CHAPTER 11


   No one had ever said anything about all of the little problems that came with having a life that, for whatever reason, had become quite public. Nate Caldwell did not even really consider himself a celebrity yet, why was it that the most intimate details of his private life were now exposed and for everybody to see? He had sex with a girl! People acted like no one had ever done that before! What made his one time of many, so damn special? He actually tried reading a few of the web sites that were devoted to his love life, and written by people that he had never met, and Nate could not figure out why people were fascinated by it! Of course they romanticized it, made it sound adventurous, and one web site was even quite pornographic. Nate finished that one mumbling to himself, “damn, I wish I had been to that one.”
The very short romance he had with Angie Thompson was just that, very short. She had vanished on that same night and, from all that Nate could see, he had thought she was dead up till he got a mysterious letter from her, a few months back. The strange part was that his minor fling seemed to make more sense to other people than it ever had to him. It had certainly seemed to doom his career in the army, since Angie had been one of his soldiers. Technically speaking she no longer was when they did the dirty deed but, to some in power, that would never make a difference. When the story went public, that was the final nail in the career coffin of one Captain Caldwell.
Of course, life always took those funny little turns and Nate had never expected for someone too offer him a job as an idol for teenage girls or, for that matter, political icon as well. He sure did not expect to find himself back in the army, playing zoo keeper with two baby Orcs. He never dreamed he would make Major and then find himself living just outside Atlanta, yet, he did all of that. Unfortunately, he also did not expect his mother to read any of those websites about him. It made Nate wonder if he could go back to selling used cars.
As he was trying to unpack in his new apartment, he listened to his mother on the phone. She was not that happy and he had to keep reminding her that he was not that twelve. He even tried the, “Mom, you do realize I had sex before that, right?”
His mom, back in Pennsylvania, was usually not such a prude. She explained that part of it very well when she exploded on him, “you didn’t tell everybody about it, did you?” That explanation rolled on into, “I had to face everybody at church and I’m sure they all saw it.”
Nate thought to himself, “and I bet not a single one would admit they liked the porn site.” He was only slightly more diplomatic when he reminded her, “and I’m sure they’ve had sex too, Mom.”
“Well they didn’t put it up on the internet!”
Nate was sure some of them probably had. If anything, they were probably mad that they didn’t get any hits. Luckily, he had an excuse not to finish the conversation, “I got to go mom. I’ve got a call and… No it’s not a girlfriend. Try dating somebody when you’ve got websites about your love life making the search engine top ten!” That was not entirely true only, Nate was not going to admit to his mother that girls were definitely hitting on him. Nate just suspected that they also gave him false names. They might want to sample the forbidden fruit but, none of them were stupid enough to want it plastered all over social media.
There were, Nate believed, exceptions to that rule and one of them was on the other end of the incoming call, “what is it Sara?”
Angie’s younger sister sounded a bit more chipper than she did last night, “you’re never going to believe where we are!”
Given that she lived in Orlando, and they never actually made it to a theme park, while he was there, Nate would have guessed some place with mouse ears. The back ground noise told him something else though. He looked over at the television where the morning news was running with the volume turned all the way down. The crowds of people were waiving signs and screaming angrily at the cameras and, Nate no longer had to guess, “yeah I see you on TV right now.”
That made her perk up even more, “really? Oh my god, my hair is a mess and…”
“Sara, no..” Nate had to back pedal, “I meant I see the protest in…” It took a second before the little display said where they were, “Washington DC? Wait a minute, I know you were in Florida when you called me from work last night. How did…”
“How do you think?” Sara said that with a bit of glum edge in her voice. Nate did not have to guess. That meant Clancy must have bought them plane tickets. How many did he spring for? When he asked, Sara told him, “no it’s just me and Mom. He’s not even here. He had to go to New York for some reason. We left everybody else at home.” Sara’s tone made it clear that it was a subject that she best thought dropped. She proved it by changing it, “any word?”
“Since last night?” Nate began going through another box, “not really. I can’t reach Patty. I hope to hell she’s not where I think she is.”
Sara knew where that might be but, she could not understand Nate’s apprehension, “why?”
“You haven’t been watching the news have you?” Nate asked her rhetorically. “Something happened over in England. I don’t know what but, I’m guessing if you’re in DC, and Clancy is in New York, then you can about bet it’s not good.”
“Everybody keeps saying that,” Sara told him. She may not have had time to really watch the news, and she really did not even care too but, the general negativity she was getting was enough to worry her. It was the real reason she called, “Nate I wake up this morning and it’s like the whole world just turned upside down. What’s going on?”
“Darlin,” Nate told her, “I wish I could…” A knock at the door drew his attention and after looking out the blinds he told Sara, “I got to go. Looks like my boss is at the front door.” After hanging up he mumbled to himself, “why does this not surprise me.” He then opened up and let Didi Compton in. She just walked in the small one bedroom and gave it a once over, “cute. I wish you had picked something a little closer to town, like say, even Decatur? Way the hell out here? Really Nate, come on, I hate driving out here. Have you met rush hour yet?”
Nate did not even think twice about her problem with his living arrangements. As far as he was concerned, when she paid the rent, she could pick the spot. This was as close to the Atlanta Zoo as he could get and not file for bankruptcy in the process and, besides that, he had his own complaint, “Didi, this is my day off, you know? As I recall, it was you that said I couldn’t come back till the blood test checked out.” She crossed her arms and looked frustrated so Nate added, “oh come on, I got bit in the ass!”
Didi replied with an observation, “some times you are worse than Mike.” Then she went on but turning it on him with, “you were the one that said it was just a love tap? I’ve seen the web sites Nate. I’m sure you’re the expert, or, are you afraid it’s going to leave a scar on your tushy?”
Nate stopped unpacking and looked at her funny, “tushy? Doctors actually use the word Tushy?”
Didi’s face turned red and she looked away as she huffed, “it doesn’t matter anyway.” She then produced a paper from her purse and handed it to him, “days off don’t happen when you get one of these.”
After scanning it over, reading every three or four words, Nate got to the bottom and saw the signature on the paper, “is this real? You know, the original copy of…”
Didi rolled her eyes, “it’s a fax Nate. I wouldn’t worry about it anyway, that’s probably a canned signature but, hey, if you want to hang it on your wall,” she gestured to the complete lack of décor, “I’m sure you can find the room.”
“I’m still unpacking here,” Nate complained as he handed her the paper. He looked around the mess of boxes and said, “how long we got?”
“We don’t,” Didi told him in such a way that he understood she was not so happy about it either. “You think I’d drive all the way out here just to take you back to the lab? We got a flight waiting for us at Hartsfield.”
They did? She could not have called in advance with some warning? Nate growled and then asked, “what time does it leave?”
“Uh,” Didi slapped her forehead, “you don’t get it Nate. It’s waiting for us. It leaves as soon as we get there!” Didi only became more frustrated when her phone went off and she saw who it was, “oh god, it’s Mike’s little sister, Betsy. This is like the tenth time she’s called this morning!” Just before answering, Didi shot Nate an eat death look and told him, “don’t just stand there, get a bag!”
Nate started to do just that. He stopped when he saw who was on the morning news. Didi wanted to snap at him for not packing quick enough but, Nate pointed to the tube and said, “it’s the guy who signed that paper in your purse. I think you might want to hear this.”
Didi quickly said into her phone, “honey, I think you might want to turn on the television.” Didi then nodded for Nate to turn up the volume since he had not done it quick enough for her. The President’s voice quickly filled the silence. He was standing in the press room with the familiar blue curtain behind him, reading from a prepared speech, “we have no reason to believe that anything has happened to your loved ones, who might be on the other side of the Dell. The information that we have at this time is inconclusive and, for all we know, this could be nothing more than an accident. The Coven Hill International Embarkation Facility is completely in tact and UN officials are on the scene to assess the situation. We have every confidence that communications with Feyland will soon be restored. This is not a time for wild rumors or speculation. As far as we know, this has nothing to do with recent civil disturbances in Britain. There is no evidence of any kind of attack on our side. I ask you all to please remain patient, and we will notify you of any further developments. Thank you very much.”
When the news anchor came back on the television, he confirmed what Nate had guessed, about the first part of the speech they had missed, “to repeat the President, communications with the Feyland Empire, is currently unavailable. We have some guest speakers to explain to us what this could possibly mean and first up…”
Nate turned the volume down and found Didi frantically talking into her phone, “Betsy, honey, don’t cry baby. You heard what he said and…”
“And,” Nate filled it in with, “five will get you twenty they wouldn’t be flying us to England if this didn’t have something to do with big nasty pig monsters that like shooting even bigger sticks.”