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Forty-eight hours later, Joshua found himself sitting in a very boring meeting. He shifted uncomfortably in the hard-back chair and almost regretted not just letting Renee handle the conference, especially when she kicked him in the shin, interrupting an almost-yawn. He had allowed Renee to come along, not that she'd really given him any choice about that, anyway. He'd forgotten that most of the time these meetings were more socializing and less business. And of course, one could not forget the long presentations of figures and statistics. The presenters droned on and on, either sounding naively enthusiastic, or attempting to sound that way and everyone else pretty much pretended to look interested. Joshua seriously doubted that anyone was.
The meeting finally broke for lunch and Renee met him at the door, "Up for some lunch?"
Joshua nodded, fatigued, and the two walked down the hallway. Josh moved aside to let several people by //You would think they'd have hallways that two people could walk down, especially at a conference site//. He brushed against a closet door and:
i He saw the closet as if it were open. As if the door were standing wide open. In the closet was a bomb ticking . . . and ticking away . . . counting down . . ."/i
He shook his head and stopped for in his tracks, not moving. Touching his head, a look of confusion over what just happened crossed his face.
"Joshua, what's wrong?" Renee asked softly.
Joshua didn't seem to hear but he pulled open the closet. The door had evidently remained unopened for a long time, as it was hard to open, nearly painted shut for that matter. He got a look at the inside - - exactly as Joshua had "seen".
Renee looked at him, puzzled. The puzzlement turned to horror when she saw the contents of the closet.
She turned to the security guard at the end of the hall, and hurridly explained the situation. He came to look and immediately pulled out his radio and began sending instructions to the other guards in the building. Shortly after, Joshua followed Renee out of the building, feeling very shocked.
Outside, Renee asked, "How did you know?"
"I don't know." he answered. He felt confused, terrified, bewildered, and shocked. But by far the scariest thing to him was the realization that he had no control over this . . . whatever it was. Where had that come from? What was it? Why had he known? Was he going crazy? Should he tell anyone? He had no answer to any of these questions.
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Blair Sandburg and Jim Ellison arrived at the museum early. Already the crowds had begun to gather -- People hoping for a glimpse of the Taelons.
They climbed out of the truck and Jim slowly took in his surroundings. Two men looked up from a group and headed across to meet them.
The shorter of the two introduced himself, "I'm Agent Ronald Sandoval," he said unemotionally, "And this is Major Liam Kincaid," he added indicating the taller man with blond hair. Jim nodded at Kincaid who seemed amused by Jim's reaction to Sandoval's attitude. Jim didn't like the way the man spoke, talking down.
"I'm Detective Jim Ellison." he said neutrally.
"Your record is quite impressive, Detective."
"Thank you."
Blair could tell that something about the agent made Jim uncomfortable, but Jim never liked federal agents anyway. They rarely had personality and tended to be ultra-businesslike and just plain bossy. It didn't look like Agent Sandoval was any different.
Blair introduced himself, "I'm Blair Sandburg. I'm an anthropologist and an advisor to the Cascade PD."
Sandoval looked at him, "I'm afraid we cannot allow civilians on the premises. I'm afraid you'll have to leave."
Blair looked hurt.
"He's my partner," Jim objected, emphasizing the word 'partner'.
"Detective, may I speak with you a moment?" Jim nodded and the two walked off to the side. "Detective, I don't know how you do things here and frankly, I don't care, but this is MY operation and what I say goes. I will not have a civilian here interfering, regardless of whether or not your boss decided to make an outsider your partner."
"I thought you said you wanted our best work, Agent?" Jim said, unable to entirely keep the sarcasm out of his voice, "Blair is a member of the Department. He just happens to be an advisor rather than a cop. And we do the best job when we work together. I would think that you'd want to use every resource available to protect your companions. He has the necessary clearance."
"Detective there is a certain need for secrecy, if you can't understand that . . ."
"I was in Covert ops. I think I know a thing or two about secrecy. And if you have any doubts about my abilities then why did you ask for me for this assignment? And why the hell did you recommend me for a companion protector position? You were the one who did that weren't you?"
"I don't like your attitude, Detective." Sandoval said threateningly.
Jim wasn't phased, "And I've had more than enough of yours." He turned and walked back to where Sandburg was in an animated conversation with Kincaid. A conversation about anthropology - no less. And Kincaid actually seemed genuinely interested.
Sandburg noticed his return and said something to Kincaid, who nodded and turned to talk with Sandoval. "You know Jim, I was thinking . . you know the bomb they found yesterday? At the business conference? I read the report. I know I wasn't supposed to but I was waiting in Simon's office for you two and I was naturally curious. There was no logical reason anyone should have found the bomb. I mean, it was in an old closet that was no longer in use."
"Yeah so?"
"So why would Doors have known?"
"The report said that the door was knocked open, Darwin."
"Yeah, but I uh, went by the conference center on a whim and checked out the door."
Jim rolled his eyes and sighed. "It's not the kind of door that can easily be opened, much less "knocked" open."
"You've lost me Chief."
"What if Joshua Doors is a Sentinel?"
"Hold it right there. That can't be - I haven't felt anything wrong or anything."
"I know Jim, but I have a feeling about this. I sent him a message, scheduling a meeting."
"And why would he meet with you?"
"I didn't tell him who I was, just that I had important information."
"Chief! Don't you know who he is? Doors International? Heir to Doors Empire? Son of the THE Jonathan Doors? Lots of money? Does any of this ring a bell?"
"What are you saying Jim?"
"I'm saying be careful."
"Don't worry, I won't tell him anything about your abilities. I'll be careful."
"That's what I'm afraid of - face it: you have bad luck being careful."
"Shut up Jim." Blair rolled his eyes, and attempted to sound cross.
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