Chapter 4b

    As Blair slowly drifted towards consciousness, he heard Jim's voice in his head.
    
    //"Chief, what ever you do, do not move or open your eyes or make like you are awake in anyway."//
    
    //"What's wrong man,"// Blair thought to Jim, suddenly remembering what had happened. //"Jim, what happened to the twins? Are they all right?"// Blair continued as panic and worry over what he had done.
    
    //"Calm down Chief. They're fine. We're just waiting for Elaine to wake
up"// Jim said trying to calm down his agitated partner.
    
    //"I'm awake"// came the groggy thought.
    
    //"Are you OK, Elaine?"// all three of them thought at once.
  
    //"Yeah, what happened"// she answered.
    
    //"Well, it appears that our illustrious government in all of it's wisdom decided that it was time to start testing our abilities themselves,"// Jim answered.
    
    //"I'm sorry guys, I wasn't thinking. I'm a lousy researcher and Guide to test all of the subjects at once, not thinking of safety or anything"//
    
    //"Hey Blair, don't worry about it. We're together, and we'll get out of here together."// Catherine said.
    
    //"You have a plan?"// Elaine asked.
    
    //"Yeah, Jim and I have been talking about it. Do you two think that you can manage changing into an ant?"//
    
    //"Yeeeaaah, why?"// Blair asked, not sure that he was going to like the
answer.
    
    //"Well,"// Jim began, //"For starters, we will all change at the same time, then head for the vents above us."//
    
    //"Then,"// Catherine began, //"We'll meet up there and walk out of the
building."//
    
    //"Once we get out there and far enough away, we'll turn into eagles and fly down to Jamie's,"// Jim continued.
    
    //"Yeah, but knowing the government,"// Blair began.
   
     //"They know about us and Jamie"// Jim finished.
    
    //"Yeah, but if we stay in animal form, they might not figure it out"// Catherine stated.
   
    //"This is true, but we need to get out of here first"// Elaine entered.
    
    //"Ok,"// Jim began, //"How do we want to do this?"//
    
    //"Ok,"// Catherine started //"Take a couple of deep breaths, and on the count of three we all turn into ants"//
   
     After taking several deep breaths and centering herself, she began counting.
    
    //"One...two...three"//
    
    As she said three, all four of them shifted into the form of ants, effectively disappearing from the view of the cameras.
    
    Once up in the vents, they all stopped dead in their tracks. The shaft was covered in motion sensors and lasers to prevent anyone from getting through.
    
    //"Ok guys,"// Catherine began, //"we're going to have to change this
just ever so slightly."//
    
    //"What do you want us to do?"// Jim asked, reluctantly deferring control to her since she and Elaine both had been doing this kind of thing much longer than they had.
    //"We're going to have to shift as small as possible so we can not only avoid the lasers, but to keep from setting off the motion detectors as well,"// Catherine answered.
    
    //"Let's do it and get out of here then,"// Blair said.
    
    //"Ok, shift into something like a baby sugar ant. That should be small enough."// Catherine instructed.
    
    //"It better be enough, as I hear them coming down the hall"// Jim added.
    
    Once they shifted, they got down into the corner of the shaft working their way outside.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
    
    Three hours later, after running into other ants in the shaft and getting directions, they were on the outside.
    
    //"Oh god, I know where we are,"// Catherine and Elaine said at the same
time.
    
    //"Is that good or bad?"// Jim asked.
    
    //"Let's just say that we are like a quarter mile within the reservation's borders,"// Elaine answered.
    
    //"Oh, that's just great,"// Blair commented, //"Do the elders know about
this"//
    
    //"I don't know, but it sure explains why the energy around there dropped to almost nothing,"// Catherine said.
    
    //"I hate to break this up, but if we get to Jamie, I'm sure that between her, Mike and Carol we can figure this out,"// Jim offered.
    
    //"Sounds like a plan to me,"// they all said in unison just before
shifting to squirrels.
    
    They kept together as a pack, and once they reached the fence, they turned into eagles and took to the sky.
    
    Before they headed to Jamie's, they flew to Simon's place. Landing on the roof, Jim called to Simon.
    
    //"Simon, you home?"//
    
    //"Jim, is that you? what's going on?"//
    
    //"I can't tell you much, but we were grabbed by the government today"//
    
    //"Oh, god, are you all all right?"//
    
    //"We're fine,"// they all said in unison.
    
    //"We're heading to Jamie's to see what kind of help that she can give us with this mess,"// Jim continued.
    
    //"What happened to the warriors that were supposed to help protect
you?"// Simon asked.
    
    //"I don't know, that's why we're going to see Jamie,"// Blair answered.
    
    //"Is there anything that I can do from this end?"// Simon asked.
    
    //"No, you're just going to have to wait. We just didn't want our Chief to worry."// Jim said.
    
    //"I appreciate that"// Simon returned.
    
    //"Ok then, we'll be in touch."//
    
    //"By the way, where exactly are you guys?"// Simon asked.
    
    //"Right now, we're on your roof,"// Jim answered.
    
    //"Well then, you better get out of here before Mrs. Clements next door finds you,"// Simon said trying to lighten up the mood just a little. Then added, //She has this thing about bird poop."//
    
    //"Thanks Simon. We'll be in touch."// Jim said laughing.
    
    //"Please be careful, cause I need my best team intact and back to work as soon as possible"// Simon said as he heard the birds wings as they were taking off from the roof above.
    
    //"We will man. Just be sure to keep an eye out for trouble finding you,"// Blair said as they were taking off.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
    
    It took them the entire night to fly to Cascade, Colorado. They landed on her roof as she was exercising her animals. After the wolf finished her run, she turned and spoke to the four eagles that were on her roof.
    
    //"Would you like to come in and rest awhile? I know you've had a long flight. And before you say anything further, I knew that there was something going on, but I just didn't know what it was"//
    
    //"Is it safe for you here? They know I'm sure that we've had contact with you, and I don't want to invite trouble to you or Mike, but we could really use your help."// Jim said with no small amount of worry in the thought.
    
    //"You're safe here guys, so come on in and I'll get you some coffee"// Jamie answered.
    
    With that, they turned into squirrels and came down the post on the porch. Jamie who had just returned back into her human form held the door open for them. Scurrying inside, the got into the living room before morphing into their human forms.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
    
    Ten minutes later, everyone was seated in the living room with a fresh cup of hot coffee in their hands.
    
    "Mike will be here any minute," Jamie said as she sat down in her chair to the right of the sofa. Just then, the back door opened as Mike and Carol came in.
    
    "Hey guys, what brings you so far from home?" Carol asked as Mike poured her a cup of coffee.
    
    "It's a long crazy story," Blair said as he took another sip of his coffee.
    
    As Mike and carol sat down, Jim made the introductions.
    
    "Mike, Carol, I'd like to introduce you to Detectives Catherine and Elaine Waitland of the Okanogan County Sheriff's Office in Omac Washington." Ten turning to the Twins, he said "Ladies, this is Detective Jamie Cromwell, and her partner Detective Mike Lawson of the Cascade, Colorado, PD. This," he motioned to Carol, "is Carol Lawson. She is a registered nurse and Mike's wife. They are Shamans and helped us out several months ago when Alex Barns tried to kill Blair.
    
    Jamie, Mike, Carol, Catherine and Elaine are..." Jim didn't quite know how
 to say it, and then Catherine saved him.
    
    "...Are another Sentinel Guide pair," Catherine explained.

After everyone got acquainted, Jim told the trio of Blair's planning to finish the Diss and then go to the police academy. He told them of the tests that Blair was in the process of running and he told them of their capture and subsequent escape. After he finished, Jamie sat back in her chair to think.
    
    Looking up, she saw that Blair had his head on Jim's shoulder nodding off, while both Catherine and Elaine were leaning on each other to hold them up.
    
    "Look guys, why don't you go get some sleep and let me make a few phone calls, and then we'll get a plan of action going, ok?"
    
    All she got was a couple of mumbles as the four of them turned into squirrels and the twins curled up on their couch as Jim and Blair did the same on theirs.
    
    Laughing softly, Jamie, Mike and Carol got up, and Mike picked up Jim and Blair while Jamie picked up Catherine and Elaine, and headed to the room across from Jamie's upstairs.

Carol, grabbing a couple of blankets, bunched one of them up on one bed and Mike put Jim and Blair on it, and then the other on the other bed, where Jamie put the twins. Quietly pulling the big wall part way over, they went back down stairs to start the ball rolling.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

  End Chapter 4B.