"Ok well that's it for today," Jackson was saying as Christian replaced the weights in their racks.
"Can I use a phone?" Christian asked suddenly, without looking at the older man.
Jackson hesitated.
"What for?"
"To make toast," Christian scorned, "what do you think what for?"
Jackson began to shake his head, then glanced at his watch.
"Someone can take you down the road and you can call from a phone booth if it's that urgent.
"Great," Christian smiled, pulling a shirt over his shoulders.
Not too much later, he was in the phone booth with a larger man standing by to watch out for anyone.
Quickly, he dialled the number for the space station, and asked to be put through to Tanya.
Tanya
"Tanya! Call!" said the girl manning the phones.
"Okay, be right there," Tanya acknowledged the girl.
She turned back to the telepaths, gave a couple of additional instructions and went for the phone. Progress on the amphlifiers was going well, and had pretty much silenced all council debate on the topic (much to Leroy's relief).
"Hello?" she asked, picking up the receiver.
Christian
Christian smiled to himself, taking a moment to answer.
"Hello Tanya," he grinned.
"Long time no talk."
Tanya
Tanya paused for a moment.
"Christian?"
She glanced up briefly, checking that no one had overheard her exclamation.
"How are you? Where are you? Are you okay?"
Christian
Christian chuckled.
"I'm actually fine, for once," he insisted.
"Got away from Guffery... with Taylor's help..."
Tanya
"That's good - Taylor's help?" Tanya asked in surprise. "Now there's a swtich."
Taylor seemed to be the one needing resucing, rather than being the rescuer.
Christian
"Yeah I know. Shocked the hell out of me too," Christian's eyebrows rose.
"He and Isaac came after me with the proposition to help them bring down old Kaleb Blakesley. So it looks like I have a job on my hands sometime soon."
Tanya
Tanya refrained from whistling (that wouldn't sound too good on Christian's end).
"I don't need to tell you guys to be careful," she said. "You're all had a lot more experience with that bastard that anyone would like to admit."
Christian
Christian chuckled again.
"Yeah, tell me about it. By the way," he began, quickly changing the subject."
"Isaac Hanson told me that ah... Kit? I think? Was born in May?"
Tanya
Tanya was suddenly all smiles.
"Yes," she said. "So he's four months old now. And he's Metalkinetic. His full name is Christopher Samuel Brown, but, as you know, Kit for short."
Christian
"Awesome," Christian smiled, his eyes lit up slightly.
"So I know I'm a bit late, but how big was he? What time of day was he born?"
Tanya
Tanya, delighted as always to talk to anyone about her son (especially, now that she could talk about him to the very person she named him after) and went into all the details. The only thing she left out was the complications on her side. After all, she lived. That was inconsequencial.
Christian
"That is great," Christian insisted, "I can't wait to meet him."
He hesitated for a moment, glancing up at the pseudo bodyguard sent with him.
"Well apart from wanting to find all that out, I did call to tell you not to worry about me. I'm in good hands right now, and... yeah. No Blakesley, no Racer, no Guffery or Spook or whoever else. So you don't have to worry."
Tanya
"Thank you for calling," Tanya said quietly. "I really appreciate you filling me in. And I hope you do get to meet Kit, and soon."
Christian
"Same here," Christian insisted, "and... I'd kinda like..."
He paused for a moment, to gather his thoughts.
"I'd kind of like to see where Craig was buried or whatever," he said softly.
Tanya
"Ahh, now that one I can tell you," Tanya said. "He was buried back in his hometown. I think I have it somewhere... unless you've been there?"
Whilst she was saying this, she was pulling out her address book. Useful thing. Never know when it might come in handy.
Christian
"Hometown?" Christian frowned.
"You mean where the Toronto base was, or what?"
Tanya
"Umm, now. I mean the place he grew up... Lemme see..." Tanya found the page. "St Louis, along the Mississippi River. I think he has a sister there still."
Christian
Christian was silent. This was news to him.
As far as he knew Craig had never been anywhere near there, and he'd maintained the only family he had was himself.
Contemplating this, he forgot to say anything.
Tanya
Tanya waited for a response but was only met with silence.
"Christian?" She asked after it had gone on for awhile. "You there?"
Christian
"Yeah, yeah. Sorry," Christian shook his head, snapping out of it.
"I'm just... surprised, that's all. He never told me any of this."
Tanya
"Oh, that's okay," Tanya assured him. "He never told me any of this either. We only know because his family... well, when Craig first started out, more or less, they provided us with what information they had."
Christian
Christian frowned.
"They were against him? Us? Do they even know about me?"
Tanya
"Well, they were against them in the sense that they saw him as the black sheep of the family and he needed guidence," Tanya shrugged. "And I doubt they know about you."
Christian
Christian failed to jump as the man with him knocked on the glass of the phone booth and disrupted his thoughts.
"I have to go," he said regretfully.
"But I will definitely keep in contact more often. And I'll see what I can do about getting up there to see... Kit."
Tanya
"I'll look forward to it," Tanya replied. "Talk to you later."
Christian
"Bye."
Christian hung up and stepped out of the phone booth, soon escorted back into the hands of Jackson.