Jennifer walked into the coffee house and looked around. Michael arranged a meeting between General Mac and herself. They were easy to find. The coffee house was completely empty. She walked up to them and sat down. Nobody said a word for a long moment. She just smiled at Mac as she tried to size him up.
Michael was the first to break the silence, as Jennifer knew he would be. “Well you two wanted to meet, so here we are,” he said. “We all are wanting the same thing.” Both General Mac and Jennifer continued to stare at each other. “I mean we are all on the same side here aren't we?” Neither answered, “Aren't we?” he said more forcefully.
“Well that depends on the side she's on, now doesn't it,” General Mac said. “I plan on defending our nation. Whoever doesn't help is our enemy and will be treated as such.” Jennifer continued to stare at him for a few moments.
“Well then we are on the same side, yet you still treat us like enemies,” Jennifer said. She continued to smile at him. She wished she had tea to sip. It would give the impression she wasn't impressed with him at all.
“You are not on our side,” he said. “Your actions have proven that. Now I want to know where Rogalia is and how you have been subverting the GPS tracking system on your ankle.” He stared her down, trying to intimidate her. He wasn't bad. On most people it would have worked, but she was more prepared. She continued to stare at him with a small smile.
“I don't know where Rogalia is at the moment. It seems she is afraid of you, not that I can blame her,” Jennifer said.
“Tell me how you are getting around your tracking devices,” Mac said. Jennifer studied him for a moment before answering. He was afraid. He doesn't know how to stop the real alien threat, so he is concentrating on us. He was a fool. He should be preparing for the invasion.
“That was John's magic. I really have no idea how he does it,” she said. She forced herself to relax.
“Just tell him how he does it,” Michael said. “As you said we are all on the same side. We should be acting like it. They'll be coming for us. We need to stand united.”
Both Mac and Jennifer ignored him. Neither even looked in his direction. “He is already convinced we are the enemy,” Jennifer said. “You should not trust him either Michael.”
“Are you the enemy?” Mac asked.
“Honestly, I don't know,” she said. “What I do know is that i'm not willing to give up. At least not to you.” That wasn't entirely true. She would perfectly willing to surrender to anyone if it meant Myra would be safe.
“So you admit you are alien spy,” Mac said. Jennifer wasn't paying attention. With the thought of Myra in her mind, she was solely concentrating on finding a way to get Mac to tell her what was happening to her daughter.
“I am not an alien spy,” Michael exclaimed. “If i'm not then neither is she. General, you have to stop this. We need to be working together.”
“Listen Michael,” Mac said turning towards Michael for the first time. “I trust you, but you have to admit, she has been acting suspicious. As long as she is subverting the people trying to defend this nation, we will continue to treat her as an enemy. You know we need Rogalia, yet she is keeping her from us.”
Jennifer thought it was a nice speech, but a complete lie. He saw all aliens as a threat, Rogalia included. He just wanted to control her, just like he wants to control all of us. Anything that is beyond his understanding, he just wants to control or destroy. It’s a shame Michael didn’t see through his charade.
Still she had to concentrate on Myra. That is why she came here. “Was Myra acting suspicious, is that why your keeping her locked up?” Jennifer asked.
Mac turned back to her. “She is beyond suspicion. You know that,” he said. “What ever they did to all of you must have caused her to go haywire.”
Something about the way he said haywire caused Jennifer’s senses to heighten. She considered the best way to glean more information. “I know she had a bit of an episode when we were being held,” Jennifer said, “but certainly she has recovered by now.” Lets see if he can resist taking that bait, she thought.
“She’s crazier than Jon Stewart,” he said, almost under his breath.
Fear gripped Jennifer at those words. Myra was worse? Why? “What are you doing to her?” she asked.
“Nothing,” he said a bit too quickly. “We are merely observing her.”
Jennifer’s heart sunk. They were hurting her. She was sure of it. She looked at the man sitting across from her and wished he would drop dead then and there. She forced herself to smile, hoping her emotions didn’t betray her.
She kept silent for a while trying to get a hold of herself. “I’m sure you are taking excellent care of her,” she said. It was a mistake, but she couldn’t help herself.
“What is that suppose to mean?” Mac said. “We are taking as good of care of her as possible, and don’t you go thinking otherwise.”
“I’m sure you are doing an excellent job, just like you did with that Chinese incident,” Jennifer said. She really shouldn’t have goaded him like that, but the words came out of her mouth before she could stop herself.
“Listen you bitch,” he yelled. “I don’t know what you have been told, but I was doing my duty. I’ve been defending my country for all of my adult life, and I’ll defend it against all of you as well!”
“That thing with the Chinese has been blown out of proportion. If it wasn’t for General Mac, hundreds of soldiers could have died, and it could have started a war with China. General Mac did what he thought was best,” Michael said. Neither person at the table was paying any attention to him though.
“That sounds just like you,” she said. “Concentrate on torturing harmless children while ignoring the real threat while it destroys your beloved country.”
General Mac rose to his feet. For a second Jennifer thought he was going to attack her. Michael also rose to his feet and blocked him from her. Mac seemed to get just enough of his composure back to stop himself from resorting to physical violence.
“They will not destroy my country, and neither will you,” he proclaimed. “I will find a way to stop you. I will kill all of you if it is the last thing that I do.”
“Did I miss anything?” John asked. Nobody had seen him come in. “Sorry I’m late. It took forever to find the place. I couldn’t remember the name of it.”
Jennifer rose to her feet. “I think I’m done,” she said turning to John. She then walked out of the coffee shop and back to her car. When she got in she put her keys into her ignition, but then stopped. The thought of Myra being beaten by General Mac personally entered her mind.
She instantly went through a range of emotions all at once. She was angry with Mac and the government of course. She hated them for it. She hated the aliens as well. If she had the power to wipe them all from existence, they would already be no more. She also hated herself, for failing her daughter. If only she could have gotten them out sooner, or stayed with them. She was a terrible mother, there was no denying that now.
She was also ashamed for being so vengeful when it wouldn’t help Myra at all. The emotion that overshadowed all the other things she felt was fear. She didn’t know if her daughter would survive, or the toll her ordeal will take. She couldn’t think of any way of helping her. She began to cry. Her hands shook so badly that she gripped her steering wheel as tight as she could to try to make them stop. Tears rolled down her face and on to her lap.
Someone knocked on her window. She tried to compose herself before she even looked up to see who it was. She wiped the tears from her eyes and look up. It was John. She rolled down her window.
“Are you ok?” he asked.
Jennifer considered how to respond. She decided she could trust him. “There torturing Myra,” she said.
He gave her a shocked look. “How do you know?” he asked. “Did General Mac tell you that?”
“Yes,” she said. John was taken back. It took him a moment to recover. Jennifer swallowed her emotions, forcing herself to stay composed.
“Well can’t you go to the press?” he asked. “I mean that is how you got us out originally? Maybe if the world knew what they were doing to her, they would be forced to let her out.”
“No. That won’t work this time,” she said. “The only people that would print it with no evidence is the National Enquirer, and even they might have to much journalistic integrity.”
John thought for a second. “Wouldn’t the military be a little bit cautious about torturing her?” he asked, but continued before she could answer. “I mean half the country thinks we are heroes. Wouldn’t they have a signed order from one of the higher ups? Maybe I can get into the military network and find it. That would be good enough to take to the press right?”
Jennifer just stared at him in amazement. He is absolutely right. It shouldn’t be that hard to find. She had lots of contacts at the pentagon. One of them would surely have access to it and could be convinced to let her have a copy.
She was so happy she almost smiled. “That’s a really good idea,” she said. “I guess it’s time to call in a few favors.” She started her car, but before putting it in drive and taking off she turned again to John. “John, thank you. You really are getting into the habit of saving our behinds when we need it most. I really do appreciate it.” John smiled at her and watched her drive off.
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