BAD WINE CRAPPY CHOCOLATE

CHAPTER EIGHT-1

Brandon Cane led them to the shore of the great lake known as Michigan. They walked along it until reaching an opening in the cliff face that lead to Senator Cane's home. Brandon had not been here for many years. Despite the collage of memories that leapt out from the familiar surroundings, he still managed to remain focused on the present. The four of them entered the dark and dank tunnel, with the two men maintaining a constant vigilance for anyone that might be hiding in the blackness.
"Where are you?" Cori mumbled as she searched for her guide.
"I'm right here," Brandon replied, taking off his cloak.
Max did the same, and Cori stared at their shadowy outlines in wonder. Tiffany was still
struggling to regain her senses. She noticed nothing.
"This place makes me uneasy," Max said. "Are you sure there won't be any security people
around?"
"Nothing's for certain. But we have to stay away from the main entrance to the house. Follow me."
After walking 40 yards, the tunnel became a well maintained access way. There was ample
lighting now. The sides were covered with a clean, white, plastic-like material. They continued on for a while longer before coming to a large door. Brandon walked up to it and put his eye up against the sensor that unlocked it. The door opened, much to his relief. Chris had not removed him from the list of people with access to his home "The living quarters are on the second floor," he told them. "We'll take the vertical car."
He used the same method to gain access to the conveyance. The four of them were whisked up for a short distance. Brandon removed Cori's cloak before the car stopped. Cybil Cane greeted them when they arrived.
"You made it!" she said.

Cybil looked at the two women with Brandon, and then shot a puzzled glance at him. "This is Tiffany Toms," he told her. "And this is Cori Fitzgerald."
Cori stumbled as she moved toward Cybil to greet her.
"Are you all right?" the senator-elect asked.
"Some scumbag drugged them," Max explained.
"Let me show you to your rooms," Cybil said. "Then I'd like to speak with you alone, Brandon." Tiffany and Cori collapsed on the beds provided for them, falling asleep immediately. After seeing to their needs, Cybil found Brandon sitting in the den. He was looking at some old digital images, which were commonly referred to as digits, from their childhood.
"You said you found our mother. Where is she?"
"You just took her to one of the bedrooms."
"Brenda Henderson was our mother."
Brandon looked at her kindly before replying.
"We've been lied to, big sister. Cori Fitzgerald was...is our mother."
"That's not true. Chris told us she was Brenda Henderson, and he certainly knows who our
mother was."
"I believe that, which is why I say we've been lied to. The Allisours people researched the subject thoroughly. Cori Fitzgerald Ruderman gave birth to us. And Jack Ruderman was our father, not Pete Henderson, as we've been told. Jack worked for the Dixie Drug Company. He invented Vitala. The company was bought by a group of investors who renamed it Allisours. Then they put Vitala on the market, over the objections of Jack, who just happened to die in an accident soon after he voiced his concerns about it. Cori, according to the official version, took her own life soon after. I just wish Senator Cane was here so he could explain himself. I wanted the two of us to confront him about this together."
Cybil sank into the sofa. She could not believe that the man who had raised them would have concealed the truth about such an important matter. He had given them everything, and Cybil shuddered when thinking about what her life might have been like with anyone else.

"But why, Brandon? It's not as though we were put up for adoption and would have tried to find our parents years later. We were orphans. He had no reason to lie to us."
"I only know that Daniel Foster believed Cori was your mother. He tried to have her killed. But you can rest assured that I'll find out what Chris's reason was. I haven't told Cori who she is. And you shouldn't either. If Cori goes back to her time and changes anything because of that knowledge, we might never be born."
Brandon walked over and embraced her.
"We have to stick together, Cybil. You and I are the only real family we have."
"But this doesn't make any sense," she said, breaking away from him. She ran out onto the
terrace. Brandon started to follow, and then realized that he could not risk being seen. Max joined him shortly after.
"How did she take it?" he asked him.
"Just like you'd expect. It's hard for her to accept."
"Cybil is too naïve. I mean, all these powerful people play games. I know that Senator Cane did a lot for you two, but he's just like the rest of them." "You don't have to convince me."
"I could try to convince Cybil, if you'd like."
"I appreciate the offer," Brandon responded with a laugh. "But believe it or not, you're considered to be a disreputable character by her, and most other people for that matter. I don't think you'd succeed."
"There's no accounting for taste," Bardy said with a grin. "Do you know that an eagle would rather steal a meal than catch one? And they're considered majestic, even noble. Not that I'm knocking them. It makes sense to let another bird do the work. The less energy an eagle expends in getting food, the better its chances for survival. I'm just doing the same thing. But no one considers me to be noble."
"You should enter a rationalization contest," Brandon said.

Cori emerged from the bedroom several hours later. She wore the clothes Cybil had left out for her. Brandon was sitting in a chair, humming a song.
"What is that?" she asked him.
"It's Beethoven's fifth. I'm listening to it now. You'll find this hard to believe, but I have a computer chip in my head that can play music."
"Are you serious?"
"Absolutely."
"That's awesome. Can I have one?"
"You'd really let someone put something in your brain?"
"Sure, as long as I get to pick the music. Do they still listen to rock around here?"
"The musical styles from your time are still around, in one form or another."
Cori suddenly felt dizzy and sat down in the chair next to him. She started to slide her hands into the pockets of her pants, forgetting that there weren't any there.
"The clothes they make today don't have pockets," Brandon told her. "They would provide a place to hide things. And the security people don't like that."
"I know, I'm still not thinking clearly. I sure could use some coffee."
"There's nothing with caffeine or anything like it available. Not healthy, you see."
"Nothing personal, but this Chicago sucks," Cori said with a broad grin.
"It's a lot different than the city you know," Brandon said, after he stopped laughing.
Cybil Cane watched them from the terrace. She was trying to contact Chris, but he had failed to
respond. Cybil left a message asking him to call her immediately. The senator-elect assumed that her adopted father was on a fishing trip with his counterpart from the seventh district and had turned off his Mibil.