A MEMORY OF SONS Part 39 Of GODZILLA AND QUEST Readers, we is zeroing in on it now! Wildey Ranch San Luis Valley, New Mexico 19 April, 1998 2012 Local Time The Wildey Ranch was quite a spread. It was comprised of all of th= e San Luis Valley between the Rocky Mountains and the Sangre de Cristo Mountain= s. It ended to the north directly on the border between New Mexico and Colorado= , and to the south it ended where the Rio Grande made its turn to the southwest= , towards the town of Rincopada. The Wildey home itself was located high on= a hill that was located just to the north of being dead center between the = town of Tres Piedras to the west, and the town of Questa to the east. Given th= at the Wildey Family also once maintained a residence near Central Park in = New York City, and thus they needed to fly, the ranch had an 8, 000 foot pave= d runway with lights and full IMC instrumentation. There was, however, no t= ower. The house itself overlooked the runway and its associated taxiway, ramp a= nd hanger, and so the house was where the radios and other control gear were= .=20 An 8, 000 foot runway was plenty long enough for Watts to make a f= ull stop landing on automatic brakes. Race, though, decided to take the opportunity to supervise Robbie as he made a simulated short field landin= g in the fashion that was required at Palm Key, which had a very short 5, 000 = foot runway. Whereas Dragonfly had a thrust reverser for its single engine, due= to restrictions that were imposed by the stealth design of Watts' exhaust nozzles, the newer plane used a large braking parachute. Robbie made a ve= ry solid approach at a speed that was no more than five knots faster than st= all velocity, touched down with a medium sized bump, deployed the parachute manually, and also operate the brakes for himself. Race figured that his friend brought the jet to a stop about 200 feet farther down the runway t= han the airplane would have done for itself had it been set up to make a full= stop automatic landing. "Not bad, Rob." "We're too long, though." "Only because you finessed the jet for a soft landing. You must be remembering that we have passengers." Robbie could only smile in chagrin. Race was his trainer and well = aware of the fact that Rob was capable of stopping the airplane much faster. Fi= fty feet farther than autoland was the goal, one that the younger man had met several time while landing at New Georgia Island back in March. "You did it right, Rob. I was looking to see if you'd be harder th= an necessary." "Oh, thanks!" Race just grinned. He then switched to the radio frequency for gro= und control at Wildey Ranch. "Wildey Control, Watts 843." "You're clear to taxi to the ramp." It was the grand man himself... Doug Wildey. "On the way," Race answered. Robbie advanced Watts' thrust levers = for breakaway power, and the jet was soon parked and chocked with the house o= n its left, and the hanger on its right. Hadji then opened the door and stood a= side in order to let the lady and the little girl walk down the stairs ahead o= f him. Benton and Doug himself were waiting at the bottom of the stairs, though Jonny was noticeably absent. Race figured that Benton didn't want = the woman and the girl to see him just yet. Jonny resembled them both almost exactly, which might just cause the pair quite a rude shock=97 one that m= ight, or might not be what the lady needed. That was yet to be determined, and = so the young man had obviously been told to maintain a discreet distance. Ra= ce then checked the house... YEP. HE'S WATCHING. It was dark in New Mexico at after 8 p.m. in A= pril, but there was a dim light burning in the room where Jonny was, and he was= also moving. WELL, HE CAN'T BE BLAMED FOR WANTING TO SEE WHO WE'VE BROUGHT WITH= US. I'VE BEEN LESS THAN PERFECT MYSELF THIS WEEK. "Hello," Doug greeted Race and Robbie." "Doug," Race returned. "Sir," Robbie added. "Don't start calling me THAT again." "Sorry. I forgot." Robbie thought that Doug was twice as awesome a= s Race was, and he always let it show... initially. Doug, on the other hand= , hadn't liked to be called "sir" by grown men since he left the Island of Manhattan years earlier. He liked Rob, though, and he understood the game. "How is Jessie?" Benton asked. "The doctors said that she was not broken internally. There's othe= rwise been no change. She hasn't shown any life at all." Benton actually paused and prayed out loud for Jessie. But after a moment, he became strict. "I thought that I ordered Rob to go back home. = Why is he here?" "Dani wouldn't leave Jessie. I also needed a rested pilot to back = me up, and Amy stayed in Cincinnati along with Gallagher. She had a sonogram= , by the way." "Oh?" Benton now smiled. "Yep. She's heavy with twins." "Is THAT right?" Benton grinned and asked Robbie. "I'm afraid so." Robbie faked fatigue, causing everyone but Doug t= o laugh. The senior man simply reacted with the dignity of the wise. "Well..." Benton continued. "Did the scans show gender?" "We're getting one of each." Benton showed total pleasure at that. Doug then took over. "Well. Everyone come on up to the house. We'l= l get you each a room, then something to eat if your hungry." "Don't you usually eat exactly at six, Doug?" Race asked. This was= a no kidding around working ranch, with classic ranch protocols. "Sure. We all do. But your young one there looks as though she cou= ld use a bite. ...What's your name, missy?" "Jackie." "Actually 'Jacklyn Rhea,'" the lady added. "And what would be your name?" "My name is Rachel." "Rachel and Jackie, then. ...Let's go on up, everyone." Benton had hoped that the sight of the house would stir Jackie's mother. That it did not was disturbing. Rachel had loved the house in particular, and the ranch in general. THIS woman was not reacting even in= the room in which she had grown up, one that was now given to her daughter. One of the ranch hands had a girl that was about Jackie's age, and after she ate, the two were left to their entertainments while the others= , the lady included, met downstairs behind closed doors. This took place in Dou= g's magnificently appointed den=97 ANOTHER room that the woman should have recognized, but did not. Benton led from the start. "I believe that we should begin with yo= ur story, Rachel. Where are you from, and how did you come to meet Dr. Zin?" "I don't remember anything from before I met Dr. Zin. I recall onl= y that I woke up in his home, and that I was heavy with Jackie. The Doctor = was very concerned for the both of us, recognizing that I was without memory.= He said that he was a psychologist, and that he would like to help me discov= er my past." "And did he do so?" "To some degree. We believe that I was born an only child in Montr= eal, Canada, and that my parents died while I was very young." "Montreal?" Rachel had actually been born in this very house. "Yes." "I see." Dr. Quest said. WHY MONTREAL, ZIN? WELL, WE'LL SOON BEGIN= TO FIND OUT WHAT YOU'VE DONE. Benton then continued. "And the two of you then grew to love one a= nother?" "Yes." Benton then set it all on the table. "We have reason to believe th= at you may not have been born in Minnesota ...that Dr. Zin has deceived you.= " "I don't understand. In what way might he have deceived me?" "It is rather a long story. It will help if you feel up to looking through some of Doug's photo albums here. Are you willing to see them?" "Of course." Dr. Quest took a seat directly across from the lady, a coffee tabl= e in between them. Doug brought out the photo albums, and Benton opened the fi= rst one so that it was facing Rachel. "The little girl in this picture looks like Jackie," she saw. "She should. The little girl may very well be yourself." "You really believe that it's possible?" "I do. Look through the album, and then we'll go through these oth= ers." "All right." Rachel took her time, asking many questions. In the end, she made = the comment that she had no recollection of any of the things that she's seen= so far. "I hope that this is all true," she added. "By what means may it be verified? And why would Dr. Zin deceive me?" Benton then brought out his wallet. "Look at these pictures." Rachel did so, her eyes growing wide. "These are of yourself and I= ! And who is the boy? He looks exactly like Jackie!" "The woman in the photographs there was my wife, and the boy is ou= r son." "You say 'was.' I presume that your use of the past tense means th= at your wife died." "Yes... at the hands of Dr. Zin." "So you..." Rachel then spoke very softly, being awed by all of th= e possibilities. "You believe that he may have set this murder up?" "It is possible that you are MY wife, that the boy that you see in these pictures is OUR son, and that Jackie is OUR daughter." "Is he here?" "He is. Would you like to meet him?" "Yes." "Jonny," Benton called. The young man then appeared and stood befo= re Rachel. They studied one another very deeply. "My wonder!" Rachel barely breathed. Recovering her voice, she tol= d Benton: "You haven't yet told me how all of this may be verified." "Genealogy will not fully suffice. Dr. Zin was performing both clo= ning and breeding of the creatures that you saw us fight at his house in Kentu= cky, and we have to acknowledge the possibility that he may have somehow alter= ed you to merely seem like my wife. There is, however, another possibility. It i= s very difficult to explain, but I and Race intend to probe Dr. Zin's mind = in virtual reality." "Virtual reality as in by computer?" "Exactly." "I don't understand how that would work, and therefore I don't tru= st it." "I wish that we could show you how it works. The problem with doin= g so is that we don't know what if anything has been done to your mind. The VR world that you would share with us is driven by computers through an inte= rface that could cause you further harm if any traps have been implanted in you= r brain. "Rachel. What I believe that we need to do is to open Dr. Zin's mi= nd in virtual reality. I have exactly seven pressing matters, questions really,= that I need answers to ...ones that only he can provide. Among those questions= is this: What, if anything, has he done to you? Once I know the answer, then= we can proceed to find out if you truly are Doug's daughter, my wife and Jon= ny's mother." "You say that bringing me into the VR world would be dangerous. Ho= w much more so will it be for you and Race to share that world with him? He seems to be your mortal enemy." "He is the mortal enemy of the Earth. There is one last thing I wa= nt to show you. It is a video record of events that recently occurred in the So= uthern Seas. I'm afraid that some of what you would see may be very disturbing." "More so than the battle in Kentucky?" Now THAT was Rachel, arched right eyebrow and true wit. "You handled those circumstances well, at that. Why don't we watch= the tape then?" "Roll it." Jonny was also smiling. The lady was beginning to act something li= ke he'd been told his mother once had. Benton then started the tape that was a record of the various brie= fings and battles beginning with the fleet brief in Rendova and ending with the video from Colonel Feldhuas' F-15, as he and his wing man finished off th= e last of the creatures of the Northern Cell. In the end, the lady had one single question that she demanded to have answered. "Dr. Carpentier... Wh= at is his full name?" "Dr. Charles Jordan Carpentier, the son of Dr. Alain and Michelle = Carpentier." "He is from Montreal," Rachel said as a matter of fact. "You are quite sure?" "He is from Montreal!" she demanded to be believed. "It was what l= ed Dr. Zin into saying that he thought that I was from Montreal: My only mem= ory was of the name Jordan, and that it went with a little boy who looked exa= ctly like Dr. Carpentier." "Alain and Michelle were friends of my family. And Rachel had in f= act known Jordan." "The girl who served us in Kentucky! She is either Jordan's daught= er, or she is his little sister!" "She is his sister. Her name is Danielle." "I think we may be zeroing in on things, Dad," Jonny smiled. Rachel had eyes only for Jonny at the moment. "Sons!" she finally cried, her eyes becoming moist with tears. "Tell me about that?" Benton asked. "He... I remember!" "Tell us." "Jordan! We had Jonny because I fell in love with Jordan as a litt= le boy!" "Benton!" Race exclaimed. He knew the story to be a private one th= at the Doctor almost never told. "Is that true, Dad?" Jonny asked. "Yes, son. I would say that Rachel's knowledge of both Jordan and = the circumstances of your conception all but guarantees that we have found yo= ur mother. We will nail the full truth down in Questworld tomorrow." "Let's get to bed!" Rachel's revelation was striking, and it final= ly caused even Doug to begin to believe. "It IS getting quite late. ...Rachel, I have to tell you that you = and Jackie will be sleeping behind a guarded door." "It doesn't upset me. I may need a sedative, though." "You may have one." "Why don't we all get upstairs, then?" And on Doug's final word, everyone rose and went to bed. U.S.S CONSTELLATION /U.S.S. ABRAHAM LINCOLN Carrier Battle Group Operating Off The Coast Of Mexico 19 April, 1998 2210 Local Time The man who was the subject of Rachel's one remaining memory of he= r past sat very quietly in the back seat of Commander Patti Stiles' Tomcat,= as she lined up very carefully on their approach to CONNIE. A few crisp orde= rs from the LSO, a few more nervous moments, the incredible violence of the = trap on board, and they were down. Patti then raised her hook, turned and drov= e no more than fifty more feet, where the deck force chocked her fighter. Howe= ver, Jordan wasn't looking at the freightening sea just beyond the drop off of CONNIE's flight deck, instead opting to crane his neck in order to look b= ack and see if Kari's pilot landed safely. He did, and they were shortly park= ed beside the first F-14. The deck force then put their ladders up, and ever= yone went below. "That ankle still hurts, doesn't it?" Kari asked Jordan. "It's terrible. I can barely walk on it." "Why don't we visit the sick bay?" Patti suggested. "You can borro= w a crutch from them." "That would be a good idea." Captain Wilder, however, wasn't willing to wait. The 1MC blared lo= udly to life. "Commander Stiles and party, report to CIC!" "Aw, hell." Patti breathed. "Follow me," she then said in a normal= voice. "Patti," Lesli greeted her friend a few moments later. "Captain Wilder, this is Dr. Jordan Carpentier from Rendova. The y= oung lady is Ms. Karen Eskind from Rendova. She assisted Dugway at the validat= ion of the Doctor's preliminary data from the tests at Brisbane. He, however,= is limping on a bad ankle that he got while fighting beside Commander Bannon= in the caves beneath Dr. Zin's home in Kentucky. ...Doctor, Ms. Eskind, this= is Captain Lesli Wilder, the commander of CONSTELLATION'S combined air wing,= and a good hand on the stick of a Tomcat." "Captain," Jordan replied for both himself and Kari. "Doctor. I'd like to hear your Kentucky story in full just as soon= as we have more time. For now you need to know that Dugway is shipping the results of your tests in quantity to both Hughes Missile Division and BUO= RD's torpedo shop in Puget Sound. We hope to have the first weapons for sea tr= ials in two days. That's about when we arrive near the Western South American = Cell." "Which missiles will we receive first?" "It appears that the fleet Mavericks will come in on the first COD= . We should see the first SLAM-ERs shortly afterwards, and the torpedoes will = be waiting for us in Panama. The Admiral has already sent the first destroye= rs on ahead so that they can arm up and return to cover us while the rear echel= on goes in the following day." "The Mavericks are heavier, aren't they?" "Yes, they are. The SLAM-ERs are only barely large enough that it = will take two of them to deliver a killing dose to one of the larger beasts. T= hat's bad in that the SLAM-ERs are safer for our pilots to use." "Dr. Quest told us about that. I understand that you lost two more pilots during Maverick passes in the South Seas." "In addition to Lieutenant Dusharm at Rendova, yes." "We have time. I'd like to speak with the survivors in both squadr= ons if I may." "I believe that they'd like to hear from you. They usually unwind = for a movie in their ready rooms after the end of the day. They'll be hitting t= heir bunks about now, but you can speak with them tomorrow evening. They'll be getting a preliminary tactical briefing then, anyway." "Can the briefings be set up so that they follow one another? I mu= st see both squadrons." "It's already scheduled. This time we'll be attacking with F-14s. = The Hornets will take over our barrier requirements." "Thank you. Do you have a way that I can make two calls? I'd like = to make sure that Dr. Clark and Dr. Quest know that we've arrived here safel= y."" "We just informed them both. Were there any other issues that they= need to know about?" "None at all," Jordan smiled. We'll talk again tomorrow morning, then. Patti, your duty officer = knows which staterooms that the Doctor and Ms. Eskind will be assigned. Why don= 't you also stop by Sick Bay and talk them out of a crutch for Jordan. His a= nkle looks as though it must be killing him." "See Sick Bay, then my duty officer. Yes, ma'am." "Oh, get out of here!" Lesli smiled in chagrin. "You make me feel = too powerful." "Okay, CAG." Patti then led Jordan and Kari away, and Lesli return= ed to her contemplation of the fleet's tactical disposition. Admiral Pelkoffer = was once again planning the attack. The Captain hoped that it worked as well as it had in the South Se= as and at Seattle. End Part 39 Jagle ******************************************************************** * The Jonny Quest mailinglist jq@edc.ml.org * ******************************************************************** * To unsubscribe, send an e-mail to: majordomo@edc.ml.org * * with the message: unsubscribe jq subject is ignored * ********************************************************************