RACHEL'S RIDE
Part 40 Of GODZILLA AND QUEST



Wildey Ranch
San Luis Valley, New Mexico
20 April, 1998
0700 Local Time



       The last of those who were needed in order to run Questworld
arrived an hour earlier that morning. Her name was Dr. Debra Malia
Demate, and she was a computer software expert... one with an in-depth
understanding of Questworld in that she had polished it for Benton as
part of her post graduate work at Cal Tech. Dr. Demate was needed
because Jonny and Benton were both going into Questworld, Hadji would be
totally immersed in his efforts to control Zin's dreams, and because
Jessie's dire straits left the team short a member.
       In addition to Benton and Malia, there was a third doctor would
would be monitoring Zin's EEG for REM, and who would act to maintain REM
should Hadji require his assistance. Dr. James S. Thorburg was a very
good anesthesiologist, and an old and trusted friend of Benton's. He was
with Zin at that very moment, resetting his I.V. line and injector
pathway.
       And as for Race, neither Malia nor Dr. Thorburg had been given
any idea as to their destination and mission, and therefore there was
absolutely no reason to believe that either would be a threat to Zin, or
to any other member of the mission team. Still, Race patiently watched
as Dr. Thorburg went about his work in what the anesthesiologist
considered to be a damnably dark and chilly room.

       As Jonny would later say: "Oh, boy. If only Dr. Thorburg had seen
Kentucky."

       Jonny was at the moment with his grandfather, Rachel and Jackie
at the stables in which Doug kept his best stallion and mares. Grampa
Wildey raised a few varieties of horses on his ranch. Most were good
old, solid quarter horses and mustangs. However, as Jackie soon
discovered to her complete delight, some were anything but common...
       "He's beautiful!" the little girl cried. She was looking at a
chestnut English thoroughbred stallion, seventeen hands high with white
socks on all four feet, and a white muzzle... the sort of horse that
fast little girls dreamed of having for their very own.
       "And tall," Rachel added. "What's his name?"
       "His name's Mal Hombre," Doug replied. "He's REAL spirited."
       "He certainly is!" Rachel laughed, as the great horse began to
toss and turn as if demanding to be let out of his stall. She then
climbed up on the stall gate in order to reach in and stroke the steed's
nose.
       "Be careful," Doug said. "He's a bit unpredictable."
       "Mom can ride him," Jackie smiled. "She's as good as the best
rider in the world."
       "Is she really?" Doug asked. He'd actually hoped that this would
happen, having gone so far as to see to it that Rachel would arrive for
breakfast dressed to ride. If she was truly Rachel Wildey, it would soon
show in the most dramatic way. Mal Hombre was so named because he was
the nastiest horse on the ranch, or in all of New Mexico for that
matter. She, in turn, should be more than able to handle him, if she
really was the daughter of Doug Wildey.
       The lady then spoke. "We had a neighbor in Kentucky who was a top
breeder. I used to ride with his wife before we discovered that I could
actually ride much harder."
       "Would you care to try Mal?"
       "I'd love to."
       "All right. Let me get him bridled and saddled."
       "English, please," Rachel asked. It was yet another correct
answer, and the test was the big reason why she was brought to the
ranch.
       Jonny also knew his mother's riding preferences, and he gravely
met his grandfather's eyes... HOW CAN SHE KNOW EVERYTHING BUT US?
       Doug reacted with an almost imperceptible shrug and pulled down a
saddle that he had kept soft and supple, even though it had been over
ten years since it had been mated to any horse at all. It had been
Rachel's favorite, though this one gave it only a cursory examination as
it was secured around the belly of The Hombre.
       "Watch out, Jonny!" Doug exclaimed. The big horse champed and
pinned the boy up again the side of the stall. "Are you okay?"
       "Yes, Grampa."
       Doug then turned to Rachel. "He doesn't like to wear a saddle,
and he's even meaner with a bit in his mouth. Are you sure you want to
ride him?"
       Rachel simply smiled and nodded. As a girl she'd plead to just
short of complaining in order to be given the chance to ride a horse
like this. But as a grown woman, she'd most often react with that damn
infuriating air of the totally competent.
       "All right. Stand back." Jonny opened the stall gate, and Doug
led the barely controllable Mal out towards the corral. Jackie walked
beside her mother, who calmly began to pull on her gloves. Jonny simply
followed and took note of the fact that the gloves were well worn in,
and that they fit perfectly.
       Out in the sun, Doug used both hands to hold the angry horse near
the fence so that Rachel could mount him from up high. She frowned on
that, though, requiring him to walk the animal to the center of the
corral. He was bucking and trying as hard as he could to pull free of
his master's grip, moving this way and that. Still, she smoothly
approached him from the front, nickering to him and showing him her
hands, which once she placed on him, she never removed. She simply moved
down his left side as he tried to turn away from her, took the reigns
and saddle bow in her hands, and turning with him deftly put her right
foot in the stirrup and was aboard almost before he knew his back had
become occupied. Still he KNEW, and turning twice on a dime went
straight to rears. She just leaned forward in order to stay with him,
and the very instant that his front feet finally came back down, she
slapped him hard on the rump and sped him straight for a four railed
fence.
       "Watch out!" Doug cried. But the horse and rider were already in
the air. They then came down on the open prairie, where they then took
off at what Jonny was sure was breakneck speed.
       "Go, Mom!" Jackie gleefully shouted. "GO!"

       Dr. Quest sat with Malia on a shaded extension of Doug's house
that overlooked the distant, shimmering Rio Grande. As knowledgeable as
she was of Questworld, Benton wanted to review the system with her, to
make sure that she understood several of the changes that had come with
even later revisions than what she had worked on. She also needed a
rundown of the hardware that she would be using, though that would come
later.
       There was a one more reason that Benton chose such a high seat
for his meeting with Malia, and in a moment he saw what he was waiting
for as a horse and rider sped swiftly by below.
       "Who could that be?" Malia wondered. She hadn't been brought so
far up to speed on why she was there that the answer failed to cause her
jaw to drop in awe.
       "Rachel? ...Surely?"
       "That's what you're here to help find out," Benton smiled.

       Rachel took Mal Hombre out for perhaps one full mile before he
finally figured out that the rider on his back was most definitely for
real. He then became more willing, smoothing out his stride and giving
her less of a bumpy ride. They eventually encountered the river, where
she laughed and dismounted, leading him to drink. He took in his fill,
then tossed his head above her as if approving her worthiness.
       "Why, you and I get along well!" she happily grinned. "We need to
run back home, though... if you're ready."
       She eventually reigned him in and brought him up short, while
Jonny wrestled with the corral gate. He then got it open, and she rode
through at a gallop, parading The Hombre in circles just inside the
fence to the total pleasure of Jackie and the thorough awe of both Doug
and Jonny. In the end, she rode him up under full control, presenting
both herself and her mount as if for inspection.
       "Well?" she finally smiled and asked, breaking the silence.
       "You ride right well," Doug had to admit.
       "And what did YOU think?" she asked Jonny.
       "I see a lot of myself in you."
       "Is that BAD?"
       "It's not always called good. But at least I'm discovering where
it all comes from."
       Rachel just laughed, dismounting. "We'd better get him brushed
down. Your dad wants to meet with everyone in an hour, after all."

       Jonny eventually made his way to the aircraft hanger, where Hadji
and Robbie were finishing up at preparing Watts.
       "How goes it?"
       "Good," Hadji replied. He was just finishing up at running a
Questworld simulation, and no problems were detected. "You know, it
never fails to amaze me how much more detail we can achieve using the
new computers over what our airplanes used to have. The animation is
truly realistic."
       "That's why Dad wanted to use one of the jets as opposed to the
laptops," Jonny agreed. Robbie then came aboard.
       "How's the system?"
       "It is one hundred percent ready to go," Hadji reported.
       "Well, the hanger systems are all on line. Doug has a really good
precise power motor generator that can drive the full electrical load,
and then some. So we won't have to use the APU."
       "I saw that we won't need the air conditioners, either," Jonny
added.
       "Nope. ...No packs. It'll be nice and quiet up here when Hadji
goes to work on Zin."
       "Good."
       "What's wrong?" Robbie wondered.
       "Does it show?" Jonny asked in reply.
       "Yeah, Jonny, it does... very obviously."
       "Hadj?"
       "Robbie is right. Something is not right with you."
       "It's more of a difference than it is anything that's wrong."
       "I am afraid that I do not understand."
       "It's Rachel. Hadj, if she's my mom... I just can't come to grips
with it. All those lost years."
       "...And she was with Zin."
       "Exactly."
       "Ah, Jonny. I believe that you may be thinking too much instead
of feeling. Remember that she is probably blameless... that he used her
in order to get to you in just this way."
       Jonny only nodded, staring at the floor. Finally, he looked up
and asked: "What about you?"
       "What about me?"
       "What if it turns out that she doesn't like you?"
       "Come on now!" Robbie laughed.
       "We have to acknowledge the possibility, Rob."
       "What do you think, Hadji?"
       "If she does not like me, I will simply return to Bangalore
early."
       "Just like that?"
       "Yes, Robbie. Just like that."



U.S.S. CONSTELLATION
20 April, 1998
0700 Local Time



       Jordan had been assigned to a stateroom that had been occupied by
two of CONNIE'S three lost F/A-18 pilots. They had been replaced by
junior officers who were assigned to the junior officer's quarters, thus
the Doctor found himself possessed by that rarest of shipboard
commodities... solitude. Still, this was your actual aircraft carrier=97
no one slept after sunrise around here, and Jordan was woefully short of
sleep. Commander Stiles had pulled several strings in order to help him
get a few hours rest in Cincinnati, but he had been up for hours before
that. He had then flown to CONNIE with the Commander, but that had been
in her Tomcat fighter. No rest for the weary there. Nor had he slept
since they arrived, which was inexplicable in that he was exhausted and
alone.
       Weird.
       Someone then knocked on the door... Kari!
       "God! Come in!"
       "You look terrible," she saw.
       "I didn't get any sleep," he replied.
       "Your stomach?" Kari asked, sitting on the bottom bunk.
       "No. I don't hurt, either... not even in my ankle."
       "Hmm. Actually, Lesli sent me down here. She said that you were
so worn out when she met you this morning that you could barely speak
straight."
       "Oh, wonderful! What time is it?"
       "You're wearing your watch, Jordi."
       "Wha=97 Oh! It's getting on about when Benton will be going up
against Zin in Questworld."
       "And what else is on your mind?"
       "Everything! Will he be all right? ...And Jessie? What about the
weapons? How many more creatures were born on the trails these things
have followed? Can we stop them all? There are so many!" He was so tired
that he failed to elaborate on whether he meant that there were too many
monsters, too many questions, or too many of both.
       "I see. I think you'd better come here and lay down."
       "Impossible! I can't sleep now tha=97"
       "Now that what? You have nothing to do until this evening."
       "It's so noisy."
       She produced a sedative. "Sit down," she commanded.
       He did so, and she got up and brought back a cup of water, which
she gave him along with the medicine.
       "Lay down, Jordi." He did so, facing the bulkhead. God, he was
like a little boy when he was this tired. She covered him up and sat
behind him, stroking his hair very lightly. In about ten minutes, he was
out like a shot out street lamp. Kari then got up and sat back down at
the fold down desk nearby, watching over him like an angel. "It's been a
long six months, my love. ...But it begins to end this evening."



End Part 40



Jagle



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