Steel Life (Cape High Series Book 25), page 25
“This is ABSOLUTELY going viral,” he brags.
The VTV van pulls to a stop and Jennifer and Freddy get out, with Freddy grinning from ear to ear. “And today we have Cold Steel living out his cartoon fantasies,” Jack hears her say, and he can’t help but laugh even more. He goes higher, bringing up the map of places he can crush and then very dramatically taking a single step.
The robot takes a step, as well.
***
*Bonus Chapters*
Monkey Business
“Wait, so now we don’t even need the monkey?” Lance says, a bit blankly. They had gotten Herold without even needing this little guy, which left them stuck with an extremely smart monkey—who somehow has gotten the hang of using the walls of their greenhouse as televisions. Right now the monkey is watching Day at the Museum for the tenth time, and hooting happily whenever the capuchin in the movie gets the upper hand.
“They’ve already caught Herold and are shipping him off to an uninhabited planet,” Zoe says, watching the monkey curiously. “Think we should remove that implant that Herold placed in him?”
“Maybe we should get one of the healers to do it,” Lance says, sighing. “Hey, hey, George! Do you want to go home?”
“You named the monkey George,” Zoe says, staring at him.
“What ELSE would you name a monkey?” Lance asks.
The monkey, on the other hand, is waving his arms around wildly, answering the question that Lance had asked. Unfortunately for him, Lance still hasn’t figured out that the little guy knows sign language.
“Is he signing?” Zoe asks, looking intrigued.
“Wait, what?” Lance says, looking over. “Mom SAID he was trying to say something, and then left, but—“
“He’s signing,” Zoe says, seeing a few of the movements that look familiar. “Okay, I’m going to need to translate this—“ she stops, though, as people walk into the forest. To both of their surprise, and the monkey’s confusion, Coyote is following along behind his daughter.
“Grandpa!” Lance says. “What are you—“ He stops as Coyote raises a hand and heads over to the monkey.
“Now, tell me what we need to know,” Coyote says, impatiently. “I dislike being in this area.”
The monkey stares at him for all of a second before letting out a squeal of fear and racing up the nearest tree to hide from him.
“You scared the monkey,” Lance says to Coyote.
“Yes, it seems I did,” Coyote says, but there’s a twitch developing under his eye that says he’s getting irritated with this situation. Well, Lance thinks, he did get dragged all the way up here to talk to a monkey.
“Do you know sign language?” Zoe asks, eagerly.
“Of course I do,” Coyote says.
“I didn’t want to assume—“ she starts out.
“I’ve lived for a very long time and dealt with many people that spoke different languages,” Coyote says. “So I have learned many languages.”
“Only to wind up living alone and ignoring people ninety percent of the time,” Lance says, with a hint of amusement.
“That about sums it up,” Kimi agrees.
“You learn many languages only to find that many have nothing important to say,” Coyote says. To Zoe’s surprise, Lance looks away, his shoulders shaking with suppressed laughter. Kimi has a look of dry amusement on her face, and merely shakes her head when Zoe looks at her questioningly.
“And that’s how it goes,” Lance says, grinning at Zoe when he’s managed to calm down. “He’s really grumpy, you know?”
“I am just stating facts,” Coyote says, looking a bit disgruntled. “Tell me, child, whose daughter are you? You look familiar.”
“Are you sure what I have to say will be important?” she asks dryly.
“My grandson is in need of a girlfriend,” Coyote says. “He would stop calling me at strange hours if he was otherwise occupied.”
“Hey, I only called at three in the morning, once! And that’s because I got my deer back!” Lance says. “I also fell out of bed,” he admits, a second later. “And having a girlfriend has nothing to do with strange hours, does it?”
“It had better not,” Kimi says.
“I’m sorry, I’m already taken,” Zoe says, watching the three of them closely. Slowly a slight smile crosses her face. “I’m glad.”
“That you are taken?” Coyote asks as he heads for the tree. “Down,” he orders, the word seeming to echo in their minds. The monkey jumps out of the tree, landing on his shoulder.
“That you seem to be getting along better as a family,” she says.
“Mom’s been helping out with Grandpa’s lessons for the South Branch,” Lance says.
“Speak,” Coyote says to the monkey as he lifts him off of his shoulders and holds him with one hand. The monkey starts signing quickly. The group goes silent, expecting to hear some dramatic story about how he was used and abused by Herold. Coyote, on the other hand, lifts his free hand, stopping the silent speech.
“What did he say?” Lance asks.
“He refuses to go to the island,” Coyote says, “he says they do not have television on the island.” The capuchin nods, emphatically agreeing with this, and then jumps off of Coyote’s hand and heads for the wall, again, to watch his movie.
“Do you think Grandma and Grandpa know sign language?” Zoe asks, thoughtfully.
“I would know if I knew who they are,” Coyote says, watching her curiously.
“Superior and Tatiana,” she says, grinning at him. “I’ll go ask them!” She leaves, leaving him to stare after her as he tries to hide his surprise.
Lance pats his arm, consolingly. “Yeah, that one’s definitely NOT on the prospective girlfriend list,” he says. “She’s dating the son of Mastermental, too.”
“But how about Sandra?” Kimi asks. “You two would be adorable together!”
“Sandra is?” Coyote asks.
“A rock mimic, the daughter of Reaper, AND my zoo sibling,” Lance says, trying to get them to stop.
Instead, Coyote looks intrigued. “Ahhh, her,” he says. “I agree; she would be acceptable.”
“Shouldn’t you be trying to set me up with a Native American girl?” Lance asks.
“You are a blond Coyote,” Coyote says, “We must take what we get.”
“Mom, tell him I’m not blond!”
“Well, you are rather… blond-ish,” Kimi admits.
“I’m not blond!” He looks over as the monkey starts signing. “What did he just say?” he asks Coyote.
“To… ‘quiet down, we are interrupting his show,’” Coyote says dryly.
Grandpa Rights
“Just a moment, my de—“ Andre says, a bit startled to look up and find Superior standing in front of his desk. Oh, he’s not surprised to find SOMEONE in front of him, Emily has made a habit of popping in randomly after school, but this isn’t Emily.
Superior doesn’t laugh at almost being called “My dear” but there is a hint of amusement on his face as he looks around the office. He pauses in front of a wall of pictures, staring at one with fondness for a while. “It’s fine,” he says, tapping on his watch. Soon he’s wearing an illusion that looks a LOT like Nico, but with blond hair. “There we go. Tell me when you’re finished, Andre.” And he promptly takes the picture he’d been admiring down.
“You can look, Superior, but please don’t steal my favorite Liz picture,” Andre says. “It’s the one of her very first interview, isn’t it?”
“Is it?” Superior asks. “I wasn’t there.” The words seem to linger in the air until he heads for the desk with the picture in his hand. He looks over the paperwork in front of Andre. “Do you have a blank sheet of paper?”
“What?” Andre asks. “I mean, yes, I think I can find one,” he says, heading for the printer in back and pulling a sheet out of the tray. He hands it over to Superior, who holds it up next to the picture. The blank piece shifts in front of Andre’s eyes, turning into a perfect copy.
“There we go,” Superior says, hanging the original picture back up. He pauses, though, looking at another with a grin. Andre hands over a stack of paper without a word. “Her mom will like these,” Superior says.
“I thought her mom was in space,” Andre says.
“Sparky isn’t her real mom, she’s just the woman that gave birth to her. You have to have love to be a mom,” Superior says. “At least that’s what my wife tells me, and I’m not going to argue.”
“Yes…” Andre says thoughtfully. “There are many circumstances where a mother can’t be with their child, and is still a mom, but… I have only heard small snippets of what happened with Sparky in the past, but I agree. She isn’t qualified to carry the title of ‘mom.’”
“But you and I are more than qualified to carry the title ‘Grandpa,’” Superior says, grinning just a bit wickedly, “which is why I’m here. Let’s go.”
Andre looks at the piles of work on his desk, for all of a second, and then stands to get his coat. “Where are we going?”
“We are going to move our fellow grandfather over to a place where we can visit on a regular basis,” Superior says, grinning. He reminds Andre of a little boy about to play a trick.
“Oh? And where would that be?” Andre asks.
“It’s called Bootlegger’s Retirement Village. My youngest and her girls are quite fond of the place.” Superior places a hand on Andre’s shoulder. “I’ve heard Ariel calls it the bee’s knees.” And they both disappear with a poof, appearing a second later in front of a rather bland looking retirement home.
“This is what Ariel called ‘the bee’s knees’?” Andre asks, disbelievingly.
“No, this is where Jake lives at the moment,” Superior says. “We’re going to get him out of here.”
“Have you thought about changing his age?” Andre asks as they head into the home. A few people look confused, but several of the older folk start gasping.
“I knew it! I knew it!” one man says, hooting. “I knew you weren’t dead!”
“Aren’t you wearing an illusion?” Andre asks silently.
“He can’t even see this far,” Superior says, looking curiously at the man.
“Then how does he know?” Andre asks.
“I honestly have no idea,” Superior admits, heading for the counter. “Hello, we’re here to speak with Jake Shetland.”
“Shetler,” Andre says.
“Is it, really?” Superior asks him. “I always remember the pony for some reason.”
Andre looks away, his shoulders shaking slightly with amusement. He clears his throat. “No, it’s Shetler,” he says, deadpan.
“Um, I… can I ask who’s visiting?” the woman behind the counter asks, blushing slightly because two very good looking men are in front of her. In a place like this, you do NOT see men like these! They must barely be in their thirties!
“Andre Harrison and…” Andre looks at Superior, “another friend of his.”
“Superior!” the old man who had been cheering calls out. “I won’t ever forget that day I met you when I was a boy!”
“I must look familiar,” Superior says blandly.
“Oh, I’m so sorry. Charlie has gotten a bit… well, he means well,” the woman says. “If you would follow me, I’ll take you to see Jake!” she bustles past them, heading for the dining hall. A small group of elderly people follow along behind them, much to Andre’s amusement.
“So he wasn’t lying!” they hear one of the women say.
“I bet you’re regretting turning him down, aren’t you?” another woman says, cackling.
“Oh, shush, you.”
The woman leading the two doesn’t seem to hear them as she heads for a table. Jake is sitting there, showing pictures to the people at the table. “And this is my other granddaughter, Emily!” he says. “She’s a little firecracker!”
“Jake,” Superior says. Jake jerks, turning with surprise.
“Su—um—sir! I didn’t expect you two to show up!” he says, beaming. “I was just telling these ladies about our adorable grandchildren!”
“You mean YOUR adorable grandchildren,” the man sitting across from him says.
“Actually, no,” Andre says, “They’re ours, as well, aren’t they… Cliff?”
“They are,” Superior says, and sits down in the chair next to Jake. Andre looks at him for a moment, amused, before sitting down, as well. They both pull out their phones. “This is our Aubrey, and our Emily,” Superior says, bringing up a hologram of the two.
The woman that had led them here almost falls over with shock.
“That newfangled technology,” the other man says, “I never could wrap my mind around it.”
“Not bad, though, is it?” Superior says.
“Is that—are you sure you should be showing that to—“ the woman asks.
“Send me that one, would you?” Andre asks, tapping on his phone. “I’ll send you this one,” he says, bringing up a hologram of the girls with Liz and Taurus.
“That boy in the picture, he looks just like you!” a lady at the table says. “So handsome!” She gives him a flirtatious look, and he grins.
“Why, thank you,” he says. “He’s my pride and joy.”
“He’s a good man,” Superior says. “My wife is quite fond of him.”
Soon the three grandpas are surrounded by people wanting to hear about their family. Only the people that work there are shocked into silence by the technology. The rest of the place seems to think it’s perfectly normal. Just as they’re starting to recover, though, someone ELSE shocks them by saying, “So, Superior, how’s retired life treating you?”
Superior looks up, grinning. “Not bad, not bad, but just between you and me—“
“Superior is quite dead,” Jake finishes, much to their amusement.
“And how about you, handsome?” the woman asks Andre. “Oh! I know where I’ve seen you! Andre from Hero Television!” she says, getting excited. “Do you still do that cute little show of yours? I used to LOVE that show!”
“I have a television station now, actually,” Andre says, “HTV.”
“And VTV, right?” Superior asks.
“It’s a budding channel, yes,” Andre says modestly.
“So, really, gentlemen, what brings you here?” Jake asks.
Andre and Superior look at each other, smiling slightly. “We’re here to move you over to Reaper’s little village,” Superior says. “That way we have you in the teleportation watch.”
“Ah…” Jake says, frowning slightly. “I do have friends here…”
“Reaper’s?” Andre asks. “That explains the name.”
“Well, he IS dating Doris. That’s why the girls like to visit so often,” Superior says.
“The girls do?” Jake says, eagerly, standing. “Well, what are you waiting for? I’ve got moving to do!”
“No flirting with my daughters, Jake,” Superior says, standing and following as the other man heads off.
“Ariel doesn’t claim you, remember?” Andre says, laughing as he follows the other two.
“She might not claim me, but I can claim her.”
Behind them, Charlie crows, “I KNEW he wasn’t dead! Superior is well and truly—“
“You old coot, didn’t you hear them? Superior is dead, he told us so, himself!” a woman says, batting at him. The rest of the room starts laughing.
~About the Author~
R.J. Ross has been writing since junior high, when she discovered that it could help her keep an A in English Class. She lives in Missouri, where she spends all of her time writing. If you would like to see more of her work, you can find several short stories at amazon.com/author/rjross!
Like her on Facebook for bonus material such as character profiles, unpublished information, and status updates at https://www.facebook.com/capehigh! Or check out her blog for free Cape High short stories at https://capehigh.wordpress.com or follow her on twitter @rjrosscapehigh
~~~~~~
~About the Cover Designer~
Artist, designer, and programmer - you would think that by growing up near the Gulf Coast Leslie Zielinski would spend more time on the sandy beaches. No, she spends her time in front of a computer screen creating digital art and making it come to life.
Table of Contents
CHAPTER ONE
CHAPTER TWO
CHAPTER THREE
CHAPTER FOUR
CHAPTER FIVE
CHAPTER SIX
CHAPTER SEVEN
CHAPTER EIGHT
CHAPTER NINE
CHAPTER TEN
CHAPTER ELEVEN
CHAPTER TWELVE
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
CHAPTER NINETEEN
R.J. Ross, Steel Life (Cape High Series Book 25)
