HOW DO YOU BEAT DÉJÀ VU

CHAPTER NINE

A/N: The AU gets more perverted as Jeannie comes face-to-face with her worst nightmare, and Tony goes AWOL.

Previously: While the guys from NASA drove off, inside Major Nelson's house was a slim column of blue smoke. It grew into an angry cloud; then, it took on solid form as it disappeared.

The Blue Djinn materialized in the house of the infidel who had defeated him, and he was not happy.

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Major Nelson suited up as soon as he arrived at NASA, ready to meet the top brass and Captain Elwood. He was putting on his helmet and waiting for the van to be taken to the launch site when Doctor Bellows, General Peterson, and an equally suited Elwood approached along with two sergeants. Tony could feel the rambling in his stomach. The butterflies he'd had earlier changed into full-fledged flying saucers—the kinds that fire on helpless victims on the ground.

General Peterson noticed Major Nelson's tense looking face and he said, "Tony, you're not nervous, are you?"

Major Nelson removed his helmet and admitted, "A little, Sir. It is in a section of space we haven't explored before."

Doctor Bellows told him, "Major Nelson, as I said before, you have nothing to worry about! The finest minds made the calculations so that you won't be near any black holes, or any phenomena that could disrupt the capsule. Since it's a short distance that you'll be travelling, there shouldn't be any errors."

But suppose there are? Major Nelson thought as he said, "Yessir."

"I understand how you both feel Tony…Charles. But you're the ones scheduled to go, and I'm under orders to deliver you both and Major Stevens," General Peterson said. "I'm gonna be rooting for you while you're up there. Believe me, we all will."

"Thanks, General," Elwood said, his deeper New York accent sounding.

"Where is Major Stevens?" Tony inquired.

When Doctor Bellows said he was on board the rocket already, Captain Elwood said, "Well, we better get a move on or we'll be late, big time!"

Major Nelson thought about his dream; his face turning stark white as he asked, "What did you say?"

Elwood was being escorted by the sergeants into the van which pulled up. "I said, 'let's step on it, or they'll be hell to pay!'" He shouted. Both officers saluted General Peterson and Doctor Bellows. The superior officers returned the hand signals; then, both space men got inside.

When the astronauts were seated, the junior officers pulled off toward the launch pad. Though the rocket loomed closer, all Tony saw was the events in his dream with startling clarity.

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Meanwhile, the Blue Djinn was searching for both the mortal who had gotten the better of him and the girl who consumed his thoughts for all of his days since he'd turned Jeannie into the genie meant to be his bride. He'd known she was near as soon as he'd arrived. It was this way between genies-they could sense each other. She had gotten quite clever at hiding herself from him, he thought, which would make revenge all the sweeter when he found her.

He knew, however, that this time his vengeance would be bittersweet. He was not meant for her in the end. Unfortunately, that had been the arrangement that had been made when he'd been freed from his bottle when Hadji had tossed him back in there. Normally, he still would have honored the oath he'd made to himself and killed whoever opened his bottle on sight, but even he recognized the power emanating from the being. He was not foolish enough to risk the stranger ending his life; so thusly, he would do what the stranger willed.

Of course, that did not mean that he could not make his errant former bride-to-be suffer just a little. His lips curled up in a smile (which on him looked more like a grimace,) when he saw her bottle on the strange looking item at last.

So, thou thought thou couldst hide her from me, did thee? Thou art a stupid fool! He thought about the one she had called "Master" much to the Djinn's chagrin. He was the one she should have paid tribute to! The Blue Djinn picked up the bottle, its little frame enclosed by his big hands.

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Inside, Jeannie was still fuming until she heard a laugh. It was a laugh she'd not heard for at least nine months, but it was a sound she would never forget.

The Blue Djinn! She thought with absolute terror.

Suddenly, before she could escape, the opening at the top of her bottle grew dark. Jeannie blinked on her candles in their urns, listening for the sounds of him; wondering where he'd strike next.

"Now, my errant one, thou art going to thy true Master!" the Djinn shouted. She felt the bottle shake as he carried it.

"No, do not do this!" Jeannie shouted, pounding on the bottle, the glass and jewels therein shaking with her fists. She scooted over to the other end of her sofa and cried, her mind reaching out to her Master, Master! HELP! Do something!

Moments later, the Blue Djinn disappeared with his precious prisoner.

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Tony rode the long elevator trip up to the capsule, his mind struggling to focus on the mission at hand.

"Boy, you are one preoccupied dude!" Captain Elwood commented, his brown eyes darting back and forth, trying to see all he could from under his helmet.

When Major Nelson turned his helmet to look at the officer, Elwood amended, "Sorry, sir!" He saluted Tony as best as he could. Tony turned his helmet back and regarded the rocket and its capsule.

As he did, his ears heard a terrified scream, and then a, Master! HELP! Do something!

"Jeannie?" Major Nelson yelled. Elwood caught his exclamation on his communicator.

"Jeannie, huh?" he asked. "Should have known it was about a girl. My wife's name's Beverly. I wouldn't worry, sir, we'll be having dinner with them before you know it."

Tony grimaced toward his fellow officer. He couldn't take more of Elwood's blasé attitude concerning things. Major Nelson tried to reach out with his mind, concentrating as Jeannie had told him he could, whenever he needed her.

But instead of her mental reassuring tone, he encountered nothing but silence. Tony was starting to panic. Had he done something wrong? Where was she? Why hadn't she responded?

"Stop the launch!" He suddenly exclaimed. When Elwood's helmet turned to stare at him, Tony said, "I just know our calculations are off! We need to get Major Stephens and rethink the launch date!"

Although he knew what Elwood's response would be, Tony hoped in vain that somehow, time could stand still until he could find out why Jeannie wasn't answering his mental cry.

"Oh, sure, sir, we'll just telephone LBJ at the White House, to say nothing of our fellow superiors down there, and stop things right away!" Elwood teased, thinking his superior officer was joking. "I'm afraid that I left my rotary downstairs."

Tony didn't say anything more until they reached the capsule. He lowered himself down into the cockpit, sliding in his chair on the left side of Major Stephens. "Sir," he said, "we need to abort! I was going over the mathematical equations, and I think we made a mistake."

Major D. Stephens, a sensible man by nature, turned his helmet toward both Nelson and Elwood. His frosty blue eyes scanned his fellow major, and then he said with a Southern timbre, "Ah'll call the General."

Stephens picked up the communicator, saying with quiet authority, "Put me through to General Peterson. Tell him this is a Code Yellow…Yes, ah'll accept full authority."

Both officers waited while Major Stephens talked. "Understood," he said. "Thank you, sir. Bye." He regarded Tony with an almost sympathetic look.

"Sorry, Major. They seem to feel that their quadruple checking of the systems is sufficient. In addition, they said that although the launch is two weeks early, the time spent on the project as a whole was way too long. The superiors want this bird to fly, and ah quite agree with them," he said. "So, prepare for departure."

"But, sir…" Tony protested.

"We'll check all systems both before departure, and at the space station up there," he assured the major. "Things'll work out. Ah'm sure it's something minor."

"But…" Tony responded.

Major Stephens signaled a cut off gesture with his right hand.

Major Nelson heard the countdown and he could feel sweat trickling off of his brow.

Ten…Nine…Eight….the numbers got lower, while Tony's pressure rose higher. He hoped that whatever was causing Jeannie not to respond that she would be able to get out of her situation without him.

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In the clouds, amongst the heavens, there was a golden road. This led to a magnificent white and gold palace with three towers, and Grecian columns. The edifice had a brilliantly shining door with the designs resembling hieroglyphics of the gods and goddesses of the Greek civilization.

Beyond the doors, in the most sacred chamber, was a settee of spun gold. Sitting on it, a figure draped in white cloth reached out to a golden bowl containing some of the most succulent grapes of the darkest purple.

The Being put some fruit into its mouth and chewed slowly, the bow shaped lips grinning in triumph. Soon, if things progressed smoothly, Major Anthony Nelson and his Jeannie would be torn apart.

Forever.