A/N: I'm not going to mention Fanfiction problems again. It's getting tiresome. Thanks to those of you that have submitted reviews for the last chapter. The ending caught many by surprise.
As before, thanks to Writesalott for the beta. She suggested more details about the arrivals, so I've added some.
Chuck vs The Triangle
Chapter 6: Parents
Mary walked forward and took Sarah's hand, leading her to the seats. "What about Chuck," Sarah asked.
"Xspotl is dealing with him. He's just fainted," Mary replied.
Sarah looked back, and the creature that had been standing beside Mary was bending down to Chuck's prone body on the floor.
Xspotl must be the creature's name. Its bald, purple head was above Chuck's chest, purple and bald. The protruding eyes when seen side on seemed to be very short stalks. It had two vertical slits below those, presumably nostrils, and then a wider horizontal slit which must be a mouth. Overall, the humanoid creature looked like a larger purple version of what had appeared in Close Encounters of the Third Kind.
"I think he'll freak out, and may faint again, if he wakes up to that face," Sarah said.
Mary looked over. "I did tell him not to be frightened, but you're probably right."
The two of them walked over to Chuck. The creature had its hand raised over Chuck's chest, but not touching it, and Chuck was raised off the ground and started to float to one of the chairs. It seemed like magic to Sarah. Xspotl, as Mary had called it, walked beside Chuck. The still unconscious body was then lowered onto the seat.
"Thank you, Xspotl," Mary said. "We'll take it from here."
The creature didn't actually say anything, but Mary nodded. She turned to Sarah. "Chuck will wake soon. In the meantime, let's talk."
'This is crazy! You brought aliens and Chuck fainted, and yet you want to talk?' Sarah thought.
Sarah suddenly realized what this was. The talk with the boyfriend's mom! She had to get this right. Mary spoke first, "Chuck isn't usually lucky with girls. His confidence was shaken after a painful experience in college."
Sarah finally got words out. "My Chuck is wonderful."
Mary beamed at her. "'My Chuck.' I like that, Sarah."
Sarah knew she was going to be questioned about her past, but also knew their current location gave some of it away. She decided she'd just be honest and tell the truth to these two people who meant so much to Chuck. She wouldn't give all the details, she hadn't yet with Chuck, but the overall picture.
"I love your son, Mrs. Bartowski," she said. "And he loves me. We want a future together, but this Intersect threatens that."
Mary winced. "It's been a curse for this family since Stephen first created it. I hate the thing and wish I'd never asked him to create it."
"You asked for it?" Sarah asked, aghast.
The older woman nodded. "Just as Stephen is driven in his quest to build things, my thirst for knowledge drives me. I wanted to know more about some historical events, and ones from pre-history."
"Tell me more, Mrs. Bartowski," Sarah admitted.
A hand was gently placed on Sarah's wrist. "Please call me Mary. I think formality isn't going to work for us going forward."
Sarah felt honored. "Thank you, Mary."
"We'll talk about the Intersect when Chuck has woken. For now, tell me about yourself."
And there it was. An open question. Tell as much or as little as necessary. However, Sarah looked over at Chuck hoping he'd wake and she would have an excuse not to talk about her past. Unfortunately, he was still unconscious.
She took a deep breath. The fact that they were in this cavern made it obvious she was more than a marine salvage expert. "Please don't judge me for my past. I'm totally above board now…. My father was… a grifter. He conned people out of their wealth and possessions. I was with him from age seven.
"Things got difficult for him and he decided on a new occupation. Piracy, ultimately based around marine salvage.
She looked at Chuck's mom, expecting condemnation but only saw fascination.
"We moved to Miami as the Caribbean seemed a fertile source of treasures. We found this cavern and decided to use it to lie low and hide treasures sometimes. We became more successful, but by this time I stayed out of sight." She blushed. "I was attracting too much attention."
Mary snorted. "I know that feeling, from when I was younger."
Sarah looked at her. Though Mary still looked great, Sarah could see hints of the stunning beauty she must have been in her.
Sarah continued, "I planned more than dived. I also fenced the goods we secured.
"I wasn't involved in his last trip at all. I was ill. I don't know the full story, but dad mysteriously drowned. I was informed officially that he'd had an accident, but I knew dad was too good a swimmer. That was five years ago.
"I changed my name, sold that boat and bought my current one. I have been running a legitimate salvage business ever since."
Sarah decided to add the current situation. "Chuck hired me to help find your boat and what had happened to you. We fell in love almost from first sight. I know it sounds crazy, but this whirlwind romance took us both by surprise. Of course, the Intersect messed everything up and has caused us nothing but trouble."
As she finished, she looked at Mary for a reaction. She didn't expect it to be good, how could it be? Mary's son was going out with an ex-con. However, Sarah was determined to hold onto Chuck no matter what his parents thought of her past.
"Quite a story," Mary said. "One that is longer than our disagreement with law enforcement, definitely, but we are not in a position to judge. This cavern must be used now to hide our boat that you raised, huh?"
Sarah nodded. "My criminal past is being used for good for a change."
Mary's look darkened. "Law enforcement has its place, but not all practicing in it are good. I take it that the CIA has caused you problems."
"Them and a Russian criminal that wanted it. I can only assume he found out from someone in the CIA."
Mary looked sharply at her. "Not Alexei Volkoff?"
"Yes, that was him," Sarah replied. "Do you know him?"
Mary groaned. "We came across him in one of my searches. I think he must have realized the purpose of that damned cube." She looked apologetically at the blonde. "I think that one is our fault."
"Well, after Chuck rescued me from Volkoff, he set the CIA on him."
"Rescued?" Mary said, looking startled.
Sarah found that she was telling their whole story. Shouldn't this be Chuck telling his mom? She looked over at him again, but there was no help forthcoming from him. She inwardly sighed and launched into that story. When she was done Mary was upset but also was visibly proud of her son. "I never thought he'd become a hero. I guess you bring that out of him, Sarah."
"I'd do anything for Sarah. She's the love of my life." The two women turned to see Chuck sitting up and looking right at them. Sarah felt awful that she'd missed seeing him waking up. She wanted to move closer and sit by him, but he turned to his mother. "Hi, Mom," he said, looking a bit tearful.
Mary moved the short distance to him and pulled him into a hug. "I didn't think I'd ever see you again, Chuck."
Sarah felt she should let the two of them have their moment, so she walked off, toward where his dad was checking the boat controls. He obviously was more interested in that than his son!
The two aliens were standing nearby. Sarah looked at the creatures as she walked around them and they observed her. This took her about twelve feet away from Chuck and his mom.
Stephen Bartowski looked up. "We'll introduce you to our friends when sleeping beauty is up to it."
She laughed at the phrase he used for his son. "Hi, I'm Sarah Walker, Chuck's girlfriend." Saying it still felt good.
The older Bartowski stood and looked at her with a raised eyebrow. "A lot's changed while we've been away."
She chuckled. "We're only together because of you two, and only very recently."
He pondered that for a moment or two. "Maybe some good has come out of the Intersect, then."
Sarah hadn't thought of it that way, but he was right.
He came out of his thoughts and stuck his hand out. "Sorry. Stephen Bartowski. Pleased to meet you, Sarah."
They shook hands. The man reminded her of his son. Formal and gentlemanly.
She thumbed back at the pair talking a few yards away. "Well, sleeping beauty, as you call him, is awake and talking with his mom," she said.
Stephen looked over and nodded. "Let's go through to the table to talk," he walked toward it, expecting Sarah and the aliens to follow.
The two creatures sat at the two ends of the rectangular table. Stephen sat at one side and Sarah opposite him while Mary brought Chuck over and sat him beside Sarah. Chuck looked nervous when his gaze moved towards the creature on his right, so Sarah grasped his hand and squeezed it to draw his attention onto her. He looked at her and she leaned over and gave him a quick kiss. His shoulder tension eased a bit. "It's alright, Chuck. They don't mean us any harm," she said. Mary hadn't said that specifically, but the older Barowski's wouldn't be as comfortable as they were with the aliens if that wasn't the case, would they?
"How'd you know?" he asked, tensing again. "They kidnapped mom and dad!"
"We chose to go with them, son," Stephen said.
"Yeah, that or drown at the bottom of the ocean!" Chuck sarcastically replied.
"That's not how it went," Stephen replied, getting a bit frustrated.
Sarah squeezed Chuck's hand again. When he looked her way, she said, "Let's hear the story, Chuck."
He looked at her and the eye contact added to her cool, controlled voice calmed him. He nodded and looked back at his parents, avoiding looking at the aliens.
"There's two things you should know," Stephen started. "Ever since we started using the Intersect and discovering things others hadn't, it got a lot of interest, particularly from the US government, but also from other less desirable people."
"They've had a run in with Volkoff," Mary said.
The two men looked at her.
"Shit!" Stephen said.
"You know him?" Chuck asked.
Mary sighed and didn't look like she wanted to cover that again.
"Mary told me about that," Sarah told him. "I'll tell you later. Let's hear the rest of the story now."
"That's the other thing. It wasn't just general interest, it was a desire to have exclusive use of it," Stephen continued. "While in the States, the NSA came demanding it. We got away and left the country, but then the CIA came after it. We've been dodging one or the other ever since.
"We were escaping the CIA in our boat when these two found us." He looked fondly at the two purple-skinned individuals. "They can talk to us by directed telepathy. Xspotl sitting by you, Chuck, and Zxtarl here by Sarah, detected the Intersect even out in space and came to us.
"They, rightly, thought that it is too dangerous a tool for anyone to have. Knowledge is power. It corrupts. They wanted to remove it from human use."
"They are good at predicting the future," Mary said. "Their projection, based on who had it, all led to the end of civilization here."
"We'd come to the conclusion it wasn't a good thing and I wished I'd not invented it," Stephen said.
"We asked where they came from," Mary said. "When they told us about a planet tens of light years away we were shocked. So far away!"
Stephen picked it up then. "I asked how their spaceships traveled such distances and how long it took. The answer surprised us. They regularly came to Earth to observe human development. They arrived via a wormhole that they controlled."
"Wormhole!? This is pure science fiction!" Chuck exclaimed. Sarah thought so too, but didn't need to say anything, as he had.
His dad just pointed at the two aliens. "Just because science fiction authors write about aliens, spaceships and wormholes doesn't mean they aren't real, Charles."
"Okay. So, they travel through a wormhole specifically to get to you, Dad, and to take the Intersect from you. What then?" Chuck's disbelief was clear to all there.
"Are you doubting me?" Stephen asked. His tone was stone cold.
"It all seems too unbelievable!" Chuck said.
"Use your own eyes, Chuck," his mother said. "You are in the presence of two beings from another planet. They've brought us back to see you. Why the disbelief?"
He huffed. "Because I don't see why it would be so important to beings from another planet."
'We don't want your species to destroy itself.'
Chuck jumped. The words weren't spoken, just appeared in his head. Sarah 'heard' it too and gripped his hand extremely tightly.
"That's how they communicate," Mary said. "A sort of telepathy. It's as if they project the words right into your mind."
Chuck looked at the one sitting next to him and asked, "How did you detect the Intersect?" That was certainly bothering him.
'When used, it generates extreme levels of sxtrtztar. You do not have a word for this. It was picked up by sensor arrays we had left here before.'
"We didn't understand it either, Chuck," Mary said. "We've learned to just accept they know things that we don't."
"So, why not just take the Intersect and leave you and your boat alone?" Sarah asked.
Chuck looked at her and then back to his parents, nodding.
"A few reasons," Stephen explained. "The CIA had boarded the boat and were threatening to not only take the Intersect, which they were searching for, but also imprison us and take our boat. We needed to get away and disappear." He looked down. "And I asked them to take us with them."
"This was an opportunity for exploration that no one else could experience," Mary said, her eyes gleaming.
Stephen said, "They said they could and that we would be able to both breathe on their world, but also to eat their food. Others had done it before."
"They're not kidnappers, Chuck," his mom said to him.
"They transported the CIA people back onto their boat," Stephen said. He grinned. "Sort of like in Star Trek." Then he looked serious again as he said more, "They took us into the spaceship and then transported our boat to the sea bed thirty miles away. The boat and us effectively vanished."
"And now you're back, with them," Chuck said.
'You used the other Intersect.'
It was unnerving having the words appear in their heads.
"So, you want that?" Sarah asked.
"You could come with us, disappearing as we did, but there might be a better way to get rid of it," Stephen said.
"You left me and Ellie without a second thought!" Chuck accused them. "For years we had no idea if you were dead or alive! I can't do that to my sister! I can't disappear on her."
Both of his parents reacted to that. "We had to disappear," Stephen hissed. "Not just for the Intersect that I'd be forced to recreate, but also other inventions, like the ship engines and the Disruptor."
"Xspotl has promised to take us to see Ellie and her family on this trip," Mary said with tears in her eyes.
"So, what brilliant idea do you have for the second Intersect?" Chuck asked. He was still seething about, well, everything.
"You destroy it in front of the CIA and then nothing is at risk. You and Eleanor would be safe from them." Stephen sounded very sure of that.
"We have the boat. We escaped from two CIA craft in it. They'll want that technology," Chuck said.
"What if we talk to the press in Miami, do a demo and say we own the rights and will allow others to buy it from us?" Sarah suggested.
Mary smiled at her. "There's still a little of your dad in you, isn't there?"
Sarah blushed but continued, "The US government can be one of the customers."
Mary laughed. "Who will pay a high price?"
Sarah grinned and nodded.
"It could work," Stephen mused.
"So, press launch first, then meet with Bryce and destroy the cube," Sarah said to Chuck.
"Bryce Larkin?" Mary asked.
"Yeah. He's in the CIA, Mom," Chuck answered.
"That slimy good for nothing-"
Stephen grasped Mary's hand, stopping her rant. "Not worth it, my love."
"Can we visit your planet at some time?" Sarah asked. "Just Chuck and I?"
'That could be arranged.'
She turned to Chuck. "Want to go exploring?"
He could see the excitement in her sparkling eyes.
Mary laughed. "She's definitely Bartowski material. Marry her, Chuck!"
Chuck looked at his mom in shock, but Sarah grabbed his chin and made him look her way. She held his gaze. "Don't freak out!"
He could see the humor in her eyes, but was there also a degree of desire, too?
"Maybe a trip to this planet as a honeymoon?" he joked.
Sarah had only been joking, although Mary's suggestion did appeal to her. Was Chuck's response more than just humorous?. She couldn't resist kissing him, even in front of his parents.
She heard Mary clapping.
The two aliens left them just as mysteriously as they arrived. They just vanished.
"They've gone back to their ship that's hovering above the boat," Stephen told Chuck and Sarah.
Chuck and Sarah rushed on deck to look up. What they saw looked like the flying saucer of old movies. They both were eager to see inside it, but they did need to plan their next actions. Stephen and Mary had stayed behind to help them with that.
"So, I'll contact Matt and Janine. One of them will contact the Miami media companies for us to set up the press conference."
"I'd advise against that," Stephen said. "The CIA and, even more so, the NSA, tap phones."
Sarah's shoulders slumped. "That would mean their calls to media companies would be recorded as well."
"Indeed. However, I have technology that can prevent recording." Stephen turned to Chuck. "You have it on your phone, son."
Chuck was surprised. "I never knew that! When did you install that?"
His dad blushed. "I installed it remotely shortly before setting off on our last trip. It's called 'Scram.'"
Chuck went in search of his original phone and, sure enough, there was an app there amongst all the others he had on the phone, so many that he didn't notice this one.
"You have to activate it by tapping on the icon, before a call and then again to deactivate it."
"So, select who you want at the press conference and call them yourselves," Mary said.
"I need to tell Matt when we'll get there so that we can use my mooring," Sarah said. "He'll need to move my boat."
"That'll also draw the CIA away. They're probably waiting for it to go out for us," Chuck commented.
They decided on a time the following afternoon and Chuck activated Scram and handed his phone to Sarah. She called Matt and explained what they planned.
"We watched the CIA crawl all over the boat shortly after we got back," Matt said. "They took the next two moorings with their boats."
"Okay. Make a big thing of loading up and setting off when you go. Then, take them out for an hour. You head east, we'll approach from the south," she responded.
She and Chuck then decided what to say to the media to get their attention.
Her first call wasn't successful. "Can you put me through to the news team?" she asked the switchboard woman.
The woman sighed. "If you have anything for us, bring it in and we'll route it to the relevant person. We don't take random calls."
"But-" Sarah was shocked to just be cut off.
"Start with the news item," Stephen suggested.
"No. This is the right way," Mary said. "The person who answers might leak the news, whereas a news journalist will hold onto it."
"See if it's just that one," Chuck said.
She tried NBC next. "I have some news that we're sharing with media companies based in Miami. And there will be demonstrations to those that attend."
"What's the news?"
"I'll tell a news reporter or editor. They can decide whether they want to miss this or not. Anyone not there will regret it."
She was put through to the news editor, Jane Smith who said. "I'm intrigued, but not committing until I know what this is about."
"We've raised a client's parents boat off the seabed. It'd been down there over a year. It dried out and was seaworthy. It has a super-fast engine, at least twice as fast as a speedboat. The fuel economy is such that it could go at that speed for days. We'll bring it to Miami docks at 2pm tomorrow. After a brief talk, we'll take reporters and film crew out in groups to experience it."
"A seaworthy wreck alone caught my attention," Jane said. "I'll get a reporter and cameraman out there. Which mooring?"
Sarah told her. "That's where it'll be, but the conference may need to be a bit away from there. Not much room."
They agreed on the best place to go.
"Please don't tell anyone. Less desirable people are trying to take the boat from us so only they have exclusive use of the technology. This is ours to own, but we want it to be for everyone."
"Ha! We never tell until we put it out! Make sure you include what you just said in your pitch," Jane said.
Other calls went the same way. By the time Sarah finished, exhausted, they had three tv news crews and three newspaper crews coming.
One of the editors, Paul James, from the Miami Times, said, "If this is real, after the news gets out, you'll be swamped with requests for interviews."
Sarah ended the call, pressed the Scram icon and handed the phone back to Chuck.
"I'm thinking you should be the spokesperson," Chuck said. She looked confused. "I'm not a confident speaker," he explained.
Sarah was not going to do this on her own. She told him very clearly, "We'll do a joint presentation. You can be more technical, something I would struggle with, and I'll talk about finding the boat, what we saw down there and raising it. I can also describe the experience of the speed."
A/N: Next chapter we'll see how they get on back in Miami.
As always, I hope you'll leave a review, if for no other reason than it's currently the only way I know I still have readers!
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Glossary:
Like in my Exo story, I'm going to record alien words and names here for reference:
Sxtrtztar - effect detected by the alien sensor arrays when the Intersect cube is used.
Xspotl - one of the first pair of aliens encountered by Chuck and Sarah.
Zxtarl - one of the first pair of aliens encountered by Chuck and Sarah.