Dial H for Heroics

Jack frowned as he left the hospital. Things were going all right. He wondered when

it would go wrong as he walked in the street. He needed to fix June’s gate. Gloom

and doom was Josie’s province. He shook off the feeling.

He had work to do.

A simple gate seemed simple enough to do. He had already set up more than a few.

He wasn’t worried about the range. Mister Warner’s village was just as far in the

other direction.

He still wasn’t sure if he liked June moving to their responsibility and taking on real

danger. He wished he could have just given her some gold coins to settle her debt

and let her go back to the real world.

He paused at a street corner. He needed to go ahead. Once he was done, he could

come back and get ready for dinner, and then fishing tomorrow.

“Enterprise,” Jack said in his com band.

“Acknowledged,” said the machine.

“I need to come aboard and then we’re flying up north,” said Jack. “I have to make

sure that June and Boim can retreat if they get in trouble.”

“Affirmative,” said the machine. It worked the transporter and Jack stepped off the

pad in Transporter Room One. He headed up to the Bridge as he thought about his

task.

He knew he would have to go right back down but he wanted to look at the lay of the

land before he jumped down and went to work.

He settled in the command chair as the big ship waited for his command. Hawk Ridge

lay below him. He wondered how long it would take him to walk across it. Did he

want to do something like that?

He imagined the girls were a lot happier now that Laura could carry them to practice

every day. It was like having a sibling old enough to drive you around.

“Plot us a course up to Solas,” said Jack. “I think it will be okay for you to hover over

June’s house. Her boat will be outside.”

“Affirmative,” said the machine.

The screen went black for a second as the ship broke its orbit and flew north. It put

June’s new city on the screen as soon as it established a safe orbit above. A marker

showed the dragon boat floating on a pool of water in a walled holding.

“What do you think?,” said Jack.

The machine remained silent.

“Tactical assessment,” said Jack.

“Phasers can punch through the roof of the house and attack the lifeforms inside. One,

two, torpedoes will destroy the vehicle outside,” said the machine. “Ground forces

can then blow a hole through the gate with tactical gear and enter to secure any

intelligence necessary.”

“So you think it needs a shield to stop you,” said Jack.

“Affirmative,” said the machine.

“I’ll let June know,” said Jack. “I hope she can handle this job.”

Jack stood and took one more look at the city. He wondered how many other

bodysnatching no goods were down there and needed to be dealt with the Warner

way. He didn’t think June would be able to do that herself.

He went back down to Transporter Room One. He told the machine to put him on

the ground. He appeared inside the wall. He waved at the Dragon Boat before

walking to the door. The figurehead blew out steam, and turned to keep him in sight.

He knocked on the door. He waited on the doorstep. Hopefully, June was home. He

might have come at a bad time. All this fast travel would probably wreck people’s

inner clocks if they had to settle then move then settle again.

He remembered the few cases of jet lag he had picked up traveling for the Army. It

had taken a few days for his clock to get used to the new time zones he operated in.

Until he had, he hadn’t been a happy camper.

June opened the door in a t-shirt and sweat pants. Her hair was a mess. She glared

at Jack, before looking at the dark sky behind him.

“What are you doing here?,” asked June. She pulled her hair out of her eyes and

knotted it at the back of her head.

“Josie asked me to put in a gate so you can come back to Hawk Ridge if something

goes wrong,” said Jack. “I was like nothing will go wrong. Boim can handle it fine.

But Josie insisted.”

“At zero dark thirty?,” asked June.

“It’s almost nine down south,” said Jack. “We’ve already had breakfast, visited the

hospital and got the girls ready to go to their practice. Elaine was going to pick up

supplies for your dinner on the way back.”

“Really?,” said June.

“I’ll admit I forgot about the time differential,” said Jack. “If I had remembered, I

would have went with Elaine, and then come up here.”

“Come in,” said June. “I need some coffee.”

“Any emergencies yet?,” asked Jack. He stepped inside after June stepped out of the

way. She shut the door behind him and led the way to the kitchen.

“Not yet,” said June. “Some guys tried to break in, but Red ran them off.”

“All right,” said Jack. “Do you have anything else to defend the house? Shutters for

the windows, super locks for the door, minefield?”

“I put bars on the windows, have a lockbar on the door for when we are home, and

I thought about doing something like Red to walk the yard when we’re not home,

but I haven’t made up my mind,” said June.

“All right,” said Jack. “I think Josie put in some kind of spell at the Hole in the Wall

to keep people out since Caroline is going to be staying with us.”

“What do you think about that?,” asked June. She went to some cabinets in the

kitchen and got out a tea pot and tea. She started a fire in the fireplace and drew some

water to put in the boiler. She hung the metal pot over the fire to warm up the water

while they talked.

“Caroline could make a worse choice for a potential boyfriend,” said Jack. He

shrugged. “I don’t know why Josie thinks we should help them, but I’m willing to

go along to get along. Ready for your fight?”

“I am,” said June. “I’ve been ready. I wish I could have had it before I came here so

I could have a clean break of it.”

“Are you ready for this work?,” asked Jack.

“I read your log, and Mister Warner’s,” said June. “I have two quests under my belt.

It wasn’t what I expected, but I think I can handle my business.”

“Part of the reason we’re setting up the door is so we can help you,” said Jack. “Don’t

get in too deep before you ask for it.”

“I won’t,” assured June. “I know that I’m the new guy. I plan to practice every day

with my powers, and learn some sword stuff from Boim. I even have a running route

picked out through the neighborhood.”

“What are you going to tell Mom?,” asked Jack. He transformed himself long enough

to make a hot chocolate in a cup from the cabinet.

“What are you going to tell Mom?,” asked June. She sat at the kitchen table. She

waited for him to scratch his scar over his eye as he thought.

“I don’t know,” said Jack. “I have too many issues going on at the moment. What do

you think I should say about this?”

June paused in thought. She couldn’t remember the last time her brother had asked

her for advice.

“I think some part of the truth would be okay,” said June. “I know you have been

keeping whatever is going on with you secret, so I’m not going to tell you to spill

your guts in one go, but something simple should do for right now.”

“All right,” said Jack. He sipped at his chocolate. “I’ll get some paper and write out

a letter for you to take home.”

“I’m sorry about Maria,” said June.

“It is what it is,” said Jack. “What about you?”

“I haven’t found my Elaine if that is what you’re asking,” said June. “I run around,

get ready to fight, fight, recover, and then get ready for the next fight. Maybe I can

find someone here eventually. But we both know true love is hard to find.”

“I don’t know,” said Jack. “There is something in the air here. I need to get started

on the gate. I’ll let you know if we can install a link to the library from here. Where

do you want the gate?”

“Library?,” asked June. “What library?”

“Josie and I put in a library at the Hangar,” said Jack. “Elaine is getting us books to

put in it.”

“You’re joking,” said June. “You give me a little space in the wall, and then you put

in a library as soon as you make me leave.”

“If the Society hadn’t wanted you to work on your own, I would have put in a bigger

room for you next to the girls,” said Jack. He used his nearly empty cup to hide his

smug expression.

“I can’t believe you,” said June. The tea pot whistled its own complaint.

“I offered to build you a house,” said Jack. He put the cup down. “Oh, before I forget,

give me your com band. I need to put a button for Boim on it.”

“Here,” said June. She handed over her band. She went about making herself a cup

of tea as he looked at it and Boim’s. She sat back down and watched as he worked.

Jack transformed and pulled out two coins. He used one to put a button marked with

a seven on June’s band. He put June’s juniper on Boim’s band. He examined them,

then hit the buttons to make sure they worked before he handed June’s back to her.

“Josie wanted to make sure you could talk to each other, or call us,” said Jack. He

let go of the persona. “I thought about testing to see if you could call us through the

gate, but do you have your phone?”

“It’s in my room,” said June. “I’ll get it.”

She picked up her cup and took it with her. Jack looked around the kitchen. He

nodded. He could see Josie’s fingerprint on the work. She had done a good job in

his opinion.

June returned with her phone. She handed it over.

“All right,” said Jack. He put the phone on the kitchen table. “I’m going to try to hook

it to my phone so you can call me directly like that from any distance. You’re just

going to have to keep the phone charged so you can use it.”

“Can you really do that?,” asked June.

“It worked for Mister Warner’s phone,” said Jack. “I don’t see why it wouldn’t work

for yours. Matter of fact, I can make a mana booster around the house and that will

help charge the phone for you.”

“A mana booster?,” asked June.

“It’s how I power the Enterprise,” said Jack. “I guess I could explode antimatter like

the real Enterprise, but what happens if it crashes?”

“You got me there,” said June.

“I think that’s a question the Society doesn’t want answered,” said Jack. “I definitely

wouldn’t want to be around to see what happened.”

Jack transformed again and picked up June’s phone. He flattened the cup he had been

drinking out of into a ring of metal. He put the phone in the ring. He picked up his

phone and looked to see if he had June’s number. He frowned in cascading numbers

when he didn’t.

“What’s your number?,” he asked. He grimaced at his voice. It had a stutter. He

wondered why.

June gave him the number as she watched him work.

Jack dialed the number on his phone. He waited silently. June’s phone started playing

the electronic beat of Hit The Road, Jack.

He put his phone down after ending the call. He picked up June’s phone and dialed

his number. He hung up when his phone buzzed. He tried Mister Warner in the south

just to see what would happen.

“Who is this?,” asked Mister Warner.

“I’m testing June’s phone,” said Jack. “Thanks for answering.”

“You’re welcome,” said Mister Warner. He hung up without waiting for a reply.

“You see,” said Jack. He let Magik go. “Easy peasy.”

“All right,” said June. “You have this magic thing down. Can I get my cup back?”

“No,” said Jack. “I need it for the greater good.”

He handed June her phone back. He picked up the ring in his other hand.

“Show me where you want the gate, and I’ll do that,” said Jack. “Then I have to help

Elaine and the kids with the cooking and unloading the supplies and such.”

“I want it in the office,” said June. “If we have to fight our way out of here, that’s

the most defendable room in the house.”

“And the gate will give you an exit if you can’t win,” said Jack. “I like it.”

“Let me show you,” said June. She picked up her cup and led the way out of the

kitchen.

He followed her down a short hall and to a room he thought was toward the middle

left of the house. A window marked one wall. He saw bars on the inside of the

window and nodded to himself. A desk and chair set up was underneath the window.

A shelf holding their archive of their quests marked one wall. A map hung on the

blank wall behind the desk.

“I guess we need to put the gate next to the map,” said June. She indicated the wall

with her cup.

“I have an easier idea,” said Jack. He transformed and expanded the ring to surround

the map. Then he pushed the ring into the wall. He activated the spell and made sure

to make the gate only usable by him and his associates.

He expanded that command to include the other gates with the exception of the

hospital and Jane’s house. Those gates could be used by the staff, but only he and

Josie, and the Ducklings could go back and forth to the Hole in the Wall. Everyone

else was locked out of the Hangar and Hole in the Wall through the gates.

Then he added an alert sound to tell him someone was using the gates to travel.

The Village could visit the Hole in the Wall, and not their home at the Hangar.

He powered down to let his watch recharge.

“I need to try this and come back,” said Jack. “If you don’t mind getting that paper

for me, I’ll write out the letter I want you to take home with you.”

“All right,” said June.

Jack placed his hand on the map. He stepped through to the Hangar. He smiled. It had

worked perfectly. He stepped back through.

“All right,” said Jack. “I have this keyed to the Hangar. If you need to get Boim to

the hospital, I guess you are going to have to tell it to do that. Okay?”

“What if I need to go to the hospital?,” asked June.

“Boim isn’t going to be able to carry you,” said Jack. He grinned at her.

“Oh, a weight joke,” said June. “Ho, ho.”

“And a weak woman joke too,” said Jack. “I can do more than one.”

“I have the paper,” said June. “What are you going to say?”

“Probably the same as you,” said Jack. “I have a new job, I met somebody, we’re

living together, and I hope to get married and have children at some point. Don’t

worry about me. Josie is here to make sure I don’t go off the rails.”

“I suppose we shouldn’t tell them we are working for Mister Rourke from Fantasy

Island,” said June.

“Josie is almost taller than Tattoo,” said Jack. He grinned.

“You are asking for a beating,” said June. She sipped her tea. “I’m glad you found

something. I’m not going to be a nag about the not calling when you know you should

have so Mom wouldn’t be worried. I am going to say you could have picked a worse

job to take after you got out.”

Jack nodded. He gave his sister a hug before sitting down at the desk and writing out

a letter to explain as much as he could before he let the ink dry and folded it up. He

took another piece of paper and folded it up around the letter and wrote Kim Lee on

the outside.

“This job is dangerous, Juni,” said Jack. He stood up. “You’ve seen a glimpse of what

could happen if you mess up. If you need help, don’t be afraid to call me, or Josie. We

will do whatever we have to do for you.”

“I know, bro,” said June. “I have to get ready for my own problems.”

“If sundown is the cut off point,” said Jack. “Be at the Hangar before then so we can

eat together before you go home. Make sure to get some emergency paper from Josie

so we can pull you back if you don’t automatically come back on your own.”

“Which sundown?,” said June.

“Ours,” said Jack. He made sure to leave Boim’s com band on the desk. “Let Boim

know she can call us if the gate is open. Let me check that to make sure. Then I will

put a booster around your house and then I have to take the Enterprise back south

of here.”

He conducted his experiment, satisfied that he had been right. When the gates were

open, you could call from Hawk Ridge to June’s house with the bands. That was one

less worry on his mind.

“Now let me do the booster, and then I have to go,” said Jack. “Say hello to Boim for

me.”