Demicore

Chapter 16

"Unless he isn't going full throttle," Katlin chimed in, hoping to shed a ray of hope on the situation.

"He is," Elizabeth told them softly, buckling the five point strap around herself, "it's all or nothing with that man." She was forced to face the fact that he had lived an abnormal lifespan out of love for her. No real idea how he had done it, but that was part of the 'all' that he had promised so many (and so few?) years ago. His all.

The craft started moving. Backwards, forwards, there was no wind inside the "bubble". They had called it something else, but it didn't matter to her. Now it was time to wait. They had all the preparations they could make and a better heading than they thought they would have to look for him. With his lack of general memory lately, they had actually been worried that he would leave a path of destruction of some sort for them to follow. Was this better or worse?

She waited while they ‘drove’ the craft towards the ocean, hoping like anything that they would find him before he got there and knowing they wouldn’t. She had time, even with as fast and straight as they could go, to think about everything they had been through since she “got back”. She let her mind wander. The house she had grown up in and the changes that had been made to and around it. Waking up to hearing that her mother hadn’t made it. She had gotten so very angry with him when he told her that he had had an affair with someone while she was out. Now she had to wonder… was it really an affair… Could he have believed she was dead?

Sonya was controlling the craft. Driving, per say. Katlin sat studying charts and maps. It looked to Elizabeth like she was entering additional information into the navigational system. She thought about this Andy person. Andrea, hadn’t they called her?

“Katlin, who was Andrea to Erik?”

“What?”

“I know this may not be the time for this question, but we have some time to kill while we track him down and I really need to know.” It felt like a weight had been lifted and tied her stomach in knots just getting the question out in the open.

Katlin paused for a moment. “I’m going to need a little more clarification before I can answer that.”

“I’m not sure you do. He said he had an affair. Andy is the name he used when referring to her. You have told me he was her doctor. Who was she to him? How long were they together? Were they ever married? Did she love him, too, or was she after the money you obviously had by then? What was their relationship like?”

“That is quite the set of answers you’re looking for,” Sonya broke in, “Is there a more straight question we can answer? What exactly are you looking for?”

Katlin hit her sister’s arm. It never failed, Sonya always wanted to take the direct approach and just didn’t understand that not everyone could cut to the chase like that. “Stop it!”

“Andy was an important part of all of our lives for a while. She left a very lasting impression. They didn’t fall in love from the start, if that is what you’re asking. Well, I think Andy did. But that wasn’t really love, it was more like hero worship. Dad helped her get her life back when she was totally paralyzed. She started spending time with us because we were the only people who treated her like a normal human being.

“Once she got past idolizing him, they discovered they had a lot in common. She didn’t actually work in the lab, but she spent quite a bit of time there. She wouldn’t let him test things on himself – they used her when they needed a test subject. She kept encouraging him, too. There were many times in those years when he doubted his own abilities and convictions.

“Yes, they had a physical relationship. It was good for both of them. I can only hope it doesn’t come between you and Dad. She was good for him… and in some ways still is because she was so important to him. No, he never even thought of not pursuing you because of Andy and she would have killed him if he had.” Katlin stopped. If they had been traveling slow enough to see it, they would have enjoyed the scenery. She thought of days out shopping with Sonya and Andy. The three of them were more like sisters than anything else… other than the fact that Andy was in a relationship with their father. She wondered how to give Andy personality without giving too much and making her mother jealous now that she was finally ready to hear it.

“You know, in a way we owe catching the guy who hurt you to her.” Katlin turned her head to look where they were going, not daring to look at Elizabeth and hoping that she would be able to create a sort of bond between the two women.

“How is that?” Elizabeth asked, almost laughing with doubt and giving Katlin just what she wanted – the opportunity to talk about it.

“Once she relearned how to use her limbs – which I’m sure you know took a while considering she was a quadriplegic – she started training with us in martial arts. We have a dojo that I still teach the top students at, but at the time Dad filled that position. I’m sure you know that he took a special interest in her training considering what all she was coming back from. He wasn’t sure the other teachers would take into account that her muscles were still trying to rebuild.” Elizabeth and Katlin exchanged half-smiles.

“Of course he did. He was always one to take a personal interest in someone he shouldn’t.”

“She was talented. She had the drive for it, too. She devoted hours every day to study. She worked at it so hard and had spent so much time relying only on her eyes to get by that she decided to learn to exist without them. She had this beautiful red silk scarf she wrapped around her eyes-“ Katlin’s voice broke at the memory of that silk scarf, a note that wasn’t lost on Elizabeth and even Sonya had nothing sharp to say in return, she only laid her hand on her sister’s shoulder for a moment.

“Not to break your trip down memory lane,” Sonya broke in, glad to be able to change the subject for a minute so she didn’t start to cry and alter her ability to give chase, “but you might take some notice of the tracking systems. He is not headed straight for the ocean. He is heading south. And if you will then take a look at the weather tracking, you will see that the lucky fool is going to hit the edge of a storm… that we are going to have to either skirt or wait out.”

“This craft can dive, Sonya. That’s one of the reasons it’s called the Supercraft. Just skim it under the surface, we really can’t afford to loose the ground…”

“We also have no other choice. Erik took the one that had the complete diving equipment. Ours doesn’t completely seal all the time. Something we cannot risk out in the middle of the ocean in a storm while giving chase – we could end up needing a rescue that just won’t be able to come. No one but Steve knows where we are.”

“How much time do we stand to lose?” Elizabeth asked.

“At least an hour unless the storm system makes an unpredicted shift or drop,” Sonya told them.

“The tracking system will still be on in the craft he is driving?”

“That is the theory, yes.”

“Then do what we have to do. Losing a little time due to a storm is much better than losing the chase and having to be found ourselves before we can continue,” Elizabeth came across confident in her decision and expecting everyone to reach the same conclusion, “and in the meantime you can finish answering my question.”

Sonya arched an eyebrow at Katlin, who returned the gesture. They each saw some of Elizabeth in the other. Katlin then turned back to Elizabeth to continue her story, “I said she put in time and honed her skills. She was kidnapped.” She paused to exchange another look with her sister and second guess the intelligence of telling this story to her mother.

“It didn’t take us long to track down what happened. That was partially due to the much updated toys we had for such things and in great part because he wanted her to be found… he just didn’t expect us to do it so soon. He took a hot poker to her eyes. Then he turned loose half a dozen members of his gang… they weren’t supposed to leave her alive. The good thing for us was she beat the stuff out of them instead of the other way around. We got there just in time for Joey to come back to see if the job was done.”

“So what happened? Was he arrested? Handed over to the law? Did he pay his debt to society?”

“No,” Sonya replied flatly, “Dad beat the hell out of him, fed him feet first through a wood chipper, then rinsed his guts into Lake Michigan for fish food. No one ever missed him.”

“He did what!?”

“You have no idea how many lives that scum tore apart. That was nice compared to what he deserved,” Sonya replied as though there had really been no other option and it was just something that had to be done like taking out the trash when the can is full. “It’s not like that had ever happened before or since. We don’t take life lightly. That one just wasn’t worth having on our planet.”

“Sonya, don’t you know there are some things that you just don’t disclose in full detail no matter the level of no secrets kept?”

“I don’t see why she should have an issue with it. Joey tried to kill her and grandmother to get back at Erik for something that happened when they were kids. He was involved in Andy’s abduction, poked out her eyes, killed I don’t know how many people, r***d, pillaged, and was in general one of the more ruthless crime lords of our area. If the cops could have proved anything, they likely would have given Erik a medal for his involvement in getting rid of that bastard.”

“You know they would have thrown him in jail for it, even if they did appreciate the fact that he was gone.” Katlin retorted. She recalled the news cast stating that he had gone missing. “As it was they questioned him extensively. Dad really should have hid the fact that he was hunting Joey better.”

“Kinda hard to do when you crash a car into the Detroit River off the Gross Ile Bridge in a high speed chase between civilians.”