Author: Douglas A. Taylor
Category: Suspense
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Chapter 8
"Trevor? Trevor, wake up!"
I struggled up out of sleep and glanced at my clock. Two in the morning? I had been asleep for only about four hours. "Wizzit?" I said muzzily, wondering why he would wake me up this early if the monster alarm weren't going off. "What is it? What's going on?"
"Trevor, I have your sister Angela on the phone. She seems most eager to talk to you."
"Angie? What is she . . . I mean, how did she . . .?"
Wizzit didn't seem to be in the mood to answer any questions. There was a series of clicks from the overhead speakers, and then I heard Angela's voice saying, "Hello? Trevor, is that you?"
"Yeah, Angie, it's me." I yawned hugely. "What's up, little sis?"
"I was just surfing the web and . . . wait, were you asleep? It's only nine o'clock at night."
"Wizzit keeps us on Greenwich Mean Time," I explained. I squinted as Wizzit began brightening the lights. "Five hours' difference from Ohio. It's the wee hours of the morning here. So, what did you want? And how did you manage to track me down, anyway? I didn't know we even had a phone here."
"Oh, I'm sorry! I didn't mean to wake you up. I tried calling you on your cell and --"
"My cellphone doesn't work when I'm at HQ."
"Oh. Well, I remembered that you had called me from a different number once -- it was that time you had me come out to help you guys fight that monster in . . . let's see, where was it . . .?"
"I think it was Frankfurt," I said. I sat up, feeling a little more awake now.
"That's right, it was. Anyway, when I couldn't get hold of you, I tried calling that number instead, and Wizzit answered. At least I think it was Wizzit. Trevor, he's awfully strange, isn't he? He was pretending to be an answering machine at first, but then he --"
"Angie, what did you want to talk to me about?"
"Hm? Oh, sorry. I was just surfing the web, and I decided to check out the Prime Channel to see if there's anything new and . . . is it true? Has Prime Red really been arrested?"
I closed my eyes and ran a hand over my face. "Yeah," I said. "She has. They had a SWAT team there and snipers and helicopters overhead -- the whole nine yards."
"And is she . . . I mean, she looked pretty beat up when she deactivated, and when I saw them smack her on the head with that rifle, I felt really bad for her, and . . ."
"She should be okay by now," I assured her. "You know we heal up fast. And we're keeping track of her; we'll know where she is no matter where they take her. Things aren't cool, but we're managing. This didn't catch us completely off-guard." Not all of us, anyway, I thought. "We've got a plan in place for dealing with the situation."
"Look, Trevor, I'm really worried. Are you all right? They aren't going to arrest you too, are they?"
"I doubt it. We're going to stay out of the US for a while, until things cool down," I told her. "We aren't taking any chances, okay?"
"Okay." She sounded doubtful. "Uh, Trev, you guys didn't do anything illegal, did you?"
"Nope, not a thing. We're solid, upstanding citizens, every one of us. As far as I know, the government is just trying to grab our tech for themselves."
"That's what I thought. Well, okay, I guess I'll let you get back to sleep now. I just wanted to check in. Let me know if there's anything I can do, all right?"
"Will do. Um, Wizzit says we may need Junior Prime Pink's help a little more often these days, until this whole thing is settled."
"That's fine with me. Tennis is over now, so I've got a little more free time. I'll keep those weapons you gave me close by, just in case. In my car, I guess, because the Escrima stick doesn't exactly fit into my purse."
Wizzit evidently decided to break into our conversation. "Angela," he said, "Wizzit here. I think that, given the present situation, it is not advisable to leave any of our weapons unsupervised within the borders of your country."
"Okay," she said cautiously. "Do you want me to give them back to you?"
"That would be best. Are you alone now?"
"Yeah, I'm in my room with the door closed."
"Good. Gather up your Escrima stick, your blaster, and your Junior Prime Pink badge."
"Hang on." There was a long pause. "Okay, I've got them. Now what? Wait, are you going to --"
"-- teleport me to HQ?" Angie suddenly appeared at the foot of my bed in a flash of pink light. She looked around in amazement. "Wow, this is so cool! I love teleportation!"
"Hey there, Angie," I said weakly, looking up at my sister, acutely aware that I was wearing the gym shorts I used as pajama bottoms and nothing else.
"Hey, big brother! So, is this your room? It's kind of small, isn't it?"
I shrugged. "It's about the size of a college dorm room."
"Really? I didn't realize . . ."
"Angela, please give Trevor your Escrima stick and your blaster. We will make arrangements to provide you with weapons should we need to call you up."
"Here you go." Angie handed me the stick and, reluctantly, the blaster. She really liked that blaster. "I should probably give him the badge too, huh?" she said, the very picture of disappointment.
"No, the badge is yours to keep --"
"Thank you, Wizzit!" she squealed.
"-- but you should make an effort to have it with you at all times," he went on. "If anyone asks, tell them that it was a present that Trevor picked up for you in . . ."
"Singapore," I interjected, saying the name of the first country that popped into my head.
"Fine, Singapore. A cheap little toy he got for you in Singapore."
Angela smirked. "That'll be easy enough to remember. Cheap is the only kind of present he ever gets me."
"Hey!" I protested. "Be nice!"
"Kidding!" she said. "So, I guess I'll wait for you guys to let me know if you need me. Is there anything else?"
Wizzit said, "Not unless you have any more questions." Huh! With us it was "unless you wish to badger me for more information." Yeah, I could tell that Wizzit really likes my sister.
"No, nothing," she replied, looking thoughtful. "Except that -- oh, Trevor, you have got to hear this! Grandmaster Park told me yesterday that I could take my belt test at the end of this month!"
"Your belt test? Wow, that means that you'll be a --"
"I know! A fourth Dan, just like you! Isn't that great?" She was practically bouncing up and down in excitement.
"Yeah, that's plenty cool!" I forced myself to sound cheerful. The last time I had talked with him, Grandmaster Park had told me he would never promote me to be a Fifth Dan, a Tae Kwon Do master, not until I settled down and started going to college. Can't blame him. He doesn't know I'm a Prime; he thinks I'm bumming around the world with a Tae Kwon Do demonstration team, just like my parents do. Still, that was my problem, not Angela's, and I was genuinely happy for her. "Let me know when it is; I'll see if I can pop in."
"You'd better!" She looked up at the ceiling. "All right, Wizzit, I'm ready to go home now. 'Bye, Trev!" She spun around in a pirouette, ending with a little flourish of her hands just as Wizzit made her vanish.
I chuckled and shook my head at her dramatic exit. What had I ever done to deserve a sister like Angie?