I Remembered the Silver Storm (Blind Date Corporation #24)

Chapter One

Alody kept her eyes on the seams as the machines hummed around her.

Sewing loops for lacing was her specialty, and it was destined for a very specific metabolic active.

Her partners wanted her to have something to wear to family dinners, and this dress had embroidery, a dark background, and other colours of the partnership picked out along the hemlines.

“Al, take a break. Wait, why are you here so late?”

“Ithal is on his way out of town on a school trip. I have my night to myself for a change, and I wanted to spend it making money.” She grinned and kept the whir of her machine going.

“Is that the Elf Star order?”

“Yup. They are having a lot of kids in a rush, and Mom needs something pretty. Her body is going to be flexing hard.”

“She’s pregnant with multiples?”

“No, she’s a metabolic expecting seven kids and has five mates. Her body is gaining and losing daily.”

“Seven?”

“Two embryos became twins.”

Hasha whispered, “How do you know that?”

“I went with Morwithel to the consult. Evali is one of her mothers-in-law, so the bar is pretty high.” She finished the seam and exhaled. She clipped the loose threads and shook the dress out before putting it on the blank that they had for Drin.

Reba ran toward her with wild eyes. “Al, activate your com. There’s an emergency.”

Alody opened her com and saw two calls from Ithal. She called back and heard screaming and sobbing. She quickly looked up the location. “Ith. I am here. Where are you?”

“The storm. We washed into the river. The bus is floating, but water is coming in, and the defenders are ten minutes away.”

She was heading for the door. “I am on my way, baby. Count to ten and stay on the line.”

Alody walked into the rain, looked in the direction of the signal, and ran at the speed of sound.

* * * *

Ithal looked at his friend. “Vak, my mom is coming. She’s going to be here in—”

The bus shuddered and started lifting out of the water. The kids cheered.

Maiette looked up. “She says make holes and drain the water.”

Vaken nodded and moved between seats, punching holes in the floor.

The water drained away, and Ithal watched the city get closer.

Vaken asked, “What next?”

Maiette said, “Call emergency services and say that the bus will be set down near the central hospital. We will be there in five minutes.”

Three students got on it.

Vaken looked at the roof of the bus. “What is your mom, Ithal?”

Ithal smiled. “She’s a seamstress.”

Vaken’s com started going off, and he talked to his mother. Then it went off, and he talked to his aunt. After that, Ithal watched the staff spill out of the hospital and come toward them. He blinked. He wanted his mom.

They lowered to the ground, and he and Vaken took the rear door off. Ithal’s mom was waiting, her clothing shredded by friction. He ran for her and hugged her. “Hey, baby boy. I’ve got you. Are you okay?”

Ithal nodded and looked up at her. “You are faster.”

She stroked his cheek. “I was motivated. I need to talk to Vaken’s mom for a bit.”

Vaken nodded and said, “Ithal can stay with me until the inquiry is done.”

She grinned. “Thank you.”

Ithal stared at her. “Mom?”

“I haven’t gotten my registration, bud. I am not technically supposed to use my activations. So, I have to be questioned. It’s important.”

Vaken took Ithal’s hand, looking very composed for an eight-year-old. “My uncle is a lawyer. He can help. Ithal will be safe.”

Agents came around, and Ithal saw them pausing. He turned and stared at them. “My mom saved us.”

Vaken looked at two of the agents and waved. “Hi, Auntie; hi, Uncle.”

Two figures in black leather walked toward her. The woman with extreme curves said, “Miss, we have to bring you to a query centre to figure out what happened.”

Ithal’s mom nodded. “I know. I need to make sure that Shisha will take my son.”

Shisha rushed up and hugged Vaken. “Alody, go. Vaken told me that Ithal needs an emergency sleepover.”

“Okay. Thank you. They will need to give their statements?”

Shisha nodded. “I will stay with him.”

His mom lifted her arm, activated her com, and said, “I give Shisha authorization to act as temporary guardian of Ithal until the query about the events is concluded.”

Shisha nodded and got the message. She replied, “I accept temporary custody of Ithal.”

Ithal got a bad feeling. “Mom, how long will you be gone?”

“I will be back with you as soon as I can, bud.”

Shisha nodded. “I’ve got him.”

Vaken said, “My aunt will help. You will be back soon.”

The male agent smiled. “You are sounding very grown up, Vaken.”

“Thank you, cousin.”

Salat grinned. “I am hoping Ciro has half of your calm.”

Ithal hugged his mom, and she hugged him back. “It’s okay, baby. They can’t hold me if I don’t let them.”

He nodded and squeezed her tight.

She stroked his hair, and his fin flexed against her fingers. “Okay. They are staring, and more rescuers are landing. I need to leave before I am on the news.”

Ithal let her go, and she was led off to a dark vehicle. They didn’t cuff her, so that was good.

Shisha smiled. “Come on, Ithal. You and Vaken need to get your statements done, and then we will go to Uncle Klauz’s. He’s invited us for dessert.”

Ithal smiled weakly. “Then, we should make our statements.”

Miss Shisha put her hand on Ithal’s back, and her other hand was on Vaken. They walked toward the agents and peacekeepers and worried parents. Ithal was really glad his mom was calm.

The teacher and bus driver saw them, and Mrs. Ekhart ran toward them to check on them.

Vaken looked around. “Oh, it’s my grandparents.”

Ithal looked at the man with a thick neck and greying hair and the woman with black hair threaded with silver.

They rushed toward Vaken and checked him over front and back. His grandmother hugged him, and Shisha kept her hand on Ithal.

The grandfather was asking questions, but Vaken said, “Grandfather, I have to give my statement. You can listen in.”

Ithal watched as a huge red man with a glittery woman with pointed ears arrived with another gold man and a very serious man with dark hair.

Everyone rushed and hugged Vaken, asking questions, but he just said he had to give his statement.

Shisha hugged the glowing lady, and they continued toward the agents doing recordings of the events.

Ithal looked at Maiette, and she was looking nervous.

The serious man walked over and knelt beside her, smiling at her and her parents.

Ithal just held still. The agents eventually made their way over to record his name and statement.

Once they had his name, one of the men asked, “Ithal, why do you have a com?”

Ithal blinked. “Because I used to have a different implant there, and my mom told me that I shouldn’t waste the pain. I can only call five people and emergency services, and only one person can call me.”

“Your mother. Where is your mother?”

“The agents took her away for questioning. My mom gave temporary custody of me to Shisha, and she accepted.”

Ithal swallowed. “Mom said that one person in a class should always be able to call for help, so when we went off the road, I called for help.”

The agent said, “Who did you call?”

“My mom. I called twice and called the shop once. That is when Mom called me back and said she would be there in ten seconds. She was. She pulled us out of the water.”

“What is your mother’s activation?”

Ithal frowned and said, “I don’t understand.”

“You are an early heavy hitter. What is your mother?”

“She does what is necessary. That’s all she ever said.”

Ithal looked at their confusion. “She’s fast when she has to be fast; she can lift when she has to lift; she can go through fire when that is the only way out. Do you understand?”

One of the agents blinked and nodded. “I think so. She would register as inactive on any scans but become active when needed to. It is more of a theory than anything.”

Vaken had finished with his interview and had wandered over to listen.

“Okay, so what happened from your perspective? What did you see?” The agent smiled helpfully.

“Well, Vaken and I were guessing how many S'mores we were going to eat. The rain was coming down, and every now and then, the bus shivered. All of a sudden, we could hear water hitting the bottom of the bus, and the back end started to swing in the wrong direction, and then the nose of the bus dipped, and we were in the river. Then we were moving fast, and I called my mom. I kept trying until she called me and told me she would be there soon, and Vaken and I talked for a bit, and the bus was lifting out of the river and moving over the embankment. Mom must have spoken to Maiette, and she relayed that we needed to get the water out of the bus. Vaken made the holes while I kept our signal going, and then Maiette said to call the hospital to say we were coming, and Vaken used the buses emergency com link for that once we weren’t rocking.”

The agent said, “Your mother is a psychic?”

“When it is necessary.”

“Right. Agents took her?”

“Yes. Salat and Khytten. They are Vaken’s cousins.”

“Oh. Right. So, actual agents.”

Ithal nodded. “Yes, sir.”

“Well, you can come with us.”

Ithal looked at them calmly. “No.”

The agents paused. “What?”

Vaken walked forward. “Ithal’s mom gave my mom temporary custody, and Uncle Vikor and Techor say it is legally binding.”

His grandfather scowled. “And I would agree.”

The agent swallowed. “Captain Varun. I didn’t know you were involved.”

“Vaken is my grandson, and Ithal is a friend of the family. We will make sure that he is safe and accessible with appropriate supervision at all times.”

The agent flinched.

Ithal looked at the older man. “Were they going to take me to make Mom do stuff?”

The agent paused. “Why do you say that?”

“It happened before.”

One of the agents paused his stylus. “They made your mom do stuff? Are you Uraddan?”

“No. She’s from Sethir. Her parents sold her when she was about my age.”

The adults around him went silent. One of the agents asked, “Who is your father?”

Ithal smiled. “I don’t know. Mom says who he was isn’t as important as who I am going to be, and that is what I will concentrate on.”