Chapter 4 – Lonely, Not Alone
Ashley trudged homeward from the bus stop. Angel City hovered out to the east, a mile above old Los Angeles. When most people lived in the glittering metropolistrosity, Ashley's family lived out on a dead-end canyon street at the base of the Santa Monica Mountains, Calistan Way.
The floating city appeared alien and captivating. Composed of metal and glass, the knot of anti-gravity city-space was crowded with residential, commercial and industrial structures, netted into place with freeway cables suspended through the sky.
Vehicles whizzed about, navigating the magnetic currents as their ancestors once sailed oceans and rivers. Ashley wished she could escape into the city. The sunlight glittered from thousands of windows, taunting her.
Today, walking along the hillside blacktop, there was no breeze; just the oppressive and smothering heat. Ash stomped the weed-stitched asphalt, her brows tense above irises of icy blue. Sharp black forelocks escaped the ponytail and danced in step.
Ash moved uphill, making her way home, regretting her class, one pain filled step after another. Her anger had nothing to do with the ultra-competitive hostility of Becca and the other girls.
Ashley's father was pulling her from ballet to attend a self-defense camp. As much as she disliked the social environment at Rivendell, Ashley did not want to spend a month fighting half-crazed ninja-boys.
The homes of friends lined the hillside to her right, while over the guardrail, the lush Californian forest called to her. Ash didn't mind being a ground-pounder, she loved the forest.
Her happiest moments, outside a dance studio, were running the well-worn paths with her younger brother and neighborhood kids. They could wander the trails for hours, cooled by the green boughs overhead, their thirst quenched by the mountain breeze.
They owned that forest.
One monitor was dedicated to the visual data broadcast from Ashley's eyes. Beside it, another displayed the various measured neural and biological functions of the girl.
"What's her location?" Dr. Fox asked.
"She just got off the activities bus, sir. Making her way toward the residence now." The monitors before Mr. Reid displayed the data from all of Ashley's senses. Her visual inputs, her aural reception as well as digital interpretations of her tactile, olfactory and sense of taste, all converted to numbers, graphs and recorded.
Six agents occupied the observation lab. Reid and his personal supervisor were assigned to Ashley; the other two teams included an operator and supervisor for Geoffrey, and the same for the children’s mother, Mrs. Anastasia Fox. The agents didn't talk much, they simply monitored the children and remained prepared to take action, should any unforeseen circumstance occur.
"Everything level?" Dr. Fox asked.
"Yes sir. Heart rate, blood pressure, and focal index: all within nominal ranges. Feeds are all in sync with minimal interference and zero delay, neural kinetics all top shelf. Her electrolytes are low, she's tired from her class." Reid's fingers danced across the keyboard, retrieving details for his eyes. His eyes never left the monitors during his shift. Reid's ability to stay focused was legendary.
"Nothing to report?" Fox asked.
"She did get into a confrontation this morning, sir."
"A confrontation? You don't say?" Fox smiled.
"Sending the stream now. One of Geoff's friends, was being hassled and she stepped in."
"Violently?" Fox asked.
"Yes, but she wasn’t obvious about it. No arguing or anything. Made a broken nose look like an accident."
"That's my girl.”
"I should let you know, she's deep into some argumentative sub-rhythms, storing potentialities. Non-vocal transcript says she's pissed about camp."
"In other words, totally normal for my daughter," Fox replied. "Gentlemen, we're entering a significant threat period here. For the next twenty-four hours, I need everyone to stay alert. I believe our enemies will make their move tonight."
Reid watched as Ashley kicked a rock. It jumped toward a parked car. The car's electro-magnetic countermeasures weren't fast enough and the rock hit the door with a thud, leaving a wicked nick in the poorly waxed paint. Ash watched as the terillium-alloy healed the scratch in less than a second.
She killed the ground with each step.
"Sir, she'd give her life to protect you or Mrs. Fox."
"That's what I'm afraid of, Mr. Reid. Her job is to protect the boy."
Ahead of her, the street ended, beyond the guardrail, nature began again. Choked with greenery, several paths ran into the Santa Monica Mountains' Forest Preserve. Coyotes lived out there, somewhere. Ash had never seen one, but she'd heard the stories.
"Understood, Sir."
"Keep her adrenaline low. I want her capable of operating at full capacity in an instant. Don't let her get riled up over this camp thing. I don't want her sleeping through an attack."
"If anything happens, she'll be ready."
"I'm counting on you. Please give my regards to the crew."
Sometimes Dr. Fox forgot that his conversations with Mr. Reid were transmitted to all six members of the lab. "Copy that, sir," Reid replied.
"Fox out."
"Good evening, sir. Reid out."
Ashley turned and walked up the front steps of the house.
She reached out to the handle, but changed her mind and didn't touch the door. She set her bag down and turned back down the steps.
Ash walked beneath the hanging limbs of forest giants. The mountain breeze helped her relax, her breath became deeper and slower. Her heartbeat and blood pressure became calm, even and steady.
Throughout the surrounding forest, Ashley heard other kids playing, yelling and chasing one another down the paths. She had little trouble avoiding them, slipping behind the giant monarchs of the forest, staying out of sight as runners and hover-boarders zipped by. She leaned against the trunk of an ancient eucalyptus tree. The scent was like a tonic, opening her nose, throat and lungs.
Far in the distance Ash heard a dog barking. It sounded like her dog, Jack. For such a small dog, the young beagle was loud. Between his barks, she heard her brother Geoff's voice. He sounded upset. She heard other kids, laughing.
Ash took a moment to pinpoint the location and set out at lightning speed. Despite her weariness from ballet practice, Ashley was flying, even if it was at slight downhill angle.
In under a minute, she reached the clearing and saw a crowd of boys around her brother Geoff and their dog.
Ashley pushed her way into the crowd. She heard Geoff say something, some boys laughed, and she arrived at the circle just in time to see Bobby Dunkirk push Geoff to the ground.
Bobby was ten compared to Geoff's eight. Bobby was not just bigger and older, but meaner.
Geoff saw Ashley step into the circle.
Bobby noticed her too.
Almost thirteen, Ash stood two heads taller than most of the assembled boys, granting her instant authority.
Bobby scowled at Geoff, preparing a nasty remark in his head. Most likely something to do with Geoff's needing to have his big sister defend him.
Before the words left Bobby's mouth, Geoff punched him in the stomach.
Geoff seemed to be holding his own and would be embarrassed if Ashley stepped in. She gestured for Jack, the beagle, to come to her.
Jack trotted over but periodically glanced over his shoulder at Bobby and Geoff, ready to attack again, at the least provocation.
Ashley rubbed his head, calming him down, but he could only be distracted for a few moments at a time. Mostly, he stared at Bobby.
Bobby caught his breath, straightened up and took a menacing step toward Geoff.
"You deserved it," Geoff said, standing his ground.
Geoff wasn’t crying or emotionally distraught.
He stared Bobby in the eye.
Bobby didn’t back down either, "You started it."
"I did not!" Geoff replied. "You were chasing my dog!"
r /> "I wasn't hurting him!"
"I didn't hurt you, until you pushed me down."
As the dispute had devolved to petty bickering, Ashley stepped in and held up her hands, "Stop," she said softly.
They did.
"Now shake hands like gentlemen," she ordered, smiling just a little.
Bobby had always liked Ashley.
All the boys in their neighborhood knew and liked her. She was one of the few girls that came down to the canyon and happily joined in their adventures.
Ballet pulled her away a bit more often of late, but Ash and Bobby and Geoff, and most of the boys present, had known each other most of their lives. Ashley was also beautiful, and as she grew older, her beauty seemed only to become magnified.
Bobby folded. He smiled at Geoff, and they shook hands. Bobby laughed and based on his smirk, was preparing a sarcastic remark.
"Hold on," Ash said, raising a hand.
"What?" Bobby asked, the grin fading from his face.
Ash knelt next to the puppy. She scratched his ear, but Jack never took his eyes off Bobby.
"His name is Jack. You need to apologize to him too."
"Ha!" Bobby laughed.
"It's a small world," Ash said, remembering Mrs. Rabier's lecture. "There's no room for people carrying around grudges. You're going to apologize, you're going to mean it, and you're going to shake on it. I don't want him worried that maybe you don't like him. Unless you're scared."
Bobby rolled his eyes. He was tense, perhaps afraid of the rambunctious dog, Ash knew the Dunkirk's owned a cat. If she could get Bobby and Jack to get along, that would be for the best.
“I don’t want him to go crazy every time he sees you,” she explained.
Bobby knelt in front of Jack, and in a rare moment of forced maturity, said, "Sorry for chasing you around like that." He stretched out his hand. "Shake on it?"
Jack rolled his head to a side, glancing from Ashley to Bobby, and sensing it was okay, raised a paw, putting it in Bobby's hand.
Bobby smiled and rubbed Jack's head.
The beagle barked, his tail wagging, and tackled Bobby onto the ground, where they wrestled a bit. Bobby played with Jack’s ears and the beagle rolled against the boy’s arms. Bobby climbed to his feet laughing, while Jack bounced around the smiling kids.
From the edge of the circle, an older voice made itself heard. "Goddamn, Bobby, you are such a bitch! I'm embarrassed you're my brother."
The kids spun as if of one mind.
Bobby's older brother Evan stood on a nearby rise. He was fourteen and had hit his growth spurt early. With one foot on his hoverboard, he towered over the other kids. He looked big enough to play for the varsity punch-ball team. Two of his friends stood with him.
"You let a girl make you apologize to a dog? What the hell? Didn't I teach you better than that? Are you wearing panties?"
"What... It's just..." Bobby mumbled.
"I asked you a question!" Evan snapped. "I said, Are you wearing panties?"
"No, What... Screw you, Evan."
Even slid down the slope, piloting his board to a stop directly in front of his brother.
“How could you?” he asked.
Bobby flinched as Evan raised an arm overhead, as if to hit him. The blow didn't come. Evan seemed satisfied with the flinch.
Evan looked at Ashley. "Who the hell do you think you are?"
"Your brother was being a dick," Ashley answered. "I see it runs in the family."
The kids gasped and held their breath.
“I'm a dick? I'll show you some dick." Evan stepped onto his board, walking it toward Ashley.
As soon as he was within range, Ashley kicked the hoverboard out from under him.
He crashed to the ground and a moment later, scrambled back up to his feet.
Ashley had already taken a couple of steps back, out of range.
She and Evan stared each other down.
He hesitated.
Ash picked up Jack's leash from where it lay in the clearing and handed it to Geoff. "Put this back on Jack," she said.
Geoff nodded, took the leash and secured it to Jack's collar.
Jack stared at Evan, growling quietly.
Evan hadn't taken his eyes off Ashley and continued to glare.
"Come on, we have to get home for dinner," Ash said.
As she and Geoff walked Jack from the clearing, Ashley noticed several smiles and nods aimed in her direction.
Behind them, Ash heard Evan turn his ire on his brother. "What the hell is wrong with you, Bobby? Letting a girl boss you around like that?"
Then they were too far away to hear any more.