Terry Neale - Jo-el

“Did you talk with him?”

Vogel nodded. “I received an email from him saying he wanted to be on a show for ten minutes.”

“To say what?”

“He didn’t say,” answered Vogel.

“How did you know it was really him.”

“Well that was funny. Normally, nothing gets through to me, but this email wouldn’t delete and didn’t go to spam. Then he told me something about myself that nobody knows. He said it was to prove that he was for real.”

“What?”

“I’d rather not say, but trust me he was spot on and there’s no way anybody knows what he told me, it was quite scary. I mean, how could he possibly know something about my past life that was so secret.”

I turned to Sally, who was sitting in her armchair. “What did you tell her?”

“I mentioned the name of this guy she’d had a crush on at high-school, she’d given him a hand-job, which was her first time. Guess it’s something you humans never forget.”

“Oh Jeez! No wonder she was sheepish when I bounced in there.”

“Gotta get their attention, Joey.” Sally smirked.

I turned back to the monitor.

Vogel was talking. “So I said okay and sent some emails asking the usual questions, but he didn’t reply, except just to trust him and he’d be here tonight at seven.”

“Well that’s not going to happen,” said Nolan.

“They monitor our emails, Stew. That’s not right.”

“Damn right about that, but let’s cover that another time. What else happened with this Jo-el?”

“So then the troops came in and they shut us down.”

“That’s it! Why does this guy garner so much attention from the security services?”

“Stew, wait. The best bit is what happened about an hour ago.”

Nolan was quiet and motioned with his eyes for Cathy to continue.

“He came to see me.”

“Who?”

“Jo-el.”

“What? Where?”

“Here.”

“He came to the studio with all these troops all over the place?”

“Yes.”

“What, he just strolled right in.”

“No, Stew, let me finish please.”

“Okay, go on, sorry.”

“Now Stew, you’ve known me for a long time, right? I’ve never brought you a crazy idea that didn’t pan out. So, you’re going to have to relax and bear with me when I tell you what happened, because you are probably going to have difficulty believing it.”

“Sounds like you’re setting me up, Cathy.”

Vogel waited, she knew that what she was about to say was going to sound ridiculous but she didn’t know how else to explain it.

“Firstly, he overwrote my computer, telling me the FBI etc. was monitoring my email.” Stew was quiet. “Then he said, via the email, that he wanted to come to my office, and I said how and you know, all the troops in the studio. He told me to lock the door.”

I watched Nolan’s expression, his face had creased up and his lips were pressed solidly together. He fiddled with a pen on the desk.

Cathy continued. “He said he would bounce into my office.”

“Bounce!” exclaimed Nolan.

“That’s the word he used, yes.” Nolan waited. “I said, okay and suddenly there was this man, Jo-el, standing in front of my desk.”

“What?” Nolan laughed. “You’re kidding me, no way? Don’t be ridiculous, Cathy, you can’t expect me to believe that. Have you been drinking?”

“It’s true, Stew. I have no idea how he just appeared in my office, but he did. You wanted to know why the government is going ape-shit, well there’s one damn good reason.”

I turned to Sally, “how can I contact Nolan?”

“His cell phone is on his desk; I can call it.” Sally told me, “Just speak out loud.”

“Do it!”

The phone rang with a charming melody. I watched Nolan as he glared down at the phone. The small screen showed my name ‘JO-EL’ in large letters.

“Look,” he said to Vogel. He picked up the phone and showed it to her.

“It’s him, he knows we’re talking, he knows you don’t believe me.”

“He can see into this office? How for Christ’s sake?”

“I don’t know, Stew, but why would he call just at that moment?” Vogel voice was pleading.

“What should I do?” Nolan was suddenly nervous.

“Answer it.”

He paused for a moment then pressed the ‘accept call’ button. “Hello.”

I answered. “Mr. Nolan, would it be okay if I joined you?”

Nolan looked at Vogel. “He wants to come here.”

“Say yes, Stew,” she was beaming a broad smile across her face. This would prove to Nolan what she’d said earlier.

Nolan said gingerly into the phone, “Okay.”

“Mr. Nolan, I will bounce into your office, by the picture of you and President Bush. Please don’t be frightened. Close the call, don’t say anything else.”

I suddenly realized that the cell phone could have been used to listen to the conversation. “Sally, did the NSA pick up that call?”

“Oh shit! They were listening to everything through the phone. Sorry boss, missed that.”

“Damn, how long till they arrive.”

Sally’s face went blank. “One minute, maybe two.”

“Bounce me in.”

I was in Stewart Nolan’s office, standing by his picture of himself and George W. Bush. Nolan’s face was aghast.

“Mr. Nolan, Cathy, thanks for allowing me to come, this has to be short, the NSA were listening to your conversation through your cell phone,” I pointed at the device on the desk. “Please set up an interview on camera, outside of America, I’ll be there, okay. The FBI will be here in one minute, so I have to go.”

I bounced back home just as the door flung open and two FBI agents with pistols drawn rushed into the room. Sally and I watched on the monitor, it wasn’t fun.

The lead FBI agent was speaking into a microphone on his shoulder. Then he turned to Nolan. “Mr. Nolan, we need you and Miss Vogel to come with us.”

“What the hell for?” screamed Nolan.

“Aiding a wanted terrorist.”

“You’ve got to be kidding me?” But he wasn’t and within ten minutes Stewart Nolan and Cathy Vogel were carted off in a police car.

I was standing still, staring wide eyed at the monitor, fuming. Then I began pacing around the room. I was livid, I was so mad. “Now look what I’ve done. Fuck! Fuck, fuck!” I screamed at no one. I needed a drink, I needed a large drink. Now!

Sally stood up, her expression exuded apprehension. She placed her holographic arms around me and snuggled her body up close. I felt nothing but allowed her to come close to me. Then she kissed me. I was shocked. I pulled back instinctively and stared at her, she was truly beautiful.

“I felt your kiss, I felt your lips,” I said.

She smiled.

“How did you do that?”

“Kiss me again, Jo-el.”

I kissed her again, long. Her lips were soft and I felt her tongue reach inside of my mouth. But it was weird, I had no body to hold close. I pulled back.

She smiled again, then sat down not uttering a word. She looked content, happy. It calmed me, somewhat. I fixed a large Black Label and Sally played Jason Mraz on Pandora. I mellowed.

Time drifted by and my thoughts whizzed back and forth, from Vogel and Nolan to the whole bloody mess. I sipped my second scotch lovingly, Sally was still sitting patiently in the armchair. “What did they do with Nolan and Vogel?”

Sally glanced over, I could see she was reviewing data. “They took them underground.”

Damn. “I might have guessed. I bet they wished they’d never met me. I feel sorry for them.”

“They can’t hold them forever and no court will convict them for what they did.”

“I thought the US can hold you indefinitely on terrorist charges?”