Rose Red: Model 85001
Chapter 15
The next morning, Hitomi got out of bed, pulled a plaid shirt over top of her white tank top and went into the kitchen. It was empty. She got out her muffin tins and made blueberry muffins in the shape of stars. While they were cooking, she poked her head in the fridge to see what she could make to drink. Most times they just drank water for breakfast when there weren't any guests around to want something better. Besides, it was good for the skin.
When she poked her head into the second crisper, she found a bag of oranges that hadn't even been taken out of the shopping bag yet. Hitomi gaped. She could hardly remember the last time she'd had real oranges. Opening the bag, she found a plastic juicer inside. These had to be for her. It wasn't on their menu to serve real orange … anything.
Whipping out a knife, she immediately started cutting and squeezing and pouring and smiling.
After she'd squeezed two or three, she saw that her wristband was blinking. There was a message from Van that he had gone to the city and would be back later.
Hitomi felt slightly deflated. Now he wasn't going to be here for the fresh orange juice, or the muffins. He was going to town to sell that helicopter part he told her about the night before. She had been thinking of convincing him not to do it when they had breakfast, but he had already gone ahead. Now there was nothing she could do.
She finished squeezing the juice and put some in the fridge for Van when he came back. Then she took the muffins out of the oven and arranged a tray of food to take into the conservatory. Even though the room was a drafty nightmare in the winter, now that summer had come, the place was like paradise and smelled like roses. Now, she always wanted to eat every meal there.
As she ate, she made a little mental list of the things that needed to be done that day. Thing number one was to water the plants in the conservatory and then the garden. Then she could go into the house, tidy up the mess she'd made at breakfast and make lunch. Hopefully, Van would be back by then.
She got her watering can and poured water from one of the rain barrels into it. Then she began her rounds. In the conservatory, she noticed that Van had planted all the empty spaces with strawberries. In the garden, she noticed the new cherry tree. Though, she didn't know it was a cherry tree on sight and had to look it up on her wristband. The information page said it was supposed to be able to grow cherries the size of golf balls, but she didn't know if it would be able to with their weather.
While she watered the giant clumps of daisies, something caught her eye in the window of Van's bathroom. Something moved. She looked out at the hanger to see if Van had come home. The pickup truck was gone and the hanger doors were closed, an undeniable sign that Van had come home, but still … she was edgy. She couldn't see inside the window from that distance, especially with the sunlight reflecting across the glass, so she went in for a closer look. Cupping her hands around her eyes, she stuck her face right up to the window and peered inside, thinking that she wouldn't be able to see anything.
Inside, she saw a man standing with his back to the window and a towel wrapped around his waist. He was facing the mirror and shaving. His black wet hair was dripping on his shoulders and down his back.
Hitomi backed away, nursing her embarrassment. She reasoned that she hadn't seen anything. There was nothing to be ashamed of. But what was she thinking going up to Van's bathroom window and taking a look inside? Who or what was she afraid to find? She sighed. She looked because she was terrified that Allen had come back while Van was gone. She was just trying to confirm that it really was Van. Even if that was her reason, it didn't soothe the shame swirling within her. Besides, she told herself, it wasn't like she hadn't seen Van without his shirt before. He always had a great back, tanned and smooth, she reflected grimly. It was always there, under his clothes.
Hitomi put her hand to her forehead. Things were getting out of control.
Then Hitomi saw a vehicle coming down their road. The trail of dirt and dust it made couldn't be missed. It came down their driveway and came to a halt in front of their door. Hitomi walked around the house and met it.
Dryden got out of the drivers' seat and came around to talk to her. "Where's Van?" he asked shortly.
"In the bath," she answered.
"Get him out," Dryden said briskly. "I need to talk to him right now."
"Okay," Hitomi said hesitantly before she led him into the house.
After leaving Dryden agitated and too frustrated to even sit, she went to Van's bedroom and knocked on the door. No answer. She opened the door and went in. It wasn't like he hadn't stormed in on her when she was grooming before.
Knock. Knock.
He opened the door and came out. The towel he was wearing was gone and instead he was wearing a pair of black boxer-briefs.
"What is it?" he asked as he towel dried his hair – looking completely unruffled. Was he really? She remembered his awkwardness when he caught her shaving her legs. There was no way he felt as calm as he looked, but there was no time to confirm it now.
"Dryden's here," she said breathlessly. "He wants to talk to you."
Van looked surprised. "Tell him I'll get dressed and come out."
Hitomi ducked her head and moved to leave when Van suddenly grabbed her arm. "You look pink. Does seeing me like this make you nervous?"
"Nope," she lied, but she couldn't help evading her eyes by looking over Van's head.
He smirked in an awfully jerkish way that Hitomi unfortunately found adorable and then let her go.
"Please get him a glass of ice water while he waits," he said briskly. "I might be longer than a minute."
Hitomi went out and did what she was told.
Dryden looked like he was going to have a hissy fit right there in the living room. She handed him his water. "Thanks," he said, as he took out the ice cubes and crunched them furiously. When they were gone and Van still hadn't come out, he poured the rest of the liquid over his head with absolutely no regard for whether or not he splashed the furniture or soaked the carpet.
"Ah! Refreshing," Dryden said – obviously still aggravated.
Hitomi grunted. Then she took Dryden's glass and went into the kitchen to get a towel to clean up the mess when she saw Van pass on his way into the dining room.
Van didn't even have a chance to speak before Dryden lit in on him. Hitomi could hear him all the way in the kitchen. "Why didn't you tell me that Folken Fanel was your brother? It would have made things a lot simpler."
"What are you talking about?" Van asked. "Yeah, he's my brother, but I don't even know where he is right now. He's been out of touch with my family for over a decade."
"So, you had no idea that he works for Mr. Schezar Sr. then?" Dryden asked angrily.
"No, I didn't." Van was defensive.
Hitomi ducked her head and took up a perch beside the open door, so that she could hear what they were saying. She knew Folken. He was Mr. Schezar's helicopter pilot. Hitomi had seen him hundreds of times, but she and her father didn't have anything to do with him. He was one of the highest ranking people on staff and he was really well paid. Hitomi had seen him dining with at the Schezar table more than once. Was that guy really Van's brother?
"You're a helicopter pilot, right?" Dryden asked, sitting down on one of the sofas. "Have you ever done research on helicopters owned by famous people?"
"Why would I do something like that?" Van answered briskly.
"Because the one owned by Allen's family is remarkable. It's not powered by natural gas or an electric battery cells or anything normal. It's powered by what they call an energist. It can run for a sixteen hour flight without needing to touch down and then it only needs to rest for two hours before doing it all over again. Have you ever heard of anything like that before?"
"Mmhmm," Van hummed disinterestedly. After seeing Escaflowne in the floor of his basement, she thought that he would be more than interested in new helicopter technology, but he sounded bored to death. "Let me guess," he said after a minute. "Folken has been trying to make a new one and he's failed."
"Yeah," Dryden answered, astounded. "How did you know that?"
"Wild guess," Van said, sounding even more bored than before. "You see, my father invented the energist and when Folken left home, he took the only one my father had with him. When you put all those pieces together, it sounds like the photo shoot may have just been a ruse to get Allen up here to see if my father had another one. I mean, I know the scenery up here is fantastic, but nothing that can't be artificially generated."
"Was Allen prowling around your hanger?"
Hitomi thought about it. Allen was in the hanger! He came in one morning and woke them up. Had he looked for the energist when he was there?
Van sounded cool. "He was in there, but he wouldn't have found anything."
"Why not?"
"I already told you. My father only made one and Folken stole it."
Dryden sounded surprised at Van's tone. "Aren't you angry?"
"Sorry. It's hard to rake up any enthusiasm. All that happened a long time ago. My father never talked to me about it, but I think he was sorrier to lose Folken than the energist. Eventually, he stopped making helicopters and as far as I know, he's taken his secret on how to make the energists to his grave."
"He never told you about it?"
"Nope, but if that's what Allen and Gaddes really came for that time, then it would have been better if they'd just asked for it directly rather than …" Van spoke like he was coming to a realization. "… trying to get Hitomi to look for it. For Pete's sake! Do you know how many requests I have had from Sleeping Beauty Inc. to sell her back to them? Like twenty. First they were only doubling how much they would pay for her, and now the cost is getting into the millions. It's idiotic. I've stopped answering them. Should we just contact Allen and tell him that I don't have another bloody energist?"
Dryden sounded weary. "If only they would believe you."
"They wouldn't?"
"Those people live and breathe lies. They lie so often, they can't even imagine that someone else could be telling the truth. What worries me is that they may have just been coming here to get a feel for the place so they would know what the risks were for when they came back. Not everything can be figured out by satellite."
"Listen, I know my father's work. I have practically lived my whole life in his garage. There is nothing even hinting about the construction of an energist. There are no plans, no notes, and no strange material that doesn't have a place – nothing. Believe me; I've looked. If they rip the place to pieces they won't find anything. So, what do I have to do to stop them from getting excited?"
"I don't know. Let me think." A couple minutes passed where the only thing Hitomi heard were Dryden's footsteps as he beat down on the carpet. "Okay," he said, stopping abruptly. "Solution number one – you make up some greyprints and tell them that they were your father's plans and hand them over to Allen with great reluctance when he shows up. But that will only buy you time once they try them out and realize that they aren't your father's because they don't work. Solution number two – you ditch this place for a while and let them ransack it. But they will probably think that you took the energist with you and come after you. Solution number three – you sell Hitomi back to Allen."
Van interrupted. "Why the Hell would I do that?"
"I think they'll send her back to you," Dryden said patiently.
"What do you mean?"
Dryden sniffed. "I think if you sell her, she'll come back a week later saying that she ran away from Allen and wants to be with you. In the time she's gone they will have briefed her on what exactly she's supposed to find. Then when she reports that she can't find it, they'll snatch her back."
"What a crappy idea! It doesn't even make sense because of the Sleeping Beauty proximity regulations, but whatever. I'm not selling Hitomi."
"I'm not saying that it would be forever. I'm just saying that it would be a fast way to prove what they are really up to. Not just with this issue that has just come up, but with Princess Marlene too. If they got her to smuggle diseases once, then maybe they'll ask her to do it again. Then we could get proof."
Hitomi's heart was up in her throat as she listened.
"Look, I'd really like to help you with Princess Marlene's case. I'm doing my best, but you can't ask me to send Hitomi back to Allen. I won't sell her."
"All right, but just to warn you – if you don't fork Hitomi over to him, he'll probably go after Celena to do his dirty work," Dryden said darkly. "If you don't sell, I'll wager that Celena will be here poking around in two shakes."
There was a moment before Van answered. "Does Dilandau know that?"
"No. How can he know that when we've only pieced this together now? Do you think he'd be able to resist millions upon millions of dollars for Celena? Or do you think he'd be tough like you and refuse?"
Van was silent.
"Just to let you know, they'll probably let their bid get pretty high up there before they change to Celena. It's not that Hitomi herself is valuable. It's that the energist technology is so valuable that once they figure out how to make them, the price for her will seem like pocket change. This is the kind of scheme that has made the Schezar family its money."
"Are you going?" Van asked as one of the couches creaked.
"Yeah. I want to go talk to Dilandau, but I should probably warn you. They may also ask to rent her. You can think about whether or not you want to allow that."
"Renting her out is just as bad."
"Well, if we don't give them an avenue where they think they're getting what they want, they may get violent."
"I know, but I'm being honest. My father took whatever he knew to his grave."
"And so will Hitomi," Dryden said ominously, "unless we do something about it. Later, Van."
Hitomi bolted and hid behind the counter in the kitchen just as Van and Dryden passed her. She had to think about this too.
Author's Notes: Thanks for everyone who reads and everyone who reviews. There were quite a lot of you for the last chapter. Thank you all for your superb comments. But I have to compliment you because I don't think I have ever had an audience so open to intrigue. Thanks. I feel much freer. I've also decided not to host a forum because all my past forums got wiped out with no explanation (even though I emailed support). If you want to ask me a question, please do so in your review, and I'll PM you back. It's a promise. LOVE!