There wasn't much to do in a construction camp on an isolated part of Baffin Island. There were few women around, and none that were single, young or what Benny would describe as chicks. Well, what was there to do? Mainly, stay inside his office and living quarters, a building that looked like a very insulated miniature airplane hangar. And work.
There were video games to play in your spare time. Not online, as wi-fi sucked. Even skyping an outward call could be difficult at times.
There were no trees, just barren windswept hills and mountains. There was lots of snow. Sea ice from the North Pole, of the type that had doomed the Franklin expedition many miles to the west and nearly two centuries ago.
There were Arctic foxes. Polar Bears. The thaw wasn't to set in until June, after which the ground would be too muddy to be worked again until July.
There had been record-breaking hot temperatures for a couple hours on January 1st, under the twenty-four darkness. Just after Benny arrived for the first time. It didn't happen again. Pranks like that could get a guy into big trouble.
This summer, the last of the heavy equipment for the port and diamond mine would arrive by ship. Benny would be on site to finish by the end of the year. And his rotation on a site only 1800 miles from the North Pole would end. Benny did get a letter of praise from the head office (he sent copies to his Evelyn, his Dad, his Mom, and his maternal grandmother).
Benny wasn't too happy with the letter of praise though. It mentioned that Benny was doing such a good job, he might be considered for a mining project in the north of Ellesmere Island. Ellesmere was only 800 miles from the North Pole, and her entire population consisted of a small Inuit village and a military base.
"Anyone who sends me there is going to be on Benny's list" he mentioned to Ethan on one of their Skype calls.
There was a major city on Baffin Island; the territorial capital, Iqaluit. As a metropolis, it was an epic fail in Benny's eyes. As a town, it was cool to have one so far north. Even with only eight thousand people. It was smaller than Whitechapel, but it had women.
The chief engineer, Aaron Underway by name, stayed at a hotel in Iqaluit, took credit from government officials and visited the site weekly. Leaving most of the day to day supervision to Benny, the under-construction port was nicknamed by the workers Benny's Bay. Benny thought it was because it was that he was just that awesome, but it was really because the name was alliterative. And it was temporary, at the grand opening the following summer the place was to be given a name in Inuktitut (the Inuit language) and Benny Weir's contribution would be a tiny name on a weather-worn plaque outside the mine offices . . . as "Deputy Chief Engineer".
Yet for long after the mine had opened and closed, on maps there would be in brackets under the Inuktitut name the alternate name Benny's Bay. The few tourists and the Wikipedia page on the abandoned port would mention that Benny's Bay was an early project of a well regarded Canadian engineer by the name of Benny Weir.
You needed a flight to get to Iqaluit from the mine at Benny's Bay. As second-in-command, Benny could call dibs on a seat. Once, and only once, Benny decided to go there one night without flying by plane. He had made a date without realizing he missed the plane. No challenge for Benny! Benny was proud of casting a spell to float rapidly across the dark frozen landscape (wearing a parka). But it led to a few people questioning how he arrived and returned.
"The same way everyone else does" Benny said angrily. "I flew. Check the passenger manifests if you don't believe me."
Nobody bothered, and the issue dropped.
Benny did have a weekly poker game going. With a Mountie, an Inuit trapper, an accountant, and a labourer from the mining project. And a couple of smuggled bottles of Canadian Club or Crown Royal whisky. Benny's part of Baffin Island was officially dry, no sale of alcohol allowed. The key word was sale. So the Mountie wasn't doing anything wrong.
Benny did try to play video games with them. They were game to try, but it wasn't much fun. Benny knew that even Rory could pwn them each and every time. Benny actually had to show the accountant how.
Part of Benny's spare time was practicing his magic. As a young adult, Benny was at least as powerful as his grandmother at her height. But with Whitechapel usually free from the forces of darkness, there had been few deadly enemies. And Benny felt he could stomp them out easily. But as Spiderman said, "with great power comes great responsibility". So Benny practiced.
While Benny still mentioned "Benny's list", it was just a punch-line. Now, as an adult, Benny was grateful Evelyn Weir had been strict with him as a teenager. He had only admitted this to Ethan, but it was so easy for him to abuse his powers for evil instead of good. Or just coasting on magic powers and letting his natural abilities go to waste.
Now Benny had to rely entirely on himself to keep himself in check, and not just fear of being caught by his grandmother if he did something wrong.
Other than that, there was just one drawback to Benny's powers. About the age of seventeen, Benny found he couldn't snap his fingers any more. He always let off very visible magic sparks. It was aggravating but not serious. Benny could give high fives, applaud, fist bump absolutely anything else except snap his fingers. So Benny gradually stopped snapping his fingers.
At times in the last few months, when Benny was bored, he wondered about what he was doing up there. He wondered if he should have tried to coast and be a math prof, as the subject came easy. Benny wouldn't be teaching at a barren camp on an Arctic island. And what about a full-time monster fighter? Travelling the world. Going undercover as an engineer. Sounded cool. But then, Benny figured, that was exactly what he was doing.
The Inuit trapper sometimes told old stories about evil spirits in this part of Baffin Island. But, for once, they were just stories. Or someone else had long disposed of them.
Benny was spending the holiday afternoon catching up with his family. You had to do that. He, of course, called Evelyn Weir. His Dad. His "other" grandmother. His Mom and Step-Dad. And his half-brother Nate.
Benny took big-brother duty seriously. Benny knew there were three ways to treat a little brother. Annoy him. Be the cool and protecting big brother. Or both. Since Benny was about eighteen years older than his kid brother, there was only one thing he could do. Be the cool and protective half-brother. And since Nate was seven years old, that meant Benny bragging about how awesome a time he was having.
After his family "interviews", Benny yawned.
"Holidays are for a little R and R" Benny said to himself. "Especially when there's nothing to do. Ethan doesn't have a day off in the N.Y.C. I don't even know where Rory is or what he's doing. Probably renting a plane and taking Krypto flying or something."
And that's when a text from Rory arrived saying 'Here's me and my fiancé Natalie!". And an attached photo of them outside the aerodrome, Rory's arm over Natalie and kissing her on the cheek.
Well, Benny forgot that it wasn't a holiday Monday in New York. And, fortunately, he also found Ethan and Sarah taking the day off.
"You know Rory's got engaged!" Benny said excitedly into his laptop's webcam. "And the girl's actually hot! Rory!"
"Is Rory okay with you calling her his chick?" asked Sarah laconically.
Sarah didn't believe Benny.
Benny had a good view of Ethan and Sarah in their Manhattan apartment when he called in. A better view than they had of him, as Ethan and Sarah had been using their TV for video calls while Benny used his laptop. The holiday meant a mostly good connection, although Ethan and Sarah flickered or froze into place for several seconds at a time.
Ethan and Sarah had been enjoying a quiet afternoon in their tenth-story Manhattan apartment. Leastways, as quiet as it gets in Manhattan. They had been watching a movie on tv, and Sarah had been resting her head on Ethan's shoulder, while Ethan had his arm around her.
The Manhattan apartment was smaller than anything Ethan or Sarah would have had in Canada. And parking their car in the garage (they had sold the other!) cost the two a small fortune besides! Ethan personally thought New Yorkers were a little weird; cars were a luxury, and it was seen as cool that you could fit so many people in such a small place. It was like living on a spaceship. Only . . . it wasn't! It was more like living in a can of sardines, no matter how well they were doing.
Of course, it wasn't all bad. It was like a dream being there with Sarah, as there were so many things to go were her. There was everything from the Empire State Building (King Kong Central in Ethan's mind) to the Bronx Zoo. Cultural attractions ranged from the Metropolitan Museum of Art, to the Radio City Music Hall, to Madison Square Gardens (home of the New York Rangers). It wasn't lost on Ethan that the Islanders and the New Jersey Devils were also a short ride away.
While Ethan hadn't run into anything supernatural so far, his seeing powers were a good way to avoid getting mugged. Still, Ethan felt that the old cliché about New York was true. It was a nice play to visit, but he hated living there. Give him a small town and a small town girl . . . .
Sarah's was more of an "artsier' architect than Rory. If someone wanted to renovate a building, and they wanted an architect who knew art, they called Sarah. Since she worked for herself, Sarah was able to relocate with Ethan (Erica helped; she plugged her BFF with her artsy friends). A New York architect's magazine had even recently offered to profile Sarah; she turned them down when she found out it was the same kind of profile that Rory had admired the Friday before in Canadian Aviation. Sarah did agree to demonstrate some of her skills for the editor of the paper. Sarah broke his modern computer desk in half with a karate chop; she was a black belt.
As for Ethan, he didn't have so much as a yellow belt. He was sometimes mistaken for a teenager, and looked like an overgrown boy scout with five o'clock shadow by the evening. But he was a qualified Civil Engineer, and a very good one. He was assigned to projects ranging from buildings to highway bridges. McMurdo Abbott even had him check other engineers' calculations when someone hired the firm to provide a second opinion. Ethan was insanely proud of a plaque in a building completed the month before that mentioned the company executives, the contractors, the architect, and finally "ETHAN P. MORGAN, ENGINEER, MCMURDO ABBOTT and COMPANY."
"Rory's just got engaged?" said Ethan. "To be married."
"That's what engaged means" Benny said sarcastically. "It means you get yourself a fianceé. You've been through it, Ethan. I mean, Sarah and you probably wouldn't be canoodling together in New York right now . . . in front of me."
"We're not canoodling Benny" said Sarah.
"Okay, you're not canoodling . . . anymore" said Benny. "Come on. Turn on your smartphones."
Ethan casually checked his smartphone. The message he received made him curious . . . and a little worried.
"You think you've seen her before?" asked Benny. "The more I look, I think so too!"
"I can't place her" said Ethan. "I . . . hope Rory knows what he's doing."
"I thought we were talking about Rory Keener" said Sarah dryly, although there was a hint of concern in her voice. "I hope he doesn't get himself hurt."
"You mean feelings?" asked Benny. "Or actually . . . hurt?"
"Both" said Sarah.
"The girl's pretty hot" said Ethan, as he showed Sarah the cellphone photo of Rory and Natalie at the aerodrome. "Not as hot as you" Ethan added. "I think he'd have sent you a copy."
"He did" said Sarah. "They look happy. But where did she come from?"
"You want to try?" said Benny.
"Try what?" said Sarah.
"A little inside look into this Natalie?" said Benny.
"It's not a good idea to spy on Rory's love life" said Sarah.
"You're right" said Ethan.
"Let's say there's nothing supernatural about her. She might be after him for his starting salary at McMurdo Abbott?" put in Benny. "And half the condo Rory's parents helped him buy?"
"Minus the mortgage" said Ethan. "You know about that too."
"Yeah" said Benny. "But my condo's better than Rory's."
"Which is why your mom put it in her name" Ethan reminded Benny.
"It's still mine" Benny pointed out. "It's just to protect from gold-diggers."
"Rory isn't spending the year camping in the Northwest Passage" Sarah reminded Benny.
"It's cool up here" said Benny.
"Literally" Ethan observed.
"Really funny, dude" said Benny sarcastically, but reminded Ethan, "I get a port named after me. How's that for someone's who's still almost a newb?"
"That is cool" Ethan admitted, and turned to Sarah. "But we have to do something?"
"We have to be careful" Sarah gently pointed out. "Let's look at this reasonably. Rory's fallen in love and quickly. Rory's accident prone. This Natalie, who we know nothing about, could be . . . ."
"Something supernatural or just an ordinary heel" Ethan said.
"Those are good reasons to protect our pal" said Benny. "But what will we tell him? Rory in love has an adamantine skull . . . you just can't get the guy to listen."
"You can't get any guy in love to listen" Sarah put in.
"I guess we can open that issue when we get to it" said Ethan.
"Or we can cross that bridge when will get to it" said Sarah, "As the non-geek world says it."
Ethan sighed, took his smartphone in hand, and concentrated on the photo of Natalie and Rory. Sarah watched as the white glow took over Ethan's natural deep brown eyes.
Benny and Sarah waited in silence.
"Nothing too bad" said Ethan, before adding with a smile, "it was like a Valentine's Day edition. Everything framed by hearts."
Ethan, Sarah and Benny discussed Rory and Natalie's meeting at the casino. Happily, Ethan's vision missed most of the time at the hotel room. Except the fight with Natalie's brother. Which everybody agreed was weird and old school. And Ethan felt extremely awkward reporting. Sarah felt extremely awkward hearing it. Benny just thought it was funny.
"He's going to have Rory get him a job" said Sarah.
"I thought Miles didn't want anything from Rory?" laughed Benny.
"Sometimes you act like you're still 14" Sarah said, albeit with a smile. "Just because he says so doesn't mean it's true."
"Ethan?" asked Benny.
"I only looked ahead as far as today" said Ethan.
Ethan shared his vision of Rory and Natalie wandering about Niagara Falls. Ethan described Rory's downplaying of Team Sabre.
"Rory's smarter than I thought" said Benny, with a smirk.
"By describing us as wandering around haunted houses looking for ghosts" said Ethan sorely, who was a little angry about this deception.
"I'm with Benny on this one" said Sarah.
"I've with Benny too" said Ethan, in the same bitter tone. "I'd kill for that to be all there was to it. But it's not as if Rory can go into any more detail. Or prove what he says."
"I could do it for him" said Benny.
"We'll have to break it to her someway, sometime" said Ethan.
"I think you should leave that up to Rory" said Sarah. "The last thing he'll want is his friends butting in between him and his fiancée. It's obvious Rory doesn't want any advice or interference."
"That's true" said Ethan. "After all, we live normal lives 99% of the time."
"More . . . like 95%" said Benny.
"99%"
"95"
"99"
"Let's say 97%" said Sarah.
Ethan described the proposal in the airplane, word for word. Ethan felt very guilty about the last one. There was one other incident that surprised Ethan. He kept that quiet for the time being.
"I can't believe the dude moved so quickly!" said Benny.
"But it's genuine, with Natalie and Rory" said Ethan. "That's what those lame-o hearts mean."
"Just because you see hearts in your vision doesn't make it true love" Sarah pointed out.
"It does" said Ethan good-naturedly. "Don't forget they're representative." Ethan added with a shrug. "There's always something representative."
"Love at first sight" said Sarah. "I love it."
"And Rory didn't even have to throw food all over her" said Benny mischievously, to Ethan's annoyance.
"But her brother barfed up" said Ethan.
"Not the same thing" said Benny. "Love at first sight."
Ethan suddenly grinned and sat up. It was time to describe the surprising detail about Natalie.
"No, it was love at second sight" Ethan said, turning to Sarah eagerly. "We met . . . Benny, Rory and me met Natalie about ten years ago at that Single Tear concert in Toronto. Only Benny was right next to her, so he asked her out. I was sitting next to Benny. Rory was sitting down on the other side of me, so he barely saw Natalie. He was too busy listening to the music. If you want to call Single Tear music."
"That's why she looks familiar!" said Benny.
"That was the concert where the vampires tried to drop you from a thousand feet in the air, right afterwards," observed Sarah. "And you never called me to come over and help."
"That's the one" said Ethan. "We wanted to give you a break."
"And nearly broke your necks" Sarah joked, but in an appreciative voice. "I wouldn't have wanted to see vampires then. Or really, ever. What happened with Natalie?"
"I never met her again" said Benny, with a shrug.
"We all forget about it" said Ethan. "A night matching wits with vampires will do that to you. And don't get me started on that haunted mansion."
The three were silent for a time.
"You shouldn't rub it in" Sarah told Benny. "Or else . . . ."
"I won't" said Benny, holding up his hand. "On my honour as a Jedi."
"Which one of you will tell Rory?" said Sarah. "I'm not going to be the one. And I don't think Rory will find it a laughing matter."
"Not if we tell him it was fate, which it probably was" said Benny, jocularly. "I mean, he didn't meet her again until he had a good job and could sweep her away from the teller's desk?
"But just in case we'll wait to break it to him" said Ethan. "Rory has a couple of important meetings with Baker tomorrow. We don't want him to frack it up."
"With whom does he have a meeting?" said Sarah.
"Sydney Baker in the morning" said Ethan. "The developer. I met him once. He has a red face, like he's always in a bad mood. I see a lot of shouting."
"If people shout at me, I don't take them on as clients" said Sarah.
"And worse, in the evening Rory meets Natalie's father ask for Natalie's hand" said Ethan.
"Guys still do that?" asked Benny.
"You're supposed to do it before you propose" Sarah said. "If you do it. I think Rory's just asking for their blessing."
"I'm not sure" said Ethan. "I cut off the vision before I could see how any of the meetings went."
"Good luck Rory" said Benny. "Wherever you are."
Rory at that moment was in quiet booth in a small country restaurant, with Natalie, the both of them admiring the engagement ring on Natalie's finger. They couldn't have been happier.
They were blissfully ignorant of Ethan's reluctant spying, or of the storm that would break around them in the days and weeks to come.
