Synergy (A MORFS Universe Story)

 by: Shrike 

Part 14

I ran towards Gabe and Batman, hoping to be on time. As I was running, I shouted, “Stop it. Stop it you two.” I reached them quite fast and as I stopped between them, I touched Gabe and absorbed a large portion of his electric energy. It gave me quite a boost in my internal stored energy. ‘He really packs quite a punch with that kind of power!’ Meanwhile I turned to Batman, “Don’t you dare shout a sonic blast at me, I’ll blind you for a long time.”

I turned around to face Gabe, “Listen, you’re not my boyfriend, yet. So please go over there to my friends and I’ll talk to you soon.”

He glared at me, but then picked up the container without saying a word and stepped away while I turned back to face Lance. He relaxed a bit, no doubt thinking that he had won, now that Gabe had backed down. Well I was going to burst his bubble. “Lance, I know you told Gabe not to be with me.” As he opened his mouth I cut him off, “No, don’t deny it. You still have it in for me. I’m telling you this for the last time. I decide who is going to be my boyfriend, and I’m sorry to say that it won’t be you. I mean, I like you as a friend, and even more as a dance-partner. But that is it! We will never be a couple. So get it into your thick skull and start looking for a girl of your own.”

Lance gave me a look with a whole mix of emotion. I guess he was angry at me, feeling sad and a whole lot more. But he had it coming. Softly in a hesitating voice he uttered, “But Maren? We were so good together!”

I swallowed, I did feel sorry for him, but there would never be something between us. “Lance! I’m not angry with you. Well maybe I am a bit angry, as I know you started the fight. I’m just saying that I would love for us to continue dancing together. You can even kiss me on the cheek. But I don’t love you. I’m not sure if I can ever love a man enough for that. But for now, I do feel something for Gabe. I really want you two to be friends. I know that you won’t like it to admit to Gabe that you were wrong, but you were. Please, can you try to be friends with him? Can you do it for me, please? And you shouldn’t be so upset that I have chosen to be with him now. You haven’t lost to him, there never was any competition.”

Lance looked at me, resignation written all over his face. “All right then, Maren. I will try to be friends again. I know that I shouldn’t have gone so overboard. I really am a hopeless guy, aren’t I? I just realized that I’m no better than a stalker.”

I gave him a little smile, “Yes Lance, you’re absolutely right. Now come with me, I want you to talk to Gabe and apologize to him.”

I took his arm and together we walked back to where Gabe was talking to my sister and my friends. Isabel was glancing in my direction a lot, and I groaned inwardly, knowing that she wouldn’t stop teasing me about my boyfriend for a very long time. Still, I approached with a smile on my face and said cheerfully, “Hi guys, I see that you already met Gabe. He’s taking the extra lessons with me, and since he has a driving license he offered to drive us here.”

Gabe turned towards me and scowled. ‘Oh no I forgot! I’m still holding Lance’s arm.’ I pushed him forwards towards Gabe, “Lance has something to say to you, Gabe.”

Lance hesitantly started, “Um Gabe. I’m sorry for starting a fight with you. I had no reason to do so. I still had hopes of being Maren’s boyfriend, but she made it absolutely clear to me that I will never be that.” He looked alternately at me and Gabe, “So can we be friends again?”

Gabe smiled at us and said, “Sure, Lance. No hard feelings.” They shook hands but then Lance yelped and pulled his hand away like he was being stung. ‘Did Gabe just zap him?’ I gave Gabe a stern glare, but he laughed, “Just a little joke, Lance. I just couldn’t resist.” Lance joined in laughing as well, and soon we all laughed at it.

Isabel said to me, “Nice good looking boyfriend you have there, Sis. Where did you find him, I want one like that, too.”

I glared at her, indicating that she should shut up, but I guess she didn’t want to get the message. Instead I turned to Gabe. “Gabe? I’m hungry, since I didn’t have lunch. What have you got in there?,” I pointed at the container.

He said with a smile, “See for yourself. I’ve got your favorite sandwiches and all kinds of treats.” He opened the container and gave me some sandwiches and a bottle. I started eating my lunch and immediately, everyone else suddenly wanted something as well. Soon there was a frenzy at the container before they all settled down with something. Only Isabel was a bit miffed. She only found one vegetarian sandwich. ‘I should’ve told Gabe that Isabel is now a vegetarian.’

When I took my dress off just after lunch, the girls gave me lots of nice comments on my new bathing suit. Even Isabel nodded in approval. Of course the boys were looking at me with interest and admiration. I lounged a bit, as Gabe was lying next to me sleeping, or so it looked. Isabel kept glancing over to me and Gabe. She made insinuating motions with her eyes and her head about me and him. I shook my head, ‘When does she ever let up?’ Isabel picked up my emotions and grinned naughtily at me.

Then I was saved, as Snake and Leo showed up. ‘Where did they come from?’ I was about to ask them when Gabe got up in one fluid motion and asked, “Hey, Snake, Leo? Where did you come from?”

 ‘I thought Gabe was asleep, was he faking it to look at me? Why did he do that, is he interested in me? What is he expecting between us?’

Snake smiled, “Hi, Gabe. I see you found Maren on your own. I was going to introduce you to each other, you know.”

I smiled at him, “Yes, we met while having catch up lessons together. But you didn’t answer his question. Where did you two come from?”

Leo purred, “There is a cove there with an inlet from the bay, where the water is calmer and not so deep. I am not that comfortable in the water, so Snake was helping me get over my fear of water.”

I laughed, “You don’t have to make up something like. Why don’t you don’t you just say that you were making out.”

Snake looked around terrified, like he feared being found out. He whispered, “Shush, please keep it down.”

I laughed again, “What are you afraid of? There isn’t anyone around to hear us. Besides, we all already know that the two of you are seeing each other. You said that the water there was calm? I still haven’t learned how to swim yet, so maybe I should try it there then. If it’s secluded, then I can try to learn it without people looking.”

Gabe calmly said, “Let’s go there now then, Maren, Snake & Leo can cover our departure and we should do it fast, now that Isabel is running to the water with Denise.” Turning, I saw he was right, as he pointed at the girls racing to the waterline.

I agreed, after making sure that Leo would be watching Cyn while we were away. We walked quickly to where Snake had pointed out the cove, where I saw quite a nice calm inlet. I ran straight into the water. Gabe followed closely behind and grabbed my waist, “Hold on, not that fast.”

I giggled and turned to him, curious to what his intentions were. He explained that I should first get used to the water by walking into the deep parts and get used to being in and under water. At first. it was a bit scary going under, but soon I started to enjoy it. Gabe was really patient and nice with his lessons, and before long I was paddling along already in something he said was the breast stroke. After about an hour, Gabe decided that it was enough for today. I would have liked to go on, but he said, “You don’t want to be in the water too long. It may feel fine, but it really is still quite cold. And water drains heat from the body much faster than air, so we should go back to the others and take in some sunshine.”

Reluctantly, I agreed and we started walking back to where all the others were sunbathing or swimming and enjoying themselves. As I saw most of them playing with some ball in the water I quickly ran over there and yelled to Gabe, “Last one there is a rotten egg.”

At first I didn’t look back, but I heard a faint growl behind me and looked back to see Gabe closing in fast. My innate fear of canines must have activated, because I felt a bit of fear and doubled my efforts to get away from him. Just as we reached the water and I waded knee deep into it, he caught up with me and with a football tackle crashed into the water with me. For a moment I was taken by fear of being underwater, but that passed quickly and so did the fear of being chased. I felt … I didn’t really know what I felt. I mean … exhilaration was part of it, but also being wanted by a male, I think. And some kind of animal magnetism, maybe the spark came from his having an electric power. I also knew my way around electrics, of course, however I had never felt like this before. On impulse I turned towards to Gabe and started kissing him.

He kissed me back and we stood up fully while still kissing passionately. It felt so good and nice. We stayed liplocked for hours, it seemed. We were exploring each others mouth with our tongue and kept holding on to each other. I wanted this to last forever, but of course that wasn’t possible.

Gabe pulled away and looked behind me. I suddenly had a frightening feeling and half turned around to see what he was looking at. I saw Isabel gawking at me with open mouth. All my other friends were also looking at us in wonder. Some of them, like Snake, were smiling, while others just looked at me. And of course Lance scowled at me. ‘Oh god! They all saw me kissing Gabe for a long time. I can never face them again. And I’ll never hear the end of it from Isabel.’ I quickly ran out of the water towards where my clothes were and where Leo was watching Cyn. I heard Gabe behind me call out, “Wait, Maren! Please wait. Don’t run.”

I just kept on running till I reached Leo and Cyn. There I started gathering my stuff and Leo asked bewildered, “What are you doing, Maren? Why are you packing up to leave?”

I just couldn’t talk to her, my emotions were just too much. I did my best not to burst out in crying. A few tears were already dripping from my eyes.  Then I heard footsteps behind me, I expected it to be Gabe. So I turned to tell him to get lost for now. But it was Isabel that was running up to me. Now I really broke down in despair. She would remind me forever about it. But then Isabel did something I didn’t expect, she hugged me. She motioned to Leo I think, and pulled me with her to walk on the sand.

“Maren, I’m sorry for teasing you all the time about your boyfriend. I did read your emotions well enough, so I was teasing you to get more emotions from you about it. But when you two kissed just now, I could understand why you felt so defensive. You really like him, don’t you? At least that is what I get from your emotions.”

I nodded before admitting, “Yes Sis. He’s easy to talk to and really shows interest in me and my things. The only thing I don’t like is that he closes himself off a lot. But as I get to know him better, he’s slowly opening up.” I paused, and then continued, “I really should go back home. I can’t face them. They all saw me kissing Gabe. I’ll never live this down. But thank you for supporting me Sis.”

Isabel smiled, “What are sisters for? Sure, I tease you a lot. But I love you, sis. And if I didn’t like Gabe, I would have told you already. His emotions are hard to read, but what I get is sincerity and loyalty. If you go on with him, he’ll never let you down.”

‘Wow, I never thought that Isabel would be so nice to me. Maybe she did change a lot due to her MORFS and my now being a sister to her.’ “Thanks, I guess. The way you’re saying that reminds me of having a dog. Are you calling him my dog?”

Isabel whinnied, “I don’t know, is he a canine hybrid?”

I smiled at her, “Actually he is, or rather was. That is also why I feel so mixed about him. He’s an electricity-elemental which attracts me, but a canine hybrid which scares me.”

Isabel looked at me, “Wow that really is a weird combination. I mean him and you with all those things together. I wonder what kind of kids you’ll get.”

I slapped her on her shoulder, “What are you talking about? We’re not going steady. We only just kissed.”

Isabel rubbed her shoulder, “I thought this was already the second kiss?”

I threatened to hit her again, but she ran back to Leo who had gotten company. I ran after her and soon we were back with the others. Gabe looked at me guiltily, and started, “I’m so sorry Maren. I shouldn’t have …”

I interrupted him, “Gabe, it’s not your fault. I just wished we had done it a bit more privately.”

Mandy looked excitedly at me, “But then we would have missed it. I would’ve died if I missed that. It looked sensational.” She hugged me tightly.

“Um, guys? Can we just forget about it? I don’t want to be reminded, and let’s just drop it for now.”

The gang grumbled and muttered something, but everyone sat down without talking about the kiss. I did notice some glances at Gabe and me, but that was it. Gabe sat far away from me, which I think he did on purpose. He wanted to give me some room, I guess.

Soon we were all chatting with each other and had some drinks from the seemingly bottomless cooler Gabe brought with him. Lance suddenly jumped to his feet and looked at his watch, exclaiming, “Shit, I need to get home.”

Now I looked at my watch, and sure enough it was already getting late. We all headed for the showers in the changing buildings. I didn’t put on the dress again, but opted for a sweater and skirt. I couldn’t blow-dry my hair there, so I would need another shower at home. Isabel had it even worse, with all her hair and tail. She complained that her hair stayed wet so long. I felt for her, and tried my best to help her, radiating some heat with my power. It was still a bit damp as we exited the changing rooms, and we found the boys all waiting for us.

I went over to Gabe, who had already put most things back into the car. “Um, Gabe, can Isabel and Denise ride with us? It saves them from hitching a ride with someone else, as Lance has already left.”

He smiled, “Sure, no problem.” Then he whispered in my ear, so only I could hear it, “But you know that it means no goodbye kiss.”

I blushed at his words. I would’ve liked a goodbye kiss. ‘Arg what am I thinking? But it really would be nice.’ We started to put our last things in the car when Cyn suddenly escaped. She ran out onto the sand and I went after her.

I didn’t want to stun her, but kept it in my mind as a last resort. But Snake passed by me and had a better idea. He had some vegetable in his hand and lured Cyn with that. Soon Snake had a good hold on her leash and I returned to the cars with Snake and Cyn.

On our walk, Snake said, “Maren, I guess that the kiss means that you have matured into being a girl now. I hope it doesn’t freak you out, now that you are there.”

I looked at him. “You’re right. I’ve denied it too long. I really am a girl now. I like Gabe and I like being with him, but how about you? Are you’re all boy now, since we caught you making out with Leo?”

He laughed, “I guess you’re right. Of course I did have a head start. And I do think you fought it harder than I ever did. But that was a fight you couldn’t win, and now you’ve lost it totally.”

I let my tail whack his behind. “Shut up already, Snake. I already told you that you were right.” Then the time for talking was over as we reached the cars. I rode shotgun again, but chatted a lot with Isabel and Denise about our day, mostly girl stuff, while Gabe concentrated on his driving.

We all gave Gabe directions on how to drive to Denise’s home, and soon we dropped her off.  Then both Isabel and I started to give directions to Gabe, but he cut us off, “One at the time please.”

Isabel whinnied before she said, “Sorry. You go ahead, Maren.”

I told him that it wasn’t far, and quickly guided him to our place. He parked in the driveway and Isabel jumped out saying, “I’ll go ahead. You two do what ever you have to do.”

Gabe frowned at her words,, but I laughed at the face he made.

“Isabel promised not to tease me too much about the kiss. She’s an empath, and felt our emotions during our kiss. She said that you’re hard to read, but that she likes you, with what she got from you.”

Gabe cocked his head, “Hmm, I don’t know. Should be glad or worried about that?”

I leaned in towards him, “Just kiss me before someone sees us.”

He kissed me on my lips and I responded in kind. I felt exhilaration again, and something else. He kissed me so passionate that I got turned on. I thought my heart would pound out of my chest, the way it was beating. Finally I broke it off. I didn’t want to, but I had to get inside before Mom showed up. Gabe was disappointed, I guess. He certainly showed that with his expression, so I smiled, “More of that tomorrow, Gabe.”

He sighed, “Goodnight Maren, see you tomorrow. And we do have to do this again soon sometime.”

“Why?” I was puzzled, but happy also, I really wanted to do this again, though with some more privacy the next time.

Gabe continued, “Well you don’t expect to be a good swimmer after only one lesson, do you?”

I laughed, “No I guess not. Okay, we’ll talk about it tomorrow, okay? Maybe we can find a place to go swimming again tomorrow?”

“Sure. Don’t forget to take your swimsuit then. Bye”

I waved to him as he slowly backed out onto the road and drove off. I went inside, with Cyn climbing out of the bag. She had waked up as I got out of the car and wanted attention. I took her to my room, ignoring the questioning looks from Mom. I played with Cyn a little before putting my swimsuit and towel into the washer. As I was doing that, Isabel joined me silently and put her stuff in as well.

During dinner I had to endure the third degree from both Mom and Shane. They kept asking, “How was your day, Honey?” Or “So what did you do today?” I just huffed and grunted, instead of really replying. But they kept it up till finally I couldn’t take it anymore and said, “All right, already! Yes, I had a nice day. I learned how to swim a little and had a great time with my friends on the beach.”

Isabel snickered, “That is an understatement.”

Mom looked suspiciously at me and Isabel, “What do you mean by that, Isabel? Maren? What does she mean? What did you do? Isabel, talk to me.”

Isabel made a defensive motion with her hands. “Oh no, Mom, I promised not to talk about it anymore.”

I glared at my sister, “You said you wouldn’t tease me anymore!”

Isabel shook her head, “I said I would support you with our friends, not with Mom.”

Mom really was curious now. “All right tell me now or be grounded.” She smiled while saying that, so she was sort of joking, but I knew that she might execute that threat is she felt the need for it.

I sighed before admitting, “I kissed Gabe in front of everyone.” I glared at Isabel. “I wanted to sink through the ground when I realized everyone was watching me.”

Mom laughed, “But honey, that isn’t so bad. It is perfectly all right.”

I was flustered, “Mom! I’ve never kissed someone before. Remember my distress when Lance kissed me?”

Mom hugged me, “Honey, it is perfectly all right to kiss a boy when it feels right. Now tell me, did it feel right to kiss Gabe?”

I thought for a moment, ‘I did make the first move and it really felt good and right.’ “Yeah Mom, it felt right.”

She smiled, “Then you don’t have anything to be ashamed about. Don’t worry what everybody else will say. As long as it is okay with you, then it will be okay to admit it with confidence to your friends.”

I hugged her, “Thanks Mom, love you. And you too, Sis.”

Mom hugged us both, “So, Maren. When am I going to meet this boy that you’re sweet on?”

Shane gave his piece of mind as well, “Yeah, I would like to see him too?”

I gave them a mock indignant look. “Mom! Shane!” But then I smiled, “You’ll meet him at your wedding, I guess. He has been invited, along with his uncle. He asked me to go there with him, and was very surprised when I told him that I would already be there.”

Mom smiled, while Isabel looked at me like she wanted to say, “Way to go, Sis.” I smiled back at her and then changed the topic of conversation to lighter things. All in all the evening was nice and good. But as I went to bed, I had a hard time falling asleep. I kept thinking about the next morning, when I would see Gabe again, and I really wanted to kiss him again. ‘Why am I reacting like this? I mean, he is just a boy I met. But I really like him, and it feels so good when I kiss him. There is such a strange animal attraction coming from him.’ I kept trying to fall asleep, fearing that Isabel would pick up my emotions on what I was thinking. ‘I just hope that she keeps her promise and doesn’t tease me too much with it.’ I thought some more on today’s events and everything that happened. Finally I fell asleep with a smile on my face.

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

Gavin Benson was working late at the MORFS center on his files when his eCom signaled. As he checked the source he sighed. He had been waiting for the call. Quickly he activated the holo image and looked at the young woman, “Yeah, Miss Carmichael?”

The sweet voice of Jet Carmichael sounded crisp from the speaker, “On your recommendation, we have been waiting before contacting Miss Maren Zoë Johns, also known as Synergy. We would like to make contact soon. Is she emotionally ready to talk with us?”

Gavin sighed again, “Yes she is, though I still ask for caution. If she feels threatened, she will try to defend herself with all means possible, which is very considerable. I’m not saying that you cannot fend for yourself, but the toll would be high and I really like Synergy. I don’t want to see her get hurt.”

“I understand. We will follow and observe her first, and when we think the time is right we will sit down with her just to have a quiet and hopefully fruitful talk. I’ll let you know how it works out. Jet Carmichael out.”

Gavin sighed again as he put his eCom away. He wasn’t sure how this would play out. Synergy was sometimes still quite volatile. And with the power at her disposal the damage could be catastrophic. She did however, show promise of healing. Who knows, this might be good for her.

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

I woke up a bit late in the morning and quickly got ready for school. Isabel was still snoring soundly, but I played it safe and absorbed all the sounds that I made in the bathroom. The wash was all done and dry, and I stuffed my swimsuit and a towel in a bag. Then I had a quick breakfast and fed Cyn before taking her out for a walk and then took her with me to the Center. There I played with her, trying to get her to fetch a ball. Cyn lost interest however, when she saw Gabe approach, and went over to him instead. He petted her for a while before Cyn decided that she preferred to be with me.

He sat down next to me, “Hi Maren, how are you feeling today? No muscle pain from all that swimming yesterday?”

I leaned over to him, “Nope, I feel fine.” I felt giddy and bold, so I leaned over a bit further and started kissing him.

He responded in kind and put his arm around me as we kissed for a long time. It really felt good and I closed my eyes, just losing myself in the wonderful feelings that it generated. I never wanted our kiss to end.

The kiss did end though and I felt a little embarrassed for kissing him. I mean, this was a public place. ‘Oh well, all my friends already saw it yesterday anyway. And I really like kissing Gabe.’ Gabe kept his arm around me and just sat there with a wide grin on his face. I guess he really enjoyed our kiss as well. We started chatting a bit about current affairs and our lessons. Before we knew it, Mr. Brands approached us. We all headed for the class room and had an uneventful morning though Cyn demanded some attention that Mr. Brands happily provided.

Gabe said that he still had a day off from work and knew of a place to teach me swimming in private. ‘Why didn’t he take me there yesterday then, though it had been nice on the beach till that kiss.’ This time he took me to a small outdoor pool. Fortunately I had remembered to pack my swimsuit like Gabe had said. I tied Cyn securely with enough line to keep herself occupied. I made sure that she had some water at hand so she wouldn’t get dehydrated, while I would be busy learning how to swim more and better or at least with more confidence. We had the pool to ourselves, as this was kind of private pool and all the other kids went to the beach or a place where there was a shallow pool for little children.

After doing some laps around the pool I stopped swimming near Gabe and stood next to him in the water that reached just below my breasts. I looked questioningly at him and mockingly asked, “So how did I do swim instructor?”

He smiled and on a sort of serious tone said, “Pretty good, of course this is only a small pool, but you really picked it up fast. You do need to learn a lot more before you can get a certificate, though.”

I huffed, “I don’t care about certificates. I just want to be able to handle myself in the water, so I don’t get left out when I’m with friends at the beach or something like that.”

Gabe smiled back at me, “I don’t think that you have to worry about that. With some more practice you can do pretty much everything they can.”

I gave him my most coy smile, “Everything they can?” As I said that, I moved closer and kissed him fiercely on his lips. We lost our footing and slipped into the water while continuing kissing. Having to come up for air put an end to our kiss, but once we could breath well enough again, I continued were we had left off. I felt something from him poking me down below and felt my own nipples poking back out at him. ‘Geez, do those things have a mind of their own? I never thought I would feel something like this. And I guess he feels as worked up as I am, judging by what is poking into me. Still, I hope he doesn’t notice that I’m just as horny, just from kissing him.’

I stopped kissing and looked down. “Oops, I think things are getting out of hand.” ‘I meant that for the both of us, but I hope he thinks that I meant only him. I would be so embarrassed if he finds out that I’m just as worked up as he is.’

He lifted my head to look at him, “I don’t care. I love you Maren.”

Now I was mortified, ‘Why did he have to say that?’ I broke off our kiss and climbed out of the pool to go back to Cyn. I heard Gabe follow me there, “Maren? What’s wrong? Did I say something bad?”

I pursed my lips, “I … Why did you have to say that? I don’t know if I’m ready now, or if I’ll ever be ready for love.” And I meant it. I still felt somewhat hesitant about having relations with a guy, though Gabe was so nice that my resistance was crumbling fast.

Gabe sat down next to me, dripping all over Cyn, who shook the water off her. “Maren, I’m sorry about that. But it’s how I feel. It doesn’t mean that I want to push you. Whatever you want is important. If you want me to back off, then I will. If you want me to just be a friend, that’s fine too. If you want me to jump into a bed with you, then I’ll jump into bed with you. You are in control. Don’t shut me out, that’s the only thing I ask of you.”

He really is sweet and nice. So I smiled at him, “Thanks Gabe, you really are a nice guy. I do want to kiss you again though.” ‘Especially since I get all worked up around you too.’ “Just give me some time to sort out my feelings.” With that I kissed him lightly again, before running back into pool, where I started swimming again. As I started a new lap, Gabe joined me in the pool with Cyn. He let her try swimming under his watchful eye and Cyn tried to swim towards me.

I moved towards her and picked her up from the water. She really had enjoyed swimming, but I didn’t want her to do it for too long. I said to Gabe, “Why did you let her go into the pool? She might drown.”

He said on a reassuring tone, “That isn’t so. I know that animals can already swim at a very young age, not too long, but I was watching. She wanted to go to you, you know.”

He took Cyn back to the grass and waited for me to finish swimming. A little later I joined them and we ate something while chatting. Gabe said, “I have to work the whole weekend. Everybody’s Place is reopening and there’s going to be a sale on foods to attract customers.”

I was disappointed hearing that. ‘Now I can’t get more swimming lessons, and have a nice time with him.’ But I said, “I can understand that.” Then I had another thought. ‘There is another way to stay close to him.’ “Say I could use a job, are you hiring by any chance?”

Gabe gave a thoughtful look, “I don’t exactly know. I do know that Andre is almost always looking for some waitresses, but I really can’t say if he is now. You can ask of course.”

I smiled at him. He was being very honest, though I would like him to be more supportive. Gabe had finished his food and got up and I watched him pick up something from the side. “What are you doing, Gabe?”

He showed me a long pole with a net. “Just going to clean the pool a bit, would you mind picking up all the stuff around the pool?”

I got up myself, and together we cleaned the area around the pool and the pool itself, removing leaves and other stuff. After we made the yard seem spotless, I was escorted home by a chivalrous Gabe. I fed Cyn again and let her take some rest.  I wanted to hit the books early for my homework due Monday.

But my studying was interrupted by the phone. Without much hesitation I picked up. “Hello?”

A man’s voice sounded, “Hello Miss Johns? Miss Maren Johns?”

I was on guard, ‘Who is this, what does he want and how does he know my name?’ “Uhm yes, I’m Maren Johns, who are you and what do you want?”

“Oh yes I’m sorry, my name is Robin Gazzara. I guess you don’t know me, but I’m a lead scientist in DARPA, with a liaison to NSA.”

Now I remembered the scene with Finch being dressed down by an older man. I asked, “Were you there in the MORFS center just after Finch interrogated me? I saw someone giving him quite a dressing down.”

I heard a chuckle and then, “Yes that was me. I have been waiting to talk to you. I was surprised to hear that you invented that Hoverboard. I’ve been trying to understand it, but can’t quite figure it out, and I don’t want to dissect it completely. So I would like your help in developing this technology. Now, before you say anything, I consider you an equal partner or even the sole inventor. I’m not trying to steal it from you.”

I scowled, though he couldn’t see it, of course. “So what do you propose, Mr. Gazzara?”

“When and where can we meet? I would like to talk to you privately and relaxed. I’ll be returning your hoverboard to you as well.”

Now my mood lifted, he was going to return my board? I really wanted that. “Okay, can we meet here at home? I can’t leave my pet squog alone too long.”

“That’s fine, how does tomorrow, 10 am sound to you?”

I thought for a moment, “That’s okay. I’ll see you here then.”

Mr. Gazzara said his goodbye and I hung up only to dial a number myself now. After a short while Gavin picked up, “Hi, Maren, what’s up? I didn’t expect to hear from you.”

“I just got a call from a Mr. Robin Gazzara. He said that he’s from DARPA and NSA. I want to check that he is who he said he is. Can you describe him for me please?”

Gavin laughed, “Sure, Maren, you saw him telling Finch when we went to my office. But here are his features, his age is about 53 and he has short grayish hair. No glasses, and he has a kind of grandfather-look on him. Do you need anything more?”

I smiled, “No, I think that I know enough. I have an appointment with him tomorrow. I’ll tell you about it later.”

I took Cyn out for a walk, but while I was walking with her, I had a strange feeling, like I was being watched. But I didn’t see anything out of the ordinary. I thought I did once, but there was nothing.

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

Quartz looked at her ebon-skinned sister, “Do you think she spotted us?”

Jet shrugged.  “Highly unlikely, I’m veiling on all senses, including I.R. and U.V., so unless she’s secretly a telepath, I don’t see how she could have spotted us.  More likely she’s just hyper-sensitive to observation after the crap she’s been through.  And what’s with the critter?”

Quartz looked skyward, searching her memory.  “According to the ASA file, she had a pet. She called it a ‘squog’, some sort of squirrel / dog hybrid, that got killed during her abduction.  Either she found another one, or it had a puppy.”  She shrugged.  “So, do we follow her, or pick this up tomorrow?”

Jet sighed.  “I think that we’re safe enough for the moment, letting her walk her squog in peace.  I just want to sit down with her and explain things to her.  I hate spying on people who seem this nice.”

Quartz sighed.  “I know, but we can’t rush into this blind.  We need to be as prepared as we can be, so we don’t get blindsided.  Besides, there’s nothing saying that she doesn't have some sort of issue that no one knows about yet.”

“Damn it, I hate it when you’re right,” Jet groused.  “Fine, we keep up the sneaky stuff for a while.”

Quartz slapped her sister’s shoulder.  “Oh, don’t worry so much.  How about this, I’ll pay for dinner, eh?”

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

The next morning early I walked Cyn again and had the same feeling. I thought I saw something this time, but not visibly. More like a faint image of something, maybe energy? I shook my head, letting my long hair fly all around me. I must be seeing things. ‘I shouldn’t be so paranoid.’

When Mr. Gazzara came to the house a little early, I was ready for him. He looked just like I remembered, and just as Gavin had described him. He didn’t even have to ring the doorbell as I opened it up for him. Cheerfully he said, “Good morning, Miss Johns.”

“Good morning Mr. Gazzara, did you have a good trip?”

He smiled, “Yes I did.” He pulled my hoverboard from behind his back, “I believe that this is your property.”

I smiled and took it from him, “Thanks, but why did it take so long?”

“Can we go in first?”

“Oh I’m sorry. Come in please, do you want something to drink?”

Mr. Gazzara made a repelling gesture. “No thanks, not just now.”

We went into the den where Cyn was sleeping on the couch. As I sat down next to her, she woke up and looked at the new person a bit hesitantly. She sniffed a bit and probably decided that the man was a good enough person, as she climbed into my arms and curled up to sleep again.

Mr. Gazzara looked with interest, “Nice pet you have there, but I heard that your pet was killed during your abduction.”

I flashed a sad face for a moment thinking about how Sammi had died protecting me, “You heard correctly, Mr. Gazzara.”

“Call me Robin, please, I know that I’m much older than you, but I would like to be your friend, Maren, or a mentor, if you like that better. You don’t mind me calling you Maren, do you?”

I smiled, I wouldn’t mind a mentor or someone very good in science to work alongside. “Okay Robin, then yes, since Maren is my name you can call me that. And yes, my Sammi died several months ago. A friend and I found two live baby squogs just last week. I think they are his offspring. We were forced to take them in. The mother died, as well as another sibling.”

Robin smiled back at me. “He is fortunate that you found him, then.”

“Her. Cyn is a female squog. Her brother Mar is with Cynthia.”

He apologized, “Oh, I’m sorry.”

I smiled again, “That’s okay. So about my hoverboard … why did it take so long to return it to me?”

Robin shifted uncomfortably in his chair. “Yeah, well as you may have surmised, some people thought that you stole government property. I got in with the project a little late. As soon as I saw it, I knew that it was something new. And the worst thing is, I can’t figure it out. I mean I can identify the components, and how it is put together, but it shouldn’t work at all. So can you explain it to me?”

I leaned back and remembered how it got started. “I was tinkering with the idea for a long time already. I mean, it’s cool to have a hoverboard like in that old movie ‘Back in the Future’ or something like that. Well after I got MORFS and gained my converter power, I realized that I had power enough myself now, while in the past, the battery power wasn’t nearly enough.”

Robin interrupted me, “Yes I know that. I couldn’t get it to work initially, till I pumped quite some power into it. Frankly, I’m surprised that you are that powerful.”

I giggled, “That was in my early days, I can do so much more now. But you’d need clearance for that.”

Robin squinted at me, “I have the highest clearance there is, Maren. I work closely with some organisations that are not named in public.”

“Something like the ASA?”

Robin relaxed, “So you know about them. Yes, I also work with the ASA at times.”

I lowered my voice a bit, “Maybe you’ve heard about the nuclear explosion near Yellowstone Park? Well that was me, blowing up a mountain.”

Robin looked with wide-open eyes at me, and finally said with a croaking voice, “I did study that a little. I had no idea.”

“Well it got covered up, else every wacko outfit would want to kidnap me, and I might cause an even bigger disaster. I don’t even want to use that kind of power, because it scares me. I mean, I could destroy the whole earth.”

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

Sitting outside the house in their car, Jet and Quartz listened to the conversation between Synergy and Doctor Gazzara.  Jet had slipped a small, but powerful, omnidirectional mic into the good doctor’s pocket as he walked into the house, so that they could hear just what a ranking NSA researcher wanted with their candidate.  They had been forced to rush the operation, because they had only been informed that morning that the Doctor was meeting Synergy.

Quartz nodded at her sister.  “Well, she’s certainly well aware of her abilities, if a little gun-shy.  We’ll have to be careful with the initial contact.  She should fit in with the gang just fine though, assuming she wants to.”

Jet laughed.  “Oh yeah.  Still, after what she’s been through, we should handle this with kid gloves.  I really want to get her in a meeting with Sarah.  She sounds like Wolf did, way back when.”

Quartz nodded.  “Well, lets not get ahead of ourselves, eh.”  She turned her attention back to the speakers.  “Now, quiet, I want to hear this.”

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

Robin was lost in thought for a moment, then he gave me wry smile, “Well, back to your hoverboard. You solved the power problem, but that still doesn’t explain how you got it to work.”

I leaned back again, I hadn’t even noticed that I had leaned forward while explaining my increase in power output. “Yes, how I got it to work. I did have problems with that, but then Sammi, my first squog, escaped his cage. Did you know that these hybrids are very smart? He managed to open a lock by himself. Anyway, Sammi made a mess in the house and in the shed where I kept my experiments. After I cleaned up the mess, I started a test with my repulsor. I didn’t see that Sammi had accidentally put a piece of metal in there which would cause a short. And I poured on the power before seeing it. I expected it to blow up or something, but instead it worked, though very rough and only for a very short time before failing. But analyzing the wreckage gave me an idea and I worked on that. I know it shouldn’t be able to work, but it does.”

Robin had listened breathlessly to my explanation. “So by accident you got it to work and you worked from that. Well I don’t think you should sell yourself short. It’s very ingenious, and I would like to ask you if you can draw me the schematic. In my lab we have more resources in materials and measurement equipment. I would like to invite you to come there with me and work on an improved version.”

I smiled, but thought of something and my smile vanished. “You don’t seem to be too happy with the offer Maren, why?”

I sighed, “I have school. I missed several weeks of school during my abduction. Currently I’m doing a sort of summer school to catch up. With it, I can go to college with the others.”

Robin laughed, “I didn’t mean right away. You can do it whenever you have time. I do have several other projects. But I do want to get on this with you as soon as you’re able. What are you going to study in college?”

“I’m thinking structural engineering or engineering.”

Robin cocked his head, “We could make this a school or even graduation project. With some non-disclosure terms of course. But I know that it can be worked out. So what do you say?”

I thought for a moment, ‘This is very tempting. I get to make an even better repulsor. Maybe even have it produced for normal use. But I’ll be working for a government organisation. Do I want to do that? Gavin said that I might want to work for one and that he might give a recommendation. Still, what will they do with the technology?’

“I do have a question though. What will the invention be used for?”

Robin smiled at my question, “Gavin already told me that you are smart and mature. Well I can’t begin to know all the things that will be done with it. But I foresee that it will mostly be used in aircraft and hovering machines. We, or maybe even only you, if you so desire, can hold all the patents to the device. I don’t think it will be used as a weapon, but there are no guarantees.”

“I know that, what do you mean if I desire to hold the patent?”

“Well it can be very costly to record a patent, and even more costly to sue people if they do copy it illegally. So I’m proposing a partnership, we can work out the details later, after you talk with people like friends and a couple of lawyers if you want. Actually I recommend that you talk to a lawyer before signing anything.”

I was glad that he gave me all the choices available. We talked about all the things some more and we made an appointment for another talk after the weekend. He asked, “So do you want to keep the board here? I sure would like to study the repulsor more. Oh that brings me to something else. I don’t think we should call it a repulsor. The name might be protected by Lucas Film. How about we call it a Synergy Thruster?”

I smiled as I thought about it. ‘My name attached to a device? Neat!’ “Okay, that might be nice. Well I want to keep one of my thrusters here to make new and better one, you can have the others if you want.”

Robin thanked me, “Thanks, I really would like that. I will keep you informed about all developments I make. And if you need some special materials, don’t hesitate to call me.” With that, he gave me a digital card. Then he excused himself saying, “Sorry, I have to go now. I have another meeting soon. I’ll pick up the thrusters later.”

I showed him out and went back in the house thinking about all that had been discussed. It was nice that I would be working on something like that. I even started fantasizing about the applications the thrusters could be used for.

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

Quartz closed down the audio equipment. “What do you think? Shall we talk to her tomorrow? I think she’s ready for it.”

Jet nodded, “I think you’re right. Okay then, tomorrow we will see if we can sit down with her in a bit of secluded area and ask her if we can have a talk with her.”

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

Saturday evening Isabel came to my room before retiring for the night. “Maren can I ask for your help? I want to practice dancing a little more before the wedding. Would you go with me to Mom’s studio tomorrow morning and practice with me?”

“Sure, Sis. What time do you want to go?”

Isabel snorted, “You know I’m not an early riser. About 10?”

I laughed, “Make it 9, so we have some time to practice.”

She gave a horrified look, “That’s way too early!”

“Take it or leave it, Sis.”

Grudgingly she accepted before going to her own room grumbling about early birds and what nuisances they were.

I smiled at that. It was almost like before my change, with the difference that I now had a much better relationship with my sister.

Early in the morning we set off to the dance studio. Isabel was even in a good mood, despite getting roused from her bed early. We chatted about boys and other stuff that girls talk about. I was realizing that I finally fully had become a girl now. My old male me wasn’t gone though, it just reasserted itself into my new personality. And I thought, ‘I don’t even care about it anymore. I’m happy to be who I am even being a girl is okay.’ My thoughts were interrupted as we came to the studio and Isabel produced the key to the door. She had secretly snatched it from Mom’s purse the night before.

Still in a good mood we entered the dance floor but then Isabel hesitated. “Maren, I can feel some emotions that I don’t like. Can you … aah”

She suddenly stopped talking and screamed out in pain as two shots rang out loudly in the dance studio and I saw a big red spot appear on her back. But it was nothing compared to the excruciating pain I felt searing through me. I realized that I had been shot as well as Isabel. Then I heard a very familiar voice say, “Guess you didn’t expect to see me again, did you?”

End of part fourteen, to be continued

To be continued...

The entire MORFS  Universe can be found at http://morfs.nowhere2go.org/

Views: