TIME TRAVELER: E203. THE CALL - Part 2

"Was that Bjorn?" she asked, as Dylan put his phone away.

"Yes, it was him."

"What did he tell you?"

"Well, there's been a change of plans. Sopeha is on her way to his house to talk about the Lunar Lakes matter, and he wants me to come over to meet her."

"So you were leaving without telling me?"

"No. Actually, I was going to ask you to come with me".

"What?"

"Yes, I know you don't trust Sopeha and all that, but…"

"But of course I don't trust her, 'cause I don't know her, and neither do you, Dylan."

"Well, here's a chance for both of us to get to know her and judge for ourselves if she's trustworthy, also you'll be able to calm your fear of aliens."

"I'm not afraid of aliens".

"Yes, you are".

"Is Gundrun gonna be there?"

"Uh - no, she's at work now."

"But is she okay with the E.T. girl going to her house to check on her husband?"

"Sopeha is not going 'to check on' Bjorn, she's coming exclusively to talk about the journey to Lunar Lakes."

Karen sighed.

"Okay, let's say I go with you to meet this woman. What's next, she and Bjorn ask you to ride with them to Lunar Lakes?"

"That's unlikely".

"I think it's very likely from the moment Bjorn wants you to be there with them today."

Dylan gathered all the patience he was able to manage.

"Karen, please listen…"

"I have to go to that meeting because I got Bjorn into this. He helped me unlock the document and thanks to that we located Robin's parents. Now he's helping me once more by asking Sopeha to lead us to Lunar Lakes, the least I can do is show up, but once the plan is made, and I have briefed Robin on it, this whole thing will be his business only, not mine".

"So you won't be in charge of the operation?"

"No, Bjorn would be".

"And he will inform you of everything he and Sopeha do".

"I'm counting on that, yes".

"Okay, then tell me…"

"Why do you and I need to meet Sopeha?"

"To confirm that she's legit, and that she's fit for the job to be assigned to her".

"Don’t you trust Bjorn’s judgment?"

"Bjorn is my friend of years, I value him and trust him, but his judgment might be somewhat... 'clouded' by his fascination with Sopeha. Robin is my family, his safety is important to me, I would rather supervise the person who will work with him on this".

"If we can call her a person".

"Aliens are people too, dear, Robin is one of them, and Rowan could be as well, don't you forget".

"True, I'm sorry, I'm not trying to discriminate, just understand me, a few days ago I didn't even believe aliens were real, much less did I imagine we'd have one in the family. This has all been a complete shock to me".

"It's been a shock to me too, and I'm sure it will be to everyone else in the family, but we must stay strong, for Juliette and Rowie".

Karen stood there, thinking, then she sighed. “You're absolutely right".

"Then please, come with me to Bjorn's, I'm gonna need you there".

"And I want to stand by you, Dyl, but I don't know if I am prepared".

"None of us are, but we must stick together for what is to come".

"You know I'll always be with you, for better or for worse".

"So, you're coming with me?"

"Well, there's no way I'm letting you go meet 'Sopeha' on you own, so let's get going".

TIME TRAVELER: E203. THE CALL - Part 1

Back to the Shen's home…

Around noon, Dylan's phone finally rang.

"Hello?", he answered. "Hey, Bjorn, what happened, did you talk to Sopeha?"

"Yeah, well, I explained everything in broad strokes, I told her about Robin, and his problem at Oasis Landing, I also told her about his parents and asked her if she would help us with a trip to Lunar Lakes.

"So, what did she tell you, is she gonna do it?"

"Well, she said she couldn't discuss that over the phone and she's on her way to my house to talk about it in person, so how about we meet here? I'll introduce you to her, and you'll be able to ask her whatever you need to ask".

"You want to introduce me to Sopeha", Dylan repeated.

"Yes, is that inconvenient?"

"It is, cause like I told you I don't want to have problems with Karen; besides, what will Gundrun say?"

"Gund is at work now, she won't hear anything."

"And your kids? What will they think if they see an actual alien arrive at their house?"

"They're not here. Erin went out early, she was going to meet your boy at the comic books store; Loki is in the library since early too, studying for his Uni exam. It'll just be you, me and Sophie in a three-way date... Interesting, isn't it?" Bjorn teased.

"Very, but if I attend Karen will surely get mad at me. She was clear, she doesn't want me near Sopeha".

"Then bring Karen with you, we'll turn the three-way into a scientific summit."

"I don't know, Bjorn…" Dylan hesitated.

"Dyl, listen", Bjorn broke in, "Karen loves science and she's a journalist too, meeting Sopeha can be good for her investigations in both fields. And I'll be able to prove to her that this alien girl is not a figment of my imagination, maybe that way she'll start taking me seriously as a scientist."

"A-ha..."

"What if Karen tells Gund? She's interested in alien-related stuff too, she'd never forgive us for leaving her out."

"Uh... we can't tell Gund, she would want to discuss it on her podcast, even interview Sopeha. If this becomes public it will affect our investigations and disturb the people of Aurora Skies, not to mention Robin's safety could be compromised."

"You're right, we had agreed not to reveal any of this for now."

 

"Exactly, so please warn Karen that she can't talk about this, with Gundrun or anyone else".

"I will, don't worry".

"So, I see you and Karen in, say, five minutes?"

"Well, I'll be there for sure; Karen, I don't know if she'd want to attend. I don't even know if she'd let me go there."

"Wow, is she jealous like that?"

"It's not just jealousy, she's also a little wary of aliens, thanks to Gundrun's horror stories about abductions, probing, and that kind of stuff."

Bjorn burst out laughing. "Oh, my... Yes, Gund's imagination knows no bounds, but dude, those stories are nothing but bullshit".

"Now, if Karen gets to meet a real alien, maybe her worries would go away," he concluded.

"From your description of Sopeha, I doubt meeting her will reassure her, if anything it'll make her more anxious. Although, it may be better for her to join me, rather than stay at home imagining the worst."

"Well, hopefully you can convince her to come".

"But you better hurry, Sopeha is already on her way, and I know for a fact her ride is pretty fast."

"Ah, okay, I'll be right there."

Dylan let out a sigh and hung up just as Karen entered the room…