CHAPTER 125: A LONG DISTANCE CALL.

[You have to specify the device you want to connect to or give a location.]

"Mmm, the walkie-talkie in my home bedroom in Fortress Four. That is on Westbrook mountain." She said. "The DCS code is 754, channel is eight which is exclusive."

A soft hum came from the phone as a connection was forged slowly. Sunshine had no idea how the phone worked so she just pulled out a stool and sat down, waiting patiently for a sound to come from the other end.

In thirty seconds, a burst of static popped in her ear and then a familiar but hesitant voice came through.

"Hello...."

Sunshine almost dropped the receiver. "Hades!" She screamed.

"Sunshine? Is that you?" The words stumbled out of him. "Is this some kind of prank?" He asked, voice gruff but breathless.

"This is our private channel, of course it’s me." She laughed.

There was a short moment of stunned silence before his voice softened, a note of disbelief breaking through. "Is it really you? I didn’t...I wasn’t expecting..... How are you making a call from out of range?" The words trailed off, and she could almost see him scrubbing a hand over his jaw, trying to figure out how she had performed such magic.

"Hades it is really me." Sunshine whispered, her throat tightening. "You know me, I am good at making the impossible possible. I found a way to make a call even though I am out of range."

"How are you? Are you fine? Have you encountered any problems....Oh my God!! Are you calling because you need a rescue team....."

"Stop and calm down for a minute." She laughed. "I am okay...we are all mostly okay. Frankly I am more worried about the rest of you at the base."

A shaky breath came through the line, half a laugh, half a clenched sob. "Thank God." He sighed loudly. "I have missed you....the kids...they’ll want to..."

Suddenly she heard a scuffle and a yell from her husband. Something crashed in the background.

"Mommy?" cried Castiel, before she could ask Hades what was going on. The voice was small, hesitant. "Mommy?" He cried out again and this time his little voice was clearer.

"Cass." Sunshine said, smiling even though her eyes burned. "Oh my baby Castiel, it is so good to hear your voice."

There was a sharp inhaled plus a loud sob, and then it all came out spilling. "I miss you so much. You left and now everything is bad." His voice cracked. "I hate it at school, Ariel beat me on the butt and told me not to be a baby. Come back and take me with you. Why did you leave me?"

Sunshine pressed the phone closer to her ear, wishing she could reach through the line and hold him. "Oh my sweet champ. I miss you too, every single day. I didn’t leave you Cass, I just went out to work. I am helping aunt Nimo briefly but, I am coming back. I promise that I am coming back in two days. Until then you be my brave little boy and listen to your father, alright?"

"No!" he shouted, sobbing loudly. "I want to see you mommy. I can come to you. You said I was your good baby. Don’t you want me anymore?"

Sunshine covered her mouth, trying to hold back emotion. "How could I not want you? You are mommy’s good baby and mommy did not want to leave you behind. Next time, you will come with me. When I come back, we will start working on that robot octopus you wanted, I promise."

There was some shuffling and then she heard Castiel’s scream in the background before Hades’s voice returned. "Hadrian was here and he has carried Cass out. He was about to throw the walkie-talkie on the ground. His tantrums are growing and I am lost."

Before he could say more or she could respond, there was shuffling again and Ariel’s voice came next.

"Sorry mom, I did not mean to beat him on the butt and it was a light tap, not a brutal assault like he has everyone believing."

"Ariel." Sunshine said softly.

"Yes, it is I." He replied. "Mom, Cass is breaking things and sulking a lot. We are running low on glucose and sugar. There was a glitch in the solar system and I tried fixing it myself like you taught me but it fixed itself before I could anything."

Sunshine laughed. "You haven’t been missing me at all have you?"

A snort came through the line. "You can handle yourself, I know that you will come back." He dodged the question just like she expected. But there was a faint quiver in the back of his tone.

"Ariel, it is okay to miss someone, I miss you so much." Sunshine told him.

He sighed and replied, "I saw the maid, Jill pocketing something from grandma’s pantry. I think she has been stealing but I don’t what or how long she has been doing it. I have not confronted her but I just thought you should know so that you handle it when you return."

Sunshine laughed. Elio needed to give his eyes to Ariel because he was doing a great job at monitoring things at the base.

Before she could answer another voice barged in. In a quick and breathless tone Earl shouted. "I miss you too mommy, don’t forget me! Ariel says he doesn’t but he does. He’s only pretending...."

"Earl!" Ariel screamed.

Earl continued, "We have a new teacher, Professor Muffin. His name is funny and he has hair that stands funny. He is teaching us about gravity and he made me stand in the corner because I got into a fight with Tony Crood. Tony is bad, he said that you left because you did not want us anymore."

"Oh baby, you know that’s not true. I love you so much and I am bringing you many nice things." She told him. "I bet Tony’s mother doesn’t sneak him candy like I do for you."

Earl sniggered. "Next time he says that, I will make Robo-dog bite him."

Hades took back the walkie-talkie because he was afraid Sunshine might encourage Earl to go crazy. "I will make sure Robo-dog does no bite anyone. We miss you Suni."

Sunshine’s heart squeezed. "You are all going to make me cry."

The boys erupted into overlapping protests and laughter in the background, the kind of chaos she had missed more than she’d admitted to herself.

Hades stepped away and he moved into the bedroom, seeking for a quieter place to say a few words of his own. "Any luck in finding Alfred?"

"Nothing yet, nobody seems to have seen Alfred anywhere. It’s really dangerous out here, we have run into two types of mutated animals and two superhumans. Phillip Harg is injured but not dying thankfully." She sighed. "If I were a character in a movie, I would be smoking right now and saying something like its hell out here."

Hades chuckled. "I would pay money to see that. Just promise me that you will not walk into something you cannot walk out of."

"I promise I’ll be careful." She said. "How are things there, peaceful I hope."

There was a pause, the kind that meant that he was hiding something back. She had a feeling that there was some trouble on the base indeed. Was it the watchers or the humans?