Synopsis:

Scott was on his way west to meet up with his friends to start a new life in L A. What he came across in the desert after his car broke down would change him forever. He wondered if his friends would recognise him once they finally met again. He didn’t think this was what his friend’s intended when they said, "start a new life."

Chapter Fifty-Five

Sara sensed a difference in the room. She felt the beginnings of panic coming from Jenna. It was very clear and seemed to centred on the couch, unlike before when it seemed to pervade the room with no definite location.

Sara noticed her watch on the table, and was curious as to how it had got there, seeing she had left it in the bedroom. Picking up the pad, she wrote for Jenna to explain everything in detail, and asked why she seemed to be sitting on the couch at this moment.

The answers came slower this time, as Jenna replied in same. Cathleen was staring at the couch with an intent stare as if somehow sensing where her new mommy was. Although Cathleen had only met Jenna once or twice in real life, the bond forged from the many hours spent in chartrooms was as strong as if Jenna had been her real mom.

"I can hear mommy," stated Cathleen suddenly, startling the others with this surprise revelation. Tears of joy flooded Cathleen's eyes as she re-established communications with Jenna. "I talk with her in my head," she added after a moment.

"What does she mean?" asked Richard, getting rather worried.

"It looks like the situation has triggered Cathleen's gift of telepathy," Julie replied, going on to explain about the side effects of wearing the Krin.

"I think we need to ring Kim," Sara interrupted, having read Jenna's reply. "I think we are dealing with more than Jenna just stopping time. She seems to be in a separate dimension or something."

"I think Jenna has created a pocket universe, similar to our non space one." Kim suggested, once Sara had managed to contact her on the phone. "The changing time dilation effect is an interesting twist. I think her observations of everything stopping, is just an effect from within the bubble. If it really were occurring, then there would be catastrophic effects in the real world," Kim warned.

"I can only suggest two things for her to do. One, if the bubble has a radius of two miles or so, and it's a static form, she could try walking out past its boundary. Of course, if it's centred on herself, then that won't work. Or two, she could try to continue the mental effort she used to speed up the time dilation effect outside her bubble."

This information was relayed to Jenna via Cathleen. The rest waited, wondering how long it would take. Fifteen minutes passed, it seemed Jenna was trying the mental effort, as Sara could still sense her inside the lounge.

"CRAAAACK!"

Jenna popped back into existence with a sound like snapping timber. Her face was strained with the effort of concentrating on her task, seeing she had made it, she collapsed into the back of the couch, followed by Cathleen, who pounced on her lap to hug her. Richard was narrowly second, to welcome his wife back into the land of the living. Relief was evident all round as one by one, she was given hugs.

The next hour was spent talking about what happened. Luckily, Amelia, who decided that most of the discussion was over her head, left just in time to prevent dinner being spoiled. Amelia dragged Leanne aside long enough to help set the table, before Amelia announced that dinner was served. Jenna was glad of the meal, and mentioned the improvement in the taste from her first sample. Discussion slowed over dinner, as mouths were put to uses other than talking. Jenna thanked the cooks for the meal; saying it was the best meal she'd had in- here, she paused, looking at her watch, calculating the time spent trapped in that bubble universe. Her eventual answer got a few chuckles, as they figured out what she meant.

That night, Jenna was doubly thankful of sleeping beside her husband. Not only was she with the one she loved, she was in her own bed in her new home, something she had nearly been denied, had she not freed herself from that isolated universe. She kept hold of the arm; Richard had draped over her body, reassuring herself as she drifted off, that Richard was still spooned in behind her.

Elsewhere, Cathy was getting worried. She hadn't meant to drive over the rear wheels of the motorcycle gang, as she pulled out of the lone rest stop on her journey south. The huge 4x4 she had bought was almost too much for her to handle, now she wore a petite female body. Tyrissa, had wanted her to wait for a Shelke built vehicle, but Cathy was adamant that she had to be off. Money transferred to Tyrissa's salon on wheels by Kim, had been enough for Cathy to buy herself a huge truck nearly twice her height. She still had enough money to make her journey enjoyable and spaced with frequent shopping sprees.

Tyrissa had given her five bracelets for her friends she wanted to see, not counting the one she was already wearing. Not having a secure place to keep them other than in the glove box, Cathy put them on her wrists, three on each hand. They were all in invisible mode so they wouldn't attract attention, and the laptop to program them with was secured under her seat, in some bubble wrap.

Things had gone well at first, although she got tired of the comments about her needing help to drive her 4x4 when she stopped for gas or food. Some red necks got downright hostile at seeing her perched on her seat driving along. They seemed to think she was invading their territory, and she should be driving a Miata, or a VW. Some would even drive along side of her on the opposing lane, throwing taunts or egging her on to race. Having a 16-pound cat looking out of the window didn't help matters either. Having comments like, "nice pussy," and other derogatory comments, yelled at her, put Cathy on a not so slow boil.

Once, an oncoming car had to pull over onto the dirt at the side of the road, nearly losing control, as one hooligan ignored the blasting horn, as he refused to pull back into single file. Cathy was reminded of a joke, where one rednecks last words were. "Hey! Watch this."

Getting worried the innocent drivers might get hurt; Cathy needed a way to stop them. Stopping was out of the question, they might decide to stop as well, and do something worse. Cathy found that by slowing down to 20 mph her tormentors couldn't get to her on foot and they soon got bored, and eventually roared on with a blast of horns.

Although not wanting to waste time, Cathy didn't want to make the trip by driving day and night. She was determined to see as much of the country as she could, stopping at each town and lingering a while to look at shops.

Cathy had never been tall as a guy, but now that she was almost a third of her previous weight, she felt like she had springs in her shoes, as she bounced from one shop to the next. Being able to shop for clothes for was wonderful. Before, she had been limited to second hand shops and yard sales, and even then, she never felt like sizing clothes against her body. Anything she had bought was just her best guess to sizes that would fit.

Tyrissa had given Cathy her phone number just in case she found herself in trouble, along with Kim's as a backup. Cathy had purchased a new cell phone and now carried it everywhere.

Her last stop had been at a small eatery off the main highway. When she had stopped, the place was quiet, which seemed odd, given that the food she ordered was very tasty. She had given Roadblock some food and water, before leaving her in the cab of her 4x4. When she had first entered the place, she got some odd nervous looks from the staff, which all seemed to be male. She was finishing her coffee, when she heard a roaring sound outside. Bikes, and lots of them, spluttered to a stop outside the eatery. Cathy had a sinking feeling in her stomach as she saw the looks of the staff, as they scurried frantically out of sight.

The door opened, and in walked about twenty Hells Angels, all clad in black leather. They were surprised at seeing Cathy in the place, and the biker's girlfriends, who had followed their men, gave her disdainful looks, before grabbing the arm of their partner possessively.

"Well lookie here, looks like crumpet is on the menu," jeered one of the bikers, as he strode towards her.

Cathy remained seated, trying not to let his words rile her temper. She opened her purse and took out money to pay her bill, placing it on the table as she stood up.

"Hey babe, you don't have to pay me, I'll do you for nothing," laughed the leader, ignoring the resentful tugging on his arm as his girl tried to distract him.

"Pay you? You got to be joking," Cathy fired back, refusing to be cowed by this lout in leather.

Cathy saw that she wasn't likely to get any help from the owners of the place, not a great surprise, given the situation. Her anger grew, as this seemed the last straw in a string of grievances against bullying testosterone poisoned jerk offs. Suddenly, a strange feeling of euphoria flooded Cathy's body, making her feel powerful. Whether it was adrenalin, or something else, she made good use of it in the next few seconds.

The leader of the gang went to grab Cathy, but she snatched his hand in a seemingly unbreakable grip and twisted the guy's wrist. At first, surprise, then pain crossed his face at her brazen move, as he found he couldn't break this slip of a girl's grip. As Cathy continued to twist the leader's wrist, he was forced to one knee to try and relieve the stress on his arm, fearing that it was going to be broken. His followers gasped at the sight of their leader submitting to the girl, even more so when they heard an involuntary groan coming from him.

Cathy marvelled at the way she had bested the brute. She didn't seem to have to use much effort to force the man to the ground. Having proved her point, (at least to the leader), she let go his hand, and turned to leave. The man made as to get up from off his knees, but Cathy pointed her finger at him and said, "FREEZE BUSTER," putting as much force behind her words, as she could muster.

The man froze, almost literally, becoming like a statue. Only his shallow breathing showed he was still alive.

Cathy realised this was something she had done to the man and she wondered if this was one of those strange powers, that Tyrissa had mentioned to her. If so, she needed out of here before the others retaliated. She strode forward parting the gang in a bold move, holding her hand up threateningly. The leader's moll had fallen to her knees before her man, calling to him to wake up.

Cathy ran to her truck, as the rest of the gang crowded around their leader to check his frozen stance. Cathy gunned her engine and tried to get past the row of motorbikes lined up in front of her. The 4x4 bounced jarringly, as it knocked the line of bikes over, like a set of dominos, its massive tyres crunching over the rear wheels and making some of them unusable. A few missed being crushed, although they were still tangled in the carnage she had left behind. Roadblock didn't appreciate being woken from her catnap, by being bounced off the seat and mewed her discontent.

"Sorry pal, I didn't have time to pussy foot around," apologised Cathy, before giggling nervously at her unintended pun.

Bikers poured noisily out of the eatery, like a swarm of angry wasps, as they heard their beloved machines succumbing to the roar of the 4x4. By the time the usable machines were cleared from the mess, Cathy was long gone. Six incensed bikers roared off after her, determined to seek revenge for the damage to their friend's bikes.

Cathy called Kim on her cell phone, knowing if she had suddenly developed powers, then she was the best one to call. The 4x4 seemed to be okay, as it thrummed along the highway, luckily not having punctured a tire from the broken motorbike spokes.

Kim told Cathy to keep heading south, and that she would meet her at the next major town. She would send someone to deal with the man she had frozen and anyone who was involved in the incident. At Cathy's, "you're not going to eliminate them, are you?" Kim just laughed.

"No we will use the glasses to make people forget it happened, and check into the condition of the gang leader." Kim reassured her.

Cathy had to break off her conversation with Kim, as the roar of pursuing motorbikes became louder. One foolishly drew along side her, the rider shouting obscenities, as he brandished a pistol in her general direction. Cathy moved over towards the biker, her powerful truck moving over into the other lane, forcing the biker to pull further away.

Unfortunately, instead of dropping behind, he just moved into the dirt lining the road. His bike slewed in the gravel, fighting for adhesion until the inevitable happened. He lost control, flipping the bike and sending the rider hurtling through the air. The bike exploded in a nice satisfying (to Cathy) fireball as it hit some boulders. The rider, who didn't explode in a fireball, cartwheeled a few times before getting a nice gravel rash facial.

Looking in the rear mirrors, Cathy saw one of the bikers stop to check the fallen man. 'Two down, four to go,' thought Cathy, as she continued on as fast as she could. Picking up the dropped cell phone, she relayed to Kim what had just happened. Kim had her drag the laptop out and place it on the seat next to her. Roadblock had decided that discretion was the better part of valour and hid under the passengers seat, or at least attempted to, after all, she wasn't named Roadblock for nothing. After Cathy fumbled around to turn it on one handed, she was instructed to type a command.

"Okay, we have you triangulated now, help is on its way," Kim told her.

"They'd better hurry," urged Cathy as she saw the bikes closing again.

"Two minutes," Kim answered.

The four bikes were lined up two abreast behind the speeding truck; with the second set 20 yards behind the first two. A huge dark shape dropped in between the two sets of bikes, hovering just a few feet in front of the rear pair. The runner of the black helicopter swept towards the handlebars of the bikes, causing the two riders to lose control, before they realised what was up. Both were pulled into the open sided chopper, before they had a chance to fall off their bikes, a fact, had they been able to remember it later, they would have been grateful for.

Neither Cathy nor the two remaining bikers had yet realised what had happened behind them, as both the noise from the trucks engine and the roar of the motorbikes had drowned out the chuff chuff of the helicopter that had since joined them.

The two bikers rode up on both sides of the truck, showing more skill as they avoided colliding with it as Cathy weaved side to side. The one on the driver's side, managed to grasp the door handle and started to pull it open a bit, while his partner did the same to the passenger's door.

Cathy in a fit of desperation, screamed, "FREEZE," hoping that whatever she had do to their leader would work again.

It worked. The two men just had time to show fear on their faces before her command took effect, freezing them in position. Cathy slammed on the brakes, breaking their grip, as they sailed forward on their bikes, unable to brake or steer.

Cathy suddenly realised what she'd done. She didn't mean to kill them, which was likely if they crashed at that speed. Luckily the road was straight and clear of traffic, as their bikes continued on regardless. As the gap widened between them, Cathy nearly had a heart attack, as a black helicopter with no markings on it, swooped down in front of her. She watched gasping, as the pilot brought his machine within inches of the road, as he flew between the two bikes.

She breathed a sigh of relief as hands reached out from the rear doors on both sides of the helicopter and plucked the two unresponsive men from their bikes, bringing them inside, before closing the doors and lifting higher.

The bikes wobbled and slowed as the throttles closed. They eventually veered off the road, crashing noisily into the bush. Sara watched the helo, as she slowed the truck down. The helicopter veered sideways giving her a view of the blacked out pilots window, as it kept pace with her truck.

A gloved hand reached out of the partially opened window and made a fist with the thumb extended upwards for a few seconds, before both hand and helo rose up and away. It reminded her of the movie 'The Terminator II,' where Arnold did the same, as he was finally lowered into the molten steel.

Feeling like she was in a movie herself, Cathy stopped the truck, having first checked that no more bikers were around. She rang Kim again, to check that the helo was her people and to give her a piece of her mind, for scaring the crap out of her like that.

Kim confirmed that the bikers were in safe hands, and she just laughed when Cathy told her that she owed her a new pair of panties, and some catmint.

"I'll do better than that, I'll get you a new truck as well," Kim chuckled. "Mind you, you didn't leave us much choice when you froze those guys on their bikes. I take it that you didn't intend for them to become road kill?" Asked Kim with Cathy hearing a smile in her tone of voice.

"No, I guess I didn't think it through," admitted Cathy with a sigh.

"Hey don't fret honey; I think you did exceedingly well, considering you only just acquired your gifts less than half an hour ago."

"Seems like hours, already," Cathy blew out a big breath, as the tension eased.

"Talk to you later, Cathy, I have a special delivery to handle," Kim told her.

"Bye-"

Cathy resumed her journey, wondering if Kim was serious about the offer of a new truck. According to what Tyrissa had told her, nothing was impossible where Kim was involved.

To be continued.

  

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 © 2005 by Prudence Walker. All Rights Reserved. These documents (including, without limitation, all articles, text, images, logos, and compilation design) may be printed for personal use only. No portion of these documents may be stored electronically, distributed electronically, or otherwise made available without the express written consent of the copyright holder.