Elect II—5 Stab from the Past, part 3 of 3

November 2, 2016November 2, 2016M G Kizzia Leave a comment

The mats were laid out in the gym and the company stood at attention. Captain Driver walked the room first and eyed each member of the class before he said, “At ease. Be seated.” Emily held the clipboard that day. Hand to hand training required some close quarters and Captain Driver told her he did not want anyone to get hurt, accidentally.

“Sophomore.” Besides, he had Jessica to pick on that year. She got up and stood at attention. She felt ready for whatever the man threw at her. She had been training with Heinrich for over a year.

“Some of you might think she is just a girl. What can she possibly do if someone sneaks up and grabs her from behind as a prelude to rape or murder, or in a combat situation. Let me tell you, properly trained she has nothing to fear.”

Lieutenant Brinkman grabbed Jessica around the middle, though it was not entirely unexpected. Jessica did what she had to in order to flip him over her shoulder, but he expected that and resisted.

“Not a chance,” he whispered in her ear. That made her mad. She hooked her right foot around his right ankle and stepped forward, effectively lifting his ankle off the mat. Then she twisted enough to make him lose his balance toward his weak side. They both went to the mat with Jessica on top. To his credit, Brinkman hung on even when his back slammed against the mat, but Jessica was ready and added the natural motion to her deliberate motion and slammed the back of her head into Brinkman’s face.

“Surrender,” Brinkman let go. Jessica slipped off, but laid a hand on his chest as she spoke.

“I hope I didn’t hurt you.”

“No.” Brinkman shook his head, but took a moment to rub his nose. “I was afraid I might hurt you.

“No, I’m fine,” Jessica scooted up close to Brinkman’s face to examine the man’s nose. “Are you okay?”

“Yes, I’m fine,” he said.

“I’m fine, too,” Jessica said, and Emily turned to Captain Driver.

“Lost for the session.” Brinkman and Jessica were both grinning at each other.

Captain driver frowned. “Exactly why I don’t like women in the ranks. No offense.” He turned to the class. “Pair up. You women need to pair with each other.”

The class went well after that until two young men called Emily over. One spoke in a serious tone. “I don’t get the grab from behind bit,” he said. “Could you show us?”

Emily set down her clipboard. The one who asked was her height, hardly the biggest boy in the class, but she understood that he might be having a problem because his partner was a hulk. He was one that Jessica called a two-hundred and fifty-pounder.

Emily faced the smaller man and told the big one to grab her from behind. She expected his hands around her middle, but that was not what happened. Those big hands reached up and grabbed her breasts. Emily could only imagine the grinning face over her shoulder. She turned. He could not stop her. She broke free, grabbed the big man’s sweatshirt and sweat pants and tossed him eight feet through the air. He landed beyond the mats and slid across the gym floor another six feet to where he crumpled up against the wall. Nothing was seriously damaged, except maybe his ego.

Emily turned on the other who quickly took several steps back. “Does that make it clear?” the young man nodded, vigorously.

“Hudson.”

“Sir.” Emily came to attention.

Captain Driver stepped over, but his eyes were on the two young men. “When I told you I did not want anyone accidentally hurt, I left off one part.”

“Sir?”

“Unless they deserve it.” Captain Driver turned to the class who had stopped to stare in any case. “Don’t you people understand? This is not just a class. This is your team. These are the people you will have to depend on when the going gets rough. You will respect your team members at all times. If you cannot do that, there is no room for you in this program. Am I clear?”

“Sir, yes sir.”

“Hit the showers.” He turned to the two young men, one standing still and the other staggering back from the wall. “You two need to give me a reason why you should remain in this class. And I saw the whole thing so if you lie to me that will be instant dismissal.”

Emily changed, and as she did she felt sorry for the boys. She said nothing to Jessica, but Jessica could tell. “Pent up frustrations,” Jessica said. “You need a date.”

“Look who’s talking?”

“He asked me out and I said yes.”

“He is your superior officer.”

“So we will have to go undercover.” Jessica paused while Hilde and Natasha giggled. “I did not mean that the way it sounded.” She tried again. “You outrank me too, your majesty, but it doesn’t keep me from telling you to turn your light out when I’m ready to go to bed. Wait. That’s not helping.”

###

“Hey, wait up!” Emily turned her head. It was Joel from Anatomy and from the library study group. “Something I have to ask you.” He was puffing a little from the run, like he followed her half-way across campus. “Emily.” He acknowledged her and smiled. It was a nice smile.

Emily never thought about dating until Jessica brought it up. She did not imagine she could date, after Pierce. But Joel was nice. She could easily smile for him.

“I want a date,” Joel said.

“What?” That was a bit sudden.

“Oh? No, no. Not what you think.” Joel’s smile widened. “I was talking about Amina.”

“Oh? I see.” Emily felt a pang of something, but she was not sure what she was panging about. “Why are you talking to me about Amina?” she started to walk again and Joel kept up.

“I asked her out. She wants to go out. Maybe supper and a movie, nothing special. But she said I had to get your permission first.”

Emily stopped walking. No way. Amina was a big girl who could make her own decisions. Emily was not going to get stuck with approving something that turned out wrong. “If you respect her and care about her, I don’t see anything wrong with the idea.”

“I think she’s great,” Joel said, and Emily could see he meant it. “I mean, you don’t mind?”

“You do know she has not dated much, or at all as the case may be.”

“I know. We talked about that. It seems our families are very similar, considering.”

“Considering?”

“Considering she is Catholic and I am Jewish.”

Emily sighed and nodded. It wouldn’t be the first time. “Okay with me,” she said, but planned to have a long talk with that girl. Emily had no business making those sorts of decisions. If Amina insisted they be Amazons, then Amina would have to start acting like one and make her own decisions about boys or men.”

“Thank you,” Joel said sincerely, and he ran off to celebrate, or to find Amina, or to do both.

Emily shook her head as she walked up the steps of the administration building. It was one flight up to find the President’s office. She was ushered right in when she arrived, and the door shut behind her.

“Come in. Sit down.” President Batiste seemed cordial and that made Emily’s intuition flare into the red zone. “Captain Gouldos tells me you lead the raid on Morgan Granger’s house., but you neglected to call security first like we asked.”

Emily practiced this line. “It was a police matter, sir. It was not a matter for campus security.”

“Are you a trained and educated expert in these matters?” The President spoke with every ounce of restraint he could muster. He was clearly ticked. “My security people are knowledgeable about what requires outsiders and what is best kept in house. That is what we pay them for, to make those determinations. Let them.” He underlined the last part and Emily thought it wise to keep her mouth shut.

“You are a dangerous woman,” Batiste said, though he said it with a smile returned to his face, his anger temporarily abated. “But there is a reason we have rules and regulations at this university. I am not saying you have broken any rules, but you have failed to keep some. A sin of omission, I believe. I don’t know why you seem to attract trouble, but next time please do the right thing. Call Captain Gouldos. He is not a bad man and may even help you with whatever Boogyman you might be facing.”

“Hopefully there won’t be a next time,” Emily said and stood. She had enough. President Batiste looked at her with his mouth forming around a word, but then he swallowed whatever it was.

“Hopefully,” he agreed and waved her out.

Emily went, but kept looking back as the door slowly closed. She bumped into an older man. “Careful, young woman,” the man said and smiled for her as he put his hands to her shoulders and helped her step aside. “My youngest daughter is the same way. She loses track of where she is going, and that is not a good thing when she is driving.” He showed a gold cap on a tooth as his smile came out.

Emily returned the smile, but her intuition was still flagging her. She took a careful look. The man was fifty-something, salt and pepper hair and he had a left eye that looked a bit to the left when he was looking straight ahead.

“Mister Franco. Ferdinand. Come right in.” President Batiste reached out for the man, and Emily thought it best to disappear.

Back on the Administration building front steps, she tried to put together what she just experienced and saw. Why was she dangerous? She posed no danger to President Batiste as far as she knew. She probably saved the university last year from any number of law suits. And why was he so determined to have her call security? So they could sit on what was obviously a police matter? Lisa said the men guarding Granger’s house were drug men. For all she knew it might have been a federal matter, but not something campus cops were designed for. What was he trying to keep “in house,” as he called it? Was she a threat to that, whatever it was?

Emily hardly had time for another thought when she looked up and saw a familiar figure down the path. “Pierce?” She called, though she knew that was impossible. The young man looked up and she saw his face. “Pierce!” The young man took off running. Emily chased him.

Emily had the strength in her legs to outrun a deer, but she could not catch this young man. That confirmed in her mind who she was chasing. Pierce said he had a younger brother. This had to be him, and he looked to be about sixteen, not quite old enough for college whereas Pierce masqueraded as a graduate student. He masqueraded, she remembered, because he was a person created in a lab by Doctor Zimmer, only something did not go right. Pierce aged at twice the normal rate, which meant in real time Pierce was only twelve or thirteen-years-old. If the same was true of this one, she figured she was chasing an eight-year-old, but she could not catch him.

Emily rounded the building and came into a parking lot. It was full of cars of commuters and some faculty and staff. Pierce’s brother was nowhere to be seen. He might have raced into the building, but she imagined he was out there among the cars. As long as he kept low, he could easily work his way to the back of the lot and disappear among the trees without her ever finding him. “Needle in a haystack,” she said to herself, and then had a thought in case the young man could still hear her.

“I need to talk to you. I want to tell you about your brother. Find me when you are ready.” She turned to go back to her dorm to mope.

************************

Monday. Everyone has them, but figuring them out… Be sure to visit the blog Money for the Elect II–6 Secrets.

and Happy Reading

Elect II—5 Stab from the Past, part 2 of 3

November 1, 2016October 3, 2016M G Kizzia Leave a comment

Lisa stared out the kitchen window, but the movement did not happen again. She stepped over to the wall and switched off the kitchen light.

“Hey,” Josh protested.

“Kids,” Lisa called.

Bobby and Adam are in Bobby’s room playing some game and Megan is watching television,” Josh explained.

“Megan. Come in here,” Lisa called and returned to the window. “Josh, honey. Turn the back outside light on.” Josh stood and did, but he had a question.

“Something out there?”

“Something,” Lisa said, and watched whatever it was move away from the light and back out to the street. It was gone.

“A person or animal?” Josh asked as Megan came in to the kitchen.

Lisa touched her daughter’s shoulder. “Time to get ready for bed.”

“Aw,” she gave the expected response but went upstairs.

“Person or animal?” Josh repeated.

“Not human,” Lisa responded with one more look before she turned the kitchen light on again.

“So, an animal,” Josh said.

“No. Not human,” Lisa repeated.

###

Maria and Jessica crossed the campus, fretted about the mid-terms just taken, but they talked about everything else. They talked about what Zoe’s mystery might be, and admitted they still had no clue. After a time of getting nowhere, Maria asked a different question.

“So, where are your hangers-on?”

“Studying, I hope,” Jessica answered. “Father always said I had natural leadership qualities.”

“Your CEO father?”

“Yeah. Who would have thought military leadership? Go figure.” Jessica looked down as Maria looked up, curious. “Did you ever see that old movie, “Clueless?” Jessica asked. Maria was not sure. “Well, anyway, that was me in high school. On the other hand, my five-year reunion should be interesting.”

“I’ll bet.” Maria sighed. “I don’t know if I will have a reunion.” Maria saw the curiosity jump to Jessica’s face. “Too many of my classmates are in jail. High school in Jersey City was sort of like West Side Story, but with semi-automatic weapons.”

“Hey guys!” Melissa and Mindy came out of the library and Jessica and Maria stopped to wait for them.

“I wonder, though, if I should be majoring in business. I’m starting to think poli-sci might be better.” Jessica was not asking an opinion.

Maria shrugged. “All I know is I need the grades to get into a good medical school.”

“Yeah, well. You realize that Emily and I are at the bottom of the heap as far as academics are concerned. But at least Emily has a goal. What the heck is a business major anyway? I just started out with that because I knew the most about it and thought it would be easy. Hanging around you guys has made me want to actually learn something. You ruined me. It’s unnatural.”

“What’s unnatural?” Mindy asked when she stopped to catch her breath.

“You and Melissa. Watch.” Jessica smiled as Melissa was the last to arrive. She asked a question as they started to walk again. “So, Melissa, how’s physics?”

“Great!” Melissa was enthusiastic about the mind boggling stuff. “Professor Becker has just about got the reactor ready. Imagine, cold fusion. Won’t that be great? And he is letting me help.”

“See?” Jessica said. “I don’t even know what cold fusion is.”

“Oh, sorry.” Melissa barely avoided a long, mathematical explanation. She had to yank her mind elsewhere. “Would you rather hear about Professor Piedmont in robotics. I swear he just about has that robot thinking for itself.”

“I don’t think that was the point,” Maria interrupted.

“What is a business major, anyway?” Jessica repeated herself.

“You could come down into the archives with me,” Mindy suggested. She was not really serious, and Jessica understood. She stopped walking. They all did, and Jessica made a fist and pointed it at Mindy, but it was only play.

“I have to go,” Maria said. “I have to see my new advisor, Professor Singh.”

“What does he teach?” Melissa asked, wanting to get the topic in someone else’s court.

“Evolutionary biology. Not really where I belong, but the man is brilliant. He has really taken the whole study of evolution on the fast track.”

“Not where you belong?” Mindy asked.

“Well, I had Zimmer last year, genetics and such before he did the fast disappearing act. That was right before Pierce got activated and Emily had to, you know, kill Pierce.”

“Hey.” Jessica interrupted. “Who is that?” She pointed at the young man who came out of the science building. “I swear to god that is Pierce.”

“Can’t be,” Maria said.

“Looks like him to me,” Mindy said. “But I didn’t know him as well as you did.”

“Looks exactly like him,” Jessica insisted.

“Too young,” Maria concluded the conversation with, “Don’t tell Emily. Maybe she won’t ever see the guy, whoever he is.”

“My lips are sealed,” Jessica said.

Mindy looked up and grinned. “I thought you were saving your lips for that Lieutenant Brinkman fellow.”

Jessica made a face. “Please! The man is a Neanderthal.”

“I saw the way he was looking at you in front of Granger’s house.” Melissa joined in.

“Ha! You should have seen the way she was looking at him,” Maria added.

“Get off it! Not interested. End of story.” Jessica got heavy handed. Maria went into the science building for her appointment with her advisor. Jessica lead the way back to the suite. Mindy turned to Melissa who walked a half-step behind.

“She must really like him,” Mindy said.

“She is in denial,” Melissa agreed. Jessica kept her mouth shut.

Elect II—5 Stab from the Past, part 1 of 3

October 31, 2016October 4, 2016M G Kizzia Leave a comment

Latasha stayed after school. It was Halloween, and she had something very Halloween to share with Ms Riley. It was a copy of a picture Jessica drew. It was based on the descriptions Emily and Reverend Michaels provided. It looked like a drawing of a goblin she saw in one of Leah’s fairy books, but somehow she imagined Ms Riley would know what it was. She knew she had no one else she could ask.

Latasha sat on one of the lab stools in the biology room and shuffled her feet as she thought about Emily and Emily’s friends. She knew Jessica and Maria, and liked them. She liked Amina too, but Amina scared her a little. She met Mindy a couple of times and Melissa once. They both seemed nice. And now there was Reverend Michaels. Latasha had always been taught to have a deep respect for her elders, and especially for her preachers. She could not call the woman Sara no matter what, but the woman was nice, like Detective Lisa. She could not call her just Lisa either.

Latasha put her hands under her thighs to keep her fingers from nervously drumming and to lift her legs a bit so she could shuffle them better. Detective Ashish said she was a bundle of nervous energy. Maybe she was. She was five-eight, almost as tall as Jessica, but she was only sixteen and maybe still growing. At the same time, she was skinny, and that made her feel like a fence post. She was not terminally skinny, but like one still waiting to fill out. That would have to happen soon if it was ever going to happen.

Thoughts of her own friends finally surfaced in Latasha’s mind. There were four, but as of last year there were really only two. Keisha was a joker who never took anything seriously, especially school. She was not stupid, just lazy. Latasha never noticed it before, but she was sure that Keisha would throw her life away on doing nothing and dragging down everyone around her besides. Janet, on the other hand, was not very smart, but she had a good heart and was good to people. Sadly, that meant she was also easily manipulated and right now Bobby Thompson, the drug dealer had her in his orbit. Presently, Janet and Latasha were not on speaking terms.

“Latasha?” Ms Riley came in holding a stack of copies she had run off in the office. “I thought you would be home getting ready to trick or treat.”

“I’m a bit old for that,” Latasha said.

“Not going to dress?”

Latasha shook her head. “But I probably should be home helping Mama get John and Leah ready to go out. My younger brother and sister,” she explained and Ms Riley nodded while she set down her papers.

“So why are you here? Need help with the chapter?”

“No, not biology. I wanted to show you something.” She held out the paper and Ms Riley took it and stared, mouth shut tight for a second or two.

“This is very good. Did you draw it?”

“No. Jessica at the university. Do you know what it is?”

Ms Riley shook her head. “Sorry.” She handed back the paper.

Latasha took it, but looked disappointed. “Maybe they were making it up,” she said, though she knew better.

Ms Riley stopped what she was doing. “Who was making it up?”

“Emily and Reverend Sara, the university chaplain. They saw this, or something like it on the campus in the dark and described it for Jessica to draw. I thought it might be a goblin.”

Ms Riley paused and the two stared at each other for a long minute before Ms Riley spoke. “It looks like a troll or ogre, but one turned orc. I know there are no such things as orcs. Tolkien just made them up, but that is the current term in use.”

“Orcs?”

Ms Riley reached her hand out again and took the paper. “It isn’t a dark elf, or what you call a goblin. They can be much more frightening, but this looks bigger and distorted in some way, and in pain. That is the look of an orc.”

“What is an orc?”

“It is one of the little spirits of the earth, like light elves, dwarfs or dark elves, that has turned against their god. A spirit in rebellion, you might say. They get all distorted looking. The distortion is an unavoidable process, a thing our god has done so we can tell each other apart.”

“What?” Latasha took a step back. “What do you mean, we?”

Ms Riley handed the paper back with a smile. “I said they, didn’t I?”

Latasha shook her head. “You said we, and you said our god.”

“You should think about wearing a Halloween costume.” Ms Riley never lost her smile. “I always dress for the occasion. Would you like to see my costume?”

“No. Yes.” Latasha quickly changed her mind.

“Promise you won’t scream?”

Latasha nodded but thought she had better sit down. Ms Riley raised her hand. That was it. Something stood in front of Latasha that was still recognizably Ms Riley, but she was not human at all. She was too skinny, as skinny as Latasha. Her fingers were too long and her ears came to clear and definite points at the top.

“Elf.” Ms Riley said the word in Ms Riley’s voice.

“But you said you were born outside of Boston,” Latasha remembered what Ms Riley once told her.

“I was, and I was born human, too,” Ms Riley said. “How I came to be an elf is a very long story, but let’s just say my husband likes me this way.” She grinned, and Latasha suddenly understood what an elfish grin was really all about. “I wear a glamour, an illusion, but to be sure my natural form is a bit too much even for Halloween.” Ms Riley raised her hand again and most of the more extreme and inhuman bits went away so she looked more human again. She kept the ears, though. “I’ve been practicing. Would you like the illusion of being an elf?”

Latasha got off the stool and took a step back. “It would just be an illusion, not real, right?”

“Oh, don’t be afraid. I don’t have any such power to change you for real. I’m not even sure I can do the glamour. It is hard enough doing the glamour on myself.”

Latasha changed her mind and smiled. “Leah loves fairy stories. My baby sister.”

“Come here,” Ms Riley said. She took something like dust out of her pocket and sprinkled it in Latasha’s direction. She chanted something too soft for Latasha to hear, and then threw her hands out and Latasha felt something.

“Let me see,” Latasha said, but all Ms Riley had was a small mirror in her purse.

Latasha had the pointed ears. Her nose and chin were a bit more pointed and she had that grin on her face. Her hands also looked more narrow and with longer fingers. She looked up again. “It is just an illusion.”

“Just an illusion,” Ms Riley said. “It will wear off at midnight, or when you say, “No more illusion. Illusion go away.”

“No more illusion,” Latasha started to repeat the phrase and Ms Riley clamped her hand on Latasha’s mouth.

“Don’t say it now. I’m not sure I have it in me to do that again.”

Latasha nodded. She picked up her paper with the drawing. “Orc,” she said.

Ms Riley mirrored Latasha’s nod. “Right now there are little ones in rebellion. That has only happened a couple of times in all of history, but they were bad times for all of us. There are not many rebels, but we detected some activity in this area. That is why I had to stay for another year of teaching. And you better do your homework if you expect to pass my class.” Ms Riley shook her long and skinny finger.

Latasha looked at the woman with big elf looking eyes. Ms Riley still looked more elf than human, even if her features, apart from her ears, were within human range, but at the same time she was still Latasha’s teacher. Being an elf had nothing to do with that.

The door to the room opened and Principal Wearing came in. He spoke as he looked down at a sheet. “Mary, I have a question about this.” He looked up and stopped.

What could Latasha and Ms Riley say, but, “Happy Halloween.”

Elect II—4 Venus de Jekyll and Hyde, part 3 of 3

October 26, 2016October 3, 2016M G Kizzia Leave a comment

Latasha stopped in to see Ms Riley. She had some time to kill before Detective Lisa picked her up, and the grump in the library wanted to go home early. To her surprise, Wendy and Mini were there asking Ms Riley a question. She sat quietly to wait, when a man stuck his head in the door.

“Ms Riley. Can I see you a minute?”

“Of course.” Ms Riley stood. “Hold that thought. I’ll be right back,” she said, and stepped out the door.

“Hey, haven’t seen you in a while,” Wendy started the conversation.

“I’ve been busy trying to do something with my life.”

“I heard you been hanging out with the police,” Wendy continued. She was fishing for information, maybe to gossip, but Latasha did not care.

“I am trying to get the grades to go to college. I want to join the police force.”

“That’s what I heard. You are making some of the kids around here nervous.”

“Not my problem,” Latasha said.

“Wendy wants to be a lawyer,” Mini interrupted.

“So why are you so worried about science class?” Latasha was curious.

“Asking questions shows you are doing the reading and interested in the subject,” Mini spoke frankly. “Teachers give better grades on papers and stuff if they think you are really making the effort.”

“But you are making the effort, aren’t you? You’re not just being slick.”

“Of course,” Wendy rolled her eyes. “You have to do the reading to show you are doing the reading.”

“Of course,” Latasha responded, and added a thought. “I miss hanging with you guys.”

“Me too,” Mini said. Wendy looked non-committal as Ms Riley came back in.

“So girls, what was that question?” Ms Riley asked.

“Never mind,” Wendy said. “We just figure it out.” Wendy and Mini left.

“Latasha?” Ms Riley turned to her. “Did you have a question?”

“No, ma’am. I just figured it out, too.”

###

Detective Lisa brought Ashish to the trash can out back behind the police station. She carried Professor Hilde’s journal. He watched as she set it on fire along with all of Granger’s notes they discovered in the house. She warmed her hands by the fire while Ashish spoke.

“So you think Professor Hilde kept the personal journal to track all of his experiments because he planned on selling it to the highest bidder?”

“That is the only thing that makes sense,” Lisa responded. “Last year’s contest was to make super soldiers. The Pentagon offered lots of money for the winner. Hilde figured if he did not win, his formula was still good enough to sell. Even if he did win, he might double his money by selling the formula to the Chinese or someone else.”

“Why do you think Granger got into it? I don’t know the science, but even glancing at the journal let me know the formula was highly addictive. Hilde wrote that everywhere. It was a real problem he was struggling to overcome.”

Lisa looked at her partner. “Maybe she always wanted to be the most popular girl on campus. Maybe she liked the power it gave her over men, and eventually some women. Maybe she thought she had the addiction overcome? All we really know is once she started, she was hooked. But her immune system fought back. It took larger and larger doses to get the same internal effect while the external effect increased exponentially. In the end I think Emily was right. She already overdosed by the time the girls got there.”

“I wonder how Franco found out about it.”

“We’ll never know. We know the men were connected to Franco but we can’t prove the connection. Ferdinand Franco is no dummy. He came up with the gas masks and radiation suits with their own oxygen supply.” Lisa stirred the fire to be sure all the pages burned.

“Do you think Franco made a copy of this information?” Ashish looked worried.

Lisa shook her head. “I don’t think he got that far, and this journal was still locked up when we found it. If it was not in the safe with her notes, it would have burned up in the house fire.” Lisa pushed back her hair. “I suppose we will find out eventually.”

Ashish frowned. “The Prosecutor is going to be upset, you burning the evidence.”

“What evidence?”

“Just checking.”

************************

Monday,things turn up that should be buried. Be sure and return for The Elect II–5 Stab from the Past.

Until then, Happy Reading.

Elect II—4 Venus de Jekyll and Hyde, part 2 of 3

October 25, 2016October 3, 2016M G Kizzia Leave a comment

Emily made the women march in formation. Jessica and Emily marched out front. Amina and Mindy brought up the rear with Heinrich behind them all. A number of students saw them, but since they were all still in uniform and walking with a history professor, they thought it was some ROTC or history thing and raised no alarm.

Emily stopped them before they reached the street. There were houses across the way where a number of faculty and grad students lived. Granger’s house was one lot in from Harbor road. She and Jessica went up to the curb across the street, just the two of them, and spotted several men in gas masks on their side of the street watching the perimeter. There was also a line of men outside Granger’s door, but Emily did not want to think about that. They snuck back to the group. Brinkman was there with several of the juniors and seniors from the upper class, and they were all armed. Emily immediately made a speech.

“Don’t cross the street no matter what, and don’t go near Granger’s house. You will just get sucked into the web and we might not be able to get you out. This has to be military, covert. There are men around the perimeter wearing gas masks. They are heavily armed. Silence and surprise are your best weapons. Bring them back here, especially the gas masks.”

Brinkman signaled the men, divided them two by two and sent them out. Emily called Lisa and explained the situation. “And for God’s sake, keep Ashish and the other men back from the house. It looks strong enough so even being a woman might not help.” Then they waited.

“Heinrich?” Emily asked.

“He went with Brinkman. They had an odd number.” Jessica answered.

Emily nodded, and they waited some more.

Maria and Melissa came up to where they were standing, within sight of the house, but back from the street behind some bushes and trees. “Melissa calculated the straight path from the gym to Granger’s house, thinking to catch you on the way.”

“Good thinking. We don’t know how bad it might be over there.”

A shot was fired some distance down the road.

“Do you have the vials?” Emily finished her thought.

“Hey, hey!” Jessica got their attention. They saw a man in what looked like a radiation suit come to the door. He looked around the line and went back in.

“Right here.” Melissa held out a leather bag. There were two vials strapped to the inside.

Maria pointed to each as she talked. “The pinkish one is probably not a cure, but at a guess it might tone her down enough to save her life. If not, the red one should produce the Hilde effect.”

“What’s the Hilde effect?” Hilde asked.

“Not you, Hilde. Professor Jack Hilde. He invented the endocrine formula that Granger has abused. He died in a ball of flame from overdosing.”

“Spontaneous internal combustion,” Maria explained.

“Good thing that wasn’t you.” Greta nudged her friend.

Emily tied the leather bag to her belt and spoke to the girls that were leaning in to look. “Assignments,” she said, and outlined what she expected them to do to the best of their abilities. “No guns. If you are fired on, get out of there. The police will have the whole area cordoned off. We can lay siege if we have to and starve them out. Jessica, you and I go inside. No one else.”

When Brinkman and his men slowly straggled back, they had nine gas masks and eight prisoners. They left the dead one, minus his mask, but brought the man Heinrich had only wounded with one of his knives.

“Greta.” Emily made a quick decision. “Take my phone. Get in touch with Lisa and tell her you need a gas mask when she gets here. Then wave to us from here when the circle of police is complete.”

“Oh, but—.”

“Soldier.” Lieutenant Brinkman spoke harshly.

“Yes, ma’am.” Greta took her position.

“Brinkman,” Emily spoke up so the prisoners could hear. “If any of these men try to escape before the police can take custody, shoot to kill.”

“Don’t have to take their heads off this time?” One of the seniors looked at her and smiled. He fought the zombies last year.

“Not this time,” Heinrich spoke in answer. “But you can if you want to.”

Emily said nothing. When her girls had their masks all in place, they rushed to their positions. Melissa and Maria started down one side of the house. They used their staffs to break the windows as they went. Amina and Mindy started down the other side. Mindy used Greta’s spear. Amina used her staff and was ready when a man in a radiation suit stuck his head out the upper floor window she just busted. Amina thrust up with her staff and caught the man in the neck. The man was pushed back into the house and did not stick his head out again.

Natasha, Hilde and Diane guarded the men who were in line to be sure they made no hostile move. Emily calculated that trying to force them to back up might have provoked them. It was enough to be sure they did not interfere as Emily and Jessica cut ahead and burst into the house.

Emily was in front and leapt to the guard on the far side. Two men were dressed in radiation suits, but like space suits with an independent oxygen supply. Both had machine guns, but when Emily shoved the one’s gun into his belly, his finger inadvertently squeezed the trigger. His fellow guard got gunned down.

Emily kneed the man and ripped his protective headgear right off. The man tried to fight back, but Emily’s fist soon stopped him. “Jessica.” Emily shouted through her gas mask. “Go back out. It is too strong in here.”

Jessica was carefully watching the dozen or so men inside the house. They were naked and enjoying being so close to the sex goddess. “Out!” Emily commanded, “And get the troops away from this house.” Jessica went when she saw Emily put on the man’s headgear with oxygen attached. When Emily saw that Jessica got out and got the door closed without letting in a flood of men, she slowly opened the sliding doors.

There were any number of men around the room in various degrees of death and unconsciousness. No man was built for that level of unending stimulation. There was also a woman on the floor rolling around, making sounds of ecstatic pleasure. There were bills everywhere, hundreds and thousands of dollars. Emily guessed the woman was collecting the fees until she became overwhelmed herself. Emily felt whatever it was in the air. Her breasts began to throb, and she was becoming wet and ready for unending sexual pleasure while her mind turned to thoughts of orgasms. She knew this had to be quick.

The only piece of furniture in the room was a bed, and Granger was tied to it, spread eagle and unmoving. Emily touched the pink liquid and looked again at the dead and dying around the room. She looked at Granger, but there was no recognition in Granger’s eyes—eyes that never blinked. She risked touching the woman, but found no pulse. If the woman was still alive, it was not likely enough to save. She pulled out the red vial and forced it down the woman’s throat. She stood back to watch.

Nothing happened for a few seconds which felt like an eternity. Then the fire sprang up in the woman’s belly. It slowly spread up and down the woman’s body while Emily leapt out the broken window. She staggered away. She told herself it was an act of mercy. Even if Granger could have been saved, the woman would have had to remember being raped over and over.

Lisa caught her at the edge of the street. “It’s all right. I’ve got you.”

“I think Granger was already dead,” Emily said as she whipped off her mask and coughed. “Even so I would not fetch her remains until the morning. The house needs to air out and the pheromones need to dissipate.”

Lisa looked at the house. “Maybe the house will burn down.”

“That would be a mercy,” a woman said. Emily looked up from where she was on her knees. It was Sara who spoke, and she had the shepherd’s crook Heinrich picked out for her. Emily smiled before she spotted someone else. It was Courtney Chase, Channel 5, Eyewitness News followed by her ever faithful cameraman.

“How did you get through the police line?” Emily asked.

“Power of the press.” Lisa looked back toward the police line and it was not a kind look on her face. Courtney continued. “Joe. Get the camera from that angle. Joe?” The camera fell to the ground and Joe stumbled across the road like a man in a trance. “Joe!”

“Does he have a last name?” Sara asked.

Courtney shrugged. “Joe the camera guy. Say, where is he going?”

“Bad drugs,” Emily said, and Lisa grabbed the reporter’s hand to keep her from stumbling off in the same direction.

“Maybe you could work the camera,” Sara suggested with a smile.

Courtney looked at the camera and again at Joe. “I have no idea how that gizmo works.”

“I hope it didn’t break when he dropped it,” Emily said in a not totally insincere voice.

Elect II—4 Venus de Jekyll and Hyde, part 1 of 3

October 24, 2016October 2, 2016M G Kizzia Leave a comment

The young women talked on the bus about why they got into ROTC. Emily listened. Hilde said if she was living in Israel, she would be doing the same thing. Military training was pretty much compulsory. Greta, by contrast, said her parents were pacifists, but her family had a long history and tradition of proud military service so they really could not say much when she felt the call to serve her country.

Diane, from Kansas said her brother was in the army. “That and there aren’t many opportunities for college. Not much money back home,” she said. “This way I get help from veteran’s groups and the American Legion.”

“I know what you mean about not much money,” Natasha said. “I’m from Detroit. Need I say more?”

“Emily’s brother is in the national guard,” Jessica offered.

“Oh?” Diane looked at Emily who nodded, but declined to speak.

“Besides,” Hilde took up the conversation. “What better way to meet boys?”

“Oh, please!” Jessica tossed her hands in their direction. “Be serious.”

“I would like to meet someone nice,” Diane said.

“And athletic,” Hilde added

“And rich,” Natasha said, which made the others nod.

“Wouldn’t you?” Diane looked at Jessica. Emily looked away.

“I had about thirty boyfriends when I was a freshman,” Jessica admitted. “What a waste of time.”

They talked about it for a couple of minutes before Natasha turned to Emily. “What about you, Ma’am?”

Emily said nothing. Jessica spoke into the silence. “She had a good boyfriend last year. A graduate student.”

“Had?” Greta asked.

“I had to kill him,” Emily said as the bus pulled to a stop. They all had to disembark and form ranks. They were at the firing range.

Emily stood at the head of the class and went through the care and cleaning of the rifle, piece by piece. She took it apart, named all the parts and put it back together perfectly. Then she had to turn her back on the class. She had tears in her eyes.

Captain Driver saw Detective Lisa come in and knew Emily would be occupied for a bit. He picked up the rifle and said, “Sophomore.” That was Jessica’s name. “Knowing your weapon inside and out is important and what we will mainly be working on today, but it does not guarantee that you can hit anything.” He led Jessica to the range and loaded a clip of three bullets. He whispered, “Try and hit the target.”

Jessica managed three trips to the Hollywood range in the two weeks she had free between ROTC summer camp and returning to school. She worked with a personal trainer, and did her best to remember her lessons. She squeezed the trigger, but the bullet was low and to the left of the bull’s-eye by an inch. Her second shot overcompensated by a couple of inches and just nicked the top right edge of the bull’s-eye. Her third shot was a little low and to the right, but well within the bull’s-eye. She was satisfied.

Captain Driver continued to whisper as Lieutenant Brinkman moved up to eavesdrop. “You are one of Hudson’s women, aren’t you?”

“Sir, yes sir.” Jessica answered properly but kept her voice low.

“You are in the group that has been working out with Professor Schultz?” He knew she was but he wanted confirmation. Jessica nodded.

“Professor Schultz?” Lieutenant Brinkman was not aware, but Emily’s Amazon council had been learning hand to hand for a year and now were concentrating on the bow and staff with the hope of working their way up to the spear and the sword.

Captain Driver showed he understood. “Heinrich Schultz in a historian in the old sense. He has forgotten more about combat and arms than you and I and all our books put together.”

The Lieutenant nodded even if he did not fully understand. He had a class to get working, and the class spent the rest of their time taking apart and putting together the ten rifles the company had, and hopefully without breaking them. Very few bullets were fired that day.

After a while, Emily stopped weeping and Lisa let go and stepped back. Emily wiped her eyes and said the words that Lisa did not want to hear. “Thanks, mom.”

“I’ve told you. I get enough of that at home,” Lisa scolded, but smiled.

Emily laughed, but it was a sad, little laugh. “But why are you here?”

“Latasha,” Lisa said. “She has me tangled up in gang wars and drug dealers and it is a real mess. I keep telling her judges and juries don’t always do the right thing. Even people caught with their hand in it can plea bargain their way back to the street.” Lisa shrugged and pulled out some photographs from her briefcase. “Meanwhile, Anna got attacked in New York.”

“Is she alright?” Emily knew the woman well. Last year, between Christmas and New Year’s, Anna came to Ohio and helped Emily clean out a nest of vampires.

“She is fine, but the only thing she could find to connect the three men is this small tattoo. They were all marked. Miriam at the FBI has plenty of nineteenth and twentieth century scholars at her fingertips. The pentagon has also been notified, and the M I B.”

“The what?”

“Katie Lockhart and her people,” Lisa said without further explanation. “The thing is both Miriam and Anna think it may be older, and I have one man who saw these photos and became very afraid. He says he doesn’t want anything to do with secret societies.”

“Older.” Emily said the word as she studied the images of the upper arms and the small circle with three squiggly lines.

“I was hoping Mindy, your wise woman, could look at these and maybe share them with Professor Papadopoulos. The rest of us are getting nowhere.”

Emily nodded as she continued to study the photos. Lisa looked around.

“Where is Mister Jakovich?”

“The range manager? Probably in his office,” Emily said.

“With you here, I suppose, but when he saw me come in he probably locked the office door.”

Emily laughed. The last time she was at the range and Detective Lisa showed up they had to fight off three zombies. Lisa was glad to hear Emily’s laugh this time because it sounded genuine.

###

When the bus came to a stop on the campus, Amina and Mindy were waiting for Emily and Jessica. Morgan Granger was in trouble. The words came fast.

“She has been taken prisoner,” Amina said. “There are men after the drugs. That is all I know.”

“I made the mistake of showing her a picture of the woman we saw in the library,” Mindy explained. “She grabbed it and immediately felt the connection to you.”

“She was crying out for help.”

“Maria said we had to get you right away. She and Melissa are working on a potion.”

“I brought your address book,” Amina held out the green notebook where Emily kept all her relevant information, including addresses of faculty members, some of whom had since died.

“I said we might have to do something,” Jessica took the book.

“We’re ready,” Natasha spoke for the ROTC group while Hilde, Greta and Diane nodded.

Emily looked at her freshmen and frowned. She pulled out her phone and called Lisa. “Stay in uniform,” she told the girls. “Damn, message. Lisa, Amina had a vision. Morgan Granger, biology teacher is in trouble. Too much Hilde juice. We will start looking at,” Jessica held up the book and Emily read the address. “Amina says people want the drugs. We can’t let that loose.” Emily hung up.

“Trouble?” Captain Driver stepped up, Lieutenant Brinkman beside him.

Emily thought briefly about asking for six rifles and bullets, but decided no for herself. Six rifles unloaded might intimidate, but not if someone had a loaded gun. She considered castigating the man for his part in last year’s fiasco. She imagined he was in on the super soldier competition, but she never proved it. She was sure he acted as liaison between the biology department and the Pentagon, but without evidence it was best to keep her mouth shut. Finally, she answered in the only way she could. “Yes sir, but women trouble. Nothing you can help with.” Captain Driver nodded, stepped away and dragged Brinkman with him.

Emily called Sara. Again she had to leave a message as she walked into the gym. The others trailed her and found a surprise which did not really surprise her. “I was about to call you,” Emily said.

Heinrich Schultz was there with the closet unlocked and open—the one where he kept all of his weapons. “Even un-activated, I can smell unnatural trouble miles away.”

Jessica and Mindy got their bows and plenty of arrows. Amina picked up her staff, and the one Maria used. She grabbed a third for Melissa, though Melissa had not spent much time yet in the learning process.

“For the army, I think spears.” Heinrich pulled out four, all different, but all sharp. Jessica was miffed because he had not let them touch the spears yet. His instructions to the freshmen were simple. “Hold the sharp end up when you walk. Point the sharp end at the enemy when appropriate. Try not to cut yourselves.”

“That’s it?” Amina asked. She felt like Jessica. She was good with the staff and could not wait to try one with a sharp end.

Heinrich shrugged and pulled out a shepherd’s crook. “And this for the Priestess. It will be a pleasure teaching her how to use this crook effectively.”

Emily had her knife and got her sword which she left there for when she worked out and Heinrich taught her how to use it, as he said, effectively. It really had no place in her dorm room, and this avoided her need to carry it regularly across campus.

Heinrich pulled out a bandolier of small throwing knives and strapped on his samurai sword. Emily hated to interrupt him.

“I know you are four hundred and seventy some years old, and sterile besides, but you are still a man. The last time we saw Granger she was almost irresistible. The boys in the library could not help themselves just looking at her fully clothed. Maybe it wouldn’t be a good idea for you to come.”

Heinrich nodded. “But I can still watch your rear, and maybe keep Mister Ashish or young Rob Parker from stumbling in too close.”

Emily could not argue with that. “Let’s see if we can find her.”

“Shouldn’t we call campus security?” Greta asked.

Emily sighed. Why did it have to be the spunky little German pacifist? “Let’s see if we can find her first,” Emily repeated, and they stepped out into the late afternoon. Emily’s phone rang. Her words were short and to the point. “We will meet you there. Keep Ashish and any other men away from the place.” She paused. “Get Mitzy to drive. She doesn’t get out enough. Fine.” She hung up.

The phone rang again. This time, her words were even more cryptic. She gave the address and only added, “Let’s hope it works.”

Elect II—3 Antiques, part 3 of 3

October 19, 2016October 2, 2016M G Kizzia Leave a comment

Latasha shadowed Bobby Thompson for a week. Detective Lisa said she could not spare a man for one small time delivery boy, but Latasha was upset. This jerk had his claws into Janet. Keisha still thought it was funny, but Janet was acting like a lost cause. Latasha and Janet had been friends since forever, and she hated the idea of losing her friend to a scum-bucket.

On Saturday, her work paid off. Bobby went to a restaurant where he could not order a burger and fries. He had to wait to be seated. She immediately called Detective Lisa and then argued with the woman for ten minutes before Lisa would do anything.

“I know. I’ve been careful. I know,” Latasha said that a lot, but at last Lisa sent a car. It was Millsaps, and he took it from there after giving Latasha strict instructions to go home and do her homework. Latasha pouted, but went.

Six hours later, Millsaps called Lisa. He had followed the man to a motel by the highway, and when Lisa heard who it was, she saddled up her partner Ashish for the drive.

“Of all people,” Lisa said. “Good thing Latasha did not see Carlos.”

“Bad blood,” Ashish agreed. “After he invaded her home last year.” Ashish shook his head, but could not do more because he was driving.

“She might have killed him if she knew.”

“No.” Ashish disagreed. “I have confidence in that girl. She can control herself more than that. She is going to make a fine police officer.”

Lisa frowned. “Just don’t tell her.” She ended the conversation.

Millsaps left when they arrived. His shift was over. Lisa called Rob Parker who had the late afternoon and evening shift. She told him to stand by. “But it is probably nothing.” They settled in for a long haul.

“What do you think will go down?” Ashish asked.

“Carlos? He probably got the motel room for a couple of hookers. That little man has ego problems. I say we give it until dark and then let one of the officers on the night shift take over.”

“Captain okay this?” Ashish asked.

“Nope.”

“Just checking.” Ashish scooted down in his seat and closed his eyes.

An hour before sundown a Lexus pulled up to the spot outside the room. Lisa had to squint against the sun, but she saw the driver stay in the car while someone in their fifties with salt and pepper hair got out of the back. She shook Ashish. “My God,” she said. “It’s Ferdinand Franco.” She whipped out her phone as Franco stepped up to the door and looked around once before he knocked. That confirmed Lisa’s guess. The man had a crooked eye.

“Jackpot,” Ashish said. Franco, a former Mexican cartel man had the money and men to turn large chunks of south Jersey into his personal drug empire. After the door to Carlos’ room closed, Ashish watched Lisa bite her lip for the next ten minutes. It took that long to get a “go.”

Lisa told Ashish to wait by the car. She staggered over to the Lexus with a big grin on her face. She was a fine looking woman for being near forty, and the driver of the Lexus was happy to notice. When she came up to the window, he put it down and smiled at her, especially when she bent over to lean on the door. When his eyes finally shifted to take in her face, Lisa’s hands grabbed the man by his jacket and she hauled him right out the open window. She slammed him to the pavement, cuffed him and removed the gun from his shoulder holster.

“Concealed weapon. Got a permit?”

“Got a warrant?” The man shot back.

“Yes,” Lisa said, and she handed the man’s gun to Ashish while she borrowed his handcuffs and made for the door. “Knock, knock. Room service.” Lisa tried to sound foreign. It would have worked if at the last second Carlos had not looked out the window. Franco did not know her. He might have been fooled, but she saw the look on Carlos’ face.

Lisa kicked in the door. She actually took it off the hinges so it swung to the wall and hung from its chain lock. Franco put his hands up and did not resist. Carlos made for the bathroom window. Between them, Lisa knew she could pick up Carlos later. For the moment, she had the kingpin, even if it would only be for a moment.

Rob Parker was already in the lot when she hauled Franco out of the room. She grabbed Rob’s radio and put out the word that Carlos was to be picked up for questioning, then she and Ashish hauled their two suspects down to the station and she wondered how long they could hold them. It depended on what the drug enforcement officers found in the car and motel room, if anything.

###

Ferdinand Franco got to sit in a filthy interview room for several hours. Now and then he would yell about wanting a phone call or wanting his lawyer, but everyone ignored him. Lisa spent the time catching up on her e-mails and found one from the FBI and Miriam. There were photos, which she printed, and a request that she take them to the university to pass them by the experts. Miriam wanted to know if they knew anything about that tattoo.

Ashish ran up even as the last photo finished printing. “Franco’s lawyer will be here in ten minutes. His bodyguard used his call to call Franco’s lawyer.”

“Why are we just getting that word now?”

Ashish shrugged. “Some mix-up?”

“Tell Mitzy to stall him and meet me at the room,” Lisa ordered, and she walked off with the stack of papers still in her hands, photos on top. Mitzy was the officer who ran the front desk. Ashish was not long before he followed.

“Mister Franco, this is your lucky day,” Lisa started right in. “Your bodyguard has confessed that the drugs in your car were all his and you knew nothing about them.”

Franco nodded. “Micky’s a good man. He has a family, you know. I suspected he might be into the drugs, but what can one person do? I take care of my friends, though. I guess I may have to help his family out if he goes away for a while.” He shrugged.

“And the cocaine in the motel room?”

“Ah, that Carlos. He is a bad one. He calls me up and I drive all the way from Atlantic City to help out an old family friend from the home country, only to find out he wants to sell me drugs and get me hooked on that nasty stuff. What a shame.”

“Family friend from the home country? Mexico is still your home country, isn’t it?”

“Hey! You are not allowed to ask me that. I want my lawyer.”

“I suppose you could argue in court that the cocaine all belonged to Carlos.”

“His word. My word.” Franco shrugged again. “What are you going to do?”

“Time?”

“Hey! Why does everybody have it out these days for people who are rich and successful? Isn’t that what this country is all about? Anybody can get rich.” He shrugged a third time and took a moment to run a hand through his salt and pepper hair. “I understand some people don’t like me, but hey, I don’t feel any obligation to take care of families of people that hate me.” He looked squarely at Lisa. “I’m just saying.”

Lisa put her papers on the table in order to lean over and get in the man’s face. Franco found he could not look Lisa in the eye as she spoke without any emotion. “If anything happens to my family, I will find you and peel the skin from your body, slowly.”

“Lisa!” Ashish stood up from where he was leaning on the dirty window sill. He was genuinely shocked at what he heard.

“I’m just saying,” Lisa also straightened up.

“Threat!” Franco stabbed his finger on the photo.

“Your word, my word. What are you gonna do?” She responded.

Franco looked at Ashish who examined the ceiling tiles and did not want to get in the middle. Then he took a closer look at the photo his finger was stabbing, turned white and began to sweat.

“You want me to pass your name on to my friends?” Lisa implied that she had a relationship with the tattooed men.

Franco yanked his finger back like it was on fire. He scooted his chair a foot from the table, put up both hands up and shook them. “I don’t hold with any of that secret society crap. I just want to go home. You gotta let me out. Where’s my lawyer.”

His lawyer was already there, and Lisa confirmed with a call to the front desk. “Mister Franco is ready to go,” she said into the phone, picked up her papers and photos and left the room. Ashish later made a report.

“All he said was you gotta get me out of here. It isn’t safe. I swear, that is all. He said it several times.”

Lisa looked again at the photos. Dead men with a non-descript tattoo. “I don’t get it,” she admitted. “Franco has all the money, men and guns. He makes a living intimidating others, but one look at these photos and he was scared like a rabbit. I think I need to let Mindy look at these, if she can tell me anything.”

“Mindy?”

Lisa nodded. “Emily’s wise woman.”

Ashish responded by imitating Franco. He shrugged.

************************

Monday, the unexpected turns of life heat up in the Elect II–4 Venus de Jekyll and Hyde

In the meanwhile, Happy Reading.

Elect II—3 Antiques, part 2 of 3

October 18, 2016October 2, 2016M G Kizzia Leave a comment

Captain Driver brought the freshmen ROTC class to the obstacle course and made them come to attention while he walked slowly up and down the ranks looking for one to pick on. Of the twenty-four young men, two were sophomore transfers. Of the five young women, one was a sophomore, Jessica.

Emily stood to the side, proud of her three stripes. Lieutenant Jack Brinkman, a senior stood beside her with the stop watch and roster. Emily understood why Captain Driver selected Brinkman from the senior class. The two thought a lot alike. Neither appreciated women in the military. Captain Driver was learning, though, under Emily’s careful hand. Even a year ago, a woman as company sergeant for the freshman class would have been unthinkable, and Emily was only a sophomore besides. Company Sergeant was always a junior, next in line for the lieutenant’s position.

Captain Driver stopped in front of the women. Emily was glad to see that none of them flinched. They made quite a collection. Greta’s family was German. Beside her was the Jew, Hilde Sussman. Diane was all American, complete with freckles. Beside her was Natasha Simpson, an African-American young woman determined to be the best of the lot.

“Sophomore.” Driver picked on Jessica, but Emily was not worried. Jessica easily mastered the summer course, and she was in excellent shape. Jessica’s only problem was she knew she was in excellent shape.

“Ready,” Brinkman drew it out. “Go.”

Jessica went off like a rabbit. She climbed the eight feet of the vault like she was climbing a simple ladder and got down the ropes on the other side without a flaw. She was quick. Emily smiled. Most of the boys would have a hard time matching her. She did the ropes, the tunnel, the tires, the swing over the proverbial mud pit with hardly a pause and without falling. When she crossed the finish line, she came back to attention. Emily’s smile broadened. Most of the freshmen would end up bent over, gasping for breath.

“Decent time,” Brinkman praised her while Captain Driver peeked over Brinkman’s shoulder.

“Very good, back in line,” Captain Driver announced the time and said, “She has set a high bar. I expect the rest of you to reach or surpass that bar. But first, I want to show you how it should be done. Hudson!”

“Sir, yes sir,” Emily said. She was afraid this was going to happen and prepared herself. When Brinkman was ready, he said “Go” without warning. Emily went, but she did not climb the vault. She leapt, grabbed one handhold with her right hand and yanked herself up. She put her left hand on the top of the vault and flipped over to the other side where she landed without even touching the ropes. And she landed running. She did the whole course that way, and when she finished, Lieutenant Brinkman looked at the stop watch and only had one thing to say.

“Holy shit.”

“That is one reason she has stripes,” Captain Driver grinned as he spoke quietly to his lieutenant. “I also wouldn’t piss her off if I were you.” He turned back to the company and got them started.

When the class was over, Jessica and Emily had an appointment with Mindy in the library. The other girls wanted to tag along. Greta and Hilde brought up the rear. They were fast becoming friends. Natasha wanted to pace Jessica, whom she obviously looked up to. The freshmen had accepted Jessica as their natural leader, not just because she was a sophomore, but because she set a high standard in all the work to which they could aspire. Emily understood. They were all a little afraid of Emily.

When they arrived, they found four parents and one other student gathered for a tour of the archives and antiquities basement. Mindy nodded to them as she got up on her little box and began her talk.

She explained everything about the war and saving the treasures from Europe and the Far East. She explained about the library annex, that housed everything but was now closed up. At the start of the cold war they dug sub basements below the library, the science building and Gorgon Hall, and they were once all connected by tunnels which were now closed off with concrete. Then she told about the work done in the sixties. The sub-basement below the library was now sealed and kept at a certain temperature and humidity level. They also used special light bulbs that would not yellow or damage the scrolls and parchment in any way. At last they got on the elevator and Mindy used her key to take them down.

Diane’s words summed up everyone’s feelings when the elevator doors opened. “National Treasure.”

Mindy’s tour in the actual basement did not take very long. It was designed that way, not the least for the people that were down there working. Emily paid some attention, but mostly felt uncomfortable. She felt especially antsy when they came to a roped off area filled with tiled flooring and sculptures. One tiled artwork scaled a slab that fit into the wall and Emily had to ask why.

“That is a thousand-year-old floor from a Moorish Mosque in Granada, Spain that was destroyed during the Spanish Civil War.”

“Why is it on the wall if it’s a floor?” Natasha asked.

“So no one will step on it,” Mindy answered with a roll of her eyes.

“Someone has been stepping all over there,” Jessica pointed.

“What? Where? No one is supposed to go over there.”

Emily moved Jessica forward so they could finish the tour, but her intuition was acting up. As an elect, she knew that was something she had to pay attention to. Something was not right in that room, but then she got that same feeling all over the basement and finally decided that some of the antiquities probably should have stayed buried.

When they got back to the Library main floor, a strange sight awaited them. Morgan Granger, Emily’s freshman biology teacher was there looking more luscious and appealing than any woman ought to look. Every eye in the room was on her, but she did not appear to notice. Her eyes darted around like she was trying to grab hold of something familiar. The woman looked very tired and confused.

They watched as two women came in the front door and headed straight for her. They each took an elbow to escort her out of the building. “Time to go home,” one said.

“Home?” Ms Granger mouthed the word but hardly made a sound.

“There are people waiting,” the other woman spoke and Ms Granger struggled, but only for a second. At last glimpse it appeared that Ms Granger was ready to cry.

“Looks like someone has overindulged in Hilde’s juice,” Jessica said.

“Endocrine juice full of adrenaline, growth hormone and other secretions. Made herself attractive,” Emily explained for the other girls. “It was experimental stuff that caused us all sorts of problems last year.”

“A little too attractive,” Mindy pointed at the room. The women were calming down, but the men looked like they were having a hard time of it.

“We may have to do something,” Jessica said.

“I was hoping we wouldn’t.” Emily was honest.

###

In New York City, Anna Lee heard something downstairs in her antique shop. She flicked on the light beside her bed and stepped to the window. She did not notice anything outside under the streetlight, but in New York, it could be almost anything. She heard it again. That was definitely in the shop.

Anna dressed quickly and called Detective Tomlinson of the NYPD, but she knew it would likely be a good ten minutes before a car could respond. She grabbed the staff she left by her bed. On second thought, she pulled the knife out of the bed table drawer and slipped it in her belt. With staff in hand, she opened the hatch. It was an old fire pole she put in so she could quickly slide down to the shop below, if necessary.

She landed without a sound in the dark corner and listened because there was nothing to see. She had a lot of antiques in the shop, many of which were breakable, and this was her third robbery since Christmas. Amend that. The first one was a vampire so that really did not count.

“Where is it?” A man spoke from behind the front counter and another answered.

“Quiet. The witch will hear you.”

Something broke in the back room. It sounded like a piece of pottery, and Anna knew there were at least three of them. She walked slowly to the counter, and then spoke in her best customer service voice.

“Can I help you find something?”

Both men stopped and stared at her, and she whacked both hard with one sweep of her staff. She leapt the counter and pummeled the two of them. At once, there were police lights on the street and the man in the back room came barreling out. He collided with Anna. She went sprawling to the floor, not being a big woman, but her knife flew and caught that man in the back. He fell and stopped moving.

A gun went off. The men she had beaten senseless apparently retained enough sense to pull their weapons, and Anna had to scurry behind a suit of samurai armor. The police outside returned fire. Anna’s storefront window shattered. She screamed. One officer caught a bullet in the arm. One of the men inside was shot and fell to the ground. When two more police cars came roaring up, the man who was still standing did something Anna never expected. He put his gun to his head and blew his own brains all over her antiques. Then it was over.

Anna managed to get the light on, and held up the identification Tomlinson had gotten her. She was a consultant to the special department, and the police respected her badge. They got an ambulance for the man she had knifed. He might live. The other two were dead.

Three hours later as the sun came up, Tomlinson came out of the intensive care unit. “He shut-up as soon as he realized where he was,” Tomlinson said.

“So no idea what they were after,” Anna concluded.

“He said one thing when he was still kind of out of it. Did we get the scroll? But that was it. Mean anything?”

“Maybe,” Anna looked worried. “I’ll have to think on it.” She walked off, and Tomlinson let her go. He learned long ago that Anna shared what she shared when she was good and ready, and not before.

Three hours later, the man mysteriously died in the hospital. The doctors had said he would live, but this did not exactly surprise Anna. She knew the thieves were looking for something in particular and this was no ordinary robbery. In fact, there was nothing to connect these three men from Russia, Germany and Macedonia but one small tattoo on the upper left arm. She almost missed it. It was small and nothing fancy to make it stand out—just a circle with three squiggly lines coming out of the top. It looked like a three legged octopus diving for the deep, but it made her intuition tingle. She photographed all three tattoos and faxed them to Miriam at the FBI. No telling when she might get an answer.

Elect II—3 Antiques, part 1 of 3

October 17, 2016October 2, 2016M G Kizzia Leave a comment

Emily came in late and snuck passed the two professors that were talking quietly in the front. She slipped into her seat and nudged Maria who had to remove her ear buds to listen.

“What is Maynard doing here?” Emily whispered.

Maria shrugged, but before she could verbalize her thought, Professor Maynard left and she had to put her ear buds away.

“Class.” Professor Orlov said that word every time he wanted their full attention. “If you have wondered about my day job, Evelyn Maynard and I were enticed by money from the Center for Disease Control. We have been working on the immune system in relation to the brain, something that will come up in this course in a future chapter. In the meanwhile, we have agreed that our work is ready for some serious testing. If you wish to help in this work, I assure you it will not be dangerous, but we would appreciate any volunteers. There will be a small payment for your time. No reason we should keep all the CDC money for ourselves.”

Emily’s instincts made her squirm in her seat. There was something about brain research and Maynard, knowing how she professed to hate all people, that made her uncomfortable. She looked at Maria, but Maria was looking forward and did not notice. She looked over at Joel, the boy who sometimes joined them in the library for study-time. He looked back and looked uncertain, like it was something he might consider.

“You can stay and see me after class if you are interested,” Orlov concluded. “Now you see, with a real day job I can’t be a vampire. Besides, I would think life as a vampire would really suck.” He thought he was funny. A couple of students groaned, quietly, as Orlov continued. “Turn in your books…”

Maria wanted some evening library time before it got too late, but Emily begged off. Heinrich gave her a real workout that afternoon. Even with Heinrich un-empowered, Emily could barely keep up. The man’s skill with a sword was amazing. Four hundred and seventy years of practice, she reminded herself.

***

Emily walked back to the dorm and slowly climbed up the stairs, thinking, Professor Orlov would not know a vampire if it bit him.

“Emily?” It was Sara Michaels standing outside her door.

“Priestess?” Emily responded with the same question in her voice.

“Sara, please,” the woman said. “I am sure you don’t want me referring to you as your majesty out in public. Besides, that is something I am still getting used to.”

“It suits you,” Emily decided as she unlocked her suite door and dropped her back pack in her room. “But what brings you here?”

“We have an invitation,” Sara said. “And we will be late if we don’t hurry.”

Emily went into the bathroom to the mirror. It was automatic if she was going out. “No time for a shower?” She knew there was not time if they were nearly late. “Where are we going?”

“President’s house. I was invited with the instruction that I bring you along.”

Emily nodded. Henri Batiste probably had no idea who she was last year, but no doubt he spent his summer reading. She could only imagine what the man intended to say to her. “Mostly faculty?” Emily asked.

Sara shook her head. “This is the beginning of the year staff gathering. You know, the pep talk and all.”

Emily nodded. She was only a side note and probably would not be expected to stay for the party. They left the suite to walk across the campus to the President’s house. Emily felt it was just as well they take their time. She needed to spend the time with Sara and get to know her a bit. All she really knew about the woman was Sara was Zoe’s selection.

Sara sensed Emily’s curiosity. “I’m twenty-seven. I came here out of seminary, but after last year I realized I was not the best student counselor. My father used to accuse me of being too mature, even in junior high. I put in for a nice associate position in a big church, but apparently I am stuck here for the next three years.”

“Not stuck. You have a definite job here, and the maturity is probably what we need.”

“Not stuck,” Sara agreed. “But I don’t know what help I can be. It may take me three years just to adjust the way I view the world.” She looked at Emily. “I’ve been meeting with Mindy. She is keeping a journal, and some of the things she has told me. I mean, bogymen?”

“I know,” Emily felt like she hardly believed it herself.

“Truth is, I have met with all the girls, except you. I was beginning to think you were avoiding me.”

“No,” Emily said. “I didn’t realize. I’ve just been concentrating hard on my classes, trying to get ahead of the game, because…you never know.”

“I understand.” Sara fell silent for a minute. In that moment, Emily lifted her head and stopped moving. She scanned the area that was shrouded in the dark. Something was there and it didn’t feel human. Sara saw it first and pointed

“What is that?”

Emily shrugged. It was generally human in shape, except it was too big and it had upper and lower tusks in a mouth that was much too large. Emily pulled the knife she kept strapped and hidden beneath her pant leg, down by her ankle. The thing had to see the glint of light on the metal and stepped for a second onto the campus path beneath the streetlight. It was an enormous beast. It was far bigger and looked far stronger than any NFL linebacker might ever hope to be. It just stood there and stared back at them before it faded and vanished, like it went invisible. They both heard it push through the bushes and head toward the science building and the library.

“What the hell was that?” Sara said, and added, “Sorry.”

Emily could only shrug. Last year, she would have chased the thing, but now she knew running off would have left Sara alone and exposed. She was learning. She had resources and generally it was better to know what she was facing before she jumped in. “Jessica is a bit of an artist. We make sketches and let Mindy do the research.”

Sara nodded. “You are all so talented.”

Emily shook her head. “Not me. I’m going to be a nurse.”

They stopped in the dark before they stepped up to the front door of the President’s house. Emily put her knife away as Sara spoke. “I’ve been thinking and praying about all of you and all of this. I have come to understand that you six are the most remarkably gifted women I have ever known.”

“I don’t—.”

“Even the ones less obvious now, like Maria, Mindy and Jessica.” Sara interrupted to get out the thought she felt was vital. “But I think the admonition you gave to Melissa needs to apply to you all. You must all be careful never to use your gifts for selfish or self-serving reasons. That way leads to darkness.”

Emily nodded. She had realized the same thing. They stepped up to the door and found Bernie the campus cop hanging out on the porch. He stood up in front of the door, like he was blocking their way.

“Bernie, do you know Reverend Michaels from the Chaplain’s office?”

“We’ve met,” Bernie gave a sloppy little salute.

“How are your new bosses?” Sara asked, and Bernie explained for Emily.

“After what happened last year, President Batiste fired and replaced the whole senior security staff.”

“That’s not fair,” Emily objected. “It wasn’t their fault. There wasn’t anything they could have done about it.”

Bernie bit his lip. “I don’t know the new people well, yet. They are different, but they all want to meet you. I’m supposed to tell them when you arrive.” Sara and Emily said nothing. They looked at each other and followed Bernie inside where he passed them off to Sergeant Valenko, a security guard with stripes.

“Emily.” It was a voice Emily did not want to hear. She did the introductions.

“Courtney Chase, Channel 5, Eyewitness News, meet Sara Michaels, Campus Chaplain.”

Courtney barely let the fake smile touch her lips before she turned to Emily. “Have you thought any more about the interview? I would be willing to let you look at the questions first.”

Emily shook her head. “Nothing to interview. I am hoping to do well in my classes this year. That’s it.”

“Sorry mam, no cameras, please.” The sergeant stepped between them. “This is a private meeting.” He put his hand up to the cameraman who dutifully trailed behind the reporter and filmed everything. When another security officer came up and began to move the cameraman back to the main room, Courtney naturally followed the camera.

“Call me,” she said to Emily, and shoved her way back enough to hand Emily a card before she scooted off in search of some other hapless interview.

Sergeant Valenko said, “Ladies,” and he pointed down a hall away from the sounds of the gathering.

“That was Courtney Chase,” Sara said, like a fan of the evening news.

“We don’t need the publicity,” Emily shook her head, but placed the card in her pocket.

“No, I suppose not.”

Sergeant Valenko escorted them to a back room and asked them to wait. He was a short, barrel-chested man, like one who was determined to make up for his height by lifting weights day and night. He had fuzzy blond hair and marched rather than walked.

“A bit too military,” Emily commented quietly. “But then lots of security people are former military, I suppose.”

They did not have to wait long. The three top security men on campus, two Lieutenants and their Captain, came in. They said nothing. They did not even introduce themselves. Sara decided to sit. Emily found her feet pacing, just like Detective Lisa.

Henri Batiste came in with a smile, and the two lieutenants left. He shook Emily’s and Sara’s hands and introduced Captain Gouldos. The Captain neither smiled nor offered his hand. “Now, the reason I wanted to see you is simple. You have probably guessed. I would like a quiet school year this year. I am sure you understand.” The man never lost his smile.

“I would like a quiet year, too,” Emily agreed. It was pointless to explain to the man that she was not the cause of any of the trouble last year. All she did was save the lives of everyone on campus several times.

“Splendid. But now, the reason I invited you here tonight is so you could meet my security staff. You can see they are a very competent crew. I want you to trust them and let them do their job. I am asking, if you should become aware of something unusual this year, please call them and let them take care of it. That is what we are paying them for after all, you see?”

Emily nodded. “Campus security was called all the time last year.” Bernie the campus cop was the only one who ever showed up, she thought.

“Splendid. Now the other reason I wanted you to come was to meet Ms. Michaels from the Chaplain’s office. She is here to help and counsel whatever the need. And if it is something she cannot handle, she has the resources to recommend, competent professionals to help whatever might be troubling you. I am not saying anything is troubling you, but I urge you to get to know her well. She can help you enjoy the full college experience.”

“I can assure you, Sara and I will spend plenty of time together over the next three years.”

President Batiste looked at them both with eyes that wondered why all this went so easily.

“Henri?” A woman called down the hall.

“Un moment, mon petite.” Batiste called back before he turned again to the women. “My wife. My guests. Please excuse me. You are welcome to stay.” He left. Captain Gouldos glared at them before he followed the president. Sara looked at Emily. Emily frowned and took the priestess out to the porch. She grabbed Bernie by his loose tie and dragged him with them off into the dark beyond the house and beyond any snoopy reporters.

“The new security staff is into something up to their necks and Batiste is their leader.” Emily spoke without any preliminaries. “I need to know what your new bosses are up to. I don’t trust them.”

Bernie let out his breath like he was holding it in for a long time. “I don’t trust them either,” he said softly, and they looked at the Chaplain.

Sara hedged. “I caught the body language and tone of voice, but I’m in the love and forgiveness business. I think hanging out with you might make me paranoid.”

“I was thinking that just the other day,” Emily admitted with a grin.

“I live in paranoid,” Bernie said with a glance at Emily.

Emily shook her head. “I don’t live there, I just commute.” When the others stared at her with big questions in their faces, she explained. “Well, Jessica wasn’t here so I said it for her.” Both Sara and Bernie nodded that they understood.

Elect II—2 Amazons, part 3 of 3

October 12, 2016October 1, 2016M G Kizzia Leave a comment

“Are you looking forward to school?” Maria asked, kindly.

Melissa, who walked with her eyes turned down to the sidewalk like she was thinking deep thoughts, nodded before she thought to say something. “A little scared, considering, you know, last year.” She took a breath and added, “Summer school helped, but there weren’t so many people around.

Maria understood and offered what she had. “But this year you have a safe room and a suite full of friends to watch out for you.”

“A whole Amazon tribe,” Melissa said with a smile. “That is what Mindy and Amina call us.” She opened the door to the dorm and walked up the stairs with her roommate. When they stepped inside, they found Mindy and Amina unpacking. Jessica came in a moment later, followed by a boy. She must have been right behind Maria and Melissa.

“Everyone, this is Phillip, a sophomore transfer into ROTC.”

“Jessica!” Amina turned red.

“We haven’t finished unpacking,” Mindy explained, without explaining.

“Hey.” Jessica turned to a bewildered looking Phillip. “I found him wandering around the campus center. I may keep him.”

“What?” Maria asked while Melissa joined Amina in turning red.

“You keep saying we are supposed to be like the Amazons of old,” Jessica said as she ran her hand through Phillips hair. “I’m willing to do my part.”

###

Emily got to the top of the stairs, thinking hard, and slowly opened the heavy door. It was dark when she stepped into the lounge area of her suite. She flicked the light on when she shut the door, and everyone jumped up and yelled, “Surprise.” It was not really a surprise, but it warmed Emily’s heart to see it. Unfortunately, Emily’s mind was preoccupied, so she said nothing in return. The others stopped and watched as Emily shifted one chair to face the end of the couch, by the door, and scooted the other tight beside it. She went into her room and grabbed her desk chair and Jessica’s chair and plopped them down side by side. The chairs and couch made a U shape around the cheap coffee table and faced the door with the open end. Emily sat in her own desk chair at the head of the table, so to speak.

“Meeting first,” Emily said, and she waited for their response.

“What happened to your ribs?” Jessica wondered how she could carry those chairs from the other room. She sat in her own chair beside Emily.

“I thought your leg was broken?” Maria looked more concerned than curious as she went around to sit on the middle of the couch.

“All healed,” Emily said, and she waited while everyone sat in the correct order without having to be told and only left the seat empty at the end of the couch nearest the door. “I met Zoe,” Emily said and Amina’s eyes got wide and her mouth opened as she certainly saw something in that statement.

“Zoe who?” Jessica wondered.

“The queen goddess of the Amazons?” Mindy wondered. “But she almost never shows up in the record. Are you sure it wasn’t Artemis or one of the others?”

Emily looked at Mindy. The girl was in danger of believing everything she read. Of course, given some of their encounters Emily could hardly blame her, though Emily was planning to remain uncommitted on the divinity of her visitor. She stood, retrieved her sword from her room and sat again with the sword across her lap. Then she began to speak.

“Zoe said an Amazon queen never acts alone. She always depends on and listens to her council. The three on her left hand face the darkness and the three on her right face the light.”

“Wait a minute,” Maria interrupted. “There are only two of us on the right.”

“There are three on my right,” Emily said. “The third is our priestess who always stands a little apart from the rest of us. Zoe said she would be provided,” and there was a knock on the door.

Melissa was closest, but Amina was already out of her seat. She looked back at the others and ended with a stare at Emily. Then she grinned impishly and opened the door. There was a woman just shy of thirty-years-old who started to speak.

“I’m Sara Michaels from the chaplain’s office.”

“Yes, Sara,” Amina interrupted. “We have been expecting you. Your seat is waiting for you,” and she pointed to the end of the couch. Maria kind of ruined the spell by shifting over and patting the cushion beside her.

The woman came in and sat but looked and sounded rather confused. “I got a message that I needed to be here. I don’t understand. I never make night calls unless someone dies. Did someone die?”

“Only my denial,” Emily said, and without any preliminaries she began. “We have Zoe’s permission to be an Amazon tribe, but she has a message for each of us. You have already heard mine, that an Amazon queen always listens to her council.” Then she began on her left side and talked about the ones facing the darkness. She talked to each one personally; Jessica the hunter, Amina the Sybil and Melissa the spell caster.

“Spell caster?” Sara asked.

“Witch,” Melissa said the word and wiggled her finger. Her cup of orange soda lifted into the air and floated in her direction. It did not look too stable and Melissa looked like she was seriously concentrating. When she grabbed the drink, she spilled a little and immediately looked at the newcomer. “Sorry,” she said. “I’m just learning and I am not a very powerful witch.”

“Spell caster,” Jessica corrected.

“We are all just learning,” Maria encouraged her roommate.

Sara turned her eyes to Emily and said something that surprised no one. “Emily Hudson. We talked about you last year.”

Emily ignored the comment, turned to her right hand and talked to Mindy the wise woman and Maria the healer. When she told Sara that she was to be their priestess, Sara’s eyes got wide, but she said nothing. Then Emily went on to share that Zoe gave them an assignment. There was a mystery on campus and they needed to solve it. “She said, somewhere there is a door open to Avalon. Creatures have escaped. You met one. The world is in danger of going mad. Blah, blah, blah.”

“Blah, blah, blah?” Jessica had to ask. Emily hushed her and looked at Sara. They all waited in silence for Sara to speak. Sara understood the stares.

“But what if I don’t want to be your priestess?”

“No one will force you, but you are the one Zoe selected,” Emily said. “Your request for transfer has been or will be denied. You will be here with us for the next three years.”

Maria added a thought. “I suppose if you don’t want to be our priestess you will leave us spiritually empty and morally bankrupt. But the choice is yours.” She looked around the room and saw the looks of agreement on the other faces.

Sara sat for a time and looked at her hands in her lap before she spoke again. “I think I need to have a talk with this Zoe of yours.”

“Oh, I am sure you will,” Amina said cheerfully. “And soon I imagine.”

“Somehow, that does not encourage me.” Sara just sat for a minute and worried her hands. The others were mercifully quiet and patient until the woman finally looked up. “There is one thing. I am not really a priestess. I’m a Methodist minister.”

“That’s alright,” Maria responded and reached over to pat the woman’s hands. “Amina and I are Catholic.”

“Southern Baptist.” Mindy raised her hand and her voice.

“U. C. C.,” Melissa said softly.

“Presbyterian,” Emily said and looked at Jessica. They all stared at Jessica until she spoke.

“My mother used to like to go to the Crystal Cathedral.”

************************

Monday, be sure to come back for the Elect II-3 Antiques.

Until then, Happy Reading.

Storyteller Tales & Thoughts

Stories and reflections on storytelling

Elect

Elect II—5 Stab from the Past, part 3 of 3

Elect II—5 Stab from the Past, part 2 of 3

Elect II—5 Stab from the Past, part 1 of 3

Elect II—4 Venus de Jekyll and Hyde, part 3 of 3

Elect II—4 Venus de Jekyll and Hyde, part 2 of 3

Elect II—4 Venus de Jekyll and Hyde, part 1 of 3

Elect II—3 Antiques, part 3 of 3

Elect II—3 Antiques, part 2 of 3

Elect II—3 Antiques, part 1 of 3

Elect II—2 Amazons, part 3 of 3