Interludes

What Miss Parker had not seen when she first arrived, she certainly noticed when she awoke the second morning of her stay. The sound of a small plane engine cut through the fog of sleep, yet she woke with the urgency only curiosity can bring. The voices had begun speaking to her as she slept last night, though she could recall little of what was said. Her mother sang, she remembered, something soft and calm.

Pushing the covers from her legs, the tall woman stretched forward and headed for the window, watching as a twin-engine Piper rolled across a beaten trail away from the house, slowly lifting off into the sky before bursting above the surrounding treetops and heading toward the rising sun. After a few moments, Parker turned from the window and rubbed her hand over her forehead. A wave of nausea rolled through her as she thought of the days to come. It was quickly followed by the bite of hunger.

After taking the time to don a robe, she headed down the stairs to the kitchen and was unsurprised to find both Ethan and Jim seated around the kitchen table. Ethan was slumped over the table, glowering at the coffee in his cup. Jim was shoveling Fruit Loops out of his bowl. Neither of the males noticed her as she walked around the table to the refrigerator. “Well boys,” she drawled, “it’s going to be a long day.”

“Sister!” Ethan yelped, coming out of his dazed state. “You surprised me.” Heart rate settling, the young man stood and headed toward her. “Anything good?”

“No,” she shrugged. “I’m somewhere between nauseous and hungry, though whether that is because of all this,” Parker waved her hand in the air around herself, “or trying to explain all of this to Sydney and Broots, I have no idea.”

Around his mouthful of cereal, Jim interjected, “Morning sickness can begin as early as two weeks into a pregnancy, but usually ends after the third month.” Ethan shot him a glare, causing a couple of unchewed Fruit Loops to fall back in the bowl. “What?”

Soundly closing the refrigerator door, Parker walked across the kitchen to the counter and poured herself a bowl, then reached for the milk carton Jim had left nearby. After seating herself across from the boy at the table, she waved for Ethan to retake his seat between them. “That’s something we should take care of before your father returns with my friends.” Her words were certain but her body language belied her hesitance. “I do not want to take advantage of you, Jim, but I need your help with a few things.”

“Take advantage of me? What do you mean?” His brows furrowed in concentration as he spoke.

“You’re a very smart boy, Jim, the Centre made sure of that,” this time, Miss Parker’s tone was bitter. Clenching her fist around her spoon, she continued. “The only confirmation we have of the latest Centre experimentation has been through the voices. While they have never been wrong, I’d feel better if we had something concrete to tell Sydney and Broots when they arrive.”

“You want me to run a pregnancy test?” the boy asked, then nodded. “We can do that. Father had a friend down the road who runs a veterinary clinic. The facilities aren’t quite the same but it will do the job. There would be no paper records.” After a pause, he shrugged, “I’m a genius, Miss Parker. At least this time I get a choice, and I choose to help you stay one step away from that place.”

Blinking, Parker stared at the boy – NotJarod, she reminded herself yet again - then looked down at her cereal. “We’ll go after breakfast.”

--

“Sydney…” Ben began, “Are you sure my going with you isn’t going to cause trouble?”

The psychiatrist patted the other man’s shoulder as they waited just off the tarmac for their plane to land, “Miss Parker wanted you to come, Ben. I’m afraid she feels leaving you in Maine would be detrimental. The Centre…”

“I don’t know anything about the Centre,” Ben interrupted, “Catherine would never discuss it, and when her daughter arrived on my doorstep a few years ago, she was like a ghost in more ways than one. They can’t ask me for what I don’t know.”

Chuckling quietly, Sydney shook his head. “You don’t know the Centre.”

The conversation was broken by the arrival of Broots and Debbie, who had taken a detour to the snack shop for ice cream before they were due to meet the chartered plane. “See Daddy? We aren’t late! The plane isn’t even here yet,” the girl cried as they came to stand nearer the two older men. She reached down to fidget with the strap of her backpack, “Is Miss Parker going to be where we’re going?”

“I don’t know Deb, I hope so.” Broots glanced toward Sydney for confirmation.

“Miss Parker would not send us somewhere she thought was unsafe,” he told the girl, then pointed toward an inbound aircraft. “Look, Miss Broots, I bet that is our transportation.”

Giggling, Debbie yanked on the sleeve of Sydney’s blazer, “My name is Debbie, Sydney! And I sure hope Miss Parker is there. I miss her, and I’m scared she’s sick.” The ghost of a smile crossed Sydney’s face at her words, and Broots answered his daughter before the graying man could even formulate the words.

“Miss Parker will be okay, Debbie. There are just some things going on she needs our help with, that’s all.” Looking up from his daughter’s curious eyes, he watched with the others as the small charter plane grazed the tarmac and began to roll closer to them. “And after that, we’re going to go on a big vacation, somewhere we’ve always wanted to go!”

“Like where? Sea World? Or maybe Australia? I’ve always wanted to see a real kangaroo!” Debbie paused, looking at the two older men, “You could come with us, Sydney, you too Mr. Miller! All of us and Miss Parker.”

The plane skidding to a stop, and Broots smiled humorlessly at his daughter, “I don’t know about that, Deb, but we’ll see. Come on, they’re lowering the steps and we don’t want to keep the pilot waiting.”

The group of four grabbed their small bags and moved toward the small plane’s door. Within a few moments, they were all climbing aboard the Piper. The pilot turned slightly to the right and nodded in greeting to his passengers. Over his headset, he spoke, “If you’ll just stow your bags under the seats and buckle up, we’ll be on our way.”

“May I ask our destination?” Sydney called over the sound of the twin engines.

“I’ll explain everything once we are in the air. The less time we spend on the ground the better.”

--

Three hours after the quiet breakfast the three had shared, Miss Parker, Ethan, and Jim were in the back room of the Carroway Veterinary Clinic. When the Major’s friend Bill had been asked for the use of his facility for an hour, he had glanced warily at Parker, then nodded to the two boys. It was better, he assumed, if he knew nothing of what went on behind the closed door.

Within moments of entering the room, Jim had begun setting up a microscope and a small ultrasound machine. Ethan offered Parker a hand up onto the tall metal exam table, and smiled as she hissed at the cold beneath her legs. “First we’ll draw some blood,” Jim muttered from the counter across the room. Turning, he tied a rubber strap above Parker’s elbow and then examined the inside of her arm for a vein. Within mere moments, he had inserted a needle and was extracting the needed blood. Looking up into the eyes watching him, the boy said, “It will be okay, Miss Parker.” Miss Parker graced him with a small smile, biting back the words she really wanted to say. He wasn’t the target of her frustration, she knew. It was better to stay on the good sides of the few allies she currently had. “I’ll examine this under the microscope, but I have a feeling you should lay back and get ready. This ultrasound machine will be a little grainy but will hopefully show enough detail for me to give you some idea of how far along you are.”

“It had to have been about six weeks ago,” the brunette sighed. “It’s the only time unaccounted for.” Leaning back against the bed, she gazed between Ethan, who stood next to the bed and was watching her worriedly, and Jarod’s clone, who was turning the dial of a microscope. For a few moments, no one spoke, and she sighed again, turning to stare up at the plain Celetex ceiling tile.

“You’re pregnant,” Jim confirmed, stepping away from the microscope. “I can see the presence of…” he trailed off as he looked between both sets of eyes. Clearing his throat, he asked, “Well, okay then. I’m just going to,” he gestured toward the wand hanging from the side of the machine near her head. “Lift up your shirt, Miss Parker?”

Ethan took a step backward, standing near her head, and placed his hand over hers as it flopped to her side. The two shared sad smiles, and he watched as her throat shifted and swallowed the lump that kept her from speaking. Jim applied a cool gel to her stomach, then used the wand to spread it over the planes of her abdomen. After a few moments, he broke the silence. “Right there, see? It looks like a lima bean.” He pointed with his pinky finger to the grainy black and white screen. “The equipment typically used on humans is much more sensitive, but I can still see the fetus right there.” The two adults focused on the screen, Ethan squinting and Parker blinking harshly. “I’d say your timeline is correct, but obstetricians calculate gestation based on the first day of the last period, so I’m guessing about seven weeks.” When he received no verbal response, Jiim continued, “We aren’t going to be able to run all the tests most doctors run at this point, but hopefully later we can test for disease and…” he paused, “that is, if you’re going to keep it, I mean.”

Ethan startled, as if the thought had never entered his mind. With wide eyes, he looked down at his sister’s carefully guarded expression. Her eyes were still focused on the monitor to her left. “You are, I… are you going to have the baby?”

“The Centre wouldn’t have created it if they thought it would be unhealthy,” she mused, grabbing the boy’s hand as he moved to take the wand away from her middle. “I…” Parker made a noise that was something between a gasp and a painful gulp, “I shouldn’t have this baby. It will never have a chance as long as the Centre maintains its power. And we can’t destroy the Centre, it would just begin all over again. But I knew that before I came here, that whatever happened the Centre wouldn’t just fade away into memory. I can’t… I don’t…” she let go of Jim’s hand and violently grabbed a towel, scrubbing it across the flat planes of her abdomen before yanking her shirt down. “I didn’t want this, I didn’t ask for it, I didn’t even know it was happening.” This time, her tone matched her laugh: bitter, angry. “But I can’t help but want it, even though it would probably be better for all of us if it were never born.”

“It is still…” Ethan began, brow furrowed and eyes crinkled in alarm.

“My child, Ethan. This is my child. And I will have it, and I will be damned if Raines and his cronies have any say over that. It’s not going to be easy, especially while we wait to see what the Centre does and try to figure out whose donation was used. It won’t be like us, Ethan. Any of us. I won’t let it become some Centre experiment!” Her voice was angry, and she grabbed his arm and hoisted herself into a seated position. “Our childhoods, yours,” she looked between the two, softening her voice, “Jarod’s childhood… they weren’t fair. My mother tried so hard to save all the children the Centre took, all the children they created,” Parker swallowed, “and in the end they killed her for it. We have to be smarter than that. We have to remember how far their contacts run and how deep they will go to take this child, to take us all back.”

“I won’t go back,” Ethan interrupted, “and I won’t let them take you either!” His older sister glanced up at him, suddenly feeling more tired than she had anticipated.

Jim wrapped his fingers around her other wrist, “Neither will I. Or Dad.” The brown-haired boy wrinkled his nose, “And I understand, now. Why we can’t tell Jarod.” Sotto voce, “He would throw it in their faces, and then they would have proof of their success.”

“I didn’t know, not really,” she agreed, and let their hands slip from hers as she stood. Ethan watched her, saw the wobbling in her frame, and slipped his arm around her. “Not until I saw Ethan.”

“Me either,” her brother granted, “but then, I guess that’s different. What do you say we go get some lunch, then put the guest rooms together for our company? I think we need some food and rest before we try to put all of the pieces to this together.”

Jim snatched the needle and blood samples from the countertop, slipping them into a small case and placing it in the wide pocket of his sweatshirt. “Let’s go. I’ll thank Mr. Carroway on our way out.”

--

Once the Piper was in the air and the autopilot engaged, Major Charles removed his headset and turned in the pilot’s seat to face his four passengers. “North Carolina, a small farm near the coast.”

“Major Charles!” Sydney exclaimed, then chuckled. “I never imagined Jarod would send us to you.” Turning to Ben, he spoke, “This is Jarod’s father, Major Charles. Major Charles, this is Ben Miller, an old friend of Catherine Parker’s and new friend of both Jarod and Miss Parker.”

“Pleased to meet you,” the Major nodded, “and welcome aboard.” Ben nodded in return, warming immediately to the man upon his introduction as Jarod’s father.

“Wh…where in North Carolina?” Broots interrupted, nervously handing his daughter the teddy bear he had been pulling from her bag.

“Middle of nowhere, technically doesn’t exist. Perfect place for hiding and flat enough to land a plane. We won’t be there for long,” Major Charles dismissed.

“Where’s Miss Parker?” Debbie asked, clutching the teddy bear to her chest.

“Probably waiting impatiently in the kitchen, trying not to kill my two sons for hovering over her!” the older man laughed, “We’ll be there in a few hours. She asked that I bring you all to her before too much information was disclosed. From there, we will move to a more secure location. And before you ask, no, Jarod has no idea as to whereabouts and we intend to keep it that way, at least for the time being.”

Sydney leaned back into the seat, elbows on the armrest, fingers clasped against his mouth. Broots, confusion plastered across his face, couldn’t resist asking what the other three adults were wondering. “Why not?”

“I love my son,” Major Charles began after a moment, “but he has a tendency to enjoy throwing information in people’s faces. This is especially true of the Centre and all of its operatives. Miss Parker is afraid he will do something foolish and alert them as to our location or, worse still, get himself killed.”

“Miss Parker’s worried about Jarod?” Broots’ voice elevated a few octaves.

After a moment, the Major chuckled and confessed, “Well, I’m worried about Jarod. I think she is a little more worried about other elements of the current situation, though I know she has no desire to see Jarod or anyone else injured or taken back to Blue Cove.”

“Daddy, did something bad happen to Miss Parker?” Debbie broke in, absorbing the tension and worry evident in her father and his colleague.

“You must be Miss Debbie Broots,” Jarod’s father commented, “she has spoken much about you. And don’t you worry about her, she’s just fine.”

Clearing his throat, the elder Broots interjected, “We heard about… an experiment the Centre was planning. Jarod found something about it somewhere, he didn’t say exactly where,” he squinted in thought, “but he was worried that they would try to do something like they did before, you know, with Ethan? But this time with Miss Parker, since, you know, her mother…” his voice trailed off. “Uh… di…did…?”

“We know about the Centre’s intended plan,” the pilot nodded. “Ethan and Miss Parker…” he paused, “Well, I promise you, Mr. Broots, as soon as we land, all of us will sit down and figure everything out. Right now, everyone has different pieces of information. One we fit all the pieces together, we’ll have some idea of what the Centre is up to this time, and what we’re going to do about it.”