Rift 50
Lex had absolutely everyone in the cabin with her since she'd called for all of them. "Okay, I've been talking with a local base commander that covers the area upon which Germany plans to execute a strike. Particularly the Prudhoe Bay in Alaska. Which for the sake of Rodgers and Sno, is the home of all crab fishing in the Bering Sea. It's the home of the United States crab fishing fleet. Losing this location will cause a potential economic catastrophe and hurt the U.S. At the moment the Bering Sea is claimed by both sides, so it's possible that the U.S., or Bracken, will simply overlook the strike and do nothing."
"Or start World War III and blow us all to hell and back." Jim had seen a lot already thanks to his travels on the stairs. He even remembered the world that was already radioactive and almost killed them all, especially Lex.
Seeking comfort, Johanna took hold of his arm and leaned into him.
"And what does this base commander want?" Rick inquired since he didn't know just what they could do for him.
"A little history first. This commander, one Lieutenant General Kenneth S. Wisbach, Commander of the Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, is based in Anchorage, Alaska." Lex informed everyone exactly who was presently on one of her screens. "We need to convince him that he needs our help or he will lose Dutch Harbor and access to the crab fishing grounds of the Bering Sea." Lex had already advised him what that loss might mean for the economy.
{}O{}O{}O{}O{}O{}O{}O{}O{}O{}O{}O{}O{}O{}O{}O{}O{}O{}O{}O{}O{}O{}O{}O{}O{}O{}O{}O{}O{}O{}O{}O{}O{}O{}O{}O{}O{}O{}O{}O{}O{}O{}O{}O{}
They were all sitting around another bonfire on the beach late in the day after supper. Lex couldn't help but notice that everyone had teamed up. Jim and Johanna. Rick and Kate. Her dad and Kate. Rodgers and Sno. While she had Alexis.
"It sounded like he believed us," Jim commented by turning their conversation to something more serious.
"He'd make a good poker player," Castle remarked.
Then Castle felt Kate take his hand and place it on her belly. "He's active tonight," she remarked. "That much wiggling around and you'd think it was a girl dancing around." Castle would have preferred to have a girl, but he was happy to have any child with Kate. "Our little soccer player," Kate smiled and leaned across to kiss Castle's cheek.
"We need to talk later," Kate said to her husband and placed her hand on her own belly. She'd been told that she was pregnant by Lex and her scanner, she just wasn't showing yet.
"It's not so much that it hurts, though there are times when it does, it just feels…different. You can't help but notice that there's something moving inside you," Kate tried to explain. Not unwilling to share with the others.
"You think you love your unborn child now, wait until it is born and you can hold it, feel it, smell it. You thought you knew love until they place your first child in your arms. Then you really understand love." Castle touched Kate's face and kissed her.
"We felt that with Katie. Happy and in love. Finally free from worrying about you. Then we just had to learn about a new type of worry," Jim added for the benefit of everyone.
"I don't understand." Kate noticed the other Kate was also looking at them.
"You weren't our first," Jim related sadly, looking at both Katies. Everyone looked at Johanna a little more intently.
"I miscarried the first two times. There were times we were scared we were going to lose you, too. Then you were in our arms and you were perfect. Our own little miracle." There was a faint smile on Johanna's face as she remembered the first time she saw Katie, when the doctor laid her on her belly.
"You weren't so bad during your terrible twos. You were smart for your age, and then came your teenage years." Johanna involuntarily and quite visibly shuddered.
"Sorry!" Both Kates chorused at the same time.
"I didn't really mean to be such a–" Kate was interrupted by Kate.
"Yes, actually we did. We knew exactly what we were doing and why. Then it was off to college where nothing changed. Until Mom died…" Kate was being open and honest for a change and she blamed Castle for that. Still here she was, pregnant and in love. Somewhere she was certain she was never going to be.
"Yeah." Kate admitted it, all of it.
"Except it was you two that died," Johanna reminded them. It was one of the reasons why she went where Jim went. The pain of losing her husband and her only daughter was still very vivid in her memory.
"Timelines," Lex offered softly to explain it all. "I'm going to put this one to bed." Lex looked down at the sleeping Alexis who was partly in her lap.
"I'll take her." Rick got up, lifted Alexis off of Lex and carried her inside.
"He's a good man," Johanna remarked as she watched him walk away. "You both are." She turned her gaze on Castle.
"He is. I got lucky there," Kate agreed.
"He changed my life, made me better. Got me out from behind my walls and taught me how to live and love again." Kate really loved him with all of her heart. She was already sitting close to Castle, now she inched a little closer and rested her head against his shoulder.
"You would have found someone." Castle had faith in her.
"No, I wouldn't. I would have just kept on doing what I was doing. Remember how long it took you to reach me? Without you I wouldn't even be here. Being here, right here. It might be a little weird, but somehow it just feels like it's the right place to be." Kate looked over at Rodgers who looked so much like her husband. Not to mention the other Rick that had carried Alexis away.
"Plus this is much nicer than living in 1876 with the threat of an Indian attack meant to kill us all." Castle had mostly liked living there. He'd experienced a Wild West that was just a little too wild for his taste, though. He hated to admit it, but he enjoyed the creature comforts this place offered.
"I miss having a job. Something to do." Kate was getting just a little bored. Being here felt like a vacation. But eventually vacations ended and you went back to work.
"You'll get there. Step one has already been taken," Lex said.
Kate's gaze settled on her mother. "Why didn't you tell me?" Kate asked with a glare.
"Yes, why?" The other Kate glared at both of her parents.
"What would it have changed if you had known? Besides we were happy to have our little miracle," Johanna replied, just a touch perplexed.
"I would have known I almost had a sister." It wasn't that Kate didn't like or didn't want to be an only child.
Lex put in her two cents. "Well now you both do."
Rodgers joined in. "I'm an only child."
"Make that two," Rick said.
Castle added his voice. "Three." And truth be told he was loving this little bonfire. Listening to the Kates and Jim and Johanna.
"Same here, not counting my stepsisters," Lex chimed in.
Sno spoke up for the first time. "I don't even have a family." All this family talk was interesting, but it also told her just how alone she really was and had been.
"You have us." Rodgers wrapped his arm around her shoulder to pull her in a little tighter.
"Which reminds me." Lex got up, pulled an injector, and tapped Rodgers' arm with it then went back to where she was sitting.
"We're going to have a talk about these shots of yours." Rodgers had had about enough of them. They were just about every week and he was now beyond curious.
"I'll let Sno explain them before the next one." Lex was hoping that those two were close enough by now. Plus it was only a couple of weeks before Alexis was supposed to show up. Lex was really looking forward to seeing her. Yet she feared for Snohbal at the same time. This timeline was different. So just how different was her stepsister?
Kate deliberately asked a question to change the subject. "Is this going to work? Put a stop to Bracken, I mean."
"Our second step has just been taken. We have the Lieutenant General based in Miami on our side after that business with South Africa and the unknown base near here that we raided. After the Alaska force is stopped we'll have another person on our side.
"He may be Commander in Chief, but the way he's running things." Lex shook her head, as did Rick.
"You can't micromanage anything while sitting in Washington. You have to trust the commanders you have under your command." Rick was military and knew what was happening was doomed to failure.
"Lyndon Johnson, Adolf Hitler," Castle added.
Kate again questioned if this was really going to work. "Can we really fix this? I mean it's just us."
"We have two aces in the hole and an escape door if we need to use it," Lex reminded her.
"Me and Alexis." Rodgers was willing to help. He was hoping that he and his daughter could easily shoot down every ICBM that was ever fired.
"Or back into the stairs." Kate didn't like that option. At least not until after she had given birth, preferably in a hospital. The thought of it had her sighing. Castle hugged her.
"Miami isn't far, Kate, and Alexis got us medical coverage." Castle did his best to take away her anxiety over where she was going to give birth to their child.
Lex offered her own ounce of comfort. "Once my stepsister, Alexis, gets here, we can see if she's upgraded her ship. It will not be state-of-the-art for 2327. And even if she hasn't, it's still better than any hospital here."
"Just without a doctor, unless she is one," Kate countered with some irritation.
"If Alexis has upgraded her ship using Alliance technology, you won't need a doctor," Rodgers said. "I'm also in big trouble," he added softly. That recording he'd played for her told her about his mine that was making him a fortune. A mine and the amount of money she knew nothing about. It was just one more thing he still wanted to talk with Lex about. And Sno was going to get an earful tonight about those shots.
"Back on topic." Kate wanted to be sure. She liked the place Lex had gotten for them. That and the car. "Will he do it?" If Lex was right about Bracken micromanaging everything, would he defer to him and allow Bracken to do nothing? Or would he attack with what he had.
Lex let them in on something she hadn't shared with them yet. "Well, he's also about to find out that an entire wing of B-1Bs are being transferred to his base to help with the attack. That and two Los Angeles-class attack submarines. It was the best I could come up with to help him. Between Rick and myself we've managed to crack not just the present German code but the United States code as well.
"Gotta love the year 2327. It may be present about 2013 now, but to us it's the past." Lex started grinning.
"That's my girl!" Castle started beaming with pride. Kate felt the need to smack him lightly in the arm, but she was impressed herself. She knew Castle was proud of his daughter and loved her dearly so she let him have his moment.
"Bracken needs to be gone for any of this to work." Kate wanted him gone. Mostly in prison but at least gone. Her mother might be standing right there, but the pain of losing her was still very real for her.
"We're working on it. But it's a work in progress. I'd love to send out what we have and have him arrested right now. It's just that he's the president which makes him infinitely more difficult to reach." Lex was thinking months if not a year or more.
"Politics!" Jim spat out the word with pure disdain for the topic. Johanna might be standing right next to him, but in his mind she had still been killed. He was even noticing slight differences between his Johanna and this one. Not enough to keep him from loving her. Just differences.
"So what's next?" Kate inquired since she was curious. She was starting to get bored. No job, no school. Not much to do except keep track of one five, almost six-year-old little girl, who was growing up fast.
"Once the Alaska strike force is defeated, we get him to talk with the Lieutenant General in Miami and see if either or both are willing to do an end run around Bracken. We need allies in the States.
"My only fear is that Germany will do something more drastic after suffering two defeats. Something bigger. Something that will test Bracken." Lex really didn't understand this Bracken. He was different somehow.
"You mean press the button." Castle wondered if that was what his daughter was thinking.
"That's why we have Rodgers and his ship and hopefully Alexis after she arrives. They'll prevent him from blowing up the planet." Lex was pretty sure Rodgers would help.
Jim snapped his fingers. "That radioactive world we encountered off of the stairs. The one where you got sick." He was pretty sure he was keeping up if not out in front this time.
"Highly possible, yes." Lex was ready to agree.
"Radioactive planet?" Castle's eyebrows were practically meeting his hairline in alarm. They began telling everyone about that one door and that world.
"OH! You should have seen the world with the floating disk cities, Dad. You would have loved it. I'm still not sure why no animals, no tractors–"
Jim interrupted her. "And why the football gear for armor and the baseball bat weaponry," he added.
Rick contributed his 2 cents. "And the name changes. Argo for Agriculture, Tesh for Technicians. And yet the floating disks suggest Alliance technology."
That had them explaining to Castle and the others about that world. "No pictures?" Castle really wanted to see that.
Lex shook her head. "Sorry, Dad. You can go through the door and count the number of doors down to reach it if you want and look for yourself." She started grinning.
"You take one step, Castle, and I'll shoot you," Kate threatened. While she did still have her Colt Six-Shooter from 1876 when she was sheriff, she just didn't happen to have it on her at the moment.
Castle actually did feel torn. He wanted to see and he knew Kate's threat was partly empty in that she wouldn't actually shoot him. It was just that she had other weapons she could use on him that were equally painful.
"We'll talk later. Maybe you can draw something." Castle settled for that. Kate latched onto his arm and leaned into him.
Jim changed the subject, partly because talking about blowing up the world was depressing. "Fishing expedition tomorrow? We can either take the yacht or take the dingy off the back. We have four extra mouths that we didn't account for when we left the ship," he reminded them.
Lex knew he had a point. While the house had stores just like last time, they were well into using what they had come with. Yes, it was a lot, but they were using it up fast.
"Do we risk a trip to say Florida?" Rick inquired since a trip like that might mean trouble.
"I've created backgrounds and IDs for everyone except for Rodgers and Sno. You each have a driver license and medical coverage; you just don't actually have any physical money. It's all in your bank accounts." Lex didn't see any real obstacles in that regard.
"We dock, take taxis to the various stores. Load up the taxis, transfer it all onto the boat, and come back." Castle didn't see a problem.
"Let me do some research and get some addresses so you know what to tell the taxi driver," Lex said.
Kate spoke up. "We need more swimsuits." Alexis was starting to outgrow hers. "And more clothes for later, maybe." Five year olds grew fast.
"Makeup and other products," Johanna added.
"Movies, books, local papers." Castle was all for it.
Rick suggested that they talk to people and get a feel for what they were thinking.
"Do you two want to come with or stay?" Lex looked at Rodgers and Sno.
"Would you think badly of us if we didn't?" Rodgers was thinking if they stayed they would have the entire place to themselves. Being alone with Sno had a certain appeal.
"No." The fact that he was even asking to stay with her made Lex hopeful. "Sounds like fishing tomorrow followed by a trip to Key West." She was in.
"Yes!" Castle was happy. He hadn't noticed that he was following his daughter's lead. That somehow Lex had taken control over their group, including him.
{}O{}O{}O{}O{}O{}O{}O{}O{}O{}O{}O{}O{}O{}O{}O{}O{}O{}O{}O{}O{}O{}O{}O{}O{}O{}O{}O{}O{}O{}O{}O{}O{}O{}O{}O{}O{}O{}O{}O{}O{}O{}O{}O{}
Sno was resting halfway on top of a naked Rodgers after four rounds of making love. She was trying to get her breath back so she could start round five. She had enjoyed making love with Lex, and in a way she kind of missed it. Though Rodgers was a good lover. It was while she was resting that it occurred to her that she thought she had heard Lex scream out her own orgasm. It made her feel better being with Rodgers knowing that Lex wasn't suffering in silence.
Rodgers himself was resting while smiling. Somehow Sno had far more stamina than he'd given her credit for. If she was thinking of starting a round five, he was in big trouble. "She's going to kill me," ran through his it was one hell of a way to go. It was also a good time to ask his question. "About those shots." He was ready to start talking about them and why he needed them so badly every stinking week.
Snohbal moaned. She had been dreading this since they had started making love. She was learning to love him and was hoping he was learning to love her. God knows they were always together. "Later?" She wanted to wait as long as she could and reached down to grasp his flaccid penis with the intent of making him hard again.
Rodgers wanted an answer and gently took her hand away. Plus he was starting to fear it would fall off if he had another erection. "Now."
{}O{}O{}O{}O{}O{}O{}O{}O{}O{}O{}O{}O{}O{}O{}O{}O{}O{}O{}O{}O{}O{}O{}O{}O{}O{}O{}O{}O{}O{}O{}O{}O{}O{}O{}O{}O{}O{}O{}O{}O{}O{}O{}O{}
Lex was panting heavily and was just starting to pull the Monster out of her when a sobbing Sno came bursting into her room and almost landed on her. The fact that she was naked in her human form wasn't lost on her. Sno was sobbing big time and had latched onto her. However, for Lex it was first things first. "Demon form, Snohbal." Lex wrapped her arms around her and held her. She was obviously hurting, Lex just didn't understand why.
Lex was gratified that somehow through all those tears and her shaking body that she suddenly had a sobbing naked demon in her arms. Lex held her even tighter and let her cry. Snohbal was her sister, sort of. As well as an ex-lover.
Lex felt the Monster slide out of her and left it there as she held her. She was no longer interested in sex since she was satisfied for now. Besides Snohbal was no longer hers to have sex with.
Eventually Snohbal calmed down a little. It was enough for Lex to be able to ask what had happened.
"He knows!" And Snohbal started body quaking sobs all over again.
"OH SHIT!"
