Chapter 9

They waited just a few feet below the tree line on the slope, hidden behind trees and brush, for the source of the footprints to pass completely. Realizing it was only one person they slowly made their way onto the road.

The person, decked out in strange, bright white fabric pants and a black-hooded sweatshirt, hood drawn up, with a large navy blue sports bag slung across his back, seemed oblivious to them even when they called out.

Sandoval and Liam walked quickly and soon caught up to the guy, who still hadn't acknowledged their presence. "Excuse me, sir," Sandoval called, reaching for the guy's right wrist. Upon contact of his wrist, the guy visibly tensed, whirled around and, twisting his wrist out of Sandoval's grasp he then grabbed Sandoval's own wrist in both hands. Without stopping, he lifted Sandoval's arm by the wrist and stepped under it, spinning so fast that the FBI Agent was flipped around completely, landing on his back. Hard. Not missing a beat, the stranger tossed the sports bag aside and jumped back into a traditional fighting stance, facing Liam. This was done in the space of less than four seconds.

"Whoa," Liam leaned back, holding both hands out. "Easy…." He looked at the guy, who appeared to be in his teens or early twenties, and did a double take at his features…something about them didn't seem right. "We're not gonna hurt you." He was suddenly reminded of the strange nightmares he'd been having of the hooded figures.

The kid in turn took a closer look at Liam. As he scrutinized the Companion Protector, he raised a hand to pull down the black hood, which was partially obstructing his vision. The first thing that Liam noticed was the long, shoulder-length black hair that fell to frame his, or rather, her face. He now knew why the kid's facial features seemed strange - they were feminine, not masculine. She looked to be about seventeen.

Liam then notice the girl pulling headphones off her ears, allowing them to hang from her neck, the reason she hadn't heard them approach now explained. As she slowly stepped out of her fighting stance, the expressions on her face turned to shocked, yet not quite surprised, recognition. She sighed and closed her eyes, quietly mumbling to herself, "Not this week!"

Sandoval, who hadn't moved since he was slammed into the pavement, noticed the girl's more relaxed demeanor and slowly got to his feet, wincing as his back ached from the impact. Hearing him get up, the girl looked over at him and absently shook her head. "Sorry about that."

Sandoval simply nodded, still wary. "Maybe you could help us."

Before he could go on, the teenager spoke up. "The date is July 13th, 2002."

Liam stared at her, shocked. "How did you…." He trailed off.

She turned her gaze towards him. "I've been expecting you…Kincaid," she replied stoically. Liam raised his eyebrows, shocked she knew his name. "Although I didn't think you'd come this soon. Where are the others?"

"What others?" Sandoval asked, using his CVI to keep at bay any facial expressions that could convey the fact he was lying.

The girl however didn't buy it, giving him a disbelieving look. "Don't play dumb…Sandoval. There's another two…" she paused, "…three of you."

Sandoval shook his head, continuing the façade although secretly surprised she knew his name. "I don't know what you're talking about."

She rolled her eyes in annoyance. Turning to face the tree line, she spoke out tentatively, "Shenyahh'rhu kevyah'hn."

Both Liam and Sandoval stood there, speechless. Although some of the sounds were a little off, it was an extremely good imitation of the Taelon language. And Liam knew she had actually spoken meaningful words, not just reproduced sounds. Liam was about to question her when he heard rustling from the trees. Seconds later both Da'an and Zo'or emerged, followed by Renee. When Liam looked at her questioningly, she just shrugged her shoulders and shook her head, as if to say, 'I couldn't stop them.'

The three of them had been listening to the conversation with the stranger from the cover of the brush. However, when the girl had spoken those strange words both Da'an and Zo'or had looked to each other and, without speaking, had begun making their way to the road, Renee trailing behind.

Liam watched the stranger's face, trying to gauge her reaction to the aliens. He noticed a slight hint of wonder and apprehension, yet no where near the scale he would have expected. But then, he thought, she said she was expecting us, maybe she expected them, too.

"Da'an, Zo'or, what are you doing?" Sandoval asked, annoyed and apprehensive.

Da'an answered. "This human speaks Taelon. She told us it was safe to come out." As if that explained everything. Noticing Sandoval's expression, he elaborated, "We wished to know how she learned."

The girl had been watching the Taelons stepping from the trees in a trance-like state, but the second the aliens were in full view, out in the open, she quickly scanned both ways of the road.

"How did you know those wo--" Zo'or's demand was cut off.

"We have to go. Now!" she ordered, picking up the discarded sports bag, the urgency clear in her voice.

"We're not going anywhere until you tell us who you are and how you knew--" Sandoval was the next to be cut off.

"My name's Jay. Look, this road isn't used a hell of a lot, but at this time of day my neighbors are coming and going. So either you come with me now, or we sit around discussing and get seen by them, which in your predicament I don't think you want to happen." She looked at them, noticing their indecision. "I live a freaking five minutes from here, and I'll explain everything once we get there, but we have to go now!" With that she turned and began walking quickly down the narrow, tree-lined road, obviously not waiting for their decision.

The five of them looked at each other for several seconds. "It would be wise to follow this girl. She may be able to help us," Da'an put forth.

"I agree," Zo'or replied. "We will find out what she knows." Both Taelons began walking in the same direction as the girl, who had gained some distance. Sandoval jogged up to Zo'or, taking point, while Liam brought up the rear, Renee staying back by him.

"What do you thing's going on here?" Renee asked quietly, keeping her voice neutral.

He shrugged, eyes scanning the area. "I don't really know. According to that girl…Jay," he amended, "Our theory was right. We went back roughly ten years, to 2002." Renee nodded.

o0o

Jay had stopped to wait for them to catch up. Once they did, they noticed their surroundings had changed. On either side of the road the trees had opened up to large hilly fields ringed with the forest they'd just trudged through. Not too far from them were two houses, and a third set farther back from the road. The road itself continued on until it once again was shrouded by forest.

Without a word the stranger led them to the first house. Made of red brick it wasn't overtly large, but it wasn't small wither. Unlocking the door she stepped inside, followed by the others, and walked from a small hallway into what appeared to be the living room. She gestured her guests to sit down, which they did. Zo'or, Da'an, and Sandoval on the larger couch, Liam and Renee on a smaller one.

High-pitched barking sounded, causing the two Taelons to jump. A second later a small black dog, cocker spaniel, ran in to greet Jay affectionately and taking an interest in the new visitors. Noticing the Taelons' distress at the strange creature, Jay quickly walked to the door, calling, "Come here, Sammy." He ran over and outside as she opened the door.

Da'an and Zo'or relaxed slightly; having never seen a dog that close before, the primitive beast had startled them. "Don't worry," Jay assured them, coming back into the room. "That little guy isn't capable of harm…he was just happy I came home."

"And you would be…?" Liam asked, his voice friendly.

"Jay." Liam raised his eyebrows, expectant. The girl rolled her eyes slightly. "My name's Jaden Corbin. Jay."

She walked over to a chair, pulling off her black sweatshirt to reveal a white, weird looking garment…almost like a tunic. Liam recognized the top, now making sense of the strange pants…Jay was wearing a martial arts uniform, complete with black V-neck - usually reserved for more senior students - and a black belt. As she sat down he caught a glimpse of the gold embroidered characters on the belt, which signified the wearer was at least on rank above simple "black". The characters looked Korean…from Kukkiwon. "Tae Kwon Do?" he asked her. She nodded.

Jay looked at each of them in turn. "So…why'd you come here?"

~~~~~

Sorry it took me so long to get this part out. I've been busy, and unfortunately I keep hitting major writer's block whenever I go to write, which doesn't help much. I'll try to get the next part out soon, but no guarantees.