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 the Walt Disney Company. No copyright infringement
is intended, and no money is being made from this story. It is based on
plot elements used in the books Escape to Witch Mountain and Return from
Witch Mountain, as well as the movies of the same name, although the books
and the movies 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. Your feedback
is welcome as well!
LIFE ON WITCH MOUNTAIN
By Kevin Haynes
CHAPTER 18
In love! Tia was in love! For the first time in her life, she understood all of the things she had heard about romance, all the stuff she had seen on TV and in movies. It all made much more sense now!
The difference was, if she were a teenager in love, it would be all emotion. While she couldn't deny that being with Eric was always emotional, being an adult made her use her intellect as well. And try as she might, she couldn't shake the fact that she was acting two-faced. Tia, a Homedweller, was in love with a human. Tia, on assignment, was dating a potential "enemy." What was she doing?
After the weekend, which she chose to enjoy by going to the park and chatting with the squirrels and birds, she went back to work with apprehension. Eric, however, was all business. He didn't hug her or try to kiss her - he greeted her just as he had done every other day she had been there. That actually helped her feel at ease . at least she knew how to act now. She wouldn't change her routine or work habits at all.
There was a message on her desk from Kurt. He insisted on being called Kurt, but whenever he left her a note or wrote her an email, he always signed it "Dazz." This one was the same, but the tone was different. "Urgent that we talk as soon as I get there. In private. Dazz."
Tia usually arrived at the office at 8:30, and Kurt got there between 9:00 and 10:00. She busied herself with correspondence - answering requests for Eric to speak, scheduling his appointments, returning calls, etc. At 9:45 Kurt came into the main office, and instead of going to his desk, he went straight to Tia's office, walked in, and closed the door.
Startled by his abrupt entrance, Tia stopped typing the email she was working on and gave him her full attention. "Kurt, what's wrong? I've never seen you like this before!"
Kurt, frowning, answered, "I've never felt like this before! The last time I felt anywhere near this upset about something was when we were in the plutonium plant trying to run from that wicked Letha woman and you were trying to save Tony. And Tia . this is just about as bad."
She was silent, so he continued. "I've been checking out this group you asked me about - the AAAI. I went to their website and got the standard rhetoric about wanting to protect the earth. They had some general information about their group and some links to news articles, most of them from obscure magazines written by people probably so far into drugs that they could easily think they themselves were aliens!
"So I decided to dig a little deeper. I called up an old friend of mine - Marty Smith. You might remember him as Muscles from the Earthquake Gang. He is now a programmer and one of the smartest guys I've ever known when it comes to the internet. I told him that I had met up with you again, and he was so excited. He has never forgotten about you and Tony - he's never told anyone, but he has never forgotten. Personally, I think he still has a serious crush on you!"
He chuckled, and then continued. "I told him that you were possibly in danger, and that I was using the internet to find out if you were. I didn't tell him your job or anything about what you're doing, just that you might be in danger. I did tell him about the AAAI and about them looking for you and Tony's people. And I told him that I wanted to hack into their website to see if they had any files hidden there. I do know enough about websites to know that sometimes what you see on the web only scratches the surface - a website can have many pages in development or on the organization's computer, but they only publish to the web the ones they want you to see.
"Well, Marty went one step further. He said he knew how to hack into their entire database! That blew me away, but since we both felt it was justified because of the potential danger, he did it. He was actually able to download, copy, and send to me dozens of files and articles that this group has but don't want anyone to know.
"And here's the bottom line, Tia. No one is supposed to know this, but the group was started back in the early 1980's by a scientist who had spent some time in jail for trespassing on government property. Once he got out, he immediately began to gather people around him who were concerned about an alien threat and wanted to protect the earth. The problem is that, in his own writings, he revealed that what he really wanted to do was to find these aliens and harness their abilities.
"Tia, the man behind the AAAI is Dr. Victor Gannon!"
LIFE ON WITCH MOUNTAIN
By Kevin Haynes
CHAPTER 18
In love! Tia was in love! For the first time in her life, she understood all of the things she had heard about romance, all the stuff she had seen on TV and in movies. It all made much more sense now!
The difference was, if she were a teenager in love, it would be all emotion. While she couldn't deny that being with Eric was always emotional, being an adult made her use her intellect as well. And try as she might, she couldn't shake the fact that she was acting two-faced. Tia, a Homedweller, was in love with a human. Tia, on assignment, was dating a potential "enemy." What was she doing?
After the weekend, which she chose to enjoy by going to the park and chatting with the squirrels and birds, she went back to work with apprehension. Eric, however, was all business. He didn't hug her or try to kiss her - he greeted her just as he had done every other day she had been there. That actually helped her feel at ease . at least she knew how to act now. She wouldn't change her routine or work habits at all.
There was a message on her desk from Kurt. He insisted on being called Kurt, but whenever he left her a note or wrote her an email, he always signed it "Dazz." This one was the same, but the tone was different. "Urgent that we talk as soon as I get there. In private. Dazz."
Tia usually arrived at the office at 8:30, and Kurt got there between 9:00 and 10:00. She busied herself with correspondence - answering requests for Eric to speak, scheduling his appointments, returning calls, etc. At 9:45 Kurt came into the main office, and instead of going to his desk, he went straight to Tia's office, walked in, and closed the door.
Startled by his abrupt entrance, Tia stopped typing the email she was working on and gave him her full attention. "Kurt, what's wrong? I've never seen you like this before!"
Kurt, frowning, answered, "I've never felt like this before! The last time I felt anywhere near this upset about something was when we were in the plutonium plant trying to run from that wicked Letha woman and you were trying to save Tony. And Tia . this is just about as bad."
She was silent, so he continued. "I've been checking out this group you asked me about - the AAAI. I went to their website and got the standard rhetoric about wanting to protect the earth. They had some general information about their group and some links to news articles, most of them from obscure magazines written by people probably so far into drugs that they could easily think they themselves were aliens!
"So I decided to dig a little deeper. I called up an old friend of mine - Marty Smith. You might remember him as Muscles from the Earthquake Gang. He is now a programmer and one of the smartest guys I've ever known when it comes to the internet. I told him that I had met up with you again, and he was so excited. He has never forgotten about you and Tony - he's never told anyone, but he has never forgotten. Personally, I think he still has a serious crush on you!"
He chuckled, and then continued. "I told him that you were possibly in danger, and that I was using the internet to find out if you were. I didn't tell him your job or anything about what you're doing, just that you might be in danger. I did tell him about the AAAI and about them looking for you and Tony's people. And I told him that I wanted to hack into their website to see if they had any files hidden there. I do know enough about websites to know that sometimes what you see on the web only scratches the surface - a website can have many pages in development or on the organization's computer, but they only publish to the web the ones they want you to see.
"Well, Marty went one step further. He said he knew how to hack into their entire database! That blew me away, but since we both felt it was justified because of the potential danger, he did it. He was actually able to download, copy, and send to me dozens of files and articles that this group has but don't want anyone to know.
"And here's the bottom line, Tia. No one is supposed to know this, but the group was started back in the early 1980's by a scientist who had spent some time in jail for trespassing on government property. Once he got out, he immediately began to gather people around him who were concerned about an alien threat and wanted to protect the earth. The problem is that, in his own writings, he revealed that what he really wanted to do was to find these aliens and harness their abilities.
"Tia, the man behind the AAAI is Dr. Victor Gannon!"