Annihilation - Tommy's Tale (Annihilation Series (Book Four)) (2 page)

Leila turned to Danielle, “Leaving Wes will not be a problem; I’m sure he’ll be fine.”

Rose said, “How can you say that? You know he’ll be hurt by this decision.”

Leila looked at Rose and said, “Of course he’ll be fine; he’s going with them.”

Rose, Tag, and Danielle’s mouths all fell open. Danielle recovered quickly and said, “What are you saying Leila?”

Leila looked at Danielle and said, “Eric and I have been worried about Wes’ development. Do you know what Eric and I do on our vacations? We go back to Earth and spend time with our parents to make sure that we stay grounded. Being here at the seat of total power in the Stars Realm can cause one to lose their perspective. I’ve already seen some of that in Wes.”

“As we have in Tommy,” said Tag.

“We can go wherever we choose because we are behind the scenes here at Castle Gardner. But even we are recognized by a large number of those around us.” Leila paused for a moment and said, “Tag, Danielle, I want you to take Wes with you. We’ll arrange visits when possible but he needs to get out of this castle and see what the real world is like.”

Rose looked at them and said, “What about me has made you decide this? Obviously I’m doing something that has caused you to make this decision.”

Danielle came over and said, “Rose, you have absolutely no understanding of your importance to your subjects and the role you should play with them.”

“What do you mean? Of course I understand my importance.”

“Rose, did you know that last week when you went to the opening of the new wing on the Fleet Academy that there were more than a hundred thousand people there to see you.”

Rose thought for a moment and said, “They were there to see the opening of the new wing.”

Tag said, “No they weren’t, Rose”

Rose looked at Leila for help and Leila turned on the wall screen and pressed some buttons on the desk console. On the screen headlines from the off world and local news organizations appeared, “Queen ignores huge crowd gathered to see her.” “Rose is a hidden flower.” “Disappointment rules the day.”

Rose read the headlines and she heard Danielle say. “A year ago you gave a little girl at one of your public visits one of your old bunnies you played with as a young child. Do you know that the little girl comes from a middle class family that barely pays their bills? She was offered ten million credits for that little bunny.”

Rose’s eyes widened.

“That’s not all, Rose,” Tag said. “A bidding war ensued and the price got up to forty million credits.”

Leila looked at Rose and said, “The little girl turned every one of them down. She wanted to keep her bunny.”

“Unfortunately, with the value of the bunny being so high her family was forced to put it in a bank for safe keeping,” Danielle said. “I secretly went and visited the little girl’s family and took them one of your other bunnies. I then asked that they sell the bunny that caused the problem to remove attention from them. I made them promise to keep the new bunny’s origin secret and the little girl told me, “I don’t care about being wealthy or famous for receiving this; I am just so happy that Rose gave it to me.”

Rose looked at the floor and thought about what they were saying. Then Tag ended her resistance when he said, “Since the age of thirteen, you have only gone out four times to see the subjects of our Realm that love you so much. None of those trips were alone; you accompanied Danielle on her trips. You have no idea of what our family means to the Realm and we take responsibility for that. You’ve never spent time among our subjects.”

As Tommy sat in his room on the ninth floor of Castle Gardner listening to his parents discuss their plan, he heard that he was leaving. He immediately thought to Wes, “Wes, you might want to hear this.”

Wes thought back, “What? What’s going on?”

Tommy began sharing what he was hearing with Wes.

Rose lifted her head and said, “I’ll get out more and visit the Realm if you’ll just stay.”

Danielle said, “Rose, you need to get out more whether we stay or not. It’s not only that, Rose. You’re missing the point. There are many little things that show us that you don’t have a real understanding of normal life. We think that while there’s time, Tommy should not be isolated from those experiences. It’s the right thing to do in our opinion.” Danielle paused and said, “Are you saying that you want Tommy to be kept from seeing what we think is important for his maturity?”

Rose knew she was being selfish. She didn’t want to give in but after reflection, she looked at Leila and said, “I’m leaving it to you to make sure they are not discovered.” She then turned to her parents and said, “You know that Tommy is hearing everything you say and I suspect he has included Wes.”

“Oh Crap,” Wes thought.

“I agree,” Tommy thought. “Play dumb.”

“It won’t work,” Rose thought so both of them could hear. “Come down here and join us.”

Rose said, “I was right. They were listening in; I’ve directed them to come join our little group.”

Danielle looked at Leila and said, “How are you going to deal with not having Wes near you?”

Leila sighed and said, “If I keep him here for that reason then I place my needs ahead of his. I’m sure Rose will help me stay in touch.” Rose looked at Leila and nodded. “Does your cover include a way for him to go with you?” Leila asked.

Tag smiled and said, “The boys are only three months different in age. We’ll say they’re fraternal twins. Wes’ green eyes match mine and we’ll say that red hair comes from an uncle. I’ll get Tgon-Gee to set up the paperwork.”

Rose started crying and Danielle went to her and held her close. You’re not going to be alone for long. Remember that you will meet your future husband within the year.”

“I know,” Rose said. “I just love that little brother of mine so much and I also love both of you more than you’ll ever know.”

Tag and Danielle looked at each other and Tag said, “Loving is something this family does extremely well. Remember, we’re only a thought away.”

Tommy’s parents were right; they slipped into normal society on Earth and no one noticed. His parents were employed at the Glod Embassy teaching new employees the things they would need to know to live on Earth. Every time his parents met someone new, Danielle always said before any one asked, “People tell me that I look like the old queen. I just wish I was that pretty.” Danielle had colored her hair brown at the roots and made it look like she had tried to color it blond. Most people thought she may look slightly like the queen but she was failing miserably to get it right. She had also had her teeth colored slightly yellow which convinced anyone when she smiled that she was no queen.

Tag used the lessons he had learned as a teen from Richard Wiseman. He grew his hair out to look like the old pictures of Bill Clinton and wore padding around his middle to make him look overweight. He placed pads in his cheeks to complete his overweight look. He kept saying he was going to lose weight and after a year he slowly reduced the size of the padding and no one noticed who he really was. By that time the mustache and long hair made him appear different enough to avoid close scrutiny.

Tommy and Wes entered school without anyone noticing anything different about them. There just weren’t enough pictures of Tommy taken as he grew up since most of the Realm’s attention was directed toward his parents and Rose; that suited him just fine. Danielle kept him from public view for the eight months prior to them leaving which made it harder for him to be recognized. He and Wes cut their hair very short and that was the only disguise they needed. Truth be told, Tommy was glad to leave Castle Gardner and get out of Rose’s long shadow. The wealth, glamour, and attention that came with being in the royal family did not attract him at all. Leaving and joining normal everyday people in school was liberating for him.

The first thing his parents discussed with him and Wes was the necessity of hiding Tommy’s psychic skills. He knew that if he used them, he would probably be reported to the government of earth and then the charade would be over. Tommy promised to never reveal his talents. At night he would use his mind to travel the Galaxies of the universe and most of the time he included Wes.

Wes, like Tommy, was glad to leave Castle Gardner but for a different reason. He was pretty much a non-entity living there among such famous people. Now he had the chance to make his own place on his own merits. He also would have been bored to tears if Tommy had left him behind. Tommy and Wes entered a time of their life that both of them as adults would remember as their happiest moments.

T
ommy and Wes were in their fourth level when trouble reared its ugly head. They were both outstanding students and were ranked in the top of their class. Tommy before he left Castle Gardner had learned from an Algean Adolescent how to quickly scan a book mentally and store its contents in his mind. By the time he was four he had read every book in the library and had shared them with Wes. Wes had learned to use Tommy’s system for scanning and mentally storing huge numbers of books. Though he wasn’t near as fast, Tommy made it simple by just mentally transferring the information directly to Wes’s mind. School was not a problem for them; most of the material they had already learned. It was this that got them noticed. The school director announced on the school com that they had two of the highest scores ever made in their level on the final. Tommy and Wes both felt the exaggerated praise was overdone. Being smart made them a target.

The problem started with the great reptile adventure. Tommy during recess one day found a rather large lizard on the playground sunning itself. He picked it up and stroked it under its chin and the lizard appeared to rather enjoy the experience. He decided to keep it and take it home after school; so he went to his class after recess with it safely held in his hands. Wes later asked Tommy what possessed him to lift Linda Kay Johns’ desk top and place the lizard inside. Tommy said he really didn’t know; it was just an impulse.

As the rest of the class came in from recess, Linda Kay sat down, opened her desk, and leaned forward to get her notebook. Evidently the lizard decided to make a grand exit at just that moment and jumped out on to Linda Kay’s nose. Even the teacher was impressed with the volume of her scream. Linda Kay jumped up from her desk screaming, “Get this dinosaur off me,” and turned to run from the giant reptile attacking her. She ran smack into Wes who was coming in right behind her and both of them tumbled to the floor. Wes who had a small crush on Linda Kay since third level ended up on the floor with Linda Kay squirming on top of him. Tommy later told him that he thought Wes’ smile was going to split his face in half. Linda Kay for her part was struggling to remove the lizard from her hair and didn’t even notice Wes was under her.

The lizard showed excellent judgment and jumped off Linda Kay directly onto the teacher’s leg to escape the screaming nine year old. The teacher then began dancing around the class trying to dislodge the lizard from climbing up her dress. Students were running everywhere and the room emptied faster than a bucket with no bottom leaving Tommy and Wes with Linda Kay still on top, and the teacher, who finally kicked the lizard off her leg, as the only ones remaining in class. Tommy walked over, picked up the lizard, and took it outside releasing it back into the wild of the playground. He could have sworn the lizard had a smile as it scampered away. Tommy returned to a silent classroom. Wes was sitting in his desk with a red face and that stupid grin and Linda Kay was staring blaster beams at him. The teacher asked Tommy to stay a few moments after school to discuss the event. Tommy asked Wes to wait for him outside and Wes agreed still sporting the huge smile. The teacher had a rather stern discussion with him about pulling jokes during school hours. He received a note to take home to his parents and he then left to meet Wes outside.

As he exited the school he didn’t see Wes immediately but after walking around the corner of the building he saw his friend surrounded by four large boys. Two were holding Wes’ arms while the biggest was punching Wes in the chest with his index finger. Tommy walked up and heard the one doing the punching say, “You think you’re so smart. You’re nothing special. Let’s teach him a few things he doesn’t know.”

Tommy leaned against the building behind the four older students and said, “Wes, do you want to handle this yourself or do you want some help?”

The four boys turned around quickly startled by the new voice. Wes said, “No, I think I can handle this group; I do appreciate your offer, though.”

The big boy looked at the one not holding Wes’ arms and said, “Here’s the other genius. Go grab him and don’t let him get away. We’ll handle him next.” The big boy then took a swing at Wes.

The big boy walked toward Tommy smiling and said, “You’re going to get it now.”

Tommy watched him approach and said, “Would you mind moving a little left, I can’t see your friends get their grumps beat.”

With that the boy lunged to grab Tommy who saw everything turn into slow motion. Just like his father, Tommy’s psychic skills protected him during times of stress. The boy reached slowly for Tommy who stepped aside and walked by him to see what was going to happen to Wes. The big boy watched the smaller boy suddenly disappear from in front of him and appear behind him. He moved too fast for him to follow with his eyes. For the next few moments he attempted to grab Tommy but failed miserably. Meanwhile Wes saw the punch coming and he slammed his food down on one of the boy’s foot holding him who immediately released his arm. Wes ducked the incoming blow and slammed his fist from his freed arm into the stomach of the other boy holding his arm. The larger boy doubled over and Wes kneed him in the midsection dropping him to the ground. Wes then elbowed the boy that had released his arm in the mid section and then turned to face the biggest attacker in front of him. The boy who had been chasing Tommy saw his two friends on the ground and left Tommy to come up behind Wes and lift him off the ground. The big boy in front then connected with a fist to Wes’s chin. The two boys that had been knocked down by Wes slowly got up and moved in on the fight. Wes said, “I think that now would be a good time for you to join in,” as the big boy hit him in the chest.