Chapter 25

Carrie was awake when we got home, waiting with a couple of gold coins in her hands.

“If I have to keep making rings for you girls, I’m not going to have many devices left.”

“Shut up, Cal,” Carrie said.

Cally said, “How did you know my name? And isn’t it rude to tell me to shut up, when I haven’t even said anything?”

That got all of us laughing. She looked at me, puzzled. “Sorry. I didn’t introduce myself. My name here is California Lewis, and I go by Cal. My original name is Kalikulo, and I’m from Star Home.”

Cally watched, fascinated, as I melted the gold coins, then formed them into a ring to hold a shivalingam. “Wait! You’re not putting that on me!”

Carrie said, “Sister! He’s not Shiva.” She held up her hand, showing her ring and letting her shivalingam pulse once.

While she was scared, Cally let me finish my work, then hand her the ring. Nervously, she slipped it onto her finger, then her eyes opened wide, her jaw dropping.

“Oh! You said they were, but ... you’re both still here!”

Carrie took her by the arm, leading her away.

“You know, it’s my understanding that Elroy, Earl, and Gloria are swinging by Miramar tomorrow ... later today ... to finish watching the tournament before heading back to Kansas. I think it’s time for a talk with him ... again,” I said.

Beth sighed. “I think we need to have a ‘come to Jesus’ moment, that’s for damned sure. This is fucking ridiculous. Carrie, Cally, Holly ... and three souls from Star Home? The CIA experiment was REAL, and there’s a fourteen year old girl that’s part of it? Christ on a crutch, what the fuck is going on?”

“Thank you,” Eve said. “I’m not the only one trying to wrap my head around things.”

Sayel had been sitting off to one side. “I’m guessing I just got another student.”

“I think so.” I reached up and scratched my head. “I have no idea what the hell is going on, Sayel. At this point, the way things are going, I’m slightly more than halfway wondering if you and the girls from India aren’t right, because this is confusing the heck out of me.”

“Look on the bright side, Master.”

“What’s that?”

“Think about the look on Mister Douglas’ face in the morning when you show up for the plane ride south with a young girl that wasn’t here last night.”

I clapped him on the back while chuckling, then headed off to bed.

“I hope that the two of you got at least a little sleep last night,” I said at breakfast.

“Three of us,” Carrie said. “We woke Holly up. And not much, no. Too many things to catch up on.”

Cally was looking around the room. “I wasn’t kept completely below ground all the time. They’d let me go up to the house on the surface, to see the sun, to feel the wind on my face, play with some animals. They showed me movies and books, and of course, they didn’t know that I had Dala keeping me company since before I was old enough to talk. I knew there was a whole world out here, I just had no idea what it would be like.”

“How far along was your education?” Margie asked.

“They said I was very advanced for my age, but they were more concerned about making sure I was physically fit.” She looked embarrassed. “I spent the first couple of months while I was in isolation keeping up the exercises they’d set for me, but I gave up keeping to their rigid schedule the longer I was isolated.”

Marcia frowned. “I’m surprised you didn’t try to escape, after a while.”

“I did. But I can’t fly without assistance, unlike some people, and I didn’t have anything strong enough to cut through the tank. It was made of reinforced steel of some kind. I tried to get through the rubble, but I couldn’t break it into small enough chunks to get back to the lab. I might’ve been able to cut through the concrete of the tunnel, but I knew that was thirty feet below ground.”

“She’s got vision like Holly and I do,” Carrie said. “But Holly is physically much stronger than I am, while she doesn’t have the telekinesis that I have. Cally has the intelligence, maybe close to what Cal had when he landed here, and is as strong as I am. I think the three of us were supposed to end up as a team, if things hadn’t worked out the way they have.”

The door opened, with Mike and Dave walking in. “Good morning, everyone. Are you all about ready to go to Moffett Field so we can go to Miramar?” He paused, then continued, saying, “Carrie, I didn’t know you’d invited one of your classmates for a sleepover.” From the tone of his voice, Mike wasn’t mad about it, just concerned that his security had missed something.

“She didn’t. It’d be nice if I could say that I found her out wandering alone, in the dark and cold, and simply brought her in because it was the Christian thing to do,” I said.

Mike shook his head and closed his eyes, then slowly reopened them. “I’m not going to like this, am I?”

“Right now, the fourth option by Admiral Foley is the general consensus. Mike, Dave, this is Calista ... she goes by Cally. Would you care to guess where we found her?”

“Wandering around, lost and huddled in a snowdrift, somewhere in North Dakota?”

I tersely smiled. “Close, actually. Inside a hollow oil tank that was hooked up to the escape tunnel leading from the completely destroyed remains of one secret CIA facility, that was designed to grow ... her,” I said, my raised palm pointing to Cally. “Of course, the CIA was completely unaware of one minor detail.”

“I see the ring she’s wearing. It looks like something you made. I’m guessing she’s just like Carrie, Holly, and Toby.”

“Who’s Toby?” Cally asked.

“That would be me. I’m the younger boyfriend of Carrie and Holly, and Tobias, my grandfather, lives within me.”

“Dala, this is Mike and Dave. Dala happens to be from Vendamin, on Star Home, and was the sister of Lara and Madalain. I suppose the proper phrasing should be, is the sister, since now all three of them live on inside Holly, Carrie, and Cally.”

Mike looked at Cally. “Pleasure to meet you, Cally. I’m supposed to be in charge of security around here, keeping those people who can get injured from doing so. What’s your last name?”

“I never had one. My host mother was one of the biologists that helped design me. I suppose I could use her last name, if it’s important to have one.”

I shook my head. “It is, but we’re not going to use that for the simple reason it might put you even more on the radar of the world intelligence services than you already will be, simply for being part of our family.”

Cally leaned back in her chair. “Is that what I’m going to be, then? I ... I’ve never given much thought to that, you know. I’ve read about families, of course. But the scientists at the lab were fairly up front with me, as best they could be, once I was about six years old. They told me I was quite mature for my age, without knowing it wasn’t because they’d designed me that way, it was because Dala was helping me cope with being locked up. The last two years, before the attack, I was busy training with...” She held up her ring. “They had four of these in the facility that I was able to use, to a certain extent. Dala knew what they were, of course.”

I frowned. “We didn’t detect them, either in the remains of the lab, or in the oil tank.”

She shook her head. “No. The staff wouldn’t let me keep them near me except during training sessions. I never showed them all that I could do with them, either. That’s what made the attack upon the facility so annoying. If I’d been near the devices ... and now I’m with my sisters, it’s amusing you call them Shiva’s dick ... then I could have defended the facility. It would have shown the scientists that I’d been holding back, but they wouldn’t be dead, so things would’ve evened out, I think.”

“Is it just me, or is it weird that we’re sitting here over breakfast calmly having this discussion?” Dave asked.

“It’s not just you, Dave, but given everything else we’ve seen since Cal showed up in my backyard, I’m just going with it. I’m hoping that by the time we get done dealing with the AI that’s in Halley’s Comet ... or whatever the hell is there, since Madalain and Lara said they were sure that Shiva’s body was dead ... that we can have some semblance of normalcy in our lives. Or at least whatever will pass as normalcy for us.”

Margie started chuckling slightly, with Hannah and Marcia joining in. Helen smiled, saying, “I don’t think there’s much hope for anything vaguely resembling normalcy with this family. Honestly, I don’t think I’d have it any other way.”

“Pretty much,” I agreed. “Cally, I don’t know what your education has been so far as society and how things function. Toby and Carrie, the two of you are in charge of bringing Cally up to speed on things. If we’re all done with breakfast, we need to get started on the day.”

Either Cally was a fast learner, or she was simply going with what her ‘sisters’ were accepting as normal. When she’d been getting ready for the flight, she was close to Mina’s size, and had borrowed something western of hers to wear. Two of our female security officers were going clothes shopping for Cally. One would buy things here while we were gone, the other would go with us and would get something while we were watching Jennifer play golf, for Cally to wear tomorrow.

I was glad we had help with Cally, because she was almost as bad as I had been, except we threw her into the deep end by getting into buses, riding to the airport, and then boarding the leased 747. Literally everything was a first time experience for her. I think the only thing that kept her from going completely insane from sensory overload was that Dala had experienced things that were close to modern Earth technology on Star Home, even if her memories were of things considerably more technologically advanced.

Two of the Indian girls went with the three youngest up to the lounge for takeoff and to assist with culture shock. I pulled all of my original seven together.

Before I could say anything, Dora said, “Now that you found Cally, I think it’s time for us to consider that mi Abuela was right. Or have you forgotten what she said?”

“You mean about us having souls of some kind in us? I’ve considered that, but if so, they’ve not contacted us.”

“I don’t think they’re that kind,” Margie said. “I’m ... well, I’m not going to say what I’m thinking right now, and I’m keeping it locked away for now. Let’s just get through the summer and get some babies born, and then I’ll talk.”

“I’ll hold you to that,” I said.

Rather than sending our buses down, Mary had made arrangements for us to use buses from a local travel agency. We weren’t expecting any trouble, though, because we had a bit of an escort from the base to the golf course. An entire Marine Rifle company had been shipped down the coast from Camp Pendleton and assigned as our security for the weekend by direct orders of Admiral Foley. If nothing else, we didn’t have any trouble with traffic on the interstate, since the Marines were riding in some of the new vehicles they’d gotten to replace their Jeeps, and we also had a full California Highway Patrol escort the entire way.

Once we arrived at Torrey Pines, the Marines took up perimeter security, while we went in to find Jennifer. She was sitting at a table with several golfers, talking about the way some of the holes had been playing. One of them heard us coming, since we were a big group.

“Jennifer, looks like your fan club is here for the day. That means we’re basically done, and may as well just award the trophy to you.”

“Ron, you’re only one behind me and Woody. Stay consistent through the day, and you’ll be right with me,” she said. “Eve, you remember Ron Streck? This is Gary Hallberg, and Woody Blackburn. Woody’s tied with me at eighteen under, then Ron and Gary are one and two strokes back. We’ve been sitting here talking about the way the holes are playing, because I wasn’t expecting you to show up for another half hour.”

“I think having the Highway Patrol escort us took care of any traffic we might’ve run into. Gentlemen,” I said, going around and introducing all of us to them. “If I may steal Jennifer from you for a bit, I haven’t seen her for a few days.”

Streck chuckled. “We’ve seen entirely too much of her!” Then, horrified, he said, “That came out very wrong! I meant on the golf course, she’s giving us lessons in consistency, not like it sounded.”

I laughed at his discomposure. “Mister Streck, I haven’t seen the sales figures for Sports Illustrated, but if you don’t have her picture on your lockers, then you make me question your masculinity. Unfortunately for you, you only get to look.” I took Jennifer in my arms and gave her a deep kiss, then when we broke it, held my arm out so I could escort her off.

She was laughing as we got out of earshot. “That was hilarious, my love! Perfectly timed, too. Here comes the curmudgeon crew!”

“Hey, we resemble that remark,” Earl said. “We got stuck in traffic behind some kind of military convoy escorting a bunch of buses. You wouldn’t know anything about that, would you?”

“I don’t handle security, Earl. That’s Mike’s job, you’ll have to ask him. Come on, we need to find someplace a little private.”

Hannah said, “Already taken care of, Cal. Hello, Earl, Elroy, Gloria. Come along.”

Elroy frowned. “Why does this strike me as something ominous?”

We walked into a room that must’ve been used recently for press briefings. There were tables and chairs set up. Mike nodded to me when we went in that our guards had the entrances secured. I motioned for Elroy, Earl, and Gloria to come in and have a seat. Once they were seated, Beth stood up. Jennifer stayed with me, standing and holding my arm.

“Uncle Elroy, we have decided that it is time for us to have an old-fashioned ‘Come to Jesus’ moment with you. Security clearances be damned, to hell with your mysterious histories, and screw trying to hide stuff from us any longer. Are you ready to come clean, or do we have to get the Inquisition resurrected?”

“Elizabeth, I don’t suppose it would help if I knew what you were talking about?”

“When Exhibit A showed up in my backyard in Kansas, you were rather accepting of the cock and bull story regarding him being a long lost cousin. I’ve known you my whole life, and more importantly, you’ve known my Dad basically his whole life. You were partners with my grandfather during the war, doing secret things behind the scenes, and never letting on how much wealth, and more importantly than that, how much power, you had. Then we find out that you’re a Lieutenant General, and helped investigate Kennedy’s assassination. Simple logic tells me that you didn’t accept our story at face value, and you had Cal investigated. You know my Uncle that’s here in California is doing twenty to life for a drug deal that went bad. Do you really want me to lay the rest of it out?”

Earl looked at Elroy, and shook his head. Gloria looked a little puzzled, but saw Earl’s motion and gasped. “Elroy T. Bannister, you tell this girl the truth!” she ordered.

Elroy made a huge sigh. “I put my foot in it when we were in Hawaii, didn’t I? I told you too much, for probably one of the first times in my life. Of course, I had you checked out. Harry’s been more like my own kin than either of my two daughters ever were. Your story had more holes in it than a Swiss cheese. Earl and I have both had higher security clearances than the President for years, so I stirred a few things up. The whole lab story ... that nearly caused the CIA and FBI to come get you. The only thing that stopped it was because Earl and I were monitoring things, and got it quashed. They knew you weren’t from their lab, so they thought you’d been made in Europe. They still do, because I may have given them that impression.”

Beth glared at him. “Councilor, would you care to rephrase that last statement?”

“Shit! I forgot you’re taking law classes, too. Given what I know about things, I’d guess you’re probably, what, about where he was two months ago?”

“Irrelevant, even if the answer is yes. Please answer my last question.”

He chuckled. “You’re not the little girl I used to bounce on my knee any more. Yes, I’ll rephrase, and expand. I told them that you were made in a lab in England, but that lab had been destroyed while you were still young, and that you were smuggled here while only a few years old, and raised here. At least when I’d originally changed your age from fourteen to sixteen, I inadvertently helped things, because if I’d kept it at that, it would have made them too suspicious. Unfortunately, Hannah, that also made your grandfather suspicious because he had helped fund the lab in the Soviet Union where Randhawa was created. What I find ironic is that the story you created on the fly, as it were, regarding the Messenger is nearly universally accepted by all of the governments and their spy agencies. That’s why the mysterious meeting in Hawaii, regarding you, and why Admiral Foley said they weren’t going there regarding your origin.”

“Well, if nothing else, that’s a lovely story and one truly worthy of you as a devious bastard,” Beth said. “You know that we can hear your pulse and breathing rate, as well as tell your body temperature just from a glance. Earl believes exactly what you just said to be the truth, and even the things you can’t control tell me that, convoluted and mysterious as it is, you believe it to be the truth, too. There is, however, one factor that we’re going to throw into things that will cause you a bit of consternation.”

“The defendant throws himself on the mercy of the court,” Elroy said with a smile.

“Grandpa, you created all sorts of fake identification documents for me, as Exhibit A. Guess what? You get to do it all over again. I’d like to introduce you to Exhibit B, and if nothing else a fine example of Admiral Foley’s fourth choice, divine intervention. This is Cally, who has no last name because the scientists at the CIA lab in North Dakota didn’t give her one. Of course, they didn’t know that she’s just like Holly and Carrie, and has the soul of the third sister from Star Home living in her.”

Elroy’s face twisted into a variety of emotions, then he looked at me. “You wouldn’t be doing something to get back at me for what I’ve done, would you?”

“Actually, the name they called her is Calista, Cally for short. And no, Elroy, I told you a long time ago I would never deliberately lie to you. We found her in a secret escape room near the CIA lab that Bauman destroyed. She’d been in there for six months, and she knows how to use the shivalingam, too. So you need to work your magic, only this time you don’t get to tell anyone.”

He could tell from my tone of voice that I was angry. Nodding, he said, “I don’t blame you for being ... well, not just a little ticked off, but really pissed at me, at both of us. I’m not making excuses for what I’ve done. When we first met, I was doing what I felt was necessary to protect Harry and Elizabeth from an unknown, potential danger. The more I got to know you, the more my attitude changed. Now ... well, I’ve said this before, and mean it today just like I did then. You’re my grandson.”

Earl spoke up then. “Elizabeth, Cal, all of you ... I also apologize for my actions. We grew up in an era of miracles, recovering from the Great Depression, with all sorts of scientific advances that we now know were in part due to influences from the information by people who could sort of access the shivalingam had gathered. Our technology here on Earth has finally caught up to where we could utilize some of what we’ve known about for centuries. I’m saying that as an excuse, but yes, there was a reason why four boys from Kansas got along well once the war was over, with what we’d done.”

I frowned. “Four? Wait a second. Shit! You two, and Harold, were deep in politics back then. You said you were doing what you could to get POL for Patton’s Army under his verbal orders. But you were also authorized by someone even higher up the chain, and once the war was over, he’s the one who set you up.”

Elroy nodded. “Ike was a hell of a nice guy.”

I nodded in understanding. “Now I really understand the connection between Hiram Yoder and you.”

“Exactly. While Ike wasn’t Anabaptist, he was close.” He sighed, then turned to Cally. “Hello, young lady. I’m Elroy T. Bannister.”

“I know who you are. Holly told me all about you. I prefer to stay here in California, but I’ll accompany you back to Kansas after this sporting event so that you may create the appropriate documentation for me, and then return, if that’s acceptable.”

Jennifer spoke up. “That’s fine by me, honey. I’ve got to head out. Wish me luck!”

I gave her a kiss. “You don’t need luck, you have skill, determination, and a sexy butt.”

Gloria laughed. “With that kind of motivation, I’ll pick up a stick and whack some balls around!”

Earl and Elroy both crossed their legs, causing all of us to laugh.

While we were walking around the course watching Jennifer once again show that she was an excellent golfer, we talked more. Jeremy made the suggestion that we simply have Leonard do all of the paperwork. That would avoid some questions with Elroy faking more documentation. Marcia agreed that would be simpler, especially with Cally already being in California. So many Hollywood stars had affairs with all sorts of women they weren’t married to that making documents for their unwanted kids was almost its own separate industry out here.

Woody Blackburn had been running even with Jennifer the previous three days. Neither he nor Ron Streck could hit the ball consistently today like they had previously. When it came to the final hole, they were both tied at nineteen under, while Jennifer finished the course at twenty-three under. The check presentation was made by the man hosting the tournament, Andy Williams. He was very gracious with everyone, and even flirted a little with the girls, simply because of his fame as a singer.

Once that was done, there was the sound of a band playing the Marine Hymn. The Navy band from Miramar had been bused over and came marching up, escorting the Marine color guard, plus two Marine general officers, and two Navy Admirals. There was a big ceremony that ended up going out live on NBC again, with us donating three-quarters of a million dollars to the Marine’s Toys for Tots program for this year. Once that was done, everyone talked for a few minutes, then the Admiral in charge of NAS Miramar made sure we knew that we had rooms and meals waiting for us there tonight, plus something special for tomorrow. We thanked him, and then they left us to finish getting Jennifer and Jasveer loaded up onto the bus.

Apparently as part of the winnings, since the tournament was also sponsored by Isuzu, Jennifer had won a brand new Isuzu Impulse. She took the keys, thanked them, and then handed them off to Mike. I heard her whisper to him, “Give this to someone who needs a car; I don’t want it.”

He laughed, tossing them to Jeremy. “Now you’ve got something to drive back north instead of hitchhiking on a plane!”

I laughed, knowing we’d figure out the paperwork later.

We did a bit of a reverse convoy, still with police and military escort, back to NAS Miramar. The buses dropped us off in front of our guest quarters. We’d barely have time to freshen up before having to make an appearance for dinner. Since we were rushed, all we did was take quick showers and change our clothing.

Cally had taken a shower last night, but was luxuriating in being able to be clean. Carrie had to go track her down, so she could get ready and change into the new clothes Security had bought for her.

I pulled Toby to the side while they were finishing getting ready. “Toby ... and Tobias ... I don’t think there’s going to be any more girlfriends for you. I would surely appreciate it if you’d remember both the age difference as well as the maturity difference. Now that your mental issues have been corrected, I have no desire to become a grandfather at eighteen.”

Toby laughed. “Dad, Grandpa and I have had this discussion. I’ve got to get caught up with my education first, which will take me the rest of this year to make it to where I should be, instead of where I am. I’m not going to say that we might not kiss before then, but I promise now that there will be nothing more than that until I’m physically old enough. Whether that’s four, six, or eight years ... with Madalain and Lara in the mix, that’s just a short time so far as they’re concerned. I’m guessing Dala will be of the same mindset, we’ll just have to wait and see. I will say one thing, though.”

“What’s that?”

“I used to be jealous of you, a little, because of how pretty all my Moms are. But I think my girlfriends are prettier.”

I raised an eyebrow. “Did you come up with that on your own, or did Tobias help?”

“That’s all on me, Dad.”

“You’ll want to watch saying that around the girls, or there won’t be any waiting on their part,” I said seriously, but with a grin on my face.

“Grandpa just told me the same thing.”

We were treated to a great meal by the Navy and Marine Corps. There were many thanks from them regarding our help with the Toys for Tots program. They gave us a warning, though, that some of us might want to skip breakfast in the morning. That felt slightly ominous sounding to me, but Marcia was excited. When I asked her the reason, she told me I’d see why in the morning. They obviously didn’t have a room that wasn’t a barracks big enough for all seventeen of us to sleep together, so we roughed it with four or five to a room.

The next morning, after breakfast, I found myself being escorted away from the girls and even Sayel, to a locker room. There were two Navy officers inside waiting for me.

“Mister Lewis, I’m Commander Cowans, this is Lieutenant Commander Ledgerton. Our job today is simple. Get you fitted out properly this morning, then give you a bit of an introduction to what we do here at Miramar. This locker is yours. Please strip down to your underwear, we have everything you’ll put on here.” He pointed to a pile that was topped by a helmet.

I started to strip and hang things up in the locker. “Commander Cowans, if some of my girls are getting this introduction as well, I do hope you’re aware that some of the ladies are expectant mothers.”

He chuckled. “My father was a Marine pilot during World War Two. Other than being disappointed that I became a Naval Aviator instead of a Marine pilot, he was fine with me getting my wings this way. One of his sayings was that a Marine that won’t fuck, won’t fight. So, we know that. A T-38 trainer can be acrobatic, but the pilots of those aircraft won’t do anything with those ladies in them. Your younger ladies are going to get the same introduction to what we do here that you are.”

“That could prove interesting,” I said.

“We hope you’ll appreciate it, anyway. Now that you’re dressed, from here on out we don’t use names, we use our callsigns. I’m Cobra, he’s Joker, like it says on our helmets. Your security team told us what they call all of you, so your helmets have been painted appropriately, Quarterback.”

“Affirmative, Cobra,” I said.

Joker smiled at that. “We’ve been told you’re incredibly smart. Follow us.” They led me into a room with tables set up, chairs behind them, and some books on them. “Take a seat. Come in, ladies.” Beth, Eve, and Dora were all wearing flight suits and carrying helmets as well. “You have fifteen minutes to familiarize yourselves with the manuals in front of you. We do not expect you to get more than a brief overview. Blondie, Hoops, and Specs, your books are on the F-14 Tomcat. The three of you will be sitting rear seat in those planes, which means you will not have sticks to fly them. But you will get to experience ACM with them. Quarterback, your books are on the TA-4F, which is the two-seater trainer that Cobra and I fly. You’ll also get to experience ACM, because you’ll be with one of us acting as the aggressor against Mustang, Freezer, and Wizard. They’ll be the pilots of the Tomcats your ladies are in. Dracula and his RIO, Runner, will complete the group.” Five men with helmets under their arms walked in when he said that.

“Your time starts now.”

I had a suspicion that this was more than just a demonstration, so I made sure to read everything in the manuals in front of me, twice. I could hear the girls turning their pages nearly as fast as I was.

“Time’s up. Come along.”

We followed them out. There were six fighter jets lined up. I saw Cobra and Joker look at each other, give a little nod, and then split up. I turned and followed Cobra.

He grinned. “I had a feeling you’d ride with me.”

“Hopefully you’ll let me do a little bit more than ride,” I replied with a smile of my own.

“We’ll see. Come on, let’s get loaded up.”

While we were doing that, I heard some jets flying overhead. I looked up to see a flight of T-38 trainers going by a couple of thousand feet overhead. All five of them were inverted. I laughed, and Cobra paused what he was doing. “Yeah, those are nimble little buggers. They’re not going to pull any G’s, but inversions and loops are fine. Now, we’re going to pull some G’s, so make sure your suit is hooked up. You did read how to ... damn, you did. Good job.”