Close Encounters of the Bus Kind
[49]
The girls exchanged quiet glances with one another. None of them backed away from Ruth but none of them took a step towards her. The afternoon had been wildly chaotic with Eva accidentally teleporting Nesbitt to the unknown past, then unsuccessfully trying to cover up her disappearance against Tonya, overcoming Tonya‘s efforts to use her alien device to harvest their abilities, and discovering that Nadia’s little sister was tangled up in time traveling shenanigans and sharing her body with Nadia’s girlfriend.
“I’ll do it.” Louise raised her hand. Nadia could tell it was her instead of Gina because she hadn’t dressed for practice. Gina gave her twin a curious look.
Louise took a deep breath and explained, "I mostly sat on my ass and played video games for the last week. And every day I felt like I was just leeching off of Odessa. I need to find my place. Not that I don’t want you to be a part of this too, Gina. But I need to do something for myself. Assuming you’ll take me, Miss Ruth. I’m just a copy and I don’t have any inherent abilities.”
Ruth raised a hand and smiled lightly. “The offer extends to everyone here. And I am including Miss Luna Baris. Even those without what you have come to refer to as talents and skills are welcome in Beyond. We can always use all the help we can get. And we will gladly accept you, Louise. Now…I want to make sure none of you feel obligated to make a decision right now. We should talk… one on one so I can answer concerns and questions any of you may have.”
The group found this amenable but the suggestion was made to head back to the team room for the sake of more comfortable seating. It was getting late into the practice session, but it was still early enough that no one had to worry about being trapped inside the school or having frantic parents calling for them.
Eva bundled up the nylon rope they never found a use for during the caper and distracted herself with trying to decide whether to stuff it into her huge purse or place it on one of the back shelves. Elsa eyed the rope with frantic concern. It took Eva several confused seconds to connect the dots before she vehemently assured her teammate that she was just thinking of using it for climbing. Thessaly made warm tea for Ruth as she sat off to the side and surveyed the group.
Sasha put forth the first question. “Will I be able to make boys into girls at this Beyond place?”
“You will,” Ruth responded with a nod. “In fact, someone recently retired who does work in that exact field so, with a little bit of training about our procedures, you should soon be able to help out those who desperately want to be transformed in that way.” Sasha‘s mouth dropped open and she beamed with vibrant enthusiasm.
Erin took a deep breath. “What if some of us decline? You said it was a choice. What happens to those who opt out?”
Ruth took a long sip before responding, “We have contingencies for that. Knowledge of Beyond is decently guarded for the safety and protection of all. As you’ve seen, there are dangers out there. Put bluntly, you will have your memories altered and your reality adjusted. It will be like you were never caught up in Tonya’s plans. Your abilities will return to dormancy and your lives will continue as they would’ve. There’s a lot of complicated pieces to it involving parallel realities, but we always endeavor to leave those who make that choice in the best possible place for them.”
Tension rippled through the group as several girls found the notion of memory erasure unpleasant. Ruth didn’t blunt her explanation nor did she try to justify it, she simply left it at that and only added, “This is the way we do things and the way they have to be done.”
Gina cautiously approached Ruth with her hands folded at first in front of her and then behind her as she couldn’t decide where to leave them. “Is Bigfoot real?”
Ruth raised an eyebrow and took a breath. “I may know of a few dimension-crossing entities that unsuspecting witnesses have referred to as such.“
After resisting the urge to punch the air, Gina mused, “So, you guys are basically like the MIB from the movies then?”
“I don’t watch movies… but something like that.”
That was all it took for Gina to agree to join. Eva frowned and folded her arms as she asked her question, “Is there any way to know what happened to Nesbitt?”
Ruth sat up and set her tea aside. “There’s always a way to know anything, if you want to dig. But the problem is where you find yourself when the digging ends. What you did is absolutely forgivable, especially based on what I know of Janice Nesbitt. Don’t torture yourself about it. She died a long long time ago.”
Eva still appeared pained as she thought through all that. Ruth added, “Yes yes, I know, time travel and all that. It’s a ruthless agony. We at Beyond are simply custodians of the world, against all the strange and terrible things that might cause suffering. It’s satisfying work. It’s not glorious, but I believe each of you can contribute.”
Odessa nodded. “I would like to join. I feel like I haven’t even touched the full extent of my skill. And I want to make something for myself in the same way Louise desires. Separate from my family and separate from so many expectations they have for me.”
Leslie expressed hesitancy and nerves about whether she would be useful. Ruth resolutely informed Leslie that her abilities as a telepath were “highly treasured” at Beyond and her skill at flight was a “beautiful bonus”.
She fussed with her hair and pointed at Luna, recalling last Saturday when she wasn’t able to even get a read on the girl. Ruth dipped her hands and explained, “At Beyond, we didn’t know about Luna for a good while. I suspect that had something to do with time travel stuff I fail to understand. But when there are two consciousnesses in one body, it’s like an interference pattern. Telepaths aren’t able to pick it up. But the absence is a telling and suspicious sign for tracking those like Tonya. You will find you are quite useful in many unexpected ways, Miss Gartland.” Ruth added a quick mention of something called a “radiant spirit“ that they also briefly considered to explain Luna‘s abnormality, but she didn’t elaborate on what that was. Luna seemed incredibly chill and calm about the overall proceedings, just interested in cuddling close to her big sister as Elsa played a card game with her.
Elsa had her own questions and she bolstered them with Tatiana. Ruth also considered their talents to be intriguing and invaluable. Together, they agreed to Ruth’s terms. Thessaly eagerly desired to help others, especially with the possibilities of her astral projection skill. Marisol scrutinized several details, questioning reimbursement, specifics, and healthcare. Even though Ruth avoided quite calling this a job, she clarified that time ran differently in the realm of Beyond so that not only would they not age, but they also wouldn’t get tired. They could return to their regular lives as though everything had been put on pause. She made it clear that they would be taken care of and reimbursed. That was all it took for Audrey to join up too.
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The only holdouts were Erin and Nadia, even Eva provisionally agreed. Ruth explained things to Luna but all she cared about was heading back home and curling up with her sister. Nadia squeezed her tight.
Swallowing hard, Erin leaned on the table and asked, "So, if we reject this then it’s like nothing this last week ever happened?” Ruth simply nodded. And she offered to show them a preview of what that would be like.
Nadia and Erin grasped hands and prepared themselves. What followed felt like a dream played before their eyes which the others could see but none of them could control. Paul drove through the dark patch by the Air Force Base. It was like the vision Tonya gave her. Only he was the driver, and the evening came to a close with just a few smiling questions shared between Paul and Erin.
So few days had passed but the chasm between the person she was now and then felt immense. Erin realized she couldn’t go back. She had to go forward. She held Nadia‘s hand and gently kissed her on the lips. They agreed together.
Ruth gladly accepted their choice. She explained that she would contact them soon with further details about how to pass between the realms. Nadia did have one final question though.
“A couple of days ago, when we were trying to run away from Tonya during the whole caper thing… I flashed to the abandoned Sears. But it happened differently than it actually did. Luna wasn’t there and Erin got hurt. Also, Tonya showed up and I was only able to stop her because I knew more about my skill than she did, I guess. What was that?”
Ruth frowned. She appeared lost in thought for several moments before widening her eyes and clearing her throat. “No idea. We’ll have to investigate that.”
Nadia scrutinized the old woman suspiciously but didn’t say anything. The matter with Luna wasn’t decided. Ruth said she would get back to them on that as well. Without further preamble, she politely thanked them for the tea and welcomed them to Beyond. And she was gone.
Since it was near the time that volleyball practice normally ended, the girls gathered up their things and chatted excitedly amongst themselves. The question of what would happen to the team lingered. Coach Parson used to teach girls volleyball before Erin, but she was just a few scant years away from retirement. They all hoped that reality, Beyond, or whoever got a say in it, would make her the coach again. The only other alternative was Coach Cashman, who was far from being as bad as Nesbitt, just rather lazy.
Nadia walked across campus with Erin firmly holding her hand. Despite the fact they only watched a little bit of the theoretical reality where their lives remained perfectly mundane, she was still curious about how it would’ve played out.
Would Paul have motivated himself to do more than simply chat with the girl who meant everything in his life? Would they have huddled up on a foggy night with spooky air? Would they have gotten close on the couch? Would they have shared some cheesecake and so much more? Would they have wondered about what to call this thing they were awkwardly stumbling through while they looked at each other in bed? Would he have comforted Erin during a moment of panic and pain? Would they have gone shopping together? Would they have traded gifts? Would they have kissed? Would they have chatted in the bathroom? Would they have found a thousand little moments that each of them treasured?
Nadia desperately hoped that those theoretical two, lost from each other, would somehow find some measure of this love.
Milling about the edge of the parking lot, Erin proposed dusting off and utilizing her old telescope as a physical prop to help Eva finally create the stargazing proof that Nadia had to show her dad eventually. She noted that they didn’t even need to fake it. She would be delighted to look at the stars with her girlfriend.
While chatting about that, Eva oddly let slip the secret parts of the silly clay willy tale. Blushing all the while, she gingerly explained that in third grade, before her parents divorced, they were supposed to make clay representations of their family. Young Eva, with a vague understanding of anatomy, put a clay ‘willy’ on her mom. She explained to the teacher and the vice principal it was because her dad “wouldn’t share it”.
Even though Gina had long ago heard and been present for part of the story, she still giggled uproariously. Sasha lingered with curiosity and delight. Eva regretted she’d even said anything.
Several smaller sweet stories spilled out as the girls clung close and smiled warmly against a bitter, early evening desert breeze. Eva quickly glanced between Nadia and Erin and herself and flighty Gina, who was listening to a song that featured Bigfoot. Despite everything, Eva gently smiled.
Nadia held the necklace in her hands and let Erin secure it around her neck. She wore it proudly. It had been through so much, traveling the mysteries of time as a persistent reminder of what was important. Sitting there in the chill November evening, they watched the stars come out as they waited for their rides.
The lights of countless possibilities washed over them, echoes from the past blazing into the present, as they quietly dreamed of what was to come.
——
A once roaring fire cools to embers. Both sit.
”You did far better than I could ask for, Ruth.”
“We don’t know who her buyer was. Someone willing to go after something like that worries me.”
“Do you think she’ll talk?”
“I doubt it but we can try. I turned her organic to preserve some of her memory before it purged, but it’s likely beyond even her ability to recall now.”
“Unfortunate. I have some suspects though. Is there anything else?”
“…Yes. Nadia slipped. Twice. She managed to enter an unrealized reality and we had no idea it was happening.“
“… Maf tabanal! It’s a good thing they’re on our team now…”
“We still have our contingencies, if worse comes to worst.”
“Worst is on its way, there’s nothing we can do about that. Keep a handle on this, and make sure none of them find out what we’re up to. The consequences could be… well, we’re not there yet.”
“I promise, mom. I’ll take care of everything…”