Savage Impulses - Story: A New Life

Savage Impulses

Story: A New Life - Chapter 13
Tuesday, 25-Apr-2000 21:52:29
207.193.123.243 writes:

Whew! This story is becoming longer than I had anticipated. The plot thickens for our on again/off again superheroine in this installment. Again, I want to thank everyone who's read this, and also those of you who post comments.

The area around Earth contains many objects, orbiting at different speeds, placed there for different reasons. Most were satellites - communication, weather, entertainment, though more than a few are for reasons classified far beyond the average's citizen's knowledge. Interstellar debris, picked up by the planet's gravitational pull, makes up most of the rest.

But the object that deftly slid into orbit around Earth was not of Terran manufacture. It's technology made even the most sophisticated spy satellite seem like a mere child's toy. It made its way smoothly in-between the various objects, invisible to all forms of detection available to the inhabitants of the beautiful blue-green world below. Its sleek black shape then began descending into the Earth's atmosphere, the massive amount of heat being easily dissipated around the object by way of some form of shielding that surrounded it. Down and down it dropped, smooth as glass. It passed quickly and silently over the landscape, penetrating deeper into the interior of the continent known as North America. The shape then began to slow, descending further towards the ground, over an uninhabited area in the far northeastern section of Wyoming. It glided over a lone farmhouse - - even the people within the small structure were unaware of its passage.

It finally landed in a field. It settled down on its extended landing struts, like a sleek, black-hulled beetle. A section of the craft opened up, allowing a shaft of pale light to escape from within. Motion could be detected as shadows were thrown against the light. Suddenly a figure began to descend the extended ramp. It moved with a grace and elegance that belied its large size. It stopped when it reached a small mound of dried-up dirt. It then bent down, reaching out with a gloved hand to touch the dirt, squeezing a bit between two long, graceful, incredibly strong fingers. Another figure, the physical equal of the first, came up from behind. "This is the place?", it asked in a husky voice.

"Yes.", replied the first. "She did land here. Now all we need to know is her present location." The figure stood back up on its long legs and followed the second figure back up the ramp of the sleek spacecraft.

Sarah, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes, looked at the clock sitting atop the small inn-table next to her head. 'Almost seven....', her mind stated. 'And it's Thursday. Big day ahead of me. I've got to get up and get to work - and give Andrew "the story of a lifetime".' With that, she pushed herself out of bed and began her morning rituals of getting around for work.

An hour later she was sitting at her desk in The Denver Post's office building, going over some of the stories that Ms. Wayne wanted followed up on. There were several there that she could do, but one in particular caught the journalist's attention. It was an assignment to cover another press conference for Mr. Harris. A sour feeling began settling in Sarah's stomach as she read through the concise report. It stated that, just yesterday, his court date had been set for his case of hostile business practices and embezzlement. The press conference scheduled for around ten tomorrow morning was for Mr. Harris and his attorney to field questions about this whole affair.

Sarah had some more personal questions she wanted answered, as well. Such as why he had, apparently, hired two thugs to scare her from doing any more stories about him. Why her, in particular? She (and The Denver Post, as well) had never made covering his business practices a priority. The most she had done was to call out questions - like most other reporters in town - to him during press conferences, such as this upcoming one. She thought that this might make for a convenient way to question him - in private, of course, since neither she nor Andrew had mae the two thugs' attack on them public. In fact, they had not even told Lana about it. Besides, once the editor-in-chief had found out that Andrew was going to interview Denver's new super heroine, this potential blockbuster story was all she could talk about.

'I think I'll take this one.' She removed the assignment paperwork from the rest and walked into Ms. Wayne's corner office. Her boss was on the telephone; Sarah could hear the strain in Lana's voice as she tried explaining something or other to the party on the other end.

"No, that's just the point! This is MY exclusive, Bob. I let you know about it out of the kindness of my heart, not to let you send your own journalists out there to harass this woman." A pause. "That's up to her if she wants to talk to anyone else - she specifically asked for mine." A shorter pause. "No, not Sarah Carter. I thought that a bit odd, as well, but that's none of your business anyway." She rolled her eyes. "All right, Bob, I'll make sure to have him ask. Okay, bye." She hung up the phone and shook her head, muttering something about "nosy competitors" before looking up to see her star journalist standing there. "Hi, Sarah. That was Bob Wilmouth, from the Denver Mercury. He wanted to send one of his people to meet with our resident green superwoman. I told him that we had exclusive rights to this interview. But enough of that, what can I do for you?"

As Sarah put forth her request to cover Michael Harris' conference tomorrow morning, a part of her mind dwelled on that half-heard phone conversation. This was something else she should have realized might happen. She wanted to give an interview to Andrew - both because she wanted to help his career, and because she really liked him. But it was obvious that Lana, along with the other news agencies in the city, wouldn't want to leave it at that. Suddenly her Gammonian persona was being treated like a commodity, with the winner having "exclusive rights" to print her answers. This made her a bit irritated, but Sarah knew that she shouldn't let it get to her. This was a new event, having someone with obvious superpowers living in your vacinity. She did own a slight advantage, in oen regard, on the the upcoming interview. Andrew had come to her the previous afternoon, wanting help on questions he would ask his large, jade-hued guest. So Sarah had a hand in his questions, which made them much easier for her to answer them in ways that wouldn't point to her own life.

"Okay, Sarah. I was going to give that one to Gerald, but if you want it you can have it. Not Pulitzer Prize material, to be sure, but still a good cover."

Sarah thanked Lana and exited the editor's office, walking back down to her own area. She sat down in her chair and gazed out the windows. As each hour passed, she became a little less sure of herself for this park-side interview. Oh, she was sure that Andrew would do a great job in playing his journalistic role. He had the qualities of a star reporter in him, if he could just get past some of his anxiety. In a way, that was one of the things that attracted her about him. He was not at all sure of himself, and allowed his nervousness when around her to spill out a bit - to the point of clumsiness at times. But he was gallant in his own way, always kind to her and the others in the office, and was smart and professional otherwise.

No, it wasn't Andrew that she was becoming increasingly concerned about. It was her own performance that had Sarah worried. She had to present her green self as differently from this self as she could, but without going overboard. She had tried to shape Andrew's questioning to aid her as much as possible for this reason, but she wasn't positive if he would follow her guidelines or not. There might be some awkward questions that she wouldn't be prepared for, which would make her look bad to the public.

'Listen to yourself, Sarah. "Bad to the public." You're thinking just like Lana! Since when did you care what the public thought of you? You have made your share of critics here in Denver; have you let their opinions shape your actions? Why would this be any different?' "Right", she whispered out-loud. That bit of personal advive had served her well in the past - - she hoped it would continue to do so. She looked at her watch. Its small, thin metal hands told her that it was almost nine. Time to get a little work done before meeting up with Andrew, for what might prove to be a very interesting interview.....

The shrill ring of Sarah's phone made her jump in her seat and type a few garbled words into her computer. Frowning, she picked up the receiver. Who could this be? "Hello?"

Her blue-gray eyes lit up when she heard the light tones of the person on the opposite end of the line. "Sarah! Oh, it's so great to hear your voice!" It was her "sister", Dana Carter. "Why haven't we heard from you lately? What have you been up to? Oh, never mind. I have so much to talk to you about. Greg is home from work for the next several days, and said that he wouldn't mind watching Jimmy for a while. So I decided to fly out here to Colorado and visit with you for a day or so! I'm here at the airport, and I'm about ready to catch a cab to my hotel. How about we meet for lunch?"

"Well, I'm not sure that lunch is a very good idea today, Dana."

"How about a late lunch? Since Portland is an hour behind Denver, I won't be quite ready to eat lunch until late, anyway. How's one o'clock sound?"

Sarah's mind began doing some calculations. She was figuring in the interview starting around eleven-thirty-or-so. If she wrapped it up around noon, she would have enough time to change back and go pick up Dana from her hotel for lunch. "Sure, Dana, that sounds great. Which hotel are you staying at, anyway?"

"Oh, the Bredford Inn. It's a bit expensive, but has great rooms."

"Tell you what. If you don't mind sleeping on a pull-out couch for a couple of nights, how about you staying at my apartment and save some money?"

"Are you sure I won't be a burden, Sarah? I mean, I do snore at night - you can as Greg!" Sarah heard Dana's rich laughter through the fiber-optic connection, and she had to laugh, as well. Dana's laugh always had that affect on her.

"Don't be silly, Dana! I'd love to have you over!"

"Perfect!", Dana's melodic voice rang through the phone's earpiece. "I'll see you then. We have SO much to catch up on, don't we sis? Bye-bye, and I'll see you at one!"

Sarah heard the line click, and she hung up her phone. This was an unexpected surprise. But then, surprises often were. She hadn't realized how much she missed some semblance of her surrogate family until Dana had called. She was the only sister that she had talked to. The older one, Rebecca, hadn't talked to her since Sarah had been introduced to her. She never could figure out just what the older woman didn't like about her. But Dana was a different story. They had gotten along wonderfully, and Sarah still considered her a sister, even though she (and no one else) knew of her true, extraterrestrial heritage.

That reminded her of something. She would have to talk to Xris and tell him not to say anything while her guest was visiting. That would definitely bring up some questions that she would rather not answer....

Andrew looked at his watch; seeing that it was only two minutes since the last time he had checked, he shifted in the park bench and crossed his legs. Those two minutes had felt like an hour. 'Relax....', he instructed himself, focusing on taking deep, slow breaths. 'She said she'd be here around lunchtime, and it's just now 12:17. Plenty of time.... Just keep telling yourself that.' Andrew hoped that he hadn't misheard her, or that she had changed her mind without telling him.

Just then he heard a solid "THUMP" come from behind his bench, and he straightened up to turn around to look.

"Hello there, handsome.", a familiar, sexy-sounding voice purred.

An instant smile came to his face, even though his insides were very rapidly turning to jell-o. "H - Hello, uhh, miss. Uhmm - - what would you like for me to call you?"

Sarah sat her green form down onto the bench at a comfortable distance from her fellow journalist. She wasn't wearing her usual outfit; she had done some shopping at the mall the day before and had picked out some clothing for this interview. Although she had felt a little abashed at buying clothing that were many sizes bigger (and the wrong sex) than her five-foot-six frame, she did feel more comfortable now. She had decided on a men's casual light-blue shirt and men's khaki pants (though the size that fit her best around her hips and waist only went two-thirds down her curved, firm green calves). Sarah had also found a pair of men's leather sandals that felt pretty comfortable, it a bit snug in the toes. There hadn't been any women's underwear in the size she had gueesed herself at now, so she had to forgo that bit of modesty.

"Jane would be just fine.", Sarah responded.

"As in 'Jane Doe', eh? I get it. My name's Andrew Peters." He offered her his hand, and she took it. He reveled at how strong her hand felt, yet how supple and warm her emerald skin really was. Andrew looked down at his notepad, gathering as much composure as he could muster. "We'll get to a few personal details later, if we have time. I guess the most important thing that I would like to ask you is this: why did you decide to become a heroine, as a lot of people are calling you?"

Sarah smiled at Andrew's signs of forthrightness. This was a side of him that she also liked, and wished he'd show a little more often. "That's a very good question, Andrew. I guess my answer is that I just got tired of seeing people in trouble and in need, and not receiving any help. I thought that I could be one that could give them assistance they so desperately desire. I wish that I could be everywhere at once, so that I could help more people. But, even with my powers, that's just not possible. I hope your readers can understand this, and not give up hope." Sarah gave out a sight that was only partly for her friend's benefit. "The place I originally came from was a place of severe restrictions; free thought and action, while not exactly banned, were not widely encouraged, either. When I came here to Denver, I wanted to try my best to make the difference here that I could not back home." Which was very close to the truth.

"And where is your original home, Jane?"

Sarah ran the tip of her dark-green tongue around the outside of her white teeth in thought, keeping her mouth closed. "Hmm... A question I didn't help him with, but a very good one, nevertheless. Should I tell him the truth?' "Well, I don't know if you or your readers would belive me if I told you. But I can tell you this. Just before I moved here, I lived in a small community in Wyoming."

Andrew let out a laugh that surprised Sarah. "Hahaha! Yes, Wyoming IS pretty restrictive, isn't it? I know that's not what you meant, but I had to laugh." His face lost its joviality as a look of melancholy crossed his guest's attractive green face. "I"m sorry if I offended you, Jane. Th - That's not what I intended, but I am known to do ill-timed things like that."

Sarah shook her head, brushing some of her thick hair from her eyes. "No, no, that's quite alright. It wasn't what you said. I - - I don't really like thinking about this."

"I understand, Jane. My friend from The Post, Sarah, said she used to live out there somewhere, too. She lost both of her parents within less than a year from each other. She also doesn't like talking about it often. Did something traumatic like that happen to you?"

"You could say that, yes. I lost my whole family in one accidnet." Sarah wanted to get off this topic - and fast. "But enough of my problems. I doubt you came here to hear me whine about the past. Say, why don't you ask me about - ?"

She suddenly stopped, seeing something over Andrew's tall shoulder. 'Oh, no! That's Dana over there! What's she doing here?? I wasn't supposed to meet her for lunch until one!' She hadn't seen them yet, but Sarah knew she'd have to act quickly. "Andrew, I'm sorry to cut this off early, but sometlhing has just come up. I'm very sorry. I'll be in touch with you to reschedule this interview, if you'd like."

"Oh, yes, I understand, ummm, Jane. You go off and do what you have to. It's okay - I really do understand."

Sarah's heart fell a bit at the expression of dissapointment that settled upon Andrew's face. She leaned over and planted her soft, full, dark-green lips on his cheek, giving him a quick but meangingful (to her, at least) peck. "Thank you very much, Andrew. You're a sweet guy. If you have a girlfriend or wife, she's one luck girl." Sarah stood up and bounded off into the woods, unaware that Andrew watched her until she had disappeared from his sight.

"Actually, I'm single at the moment....", he whispered. He sighed and slumped back against the park bench. 'It's just not my luck. That's two beautiful, intellegent young women that I've had the priviledge of knowing, and I've struck out with both. Andrew, maybe you're just destined to be lonely.' He looked over to see a woman sitting down on the other side of the bench. She gave him a polite smile, which he returned as best he could.

They sat there for almost ten minutes in silence. Finally Andrew asked, "Are you waiting for someone, miss?"

The woman nodded. "Yes, I'm supposed to meet my sister in a bit, and I thought I'd take a rest first. She works for The Denver Post. Hey, there she is!"

Andrew turned his head to see Sarah Carter (now wearing her regular outfit) walking towards them. "Hi, Dana!", she called out. "How long have you been waiting here? I thought I was going to meet you at the hotel?"

"I know, but I decided to come out here and enjoy this wonderful park for a while."

Sarah looked at Andrew, a questioning look coming over her face. "Andy, is your interview finished already?"

He shook his head. "Jane said that something had come up, and I didn't have a chance to finish it."

"Oh, I'm so sorry. Did she say she'd be back to finish it soon?" He nooded. "Good, because she seems like such a decent person. I'm sure that wherever she had to go, it was very important to her." He nodded again, still looking somewhat crestfallen. Sarah knew how much this had meant to him. She knelt down and kissed his cheek (the one she hadn't kissed before, as her green self). "I know how much this interview meant to you, Andy. Would you like to join my sister and I for lunch? Maybe the company of two spunky women can cheer you up a little. Is that okay with you, Dana?"

"Sure, that sounds great. Just watch youself, Andrew. We two Carter sisters have been known to bee too much for one guy to handle, right Sarah?" The two women giggled teasingly, Dana throwing the male journalst a sly wink. Andrew had to smile and shake his head. "Just so you know what you're getting into. Okay, let's depart - I, for one, am starving!"

The three people all stood up and left the park bench behind, unaware of the three pairs of eyes that had been watching them the whole time. One pair belonged to Harry McHenry. He had been tipped off by an editor of one of the Post's rivals, and had been hoping to get a sensational story for his magazine. But "Jane" had left early, leaving him with no more information that the Post journalist had. He soon left when he saw Sarah meet up with her two friends. "Nothing left to get here.", he muttered under his breath.

The other two pairs belonged to two well-hiden individuals on the other side of the bench from Harry's hiding spot. They had seen not only the three by the bench, but had picked up Harry, as well. They, too, wanted information - and, by their expressions of resolution, they had obviously found out exactly what they wanted......

To be continued

Terry