WIRED COMMUNICATIONS

- VIII -

by Regina Still

Three in the morning. When was the last time I had stayed up that late?

People from the base had apparently stayed up just to see us come back. We were greeted with hugs from a few people, mugs of hot chocolate from the cook (I would have preferred tea, but I'm not picky), and congratulations from everyone. Ned and Sinead were reunited with Ted and seemed relieved that he was all right. They even gave me hugs and seemed quite... pleased?... that I had gotten shot and survived, even if it was only a graze. (I guess my training gave me a wimpy reputation...)

Long story short, the "Welcome Home!" party was fantastic and lasted about as long as it took the three of us – that is, me, Ted and Alistair - to thank everyone, down our hot chocolate and collapse on our beds.

And then came the next morning.

I woke up late, despite the shrill shrieking of my alarm, but apparently nobody really expected us to arrive on time because Ted was also late for breakfast. But the cooks insisted on making us pancakes and eggs even though we were late, despite my own insisting that I was fine eating a couple pieces of fruit.

Best. Pancakes. Ever. If you're an Ekaterina, you need to talk to Bae about taking some summer classes at the Bermuda Triangle stronghold, because there you have to bunk in one of their many rooms and you get to try their pancakes. If you're not an Ekaterina... I feel really sorry for you.

After breakfast, it was time for our debriefing with Bae.

"Good luck," Sinead called after Ted and me as we walked away.

"You're gonna need it," I heard Ned mumble. I hoped he was joking.


"Ah, Regina, Ted, please have a seat," Bae said when we walked into his office. "I talked to Alistair earlier. He made it out unscathed and spoke highly of your bravery and resourcefulness. Well done."

"Thank you, Mr. Oh," we said in unison.

"Miss Still, how is your arm doing?" he asked.

"Quite well, sir. Just a graze," I assured.

"Good." He sat back in his seat. "I'll admit, I wasn't sure you would be able to pull it off, and yet here you are, alive and healthy, if a little banged up, and my nephew has been returned."

"We gave it our best shot, sir," Ted said. I nodded my agreement.

"It seems your best was good enough," Bae mused. "And as I promised, Mr. Starling, you now have mission points. And Miss Still, you are now recognized as an Ekaterina, the first in your line for many generations. Congratulations."

"Thank you," we both said, but I think we were both bursting with pride and excitement on the inside.

I glanced at Ted, only to see he was gazing at me, too. Over our eggs I had admitted that I really wanted to ask Bae if he would give me contact to my parents. I missed them dearly, and I wanted to see if I would be allowed to call them. Just once (although I'd take as many times as I could get). Just to let them know I was all right. Now Ted was raising his eyebrows and flicking his eyes in Bae's direction. Go on, he urged. Ask him.

"Mr. Oh?" I began. He looked at me. "I was wondering... if perhaps I could give my parents a call? I really miss them, and I have no idea if they know I'm okay. They may think I'm dead. Surely you understand?"

Bae was silent for a long time. For awhile, I thought I had made him mad, which maybe I did, but in any case, he said, "No, I'm sorry."

I was more or less flabbergasted. Even Ted seemed pretty surprised, his blue eyes widening a bit. He glanced at me, but my face was completely calm; something I had taught myself a couple years before.

"That's all right, sir. Thank you for considering it," I said, something between a calmness and a cheeriness in my voice, hopefully not as fake-sounding to him as it was to me.

He nodded. "You're welcome. I'm sorry about it."

"No need to be. I understand completely," I lied. In truth I understood nothing, but I wasn't about to say that to him.

My plan was almost complete, anyway.

After we walked out, Ted tried to apologize for the rejection. I shrugged and said that I expected that answer (which wasn't a lie) and that I was going to the library.

When I got there, Sinead was sitting in a chair fiddling with her phone. She asked me how it went and when I said it went well enough, she asked what that meant. I just said, "My access was denied." She seemed to understand.

Without hesitation, I went over to the area I had scouted out a couple days before, plucked a book from the shelf and began skimming the table of contents to find what I wanted to read about.

All that was left was praying it worked out the way I wanted it to.


Night fell, but it wasn't really late. Maybe nine o'clock, maybe ten. I wasn't totally sure, all I knew was that I was dressed completely in black, a notebook under my arm, creeping along the hallways and trying to avoid suspicious gazes – and people in general.

I tried to picture the layout of the base in my head, but I didn't have much of one. Craig had been talking so much through the whole tour that I could barely focus on anything, let alone making a map of the place. And still, there were places I hadn't seen, and the place I was going was one of them.

I continued down the hallways and soon found what I was looking for. It was more or less the central hub for all communicational efforts, including the one place that the phone lines ran into. That was my mission that night: going in and splicing the phone line and calling my parents, praying that I could somehow manage to do it. I held an old phone, but I wasn't sure if the interface would accept it. I guess I would see.

The room was protected by a keypad, but that was nothing: I took some talcum powder from one of the many labs and dusted it on the keys, then blew it off. It stuck where there were body oils to hold it in place, and where it was thickest there were more oils. I pressed the buttons in the order of thickest powder to least-thick powder and the lock retracted. So far, so good.

I managed to locate the phone line panel because it was labeled, and the correct phone line thanks to the diagram I drew in my notebook. But that's as far as I got before I was caught.

"I'd ask what you're doing in here if I didn't already know."

I whipped around and, standing in the doorway I had foolishly left open, was the one and only Ned Starling.

"Oh, Ned," I whispered, relieved, "it's only you. Don't scare me like that."

He smiled in the sub-darkness. "I had a feeling you wouldn't take no for an answer."

I sighed. "So, what? Are you going to rat me out? Get me kicked out of the Ekat circle I just got into?"

"No," he said simply. He walked over and hooked up a laptop, which I hadn't realized was tucked under his arm, to the panel in the wall. "I'm here to help," he added. He typed on it for a few minutes and then smiled, closing the lid. "The next call made from here won't be recorded. It will be like it never happened." He smiled again.

"I... I don't know what to say, Ned," I said, almost wanting to cry. "Thank you so much."

"Hey, no problem," he said. He took my phone from me and quickly hook it up, handing me the receiver a minute later. "When you're done with your call, just unhook this wire and no one will ever know, okay?"

"Okay. Thanks so much, Ned. I owe you one."

"Darn right you do. Don't expect me not to collect one day. But for now, reap the benefits of being friends with a genius."

We laughed.

He disconnected his laptop and walked out, closing the door behind him. I quickly dialed my home phone number, praying at every brrrrrr sound that my parents were home and would pick up.

Please be home, please pick up, Lord, have them be home, have them pick up in spite of the unknown number, have them-...

"Hello?"

Tears immediately sprang to my eyes, and suddenly I thanked God for Ned. How did I get along before meeting the Starling triplets? "Mom?" I asked quietly.

"Honey?!" She sounded shocked and tired and happy. I thought I heard her sniff. She called for my father, and when he came on the line, he asked, "Regina, are you okay?"

It took me a second to answer. I quickly made a little slide show in my mind of everything that had happened from the time I got kidnapped up to that point. Fear, embarrassment, shame, loneliness, confusion, elation, freedom, joy and more swirled throughout me and as I began to think about it, and all the friends I had made and the things I had learned, I knew what the answer was.

"Yeah, Dad... I'm doing fantastic. You'll never believe what's been going on. But first, how are you doing?"

"Much better now," my mother assured. "What's been happening?"

So I told them. I told them about Ted. And Sinead. And Ned. And the Cahills. And the Ekaterinas. And my heritage. And my break-in at Fort Knox (which they had heard about on the news). I told them everything. No expense spared. Just like it is with this book.

A few hours later, I told them that I should probably get to bed, and hung up.

I slept better that night than ever before.


Author's Afterword

So there you have it, people. That was how your hero started out; getting kidnapped, failing every test, nearly getting killed at a Lucian base, and whining about everything along the way. If that's the kind of person you want to idolize, go ahead; I'll be more than happy to pay for your head examination if you send me the bill.

However, I hope this was more enlightening than it really felt. I hope my point was made and understood. I hope you guys realize that I'm not worth all the hoopla you insist on throwing my way.

I don't really expect it, because I know you guys. But it's a beautiful thought.

Oh, don't worry. My story doesn't end there. This is a trilogy, remember? I haven't even told you what's a lie and what's the truth about the time during the Clue hunt. Or after the Vespers attack and the hostages are still hostages. You'll see. Any respect you may have gained from this story (even though I didn't destroy the Lucians with mind-melding powers like that one exaggeration, escaping with Jolly Ranchers is still pretty cool) is guaranteed to be completely gone by the end of the next story. Just you wait and see. You'll see me for what I truly am soon enough.

Keep on the lookout for my next book, the second in "The Girl in Argyle" trilogy, because with any luck it's going to be coming to you real soon.

Until we meet again.