Articles with lila

Halloween Surprise (pt. 11/30)

shakespeare
“I don’t know where I’m going, but I’m on my way.”
~ Shakespeare Bridge

“Gimme a moment.” Ian leaned his head against the wall and rested for a few minutes while Lila kept track on her watch.

“Ready?” she asked impatiently.

“Not quite. A minute more.”

Lila set the timer on her watch to go off in one minute and watched it intently. “Time’s up,” she said as the tinny alarm sounded.

She got to her feet and put her hand down to help Ian stand. He put his other hand against the wall to steady himself as he rose shakily.

Lila strode over to the posts and turned her head to watch him come toward her, keeping her hands hovering over the posts until he drew near. He stood directly behind her and placed his hands on top of hers. “Let’s go,” he whispered in her ear. She lowered her hands onto the posts and took a quick intake of breath as the lights once again swirled around her.

She could see what appeared to be a control room occupied by men in military uniforms. The man nearest her had a nametag that she could just make out as Петров or Petrov, and she could see a sign on the wall with the word Око written on it.

Lila started to pull her hands away from the posts, but pressure from Ian’s hands kept her palms in contact with the surface.  A few seconds later the pressure eased, and they both sank to the floor in tandem.

This time travel didn’t seem to have nearly the same negative effect on Lila. Ian still looked a bit peaked from the experience.

“What did you see?” Lila asked breathlessly.

Ian raised his hand indicating for her to pause. “Just a second,” he gasped out before scooting back to place his back against the wall. Lila joined him there and once again handed him the piece of paper and pen. He waved it away. “Cuban Missile Crisis. I could see Kennedy in his office with McNamara poring over what looked like ballistic missile photos.”

Lila perked up. “That means we traveled forward about twenty years.”

“What did you see?” Ian asked curiously.

“I think I was looking at Stanislav Petrov. He worked at the Soviet’s Oko command center and some people say he prevented a nuclear war back in 1983.”

Ian’s eyes brightened. “I remember reading about him. He monitored an early warning system that reported the U.S. had launched a missile at the Soviet Union. He assessed that it was a false alarm, and by waiting to report it may have prevented an all out retaliation by the Soviets. Amazing guy.” Ian shook his head. “Couldn’t have been easy to make that decision.”

Lila looked puzzled. “Okay, so what’s the point of this? Why are we seeing these things?”

Ian screwed up his face in an I-don’t-know expression. “Maybe we’re supposed to be averting a similar fate? Seems like a pretty strong message.” He gestured toward the posts. “Who’s controlling these things? The visions–if that’s what they are–seem pre-recorded, except that we’re seeing different things.”

The blank white wall in front of them began to seethe with colors that eventually coalesced into a pearlescent appearance. A voice spoke in what sounded like 3D audio so that the sound came first from behind them and then switched to above them, before finally reverberating from all four walls.

Halloween Surprise, pt. 10/30

researchFacility
Research facility by day

Lila stood back from Ian, put her foot up against his backside and shoved. He barely swayed. “Okay, time to get real.” She tackled him from behind and pushed him toward the floor.

It was as though she was caught up in a time warp. As soon as her skin made contact with Ian’s, everything once again swirled around her. Through the mist of colors she could see one of the research men watching her and Ian.  He moved toward them, reaching out to touch her arm, but his hand seemed to pass through the air directly in front of her.

Wondering if he could hear her, Lila called out to him. “Hey.” Not the most compelling statement she’d made, but whatever. His eyes widened and he turned to some of his fellow workers, who seemed oblivious to what was happening right in front of them.

Trying to take clues from her surroundings, Lila looked at the consoles that surrounded them through the orbiting colors. She saw 1960’s style computers with large brackets holding them to the wall. It appeared to be a cleanroom, with people dressed in white outfits, head garments and protective goggles.

Nudging Ian, she tried to get a reaction. Nothing. Either he was in shock or it got easier each time one – what should she call this? Viewed? Visited?  Was she here or there, or both?

She extended her hand to the man standing in front of her in the suit. He reached his out at the same time and there was almost a breeze as they passed through each other. She could see his greenish blue eyes dilate and his lips firm as he looked more determined to reach her. Slowly he began to fade out and Lila returned to the white research room.

Exhausted, Lila once again fell to the floor, Ian collapsing beside her. She tried to cushion his head as they fell, but barely had strength to raise her hands. Lying beside him, she tried to reach her backpack and tug it closer toward her. She managed to pull out one of the water bottles she had packed, fumbled with the lid, and poured half the bottle over Ian’s head. He finally stirred, shaking the water out of his eyes.

Ian gasped, “What the…” He looked disoriented and slightly green as he pushed his hands underneath himself and crab walked back to the wall, which he then leaned against. “You weren’t kidding about that motion sickness.” He swallowed hard.

“Gets easier the more you do – it – whatever it is that we just did.” Lila scuttled back against the wall to join him, leaning against his shoulder for warmth, as she felt suddenly cold. “Pretty nifty, eh?”

Ian snorted. “That’s one of the things I love most about you. Your ability to bounce back quickly.”

She looked triumphant. “I told you!”

He closed his eyes and rested his head on the hard, cold surface. “What – no, where was that?”

Lila looked straight ahead, thinking about his question. “More importantly, when was it?”

Ian appeared bewildered and shook his head slowly. “What do you remember?”

Lila dug in her ever-present bag for paper and pens. Handing him one set, she began to write on the other. “Record everything you saw, even if you don’t think it’s important.”

Ian began to scrawl a series of words, while Lila concentrated and wrote full sentences. When she finished, she passed her paper to Ian and took his. Reading silently for a moment, she turned to him, her eyes wide with astonishment. “You saw something completely different!” She said excitedly, “This totally fits the world line description – people see the same event differently based on their specific positions in spacetime.”

“Oppenheimer,” Ian read slowly, “Physics, atomic bomb guy, right?”

“And you saw,” Lila read from his paper, “’An island, a few palm trees, a bunch of guys standing around waiting for something to happen.’ Bikini Atoll ring a bell?”

Ian swore. “So we’re seeing the development of the atomic bomb?”

“I think so. And the visions seem to progress in time each time we look.” She turned to him eagerly. “Ready for another go?”

Halloween Surprise, pt. 9/30

swirlingLights
Swirling lights

Lila walked into an all-white room that reminded her of the factory floor in Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. In the center of the room were two square posts that came up to her waist with enough room for someone to stand between. She walked slowly toward the gap with Ian on her right.

Reaching out with her left hand, Lila touched the post closest to that side and then placed her other hand on the opposite post. Immediately she felt disoriented and dizzy from the light pink, blue, and yellow colors swirling around her. Through the haze of light, she could see men in lab coats moving about in what appeared to be another research lab.

Lila heard Ian calling her name and felt her hands pulled from the posts. She staggered back, feeling exhausted and motion sick. Resting her head between her knees, she sat on the floor and leaned against the wall opposite the door. “Yikes,” she managed, “I don’t feel so well.”

“You don’t look it either.”

Her head came up in such a hurry that she nearly rolled onto the floor.

“Nice to know your reflexes are still solid.” Ian commented jokingly, but clearly relieved that she was once again back with him. “What did you see?”

“How do you know I saw anything?” Lila asked in a muffled tone, her head still press to her knees.

“Because your mouth hung open and your eyes were tracking.”

“My mouth wasn’t hanging open,” Lila said indignantly, and then self-consciously ran the back of her hand over her lips. “Ugh. I was drooling. Sorry.” She offered him a half a smile.

“Just glad to see you back in the regular world, you know, conscious and all.” Ian joked.

Lila tilted her head back against the wall. “I saw a bunch of men in lab coats, but there were all these colors swirling around,” she paused, “as though they were either orbiting around me or I was orbiting around them.” She shook her head slightly. “It felt like I was on one of those rides that spin around sideways while you’re going upside down. She paled. “I may be sick.”

“You’re fine,” Ian said encouragingly. “What were they doing?”

“I’m not sure,” she said, “but I think they saw me. One of them pointed in my direction, and he started to get excited. I think he was yelling something.” She pointed to the posts. “Why don’t you go try it?”

“Uh, uh. Always investigate thoroughly before touching anything.”

Lila raised her eyebrows. “Since when was that your rule?”

“Since I saw you turn green and plop to the floor.” Ian grinned.

“We’ve got all night,” Lila said and checked her watch. “Eleven P.M. Plenty of time for more ghosties or whatever those apparitions were.” She tugged her backpack off and rummaged through it to produce a couple of cereal bars. She pulled off the wrappers and offered one to Ian.  “Munchies?”

Ian started laughing. “I can’t believe you can eat. You almost lost your cookies.”

“I rebound fast. Something you should remember.” She pointed her finger at Ian. “How about you go over and try it now.”

He slowly stood up and walked over to the posts. Gingerly he placed one hand on each side, and Lila saw an electric arc travel over his head. Alarmed, she dropped her cereal bar and ran to where he stood frozen between the two posts. She tugged at his hands, but to no avail. He was unresponsive.

Halloween Surprise, pt. 8/30

stormclouds
Stormy night

“Okay, so that’s a bad thing,” Lila said halfheartedly.

“Yes, and the worst part is that we have very little time to delay the catastrophe.” Sergey pointed to Ian and Lila. “You two are familiar with things that go bump in the night and this is definitely going to be a big bump.”

“So what are we supposed to do?” Lila asked.

“We need you to go down to the research facility and spend the night there to give us a reading on the situation.”

“You want us,” Lila gestured to herself and Ian, “to spend the night at someplace that you think is the source of the next disaster of the week?”

“Exactly.”

“Sure, why not?” Lila got up from the couch and once again moved toward the door. “Can’t be worse than the place we used to live. Ghosts wandering up and down the stairs and hiding out in the attic.”

Ian nodded. “What’s the address?”

Sergey handed Lila a piece of paper on which he had written a series of numbers followed by the address of a parking garage.

“What’s this?” Lila pointed to the numbers.

“It’s the access code for the building connected to the parking garage. Take the elevator to the third floor. You’ll need to enter the first code at the elevator, and this second code at the access door to room 331. Also, you’ll need these.” Sergey produced a couple of ID badges with their names and photos.

“Awfully sure of yourself, aren’t you.” Lila commented as she tucked the badges in her handbag.

“We like to be prepared. We could only hope that such dedicated professionals would be willing to take the case and run with it.”

“Well, luckily you were right.” Lila looked at Ian. “Let’s go.”

Charlie remained by the couch and Sergey walked them to the door. “Good luck to you,” he said gravely and shook each of their hands.”

Lila walked into the stairwell and shook her head. “We are so trusting.”

“Trust, but verify,” Ian stated as he dialed his supervisor. “John, we just had a conversation… Really. You’re sure?” He hung up. “Before I even had a chance to say anything, John told me to take as much time as I need to help ‘our friends.’ Very strange.”

Lila looked down at the address with surprise. “I know this place. It’s where I did a summer internship when I was in high school.”

“You were already an intern in high school?” Ian asked incredulously. “You were a go-getter.”

“I was very advanced.” Lila grinned. “It’s a small contractor who works on special projects. They’re close enough to the Air Force Base to be convenient, but far enough away for deniability.”

They made it home quickly, then took only enough time to feed Pearson and pack up some treats and hot drinks for their evening’s adventure/sleepover.

They parked at the garage and made their way to the elevator, punching in the series of numbers given to them by Sergey. The elevator opened directly into a small room with a guard sitting at a desk. “ID’s,” he said in a bored voice.

Ian and Lila both handed over their badges and the guard buzzed them through a thick metal door.

“Ladies first.” Ian waved his hand for Lila to precede him through the door.

“Gee, thanks.” Lila said dryly.

“Hey, you wanted to do this,” Ian pointed out.

Lila led the way hesitantly through the entrance and they slowly strolled down the hallway looking for room 331.

”Smile, you’re on camera.” Ian murmured so only she could hear.

“I know,” Lila smiled. “I saw the display on the guard’s desk.”

Finally reaching the door, Lila entered the code and received a red flash on the keypad. Trying the door, it refused to open. “What the…” she began to gripe.

“Try it again,” Ian encouraged her. “Breathe.”

Lila once again pushed the series of keys and this time the small keypad light flashed green and unlocked with an audible click. Lila pulled down the handle sharply and pushed open the heavy door.

Halloween Surprise, pt. 7/30

ahead
What lies ahead…

Gently dragging the pistol from its holster, Lila glided it down Ian’s back and smoothly pulled it up in one motion to aim at Charlie.

“I think we’ll be going now. Not that it hasn’t been tons of fun.” Lila said lightly.

“Wait,” the man said. He put down his weapon and held up his hands as if to show he was harmless. “There is something I must show you before you go.” He gestured to the back of the apartment where the bedrooms lay.

“Oh, no. I’m not falling for the old ‘check out my etchings’ routine. If they were so great you’d have them hanging in the front room.” Lila began edging back toward the front door until she backed into something solid. Looking up, way up, she saw the man pictured on the dosimeter. “Sergey?” She looked accusing at Charlie. “I thought you said he was dead.”

“No, I said he was one of our best employees,” Charlie reminded her.

“Fair enough.” Lila agreed. “Still, that doesn’t explain what he’s doing here. What’s really going on?” She directed the final question to Sergey and passed the pistol to Ian who had moved to her right. He held it loosely in his hand, prepared to use it if necessary.

Sergey moved around her left and sat on the armchair kitty corner to the couch. “Lila, you’ve heard rumors about the experiments at El Segundo. I heard you say that while I was waiting in the kitchen.” He grinned suddenly. “I really was going to bring dessert, by the way.”

Lila looked cautiously toward the kitchen area. “What, bullet surprise, or perhaps brownies a la Chernobyl?”

“Tiramisu, actually.” Sergey motioned. “I can get it if you’d like.”

“Let’s hear what’s really going on,” Ian said. “Then we’ll decide if we’re playing along.”

“You are familiar with the concept of world line?” Sergey looked expectantly at Lila.

She nodded. “Spacetime, which is divided into the future, past, and what we think is now, but can actually be the past. Like if we’re standing there staring at the sun, we’re actually seeing it as it was eight minutes ago because light takes time to travel.”

“Correct.” Sergey nodded. “We think we may have found a point in spacetime where we are able to see images from the future, but they are very,” he paused, “disturbing.”

“Disturbing how?” Lila pushed for details.

“Like Fukushima,” Sergey said, referring to the nuclear reactor disaster that occurred in Japan. “Only 100 times greater.”

Halloween Surprise, pt. 6/30

adventure_sunset1
As the sun sets, the adventure begins.

“Sweet.” Ian said. He held out his hand for the Slinky-key as Lila had mentally dubbed it.

He examined both parts of the key and snapped off the key part from the bottom half of the Slinky. Inserting it into the entrance lock, Ian opened the door and they began walking up the hallway to the elevator.

After arriving at the third floor with a quiet ding from the elevator, Lila cautiously poked her head out and tugged Ian’s arm to get him to walk with her to the stairwell. “Remind me again why we’re walking up from the third floor instead of taking the elevator.”

She looked at Ian for clarification.

“Because it’s far easier for people to wait outside the elevator doors since they would expect us to come up that way instead of walking.”

“What people?” Lila asked in a frustrated tone of voice. “We still don’t know who’s behind this. If it were in the Soviet days, then I wouldn’t be surprised to see our comrade KGB friends waiting inside the door for us.”

They paused outside Room 432 and Ian once again snapped off a key-containing piece of plastic from the upper part of the Slinky. “Pretty handy, actually.” He murmured. “I’ll have to remember this if I ever have to hide a key in plain sight. Who‘d ‘a’ ‘thunk’ it.” He joked to break the tension.

Ian motioned for Lila to stand on the hinge side of the door and he bent low as he inserted the key into the lock and turned to knob. Pushing the door open slowly, he kept to the side. “Welcome.” They heard the voice and immediately recognized it was the box delivery person from the restaurant.

Lila and Ian looked at each other warily. “To quote you, WTF.” Lila said so only Ian could hear.

“Come inside,” The dark haired man – Charlie, as Lila had nicknamed him – motioned them to have a seat on the plush couch. They eyed him guardedly and took a seat next to each other, but not too close in case they needed to separately dive for the door.

“I’m sure you’re wondering why you’re here. By the way, good job on figuring out the key. I’d heard from some friends that you were skilled at your jobs, and now I know they were not lying.” He spoke with a slight Central or Eastern European accent. “You do not need to know who I am, but I certainly know who you are. Your exploits are well known in my field.”

“And that would be?” Ian lifted an eyebrow.

“That is for me to know…” The corner of the man’s mouth turned up in a small smile.

“And us to find out.” Lila finished for him. “You have us at a disadvantage. Perhaps you could fill us in.” She pointedly looked at her watch. “After all, as you say, we are such well known and busy people.”

“All in good time,” the man replied.

Lila barely stopped herself from rolling her eyes. This whole evening was turning into a bad 1960’s spy flick.

“So what’s with the dosimeters,” she said crisply.

“What if I were to tell you that Fukushima is not the only radiation leak going on right now.”

Lila began to look interested. “I would say that I’m not surprised.”

“That is good because it is so.” Charlie paused, “I know Ian has worked with nuclear disarmament, and that you have a stellar record in the science world.” He addressed the last half of the sentence to Lila. She waited for the other shoe to drop.

“And?” She once again prompted him impatiently.

“As you know, the Los Angeles area has become quite a hub for the space industry. While this brings lucrative contracts, it also presents opportunities for those wishing to push the limits of science.”

Lila began to look interested. “Are you referring to El Segundo?”

“You are good,” Charlie praised. “Yes, there’s been quite a lot of research into the space time continuum.”

“You’re talking ‘Beam me up, Scotty’ stuff?” Ian asked mockingly.

Lila gave him a reproving look.

“What? We’ve already got the shirts.” Ian said innocently.

Charlie continued. “There’s been a mishap at one of the research facilities that has led to unintended consequences.”

“People died, you mean.” Ian said tightly.

‘Unfortunately, yes.” The man looked aggrieved. “Sergey and Anna were two of our best employees.”

“I’m really not interested in getting involved with Russian security services,” Ian stated flatly.

“This is a special case,” Charlie spread his hands beseechingly. “Your employers detailed you to us on special assignment.”

Ian looked skeptical. “And why wouldn’t they have communicated that to us directly? Why all the cloak and dagger stuff?”

“It’s a delicate situation, as I’m sure you understand.”

“Screw this.” Ian stood to leave.

The man pulled out a small 9 mm pistol. “Please, stay for dessert.”

“Perhaps we’ll stay a bit longer.” Lila tugged at Ian’s sleeve and pulled him down beside her on the couch. She slid her arm underneath his jacket around his waist and placed her hand over the holster strapped to his back.

Halloween Surprise, pt. 5/30

trianon1
The castle

“Crap.”  Lila said, astonished. She looked from one side of the restaurant to the other, gazing into the distance contemplatively. “Why would he stick a Slinky in a box?”

Ian reached into the box and gingerly took out the plastic spring-shaped object. “I haven’t seen one of these since I was a kid. They used to be made of metal.” He passed the small cardboard box to Lila and drew out the toy for inspection. Engraved into the plastic rings was a series of what appeared to be codes.

“Can I just say, WTF?” Ian pronounced succinctly. “Why would anyone spend all that time to carve a Slinky?”

“Whatever’s carved there will stick around a long time, I mean, what are you gonna do, burn it?” Lila looked thoughtful, as though she would whip out a lighter and torch the Slinky on the table.

Ian contemplated the plastic toy. “Maybe it’s not what’s on the Slinky, but what’s inside it.”

Lila grabbed the Slinky and banged it on the tabletop.

“Whoa,” Ian said. “Hold on. Let’s wait until we know what it’s made of.”

“Plain, ordinary plastic.” Lila said and tossed it toward him, causing it to stretch out in classic Slinky form.

Ian gestured toward the box. “Anything else in there?”

Lila scrabbled around the bottom, pulling out a couple of credit card sized badges labeled in Russian. “Sergey Ivanov and Anna Sokolova,” Lila read the names aloud. She examined the lettering and coding on the cards before suddenly tossing them to the ground in alarm.

Ian looked at her as though she was crazy. “That’s evidence.”

“That’s a dosimeter!” Lila said in an concerned tone. “And according to the markings, Sergey and Anna already absorbed over 100 rads of ionizing radiation. You know, life threatening levels,” she continued pedantically. “And if those cards were exposed to that much radiation, I really don’t want to hold them in my hands.” She grimaced as she took a wad of paper napkins and used it to pick up the dosimeters from the ground, placing them carefully back in the box before closing it.

While she was doing this, Ian had been examining the Slinky close up. “There’s a word here. Looks like ‘trianon.’”

Lila uselessly spritzed a glob of hand sanitizer onto her hands and wiped it off meticulously before indicating for Ian to pass the Slinky to her. “Here. Let me see that.”

She held the Slinky close to the light emitted from her cell phone and made out the word “trianon” enscribed on the second ring from the top. Baffled, she tilted her head to think. “Trianon. Where have I heard that?” Her breath quickened. “The Trianon is an apartment building near Hollywood and Western. The one shaped sort of like a castle.”

Ian nodded his head and stood up. “I know it. Let’s head over there.”

Lila handed Ian the box containing the dosimeters and took the Slinky in her hands. As they walked, she let it cascade from one hand to the other in a soothing back and forth motion.

As they reached the Trianon, the Slinky abruptly seemed to crack apart in the middle, leaving the upper half edge in a jagged pattern lined with an inset that appeared to be metal. Lila ran the blunt edge across her finger consideringly, and held it up for a closer investigation. Once again using her phone light to cast a shadow on the metal tip, she saw the numbers 432 inscribed across the rim.

Raising her eyes to the Trianon, Lila then turned to Ian. “Shall we go in?” She held the Slinky’s metal lined tip toward him and quirked her eyebrows, “I believe we have the keys to the castle.”

Halloween Surprise, pt. 4/30

meetup
Meet-up

Lila took Ian’s arm and began walking with him toward the taco joint. As they entered, she watched the reflection on the glass door as it swung outward. She saw the dark haired man whom she dubbed “Charlie” start walking toward them.

Tightening her lips, she walked to the counter and made her usual order. “One fish, one shrimp taco, and a jamaica to drink.”

“I’d like two fish, one shrimp taco, and a Mountain Dew.” Ian ordered his favorites, and after paying they walked to the corner barstools to wait for their order. Lila leaned into Ian’s shoulder and whispered in his ear, “Is our friend having tacos too?”

“Looks like it.” Ian commented and patted her on the shoulder. “Order up.” He gestured toward the cooking area where their tacos awaited them. They loaded up on Sessy’s Salsas, Lila’s favorite being the Radish Relish, bright red and yummy, while Ian coated his in mild salsa.

Taking their drinks and food outside to the seating area, they waited to see what their new friend would do. Lila positioned herself facing the entrance, and Ian took the seat beside her. They proceeded to consume their tacos, Ian inhaling his at his normal pace, while Lila picked at hers, eating slowly while keeping an eye on things.

“Charlie” exited the restaurant and came toward them, sitting at a nearby table. He looked over at them and commented, “Great tacos.”

Lila nearly swallowed her tongue. “Yes. Yes they are,” she said in a strangled tone of voice. She glanced at Ian and saw him nodding in agreement.

“You from here?” Ian asked nonchalantly.

“Yep. And you?” the man replied.

“Oh, we’re from here and there.” Lila laughed uncomfortably.

“You know there’s a cool ride I’ve heard about at Griffith Park,” the man paused, “It’s called the Haunted Hayride. Heard of it?”

Ian coughed. “Yeah. You interested in going?”

The man took a bite of his taco and made an appreciative noise. After chewing for a moment and swallowing, he replied. “I was thinking about next Saturday.”

Lila nearly blew a chunk of taco out her nose. Choking, she took a long drink of her hibiscus tea.

“You all okay?” The man asked concernedly. “Seem to be choking on that taco,” he pointed out. “Spicy?”

“No, just super hungry.” Lila managed to say between wheezes.

Charlie continued. “I’m really interested in seeing parts of Griffith Park. I’ve heard it’s haunted.”

Lila joked, “Are you a ghost hunter?”

The man looked over at her seriously. “Actually, that is an interest of mine. I’m a big fan of history, and there’s lots of it there. Death, mayhem, murder.” He finished his taco, and rose to throw away the paper dish. As he passed their table, he pointed underneath it. “Looks like you dropped something.” He strolled around the corner and disappeared from view.

Lila leaned down to check under the table and saw a small package. Her head jerked up in surprise, and she stared at Ian. “I didn’t hear anything. Did you?” she said in an amazed tone of voice. “That wasn’t here when we got sat down. I’m sure of it.”

Ian shrugged in an I-don’t-know manner, and leaned down to pick up the package. Written on the box top were their names in large, black letters. Their eyes met across the table. He slowly pulled the tape from the top and they looked inside.

“Holy…” Lila exclaimed.

Halloween Surprise, pt. 3/30

powerpoles
One thing leads to another

“That’s what I see all those billboards for, right?” Ian pointed outside to Sunset Boulevard.

“Yes,” Lila replied. “I wanted to go last year, but you were out of the country — again.”

Ian flashed her a smile. “Occupational hazard.”

“I know, that’s why I was hoping this year,” she gestured toward the piece of paper, “we would be able to go together.”

“We still don’t know who sent this note, or what they really want.” Ian’s voice trailed off as he took a closer look at one of the photos. “I know this guy.” He pointed to the photo of a red haired man with a big grin. “I’m not sure where, but…” Ian paused. “Wait.”

He stood up and walked over to a box in the corner and began rifling through a bunch of papers. Picking up a dented Altoids box and flipping it open, Ian pulled out a stack of business cards. “I knew it!” he said triumphantly. He showed Lila a card with the man’s photo and company name on it. “We met last year at a disarmament meeting.” Ian looked puzzled. “So what does he want with a hayride?”

“A hayride?” Lila ventured to guess sarcastically.

“Hardey-har.” Ian joked. ”I mean besides that.”

“A visit to purgatory obviously. Here, check out this website.” Lila pulled up the Haunted Hayride website and showed it to Ian.

“Wow, ‘one of the most paranormally active sites in all of California,’” Ian recited from the website. “Sounds like our kind of place.” He gave a quick grin.

“I’ve been wanting to go for ages, but just under different circumstances.” Lila’s mouth twisted.

Pearson jumped onto her lap and settled in for a nap as Lila began sorting the photos and info pages into piles. “Did you see this one?” She showed Ian a picture of blond girl who looked to be about twelve. “Why would they — whoever they are — have photos of kids?”

Ian’s eyebrows rose. “I don’t know, but maybe,” he paused to rearrange the photos, “these go in families.” He nodded. “Yep, check it out. One set of parents per two to three kids.” He looked over at Lila’s laptop and nudged her shoulder. “Let me take a look.”

She picked up Pearson and moved to the chair beside him so she could watch the screen after he seated himself and began typing. “Russian families spying?” Lila read aloud his search query. She looked puzzled and then her face cleared. “Like in that Magnum episode when he meets up with the woman who was a plant. Her family had been stationed undercover in the U.S.”

Ian pointed to the screen. “Or a few years ago, those ten spies that got sent back to Russia. Eight of them had kids. What better cover than being a nice family?” Ian sat back in his chair. “When I saw this guy,” Ian touched the red haired man’s photo, “he looked much older than in this photo.” He turned to Lila. “What’s his name?”

“Sergey Ivanov.” Lila read, and then quickly began sorting the photos by name. “Good idea,” she muttered, “each of these is tied together by last name.” After she finished, they had four families and one individual.

“I’m hungry,” she announced, “and I think better with food.”

“Tacos?” Ian inquired.

“I’ll get ready.” Lila pushed back her chair, set down Pearson, and went to change out of her work clothes into something more casual.

As they left the building and walked up the street toward their favorite taco place, Ian had the feeling that someone was watching him. He took a casual look around as they were crossing the street, and murmured to Lila, “Don’t look now, but we’ve made some new friends.”

Lila’s eyes widened subtly and her breathing sped up. She pulled Ian to a stop in front of several shop windows, using the reflections to spot whoever might be following them. She took a quick breath as she saw a dark haired man who appeared to be studying an apartment building across from them.

Halloween Surprise, pt. 2/30

catch2
“Catch me if you can.”

Lila shook the packet slightly. Whatever was inside barely moved in the packaging, which felt rough against her fingers. She searched for something sharp to slit open the envelope, and fumbled across a pair of scissors. Holding the blade just inside the corner, she cut open the envelope and peered inside where she saw a thick sheaf of papers.

Shaking out the materials, she saw a series of what appeared to be passport photos attached to information sheets giving height, weight and interests. “Very odd,” she mumbled. Her rudimentary Russian temporarily deserted her and she set aside the materials. “Maybe it’s a practical joke,” she told Pearson, who butted against her hand to be petted.

At that moment, the door opened and Ian pushed his way into the room, looking as tired as she felt. His eyes lit up as he saw the cardboard box on the floor. “Our uniforms!” he crowed gleefully and hurriedly shut the door behind him, just managing to avoid tripping over Pearson who had once again assumed his official greeter position.

Ian practically ran to pick up the box. He grabbed the pair of scissors sitting nearby and used it to tear off tape in long strips. Reverently he lifted a folded blue polyester stretch uniform from the box, holding it up to himself before turning to give Lila the Vulcan salute made famous by Leonard Nimoy in the original Star Trek. “Live long and prosper,” he intoned, before breaking into a boyish grin.

“Spock?” Lila lifted her eyebrows inquiringly.

Ian nodded enthusiastically and passed Lila a blue polyester mini-dress.

“What am I supposed to do with this?” she asked skeptically.

“Buy go-go boots and be ready for October 31st,” Ian replied. He glanced down at the papers she had spread across the table. “I’m no linguist, but that looks like Russian.”

“You’re right, but I can’t figure out why it was sent to us.” Lila turned over the envelope and showed him the words written on the outside. “This one means danger.”

“Are you sure?” Ian asked.

She gave him a knowing look. “Pretty sure. And this one means watch out.”

As Lila handed the papers to Ian, a square yellow sticky note with large black lettering detached from the pile and tumbled to the table.

purgatory
midnight hayride
10/12

Ian looked at Lila questioningly.

“The Haunted Hayride!” she said excitedly. “I’ve been meaning to go there for ages!”