
She looked at his expression and cursed inwardly.
Idiot, his father was
shot!
She thumped her forehead with her palm.

At the sound of voices Regan looked up and
saw Jean, nervously leading an officer with a rifle into the room. Marin stood
casually and color visibly drained from the man's face. He unconsciously lifted
the weapon and Regan could stand it no longer.

"Oh please! Your first meeting with an
alien from a vastly superior power and you point a rifle at him!"

Towering over them Marin, with a deep
resonant voice that seemed to fill the room addressed the man directly.

"Take me to your leader."

Regan raised her eyes to the heavens. "Oh
good grief!"

Marin looked across at her and shrugged.

Meanwhile Jean Stein slipped aside, quickly
dialing Kevin. It only rang twice before he answered and she blurted quickly, "Kevin,
it's me, Mom. . . . she's back Kevin, Regan's back, and Kevin . . . she has
cancer!"

Regan flicked out a chair from under the
table with her foot, "Have a seat officer, what can we do for you?"

He looked confused and ignored the chair. "Err
. . . thank you ma'am, but I'd appreciate it if you would come with me."

She smiled disarmingly. "You'd feel
more comfortable outside with your army?"

He did in fact look extremely
uncomfortable.

"I'm sorry," and she stood extending
her hand, "I'm Regan Stein and this is my friend, Marin . . . from . . .
Dahlia, and your name is?"

The officer’s eyes were glued to Marin and
the hand came as a surprise to him when he glanced down. "I apologize
ma'am, I didn't mean any offense with the, err, weapon. We're a little thrown
off our game as I think you can imagine. Could you give me a moment I need to
check with my superiors, and it’s John . . . my name?"

"No problem John, but before you call
could you let them know we'll meet at STEIN Riverside. I'll need a while so
shall we say, six o'clock this evening? And if he's available I'd like to meet
with the Prime Minister." She turned to Marin, "He's the leader!"

The officer shifted nervously. "Ma'am
you can't leave here." His look was pleading.

"Of course we can, we've done nothing
wrong, and we're not under arrest are we?"

"Well, no . . . but . . ."

"It's not as if we've killed anyone,
well, no one human anyway," she paused and smiled. "John, it's like
this, I stopped in here to see my mother and let her know I'm home, now I'm
going home to Riverside. You have a choice. You can let us go and we'll be
happy to meet the PM there, or you can wrestle us to the ground and cuff us
without arrest. That would be a great welcome to the alien." She turned to
her mother in time to hear her whispering into the phone . . .

" . . . She's talking nonsense Kevin,
but she's going to Riverside. You can probably see her there." Jean
quickly disconnected and looked up innocently.

Regan walked over and embraced her gently. "Mom,
I'm sorry we need to go so quickly, but I'm back now and I'll see you when we've
sorted things out. I just wanted you to know that I was ok." She gestured
to Marin, the classic thumb jerk,
We're off!

"Officer, tell them STEIN Riverside,
six o'clock."

They exited by the front door walking
quickly up the drive and back on to the trail, fourteen armed defenders
trotting behind.

[What are we up for Ham?]

[About a thousand people watching, police
cordon around the ship, three helicopters overhead, news crews still trying to
get here, but definitely on their way, oh and a US bomber squadron about two
hours away. Lucky you didn't plan on being discreet!]

She thumped Marin, "Take me to your
leader! Where did you get that one from?"

He rubbed his arm furiously, smiling at his
own joke. "I've always wanted to say that."

Although the number gathered around the
Transport was huge, the two in black stood out as they walked toward the
cordon. Regan was tall but Marin was NBA plus! An eerie hush came over the
crowd as people strained to look. No one attempted to stop them and they simply
walked to the vessel, stepping up into the extended entrance, and the door
ratcheted shut behind them.

Regan collapsed into a chair. "Try not
to hurt anyone Ham; you know where we're going."

"Hmm, that went well." Marin came
up from behind and massaged her shoulders.

"You think? I wasn't too aggressive?
All that ‘this is the way it's going to be’?" She sounded doubtful.

"Not at all, he did have the big gun.
I thought you made your case well, after all you haven't killed any humans,
none at all, and only a few aliens."

[Would you like to watch this?]

Their attention switched to the screen, the
crowds falling back quickly as the disc gently lifted away from them, straight
up. Soon they could see down on the traffic clogged motorway, pick out the frustrated
television vans with lights flashing for kilometers in both directions, and the
helicopters buzzing them on either side. Ham swung the disc around in a smooth
arc, soaring over the river toward STEIN Riverside. Home!

*

It had been an hour already and Kevin sat
in Regan's command chair, still transfixed by the views on the Saucer's screen.
He gaped, amazed at the beautiful images and footage of Dahlia, Tihan, the
Coran warships and The Stein Traveler. It left him speechless. His reunion with
Regan had been brief and a relief . . . no cancer! She looked stunning to him,
yes pale,
and bald
but fit, strong. In fact she looked in the best
physical shape he'd seen her in a long time. The hug was the same, the smile
just as bright, and the eyes alive as always. Sitting here however, soaking up
views of other worlds, strange people and awe inspiring technology, he knew
nothing else would ever be the same.

She was right
, he thought, as Ham kept up a running commentary.
It was
definitely better to watch this and talk later; I would never have believed a
word of it
. Engrossed in his thoughts he hardly noticed Kutch and Steph
join him, or the repeats as Ham seamlessly reviewed portions of the
presentation. They didn't speak for the first ten minutes and then, as they
relaxed they began to point things out as they saw them, laughing in delight at
the huge farms and parks, lakes and streams, all in space. It was unbelievable,
orbitals with populations in the billions.

"Just let me know when you've had
enough," Ham broke into their discussion. "You can see it again
anytime of course, plus I'm preparing a presentation for television, it should
be about ninety minutes long, less ad breaks. Do you think there'll be a market
for it?"

It was just the thing to break the ice, they
cracked up laughing.

Stephanie couldn't resist the obvious. "Ham,
please don't be offended, but who are you?"

"None taken Stephanie. Ham I am. As
Regan would put it, I'm the ghost in the machine and I am very pleased to meet
you, her friends. A friend of Regan's is a friend of mine."

They looked at each other speechless.

Ham continued like the perfect flight
attendant. "Regan has advised me that she will be a while with the
authorities Kevin. She asks if you could join them please in the war room. She
also suggested that you - Steph and Kutch - remain here for the moment,
Mitchell is on his way up now and the coffee in the galley is good. I can
answer any questions you might have."

They stood, Stephanie and Kutch to find the
galley, Kevin to leave. As he exited the Saucer Mitch was stepping out from the
roof doorway above Regan's apartment. For a moment they both stared up at the
hovering helicopters until they realized they were probably live on screen and
Kevin ushered Mitch into the vessel.

"Unbelievable isn't it," Mitch
said to Kevin, "I just met the Prime Minister coming in!"

Kevin laughed. "You wouldn't even
mention him if you'd met the alien! Did you see Regan?"

"Not yet, security sent me straight to
the roof. How is she?"

"She's great Mitch; I've got to get
down there so we'll talk later. I'll leave you here with Steph and Kutch
inside. Ham will look after you." He stepped back out into the evening sun
and ran across the Riverside roof to the door.

Mitch watched him go then turned slowly to
take in the craft. "Ham . . ?"

*

Kevin walked into the war room and took in
the atmosphere, pure electric anticipation! A glance at Regan and she mouthed a
message,
waiting for Marin.

He nodded and looked for a spare seat with
the L shaped leather couch taken. Just two people there but politicians have a
way of spreading, he noticed. He quickly walked to the PM and shook his hand, "Good
to see you Bob." The handshake and smile were warm enough but no reply was
forthcoming so he moved on. Settling into a dining chair with a good view of
the room he took in the assembled guests. Regan, as usual, sat in her favorite
chair, her back to the pool. He blushed with a pleasant memory of recent
activity there, and then continued his sweep.

The open plan room was large, often
entertaining thirty or forty people, but today it felt cluttered. To Regan's
left, on the couch with his back to the golf course was Prime Minister Robert
Jarvis. To his left, on the other arm of the L shaped couch it looked like the
American ambassador,
what's he doing here?
Kevin thought and behind the
ambassador two men, one in US uniform and one casually dressed. At the table
beside Kevin sat Cabinet Minister Maureen Collins, a ball breaker, and beside
her an assistant he guessed. Kevin noticed the second leather single couch had
been moved from its normal spot by the window overlooking the river. It was
empty on Regan's right and clearly repositioned for Marin.

Lastly, a cameraman and sound technician
were both standing behind Kevin and the table, squeezed into a spot without
much room but with the ability to pan the room,
especially the alien,
he
thought. Catching Regan's eye she winked and smiled and at the same moment Bob
Jarvis, with a clear view down the hallway, tensed.

All eyes instinctively turned to the door.
To his credit Bob stood first and stepped forward to greet Marin as he ducked
into the room. Regan stood and moved to his side, making the introductions as
if this were all perfectly normal. The ambassador stood shakily, taking Marin's
hand and shaking it vigorously. Much of the early chat Kevin missed as he took
in Marin's height and build.
He's tall, and lean . . . but human origin
surely?
Regan gestured for people to take their seats.

Marin's voice was warm and deep, his
English perfect, accent hard to place but subtly Irish. He looked at the spare
chair offered to him then ignored it, moving instead to sit on the arm of Regan's
chair and draping one long arm across the seat back, an action so deliberate it
couldn't be ignored.