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Halloween Surprise (pt. 17/30)

boat
Everything is not as it seems

A blond woman approached them and smiled. “Ian and Lila? I am Yulia and will accompany you to your flight. Follow me, please.” She spoke to them in what sounded to Lila like a Slavic accent.

Ian’s eyes widened a bit and he leaned down to Lila’s ear. “This sure beats flying on the government’s dime.”

“I know. Private definitely seems to be the way to go.”

Yulia led them to the elevator at the top of the parking structure. Once they reached street level, a shuttle was waiting to take them over to the international terminal. The woman then walked with them to Aeroflot’s check in station where she spoke briefly to a red haired woman behind the counter whose nametag read Olga.

Olga picked up the phone and after a few words, one of which sounded to Lila like the name Ivanov, a blond man appeared through a door behind the desk. The red haired woman immediately walked out through the same door.

The blond man approached the counter and held out his hand imperiously. “Your passports, please.” Ian and Lila dug out their passports and handed them over to the man.

Ivanov quickly examined the documents before turning to an empty page in each passport and stamping a visa, which he then signed and annotated.

After passing back their passports, Ivanov quickly departed out the same door through which he had entered.

Lila peered at the visa stamp in her passport. “That was probably the fastest and cheapest visa I’ll ever get.”

Their guide quietly cleared her throat, reminding them that she was waiting. She gestured toward the door behind the counter. “This way.”

Lila felt alarmed at the thought of what they might find, but mustered her courage and followed Ian and Yulia through the door where she saw a cubicle space filled with people seated at desks. Their guide led them to a second door through which she motioned them to walk. A long hallway dimly lit by flickering lights stretched in front of them.

“You will follow the hallway to the end where you will find your gate. Please have a pleasant flight,” the blond woman said and closed the door with a sharp click.

Out of curiosity, Lila tried the doorknob, which refused to turn in her hand. It was locked.

Eyebrows lifted, she began walking down the hallway accompanied by Ian.

“No changing our minds now,” Lila said nervously.

“It will be fine,” Ian said in a reassuring voice.

Within a few moments they had reached a black door with a bar across it. Lila hesitantly lifted the bar and waited for an alarm to sound. Relieved when all was quiet, she peeked her head through the doorway and saw that it led down a walkway to a plane door.

“Hmm… Didn’t know they had these back entrances.”

“How do you think they get the president and other important people in and out?” Ian commented.

“Never really thought about it.” Lila shrugged.

They made their way to the plane door where were met by an attractive pair of flight attendants. “I am Markov,” said the tall, handsome man who reminded Lila of a famous blond model.

A dark haired woman stood farther back in the cabin. She smiled and gestured them toward a set of cushy looking chairs that sat on either side of a table that was bolted to the floor. “Would you like a drink? Maybe something to eat?”

“Sweet.” Lila murmured to Ian.

He smiled at the flight attendant. “I’ll have a screwdriver, orange juice and vodka. The orange juice makes it healthy,” he joked.

The woman smiled politely. “And for you?” she addressed Lila.

“Um, just water.”

“I will bring it to you. Please fasten your seat belts and prepare for takeoff.”

Lila seated herself in the chair facing the cabin door and Ian sat across from her. They connected their lap belts and leaned back in the comfortable seats. An array of magazines were neatly organized on the tabletop in front of them.

“I could easily get used to this,” Lila said with feeling.

“Yeah. It’s not bad,” Ian agreed.

The flight attendant brought them their drinks and Lila took a long sip. She picked up a magazine to flip through and then leaned her head back against the headrest. Everything went dark.

Halloween Surprise (pt. 16/30)

hollywoodAtSunset3
Leaving L.A./Hollywood sign at sunset

They left the park and drove back to their condo where they parked their car. Lila stuffed her favorite black non-wrinkling travel clothes into a carryon, and Ian threw into his backpack some sub zero cold weather parkas that folded down into small packets, along with warm socks and thermal underwear.

“You’re packing like we’re headed to the Arctic,” Lila commented.

“We are,” Ian pointed out, “we’ll be north of the Arctic Circle in Bilibino.” He checked a phone app to look up the local temperature. “Today the high temperature is, dum, dum, dum, five degrees, with a low of minus 4 degrees.”

“Holy…” Lila’s mouth dropped open. “We’re going to need a whole lot more winter gear than that!” She pointed at the backpacks.

“Well, this is all we have time for, and if they want us to be prepared, they’re gonna have to provide it or we’ll buy it once we get there. I’m sure they stock clothing suitable for the weather there in the area.”

“I am never moving from Los Angeles,” Lila said determinedly. She looked at her phone app and quoted the day’s temperatures. “84 degrees for the high, and a low of 58. I love this place,” she said with conviction.

“I know, I’ve heard you say that often enough,” Ian laughed. “Let’s go. We’re heading out now.”

As they were walking over to the Los Angeles Children’s Hospital, Ian received a text on his cell phone. “Top floor. Go now.”

They picked up their pace, quickly entering the hospital and taking the elevator to the top floor.

“I’m glad we’re flying out of here, instead of flying in,” Ian said grimly.

Lila nodded in agreement.

A man wearing a yellow vest met them at the top and addressed them in turn. “Ian? Lila?”

“That’s us,” Lila yelled over the pounding noise from the waiting helicopter.

“ID?” the vest wearing man continued.

Ian and Lila dug out their passports to show him.

He motioned for them to get on the helicopter.

As they ducked and raced to enter the passenger seats, Lila called out, “It’s really loud!”

“What?”

“I said it’s really loud!” Lila shouted again.

Ian shook his head. “Can’t hear you,” he mouthed.

They seated themselves and strapped in, gazing out in awe at the city lights beneath them.

Lila grinned. “This is so awesome. I love flying at night!”

Ian looked a bit grim. “Bad memories from my last night flight,” he mumbled.

Lila could barely hear him. “Baghdad?”

“Medevac over the Euphrates. Cool view of the river, but less than desirable circumstances.”

They traveled in silence to the airport where they flew high over the runways before making a pinnacle landing in a steep descent onto the LAX west helipad. Before they exited the helicopter, the pilot turned to give them a set of tickets. Lila clutched them in her hands as they raced underneath the whirling blades of the helicopter.

They slowed to a walk and Lila eagerly tore into the ticket envelopes.

Ian laughed. “You’re like the announcer on the Miss World contest opening the winning envelope.”

“Well, the winner is… nonstop to Moscow, flight to Magadan,” Lila’s eyes lit up. “Hey, that’s where Ewan McGregor and Charley Boorman went in Long Way Round.”

“And then?” Ian asked patiently.

“Then a flight to Keperveyem Airport.” Lila’s eyes sparkled.

Halloween Surprise (pt. 15/30)

confab
Confab

“You were talking with him. He is still able to converse in his current form.”

“But… he’s dead.” Lila said incredulously.

“Well, yes, but that doesn’t mean he isn’t able to converse with others. It is true he vibrates on a higher level than most – but not all – people. People such as yourselves will be able to see him, as you are more sensitive than others.”

The voice directed the following comment toward both Ian and Lila. “That was one of your tests, when you were able to interact with him at the Trianon. It shows that you are two of those people who have that ability.”

“Great,” Lila muttered, “just what I needed to have, the gift to see – what do you call him?”

“He is an entity, as are we. There is no reason that energy has to disappear, it simply changes form, as your Einstein so sagely wrote. Matter may convert to energy, but the energy is not lost, it has simply changed form. This is what has happened with Sergey.”

“And us, someday,” Lila mused. “In a way it’s nice to know that I may be spooking some people in the future.” She grinned unrepentantly. “I know a few people I’d like to haunt.”

“They will not be able to hear you, but perhaps will sense a tiny bit of disruption around them, unless they are as you are – sensitive to interaction with others.”

“I guess that’s a good thing,” Lila said hesitantly.

“It is most definitely for us. Now let us plan for how you will prevent this potential nuclear holocaust”

Ian interrupted the voice – was it one person or all of them speaking? – to ask cynically, “What is your stake in all of this? Why do you care?”

“We have a vested interest in what goes on here on this planet as we are currently home based here. The ecology is already dire in places like the ocean surrounding Japan, but the possible nuclear meltdown in this location in the Chuvan Mountains is very near our headquarters. There is almost no traffic or disturbances in this area as it is only accessible through an ice road in the winter. It is ideal for our,” the voice paused, “studies.”

“What kind of studies are you doing?” Lila asked suspiciously, thinking about how aliens used humans as a food supply on the 1980s TV show V.

“We gain energy through processing the output of human emotions. It is a simple and harmless technique we use.”

Lila snorted. “Like what, sucking their brain waves from their skulls?”

“Nothing so drastic. We are also conducting further research in the laboratory where you were at this evening. It was useful to see how you interacted so easily with the interface. You are truly gifted.”

“Okay, down to basics.” Ian interrupted.  “We need to figure out how, if a crisis is looming on the horizon, we are going to get from here to there.”

“There will be a helicopter waiting for you at the Los Angeles Children’s Hospital helipad.”

Lila nodded. “That’s near where we live.”

“Where to from there?” Ian asked skeptically. “It’s a long way from here to Vladivostok, or at least the nearest airport to Bilibino.”

“You are correct. There is a rough road leading from Keperveyem Airport to Bilibino. You will take it one leg of the journey at a time and we will provide tickets along the way.”

“What about food?” Lila demanded. “I’m not going hungry.”

“You will be supplied as needed. Return to the upper level now.” One of the entities waved its hand and Ian and Lila were drawn against their will back to the tree where they found themselves once again standing.

“Hell of a ride.” Ian beamed.

Lila nodded grimly. “But what will tomorrow bring? And what will we find in Bilibino?”

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. 6/30

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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

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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. 2/30

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“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!”

Sick

tshirts2
Lila says, “I would prefer not to be sick.”

Lila woke up not feeling well and has been working from home today. Luckily most of her work assignments are accessible online, which makes things easier. Instead of meeting regarding the spec deal, she will do background reading.

Ian faces another long week, and after the sudden loss of his cell phone, has to make do with minimal communication until he receives its replacement.