DISCLAIMER: This story is based on characters created by Alexander Key and
owned by Walt Disney Pictures. This is fan fiction, and not endorsed by
Mr. Key, his estate, or Walt Disney. No copyright infringement is
intended, and no money is being made from this story. It is based on plot
elements used in both the book Escape to Witch Mountain as well as the
movie of the same name, although the book and the movie differ extensively.
Please direct all queries, comments, etc. to kevinpkhaynes@yahoo.com. It
is my sincere desire that you enjoy the story as the pure entertainment it
was intended to be.
LIFE ON WITCH MOUNTAIN
By Kevin Haynes
CHAPTER 10
"Dazzler?! What are you doing here?" Tia exclaimed. "I would never have expected to find you in Washington, D.C.! What happened? How did you end up here?"
Kurt - Dazzler - was laughing by now. "You'd never believe me! The last time I saw you, the truant officer, Mr. Yoyo, was taking us to school. You told us that, if we went to school, we'd be as smart as you and Tony. Well, we believed you, and . well, here I am! I studied sociology in college, then went on from there to economics, and ended up studying law. I didn't like being a lawyer that much, so I switched. I'm kinda getting in on the ground floor in politics, working for Senator Long. I've been an intern, now I'm a gofer. I'm really moving up in the world!"
Eric was listening to this, fascinated and wanting to find out more, when his phone began to ring. Tia turned as if she needed to answer it, and he said, "No, it's my line from the Senate floor. You two carry on - but when I'm done with the call, I'll need you, Tia." And he hurried off.
Kurt said to her, "Now, how did you end up the assistant of a U.S. Senator? This I have to hear!" He was smiling again.
Tia didn't know what to say. Although it had been years since she had met Kurt and his friends - the Earthquake Gang - Tia had all but forgotten that part of her and Tony's adventure in the city. What she had remember most was looking for Tony. Had it not been for the Gang, she could never have found him and broken Dr. Gannon's hold on him. Now, as she thought back, she realized that Kurt had seen her lift cars, repair a van, make people levitate . he had even seen their lifeboat!
Kurt could completely blow her cover if he wasn't careful, and she needed to talk to him some more before she could confide much in him. So she said, "It's a long story, Daz-, uh, Kurt. Since today's my first day on the job, I don't want to get into it yet. Could we have lunch or dinner some time, and I could fill you in? I'd love to find out more about your life as well, and how the rest of your 'gang' is doing!"
At that Kurt laughed again. "Oh yeah, I'll have to tell you about all of them! You won't believe their stories, either. Yeah, let's plan on dinner. I know a great place, and it's not too expensive. How about tomorrow night, 7:00? We can exchange numbers later."
"Sounds great. I better go check on Eric. See you in a while."
Kurt returned to his desk, and Tia headed toward Eric's door. It was closed, so she went into her new office and sat down. She wanted to get a feel for where she'd be working for a while. She looked around - the walls were white and bare. She'd have to fix that. The room definitely needed some plants and a few pictures of animals. She wished she could have Tony paint her some, but that wouldn't be possible yet. As she thought of him, she wondered how she was doing. She tried to visualize his paint stand, and was almost seeing it when the black phone suddenly rang. She jumped, then picked it up. "Yes, Eric?"
Eric said, almost abruptly, "Come into my office now. Bring some paper to take notes with."
"Right away!" she replied, and she was already on her feet, notepad in hand, before she hung up the phone.
She went to his office, and since the door was still closed, she knocked. "Come in!" Eric called form inside. As she entered, he said, "Two more things you should know. One - if I call you to tell you to get in here, don't knock when you get here. Just come in. And two, if I tell you to bring a notepad, always shut the door after you come in. We'll be talking about something that is potentially confidential."
Tia went back to shut the door and said, "Got it." She sat down in the chair closest to Eric's desk and got ready to take notes. He said, "Don't write anything down yet. Let me give you some background." She set the notepad and pen down and gave him her full attention.
He continued, "Growing up in the 70's, you probably remember a lot of hype over UFO's and such. It seemed like everyone was seeing space ships and aliens. Movies like Close Encounters and E.T. probably didn't help matters much. Well, one group has taken it farther than most. They call themselves AAAI - Americans Against Alien Invasion - and they swear that, around the late-1960's, a group of aliens landed in North Carolina to take refuge on some mountain. Now, I know that sounds farfetched, but as wild as this group is, I'm still their Senator, and I need to listen to them.
"What they are requesting is legislation that would allow them access to U.S. government files on that time period. Not only that, they are asking for unrestricted access to the area now, including satellite photos and GPS mapping information. They also want me to force the local people in the area to permit them to set up surveillance camps of the mountain in question."
Tia was stunned. She wanted to remain calm, but how could she when this man was describing the efforts of a group that wanted to wipe her people out, or - worse - capture them and do experiments on them! Tia tried not to tremble or look shocked, but apparently it didn't work very well. Eric apparently thought she was shocked at the outrageousness of the request, because he said, "Hey, don't look so concerned. I won't let a bunch of extremists put one over on the U.S. Government! I'm giving you some background for your first assignment with me."
Suddenly Tia was overwhelmed with a feeling - almost like the flashbacks she had as a child, when she could see herself, Tony, and Uncle Bené floating in the sea - only this was a vision that she was learning the reason she was here. This was no accident - just as she and Tony had been in the right place to save Lucas Deranian's life, she was here to help her people. This was her chance to do just that.
Feeling just a little bit better from that revelation, she grabbed the notepad and pen and said, "OK, Eric . what do you want me to do?"
He smiled and said, "Alright. First of all, check the internet for anything about aliens and North Carolina in the 1970's. Find out what's available - where is this group getting their information? Second - call over to the U.S. Geological Survey on my behalf. Request any data they can give you on satellite pictures and GPS tracking from the area in northwest North Carolina. I think they said the place was called Stone Creek or Misty Creek or something like that. I won't forget the name of the mountain, though. It was "Witch Mountain"! Now who else but a superstitious bunch of people would name a mountain that?"
Tia tried to smile and said, "That sounds exactly like the way you would get a name like that! I'll get right on this. Do you have a timeline for me? How long is too long searching the internet, for example?"
Eric smiled as he said, "Now that's a great question! I wish your predecessors had showed this much initiative! Then again . maybe not! If they had done their job, you wouldn't be here!"
Not sure how to take the compliment, Tia looked away briefly. Eric cleared his throat and said, "Sorry, I didn't mean to embarrass you. I was trying to convey the fact that I can tell you will be great at this job, and I'm glad you're here."
Tia smiled, her eyes sparkling, as she looked at him. "I can't tell you how glad I am to be here, Senator Eric!"
LIFE ON WITCH MOUNTAIN
By Kevin Haynes
CHAPTER 10
"Dazzler?! What are you doing here?" Tia exclaimed. "I would never have expected to find you in Washington, D.C.! What happened? How did you end up here?"
Kurt - Dazzler - was laughing by now. "You'd never believe me! The last time I saw you, the truant officer, Mr. Yoyo, was taking us to school. You told us that, if we went to school, we'd be as smart as you and Tony. Well, we believed you, and . well, here I am! I studied sociology in college, then went on from there to economics, and ended up studying law. I didn't like being a lawyer that much, so I switched. I'm kinda getting in on the ground floor in politics, working for Senator Long. I've been an intern, now I'm a gofer. I'm really moving up in the world!"
Eric was listening to this, fascinated and wanting to find out more, when his phone began to ring. Tia turned as if she needed to answer it, and he said, "No, it's my line from the Senate floor. You two carry on - but when I'm done with the call, I'll need you, Tia." And he hurried off.
Kurt said to her, "Now, how did you end up the assistant of a U.S. Senator? This I have to hear!" He was smiling again.
Tia didn't know what to say. Although it had been years since she had met Kurt and his friends - the Earthquake Gang - Tia had all but forgotten that part of her and Tony's adventure in the city. What she had remember most was looking for Tony. Had it not been for the Gang, she could never have found him and broken Dr. Gannon's hold on him. Now, as she thought back, she realized that Kurt had seen her lift cars, repair a van, make people levitate . he had even seen their lifeboat!
Kurt could completely blow her cover if he wasn't careful, and she needed to talk to him some more before she could confide much in him. So she said, "It's a long story, Daz-, uh, Kurt. Since today's my first day on the job, I don't want to get into it yet. Could we have lunch or dinner some time, and I could fill you in? I'd love to find out more about your life as well, and how the rest of your 'gang' is doing!"
At that Kurt laughed again. "Oh yeah, I'll have to tell you about all of them! You won't believe their stories, either. Yeah, let's plan on dinner. I know a great place, and it's not too expensive. How about tomorrow night, 7:00? We can exchange numbers later."
"Sounds great. I better go check on Eric. See you in a while."
Kurt returned to his desk, and Tia headed toward Eric's door. It was closed, so she went into her new office and sat down. She wanted to get a feel for where she'd be working for a while. She looked around - the walls were white and bare. She'd have to fix that. The room definitely needed some plants and a few pictures of animals. She wished she could have Tony paint her some, but that wouldn't be possible yet. As she thought of him, she wondered how she was doing. She tried to visualize his paint stand, and was almost seeing it when the black phone suddenly rang. She jumped, then picked it up. "Yes, Eric?"
Eric said, almost abruptly, "Come into my office now. Bring some paper to take notes with."
"Right away!" she replied, and she was already on her feet, notepad in hand, before she hung up the phone.
She went to his office, and since the door was still closed, she knocked. "Come in!" Eric called form inside. As she entered, he said, "Two more things you should know. One - if I call you to tell you to get in here, don't knock when you get here. Just come in. And two, if I tell you to bring a notepad, always shut the door after you come in. We'll be talking about something that is potentially confidential."
Tia went back to shut the door and said, "Got it." She sat down in the chair closest to Eric's desk and got ready to take notes. He said, "Don't write anything down yet. Let me give you some background." She set the notepad and pen down and gave him her full attention.
He continued, "Growing up in the 70's, you probably remember a lot of hype over UFO's and such. It seemed like everyone was seeing space ships and aliens. Movies like Close Encounters and E.T. probably didn't help matters much. Well, one group has taken it farther than most. They call themselves AAAI - Americans Against Alien Invasion - and they swear that, around the late-1960's, a group of aliens landed in North Carolina to take refuge on some mountain. Now, I know that sounds farfetched, but as wild as this group is, I'm still their Senator, and I need to listen to them.
"What they are requesting is legislation that would allow them access to U.S. government files on that time period. Not only that, they are asking for unrestricted access to the area now, including satellite photos and GPS mapping information. They also want me to force the local people in the area to permit them to set up surveillance camps of the mountain in question."
Tia was stunned. She wanted to remain calm, but how could she when this man was describing the efforts of a group that wanted to wipe her people out, or - worse - capture them and do experiments on them! Tia tried not to tremble or look shocked, but apparently it didn't work very well. Eric apparently thought she was shocked at the outrageousness of the request, because he said, "Hey, don't look so concerned. I won't let a bunch of extremists put one over on the U.S. Government! I'm giving you some background for your first assignment with me."
Suddenly Tia was overwhelmed with a feeling - almost like the flashbacks she had as a child, when she could see herself, Tony, and Uncle Bené floating in the sea - only this was a vision that she was learning the reason she was here. This was no accident - just as she and Tony had been in the right place to save Lucas Deranian's life, she was here to help her people. This was her chance to do just that.
Feeling just a little bit better from that revelation, she grabbed the notepad and pen and said, "OK, Eric . what do you want me to do?"
He smiled and said, "Alright. First of all, check the internet for anything about aliens and North Carolina in the 1970's. Find out what's available - where is this group getting their information? Second - call over to the U.S. Geological Survey on my behalf. Request any data they can give you on satellite pictures and GPS tracking from the area in northwest North Carolina. I think they said the place was called Stone Creek or Misty Creek or something like that. I won't forget the name of the mountain, though. It was "Witch Mountain"! Now who else but a superstitious bunch of people would name a mountain that?"
Tia tried to smile and said, "That sounds exactly like the way you would get a name like that! I'll get right on this. Do you have a timeline for me? How long is too long searching the internet, for example?"
Eric smiled as he said, "Now that's a great question! I wish your predecessors had showed this much initiative! Then again . maybe not! If they had done their job, you wouldn't be here!"
Not sure how to take the compliment, Tia looked away briefly. Eric cleared his throat and said, "Sorry, I didn't mean to embarrass you. I was trying to convey the fact that I can tell you will be great at this job, and I'm glad you're here."
Tia smiled, her eyes sparkling, as she looked at him. "I can't tell you how glad I am to be here, Senator Eric!"