Pancake  Night 11: Everywhere You Look

by Seven


Disclaimer:  Earth: Final Conflict and its characters are copyrighted by Tribune Entertainment Company.  All rights reserved.



Notes from Author:      Part 11 already! And no end in sight!



**********



“Sandoval, we’ve been driving for almost five hours now and I really, REALLY have to go to the bathroom,” Liam pleaded, leaning forward so that his chin was resting on the front seat. “There’s a Burger King up ahead. Can we stop there?”

Sandoval grimaced and slumped forward on the wheel. Zo’or watched his implant with great amusement. “Liam, we can’t. If we stop, the Taelonists might-”

“Please?” Liam pleaded, his green eyes begging Sandoval. “Pleeeee-”

“All right!” Sandoval said, sitting straight upright and turning the jeep off the highway. A large fast food restuarant came into view. “Here we are. I’m going to order food, you are going into the bathroom, and-”

“I will remain here,” Zo’or announced, studying the road map.

“Zo’or will remain here and Da’an will accompany Major Kincaid into the Burger King,” Sandoval finished. A small vein began to throb in his forehead. “Does that meet with general approval?”

“Agent Sandoval,” Da’an interjected.

“Da’an, don’t,” Liam whispered. “If we keep making demands he might explode.”

Da’an looked somewhat alarmed, but continued, “I seem to detect the odor of burning.”

“From where?” Sandoval said, a note of despair in his voice.

“The engine.”

Sandoval groaned in the manner of a Jonah after being eaten by a whale, then stared as the jeep began to grind to a halt. “We’re stopping,” Liam said unnecessarily. “Sandoval, please tell me you’re braking so you can check under the hood.”

Sandoval slumped forward, his face resting on the wheel. His voice was momentarily drowned out by a grinding noise coming from the front of the car. “No. I am not. The car is simply dying, that’s all.”

The grinding noise halted with a thunderous CHUNK noise. Zo’or stared ahead with wide eyes as black smoke belched from the front of the car, like a thunderstorm in the making. Liam coughed loudly. “I’m getting out to hike to the Burger King,” he announced to the prone Sandoval and astonished Zo’or. He lurched sideways, then sighed. He turned to Da’an with the expression of a martyr. “If someone will open the door for me.”

****

All eyes were turned to the door as Sandoval, straitjacket-attired Liam, and the two famed Taelons entered the Burger King. Zo’or smiled a little, basking in the attention, while Liam turned bright red as a little old lady edged away from him, eyeing his odd garment with distaste and suspicion. “It was an accident,” he said lamely to everyone.

Sandoval wheeled around to face the younger protector. “I’m going to the car dealer. Da’an and Zo’or will remain with you, since there is a possibility that our old car is going to explode.”

“Does this happen often?” Da’an asked, concerned.

“No, but with the luck I’ve been having recently, I wouldn’t be surprised,” Sandoval said dryly, walking out the door.

Liam sighed and glanced at Da’an. “Get all the money out of my wallet and order two burgers-”

“A Whopper for me,” Sandoval said, sticking his head back into the restuarant. “Raven is hungry.” He vanished.

“-A burger and a Whopper and two Cokes,” Liam said, looking increasingly desperate. “I’ll be in the bathroom if anyone needs me. Just don’t come in.”

****

“Liam!”

Da’an’s desperate voice rang out through the Burger King, and the door opened a crack. Liam hurriedly ran out, wriggling in his straitjacket. Da’an was outside, holding a couple of paper bags and pointing out into the parking lot. Near the window was a rather ill-tempered-looking Zo’or, who, Liam saw with growing amusement, had to hold a large Coke cup in each hand.

Outside in the lot was a white bus.

Liam bit his lip. “All right, we’re going to sneak out the back,” he said in a pleasant, conversational tone. “Please follow me...”

He began to saunter towards the back, with Da’an and Zo’or only a few steps behind him. He shouldered the door open...

... And came face to face with the tallest, most muscular Taelonist he had ever seen, who put most quarterbacks to shame. Cold eyes stared out of a chiseled face. Liam uttered a strangled sob as the man picked him up by his straitjacket, then kicked him in the shin. Hard.

The Taelonist dropped Liam, and the agent turned and shoved Da’an forward, toward the door. “Run for it! Go to the car lot!”

As another Taelonist grabbed Liam by his oversized sleeve, he butted the woman in the stomach, throwing her against the wall. A third went down as Liam kicked him in the shoulder, tossing him over a table. I think I’m getting the hang of this, he thought, pleased.

Another hand grabbed Liam from behind and yanked him toward the door, backwards. Liam stumbled back, unable to fight, and began to twist around. “I can see you’re having fun,” Sandoval hissed in his ear. “But Da’an and Zo’or are waiting for us.”

“Couldn’t you have asked me to come first?” Liam asked, as Sandoval released him and they both sprinted toward the door.

Outside was a gleaming new red sports car. Zo’or was in the front passenger seat, Da’an in the back. Sandoval leaped into the drivers seated and revved the engine, as Liam kicked the door in frustration. “Da’an? Da’an, I can’t get in.”

Sandoval moaned as Da’an opened the door, and Liam scrambled in, scraping his shoes on the blacktop as the car leaped into motion, zooming out of the fast food parking lot. The Taelonist bus paused a moment as its somewhat bruised occupants scrambled aboard, then zoomed out after it.

TO BE CONTINUED