Jack And Anna - Back To Winnipeg

9. An Extranormal Evening-1

Anna woke up, feeling refreshed. Golden sunlight streamed through the bedroom window, and the birds chirped as they went about their business. After a few blissful minutes of cuddling with her husband, she decided to make breakfast for everyone.

That plan went straight into the trash when she discovered the total lack of edible food in Arthur’s kitchen. Oh sure, he had eggs and bacon and some kind of stinky cheese, but…yuck! Would it kill him to try some oatmeal and fresh fruit? She couldn’t find a strawberry to save her life in this place.

Well, that settled it: grocery shopping was definitely on the agenda for today. She had never much cared for that particular task. On Leyria, you just put in a requisition order, and the automated delivery service brought the food to you. Most houses had a central computer which would manage that sort of thing.

The year she had spent on Earth was a very different experience. She couldn’t just fabricate her clothing at a local production centre. If she needed a pair of pants or a shirt, she had to visit one of their large, indoor markets and look through several shops before she found something suitable. She had to try on each garment before making a purchase. Because there was no guarantee the clothes would fit. Changing in those cramped, little booths was not an experience she wanted to repeat. And that was just one tiny annoyance among hundreds! Grocery shopping was another.

It wasn’t the physical act of going to the store and picking out her food that she disliked. No, it was the atmosphere. Big box stores had a way of making her feel alone in a crowd. Everyone was so atomized! Like they had all collectively agreed that they would pretend not to see each other. They never said hello or asked how she was doing when she passed. And if she tried either of those things, she received only dirty looks in response.

Maybe it wouldn’t be so bad if Jack went with her.

Arthur plodded into the kitchen with a grunt that sounded almost like “Good morning.” After drinking his coffee, he asked if she had found a way to close the wormhole. Sadly, she had made very little progress on that project. Her multi-tool was conducting an advanced text search across the Leyrian Interlink, but most of the results were highly theoretical.

It shouldn’t have been that hard. Only a month ago, she and her friends had guided an entire planet through a much larger wormhole. Of course, she had an entire engineering team at her disposal at the time. And magic to boot!

The Field Binders insisted that there was nothing mystical about their ability to manipulate the forces of nature. Anna supposed there was some truth in that. After all, she could Bend the fabric of space and time. But her abilities were a fluke of compatible biology between two separate species. Field Binding was something much, much deeper.

Nevertheless, the basic principle was the same. A properly modulated warp field should seal the wormhole and prevent it from reopening. She and Jack might even be able to do it with their Nassai. But the trick wasn’t in applying the basic concept; it was the math. She had to get it just right or she risked making things worse.

The more she thought about it, the more she realized that she was out of her depth. She had a basic understanding of the physics, but they needed experts to get the job done. Larani could provide those experts. One call to the chief director might solve this problem once and for all.

Then again, it might bring an army of unscrupulous scientists down on Winnipeg, just as Arthur feared. Not to mention all the government agents who would take charge of matters in the interest of “planetary security.” Or whatever euphemism they employed to justify their presence.

If Anna had to decide between living on Leyria or living on Earth, she would choose the former without a second thought. But she wasn’t blind to her people’s failings. Too many Leyrians saw their Earth cousins as unsophisticated and scientifically illiterate. She herself was guilty of this. Earth’s nations were right to claim that Leyria often treated them as children to be managed. Though it pained her to admit it, Arthur’s concerns were valid. She would continue her research, but if she didn’t come up with something in the next few days, she might have to contact Larani.

The trip to the grocery store was much pleasanter than she would have expected. It helped that she and Jack were basically flirting the whole time. Going about these annoying little tasks wasn’t so bad when you had someone you loved at your side.

They spent the afternoon researching wormholes and getting absolutely nowhere. Anna’s heart sank as she read through yet another paper that went right over her head. She sensed a fight with Arthur looming on the horizon.

Randy came by to apologize for the night before. The three of them shared some lemonade in the backyard, which gave Anna the perfect opportunity to remind him that he was valid and that he had nothing to be sorry for. She was tempted to point out that her offer was still on the table – Randy would be so much happier in art school – but she didn’t want to get him in more trouble with his family.

Aside from all the wormhole craziness, it was an ordinary day. For so long, her days had been filled with casualty reports and mission objectives. The war had consumed everything. It was nice to remember what life had been like before all that pain. Even the wormhole felt decidedly normal. It wasn’t so different from any of the other assignments she’d had over the years. Someone would dig up a piece of Overseer tech; a telepath would hide in a big, sprawling city. Weirdness would ensue, and she would investigate.

In her off hours, she would go to the chess club or spend some time with Jack. For the first time in a very long time, she felt like a normal person.

Then the sun went down.

* * *

Arthur came storming into the guest room with his smartphone in hand. Red-faced and flustered, he spoke into the microphone. “Calm down, Carrie! It’s going to be okay!”

“Please!” the poor woman wailed, her muffled voice coming through the speaker. “You have to come! Please, Art!”

“What happened?”

“He…He…He…”

Snapping her fingers several times to get his attention, Anna reached for the phone. Arthur handed it to her, and she brought the device to her ear. “Carrie, it’s Anna Lenai. Are you hurt?” She paced to the window, waiting for a response. It only took a few moments for Carrie to answer, but those seconds seemed to drag on forever.

“No. He-he didn’t hurt me.”

Shutting her eyes, Anna let out the breath she had been holding. “Okay, nice and slow. Can you tell me what happened?”

“I…You have to see it. Can you come?”

Anna stiffened, a shiver running down her spine. That didn’t sound good. Her first thought was that the creature might have returned, but Carrie very specifically used the word “he.” Which probably meant that they were dealing with a human. Probably. “We’ll be right there,” she promised. “Are you safe for the moment?”

“I’m…I’m in my house.”

“And is there any immediate danger?”

“I…I don’t think so.”

Somehow, Anna didn’t believe the other woman. “We’ll be there in fifteen minutes.”

Luckily, Arthur lived on the west side of the city; the drive didn’t take long. When they arrived at Carrie’s address, Anna saw nothing out of the ordinary. The little house with its purple door was undisturbed. It sheltered under the branches of trees that stood around it like silent guardians. A small porch light illuminated the front lawn, but other than that, it was dark.

Someone else might have been bothered by that – especially with the stories Carrie had shared – but Spatial Awareness allowed Anna to map every inch of her surroundings. She sensed no threats, no figures lurking in the bushes.

Taking the lead, Anna started up the path to the porch. “Keep your eyes sharp,” she said, casting a glance over her shoulder. “We don’t know what we’re up against.”

Jack and Arthur were right behind her, both looking very uneasy. The elder Hunter was especially nervous, with cause. Anna didn’t know much about Carrie Randall, but she was sure the other woman didn’t panic easily.

Stepping onto the porch, Anna knocked on the door.

“It’s open!” Carrie shouted from inside.

As she entered the house, Anna prepared herself for a monstrous scene. She expected to find upended tables and shattered vases. Surely, the place must have been a mess! Nothing else would make sense!

But it wasn’t like that at all.

The living room was still neat and tidy with those adorable puppy portraits all over the place. The basket of flowers still sat on the coffee table. So far as Anna could tell, nothing had been touched.

Carrie sat on the floor with her back against the wall. Her legs were stretched out, and her head lolled as if she were on the verge of sleep. It was clear she had been crying. “Thank you for coming,” she whispered.

Anna ran to the other woman, kneeling at her side, and put a hand on her shoulder. “What happened?”

“He…He showed up about an hour ago.”

“Who did?”

Carrie scrunched up her face and shook her head violently. “I don’t know,” she whimpered, tears dripping from her chin. “He wouldn’t say. I got a phone call from someone who said he wanted to talk about the sightings. He asked if he could come by, and I said yes. The second I hung up the phone, the doorbell rang.”

Twisting around, Anna shared a glance with her husband. Her eyebrows tried to climb up her forehead. After a moment, she returned her attention to Carrie.

The other woman was a wreck, shuddering as she tried to take control of herself. “It was him,” she squeaked. “He was just…He was right there.”

“You mean he called you when he was on the porch?”

“But that’s just it! He couldn’t have! I was looking out the window! I would have seen him coming!”

Putting aside her own feelings of discomfort, Anna decided to treat this like any other witness statement. The first step was to establish all the critical details, and for that, she needed Carrie to feel safe enough to speak candidly.

Kneeling on the floor, Anna gazed intently into the other woman’s eyes. “Listen to me, Carrie,” she began. “You’re safe now. We’re here with you. Let’s just start with the basics, okay?”

“Okay.”

“What did this man look like?”

“He-he was tall. Not really thin but not big either. Kind of plain. He wore a black suit with one of those skinny ties – which I thought was weird because nobody dresses like that anymore. He was like something out of the Fifties. Even had one of those old-fashioned hats. Like a fedora or a…”

“Trilby?” Anna suggested.

“Yeah!” Sniffling, Carrie rubbed her nose with the back of one hand. “I thought he might be a reporter, you know? Even so, I didn’t want to let him in after all that, but then he gave me this.”