Legacy of a Mad Scientist (6 page)

"Everything level?" Dr. Fox asked.

"Yes sir. Heart rate, blood pressure, and focal
index: all within nominal ranges. Feeds are all in sync with
minimal interference and zero delay, neural kinetics all top shelf.
Her electrolytes are low, she's tired from her class." Reid's
fingers danced across the keyboard, retrieving details for his
eyes. His eyes never left the monitors during his shift. Reid's
ability to stay focused was legendary.

"Nothing to report?" Fox asked.

"She did get into a confrontation this morning,
sir."

"A confrontation? You don't say?" Fox smiled.

"Sending the stream now. One of Geoff's friends, was
being hassled and she stepped in."

"Violently?" Fox asked.

"Yes, but she wasn’t obvious about it. No arguing or
anything. Made a broken nose look like an accident."

"That's my girl.”

"I should let you know, she's deep into some
argumentative sub-rhythms, storing potentialities. Non-vocal
transcript says she's pissed about camp."

"In other words, totally normal for my daughter," Fox
replied. "Gentlemen, we're entering a significant threat period
here. For the next twenty-four hours, I need everyone to stay
alert. I believe our enemies will make their move tonight."

Reid watched as Ashley kicked a rock. It jumped
toward a parked car. The car's electro-magnetic countermeasures
weren't fast enough and the rock hit the door with a thud, leaving
a wicked nick in the poorly waxed paint. Ash watched as the
terillium-alloy healed the scratch in less than a second.

She killed the ground with each step.

"Sir, she'd give her life to protect you or Mrs.
Fox."

"That's what I'm afraid of, Mr. Reid. Her job is to
protect the boy."

Ahead of her, the street ended, beyond the guardrail,
nature began again. Choked with greenery, several paths ran into
the Santa Monica Mountains' Forest Preserve. Coyotes lived out
there, somewhere. Ash had never seen one, but she'd heard the
stories.

"Understood, Sir."

"Keep her adrenaline low. I want her capable of
operating at full capacity in an instant. Don't let her get riled
up over this camp thing. I don't want her sleeping through an
attack."

"If anything happens, she'll be ready."

"I'm counting on you. Please give my regards to the
crew."

Sometimes Dr. Fox forgot that his conversations with
Mr. Reid were transmitted to all six members of the lab. "Copy
that, sir," Reid replied.

"Fox out."

"Good evening, sir. Reid out."

Ashley turned and walked up the front steps of the
house.

She reached out to the handle, but changed her mind
and didn't touch the door. She set her bag down and turned back
down the steps.

Ash walked beneath the hanging limbs of forest
giants. The breeze helped her relax. Her breath became deeper and
slower. Her heartbeat and blood pressure became calm, even and
steady.

Throughout the surrounding forest, Ashley heard other
kids playing, yelling and chasing one another down the paths. She
had little trouble avoiding them, slipping behind the giant
monarchs of the forest, staying out of sight as runners and
hover-boarders zipped by. She leaned against the trunk of an
ancient eucalyptus tree. The scent was like a tonic, opening her
nose, throat and lungs.

Far in the distance Ash heard a dog barking. It
sounded like her dog, Jack. For such a small dog, the young beagle
was loud. Between his barks, she heard her brother Geoff's voice.
He sounded upset. She heard other kids, laughing.

Ash took a moment to pinpoint the location and set
out at lightning speed. Despite her weariness from ballet practice,
Ashley was flying, even if it was at slight downhill angle.

In under a minute, she reached the clearing and saw a
crowd of boys around her brother Geoff and their dog.

Ashley pushed her way into the crowd. She heard Geoff
say something, some boys laughed, and she arrived at the circle
just in time to see Bobby Dunkirk push Geoff to the ground.

Bobby was ten compared to Geoff's eight. Bobby was
not just bigger and older, but meaner.

Geoff saw Ashley step into the circle.

Bobby noticed her too.

Almost thirteen, Ash stood two heads taller than most
of the assembled boys, granting her instant authority.

Bobby scowled at Geoff, preparing a nasty remark in
his head. Most likely something to do with Geoff's needing to have
his big sister defend him.

Before the words left Bobby's mouth, Geoff punched
him in the stomach.

Geoff seemed to be holding his own and would be
embarrassed in Ashley stepped in. She gestured for Jack, the
beagle, to come to her.

Jack trotted over but periodically glanced over his
shoulder at Bobby and Geoff, ready to attack again, at the least
provocation.

Ashley rubbed his head, calming him down, but he
could only be distracted for a few moments at a time. Mostly, he
stared at Bobby.

Bobby caught his breath, straightened up and took a
menacing step toward Geoff.

"You deserved it," Geoff said, standing his
ground.

Geoff wasn’t crying or emotionally distraught.

He stared Bobby in the eye.

Bobby didn’t back down either, "You started it."

"I did not!" Geoff replied. "You were chasing my
dog!"

"I wasn't hurting him!"

"I didn't hurt you, until you pushed me down."

As the dispute had devolved to petty bickering,
Ashley stepped in and held up her hands, "Stop," she said
softly.

They did.

"Now shake hands like gentlemen," she ordered,
smiling just a little.

Bobby had always liked Ashley.

All the boys in their neighborhood knew and liked
her. She was one of the few girls that came down to the canyon and
happily joined in their adventures.

Ballet pulled her away a bit more often of late, but
Ash and Bobby and Geoff, and most of the boys present, had known
each other most of their lives. Ashley was also beautiful, and as
she grew older, her beauty seemed only to become magnified.

Bobby folded. He smiled at Geoff, and they shook
hands. Bobby laughed and based on his smirk, was preparing a
sarcastic remark.

"Hold on," Ash said, raising a hand.

"What?" Bobby asked, the grin fading from his
face.

Ash knelt next to the puppy. She scratched his ear,
but Jack never took his eyes off Bobby.

"His name is Jack. You need to apologize to him
too."

"Ha!" Bobby laughed.

"It's a small world," Ash said, remembering Mrs.
Rabier's lecture. "There's no room for people carrying around
grudges. You're going to apologize, you're going to mean it, and
you're going to shake on it. I don't want him worried that maybe
you don't like him. Unless you're scared."

Bobby rolled his eyes. He was tense, perhaps afraid
of the rambunctious dog, Ash knew the Dunkirk's owned a cat. If she
could get Bobby and Jack to get along, that would be for the
best.

“I don’t want him to go crazy every time he sees
you,” she explained.

Bobby knelt in front of Jack, and in a rare moment of
forced maturity, said, "Sorry for chasing you around like that." He
stretched out his hand. "Shake on it?"

Jack rolled his head to a side, glancing from Ashley
to Bobby, and sensing it was okay, raised a paw, putting it in
Bobby's hand.

Bobby smiled and rubbed Jack's head.

The beagle barked, his tail wagging, and tackled
Bobby onto the ground, where they wrestled a bit. Bobby played with
Jack’s ears and the beagle rolled against the boy’s arms. Bobby
climbed to his feet laughing, while Jack bounced around the smiling
kids.

From the edge of the circle, an older voice made
itself heard. "Goddamn, Bobby, you are such a bitch! I'm
embarrassed you're my brother."

The kids spun as if of one mind.

Bobby's older brother Evan stood on a nearby rise. He
was fourteen and had hit his growth spurt early. With one foot on
his hoverboard, he towered over the other kids. He looked big
enough to play for the varsity punch-ball team. Two of his friends
stood with him.

"You let a girl make you apologize to a dog? What the
hell? Didn't I teach you better than that? Are you wearing
panties?"

"What... It's just..." Bobby mumbled.

"I asked you a question!" Evan snapped. "I said, Are
you wearing panties?"

"No, What... Screw you, Evan."

Even slid down the slope, piloting his board to a
stop directly in front of his brother.

“How could you?” he asked.

Bobby flinched as Evan raised an arm overhead, as if
to hit him. The blow didn't come. Evan seemed satisfied with the
flinch.

Evan looked at Ashley. "Who the hell do you think you
are?"

"Your brother was being a dick," Ashley answered. "I
see it runs in the family."

The kids gasped and held their breath.

“I'm a dick? I'll show you some dick." Evan stepped
onto his board, walking it toward Ashley.

As soon as he was within range, Ashley kicked the
hoverboard out from under him.

He crashed to the ground and a moment later,
scrambled back up to his feet.

Ashley had already taken a couple of steps back, out
of range.

She and Evan stared each other down.

He hesitated.

Ash picked up Jack's leash from where it lay in the
clearing and handed it to Geoff. "Put this back on Jack," she
said.

Geoff nodded, took the leash and secured it to Jack's
collar.

Jack stared at Evan, growling quietly.

Evan hadn't taken his eyes off Ashley and continued
to glare.

"Come on, we have to get home for dinner," Ash
said.

As she and Geoff walked Jack from the clearing,
Ashley noticed several smiles and nods aimed in her direction.

Behind them, Ash heard Evan turn his ire on his
brother. "What the hell is wrong with you, Bobby? Letting a girl
boss you around like that?"

Then they were too far away to hear any more.

Ashley and Geoff led Jack into the low-walled patio
section of the property. Ash released the clip from Jack's collar
and hung the leash on its peg inside. She saw her school bag on one
of the chairs inside the front door. Most likely her father was
home, in his study. Usually he'd appear for dinner and then leave
again until well after midnight. She waved to her mom in the
kitchen and went upstairs to wash.

On the back patio, Geoff wrestled with Jack and
scratched his ears.

From inside, his Mom said, "Get in here and get
cleaned up."

Jack followed Geoff into the house only to be chased
back outside. The puppy sat on the other side of the glass, panting
and fogging the pane.

Dr. Fox carried a file to the table as his wife
chased Geoff into the nearby bathroom, attacking the task of
cleaning the boy's face and arms. Fox thumbed through a top-secret
logistics brief, his left hand resting on the Micronix device.

A few minutes later, Ana returned with Geoffrey,
placed the last of the dishes on its wicker mat and looked
upstairs. She took a deep breath to call for Ashley.

"I'll get her," Dr. Fox said. Before he cleared his
chair, Ashley appeared at the top of the stairs and came down. She
took her seat and noticed the black rectangle sitting before her
father.

"What's that?" she asked.

"Work," he replied. “A paperweight.”

Despite its near constant presence, it was rare that
Andrew let his children catch a glimpse of the device. Neither of
them had ever asked about it before.

Dr. Fox looked at both his children. "Don't ever,
ever, touch this. Not under any circumstances. Is that
understood?"

Ashley and Geoff nodded. Geoffrey looked at the
device. He looked as if he was going to reach out for it, but
didn't.

Their mother returned and began serving the meal.
Geoffrey started shoveling food into his mouth. Ana finished
serving and sat. Neither Ashley nor her father moved toward the
food. Ashley had noticed that when he had something to say, he
usually did it before he began eating.

Ana broke the ice. "There's something we've been
talking about…"

Ashley tilted her head and looked at her father.

Dr. Fox met his daughter's gaze, "I've arranged for
you to attend a special camp this summer."

Ash asked to attend the Wellstone ballet camp and had
her heart set on it. Summer programs were a great way to get
familiar with the academy, making it easier to get accepted
later.

Her father had said
he’d think about it
, an
answer recognized by kids everywhere as synonymous with
No
.

"It may interrupt your ballet training for a couple
of weeks," he said, "but Sifu Pan's Flying Dragons Martial Arts
Academy is having a camp you should attend. Several of the
instructors are accomplished dancers. The cross-training will help
you with your ballet."

"Not as much as ballet camp would.”

Her mother smiled but didn’t say anything.

“Plus, I could get hurt," Ashley pointed out.

"You could get hurt dancing," her father
countered.

"I bet more people get hurt fighting.”

Ashley's mother laughed.

Ashley looked at her food, her jet-black locks
concealing her face. She raised her head, and her looked back to
her father. "What if Geoff wants to take Kung Fu when he's older,
does he have to take ballet too?"

Dr. Fox had raised his fork but set it down again.
"Yes."

"Wait, what?" Geoffrey asked.

"If he asks to study martial arts, then yes, that
aggression should be balanced by a softer art. Maybe not dance, but
music or oil painting, something for balance," Dr. Fox
answered.

"But that's not why you're making me take these
classes, for balance?"