Tangled Threads, Tangled Strings

by Michael J A Tyzuk

Table of Contents
Part 5 appears
in this issue.

part 6 of 11

Now it was Jeremy’s turn to shrug. “Neither does you blaming yourself for what happened to him,” he countered. “Tamara, you know what happened to him as well as I do, probably better, since the only information I have is what was made public record, and that wasn’t a whole hell of a lot. I know that Alan was captured by the Underground during the last Rebellion, and I know that they installed a neural implant in his brain that allowed them to control certain actions. I know that it was this implant that caused him to kill all those young girls, including the Mayor’s daughter. I know that if you hadn’t stopped him he would have killed a lot more people, not because he wanted to but because he was being driven to do it. I also know that you tried to reason with him, but the forces driving him were too strong and he wasn’t able to break free of them. From what I know you were forced to sacrifice someone you loved to protect the people of Acheron City, not because you wanted to but because he didn’t give you any choice.

“We both know that recovery and rehabilitation is a two way street,” Jeremy continued. “The person on the dirty end of the stick has to want to recover and he has to be willing to put in the effort to do what needs to be done. I mean, there’s only so much that the doctors and therapists can do if the patient won’t cooperate with them. From what I know Alan wasn’t willing to cooperate. He demonstrated that he had no intention of submitting to treatment. Why would he blame you for not saving him when he wouldn’t let you save him?”

Tamara shrugged. “Well, I didn’t say it was rational, I just said that it scared me,” she said.

Jeremy smiled a wan smile. “Tammy, you’re not afraid that Alan blames you for what happened. You’re afraid that he’s appearing to you to forgive you when you’re not willing to forgive yourself. And you’re also afraid to forgive yourself because it means letting go of him, and you’re afraid that if you let go you’ll lose him.”

“Won’t I?” Tamara demanded.

Jeremy shrugged. “As time goes on the memories will fade somewhat,” he admitted. “But that happens, Tammy. It’s a natural progression. But Alan will always be alive in you as long as you remember him, just like Colleen will always be alive in me as long as I remember her. You can let go of the person and hold onto the memory, and there’s nothing wrong with that.”

Tamara smiled a wan smile. “Is that what you learned in therapy?” she asked.

“I learned lots of things in therapy,” Jeremy answered. “That just happens to be one of them.”

Tamara lay down on the couch and rested her head on Jeremy’s leg. Jeremy responded by brushing her hair aside and gently tickling her neck. The two sat in companionable silence for a long time before Jeremy started to chuckle. Tamara rolled onto her back and looked up at him. “What are you giggling about?” she wanted to know.

“I just had an idea,” Jeremy answered.

“This should be good,” Tamara said. “What was your idea?”

Jeremy grinned a wicked little grin. “Well, I was just wondering what I would have to do to convince you to wear that dress tomorrow.”

Tamara sat up and turned to face Jeremy. “We’re going on a raid tomorrow and you want me to wear a tiny little scrap of a dress and a pair of tights? Have you lost your mind?”

Jeremy shook his head. He was still grinning. “No, I haven’t lost my mind,” he responded. “I was just thinking of a way to gain a psychological edge over the opposition before we storm them.”

“A psychological edge?”

Jeremy nodded. “Yeah. See, I was thinking that if you and I went in there first and tried to con them a little bit it might get them to lower their guard. Especially if they see a pretty little auburn haired girl with green eyes wearing a tiny little scrap of a dress and a pair of tights.” Tamara started to smile as she realized what Jeremy had in mind. “See I figure it’ll distract the hell out of them. I know, because the girl in question has a tendency to distract the hell out of me.”

Tamara was grinning now. “So, I distract you, do I?” she asked teasingly.

“You know perfectly well that you do.”

“Does it distract you when I do this?”

“Hell yes it does!”

“How about this?”

“Oh, stop it.”

“What about this?”

“What did I do to deserve this?”

* * *

The command post for the operation was set up three blocks away from the safe house. All civilian traffic within a five block radius of the safe house had been diverted elsewhere and a perimeter had been established by uniformed constables from the SWAT team. Marines from the Rising Star, wearing SWAT team uniforms and armor, were ready and waiting for the order to deploy.

Tamara and Jeremy arrived early that morning to find Mike waiting for them along with his Marine force commander, Captain Jason Lowell. Mike felt his brow arch when he saw how Tamara was dressed. “Interesting choice of attire,” he observed with a smile.

Tamara grinned. “Well, I figure if you’re going to raid a safe house then you might as well do it with style,” she said.

“Actually, it was my idea,” Jeremy interjected. “I thought that maybe there might be a way to use Tamara’s obvious charms to distract them before we move in and take them.”

Mike looked Tamara up and down and grinned. “I think I have a good idea what you have in mind,” he said. “Let’s do it.”

* * *

The insistent knocking at the front door came as a complete and total surprise to the residents of Safe House Four. Two of the residents answered the knock. When they opened it they found a casually dressed man in his late thirties carrying a younger looking woman with long auburn hair who was wearing a short, floral print dress and black tights. The woman appeared to be unconscious. The man appeared to be frantic. “Can you help us?” he asked breathlessly. “She had some kind of seizure and then passed out. I need to call an ambulance.”

For the briefest of moments they considered turning the man away, but then he thought better of it. This was a residential neighborhood, and it was important to their masquerade that they act in the same fashion as any other resident of this area. The people who lived here were of good character, and Alexander knew that none of them would ever turn anyone like this away. Therefore, they must act the same way.

Besides, the group leader admitted to himself as the man carried the girl into the living room and laid her gently and lovingly on the couch, she was quite attractive, even unconscious as she was. The rise and fall of her breasts was quite enticing. Her face was quite lovely as well. Her nose was small and her lips were thin, but it didn’t require much in the way of imagination to see animation in those features, to see her in happier moments. Perhaps it would do them all good to have a momentary flash of beauty in the house. Certainly it could do no harm. Yes, they would take these poor strangers in and help them get the attention they needed.

The other resident stood on the other side of the couch and looked down at the young woman. It was difficult for him to hide his obvious physical attraction to her, but for the sake of professionalism he was trying. It occurred to him that the woman looked somewhat younger than the man she was with. “Is this your daughter?” he asked.

Jeremy looked up with a mischievous grin on his face. “No, actually, he’s my son,” he answered. “I’m quite worried about him.”

James was quite confused. “Your son?” he repeated.

Jeremy nodded. “Yes. My son.”

Tamara opened her eyes, reached up and grabbed the other resident by the front of his jacket. She pulled him down to her and kissed him full on the lips. “Hello, Sailor,” she said seductively when they came up for air. “Is that a gun in your pocket or are you just happy to see me?”

Jeremy stood up, turned to face the group leader and shrugged. “I guess she made a complete recovery,” he said. He jerked his arm and a stun gun dropped out of his sleeve into the palm of his hand. Before the group leader had a chance to react Jeremy had closed the distance between them and pressed the stun gun against his throat. He went down in a heap and did not move.

Tamara smiled at the other resident and then head butted him. Stunned, he tried to take a step back but Tamara renewed her hold on him and dragged him up over the couch and down onto the floor. Jeremy pressed the stun gun to his throat.

Tamara rose up off of the couch and straightened out her dress. Then she turned to Jeremy. “I’m your son?” she demanded. “I’m your son and you’re quite worried about me? You con me into wearing this dress and then you start telling people that I’m your son and you’re quite worried about me?”

Jeremy was making for the front door. “What are you all worked up about?” he returned. “You were the star of the show, you know.” He opened the front door, stepped out onto the porch and waved. Then he stepped back into the house. “Besides, the plan worked, didn’t it? They were paying so much attention to you that they couldn’t even begin to fathom what was going on.”

“You used me as a sex object,” Tamara accused. There was a hint of a smile on her face. Tamara had always enjoyed being the center of attention and Jeremy knew it. He had counted on it.

Jeremy stepped forward and kissed Tamara’s forehead. “Aye and I can’t think of a sexier object to have used,” he said.

The first wave of armed Marines came through the front door with Mike Richardson close behind. Each of the Marines turned and gave Tamara a glance as they went past. Mike stepped up to her and held open an overcoat for her. “Your wrap, My Lady,” he offered.

Tamara arched a brow at him. “Its thirty five degrees Celsius out there and at least twenty-five degrees in here,” she said, “and you’re offering me a coat?”

Jeremy grinned and took the coat from Mike, started to help Tamara put it on. “It’s not because of the temperature, sweetheart,” he said.

“You’re distracting my Marines,” Mike complained.

“Impossible,” Tamara scoffed. “There’s no way in hell the sight of me in a dress is enough to distract professional Marines.”

Mike leaned closer and grinned into Tamara’s emerald eyes. “You’re a girl,” he reminded her. “Sometimes that’s all it takes.”

Tamara was forced to admit that he had a point.

* * *

Intelligence specialists from the Rising Star, along with a forensics team supplied by the police, went over Safe house Number Four with a fine toothed comb. Despite the best efforts of the Underground soldiers housed there, they were able to obtain a great deal of information.

One of the soldiers had been shot while trying to dump the core memory for the computer network wired into the house. Another had been shot while attempting to arm explosives that were scattered all throughout the basement. Others were shot as they fired on the Marines, attempting to cover their comrades while they performed their required sabotage.

In the end there were only two survivors: The two that Tamara and Jeremy had taken down The two of them were bound and loaded into a police cruiser for transport to the downtown station, where they were herded into separate interrogation rooms. Tamara and Jeremy returned to the station to oversee the interrogation of the two rebels while Mike remained behind with the Marines and the forensics people to ensure that nothing was forgotten.

The Imperial Charter of Rights and Freedoms required police to permit their prisoners to consult with legal council before they could be interrogated, so Tamara and Jeremy turned their charges over to the uniformed constables and went upstairs to detective country to write their after action reports.

Jeremy worked through his paperwork quickly and efficiently, but Tamara seemed to dawdle over hers. For the briefest of moments she had been alive, a reminder of the Tamara of old. But now it was as if she had simply deflated, as if all the life and energy had simply dissipated, leaving an empty shell in its place.

Jeremy rose from his desk and made his way over to the coffee maker. He withdrew a clean mug from the cupboard and filled it. Then he administered cream and sugar according to Tamara’s prescription. It pleased him that Tamara had trusted him enough to confide in him the night before, and her behavior during and after the raid had given Jeremy some hope that maybe it was possible to resurrect the Tamara of old, but he knew that it wouldn’t happen overnight.

But that was for the future. Right now Jeremy had to contend with the present, and Tamara management was very much a part of the present. He finished stirring in the cream and sugar and walked over to Tamara’s desk. He dropped his hand onto her shoulder, squeezed gently, and put the coffee cup on the desk in front of her. She looked up and flashed him a grateful smile. “You okay, pretty eyes?” he asked.

Tamara nodded. “Yeah, I’m all right,” she said. Then it registered in her mind what Jeremy had called her and she turned in her chair to face him. “Wait a minute,” she said. “Did you just tell me I have pretty eyes?”

Jeremy hitched one hip onto the edge of her desk. “Well, I think that’s what I mean when I call you pretty eyes,” he said teasingly. He watched as Tamara leaned back in her chair. The smile slowly faded from her face and her eyes seemed to droop. “Hey, there,” he said. “Hasn’t anyone ever told you that you have pretty eyes before? Surely Alan must have told you at one time or another.”

Tamara shook her head. “Alan had lots of other things to compliment me for,” she said. “Besides, he never complimented me with words. He always did it with his hands.”

Jeremy reached out, curled a finger under Tamara’s chin, and raised her head so he could see her face. “You mean to tell me that in all the years you’ve been breaking men’s hearts, no one has ever bothered to tell you that you have pretty eyes?”

Tamara shrugged. “I guess they were all looking somewhere else.”

“Well, so was I,” Jeremy responded, “but that’s still no excuse.”

Tamara flashed a ghost of a smile. She reached up and took Jeremy’s hand in hers. “I never did say thank you last night,” she said.

Jeremy cocked his head. “Thank me? Thank me for what? I don’t remember doing anything for which I should be thanked.”

“Liar,” Tamara said with a smile. “You know, right at that moment there wasn’t anything that I wanted more than to take you to bed and rock your world. I could have done it too. If you had let me I would have given you a night that you’d never forget, but I think that it would have been meaningless for me. It would have been an exercise in escapism, calculated calisthenics. Most men would have taken me to bed anyway, regardless of what they felt for me. But you saw what I was doing and you stopped me before I could damage our relationship, before I did something that would cost me the one and only link I have left to the real world.”

Jeremy brushed his free hand through Tamara’s hair. “You don’t need to thank me for that, Tammy girl,” he said. “I did it for both of us. Maybe one day you and I will get together like that, but when it happens I’d rather that it be something mutual, something that both of us are feeling at that moment in time. I think that you deserve to have my undivided attention, don’t you?”

Tamara smiled, leaned back in her chair and let go of Jeremy’s hand. “How do you do that?” she wondered. “How is it that you manage to see value in me when I’m not sure that I see any in myself?”

Jeremy shrugged. “Maybe sometimes we need someone outside our little private sphere to tell us that we’re valuable, that there’s a reason why we’re still alive,” he said. “When you’re hurt and depressed you see things in a different light, which means that a lot of self-evident truths become masked. You lose your sense of self worth because you can’t see it anymore, but that doesn’t mean that other people don’t think that you’re valuable. Sometimes we need to hear that and feel it in order to reclaim that sense of self worth.”

To be continued ...

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