Journey of Ric Heiden

All Rights Reserved © 2018, Rick Haydn Horst

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events, locales, and incidents are either the products of the author's imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

Maggie and Aiden --who could walk unaided that morning-- entered the living room, shared by the kitchen and dining room.

Cadmar smirked with a hearty slap on Aiden's back. "How's the leg after all the sex last night? We should check that bandage."

It seemed that some people could not stop themselves.

Maggie gave Cadmar a vicious stare and would not back down. Regardless of what anyone said, I knew it wouldn't stop her from doing what she wanted. The entire incident displeased Aiden, who asked me into the hallway.

I shut the door behind us. "What bothers you in particular?"

"I need clarification," he said. "Do you and David know just how often I said nothing whatsoever after overhearing the two of you? Have I made a mistake expecting to receive the same courtesy?"

"David and I have appreciated your maturity and discretion; so, you can expect the same consideration from us. However, a couple of things are happening, of which you seem unaware. How many straight male friends have you had over your lifetime?"

"I've not had friends," he said. "I've had flatmates and colleagues, and none like Cadmar or Magnar. They belong to an incomprehensible alien species. I found it best to avoid them. Why?"

"Cadmar doesn't know you won't appreciate his teasing you," I said. "In his crude way, Cadmar let you know he accepts you, likes you, and wants to be your friend. He's just playfully teasing you. It's what they do."

"I don't get it," he said. "You and David like me, why can't he like me that way?"

"Cadmar is a different person with a different experience. He has to express that he likes you, his way."

"I studied the x-ray images of him for weeks, so it's strange to have the opportunity to befriend a man whom I thought was dead. I would like to, but I don't understand; what have I done for him to accept and like me? I don't even know how to respond to him."

"You stand out in some important ways," I said. "I think you're amazing, and I've often found myself envious of you. You're highly intelligent. You demonstrate a remarkable capacity to tolerate discomfort, and you've shown more bravery than David. I have no doubt Maggie likes those qualities about you, but it's something that Cadmar respects."

"Is that how it works?"

"Absolutely. So, keep things with him moving in a positive direction. The instant you can, take Cadmar aside and tell him that while you didn't mind his mentioning what happened last night, you would appreciate more discretion around Maggie. So, if he would be a buddy and apologize to her over it, it will help keep you in Maggie's good graces. That's all you have to say."

"But I did mind that he said it."

"You and I know that, but such concerns may not register with Cadmar. You're a man, he's a man, he's not likely to see the problem. However, one thing he will understand, as a man mated to Tamika, is the necessity of keeping himself in the good graces of the woman he loves. Trust me, he will understand, and he will apologize, but more importantly, he will respect you for it. Doing this will help you establish boundaries with him. If you don't, it will make you look like a pushover, and he might lose respect for you."

"I see," said Aiden.

When we reentered the flat, everyone had assembled around the table to make plans. "My apologies for our absence, what have we planned so far?"

I gave Aiden the last chair next to Maggie, and I stood by David. I looked at our group. I felt at home there with them. Cadmar looked better after having eaten some extra food and gotten some sleep, on the floor or not. They hadn't harmed him to the degree the Americans had Pearce. Pearce looked less tired, and his skin began to turn light beige with pinkish tones, but his eyes still had a haunted look.

"We just started," David said.

"It is almost eight o'clock," said Julien. "I will contact the home office with the requests for the passports."

"Good, just be honest with them about why we need them," said David. "They're either willing to help us because of the truth, or they're not."

"We will need money," Maggie said. "I volunteer to exchange the rest of our gold into whatever currencies we will need."

"Excellent Maggie," David said, "but let's hold off until we get the response from Interpol. It will undoubtedly affect our travel plans."

"I volunteer to go with Maggie," I said. David held onto my hand, resting on his shoulder. Maggie smiled at me.

"Aiden and Cadmar," said David, "I will ask you to take responsibility for the drone. You both know its importance." They both nodded.

"I guess I'm playing the part of our doctor," said Pearce.

David placed his hand on Pearce's back. "So that you know, Pearce has substantial medical knowledge." He turned to him. "Are you up to it?"

"I want to go home, David," Pearce said. "I feel well enough, and I have enhanced memory; I don't forget anything. I prefer that you didn't need my knowledge, but if you do, I am ready. Aiden, I need to check your wound this morning."

"While everyone is doing their part," David said, "I will provide us time and breathing space."

"What will you do?" I asked.

"I will contact the British government," he said, "and depending on how it goes, I may need to pretend that we want to negotiate our exit through the portal here."

Everyone sat in dead silence, staring at David. "Bloody hell, David," Aiden said, "that sounds..."

"Dangerous," I said.

"No, that is brilliant," said Julien. "Difficult, yes, but that's an excellent idea. The pretense of bargaining with them might give us a few more days if necessary, and it implies that you've no plans to leave."

"Better you than I, David," said Aiden. "I've had my fill of bargaining with governments. Pearce, would you mind checking my leg now?"

Before they left with Maggie, Pearce slipped David his mobile. Julien exited the flat to make his call. That left David, Cadmar, and myself at the table.

I sat in one of the empty chairs. "You'll call Amanda, won't you?" I asked David.

"I have no other direct contact into the upper echelon of the government," he said. "And now I know her private number."

"Ah," I said, then in a low tone. "Pearce says he has enhanced memory."

"Yes, what about it," David said.

"That means he must remember in detail, and with excellent recall, exactly what they did to him. No wonder he's had that look on his face," I said, horrified by what Pearce may continue to go through.

"It's the one curse of the memory enhancement." --Cadmar tapped his skull-- "You must be cautious about what goes in; some things are best forgotten." Cadmar left to check on Aiden.

Since Pearce joined us, I couldn't stop thinking about him. I knew he had something more wrong, but I didn't know what. Surely, Pearce could receive help at the temple. David saw my distress, and he held me. I wanted to go home with David. Earth became more than I could bear. The level of misery I noticed around me overshadowed the beauty I once saw. No wonder so many people would close their minds to the suffering of others. It served as a defense mechanism. They couldn't help everyone, at least not in any definitive and lasting sense. Most people's help equated to little more than sticking plaster. The root cause never gets treated.

"Is there anything I can do for you?" David asked.

"You can take me home," I said.

He squeezed me tighter. "I promise I will get you home as fast as I can." He kissed me and said he needed to make his phone call.

As everyone else checked on Aiden, I thought I would too. The nanos were doing an unbelievable job healing him. It progressed along at the same speed Amaré's bullet wound had healed. In another day or two, Aiden would feel his old self again.

Once David and Julien completed their phone calls, Julien said that people were making the requests on our behalf. David's conversation with Amanda went something like this. Amanda said that the Americans and the British were cooperating to assess whether the portal presented a security issue. They were willing to let us return to Jiyū, and that we should join them at the portal so that we could go home right away. Of course, Amanda had given David a load of old tosh, and he knew it. Despite her pheromone-induced infatuation with David, she bugged our car. Therefore, we couldn't trust her any more than the rest of them. David tried to induce a sense of guilt by thanking her for her honesty all those years, commenting on what a good friend she had been. He told her that, due to living in London for ten years, he had some personal debts to pay and goodbyes he wanted to make, which would take a couple of days. She thought that sounded reasonable, but David noted she seemed too relieved as if a delay was to their benefit.

During the chat at breakfast, I said, "I don't understand. Why hasn't the government burst into the apartment to haul us off?" Everyone waited for David's answer with interest.

"If we lived in America, they would by now," said David, "and while most governments are shrewd. They're not all intelligent or all-knowing. They may not even know our location. However, they can't get to the portal and want to see it for themselves, to watch it in action. So, it behooves them to keep things as cordial as possible with us. The Americans, no doubt, would prefer a heavy hand, but this is England. The British often deviate from the American way of doing things, not always but often. They want us to trust them, and as Julien pointed out, we've shown our naivety. They expect us to remain that way. Let us surprise them."

Three hours after Julien made his call, at about eleven o'clock, he received a reply. None of us expected much help --it seemed too much to ask-- but we received assistance beyond our expectations. A woman spoke to us over speakerphone and assured us that they would do everything in their power to help us get to Japan. They were planning an indirect route to reach our destination with as few stops as possible. David asked why we couldn't take a plane directly to Japan. The problem was bypassing security. They made a fair point, at the very least, Cadmar's eyes would cause difficulties with security checkpoints, but we had the drone and our weapons.

If we managed to board a plane at some point, we could only do so from a country where we could bypass security, and they would need people in all the right places to make that work, so they would help us escape England by boat. They promised to provide five French passports. Julien would take our photos against a white wall and text them back to his people at Interpol. A French operative, posing as an old friend of Julien, would deliver the passports to us inside the front door of St. Pancras train station at 6:00 p.m.

It began to feel far too Von Trapp for me and seemed like considerable trouble to escape a so-called

free nation

. Of course, fleeing the United States would have proven even more complicated. Still, we had assistance, and we would accept it gratefully.

As we were thanking Julien, David got Maggie to contrive a way to get Julien out of the flat for at least fifteen minutes. After Julien took the photos, she went about finding something, and this resulted in, "Oh no, I need shampoo for the trip." She left the bathroom with an empty bottle whose contents she most likely poured down the drain.

Seeing as Aiden's injury prevented him from jumping to the rescue, Julien proved himself a French gentleman coming to her assistance. She showed him the brand and sent him with money to the salon two blocks down the street. The instant he disappeared through the door, David scanned everyone for listening devices and did the same to the bathroom. He found nothing, so we all piled into the bathroom to discuss the situation.

"What does everyone think of this?" asked David.

"It sounds too good to be true," Aiden said.

"I agree, it's too easy," said Cadmar.

A disgruntled Pearce shook his head. "It's by boat."

"Let's assume it's a trick," I said, "what would they gain? It must be worth the trouble."

"If they seek to gain from this," Cadmar said, "at best, they don't want the British and the Americans to have the portal. Helping us escape England would prevent that."

"Or at worst," said Maggie, standing inside the bathtub, "they're exploiting an opportunity to find a portal in Japan because they want one for themselves."

We all stared at Maggie.

"There's always that possibility," David said. "We shouldn't take the offer at face value. From this point, I want Julien out of the loop when it comes to information. Okay? He remains suspect until proven otherwise. Aiden, Cadmar, protect that drone, if they take it, they don't need us anymore. I brought you all here so you could have your say, and we could make plans. I didn't want to alarm anyone, because the possibility exists that the offer is honorable, but we can't know that. Let's ride this until evidence tells us we should go our own way. Remain on your guard. If anyone sees or hears anything unusual, come to me, Rick, or Aiden, immediately. Does anyone have anything to say?" We didn't. "Okay, we have much to do, so let's get to it."

With everyone so busy, including acquiring new clothes for Pearce and Cadmar, I managed to convince David to let Maggie and me take a cab to the exchange. On the way, Maggie asked me about Jiyū. "What's your home like there?"

"I honestly don't know." I laughed.

"How could you not know?"

"I can tell you it's a two-story penthouse and has a pool, but I don't know what it looks like inside now. It had an amazing second empire design, but that's not David's favorite décor. The exterior is from the Edwardian era, so just before we left, I had Cadmar's brother get someone to remodel the interior as a present for David. That's why I don't know what it looks like."

"Have you room for me, at least for a while?" she asked.

"Oh, of course," I said, "you and Aiden both can stay as long as you like."

She placed her hand on mine. "Thank you," she said. "On another topic, I know you heard Cadmar's remark this morning."

"We all did."

"He had me furious," she said, "and I saw the look on your face when he said it. He came to me later and politely apologized. Did you insist on that?"

"I did not. I believe you will find that Aiden did that."

"Really," she said.

"You sound shocked."

"Well, no, I suppose I just hadn't considered it since he said nothing when it happened. What a thoughtful thing to do."

By the time Maggie and I returned from cashing the gold into euros and yen, everyone had showered and dressed, except us. Aiden wore his other suit of clothes. I noted that someone had gone to a local shop to replace Cadmar and Pearce's clothing. Cadmar's Trust uniform stood out too much, and the rain ruined Pearce's shirt. They both looked presentable in their chinos and button-ups.

"How did it go?" Cadmar asked.

"It went fine," Maggie said. "I sold them in my name, no problems."

"Good thinking," said David.

When the time came for us to leave for the station, I felt confident we were doing the right thing and finally began our journey home. We hired a cab for seven people, and we left for St. Pancras Station during afternoon traffic, arriving at 5:50 p.m.

St. Pancras Station stands as a triumph of Victorian-era gothic architecture. The beauty of its design rivaled the train stations on Jiyū, and it had a storied history of several bombings over two world wars. In recent times, preservationists restored and revitalized the station to include international train service, of which I dearly would rather have partaken. I feared my preference for landlubbing would send the journey off to a sickening start.

We huddled inside the building under a light, giving way to pedestrian traffic. We stood there looking into the faces of everyone who walked our direction with the expectation of finding someone, or rather them finding us. I amused myself with a joke that we should hold a small sign that read, "

Oppératif Français

" (French Operative)."

I turned around to find Julien greeting a lovely woman wearing a blue and beige dress. He bowed as he held her outstretched, wedding ring adorned hand, almost to kiss it but not quite. He introduced her as Monique Brion, and I noted that she spoke English quite well.

She handed Julien a thick, manila envelope, containing our passports. They had given David and me the new names of David and Richard Klein. The French had made a thoughtful gesture by de facto marrying us. Upon comparison, the passports matched Maggie's passport. I cautiously inspected the photograph to check for tampering; it appeared intact. Overall, they looked, felt, and even smelled new, but more importantly, they seemed kosher.

Monique led us to the curb. Less than a minute passed when a dark passenger van stopped before us. We climbed in, and our driver drove on.

Sitting in the back, I didn't see much of our driver, but I did learn his name, Captain Dupré. "So, how will we leave by boat?" I asked.

"We are heading to the coast near Dover, where we have a vessel waiting," said Captain Dupré. "We have almost a new moon, reducing our chance of getting caught. I have news for those who get seasickness; the water is choppy tonight."

"How long will it take to get to Dover?" Cadmar asked.

"We must take some secondary roads," Monique said, "but no more than two and a half hours, depending on traffic."

"Did you hear that, David?" asked Pearce. "The water is choppy."

"We will all have to cope, Pearce," he said.

"The idea doesn't appeal to me either," I said.

"Don't like boats any more than Pearce, eh?" he asked. "We should rest. We don't know when the next chance will come."

David and I settled in for a two-hour nap. In the past, I had trouble sleeping in automobiles, so I figured I would only doze a bit. David put his head into my lap, and before long, I found myself petting his hair while he slept. He didn't seem to mind and fell asleep within minutes. Despite the stress, the uncertainty, and the senseless trouble our situation put us through, a calmness existed between David and me, a trust beyond expression. I think we found our companionship and proximity comforting.

I like to get the things I dread over quickly. I closed my eyes in a desperate desire to sleep the next few hours, shortening the time, but

trying

to sleep had caused it to elude me. I sat there, lovingly stroking David's hair, and decided to focus on nothing but my connection to him. At some point, I fell asleep, but not for long. The next thing I knew, Maggie, who sat in front of us, nudged me awake. David awoke when I did.

"Are we there?" he asked, taking a deep breath and yawning.

"So, it seems," I said, looking out into the darkness. "I can't see much."

In quietness, we climbed from the van, and the captain led us down a dirt and gravel path. It wound around left then right as we descended, and finally, we stood on the shore of the Channel. One of our French liberators used a torch to find the inflatable boat stashed away earlier in the brush. The electric motor on its aft looked small but sturdy. Monique said her goodbyes and, as I presumed, departed to return the van from where it came. We carried the boat to the water, and everyone clambered aboard. With Captain Dupré at the tiller, we braved the choppiness of the Channel as it rocked the vessel, and in no time, we had moved far out to sea. What little of the shore my slowly dilating eyes could see behind us had vanished, and my fear became a reality as I began to feel queasy.