My Little Pony: Love is a Miracle
Chapter 8
"Oh my gosh, I'm so excited! I can't believe I'm in Hong Kong!"
The international flight had lasted many hours but despite the all of the time spent in the air, Tiffany found herself bright and excited. The Hong Kong International Airport was particularly busy but the crowds began to thin out as Lucy led them to a more private departure site.
"Please calm yourself, Doctor. For while I am glad to see you so enthused, I would rather you not draw so much attention to us," Lucy informed as they walked down the concourse. They made a short walk down some stairs in the private section of the airport to meet a group of two men and a woman in business suits who were waiting for them.
"Welcome back, Miss Canterbury. I trust you had a good flight?" asked the woman. She was dressed in a light gray business suit and skirt with a blue tie and had her light brown hair tied back into a conservative style.
Tiffany was so distracted by the sights that she continued walking past Lucy and bumped into one of the men in the group. She looked at him, embarrassed, "Oops, sorry about that," she said quickly.
"That's alright Doctor. I don't mind so much, especially when it's someone as cute as you," replied the man. He gave her a lighthearted smile and lowered his sunglasses, looking at her with his deep blue eyes. He wore a black business suit with matching shoes, a blue tie, and had short spiky jet black hair. Tiffany blushed a little and stepped back, surprised at the remark but not offended at the obvious flirt.
"Oh, well, thank you, I just haven't been to Hong Kong before, so I wasn't paying attention, and then I bump into you and you're calling me cute, and you're also cute, and I just -" Tiffany stopped herself short when she realized what she just said in her rambling, blushing even deeper.
The man laughs at Tiffany's clumsy response, "You're funny, Doctor. That along with being cute makes the job more fun. I'm Flint Sutton, but you can call me Flash. All my friends do," he said, introducing himself. Tiffany blushed again at Flint's shameless flirting.
"Alright, Sutton, break it up. You can hit on her when you're off duty, but right now I need you focused. You read me?" stated another man in a gray suit with dark hair.Flint quickly went to alert mode and nodded, "Of course sir. Sorry about that. Just trying to get to know the good Doctor," he replied. The second man just crossed his arms and frowned.
"That's what the dossier is for. Now get into formation while we escort Miss Canterbury and Doctor Sparks to the compound," the man ordered.The men moved around and took up positions around the three women and they all began walking together. The 'leader' of the group gave Lucy and her secretary some brief updates on security matters without getting into too much detail. Tiffany half listened before looking around at the sights and glancing at the young man who was now following her at her left.
"By the way, that's Sean Knight. He's head of the field teams here," Flint whispered to her.
"Well, he seems like a real stick in the mud," Tiffany whispered back.
"Yeah, he can be, but he's real good at what he does. He used to be in the government's global response teams and saw a lot of action, so he means well. Just don't ask him about Benghazi," informed Flint.
"What about Benghazi?" Tiffany asked without thinking.
"I can hear you two whispering," Sean then stated without looking back. Flint chuckled a little and kept on walking without missing a beat while Tiffany grumbled a little, 'He's worse than my college professors,' she thought to herself.
The group boarded a limousine and departed the terminal, heading into the city. When Tiffany and Lucy settled in she then began to go over some guidelines for their trip, "Remember Doctor Sparks, things operate a little differently here. Unfortunately, due to a log history of poor foreign affairs and international policy, US citizens are no longer seen well overseas. Simply mind your manners and you will be fine. It is rather due to your position that we have also taken extra precautions. That is what Mr. Knight and his team are for," she explained.
"What kind of precautions?" Tiffany asked.
"We handle physical security and asset protection. To put it bluntly, Doctor, you are a valuable asset of the E-quest Corporation. You have knowledge and skills that are sought after by rival corporations and foreign governments involved in the type of research you do. If they were to find a means to extract that information from you it would help advance their own research by leaps without having to invest the funds," Sean explained.
"You make it sound like I'm just some computer someone can pick up and steal," Tiffany remarked.
"Not to make you uncomfortable, but our adversaries will use whatever means available to obtain what you know. I can tell you that there's been a lot of 'chatter' specifically involving your field. We're being especially careful in our coordination with the State Department and all matters diplomatically," he replied.
"Enough, Mr. Knight.Don't scare the young woman. I understand your position but she is more inclined towards matters of science and research. I have full confidence in you and your team's abilities to keep everyone safe," reassured Lucy before she turned to face the scientist, "Now then Doctor Sparks, we have a busy schedule and will be attending a variety of science and technology forums together. Like we discussed before our departure I will need your help to clarify a subject or make note of a point of interest. As familiar as I am in various fields of research even I have my limits. A second set of ears may catch more than just one."
"Right. Are you still concerned about the other matter you mentioned?" Tiffany asked.
Lucy crossed her arms and narrowed her eyes as she looked thoughtfully out the window, "Unfortunately, I am. I continue to hear of some who are nearing your current level of research in the fields of teleportation and dimensional travel. If that is so then I want to get a better idea of how far along they may be. You have a more trained ear in hearing something pertaining to your theories than I do."
"I understand Miss Canterbury," she replied.
Tiffany resumed her sight seeing, growing more excited, as the limousine arrived at the at the E-quest Corporation's Hong Kong compound. It was an enclosed commercial area which consisted of a main branch office building, a few living quarters buildings for employees, a recreational facility, security booths and facility, a Research and Development laboratory and other smaller structures for the day to day operation of the compound. Unarmed guards greeted them at the gate and waved them through where more employees and staff could be seen working.
Lucy and Tiffany were escorted to their living quarters while they spoke about their plans for the rest of the day, "I have corporate matters to attend to Doctor. You may take the rest of the day to relax and do what you will. We will begin in two hours. My assistant will inform you of the details in twenty minutes. We will be hitting the ground running so please get settled in quickly, Doctor Sparks."
Tiffany smiled and nodded, "Thank you, Miss Canterbury!" before their paths branched off.
"Hold up," interrupted Twilight.
"Yes?" replied Tiffany.
"I thought you were going to tell me how you and Sean met and got married. Why are you starting in Hong Kong and who is this Flint guy?" the pony asked.
Tiffany was sitting on a chair at the dining table feeding her baby while Sean and Scott finished their own dinners. The woman looked down a moment and sighed. Before she could respond, Sean looked up, "I guess we could skip forward quite a bit. She doesn't need to hear the part about the attempted abduction, the car chase, the shoot out, or Flint saving our lives."
Sean stood up and walked away to put his dish in the sink. He returned and found Twilight with wide eyes before returning to the table, "Here, let me feed her so you can finish your dinner, hon," he offered.
"Thanks dear," she said before taking a bite from her plate of spaghetti. They were both quiet for a moment while Twilight stared at them in disbelief.
"A car chase? Abduction? Shoot out?" the pony said in shock.
"So do you want to hear about it? It was probably the scariest moment of my life," Tiffany offered. Twilight immediately nodded her head eagerly, "Well it started when I received an invitation to a dinner party after one of the local science forums I attended..."
"Doctor Sparks, your reports on trans-dimensional wave and pulse theory are simply incredible. I'm surprised you're not up there lecturing on this," said a middle aged Chinese man in perfect English.
"Well, I was never officially invited nor am I on any lecture circuit, Doctor Huizhong. I've been busy with my own research and there just hasn't been any time," Tiffany replied.
"That is a real shame. My colleagues and I have been most impressed that someone so young as yourself has solved a few of the mysteries we have been puzzling for most of our lives. If it is not too bold to ask, might you come by the hotel ball room and speak to some of us about your theories? We're holding a rather large post forum dinner party to thank all of our speakers for coming and would be honored if you would join us," the man invited.
Tiffany's face lit up at the opportunity to speak with academia and scientists as equals. She looked over to Lucy and grinned. The older woman shrugged, "I suppose you could, I do not require you back at the office and our schedule is clear for the rest of the afternoon. I have work to attend to and cannot stay so I will call ahead to let our limousine know and they shall return for you after it drops me off," she replied. One of their dark suited escorts handed Lucy a phone.
"Oh, thank you! I won't be long, I just want to discuss some of the theories on dimensional correspondences," she said while Lucy called ahead. After a few moments Flint and Sean arrived. Sean bore a slight scowl while Flint had a subdued smile.
"Miss Canterbury, I will see you back to the company building. Mr. Sutton here will escort Doctor Sparks in case she needs anything. After I have dropped you off I will return to pick them up," Sean explained.
"Of course, Mr. Knight. Doctor, we will see you back at the facility," replied Lucy. She departed with Sean and Tiffany watched them go until they were out of sight. Flint then stepped up to her and smiled, "I'll be your escort to this party," he said.
Tiffany blushed a little bit and giggled, "How about I call you my date?" she asked.
"I would be more than happy to be your date," Flint replied warmly.
"Thank you," Tiffany said and then turned back to her host, "Doctor Huizhong, please lead the way."
The small group talked as they walked from the presentation room to one of the hotel's ball rooms. Inside were several tables arranged with various examples of the local cuisine. A few people carried drinks on trays and offered them to the guests. There were many different men and women present of various nationalities having conversations in various circles or eating while chatting pleasantly. Tiffany was introduced to Doctor Huizhong's colleagues and they immediately began having a scientific discussion on various topics. Some spoke directly in near perfect or broken English while others required a helpful translator.
Tiffany enjoyed herself tremendously during the discussion while keeping an eye on Flint whom for the most part had little to contribute but smiled and did his best to remain interested. She noticed he glanced around the room every so often and coughed a little but just attributed it to being bored. The scientist finally excused herself from the group to try some of the food and walked off while Flint walked along with her.
"I'm so sorry, I got all caught up in talking about science and things. You must be so bored and lost listening to all of this," Tiffany apologized to Flint as soon as they were away from the group .He just chuckled and shook his head, "Its alright, Tiffany. It's kind of my job to be here with you but even if it wasn't, I'll admit, I rather like being around you," he said and then grinned a little as he looked away.
Tiffany giggled shyly and then took his hand, "Flint, can you tell me more about yourself, please? I know we just met and we haven't had a lot of opportunities to talk but I want to know more about you. When you met us at the airport I have to admit, I was a little surprised about how forward you were but I hadn't ever met someone who seemed honestly interested in me. I, well, I kind of liked that."
Flint glanced around again and smiled, "Well, sure, I'd love to hear more about you too. Stuff that goes beyond just the brilliant scientist you are and how important you are to the company, all the stuff in the dossier. I'm rather intrigued by someone as young and talented as you."
Tiffany led Flint over to a table and they sat down to talk, "So tell me more about you, where did you come from, how did you come to work for E-quest Corp, why are you so interested in me?" she asked him directly, almost like an interrogation.
"You really like to gain answers in a scientific manner, don't you?" Flint teased. Tiffany caught herself and looked at the table for a moment, "Oops, sorry. I guess I can be a little forceful when I want to know something," she replied.
"That's okay, that's okay. I find that cute about you," he began, noting a slight blush in Tiffany's cheeks as he continued, "Anyways, I'm originally from Clayton, Alabama, not a real big place. I'm twenty seven years old, have a younger brother and two parents who are still alive and married. My nickname back home was 'Flash' because I was in a hurry to leave town. I joined the Army right after high school to try and see the world, was in the Rangers for a while, had a few tours in Iraq, got picked up by Special Operations, did some work there and got out. My talents landed me a job with E-quest so here I am. You know how Canterbury's security company likes to pick up vets and stuff. I think that's everything about me in a nutshell," Flash replied.
"Well, that answers two of my questions; and the third?" Tiffany asked.
Flint paused for a moment to put his thoughts together, "I took away something from my time in the service. Not to seem morbid but I saw so many people die in my time overseas. Good men cut down in the prime of their life, women and children dying needlessly for just being in the wrong place at the wrong time. I had quite a few friends who had dreams and promises stolen from them because they didn't live to see them through. I realized that life is short and can end too abruptly. I decided one day I'd like to settle down and pass on those experiences, raise a family, quietly retire and live peacefully. When I saw you I thought, 'Hey here's a smart and attractive woman, why not just get to know her more and let her know I'm interested? What's the worst that can happen?' So I approached and well, we're still just starting to know each other and maybe I'll drive you nuts with some habit or personality quirk or something and we'll go our separate ways but if there was a chance, well, Lord only knows what may come of it."
Tiffany sat across from Flint at the small table and just stared at him. His frank explanation left her speechless as she processed it. She had never met a man like this before who appeared to be so honest and straightforward. She let his words sink in and smiled back, "Wow, I can't say I've ever heard anyone talk like that. Its actually refreshing. I mean, I don't know why any guy would be interested in me, I've been a bookworm most of my life. Reading, science, school, all those things have been my life really. I've been really socially awkward for most of my life so I never really thought I needed anything else until recently when I finally made some good friends. A relationship with a guy though, I mean, that just, I hadn't even thought it possible with all my work and newfound social life," she said, a little flustered while fidgeting with her hands and looking away.
"Its okay if you're not interested or if its too soon. I just figured we could spend time and do things together, get to know each other, that sort of stuff but without the awkward guesswork like in those silly romantic comedy movies. You know, the ones with the couple that's spending the whole movie wondering if he likes her, she likes him and you sit through it wanting to yell at them to just spit it out already," Flint said and then looked sheepishly down at the table, "Oh, uhm, I guess you should know, I'm not a big fan of romantic comedy chick flicks."
Tiffany giggled a little, "I guess I can overlook that if you'll tolerate me watching them from time to time," she said teasingly, "Then again I've never really spent a lot of time watching movies so you won't have to deal with that too often."
Flint began laughing too and then his eyes seemed to dawn on realization, "So does that mean you-?"
"Yes, I think I would like that. Like I said, I haven't met anyone like you before or who showed me any real interest beyond the 'naive nerd to help me cheat on tests' so," she paused for a few seconds as her face blushed brightly, "Yes I would like to get to know you and see if maybe one day..."
"Yeah, one day. I'm not afraid of that possibility," Flint said warmly.
"So what do we do now?" she then asked.
"Well, you may want to continue talking to your science friends over there. We kind of left them hanging for a bit and I'm sure you wouldn't want to appear rude. Its up to you for how long we stay after all," Flint said.
Tiffany's face grew shocked as she realized she had left Doctor Huizhong and his associates without formally excusing herself. She then stood up and invited Flint to follow along and rejoin the group discussion.
"Doctor Huizhong, I apologize for the abrupt departure. My date and I just had to go over a few things. Is the subject on dark matter effect on trans-dimensional mechanics still going on?" Tiffany asked casually. Doctor Huizhong just smiled and chuckled, "Oh, we were eagerly awaiting your return, Doctor Sparks. We were just having a round of drinks while my friend was discussing the complications of dimensional radiation and DNA when you arrived. Such a subject always needs a drink to help loosen the mind a little," he replied with a laugh when a waiter came with a tray of drinks.
"Would you care for a drink, miss?" the waiter offered. His tray only carried one glass which he offered to Tiffany.
"Oh, thank you," she said and accepted the glass before she turned to address Doctor Huizhong again, "I would love to hear theories on these subjects. The long term effects of dimensional travel will be a field of debate for quite some time, even after we complete such a feat."
Tiffany moved the glass to take a sip when she was suddenly bumped. The impact caused her to cry out and spill the drink all over herself and Flint as he held onto her to steady his balance. He looked at her and the assembled group apologetically, "Uh, so sorry everyone. I lost my balance and bumped into the Doctor here," he said before addressing Tiffany directly, "I'm sorry Doctor Sparks, I hope I didn't hurt you. Somebody must have bumped me or something. Let me help you clean that up," he offered and began to pull her away from the group.
"Doctor Sparks -!" Huizhong said before Tiffany had been dragged out of earshot.
"Uh, sorry about that! I'll be right back-!" Tiffany stammered out before she could no longer see Huizhong. She then began to realize that she was not just being pulled away from the group but towards the exit of the ball room. She looked at Flint with a slightly annoyed expression as her conversation was suddenly very rudely interrupted, "Flint, what are you doing?" she asked.
Flint's expression was no longer the friendly escort she was having a good time with; his face was alert and very serious, "We're leaving now, Doctor Sparks," he quickly stated before putting his other hand up to his ear, "Asset is mobile, we're moving to the eastern egress point, what's your ETA?"
Tiffany looked at Flint as he nodded in response to a conversation only he could hear, "Flint, what is going on? Who are you talking to?" she asked, beginning to grow nervous.
"We have a situation, Doctor. I'm removing you from this site and taking you back to E-quest. We need to hurry though, there's probably going to be a lot of trouble," her date turned bodyguard said.
"Trouble?" she repeated. Flint then began to pull her alongside him quickly in a fast walking motion as he scanned the crowded lobby. He glanced behind them just as three Asian men suddenly dashed out from the ball room. One of the men pointed at the couple and the three began to run towards them. Flint kept moving them quickly through the crowd until the three began to catch up. The trio were just about to arrive at arms length when Flint immediately spun around, pushing Tiffany behind him and grabbed the first man, smashing his foot into his knee and shattering the joint. Flint instantly shoved the injured man into the second one and grabbed the third. Flint kneed the third in the crotch and gouged his eye socket before kicking out the third man's knee joint. Flint then sent the third man into the second one just as he was recovering from the first man crashing into him, causing him to drop back down to his knees. Flint continued his assault and stomped on the first man, who was crawling on the floor, using the momentum to shift and engage the second one with a quick kick to the face, smashing his face with his foot. The strike broke the fallen man's nose allowing Flint to do more damage by smashing the man's face into the floor.
Tiffany looked at the three men groaning and crawling, incapacitated on the floor. She recognized one of the men as the waiter who had brought her a drink at the party. Flint took a second to scan the crowd for anymore chasers but didn't see any yet. He couldn't tell if anyone was an observer since he had caught the attention of everyone in the lobby now. People were talking, shocked, some were even taking pictures or filming on cameras and phones. He ran over to Tiffany and guided her to move quickly again, "We need to keep moving, Doctor, those guys weren't expecting us to react as aggressively; the next group will."
The woman was still in shock even as her body moved along at Flint's insistence. Through the haze she could hear Flint talking to someone again, "Yeah, three pursuers, from the party. Got the drop on them, probably local muscle. No weapons on them, likely the next group will."
Flint guided Tiffany to a doorway leading to the hotel parking garage. Many cars were lined up and parked, a few were meandering about either towards the exit or an open spot. They continued to move towards the exit or an open spot. They continued to move towards the stairs to make their escape and were about to take the downstairs when Flint glanced down to see more men running into the stairwell. He shook his head and redirected Tiffany towards the main road away from the stairs. They ran down the parking garage, rounding the corners as quickly as they could run. Tiffany's heart was racing as she wasn't used to sprinting so much when it suddenly leapt into her throat. A car sped towards them at full speed and Flint quickly pulled her to the side among the parked cars. The car screeched to a halt past them as several men jumped out and started running towards them. The men all carried small semi-automatic pistols. Flint was already pulling Tiffany up to her feet and forcing her to run faster but the group of six were catching up to the pair.
"Come on, Doctor! Run faster!" Flint shouted.
"I - I can't -!" Tiffany wheezed, her strength starting to give out.
Flint began moving to put himself between Tiffany and their pursuers. He could hear the men shouting encouragements to each other in Chinese: they knew they had them! Flint got ready to take as many down with him as he could when the sound of another car screeching around the corner was heard. Flint quickly moved Tiffany again, but this time the effort was driven towards keeping them running without making any effort to dodge the approaching SUV. Tiffany's eyes went wide and she started to see her life flash before her eyes when the oncoming vehicle didn't swerve at them but towards their pursuers.
The six men saw the 2012 Toyota Wish Deluxe coming and were already beginning to scatter when it approached. Two of the men, too slow to react, were knocked back by the SUV as it braked hard and slid sideways. It stopped between the assailant and their intended targets. Before any of the men could recover, Sean opened the drivers side door, brandishing a MTAR-21 compact.
Flint immediately grabbed the rear passenger side door and pushed Tiffany in before jumping in. Sean immediately withdrew and put the vehicle in gear to escape the garage, "Are you two alright?" Sean asked as he drove them out onto the city streets.
"We're fine, just a little shaken up and out of breath," Flint replied as he shifted his position to observe behind them, "If they're as determined as you think, they should have a couple pursuers enroute any second."
"Heads up, two inbound, Hondas, just like the one in the garage," Sean said.
"I see them. You brought my kit?" Flint asked.
"Am I paid to be paranoid?" Sean retorted.
Flint grinned and climbed into the backseat out of Tiffany's view. She finally found her voice and began shouting, "What is going on? Why are people chasing us!?"
Sean grunted as he swerved to move around some of the more idle traffic before he replied, "You're being targeted by a hostile entity for procurement. That party was being used as a setup to abduct you."
"By who? Why is this?"
"Don't know, could be anybody. Narrowed it down to foreign entities with an interest in your field. Whoever it is, they want what you know. You building teleporting nukes or something, Doctor?" Sean replied before braking hard and making a sharp turn.
"You heading down Garden Street or something?" Flint asked from behind the seat. Tiffany suddenly remembered him and turned her body to look on him. Flint was crouched prone with his legs stretched under the seat with a suppressed L115A3 sniper rifle. The bipod was attached to the floor for stability while he looked out a hidden gun port on the rear hatch.
"Garden is too congested right now. Hitting the side streets so hang on!" Sean yelled back before he swerved again. He ignored the traffic lights and made a sharp turn eliciting many honks from the other motorists. When Sean got a chance he took one hand off the steering wheel and grabbed a radio transmitter, "This is Knight, both asset and Rook are secured. We have two X-Rays in pursuit, enroute via Delta Nine, can we get an assist?"
"Negative, we are Foxtrot Uniform, I repeat, Foxtrot Uniform. All routes compromised," replied the voice on the other end of the radio. Sean's eyes went wide for a second and then he transmitted again.
"I copy, are any protocols available to us?"
Several moments of silence passed before the radio responded, "Initiate Zulu protocols. God speed."
"So what's the word from base?" Flint asked.
"We need to get creative."