Ella`s Story
My Love From The Future
BOOK FIVE
Chapter 7 : Homecoming
Episode 50 : February 4 2021 Monday 10th grade10
Copyright © 2019-2025 Gary Brandt. All rights reserved.
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"Welcome back, Beaker." Ella`s voice carried a warmth that hadn`t been there in weeks.
The familiar office space looked whole again—furniture returned to its proper places, files reorganized, the subtle chaos of their previous crisis finally swept away.
"I see they got your furniture back.
Are you okay? Do you remember anything?" Commander Beaker settled into her chair with the careful movements of someone still piecing together fragments of herself.
The mind-wiping technology had left its mark—not in what was taken, but in the unsettling awareness of what had been stolen and slowly returned.
"I remember you almost getting yourself killed," she said, fixing Ella with a stern look that carried both reprimand and deep affection.
"Don`t you ever do that again.
But...
thank you." The weight of those words hung in the air.
They all knew how close they`d come to losing everything. "I`m glad everything is back to normal," Roxanna offered, though her voice suggested she didn`t quite believe it herself. Melanie`s laugh held no humor.
"At this point, I don`t think there is such a thing as normal.
Where are Helena and Eileen?" Tantrum Ella exchanged a glance with Roxanna before answering.
"That`s...
a long story.
Helena is slowly getting to know her boy—if that`s what we`re calling him.
And Eileen..." She paused, choosing her words carefully.
"Eileen is having what you might generously call a tantrum.
She`s furious that Helena is allowed to have a boyfriend while she isn`t.
She even told her mom—the cop—that she`s going to run away and get pregnant if she isn`t allowed to date." "I`m guessing that didn`t end well," Commander Beaker said dryly. "Grounded doesn`t begin to cover it.
She`s practically under house arrest," Roxanna confirmed.
"Though to be fair, Helena isn`t really dating.
It`s more like...
supervised friendship with cosmic implications." Melanie leaned forward, her maternal instincts clearly engaged.
"Does Eileen have a love interest, or is this just general rebellion?" "No specific target," Roxanna replied.
"She just wants to `put herself out there and see what she can find`—senior boys, of course, because apparently fifteen-year-old boys aren`t sophisticated enough for our Eileen." "I can see why her mother is being strict," Melanie said thoughtfully.
"Eileen is definitely showing that she doesn`t have the maturity for dating yet, certainly not older boys.
Are you girls...
helping to slow her down a little? Telepathically?" "No." Ella`s response was firm.
"Eileen has blocked us out completely.
So has Helena, for that matter.
I understand why Helena wants some private space to bond with her...
whatever Bobby is.
But Eileen is just being a brat." Commander Beaker nodded slowly.
"I understand the need for space.
We all need time to digest what`s happened to us these past few weeks.
I certainly do." She looked at each of them in turn.
"So for the next few months, your training will be limited to classroom work only.
No field exercises, no active missions unless something extraordinary happens.
We all need to rest, relax, and recuperate." Ella`s eyes lit up.
"A few months? So we`re talking about being sixteen when we come back to active duty.
Driver`s licenses and company cars?" Commander Beaker`s laugh was the first genuinely relaxed sound she`d made since returning.
"I`ll defer to your parents on that particular negotiation." "We do need to monitor Helena`s relationship," Melanie interjected, her voice carrying the careful tone of someone trying not to overstep.
"We can`t have her moving too fast and getting into trouble." Ella`s response was immediate and non-negotiable.
"I`m going to trust my Helena.
I`m not getting all up in her business, and neither are you.
Sorry, but that`s final." Melanie raised her hands in surrender.
"Okay, I`ll respect that.
But I`ll worry.
You girls are like daughters to me now, and I worry constantly." "We were worried about you too," Roxanna said softly.
"When we saw you in that sports bar and you didn`t even know who we were, I wanted to cry.
I thought we`d lost you forever." "The technology they used was impressive but not sophisticated enough for permanent damage," Commander Beaker explained.
"That speech Eileen gave us kept pulling at our memories.
Bits and pieces of the false narrative began falling apart.
I`m very proud of her—Eileen is amazing when her hormones are under control." "The memory-wiping machine works well for simple tasks," Melanie added.
"Making a pilot forget flight procedures for a few months, or making soldiers forget their deployment details.
But memories eventually repair themselves.
Unfortunately, they`re developing more sophisticated AI systems.
We`re working on countermeasures though.
Basic rule of weapons development: never build a weapon you can`t defend against." Commander Beaker`s expression grew thoughtful.
"How is the boy handling all this? Helena is...
a lot of person to handle.
Is he up to the task?" "He`s rethinking his entire strategy," Ella replied.
"He came on way too strong initially—putting everything out there at once.
That pushed Helena away completely.
He should have taken it slow, let Helena come to him.
She would have found him; she could feel his spirit.
But he really blew it and is having to do serious damage control now.
He`s terrified he`s pushed her away forever, and honestly? He might have." "She`s put him firmly in the friend zone," Roxanna added.
"Their friendship is developing fine, but she`s not having romantic feelings while he clearly is.
It`s complicated.
Like that situation where two people work together for years before realizing they`re meant for each other, except with time travel and government secrets involved." "Given everything he knows, we`ll need to read him into the program officially," Commander Beaker decided.
"You`ll all be seeing a lot of him.
This hiatus will last until your sixteenth birthdays in September—weekly meetings and classroom training only, unless something extraordinary happens." "Six months?" Roxanna`s eyes widened.
"And did you say Sweet Sixteen? That sounds like party planning." Melanie`s smile was the first genuinely happy expression she`d worn all day.
"We`ve already started planning.
In gratitude for your work as special agents—and for saving our asses—we`re throwing you a proper Sweet Sixteen celebration.
The Navy is paying for everything.
Think quinceañera-level celebration." "About those plans," Ella interrupted smoothly.
"We`re Indian, Korean, European, and...
extraterrestrial.
A traditional Mexican celebration doesn`t quite fit.
Just give us a credit card number and we`ll handle our own dresses.
And don`t invite a bunch of random boys for us to `come out` to.
We`ll invite our own friends." "Ella!" Roxanna looked scandalized.
"What`s gotten into you lately? Are you planning to invite those college boys?" "We have six months to plan," Commander Beaker said diplomatically.
"No rush on the details.
What matters is that Navy Intelligence was very impressed with your performance.
We`re officially changing your status from student to special agent—though that`s still classified, so no badges.
You do get these special phones." She handed out sleek devices.
"They connect to a secure satellite network so we can maintain contact at all times.
Please don`t lose them—they`re expensive." Eileen The door burst open with characteristic Eileen dramatic flair.
"I am so sorry, guys." Her voice carried the particular tone of someone who`d been rehearsing an apology.
"My mom said I have to apologize for being childish.
I`m done freaking out now.
I just got frustrated and said a bunch of stupid stuff." She paused, her expression shifting from contrite to indignant.
"But this whole situation is still stupid.
I`m almost sixteen, I`m a secret government agent, I`ve shot people, I had to kill a man in self-defense, I save abused children, I took on the entire U.S.
Air Force and won, and I saved my boss`s life.
But apparently I`m too immature to kiss a boy.
That`s bullshit." "We know," Roxanna said, immediately moving to hug her.
"We`ll see if we can get you ungrounded.
I know how important being first was to you, and then Helena gets a boyfriend literally sent from the future by mysterious time lords.
I sort of freaked out too—I just didn`t say anything." Eileen`s grin was immediate and predatory.
"Really, Roxanna? You freaked out too? Have you been smiling at boys lately?" "Oh no...
well, not very much," Roxanna admitted, blushing.
"Boys aren`t as terrible as I thought—the older ones, anyway.
The ones in my classes are still idiots.
And I wasn`t freaking out about boys, exactly.
I was jealous about someone taking my sister away." "Enough boy talk," Ella interrupted firmly.
"Eileen, Beaker got you a phone.
It`s special—satellite connection for Navy business only.
Don`t lose it; it`s expensive." "How much data does it have?" Eileen asked immediately. "None for personal use.
Navy business only, though it can download maps and tactical images.
No movie streaming." Helena entered quietly, her timing suggesting she`d been listening from the hallway.
"Hey Helena," Eileen called out.
"How are things with your boy?" "He`s not my son," Helena replied with mild irritation.
"It`s...
fine, I guess.
Awkward.
We`ll see how it works out.
I think maybe he should find a girlfriend his own age—or century.
I was his fantasy, and reality doesn`t measure up to fantasies.
He`ll make a good asset for our work, though.
He knows things we need to know." "Beaker says training is suspended for a few months," Ella informed her.
"We`re supposed to rest and recuperate." "I`m bored already," Eileen announced. "Me too," Ella agreed.
Hello Diary, It`s Me, Ella Later that evening I just reread my previous entries to make sure any of this is real.
After that mind-wiping incident, I keep wondering if I`m living in reality or trapped in some elaborate dream.
Like Dorothy waking up in Kansas, except instead of ruby slippers I have government-issued satellite phones. We have a break for a few months now.
I plan to catch up on sleep and maybe take some college classes—high school is criminally boring and not challenging enough for where my mind wants to go. Our parents know too much now.
That`s becoming a problem.
I think if we spend this time being normal teenage girls, they might start to forget the bigger picture.
Parents are like that—they want to see their children as children, so they edit out the parts that don`t fit. In a few months we`ll be sixteen.
Driver`s licenses, dating freedom, less parental oversight.
I feel like I`ve been an adult for years, but maybe I need this time to remember what being a kid feels like.
Eileen is already planning her dating strategy.
I`m afraid romance will be a distraction from more important things. But maybe that`s the point.
Maybe learning to balance saving the world with normal teenage experiences is part of growing up. I`m going to sleep now and dream about simple things.
Good night, diary.
Tomorrow I`ll try to be a regular fifteen-year-old girl, whatever that means.
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