The driver got out, put her suitcase in the trunk and opened the door for her. I smiled as she started to get into the limo. “Hi,” I said, “I’m…”
She pulled back with a shocked look on her face. That’s when I realized I needed to look at my new face in a mirror.
“Oh… I… uhh…” she said as she stepped back from the limo, still staring at me. I stared back. She had the most unusual eyes I had ever seen. The right eye was a brilliant blue and the left eye was a sultry brown. It was strikingly beautiful.
The driver intervened. “Tia, this is Carl. He just had facial reconstructive surgery last night. He’s John’s special guest.”
She stared at me a moment longer. I tried to smile and held my hand out. She looked down at the bandages.
“Uhh… probably not a good idea,” she said. “Maybe later, okay?”
I felt incredibly stupid and awkward. I pulled back close to the door, trying to give her as much space inside the limo as I could. She cautiously got in and the driver closed the door. She glanced over at me, apprehension clearly displayed on her face. Something about me frightened her. I just couldn’t imagine what it might be. It was a long two and a half hour ride back up into the mountains to John’s cabin. Each of us sat close to the door on our own side of the limo looking out the window. The silence was so thick I didn’t think a jackhammer could penetrate it.
“Oh good. You’re both here,” John said as we walked in the door. “So did you have a chance to get acquainted on the drive up here?”
I didn’t look at her and she didn’t look at me. John glanced back and forth between us.
“I see,” he said. “Well, you better get over it. You two are going to be working closely together. You have more in common than you think. Carl, the young lady is Tia Harkensen. She is our computer specialist.”
I snapped my head over and looked at her. She glanced back at me.
“Does she… Did you…” I stammered.
“I haven’t said anything about you to her or anyone else,” John said. “I thought I’d leave that up to the two of you.”
I relaxed a bit. She stared back at me, apparently wondering what she was missing.
“Tia, you have your usual room. Once you get settled in, why don’t you join us down in the communications room?” John said.
Without saying a word, she headed up the stairs.
I went up to my room and looked in the mirror. No wonder she reacted like that. I was missing part of my eyebrows, with surgical sutures at the lower edge. My forehead was swollen from what I presumed were implants of some kind. I could tell where they were from the dark purple marks. My cheek bones had also obviously been altered. They, too, were dark purple. I had bruising along the bottom of my jaw bone on both sides and on my chin. The rest of my face appeared stark white against the colorful display looking back at me in the mirror. I ran my tongue around the inside of my cheeks and lower mouth. More sutures. To avoid a telltale scar, the surgeon had gone in through the inside of my mouth. Clever, but it certainly increased the difficulty level for eating. As I studied my new face the thought ran through my mind: Frankenstein’s monster probably got a better deal. She must have thought I just came out of a Mixed Martial Arts fight. No wonder she looked so apprehensive. She must think I’m some mindless goon. Any real assessment of my new face would have to wait until everything healed.
John and I were looking down at the robot’s head, discussing where we should set everything up when Tia pushed the padded door open. She had changed clothes. She was wearing blue jeans, a blue plaid shirt and running shoes. John motioned her over.
“Tia, you’ve got two projects here. The first is a new identity for Carl, and the second is this,” John said, as he pointed down into the wooden box.
Tia’s face lit up as she saw the robot’s head. “Where on Earth did you find this?” she asked.
John looked at me and smiled.
“Actually,” I said, “NASA found it on the Moon.”
“Oh my God,” she exclaimed, “are you kidding me? How did we end up with it?” She looked at John, who looked at me. She turned to face me, her head cocked slightly to the side. As she stared at me her shoulders dropped slightly.
“You worked for NASA,” she said.
“Yep. JPL in Pasadena actually, but I was an employee of NASA.”
She looked closer at my face.
“Reconstructive surgery, NASA.” She looked down at the robot’s head in the box and then back at me. “Oh my God. The Cy Cobb Show. The terrorist alert. It’s you.”
“Now you know why we need a new identity for Carl,” John replied.
“The meteor storm,” she said. “That’s why you’re here with John.”
I smiled and looked into her beautiful eyes.
“When is it coming?” she asked.
“We don’t know exactly,” I replied. “That’s why we need your help with the robot’s head.” I held up my bandaged hands.
The look of understanding flooded across her face. “Okay, I get it,” she said. “Look, about earlier, I…”
“Don’t worry about it,” I said. “I finally got a look at my face in the mirror. I totally understand. So, are you up for this?”
“Oh yeah,” she replied. “Big time. John, this is huge.”
“That’s why I called you,” John said. “I need the very best people on this project, and you’re it.”
“Thank you,” she replied. “As much as I want to dig into the robot’s head first, I think we need to get on Carl’s new identity more.”
“My thoughts precisely,” John responded as he walked away.
I sat with Tia at a computer in the communications room.
“What cities are you familiar with, you know, like street layout, parks, places?” she asked.
“Well, I grew up in San Diego, but we spent several summers in Milwaukee with my mom’s sister.”
“Milwaukee, huh,” she said. “That might work.” She studied my face. I could see the first hint of a smile forming around her beautiful lips. “I think once the swelling goes down you just might pass for Germanic descent. We can keep the first name, just change the spelling, like with a ‘K’ instead of a ‘C’.” She thought some more while staring at me. “Something regal, I think, that would suit you. What do you think of Koenig? Karl Koenig.”
I was having trouble focusing on what she was saying. I was so taken by her presence and her personality my mind kept wandering. “Koenig is German for King, isn’t it?” I asked.
“Slightly different spelling, but, yes, and I like the alliteration,” she replied. She smiled at me. It felt like there was static electricity in the air. She actually liked me.
“I do, too,” I replied. “Let’s go with it.”
She typed the new name into the program she used for new identities.
“When is your birthday?” Her smile was definitely getting bigger.
“August eighteenth.” I smiled back at her.
“Leo,” she said looking me over again. “Okay, most people can’t tell the difference between a Leo and a Taurus, so how about something in early May?”
“May third?” I leaned a little closer to her. “So you’re into horoscopes and sun signs?”
“And a number of alternative thinking type subjects. How about you?”
“Always been thinking outside the box,” I replied. “Never quite got mainstream.” We just sat there looking into each other’s eyes for several minutes. “So, May third?”
“Okay,” she replied looking slightly embarrassed by the long break. “We can keep the same year. How about height?” She looked me over from head to foot. She seemed to like what she saw.