Chapter 9
Zack's comcom rang as he stepped out of the gate. "This is Zack Starr field."
"Did you bring the ring?"
Zach did not recognize the voice of the person he was talking to. "I did."
"If you wish to find your sister, then proceed about 2 and 1/2 miles south west of the gate."
With that the color hung up. Zach shrugged as he looked back at the city that has been his home for the last 18 years. It was in the city that he learned to use a sword. It was in this city where he had helped raise his younger sisters into fine young women. It was now the city that he wasn't sure he would ever see again.
Zach reached into the pouch that he always carried with him, and retrieved the ring that he had placed in that pouch before leaving home. Slipping it onto his left hand, he noticed the ring did not want to stay. Even though the ring felt smaller than his finger, it wiggled around as though it wasn't supposed to be placed there. Frowning Zack pull the ring from his left hand, and switched it to his right.
The ring seemed to settle down once on his right hand, and Zach turned Southwest resigning himself to walk over 2 miles.
As Zack walked along the path, he thought back on all the feelings that he had been experiencing recently. First there was Lisa. Even though she had been his neighbor for a good 15 years, Zack had never looked at her as a woman in that way until now. She was a quite good-looking woman. With her tan skin and long hair, she was a woman that he could see himself settling down with one day.
However, he recognized that she wasn't the only woman that he was attracted to. There was also Marcy. She was a young woman who actually worked in the same area Zack did. The two of them had actually shared lunch on more than one occasion, although Marcy did not seem to be interested in love at the moment. This however did not bother Zack. He after all had not been looking for love before yesterday, and now he was not only considering one but two different women. He wasn't sure what he would do, but he promised himself that so long as he survived this retrieval of his sister Alain, he would settle down with one of the women that he had come in contact with recently.
As Zack continued walking his comcom rang. "Zach Starfield."
"Zack" Lisa's voice came from the comcom.
"Yes Lisa."
"Why didn't you tell me that you needed to leave the city so you would be able to save your sister. I just had to learn that you were leaving from Christine."
Zach winced. "I'm sorry Lisa" he said thinking that he should've called Lisa before he left. "I was in such a hurry to get to Alain, that I didn't really think about it."
Zach heard Lisa sigh. "Very well" she said. "But please come back safely OK."
"I will Lisa" he said smiling to himself. "I'll see you when I get back. Although I'll be honest, I don't know how long I'll be gone."
"I understand. Just bring yourself and Alain back safely."
"I will."
"Until we meet again" Lisa said.
"Until we meet again" Zack replied.
With that Lisa disconnected the call, and Zach continued walking to the Southwest for his next appointment.