Always a Queen of Narnia

**Atari Twilight:** **Twist of Fate**

**Once a Queen of Narnia**

Twilight fell in 1989 and an age of greatness, of heroes and villains from the pages of books, comics, or screens of our CRT televisions came to an end. Our young heroes were once again triumphant, with a little help from their friends,  and so a new age dawned, yet every age needs heroes. Even the new millennium, an age where the mystical walks amongst the mundane, and all things are possible. A few brave souls are born, cast in the role of hero, for many, it takes hard work and determination. So we return my friends to Garrett Maryland in the far future of space year 1999.

It’s early autumn in Maryland. The trees surrounding the sleepy town of Garette are all hues of red and brown. School will soon start for a new year at Edgar Allan Poe Elementary. and Braddock High School.

The camera pans out of town towards Queen lake over the fields of ripe maze and barley, and we zoom in on a striking yellow Japanese sports car A Datsun 240z sits outside a familiar farmhouse. Yet the house looks even more immaculately maintained than before as if no expense was spared upon it.

24-year-old Heather Jones, for it, is she. Carries a box stamped *Night Owl Consignment Stor*e down off the porch, and places it on the open tailgate of the car. She walks taller. Her clothes are still for the most part all black, but her mousy hair is cut into a fashionable short bob. She wears a black band T-shirt with the word *Paranoid* in white letters across the front. Over the top of the shirt, she wears a chic tailored blazer in purple, a shock of colour to her usual all-black style.

There are tears, hugs and laughs as Scarlett, Ricky and JD help Heather load her most important worldly goods in boxes, bags and suitcases into the vibrant almost lion Yellow Datsun. A real Lion, or simply Kiitty to Heather, supervised from the passager seat. He was in the form of a cherished childhood toy, that’s how he spent most of his time. As a rather threadbare, well-loved big cat, still with an impressive mane, despite the plush toys obvious age.

More hugs and tears as Heather almost hesitantly moves to leave. More than even at the going-away party last night at *The Paperback Exchange.* The whole town and more still had filed the shop to the very rafters to wish her well. They’d celebrated long into the evening. Jackie Emrock had been there to DJ a special live show.

Heather slipped a mix on a minidisc into a Sony minidisc player hooked into the 1970s Datsun’s factory cassette player. Heather composes herself for a moment with her car on the lane from the Lewis place. Just out of sight of the house. Lion purrs either supportively or to the music. He did like Heart. The Song *Nothin’ at All plays.*

“You will be good Kitty, won’t you? You know I didn't make the no-pets rule, It’s the same as the college dorms, so they don’t want you in your Panthera leo from wandering around, they’re not likely to be frightened like Sorority Girls.”

Heather gives the stuffed toy cat as stern a look as she can manage, over her prescription sunglasses.

*“I promise I’ll try to be good*”.

Booms a voice as if from nowhere, good he wasn’t in a mood with her. He did like to run free in the none overlooked forests around Garette.

She scratches him behind the ear.

Some three hours later Heather and Lion arrive in the equally sleepy Virginia town of Quantico driving out towards the Marine Corps base on the banks of the Potomac River. Not through the high-security checkpoint to the base itself, or to the visitors centre, but further along Bewsure Parkway towards the grey concrete edifice of the FBI training academy. When Heather had first seen it, she was reminded of the horrors of *Castle Grayskull* back in Garrett. Now she had been through those doors into those busy offices, teeming with life and activity, she knew it was an edifice of hope, a monument to justice. The basement of building D was home to some of her friends that made up the Behavioural Sciences Unit. The elite division that hunted serial killers, all across the US.

Two FBI living legends awaited Heather Jones arrival. The allegedly semi-retired Director Gene Tyler, with his full beard and receding hairline, salt and pepper hair that was now more salt than pepper, but not because of the stress of hunting dangerous serial killers, that was easy, but from the stress of grandchildren. At his side was Section Chief Madeline *Mads* to her friend, Bozzio. A six-foot-tall board shouldered blonde woman in a motorcycle jacket. She didn’t dress like your stereotypical senior agent. They sat around Tyler’s beloved 49 LIncoln coupe. As they had thousands of times before.

Heather presented her papers and ID to the uniformed gate guard. Sitting there in the Datsun, with the engine running. It's Maryland plates that read *Queen of N.* glittering in the fall twilight. She once again stopped to savour the moment.

Heather had first met Mads, as a confused and scared teenager. Mads had told her in a strangely intuitive moment “*Be the hero in your own story, even when you don’t know what that story is yet.”* That had stuck with her all these years.

*“Once and Forever a Queen of Narnia, now and FBI Trainee Special Agent”*

Heather swung her car into her assigned bay. The people waiting for her had doggedly hunted her nemesis, Randall Flagg, for 20 years. They’d been the only people to believe that the likes of Megatron Flagg and Pennywise were real. That was the old story though. Today Heather began a new chapter, in a new book. This might be more like *Silence of the Lambs* though. A book sure to be an obsession amongst her fellow recruits. There was no way this was going to be as scary a being in her home town ten years ago. Back before the veil was lifted. Here she would be trained to deal with almost anything. Her home town had more than prepared her for anything else.

*“We’re not going to sit in silence, we’re not going to live in fear”*

The Wilson Sisters sang, on Hearts cover of *You’re the Voice*.

A hero, a warrior queen, needed to test her metal every so often. Heather was going to face this new challenge. She knew it wasn’t going to be easy. Not many cadets were on first name terms with the most respected unit in the whole FBI. The instructors were going to be like Director Tyler's old friend the Sarge *Firm but Fair.* The Sarge, her home towns most experienced and decorated veteran, had already drilled Heather in unarmed combat, while she had waited for her security clearance and background check to go through.

Heather strode across the car park to meet her destiny. Embraced by the two senior agents.

To begin perhaps the prologue to another book, to another life.

“Welcome to Quantico Cadet Jones”

Tyler announced in his usual gruff voice

“So pleased you chose to join us, Heather”

Mads grinned, showing off her perfect Californian teeth.

“Let’s get you settled in, so you can start this new chapter”

Heather cradled Lion, her companion since childhood, and turned to walk under the concrete portico towards the entrance into the FBI training academy.