Once A Wolf Ch. 10

The nimble littleRSX Type S pulled into the parking structure on Orange Grove Avenue. Typical for this time of evening, the place was jammed. BetweenElephant Bar, Islands,and theAMC 16 Multiplex – not to mention all the businesses along adjacent San Fernando Road - you just couldn'tget a space in here, or its companion garage across the street. Parking the newly-rechristenedAurorain geo-stationary orbit,cloaked, had been easier. The magnificent blonde had realized then she was famished – and had already promised herself a decent cheeseburger.

She had crossed through the portal into her apartment, peeled off her bloody fatigues, showered, did a little makeup (it always amazed her how a little thing like that could make a girl feel like a million bucks), then fluffed her hair with the blow dryer. She slipped into something comfortable – jeans, Nikes, and her favorite "I Run With The Big Dogs" T-shirt, then gotten into her car and hurried over. She wondered, briefly if she should have worn something a little snazzier for her first night back. Nah, why bother? In this town, who would notice?

Fortune smiles on the foolish. She had taken a chance on the garage and was rewarded. Coming around the near turn on the second level, she nearly collided with a minivan backing out of its space. The family within had no doubt just enjoyedA Shark's Tale and was now on their way home. She bade them Godspeed, then zipped into the beckoning slot.

Upon exiting the coupe, Giselle once again admired the Acura's clean lines. She liked the car, its elegant simplicity and stunning performance –and, it was a Honda product. Around here, you couldn't throw a stone in any direction without hitting one. For now, she would revel in that added layer of anonymity. That was why she had returned to Burbank instead of going home to Chicago after so many years. Here, she was just another six-foot Blonde in Tinseltown. Anyway, she already had an apartment here, a life – such as it was. Until she could reunite with the one who meant more to her than Life itself, this existence would have to suffice. For now, Giselle would justblend in – and attempt to shut out the horror of the last few days.

*****

Sadie had been in constant communication with '1jb' - nowAurora- since taking control of the Praetor's console. Adapting to the command systems of the great starship was merely an extension of what she had already accomplished with the master console. She had brought the disrupters online and aimed them dead-center at Arcturus Prime's capital city. At the end, she had uplinked herself to the starship's mainframe, then used its personnel portal to whisk Giselle aboard with seconds to spare. Even as the S.A.D.M. was laying waste to the Control Chamber and planetary shields, Sadie was firing the main disrupter bank to administer thecoup de grace.

Giselle had watched dispassionately as Arcturus Prime died. She could imagine those tens of billions of 'civilized' beings crying out in horror and... utter astonishment, to have been beaten at their own game by a semi-civilized savage, her mate, her laptop computer – and the Arcturans' own ultra-modern, ultra-lethal weapon of mass destruction, of which they had lost control.

She tried not to imagine the hundreds of billions of others, over countless centuries, whom the Arcturans had callously erased in the name of 'entertainment'. She idly wondered how many Arcturans, when faced with their own death, had been perverse enough to cum – and how many had simply peed their pants.Jerk THAT, you bastards!Lorelei had never been intended to lay waste to an entire race or planet?Sue me! Say hello to the new, improved Lorelei 2.0 –Planetary annihilatance.

Upon arrival in Earth orbit, Giselle had one final duty to discharge. Using the portal's time displacement capability, she would arrange a series of 'visitations'. First, she would greet an astonished little boy who, moments before, had been peeing in the North Woods. Next would come a badly burned Ranger lieutenant. She would scoop him out of Haiphong harbor, where he had been blown by the force of the first exploding gasoline drum. Finally, she would chat with a soon-to-be-beautiful spy, just coming into her own. Giselle would tell each of them a story – at least, their part in it.

The lieutenant would require medical care; a very special 'inoculation'. She would then send him back to Japan. Dr. Hatsumi and Mike's surrogate 'family' would welcome him home, care for him whileLoreleihealed his body. At the same time, he would have to face the most difficult phase of his mission and life.Lorelei would change him in other ways, ways few men ever contemplate.

Certainly,Lorelei'sdesigners had never considered the effect of their powerful mutagenic agent on a person born with Klinefelter's Syndrome. The extra X chromosome Mike Blair carried within his genetic matrix had a bizarre 'wild card' effect on theLorelei process. He survived his 'inoculation' – at the price of his gender. He –she– would be strong enough to deal with that, knowing it was that transformation that would enable her to infiltrate The Tournament and wreak a bloody vengeance no other human could.

At last, 'Giselle René Du Mont' would return to the United States. She would re-join her old world in a new identity and capacity and secure the position withProject Lorelei. Then, she would take the fateful injection that would, among other powers, enable her to morph at will. Lorelei's originators had made that ability the showcase of the project; the 'ultimate Stealth technology'. She had been testing the limits of her morphing ability when her spirit guide had first manifested itself in physical form, causing Swifty Pike such shock and awe.

Finally, Giselle established herself in the apartment in Burbank, within the urban swell of Los Angeles – The City of Angels. Thus, she would be in the right place at the right time, where the Arcturans would find her – exactly whereher 'angel' had told her they would look. At that time, she would have exactly the right skills and tools to get the job done. Her angel had made certain of that, too.

*****

Giselle had wanted to contact Geoffreyfirst thing;tell him she was home and safe, how much she loved him and wanted nothing more in life than to be with him. With her laptop gone – left behind on The Arena - she had been unable to e-mail him right away. She had a desktop computer in her apartment, but it was in her closet, not even hooked up. She had used her laptop exclusively since purchasing it. Besides, there was that pesky eight-hour time zone difference. He likely wouldn't check his e-mail until morning, anyway.

She would return home after dinner, plug the older system back in, and send the most important electronic message of her life. She would have to tell himeverything,but not over the Internet or phone; he deserved better. She would want to do that in person. Then, he could make an informed decision about the future of their relationship. She prayed he would still feel the same for her after she told him.

She skipped down the stairs and enteredFuddruckers through the promenade entrance. She had been looking forward to this for aweek. What a break; for once, there was no line. OK, she would splurge; the half-pound Bacon-Cheddar burger, with fries – and one of Fuddies' signature chocolate shakes, the kind you had to eat with a spoon. She already had the ten-dollar bill in her hand when she stepped up to the counter.

"Gina", as the nametag read, was futzing around with something below counter level. She straightened up and... you couldfeelthe shock radiate from her, as though she had been physically struck.

"W-w-welcome to F-F-Fud...rucker's. C-can I t-take y-y-your order?"

Giselle calmly placed her order, added a smile, and handed the girl the ten-dollar bill. The flustered order taker managed a weak smile of her own and handed the Blonde her change and the little coaster-thingy that would light up and buzz when the order was ready.

Giselle picked up her shake at the bakery/confectionary counter, then went to find a table. The big wood-and-plaster room with its stuffed-to-the-gills Rock 'n Roll memorabilia felt comforting. The Elvis booth was available. Aw, what the Hell? She walked up the short flight of stairs and across the room, placed her shake on the table, slid around the semi-circular red vinyl bench and gratefully leaned back against the high rear cushion.

The exhausted woman was troubled by Gina's reaction. It wasn't like Giselle was some big-time Hollywood star. Burbank was pretty blasé about that anyway. People in 'The Business' frequented stores and restaurants in this townevery day. Hell, she herself had once run into Julian McMahon from Nip/Tuck in CompUSA! As far as Gina was concerned, the tall Blonde should be just another nobody like her. What had spooked the girl? Giselle glanced down at her T-shirt with its dated pop-culture legend and decided she should have put on something a little more presentable after all. She didn't even want to think about it – or anything else – anymore. The glad-to-be-ex-warrior just closed her eyes and let her mind drift....

"Giselle? Giselle? I have your cheeseburger."

Her eyes flew open, even as her body jerked bolt-upright. Gina jumped back, nearly dropping the serving basket. The coaster-thingy was merrily vibrating across the tabletop, lights blinking. Giselle quickly flashed a reassuring smile.

"I'm sorry I startled you. I must have dozed off."

The girl stepped forward again, placing the basket on the edge of the table and sliding it forward gingerly. She then carefully lay a few dollar bills and coins on the tabletop.

"That's OK. If anybody deserves a little shut-eye, it's you. The Manager asked me to give you your money back. This one's on us."

"Uh... thank you."

"No, thankyou, from all of us, for –everything."

Gina had been thorough. She had added slices of tomato, onion and pickles to the side of the plate, plus the little paper cups of ketchup, mustard, and mayonnaise from the condiments bar. Giselle plopped a slice of tomato, a few pickles and some mustard on her burger, picked it up, and took a bite. She chewed thoughtfully. Which had surprised her more? That she had dozed off? That the girl had brought her order to the table? Or that she had called Giselle by name? The concerned blonde had areally bad feeling about this.

The televisions were on; all of them. Each was tuned to a different network, but the story was the same. It was all about The Tournament. Every network anchor, plus all the correspondents and studio analysts, were hashing, re-hashing, and re-re-hashing the details. There were video clips and sound bites, too; Giselle and Geoffrey together, their battles with the Golganthans, her demolition of the ant, Leatherface and the Raptors, plus Geoffrey's duel with the Night Stalkers (the latter two via night-vision imaging), the ambushes in the forest, the final showdown with the Praetor and Arcturan warriors in the Control Chamber, even a from-space shot of Arcturus Prime shattering.

The Arcturans had had a macabre sense of the theatrical. Earth was transmissions-capable? Fine; enjoy the show! The signal from Arcturus had hit Earth's network of communications satellites even as Giselle arrived on The Arena. It had overwhelmed the native protocols and repeated the feed to all ground stations and receivers. The Arcturan feed had flooded the airwaves and cable networks, being broadcast on every channel. In a final, ghastly bit of showmanship,Aurora's trans-portal signal had added the final exclamation point to the tale. It had even transmitted the 'follow-up', where she had confronted her former selves and set them on the path towards the fate that awaited them all. The television analysts were still trying to fathom the explanation for the second signal, convinced as they were Giselle had died along with Arcturus Prime itself.

Giselle realized Geoff had had no idea of what was going on before he arrived on The Arena because, by his own admission, he had been locked away in his room, studying for finalswith the TV off. In the ultimate Survivor-meets-Big-Brother nightmare, everyone within range of a television set had been able to watch every thrilling, bloody, sordid detail; the battles, intimate moments, sex, superhuman powers, incarnation of her lupine spirit guide, even the final revelation of her origins, spoken from her own lips!

And watch, they had. It wasn't the number-one topic of conversation; it was theonly topic of conversation - on every television program and radio talk show, as well as at every marketplace, bar, restaurant, beauty shop, street corner and water cooler on the planet. Every place except this one; no one inFuddruckers on San Fernando Road in beautiful downtown Burbank was watching television this night. Instead, every astonished eye was glued on one of the planet's two newest, brightest 'stars', clad in her ironic 'I Run With The Big Dogs' T-shirt, sitting in their midst, watching TV and eating her cheeseburger. Giselle feltreallyuncomfortable.

"Well, I guess this will take some of the heat off Paris Hilton," she mused sadly.

"Geoffrey The Warrior" had become an unqualified hero. It was already speculated the machinery was in motion to have him succeed his grandmother directly. The plans to award him his nation's highest military honor were stalled on a minor technicality; he was not yet an official member of the armed forces. That issue was being hammered out in Commons that very week. Once the special exception was passed, the awards ceremony would be scheduled with alacrity. Giselle was happy for that, and him. He certainly deserved that honor, and more.

Her own reviews were more guarded – and mixed. On the one hand, people were grateful to have had this 'superweapon' there to protect them. On the other, they were uncomfortable it existed at all. This...thinghad once been human? The 'Terminator' mindset was deeply embedded into Humankind's collective consciousness. Now, here the deadly device was, come to life. Worse, 'Sky Net' existed as well, in the form of Sadie. Worst of all, the pair had access to the nation's nuclear arsenal, just like in the movies! ThatLorelei was a 'biological', not a cyborg, made no difference to them whatsoever. How many more of these 'time bombs' were still out there, ticking?

Using the Freedom of Information act, reporters had dug up everything they could on her past life in the military. When the nameWolfensurfaced, the tabloids went off like a bomb, trumpeting the Pentagon's top-secret "werewolf warriors". In the end, one older, more fundamental human prejudice eclipsed all others; 'Giselle'had been aTranny....

ThenHollywood Tonight had aired. Well, why not? The show must go on. Dottie O'Reilly blathered on inanely, as she always does. This time, the focus was on the titillating Hollywood-style romantic aspects of the Giselle-Geoffrey tryst. A parallel to Hugh Grant and Divine Brown was drawn. Giselle could feel her skin crawl.Poor Geoff! After everything else his family had endured in the last ten years, this was thelast thing they needed!

Then had come the latest blockbuster from Hollywood. Mark Burrell, the King of Reality TV, was hard at work developing his own version of The Tournament. NBS had already picked up the broadcast rights, sight unseen. It would premier in January, immediately after the Super Bowl. Giselle threw down her burger in disgust.Bread and circuses!She stared at her plate, wondering if she would ever be hungry again. Whatever her personal feelings, she realized there was now a very compelling reason to leavenothingof her behind in the restaurant. She looked up, caught the eye of one of the people behind the counter, and signaled for a carry-out container.

This was acomplete disaster. The Arcturans had reached out from the grave and ripped her heart out. The Tournament had done far more than thrill its earthbound audience. Like it or not, it had also been ade facto showcase for the full spectrum ofLorelei's combat capabilities. The 'weapon that did not exist'did now –and everyone on Earthknewit. Giselle knew with grim certainty, Earth would soon learn this most bizarre weapon of mass destruction hadcome home.The Pentagon would want it back – and so would every other government on Earth.

Geoff was a target now, just as she was. She hadn't foreseen that when she infused him, but she hadn't foreseenanyof this. Thanks to his 'inoculation', he would have much improved strength, speed, agility and audial-visual acuity, not to mention his self-regenerative ability, magnificent physique and endowment. Apparently, he also had her reflexive responses and fighting skills, born of a lifetime of combat training.Race Memory.Giselle just shook her head. He wouldnothave the full range of her capabilities, including her ability to morph. That came only from the administration of theLoreleiserum itself.

Giselle was the only one to realize the key to surviving theLorelei transformation was to approach it in two steps; first, the 'inoculation', provided by aLoreleicarrier's antibodies, then administration of the serum itself. In the convoluted logic that was time travel, she had been her own antibodies donor. Geoffrey had been the first 'outsider' to survive intact, which merely strengthened her premise.

All written material dealing with the formula had been destroyed, under orders. All that remained was the copy Sadie had guarded on Giselle's laptop, which was gone, and the companion copy on the desktop computer in her apartment. No one would know with certainty she had retained a copy, but they certainly would not rule out the possibility.

Theydidknow she and Geoff were sources for theLorelei matrix. In SpySpeak, that made them 'commodities' that might yet be harvested. It would be her job to see that never happened – to either of them. If Giselle had her way, no other human being would ever,everbe subjected toLorelei'ssiren song.

Gone was any possibility Giselle would be able to 'blend in' with the general population. She would now be stalked, hunted, wherever she went - by more thanpaparazzi. Anyone who lent her assistance, anyone close to her, would be in peril. That anonymous 'they' would do whatever they had to – lie, cheat, steal, bribe, subvert, co-opt,kill – to get their hands on her.

Then, there was the ordnance 'bonanza' that wasAurora.They might not yet realize the fabulous starship had been the vehicle for her return to Earth, but they weren't stupid. The follow-up transmissions from space had to come from somewhere other than Arcturus Prime and shewasback on Earth, not random atoms scattered across the Universe. It wouldn't take long for them to put two and two together. When they did, they would redouble their efforts to snare both. Then, they would reverse-engineer their prizes – take them apart, piece by piece – to see what made them 'tick'. Giselle knew that all too well; she had done that jobfor them more than thirty years.

Thanks, but no thanks. I have my own agenda.

Gone, too, was the likelihood of reuniting with her love. The royal family would have long since closed ranks. Their army of spin-doctors would already be in overdrive controlling this public relations nightmare. Geoffrey's grandmother was one of the most powerful women on the planet. Giselle was fairly confident the woman would be able to protect her grandson until he could marshal the forces necessary under his own command to ensure his personal safety. Giselle was just as confident the lady in question would see to it Geoffrey and the blondefemme fatale would never again share the samecontinent,much less the same bed. That was, far and away, the most painful realization of all.