Cooperative: The Destination

Chapter 2

“Thursday Special, please.” Cory wiggled his chair a little, making googly eyes at Jenny. “You too? Make that two.” He looked at the menu. “You want the fries?” 

Jenny nodded. “And that… and that.”

“Okay… shoestring fries, yeah. Same for both of us. The shaved apple salad and black eyed peas.”

“Make it three.” James waved a hand. “Same sides. Wait, not apple salad. The slaw.”

“What’s your poison?” Cory grinned. 

“Just tea, man. I gotta get up early.” He looked at the waitress. “Tea.”

“Buzz kill.” Cory made a face. “G. Rye Joe.”

“Shrub Zero.” Jenny pointed.

The waitress looked at James again. He shook his head. “Just tea.”

“He’ll take a Shrub Zero too.” Jenny giggled. She glanced at James. “Its non-alcohol, duffus.”

James sighed. “I kinda just want tea.” 

Jenny rolled her eyes while the waitress hurried off. 

“I love sitting on the patio.” Jenny said. She leaned into James. “How’s my sweet James?”

“He’s lonely. We need to set him up with someone.”

“After Susan?” Jenny raised a brow. She looked thoughtful. “I’ll have to add motion sickness to my questionnaire.” 

“You have a questionnaire?” James snickered. 

“Don’t mock the process, flyboy.” Jenny poked him. She leaned forward to look at him better. “You look distressed.”

“Just a weird day.” James said, sighing.

She grabbed his hand. “You know we love you, right? You’re family.”

James looked at her hand and smiled. “I love you too, Jenny. That… yeah, that helps a lot. I’d be lost without you and Cory.”

“He would.” Cory grinned. “He’d be thinking he’s going crazy. Around us, he’s just one of the crew.”

“Pfft. I’m the normal one.” James smirked. He sat back while the waitress set the plate down, then looked up at her and flinched. What he saw was a pretty young lady, who was covered in fur and had large eyes. He blinked hard and looked again, to his relief seeing just a pretty brunette with flawless skin. 

“Don’t stare.” Jenny whispered.

“I thought… I thought I recognized her.” James lied. “Maybe not.”

“Of course you do. She’s our regular.” Jenny quipped, digging into her meal. “Cory already has dibs though.”

James laughed and picked up his burger. He glanced again, and once again, saw a cat lady taking another patron’s order. Sighing, he took a bite and chewed defiantly, watching the waitress while trying not to stare. 

“We should hook them up. I think he likes brunettes.” Cory said, pointing. 

Jenny raised her brows. “Maybe. But you like blonds, right?” She squinted at Cory. “Right?”

“Of course, dear. And you like dirty brown.”

“Like mud.” James said, covering his mouth. 

“Manure.” Cory grinned. 

“We could be twins.” James took another bite. “Mud and manure.”

“What have I gotten myself into?” Jenny shook her head, bemused.

“The Hawk came in today.” Cory nodded at James. “He’ll take you up if you want.”

“Maybe. I trust him more than you.”

“Ouch.” James made a face.

“Cory in a car is bad enough.” Jenny quipped. “You’re rock solid”

“That’s me. The safe one. Who inexplicably takes up flying as a hobby.”

“Why did you?” Jenny wiped her mouth. “Take up flying. You seem to like staying on the ground.”

“The mark of insanity is to do the same thing expecting different outcomes. So, I stepped out of my comfort zone. And, I’m still alone. But flying is fun, so…” James took a drink and leaned on the table. 

“You’re not alone, silly.” Jenny said, elbowing him. “She’s out there. You’ll meet her.”

“She could be galaxies away, for all I know.” James waved a fry at her, then bit it. “A hundred millennia ago.”

“Yeah, with cinnamon buns on the side of her head.” Cory put his hands on both sides of his head, pantomiming the hair style. “James, I am your father.”

“Mom and Dad are going to be so shocked.” James laughed. He glanced at the waitress again. She looked like a normal brunette again. Rubbing his eyes, he looked again. Furry cat girl. Just walking around, helping patrons, pouring water. She came up and topped his tea, smiling at him as she did. He was startled to see canines. 

“You okay, sweetie?” 

“Yeah, yes ma’am. Long day.” James stammered. The waitress winked at him and sauntered away, tending to her other customers. 

“Hold my spot.” Jenny said as she stood and left for the bathroom. James was immensely relieved at least she didn’t turn furry too. 

“You’re staring again. At Jenny now.” Cory said.

James blinked. “I’m seeing weird stuff. More weird stuff. That waitress, she’s normal now. But sometimes when I look at her, she’s like this cat lady. Fur, big eyes, teeth. Freaky.”

“You always did like furries.”

James gave him a look then stared at his tea. He took a sip, took a breath, then looked back up at her. She was, yet again, in full kitty mode. Or he was seeing it. She noticed him looking at her and returned. 

“Did you want something stronger?” She nodded at his tea. 

James looked at her hand and tentatively took it in his, turning it over. It even felt furry. “Um, oh, sorry.” He released the hand. He had sensed her patient amusement through their touch. “I, uh, yeah, no. Just tea.” He looked up at her. She was gorgeous, even furry and James had trouble averting his gaze.

“Well, if you need anything, I’m Samantha. Cory and Jenny have my number.” She winked at him then walked away, trailing her hand on his shoulder as she did.

“You dog!” Cory gushed. 

“What?” Jenny asked, returning to her chair.

“Our main man got Sam’s attention.” 

“What, by staring her into submission?” She looked around at their waitress.

“Hey, whatever works, right?” Cory giggled. 

“I didn’t mean to.” James said, subdued. 

“She’s a catch. I’ll text you her number. She catered our wedding.”

“That was her?” James looked around. Still furry. Sighing, he returned his attention to Cory. “She looks different.”

“Highlights.” Jenny held her hair out. 

“Yeah, that must be it.” James glanced furtively at Samantha. She appeared regular now. A pretty brunette. 

“Is that Brian? Again?” Cory said. He waved. Brian had just walked in, and beamed when he saw them. 

“Well. Small universe.” Brian said. “James. How are you?”

“Meh, a little crazy, a little nuts. The usual.” He tried to make it sound funny, but didn’t quite pull it off.

“Embrace it.” Brian said, putting his hand on his shoulder. James suddenly felt a wave of wellness seem to wash over him. He looked curiously at him. Brian nodded. “Just relax and enjoy the ride. That’s what you tell your passengers, right?”

“Hah. Yeah. I still needed a barf bag once.” James grinned sheepishly. He glanced at the waitress. Furry again. But not disturbing anymore. He pursed his lips, and refused to be disturbed by it. He was clearly having an episode. And like Brian recommended, he was determined to just relax and ride it out.

“There you go. Yeah, I heard about Susan from Cory. Not everyone can stomach a bumpy ride.” Brian said. He looked over at the door. “My date is here, so if you excuse me.” He slapped Cory on the back and joined a short Asian lady who hooked his arm. 

“He may be my latest boss, but he’s really nice too.” Cory said. Jenny nodded. 

“Yeah. He just seems so relaxed and confident. I wish I had that.” James said. 

“So, Samantha?” Jenny leaned into James. 

The thoughts he got from her made him blush. “Okay okay, I’ll give her a call. Maybe see if she doesn’t blow chunks on our latest vomit rocket.”

“Oh you are such a romantic.” Jenny batted her eyes at him, then grabbed her drink.

“Sorry, but you’re already taken.” James sipped his tea innocently. He looked up to realize Samantha was standing next to him. “Hi?”

“That gentleman over there has taken care of your bill. So, here’s the receipt.” She handed a slip of paper to James. She smiled and leaned close to him. “Jenny invited me to fly this Saturday.”

“He’s impossibly shy.” Jenny quipped. James tried to glare at her but ended up grinning. 

“Yes, I am impossibly shy. But we are doing some test flights and there’s a second seat…”

“I’ll be there.” Samantha said, smiling sweetly. “I love to fly.” 

“I… um… I do too.” James stammered. She giggled and walked away.

“You do too? I hope you do. You’re the pilot, dummy.” Jenny laughed.

“God, did I really just say that?” James put his face in his hands. He sighed and looked up at Samantha while she sat other patrons at their tables. Fur or no, she seemed nice. Maybe his luck was about to change.

~ ~ ~

The alarm went off, jolting James awake. He lay in bed for a moment, collecting himself, then reached over and fumbled with his phone. He finally got the alarm silenced then plopped back down, staring at a spot on the ceiling. “Another fabulous day.”

Sighing, he rolled out of bed and padded to the bathroom. He stopped at the threshold and pursed his lips. Then he looked back at his bed. “I’m not awake.” He knelt down and put his hand on the floor. Only, it wasn’t his bathroom floor. He felt leaves. Soil. 

Giving a frustrated huff, he stood up and padded back to his bed and grabbed his phone. “Something complicated. I can never dream something complicated. The report of the latest fusion development.” He peered at the report on his phone. “Nope. It’s all there. Shit.” 

James looked at the bathroom door. It entered into a coniferous forest. “Can’t you at least give me my toilet?” 

Shaking his head, he padded to the bedroom neighboring his, and peeked into the bathroom there. It was, for all intents and purposes, still a bathroom. He set about his daily ablutions, as much as he could, grumbling the whole time, then returned to his own room and looked at his closet door. 

“If my closet is like that, I’m going to be ticked.” He closed his eyes, then swung the door wide. Peeking from one eye confirmed his immaculate collection of suits and shoes. “Damned right. Don’t jack with my clothes.” 

Dressed, he looked at his bathroom again. Closing his eyes, he remembered the way it looked. Pristinely clean. Not even water spots on the marble sink. Sighing, he opened his eyes and took a step back, stunned. He wasn’t sure if he was more disturbed that he was looking at his actual bathroom than he when was looking at the forest. He rushed in and finished his morning preparation then rushed out, satisfied. “There.” 

He looked at the door, then closed it. “I may be going with the flow, but I am NOT coming home to wildlife in my bedroom.” 

The kitchen was welcoming. Also pristine. He was almost obsessively neat, but the result was an orderly home. His roommates nearly always took a while to adopt it, but they eventually came around. A neat home was good for the mind and body. Though now James was starting to question that. 

Maybe he kept his home too sterilized. He looked out the window over his sink. Nature was good to look at, but he loathed being in it. And yet, wasn’t he part of nature? “Maybe I need some time in a sweat lodge. Camping or something.” He chuckled. “Sure, James, let’s go camping. Then end up a steaming pile of bear crap.” He laughed at himself and finished off his egg burrito. 

As he entered his garage, he looked back into his home. “No. Just no. I am not coming home to forests in my house, got it? Rolling with it my ass, this is my home.”

~ ~ ~

“Harvey, my man.” James performed a missed high-five with his office-mate. “You got fresh coffee for me?”

“You could learn to roast it yourself, you know.”

“I’d rather drop a few bucks in the coffee jar and let our resident expert do the hard work.” James poured himself a cup from the large thermos. “That’s new. What are we working on today?”

“Analyzing hits to determine efficacy of our new smart munitions.” Harvey pointed at the bank of videos playing on the screen. “DoD has already collected and edited all the video, so we just count and balance that to ordinance used.” 

“Oh, isn’t that going to be fun.” James squinted. “I predict a seventy thirty success rate.”

“I’m seeing more like 80 so far.” Harvey said. 

“Give it time.” James sat at his desk and brought up the used inventory. “It never gets easier looking at this, you know. Ouch.” He winced as a tank dramatically blew up.”

“Secondary explosions there. We hit their shells.” Harvey said. “No survivors.”

“Brutal, dude.” James started tabulating the hits and balancing them against the DoD records. As he worked, the weirdness of the past day and morning eased. He was in his element now. His sanctuary. His sanctum.

“James?”

“Yeah?”

“You’re talking to yourself again.”

“Yeah, I guess I am, sidekick.” James grinned, clearing another page of records. “I’m pulling 80s too, but I think it’ll dip.”

“Mine is dipping.” Harvey said.

James leaned over, then pointed. “That was a chicken coop. We blew up a chicken coop.”

“Looked like a tank to me.”

“Look at the heat signature. There, see that movement? It’s close, but it’s no tank.” 

“I’ll be damned, I see it now. How the hell did I miss that?” Harvey squinted. 

“Meh, they missed it and they’re trained not to. I wonder how many coops we blew up.” James chuckled. He took a sip of coffee and returned to his monitor. “Does this seem stressful?”

“Doing this all day? Hell no.” Harvey waved a hand. “I think the hardest part is not being allowed to talk about it.”

“Yeah, right? I agree. This is still pretty fun. I mean it gets boring sometimes, right? But then they put projects like this in our laps.” James finished another page and emptied his mug. “Job satisfaction is high.”

“Trying to convince yourself?” Harvey glanced at James.

“Meh. No. Not really. Just eliminating a… ooh, I bet that hurt.” He rewound another clip to replay the explosion. “Definitely secondary explosions.”

“I think we went with smaller munitions because of that. Let their munitions do the most damage.” Harvey said as he finished off a page. 

“You going to Eric’s retirement party?”

“Asking me on a date?” Harvey snickered. He glanced at the clock.

“Sure, baby. Let’s hang out by the old man and make faces at each other.” James made a face, causing Harvey to crack up. 

“Sorry man. Hanging with the wife this time.”

“Buzz-kill.” James faux pouted. “He’s been here, what, fifty years?”

“I’m surprised he’s actually retiring.” Harvey finished another page, and set up the next. 

“He’s a dinosaur.” James straightened his stack. “Done.”

“Already? Damn your eidetic memory.” 

“Yeah, never had that tested.” James put his folder in the outbox. 

“November 4, 1979”

“C’mon.” James looked at Harvey, exasperated. His coworker just looked back at him expectantly. “Okay, the embassy fell in Iran. But, I work here. What do you expect?”

“I only remember because it was on the History Channel last night.” Harvey looked at his fingernails.

“I’m not a freak.” James grumbled. He looked at the clock. “Should get ready for the party. Where’s your wife?”

“Cafeteria, waiting for us.”

“Maybe we can make faces with her.” James grinned as they left the room.

As they exited the office, James bumped into someone much larger than him. He pulled up short, gripping the person’s arm. “Sorry. Oh… Mr. Morrison.”

“Eric, please. You’re James Coventry, right?” Eric grinned, towering over the two of them. James couldn’t help but think he’d be a perfect linebacker.

“Yes sir. I’m sorry. I didn’t see you.”

“Sure, knock him down on the day he retires.” Harvey rolled his eyes. “Gotta go meet the wife before she thinks we’re being inappropriate.”

“Don’t mind him.” James smirked. “I thought you’d be in the cafeteria.”

“Thought I’d come chat with you.” Eric smiled. “Brian sends his regards.”

“Really? Is he stalking me?”

Eric shrugged. “He takes his historical preservation foundation very seriously. You impressed him.”

“I don’t know how. He barely knows me.” James sighed.

“Oh, he’s pretty thorough with who he works with.” Eric smiled. “Plus we golf together, so… idle chatter being what it is.” 

“Setting the bar a little high, huh?”

“Do you believe in aliens, James?”

The abrupt change in topic took James by surprise. “We have no evidence…”

“Not what I asked.”

“Well, with the size of this universe, it would be silly to think we are utterly alone.” James said carefully. “Is this a psych eval?”

Eric chuckled. “We have the perfect job, you and me.”

“You’re retiring.” James looked sideways at him.

“Does anyone truly leave the business?” Eric gave him a knowing look. “Pay attention, young James. Life could quickly get very interesting for you.” 

“I, uh, well, it is pretty interesting already.” 

Eric just grinned at him, reminding James of the Cheshire Cat. With his recent anomalies, this discussion had him wondering just how deep the rabbit hole was.

He pushed the door to the cafeteria open, then sighed. Another forest.