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 Eighteen

William put the cell phone down, and checked the time, two fifteen. His initial panic had subsided after talking to Sara. He hoped their situation wasn't linked to their own, but the co-incidence of them both finding trouble at the same time was unsettling.

After the rough and tumble from the other day, William had thought that the phone call from Julie's kidnappers, were from friends of those they'd beaten up, but now thinking about it, he wasn't so sure.

Julie had gone out after lunch, saying she wanted to go shopping. She'd refused his offer to come with her, saying it was just clothes, and she didn't want to be rushed, knowing he'd just be hanging around waiting for her. Julie said she would get something for tea, and not for to expect her till around four.

When the phone call came not long ago, he was shocked. The unidentified person had demanded that he and that other bitch meet at an address downtown, or the girl seen leaving his place that afternoon would suffer. William assumed that they didn't know that they were already holding the 'bitch.'

He'd cursed, realising that he should have known that they might know where he lived and had set up surveillance. He'd called the others, to let them what had happened. Knowing that they themselves were in trouble didn't help him feel calm. His lie that he had a plan was just to try and stop them worrying about him, so they could concentrate at getting away safe. Sara's plea that if anything was to happen to them, then he had to try and find Maggie and look after her, signified the seriousness of their situation.

Turning his thoughts to rescuing Julie, William paced the room, making and discarding various harebrained schemes. Finally, he decided to use the KISS principal, "Keep it simple, stupid, and play their game and just meet up with them seeing he couldn't be two people at once, he decided to go as the bitch. Not that he wanted too, but it seemed the safer option.

If he went as Huang, they might just kill him and be done with it. Going as Mi Ling however, might just do the trick. They could have no former grudge with her other than what happened outside the restaurant, and if they thought they would still get their hands on Huang, they wouldn't kill her outright. Being a woman, they might underestimate her abilities viewing her more as an object of desire than that of revenge. As Mi Ling, she'd even use sex as a way of keeping Julie alive. He used the bike in its corvette mode to become Mi Ling and then drove off to rescue his love.

It was 5.30 when Sara clambered back into the Volvo with the food she had bought. Time to find somewhere to sleep. Kevin was worried about being tracked down if they went to a hotel, so they cruised randomly until they found an out of the way motel. They used their Cosworth identities, hoping this would buy them time to regroup. Making dinner was the first priority, as hunger was making their stomachs growl.

Then it was discussion time. Trying to work out what went wrong and what to do next. Kevin was looking at the gun, checking the magazine.

"Did you see the mess this made of that engine? It must have cracked the engine block wide open. It's funny I don't have sore wrists from the kick," he enthused.

"Well remember, you have an alien produced body, I'm sure that they have stronger muscles and better healing powers than most humans. I just wish we didn't have to resort to using a gun, even if it was only to disable a car," Sara sighed.

"Do you think those MIB's were waiting for us? I mean we hadn't been there very long, and they certainly had enough of them there." Kevin asked, putting the gun away.

"There was something strange about that whole situation. Something tells me it's linked to Julie's capture. It feels I can't describe it, but I know it's not what it looks like. Something else is happening."

"I hope William is okay and Julie of course," Kevin said, reminding Sara of their friend's plight.

Sara tried to sense Julie and William, using her newly awakened talent. She could feel something, it wasn't exactly thoughts, but as she stretched out her mind, she felt that Julie was okay and that William something felt different. She felt certain that William had changed. Female? She wondered if she was just imagining it, or had William changed to a female form, allowing a closer bond between them. She thought to Kevin, and tried to link their minds, trying to see if two minds could increase the connection. Nothing, well, not nothing exactly, she could hear his thoughts, but it wasn't helping. What they needed was a Vulcan mind meld, like was popularised on Star Trek.

"Where's a handy Vulcan when you need one," Sara complained, breaking contact with Kevin's mind.

"Maybe if we got naked, and tried physical contact as well," Kevin proposed, waggling his eyebrows suggestively.

Sara was about to retort about how thinking of sex at a time like this was inappropriate, but then changed her mind. The idea had merit, although if Kevin thought he was going to get lucky, he'd be sadly disappointed. At least for the moment, she added silently to herself.

"Okay, let's try it."

They shed their clothes hurriedly and got together on the bed, lying facing each other. Warm skin on skin was nice, and as Sara felt Kevin grow, she almost changed her mind about not letting him get lucky. They wrapped their arms around each other, and looked at each other's face. Thoughts flashed between them as they felt into each other's eyes. Thoughts blurred, as they mixed and blended, fusing into one.

As their two minds fused into one entity, they spent a second... an eon in wonderment at the beauty and totality of the union of their thoughts. There were no 'her' thoughts or 'his' thoughts, an instants worry as how to separate back into individual minds was washed away as unimportant for the moment. They saw their entwined bodies from a single separate viewpoint, seemingly from a few feet above their actual bodies. All of this took barely a moment as they turned their mind to the task in hand. As one, they turned their attention towards the two minds they were seeking. With hardly any effort, they reached both William and Julie's mind.

William, or rather, Mi Lings mind was clear and bright, while Julie's seemed sluggish and hard to read. Settling into William's mind, it was as if they were there riding along with him/her. Knowing that William didn't need the distraction of finding out about having a passenger in his/her mind, they decided to remain silent, only if they thought he/she needed their help, would they let their presence be known.

William as Mi Ling had her hair tied in a chignon at the nape of her head. Two ornate wooden sticks held it in place, forming a cross. Her clothing consisted of a tight red chrysanthemum covered top

She wore a pair of loose white silk pants, which allowed free movement, in case she needed to move quickly. Traditional wooden soled sandals adorned her feet, and although her top was form fitting, she found that the top had three flat bladed throwing knives fitted just under the edge of the top that crossed her chest.

She pulled up at the address she had been given. The place had a foreboding look that didn't help her peace of mind. The warehouse was blacked out and there seemed to be no sign of life, as William/ Mi Ling got out of her car, and clicked her way to the only door showing.

She opened the door, finding it unlocked and stood in the doorway before stepping inside. She stepped sideways to stand and allow her eyes to adjust to the darker interior. Looking around, she saw a mostly empty interior in the middle was a stand alone office with a table sitting outside, one of the chairs around the table had Julie tied to it. She looked drugged, which would explain why she hadn't been able to free herself. Her hands were firmly tied to the arms of the chair.

It was purely Mi Ling that walked over to the table. William was put aside, so no slip of character would alert Julie's captors. Just as Mi Ling reached Julie, a man stepped out of the office. Although he didn't have a gun in his hand, Mi Ling knew he was armed. Mi Ling went to Julie and crouched down to check her as the man spoke.

"Where's Huang?" He asked curtly."

"He said he would come in once his friend was released unharmed. I'm here to be your hostage instead." Mi Ling answered, looking into Julie's eyes.

"He doesn't get to set terms," the man shouted angrily.

Mi Ling just shrugged, as if it made no never mind to her.

"You should know how difficult he is, he doesn't like following instructions." Mi Ling offered, while checking for Julie's bracelet surreptitiously. It was there, but the man was watching her like a hawk and she dare do nothing, to help.

"And just who are you? We had a report that you interfered in our business, causing one of our members to have extensive surgery on his face." The man said menacingly, taking her arm and pulling her away from Julie.

"I'm Mi Ling, Huang's wife. I just came here from my home in the orient. We were attacked outside the restaurant, so I defended myself. I had no idea what was going on, but I dislike being man handled," she said with spirit, looking at his hand on her arm, warningly.

The man laughed, but she noticed he let go her arm, as he directed her inside the office. So far, he hadn't bothered searching her, seeming to view her more as a nice piece of ass than as a serious threat. To the combined mind of Sara and Kevin, something seemed out of kilter with the situation, but not knowing what, decided to remain as observers only.

Mi Ling saw another man in the office, talking on a phone. She waited while the second man concluded his conversation. Hanging up the phone, he turned and leered at her voluptuous form, before he spoke.

"Looks like we can have a little fun with you, before the rest of our men arrive. Seems they are delayed, which will give us time to sample a little oriental pleasure," he cackled, rubbing his hands together.

Mi Ling saw that neither of these men had been present at her earlier fight, and either didn't consider her a threat, given her slight build, or were too confident in their own macho strength. Mi Ling decided now was a good time to act, before reinforcements arrived. She backed away from the advancing man, forcing him to advance. Mi Ling felt the first man grab her, stopping her retreat. Quick as a flash, she reached up to her hair, freeing the two hair sticks. Pulling them out, she stabbed the points, into the side of the man's head, spearing though his earlobes. The man bellowed in pain and released her, immediately she spun and used the wooden soled sandals to good use, kicking him in his most treasured organs. The man dropped to his knees like a stone, seemingly frozen with his eyes bulging and his mouth open in a rictus of pain.

Spinning away from him, Mi Ling whipped out two of her throwing daggers and looked at the second man who was backing away from her in fear. He was trying to reach a gun as he stood back against the wall of the office. Mi Ling held her aim, turning it slightly as she let fly. Instead of killing him with shots to the heart, something indefinable changed her target. One knife caught at his wrist pinning his arm to the wall by the sleeve of his jacket the force driving it deep into the wall. The second knife pinned his other wrist to the table where he was trying to reach a gun. Mi Ling ran outside to Julie and used the third knife to slash at her bindings.

Mi Ling used the bracelet on Julie's wrist to switch her into her another Mi Ling. The transformation took care of the drugs in her system and her mind became clear. She looked at her twin and the force of her gaze was palpable. The hovering mind in William's head rejoiced, as they felt the same union of thoughts begin between William and Julie. The meld of mind that was Sara and Kevin withdrew, not wanting to intrude on what was the most intimate moment of their friend's lives.

The gestalt that was both Kevin and Sara, watched as William/Mi Ling updated Julie/Mi Ling in a flurry of thoughts, as he apprised her of the current situation. So urgent was to need to convey the danger they were in, that they didn't take time to question their newfound ability. William wanted to get out of there, communicating his distrust of the situation and the odd feeling, he had, but Julie stayed his hand.

She felt the same odd feeling that William had described in his mental conversation. Sensing that there was more to this than met the eye, she outlined her plan to him in an instance, making the face of mi ling smile as he approved of Julie's idea.

Some time later, two men strode from the warehouse and got into the car mi ling had been driving. With a quiet squeal of tires, it sped along the streets in the late afternoon sun, heading for Huang's home. Once clear of the area the two men disappeared as they shimmered and changed back in mi ling twins.

"That was a great idea, honey," the driver said, looking over to Julie/Mi Ling.

"I thought changing places with them would buy us more time, especially having tied them up and taping their mouths." Julie replied with a grin.

I think that the one I kicked was even grateful for changing him into your body, at least the pain had stopped for him," chortled William/Mi Ling. "I wonder what will happen to them, I can't see them heading for the cops, that is, if they do convince the rest of their friends of what happened to them."

"I get the feeling, we won't hear or see from them again," Julie stated positively. The gestalt silently agreed with Julie's conclusions.

"You don't think they'll kill them," gasped William in her Mi Ling's worried tone.

"No I don't, something stinks, it felt almost like a test...as if..." Julie trailed off, her mind trying to track down the reasons she felt that way. The gestalt was about to reveal themselves to the others, when the sound of a cell phone began to jar their union of minds apart.

William felt something lift away from her mind- it had a familiar feel about it. Julie reading Williams thoughts, also recognised it as familiar, she almost swore that if felt like Sara and Kevin. Now they were out of the immediate danger from their kidnappers, they turned their thoughts to the miracle of the telepathy they had acquired. They came to the same conclusions as the others had for it happening. Seeing William in Mi Ling's body, made Julie moist, and she was glad he'd retained stayed in that body for the moment. Once back at Huang's home, Sara pulled her twin to the bedroom, after making sure the place was secure, to indulge in a mutual sexual engagement. During their need to express sexual release, that found that point where they lost themselves in the other, both in body and mind, forming their own unique gestalt.

Using their combined powers, they went over the previous hours experience with the kidnappers.

*It was a test- and the others were here with us, looking on. See the traces they left,* the gestalt thought. *I think we passed the test, at least that's the impression I'm getting.* The more intuitive part of the gestalt's thought formed. *This feels like the Shelke are involved, maybe Sara and Kevin are having their own test, let's hope they pass as well.*

Sara came to herself, hearing the strident chirp of the cell phone, making its insistent call. Rolling away from Kevin, she grasped the annoying object and pressed the receive button.

"Hello,"

"Your worse nightmare is calling, no don't hang up." The voice said, anticipating Sara's instinct to end the call. "We have a friend of yours, she wants to say hello."

Sara's heart froze, turning to a lead block that threatened to drop out of her body. She heard the phone being handed to someone and a small worried voice spoke, chilling Sara to the bone.

"Hello Sara, this is Maggie, I'm sorry, but these men came and…"

"Heard enough?" interrupted a man's voice, having taken the phone off Maggie.

"What do you want?" demanded Sara, anger starting to replace the fear for Maggie's life.

"Meet us at the park nearest you, we'll discuss terms there," the voice said, before the line went dead.

"They've got Maggie," cried Sara, as she turned to Kevin.

"Who?" asked Kevin uselessly, suddenly realizing he already knew. "DAMN!" His expletive saying it all.

"We have to meet them at the nearest park. We'd better get changed, before they decide to hurt Maggie."

"Are you going as yourself, or maybe Mi Ling? She does have the advantage of knowing martial arts." Kevin suggested, having used the bracelet to become Huang again.

"No, I'll stay as I am," Sara replied, further showing her adaptation to her current form, as at one time, Scott would have been 'yourself.'

"They saw us like this, we don't want to give away any advantage, in case I might need to become her later, besides, I will have the cannon." She grinned, lifting the proven killer of cars in her dainty hands.

"Just don't point that thing at me, I'm not that fast that I want to test whether I can dodge bullets."

"Can't you leap over tall buildings in a single bound," teased Sara with a disappointed look.

"No, but I can leap on a single naked Sara's with one," he mock threatened, trying to lighten the seriousness of the situation.

"One what?" Sara asked, seizing the irresistible opening.

"I'll show you later honey," he quipped, waggling his eyebrows up and down and mimicked flicking his imaginary cigar.

Sara laughed at his bad Groucho Marx imitation. One thing, she felt better now about handling the situation than a few minutes ago. They had to succeed in getting Maggie back unharmed; to fail was unimaginable, even if it cost them their lives. Maggie was an innocent, a chance encounter. It would be their fault for involving her, something she couldn't live with if anything happened.

Kevin didn't need to use telepathy to know what Sara was thinking at that moment. He put his arms around her and pulled her close for a kiss.

"We'll get her back, or die trying." He said breaking off the kiss to whisper in her ear

Sara smiled weakly, knowing he meant it. She wished she felt as confident. Straightening up she forced the doubts away, and got dressed. Kevin was already dressed, having used the bracelets power in becoming Huang. He was dressed in a black Gi, which seemed a rather appropriate choice. Sara wondered if the bracelet had sensed the need for the traditional fighters wear. She hoped so and that it wasn't a portent of the future that there would in fact, be a fight. For herself, she selected some jeans that fit comfortably and a pullover top in gray.

They used the Volvo form to locate the nearest park, the laptop proved essential as well.

The night was lit only with a few lights at the children's park. Sara and Kevin got out of the car and waited. Kevin was at her back giving her some warmth and a sense of security, as she searched for sight of Maggie and the others in the ill lit park. Three shadows moved amongst the trees that dotted the area. The shorter one in the middle proved to be Maggie, as the light caught her face, as they advanced. One of the men was holding her by the throat, his black gloved hand opening, and closing involuntary.

Maggie looked drawn, but her eyes lit up, on seeing Sara. She didn't say anything seemingly cowed by the men looming at her side. When the group came within ten feet, they stopped.

Sara raised the cannon with both hands, and pointed it the man holding Maggie's throat.

"Release her, now," she threatened, her voice filled with menace. The man just grinned and then his face changed to one of concentration. The gun in Sara's hands seemed to morph, becoming a banana. To say Sara was shocked was an understatement. It looked and felt like a banana. How? Obviously, the man had done something. Something within her kept the 'banana,' aimed at the man. She was trying to nail down something that seemed to be trying to tell her something. But her mind seemed to be full of pillows, and she couldn't concentrate enough to pull up the thought.

Kevin had seen the gun morph as well, and saw the conflict struggling in her mind as he tried to come to terms with it all. He touched her, top show her he was right there for her.

As Sara felt Kevin's touch, her mind cleared a little, and the answer came. The banana still had weight, it might look like a banana, but it weighed like the cannon. She gestured with her fruit, treating it as a weapon and not a banana. As dearly she would have liked to shoot him, instead she pointed it between his legs; she squeezed it, hoping for the right result. The banana erupted with a roar, sending a three foot discharge of flame from its end and kicking viciously back in her hands. Dirt spewed out of the hole the bullet cut into the ground between the man's legs. The bullet having struck a rock, then ricocheted, making an eerie keening sound into the shattered silence. The man flinched as dirt stung his legs and his face paled as Sara concentrated on making the banana look like a gun again, because she knew that the man had somehow controlled her mind, making the gun look like a harmless fruit.

The man wasn't about to release Maggie; in fact, a knife appeared in his hands, but whether it was real or not, Sara couldn't tell. It was a Mexican standoff. Kevin took up a fighting stance looking every inch the warrior; still, he held his position and waited.

Each side looked at each other, as if daring someone to make the first move. Kevin and Sara joined into their special gestalt, not needing the trigger of physical contact, now they knew how to initiate it.

The two men facing them, must have sensed their mental union, because they tensed suddenly and the one not holding Maggie, brought out a sinister looking weapon.

Every inch of their bodies screamed to take action at this new threat, but the gestalt held off, seeking some other solution. On a level, not really understood, the part which was the ying, of the gestalt, allowed the cannon to drop, despite seeing the other man's weapon being raised towards them.

"STOP! THAT'S ENOUGH!" A voice familiar to the gestalt demanded. Breaking the union, the two minds returned to their bodies, and spun to see a familiar person standing behind them.

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.