Part II
"Where's the file?" Eddie asked. They were now inside Col. Nelson's office.
"File's in there," said Tony Jr. as he pointed to a row of file cabinets. He then pointed to Major Nelson's desk and added, "The key is under the desk."
"Well, GET it!" Eddie hissed.
Tony Jr. crawled underneath the desk as Eddie and Guzer waited by the file cabinets. Underneath the desk, he spotted an alarm button.
Tony Jr. crossed himself and prayed for the best. Here goes nothing.
Tony Jr. touched the alarm button and bolted for the door. The air was soon filled with the sound of wailing Klaxons.
"The kid tricked us!" exclaimed Guzer. "This place is gonna be swarming with MPs!"
"GET him!" Eddie barked.
"HEALEY! Someone's broken into the files at the space center!" said General Wescott as he cradled a brick-sized cell phone. "Let's get outta here!"
"Right," said Col. Healey as he twisted the key in the ignition, struggling to turn the engine over.
C'mon, baby, do it for Daddy, Col. Healey thought as the engine groaned and churned. Do it for Uncle Roger.
All at once, the jeep miraculously roared to life. Thank you, God, Col. Healey prayed silently as he shifted the creaking transmission into Drive.
"CHAAAAAAAARGE!" boomed General Wescott as he stood up in the back of the jeep and pointed the way. "I'm coming through!"
Mr. Simpson sat at a stop sign about two blocks away from NASA's main entrance. All at once, a stream of wailing police cars began making a beeline for the front gate right along with him.
I guess that's for me, Mr. Simpson thought as he joined the convoy.
"I think he's in here!" said Guzer as he ran inside the storeroom.
Eddie rushed in after Guzer and slammed the doors behind him (A pair of three-inch-thick fire-rated steel doors, to be exact.)
Tony Jr. lay facedown on the floor, behind several stacks of chairs, keeping out of sight.
"Let's throw a little LIGHT on the subject," said Eddie as he flipped on the lights.
"Olly, olly, oxen-free! C'mon out!" Eddie cried. He then taunted, "Nowhere to run, kid! The doors are locked!
"It's just you and me!"
Third Floor, NASA Executive Office Building.
The creature stood outside the locked storeroom, its quarry now mere feet away.
Three heartbeats, the creature thought.
Its adrenaline surged. Its heart raced. Its chest pounded. The scent of its prey now filled its nostrils.
Anthony is HERE.
Tony Jr. leaped up and ran towards the far side of the room.
"There he is! GET HIM!" Eddie shouted as he and Guzer ran towards Tony Jr.
"You're DEAD, kid!" Eddie shouted as he hobbled towards Tony Jr.
All at once, a loud BOOM filled the air. The heretofore locked three-inch-thick fire-rated steel doors were suddenly blasted wide open, open to the point of their falling off their hinges.
Eddie and Guzer turned on their heels towards the smoke-filled empty space that was once the doorway.
A lone petite, trim, female figure emerged from the smoke. She had a mane of blonde hair and was wearing a red dress with beige heels.
"Who … is THAT?" Eddie snapped as he stared at the silhouetted figure of Jeannie standing in the doorway.
"I dunno, but she's looking at YOU!" Guzer replied.
"DO NOT TOUCH HIM!" Jeannie thundered, her voice inhumanly echoing and reverberating throughout the room.
Tony Jr. turned towards Jeannie and exclaimed, "Mom!"
Guzer looked at Tony Jr., then back towards Jeannie. " 'Mom?' " he interjected. "You're his MOTHER?"
Silently and deliberately, Jeannie folded her arms in front of her chest, assuming a fighting posture.
"You're toast," said Eddie to Jeannie as he drew his gun and hobbled towards her. "You're DEAD!"
Jeannie blinked. Eddie's gun suddenly flew out of his grasp and landed on the floor nearby.
Guzer stared wide-eyed at the gun. "How'd she do that?" he wondered aloud.
"Get the gun! GET THE GUN!" Eddie shrieked.
As Guzer reached for the gun, Jeannie blinked again. The gun disappeared, only to reappear in Jeannie's hand.
Jeannie studied the gun for a moment. She then threw it away behind her and again folded her arms in front of her chest, assuming her fighting posture once more.
"Get the kid! Get the KID!" Eddie screamed.
Thinking quickly, Guzer picked up a chair and raised it over his head, as if to drop it on Tony Jr.'s skull.
"Guz, you don't wanna do this," Tony Jr. warned.
"I got's ta, Tony," Guzer whined.
"You don't know what you're DEALING with!" Tony Jr. shouted. "She's not as she APPEARS!"
Guzer glanced around as he prepared to throw the chair at Tony Jr. "Just turn your head or something," he said.
Jeannie blinked. The chair disappeared from Guzer's grasp.
Guzer looked up over his head, into the empty space where the chair had once been
Jeannie blinked and disappeared. As she disappeared, disembodied evil laughter suddenly echoed throughout the room.
"She's gone," said Eddie.
"Where'd she go?" Guzer asked. "She was just here."
All at once, a set of gnarled, transparent, liquid talons attached to a muscular forearm grabbed Guzer by his belt buckle and hoisted him into the air!
"GUZ!" Eddie cried.
"EDDIE!" Guzer sputtered. He kicked, flailed, and clawed at the air.
A second set of gnarled, transparent, liquid talons grabbed Guzer's throat. The transparent, liquid creature then heaved Guzer at Eddie, causing the two of them to collapse in a heap.
Eddie pushed Guzer off of him and lurched forward, only to find himself (and Guzer) trapped in an enchanted, invisible box!
"What is this?" Eddie wondered aloud as a dazed Guzer staggered to his feet. "I'm bangin' into NOTHIN'!" Eddie slammed his shoulder against the side of the enchanted, invisible box, trying to break free.
As Guzer and Eddie struggled to free themselves, disembodied evil laughter once more echoed throughout the room.
The Monster ... The Creature ... The Entity that Jeannie truly was ... had just been awakened from its slumber.
All for Anthony ... Her Beloved Son.
Jeannie reappeared once more, near the empty doorway. Tony Jr. rushed to his mother's side.
"Nice work," said Jeannie to Tony Jr. "Job well done."
"They gonna be OK?" Tony Jr. asked.
"They will be fine," Jeannie said quietly. "The police should be able to handle them from here on out."
"Let us go," said Jeannie as she and Tony Jr. turned and walked out the doorway.
"I take back everything I said about you," said Tony Jr. as he and Jeannie walked down the hallway.
"What do you mean?" Jeannie asked, glancing at him quizzically.
"About your ..."
Jeannie grabbed Tony Jr. by the shoulder, stopping him.
"You have no need to apologize," said Jeannie.
"I don't?"
Jeannie shook her head ... No. "You are not the first person to react this way," she said. "They do tend to frighten ... most people."
"I was wrong," said Tony Jr. "They're a part of you. I was wrong to say anything."
"Anthony ..."
"What is it?"
"I want you to promise me something," said Jeannie.
"What?"
"If something is troubling you, I want you to tell me," said Jeannie.
Tony Jr.'s eyebrows shot upwards. "Really?"
Jeannie nodded. "I have spent too many years walking on eggshells, tiptoeing around ... 'elephants in the room', as it were.
"This is NOT what I want ... from my son."
"I will do it," said Tony Jr.
Jeannie then added, "Having said this, I DO reserve the right to use them ... when the need arises."
Tony Jr. smiled a thin smile. "Of course," he said.
Jeannie and Tony Jr. emerged from the elevator in NASA's parking garage (The police having gone inside moments before to apprehend Eddie and Guzer.)
"Mrs. Nelson!" Mr. Simpson cried as he rushed towards Tony Jr. and Jeannie. All three were now in the parking garage.
"Hi, Mr. Simpson," said Tony Jr., greeting him.
"How …?" Mr. Simpson asked, pointing and gesticulating wildly.
"How WHAT?" Jeannie inquired.
"How … How did you … DO that?" Mr. Simpson asked.
Jeannie cocked her head coquettishly. "Do WHAT?"
"You BEAT me! You beat me HERE!" Mr. Simpson spat out the words. "We were ten miles away! You were on foot!
"How …"
Jeannie gently placed a hand on Mr. Simpson's shoulder. "Mr. Simpson," she said. "There is a lot I have not told you about myself."
"How …"
Jeannie touched her fingertips to Mr. Simpson's lips, bidding him silent. "For now, let us leave it at that," she said quietly with a smile.
At that moment, General Wescott and Col. Healey pulled up in the creaking, groaning jeep.
"Mrs. Nelson, you have a LOT to answer for," said a red-faced General Wescott as he got out of the jeep, the veins on his neck bulging with rage.
Just as General Wescott was about launch into his tirade, the elevator door opened. A brace of police officers brought out a handcuffed Eddie and Guzer. The police brought Eddie and Guzer over to General Wescott for his inspection.
"Who … are THEY?" General Wescott snapped as he gestured at Eddie and Guzer.
"Your spies, General," Jeannie said quietly, smiling a small smile of satisfaction.
"SPIES?" General Wescott exclaimed. He then glowered at Jeannie.
"This TIME, Mrs. Nelson," General Wescott growled as he turned and walked away with the police, Eddie, and Guzer.
"All's well that ends well, I guess," said Col. Healey.
"Quite," said Jeannie. "I guess our work here is done." She then added, "Shall we go?"
