The Millennial Box, Julie Steimle [classic books for 12 year olds .txt] 📗

the tinkling of beer glasses. He looked back at the bounty hunter and his mug. "That isn't beer. What are you drinking?"

The man cracked a smile at him. "Coffee. I don't take to alcohol. Messes with your brain."

Jeff nodded and sipped his cocoa again. Drawing another breath, he said, "So, they said you're called Steele. What is that a nickname for?"

The man stared hard at the midnight-haired, pale-fleshed boy. Steele's voice was gravelly when he spoke. There was a tone of distaste in what he said. "I call myself Steele. Call it a professional name. I like to keep my private life private."

"That makes two of us," Jeff murmured. He took another sip of his drink. It was cooling down tolerably now so that he could actually drink it without it scorching his tongue.

Steele peered at Jeff as he pulled out the crumpled photo Agent Sicamore had given him. He placed it on the table. "They say you go by the name Jeff, but your real name is a mystery."

Jeff's eyes rested on the photo. He turned it around as he gazed at it, stopping a laugh. "Huh. A camp photo. Why is it all wrinkled?"

The man ignored Jeff's remark. "They say that girl sometimes calls you Jafarr. Who are you, kid, and why is the FBI after you?"

Jeff peered at Steele pensively. Spinning the picture around and shoving it back at him, he said, "I'm an enigma."

Steele stared at him deeper. "The FBI doesn't waste money on someone just because he is an enigma. What did you do?"

Jeff shrugged. "Sicamore hasn't told you? I suppose he wouldn't want to, considering..." He then laughed to himself. He looked toward Steele. "Did they hire you to follow me?"

Steele shook his head. "I decided to follow you. I thought you were worth following."

"And why is that?" Jeff asked.

"The FBI seems to think that you are dangerous. You arrived at NASA and seemed to already know what they were doing there. No regular high school kid can do that. And..." Steele left a long pause, drinking in his coffee with the intent to give Jeff time to feel uncomfortable. "I suspect something about you."

It didn't work.

Jeff merely lifted his eyebrows at this news. "Do you really? I wonder if it is anything as interesting as what the FBI has come up with."

The man did not smile. Jeff could tell Steele did not like him making light of their conversation.

"I think, Jafarr...that you must think yourself above the law. Don't you?" The man rolled the r in his name like a native Arrassian would. It took Jeff by surprise. Was it because the man had heard Zormna calling him that, or was it something else?

Jeff stared at him, saying nothing.

"What is the game you are playing with the FBI?" Steele asked, clenching his nearly empty coffee mug in his hands.

Jeff pursed his lips.

"And who is that girl you were with at the Space Center?" the man continued.

Jeff blinked. "The FBI didn't tell you about her?"

Steele shook his head.

 Huffing a small laugh, Jeff leaned back. He glanced at Steele and tried to think of how to respond. "The FBI didn't tell you anything about Zormna?"

Steele still shook his head, his expression a touch changed.

 Jeff just nodded to himself and eyed the bounty hunter. "She's a classmate of mine. A friend. If the FBI didn't tell you the rest, I'm not sure I should."

The bounty hunter looked at him, surprised. He leaned across the table. "I think the FBI is playing their own game with you kid, and you had better wise up to it."

Jeff chuckled. "Why warn me? I already know what the FBI is up to. And it is obvious they didn't tell you the whole story. But really, why warn me?"

Steele sighed. It was an unexpected sigh, as if he had not gotten through to Jeff. Jeff blinked at this odd behavior and waited for the man's response.

"Just answer me this," the man asked at last. "Is your name Jafarr Zeldar?" He pronounced the name like an Arrassian.

Jeff's expression went blank. He nodded.

Steel leaned back and sighed resignedly to himself. He picked up his mug of coffee and swilled down the rest. Jeff scanned over the bar and peered back into the diner. It did not seem like anyone was listening in. They appeared to be alone.

"Do I know you?" Jeff asked in a hush.

The man before him shrugged. "Doubtful - but I know you. I knew your father."

Jeff's mouth went dry. "My father?"

Nodding, Steele said, "Jamenth."

A rush of chills ran through Jeff. He sat up straight searching hard around them to make sure no one was listening. He ducked down lower to the table and asked, "How did you know my father?"

"I worked with him," Steele answered plainly, lifting his mug up for the waitress to see that he wanted a refill. She smiled at him and came over to fill it. She eyed Jeff's half drunk cocoa and gave both of them a pleasant smile.

"Are you sure you don't want any cobbler?" she asked.

"In a minute," Jeff responded, not looking at her.

She shrugged and walked off.

"What do you mean you worked with him? I used to go to his shop almost daily, and I never saw you there," Jeff said, not touching his cocoa now.

Steele smiled almost approvingly.

"I was involved in his other work," he said. He sipped his newly filled mug, his eyes intently peering over the rim at Jeff. Caution was etched in his face.

Jeff nodded. "I see. And he told you about me."

The bounty hunter shook his head.

"Yes, and no. You and I met, but then you were only a kid - nine, I think." He took another sip before putting the mug down. "You were one cocky little brat - way too smart for your own good."

Jeff's smirk returned. "Well, I was a kid...."

"And you kept speaking in Ancient tongue, showing off and proving that your Seer Class side was the dominant part - "

"Shhhh!" Jeff hushed him, still looking around himself.

"Well, it seems you have become a little less conceited about that now - though I doubt much else has changed." Steele glared at him, wondering.

Jeff sat up. "Well, life changes a kid. What I want to know is why you are working for the FBI."

This time Steele glanced around. He wasn't nervous, but took the precaution anyway. "I was referred to the FBI by an agent friend I know. He also goes by the name of M."

Jeff sighed with relief. He sat more comfortably on the bench and fingered his cocoa again.

"He said we needed to contain a sticky situation, and he needed someone on the inside. Though meeting you changes things." Steele picked up his mug again.

Nodding, Jeff also picked up his cocoa. His cocoa was cooler, and not as tasty now that it had sat a while.

After a while in thought, Steele said, "Suggestions?"

The man smirked as he looked at Jeff. Jeff could tell the man did not take him very seriously and did not think all that highly of him. He was merely being polite.

Jeff closed his eyes. "I'm thinking."

Steele shook his head. "Whatever motivated you to come here?"

Jeff looked up at him.

"You could have finished your life with a secure job, possibly an education with a degree of some rank - with your reputed brains - and lived peacefully. What idiot idea seized on you to make you come here?" Steele said.

Jeff still gazed at him narrowly. "You don't know?"

The bounty hunter's gaze changed as he saw the surprised expression on Jeff's face.

Shaking his head, Jeff said, "You haven't heard." He stood up, taking his mug with him. "I think you should just continue pretending that you don't know me. Follow Agent Sicamore's orders and find the box. We'll discuss the rest later."

"What haven't I heard?" Steele asked now, searching Jeff's face.

Jeff looked tiredly back at him. Taking a pause, he said before departing, "My dad's dead. I lead his other work now."

He stepped towards the door. Then realizing that he was still holding the mug, Jeff drank it in one gulp and placed the empty mug on the counter.

"Can I get two cobblers to go?" Jeff asked the waitress.

 

[1] We still have to meet our contact. I still have to get in there.

[2] How am I supposed to meet my contact with this roach hanging around?

[3] You figure it out. We called ahead already and she is supposed to meet us in the main hall today. You should pass her when you get in - just do something so she has to or wants to go with you.

Chapter Six: Doing Things Properly

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

"Necessity is the mother of taking chances." - Mark Twain -

 

 

Wednesday morning, Jeff nudged Zormna awake. He was already dressed and holding his motorcycle helmet.

"What?" she moaned, blearily gazing up at him.

"We need to leave early. I have breakfast all ready. It's cold, but it tastes ok," he said, placing a takeout box next to her.

Zormna rubbed her eyes and sat up. "Why so eager? We can't get into NASA, and I haven't a clue where the FBI are staying so we can't follow them anywhere." She was sleeping in that beer T-shirt again, anything for a semblance of a change.

"They're staying at the Paradise Inn not far from here," he said.

She stared up at him, blinking.

Jeff bent over and opened the takeout box so she could see what was inside. "I called home, and Al found out by following their credit card purchases."

Zormna looked in the box and saw the half-eaten peach cobbler and a plastic fork for her. She looked back up at him and then stared at the folded blanket on the floor.

"Did you sleep at all last night?" she asked.

Jeff shrugged and walked over to the TV, picking up the juice carton. "I got in a couple hours."

Throwing the covers off her, Zormna put her feet on the floor and scowled at him. "Scrapes, Jafarr! If you can't sleep, I'd gladly give up the bed and take the floor."

He rolled his eyes. "Oh, sure and listen to you toss and turn on the floor all night. No thanks. I think the room would echo."

Zormna stood on her feet, still annoyed, yet he could see her expression soften. Was she feeling sorry for him? She walked over to the bathroom and shook her head as she went in. "Well, I just can't sleep anywhere. I can't help it," she said. Then she glared at him, shaking her finger, saying, "And don't you dare say I haven't tried, because I have."

She closed the door. Jeff could hear the running water from inside.

"I just can't sleep after thinking about those agents and what they're up to," she continued over the sound of the water.

He stood at the door, waiting for her to come out. She never showered long. Zormna opened the door with a sopping head and wrapped in a towel after just a few minutes.

"How can you go with only a few hours sleep?" she asked once she emerged. Looking around, she added, "Where are my clothes?"

Jeff walked over to the chair near the TV and