Invited

Twenty - Wicken

When I stepped back onto Earth for the first time, I wasn't quite sure what my initial reaction would be. I was in California, a place I'd never been before, so there weren't any familiar "home" feelings. The place was as foreign to me as space. But there was air. Real air. Not circulated and recycled oxygen floating around me. I'm sure it wasn't as fresh as it was in Minnesota, but all that mattered to me was that it was real. Sunshine beamed down on me, and I saw bright, fluffy clouds in the sky.

What really sold me on the fact that I wasn't on some kind of replicated version of Earth, oddly enough, was the cars. The first car I watched drive by made my breath catch in my throat. I couldn't remember the last time I'd seen any vehicle of transportation.

Layla reassured me she'd dropped me off right outside of Timber's hotel. Armed with plenty of tools I could use to kidnap him, I felt an awful lot like a terrorist with a bomb strapped to my chest. Not like I was planning on blowing myself up, but between the chloroform, the taser, the Rohypnol a.k.a roofies, and the skillet in my backpack, I did not want to run into any police officers any time soon.

I had the means to take Timber by force if need be. Thinking ahead, Layla had put a bracelet on me that monitored my position at all times. She assured me that if I tampered with it, I would lose my arm when it exploded. If I tried to run away and return to the Achlivan ship, I'd be poisoned to death. Smart, evil woman that one. On the plus side, I had a thousand dollars in cash to blow at my will. The only thing I had to do was get Timber before he went to the press conference tomorrow morning. My guess was Layla wanted to make her enemies look bad. I had eighteen hours to come up with a plan.

The easiest thing to do would be to walk up to his room and knock on the door. The problem with that plan: he wasn't alone. Spies confirmed Timber had at least one visitor, who apparently had yet to leave as of my teleportation to Earth. I had dossiers of his family and close friends to use for my advantage, complete with pictures and everything. I was a secret agent. Not going to lie, I got a small kick out of it.

But I didn't have the training of a secret agent. Did I go the bold route and try to take on Timber and his guest? Did I loiter outside the door like a stalker and wait for whoever was around to leave? There were photographers already posted outside of the hotel not too far away from me. I could blend in as one of them. Did they know Timber was there? Or was there someone else famous nearby that I wasn't aware of? Otherwise, I could keep digging in my bag to see if I had anything else useful at hand.

I opened my backpack. Layla had said there was "other stuff" at my disposal besides the various weapons. She hadn't gone into details. She'd been far too eager to shove me out the "door" so to speak. Alien technology always got me excited, so I was happy to browse around. My hands grabbed hold of a small box. I pulled it out and ran my fingers over the smooth, black leather case. Curious, I opened it and hoped it wasn't another weapon that she forgot to tell me about. Thankfully, it didn't look like one, not to me at least.

Inside was an earpiece, similar to a hands-free headset that can be attached to a phone, only it was smaller in size and a lot more discrete. Next to the earpiece was a small black device that reminded me of a bug. This could be useful. All I had to do was figure out how to get it into Timber's room. Perhaps by pretending to be a member of the staff? It was a long shot, but worth a try. The worst that could happen is they throw me out of the hotel and I have to go back to waiting outside again.

Good thing I knew how to work just about any kind of job on the planet. The key to infiltrating the behind-the-scenes of any business was to be casual and act like I belonged there. I could easily pretend to be a new guy coming in for training or someone filling in for another shift. The hotel was certainly big enough that the staff had to be equally as large to meet all of its needs. My guess was they had a standard shift rotation with separate night staff from the morning and the afternoon.

Taking in a deep breath, I walked through the front doors of the hotel, nodding at the bellhop as he greeted me. I proceeded to the front desk, pulling out my cash, making sure the concierge saw all of it. First, I would establish myself by getting a room. It'd be easier to wander around undisturbed.

"I need a room for tonight, please," I said.

"I have a suite available, as well as a standard room. Do you have a preference, sir?" the young woman asked, after typing on her computer for a brief few seconds.

A standard room left me with more cash to spend, but the suite might get me closer to Timber. I couldn't imagine him sleeping in anything less than the presidential suite. Paul would have made sure he had gotten hooked up with the best of the best for his brief stay back home again.

"The suite, please." I started to unroll my stack of one-hundred dollar bills, ready for the damage.

"The suite for one night...eight-hundred-and-twenty-three-dollars," she said.

At that price, the toilet had better be made of solid gold. I didn't act like it was a lot. If I was going to blend in, I needed to be a spoiled rich kid. I counted out nine-hundred-dollars and gave it to her, received my change and my key, and then went on my merry way.

The place was indeed fancy. A lot nicer than any of the hotels I'd ever stayed in. An elaborate fountain carved with Greek gods was in the center. Spreading around it was a tiled mosaic of beautiful colors, above was a crystal chandelier. Small architectural things added to the elegance of the hotel like high, smooth arches and gold trimming. There was so much going on in just the lobby alone, way more than I could ever describe. I stepped into a golden elevator and followed the directions that came with my key.

My room was the opposite end of the elevator. I unlocked the door, and took a good look around. Might as well check it out since I paid for it, right? Upon entering, I saw a living room-like area with a large flat screen television in the center. In front of it was a white leather sectional, glass top coffee table, and some kind of exotic fur-like rug. Nearby was a small kitchenette and access to a balcony. Off to the side were doors leading to the bedrooms.

I sat down on the sectional, carefully putting my backpack on the coffee table and emptying it of all its contents. Carefully, I took the bug out of its box and put it into my front jeans pocket. Along with that and the weapons was another bracelet like the one I was wearing. My guess was that was for Timber. I could fit that into my pocket as well. The last new thing in there was a small stick-like electronic gadget that made me think of a detonator.

"There aren't any bombs in here, are there?" I searched the bag one more time to be sure. In one of the side pockets, I found a note.

If you need to spy, I've equipped you with the ability to do so. You're a smart boy, so I know you'll figure it out. The other bracelet is for your target. Put it on him before activating your teleport stick. It's synced to both bracelets, but they must also both be worn or they will not work. Good luck, I'll be eagerly awaiting your return.

Much love,

L

Teleport stick. That made a lot more sense than a bomb. Basically, in order to be beamed back up to Persistence, we both had to be wearing a bracelet. Seemed easy enough. Maybe I wouldn't have to hurt Timber in order to get him back like I originally thought. Either way, he was going to be pissed as all get out at me. There was no way around it. I was doing this for Chevelle. He'd understand that, right?

I still had to get him alone. Back to Plan A. Time to find a hotel uniform to borrow.