Phantom Frost

by Alfred Wurr

  Feeling the bite of frost, Randy pushed me away, gasping, trying to escape. I hung on tighter. He punched me in the sides, trying to loosen my hold. I grunted but gripped harder. Within seconds, the temperature dropped twenty degrees, and Randy’s struggles weakened as his blood cooled and his body spasmed and his teeth chattered.

  I released my hold, regained my feet and looked around like a meerkat on watch. No one appeared to have noticed our wrestling match, but that would change if a car came down the street or an insomniac looked out the window. For all I knew, it might have already happened, but I didn’t hear sirens, so I chose to hope for the best.

  I dragged Randy’s limp body through the snow and back into the house by his arms as he continued to shake from the initial stages of hypothermia. Hopefully his fat will insulate him enough to survive, I thought, though his readiness to stab me made it hard to care. As I approached the steps, a neighbouring porch light lit up. With an explosion of energy, flush with power from the snow beneath me, I picked him up by his belt and threw him inside, then stormed in after him and closed the door behind me. Outside, the snow that I’d summoned still fell.

  The door to the bedroom opened, and Wilhelm pushed Shane, still hooded, through. He pulled off the Boba Fett helmet and wiped away a small drop of blood that trickled from his nose. He looked at his hand, then wiped it on his jeans.

  “What happened, man?” Wilhelm asked, looking at the shivering body lying at my feet. “Guy looks like he’s freezing.”

  “Dude jumped me,” I said. “He’ll be okay. No one dies of hypothermia in the Mojave Desert.”

  “Happens more than you’d think,” Wilhelm said as he donned the Boba Fett helmet. “Gets cold enough some nights.”

  “That can’t be right,” I said, looking sidelong at him.

  “Randy, you all right?” Shane asked, facing the wall where Wilhelm pressed him, his vision blocked by the pillowcase. “What’d you do? Randy?”

  “Time to jet, man,” Wilhelm said, looking at the door. “Down on your knees, Shane,” he ordered. “Stay where you are, and we’ll be out of your hair in a jiffy.”

  “Get to the car. I’ll finish up here,” I said as I knelt and checked Randy’s pockets for the rest of the cash. Wilhelm tossed me the keys to the handcuffs and ran off. The fallen security guard’s shivering seemed less intense, and he mumbled to himself unintelligibly. I pulled a worn brown wallet from his back pocket. It had several thousand in large bills tucked inside. I stuffed the bills under the Stormtrooper helmet. His driver’s license said he was thirty-seven years old and identified him as Randolph Paulson. I checked his other pockets and found a clear plastic bag full of Caleb’s weed.

  “All right, Shane. Be cool, forget we were here,” I said, walking to the still-open door. “Don’t make me come back.”

  I grabbed a heavy leather jacket from the front closet and draped it over Randy, still in a torpor, curled up on the floor, shivering.

  “Wha…,” he muttered, confused.

  “Your buddy here can free you when he recovers,” I said to Shane, placing the cuff keys on the floor next to Randy. “Make him some hot tea. He seems chilly.”

  “Get bent, freak,” Shane spat.

  I said nothing and walked out into the night, closing the door behind me. The wind had picked up, blowing cool air across my face. I smiled at the sight of the Trans Am idling out front with its windshield wipers clearing the still falling snow. I flew over the melting snow like quicksilver and jumped inside through the open window. My friend, no longer wearing his helmet, his hair sweaty and matted, stomped the accelerator and we roared off.

  “Easy, dude. Slow down,” I said as we screeched around the first corner. “We don’t want to attract attention.”

  “Yeah, right. You’re right,” he said, easing up on the accelerator. As if summoned by my words, a police car came down the street toward us seconds later, its lights flashing, with no siren. We looked at each other, Wilhelm wide-eyed, me still wearing the black-and-white helmet. “Oh, damn.”

  Wilhelm’s knuckles were as white as mine on the steering wheel as the police raced past without slowing down. He glanced repeatedly in the rear-view mirror. “That was too close,” he said, taking a deep breath as he checked the side mirrors. “Breaker, breaker, we’ve lost the smokies.”

  “Nice driving, Bandit,” I said, taking a deep breath. “What happened with Shane?”

  Wilhelm shrugged. “He elbowed me in the face. Bloodied my nose. How’s your stomach?”

  I looked down at my waist. “Getting better by the second.”

  “That went pretty well,” Wilhelm said, glancing at me. “All things considered.”

  “Like taking cake from a baby.”

  “Candy,” he corrected.

  “What?”

  “Candy,” he said. “Take candy from a baby.”

  “Why would I want to do that?”

  “The expression is, ‘take candy from a baby,’” Wilhelm said, squinting his eyes at the road.

  “Uh, pretty sure it’s cake.”

  By the time we got to Wilhelm’s home, the sky was already beginning to lighten with the coming dawn. He gave me the cash that I’d handed to him at Shane’s house.

  “Shivurr, it’s kind of late now, but let’s try to talk privately tomorrow,” Wilhelm said before heading up to bed. “There’s something I’ve been meaning to talk to you about.”

  I took off the damaged Stormtrooper gear, redonned my winter jacket, then trudged down the hallway to the kitchen to grab a tray of ice cubes and a jug of water. Collapsing onto the sofa, I replenished lost fluids while watching TV and counting the cash. I stowed the weed in my pocket and bills in my hat for safekeeping, pulled the brim over my eyes, then fell asleep, wondering what Wilhelm could possibly want to talk about.

  Chapter 13

  Snow Day

  I woke to the sounds of the morning weather forecast. “That’s right, folks. Parts of the Las Vegas area reportedly got snow last night, in what seems to be a freak weather anomaly. Some residents called in to tell us they woke up to an unusually chilly morning and a winter wonderland in their front yards. Spontaneous snowball fights have been reported. Other residents took the opportunity to build snowmen as well. Sorry, kids, it won’t be a snow day as temperatures, already at seventy-six degrees, are expected to reach ninety plus later today,” said the perky weather woman with an exaggerated laugh. “Back to you, Nick.”

  “Bad news for those snowmen, Wendy,” said the news anchor as the camera cut to him. “Amazing stuff. In other news, police were called—”

  The news anchor disappeared abruptly, replaced by a cartoon centaur, as the TV switched to a new channel.

  “Morning, Slim,” I said affably.

  “Hey, man, you’re up,” said Caleb from the nearby easy chair as he continued to click the remote. He had a serious case of bed-head. “I didn’t think you ever slept.”

  “Seldom,” I said. “Where’s everybody?”

  “Sleeping, I guess,” he replied. “Lucy’s taking a swim. Haven’t heard from Wil yet, but I saw Olivia head into the bathroom. I just got up a half hour ago. Figured I’d come say hello.” He continued to click, stopping at another cartoon, another I had never seen. A heavily muscled shirtless swordsman was facing off with a skeletal villain.

  We watched TV for the next hour until Olivia, freshly showered, poked her head in from the hallway, preceded by Bear, who flopped down next to me and put his head between his paws.

  “I’m making bacon and eggs,” she said. “Would you boys like some breakfast?”

  We followed her to the kitchen and helped set the table while she cooked. Alan showed up, bleary-eyed and yawning, a short while later.

  “Morning, Alan,” Olivia said. “Be a dear and pour the orange juice.” Alan nodded, walking like a zombie to the fridge. “Wilhelm is still in bed.” She handed a plate piled with bacon and eggs to Caleb. The lean teen dug in voraciously. “I guess he worked late
again. He was tossing and turning, a lot.”

  I avoided her gaze and sipped my soda. “Uh, yeah,” I said as Alan moved around the table, pouring.

  “Good morning, Lilith,” Olivia said. “Did you sleep well?”

  “All right, I guess,” said Lilith. “It’s getting warm out, so I couldn’t sleep any longer. That and Lucy and Brad are splashing around in the pool. Those two can’t keep their hands off each other.”

  The young girl pulled up a chair next to Alan and started drinking his juice. She wore a black T-shirt displaying a picture of a large tongue poking out of huge red lips and faded cut-off denim shorts with the white bottoms of the pockets peeking out. Her long dark hair stuck up wildly in the back.

  “Do you have any coffee? Oh my gosh, thank you,” she said, lurching to her feet as our hostess pointed to the automatic coffee maker.

  “You’re welcome,” Olivia replied, continuing to cook. “I’m not myself without my first cup, either. You’re a bit young, though. I didn’t start until college.”

  “Hello, everyone,” Wilhelm said, walking into the room. He gave Olivia a squeeze on the shoulder and a peck on the cheek and poured himself a cup of coffee before sitting down. He looked freshly showered, but his eyes were bloodshot and his face drawn. He closed his eyes with pleasure as he took a large swallow from the mug. Grimacing, he reached for the sugar.

  “Did you work late, Wil?” Olivia asked, passing another plate to Alan. “I didn’t hear you come to bed.”

  Wilhelm looked at me as he stirred his mug. “Shivurr and I went out to have a word with those casino security chuckleheads,” he said, quietly.

  “We got your money back,” I said, looking at Caleb and Alan as Wilhelm grabbed the box of Cap’n Crunch that sat in the middle of the table and began to fill a nearby bowl.

  “What? You’re kidding,” Alan asked. “How?”

  “We just had a little chat and they offered it up,” Wilhelm said, giving Olivia a sidelong glance. “They saw the error of their ways. They were very regretful.”

  I doffed my cap, rummaged around and produced the cash with a flourish. “Here you go.”

  “You dudes are badass,” Alan said, counting his cash.

  “Here’s your weed too,” I said to Caleb, handing him the bag.

  “Omigod, that sounds so dangerous,” Lilith said, gasping and shaking her head. “What if they attacked you?”

  I shrugged. “Nah, it was nothing,” I said, following Wilhelm’s lead.

  “I look forward to hearing more about it,” Olivia said, staring at Wilhelm with a raised brow.

  “You guys are awesome,” Alan said, flashing pearly white teeth.

  “Just keep it safe,” Wilhelm said.

  “Alan, let’s skate,” said Lilith. “I want to try that kick flip before it gets too hot.”

  “Sure, Lil,” Alan said. He gave his surfer pal a sidelong glance and smirked. “You coming, Caleb? Or are you still hurting from sacking it last time?”

  “Yeah, right, and then you woke up,” Caleb said, snorting. “Get your board.”

  “Well, I need to take Bear for a walk,” Olivia said after they’d left. “Come on, Sir Bear, let’s go. You boys have fun.”

  “I can do that,” Wilhelm said. “Don’t you leave for work soon?”

  She gave him a peck on the cheek. “I switched shifts with someone. I wanted to be here with our guests.”

  “Awesome,” he said, watching her fondly as she left the room.

  “Any word from Scott yet?” I asked after she left.

  “Dunno, but let’s check the board,” Wilhelm replied, getting up from the table. “Come on.”

  I followed him across the house to his office. There was a message from Scott letting us know he should arrive that afternoon. With nothing to do but wait, we joined Brad and Lucy by the pool. Wilhelm set up a few umbrellas for shade and set out a pitcher of ice water for me. Hungry after swimming, the young couple left to get donuts and coffee for breakfast, promising to bring back a bag of ice and a six-pack of Dr Pepper for me. I’d developed a taste for it after Caleb had offered me one in Tonopah.

  They returned within an hour, and we all relaxed as the warm desert wind blew and the shadows grew shorter. Lucy occupied herself by taking photos of the view of the desert and mountains to the west while Brad and Wilhelm tossed a football behind us.

  Sometime later, the three youngest members of our group returned, skateboards in hand, switched to swimsuits and jumped in the pool. Lilith brought over the boom box from the van and put in a cassette.

  “Now it’s a party,” I said. “What’s the plan for today?”

  “We might go see WarGames tonight,” she answered. “Alan says it’s great.”

  The surfer dude lifted himself out of the water with a splash and sat on the edge, dripping. “I saw it opening night. Hey, Wil, have you seen it?”

  “Sure did,” Wilhelm replied, sipping his beer. He’d had several throughout the afternoon but appeared unaffected. “Good flick.”

  “Scary,” Alan said, looking grim, “knowing the world could end in fifteen minutes.” He looked west at the hills in the distance, thoughtful for a moment, then shook his head. “You hack, right? Can you do that stuff?” he asked, putting his sunglasses back on as he drip-dried by the pool.

  “What stuff is that?”

  “Hack into military computers,” Alan said. “Like in the movie. Is that how you can afford this place?”

  “Maybe,” Wilhelm said, tossing the empty and grabbing a fresh beer from the nearby cooler. “With enough time, and some social engineering. If I didn’t want to go to prison as a commie spy or something. No chance I’d do it from home, though. That’s asking to be caught.”

  “Protecting Shivurr seems just as risky,” Alan observed.

  “There’s no law against having guests over,” Wilhelm said. “Plus, they have to find him first. I’m not worried.”

  “What’s social engineering?” Alan asked.

  “Hacking people. Conning them, really, into giving you access you shouldn’t have. People are the weakest link in any system. What you do is start near the bottom and work your way up. You research your target, get to know who the players are, then call someone and name-drop to build trust. Or you might say you’re a tech support guy calling and need to know their password to fix their computer. People are always having trouble with computers. Then you work your way up the chain.”

  “Huh, that’s not as cool,” Alan said, looking crestfallen. “Seems like cheating.”

  “Some of it involves exploiting holes or backdoors,” Wilhelm said. “Like the backdoor in the movie. That would work, if you had access to the system. But the easiest is if you know someone on the inside—someone that can hold the door open for you. Of course, the artificial intelligence part is make-believe.”

  “Why’s that?” Alan asked.

  “AI’s nowhere close to that. Computers aren’t powerful enough for one—least not yet.”

  “Oh, cool,” Lilith said, pointing at the back of the yard. Within the branches of an oak perched a large great horned owl, regarding us with drooping eyelids.

  “That’s the dude that kept me up last night,” Caleb said, waking from his nap and squinting toward the backyard. “He was hooting half the night.”

  “Oh, she’s beautiful,” Lucy said from the pool. She and Brad had stopped their splashing to look until the bird took off and flew to another yard.

  “Nice, you don’t see them often during the day,” Wilhelm said. “They really like our trees. That oak’s their favourite.”

  “There are a lot more animals here than I thought,” Lilith said, fiddling with her camera—much smaller and cheaper than Lucy’s high-end one. She popped the spent roll from it and popped in a new one. “I thought deserts were supposed to be empty wastelands.”

  “It didn’t seem all that empty to me,” I said, thinking of my journey.

  “Very true. There’s a lot more life than you
see at first glance,” Wilhelm said, springing to his feet. He stepped down into the pool and dunked his head before rising back out. “This world teems with life in unexpected places. It’s a shame that people are going to make a desert of it all. A desert of plastic and concrete.”

  “Yeah,” Alan said. “I heard we’re losing the ozone layer now. Pretty soon we won’t be able to go outside without SPF 1000 sunblock. Between that and the greenhouse effect, we’re screwed. There’re just too many people on the planet. Isn’t there something like four and half billion of us now? How many more can the world take?”

  “I wish I was born years ago, before the end of the world,” Lilith said softly. “Nuclear bombs, the greenhouse effect, holes in the ozone layer, acid rain, pollution, the rainforests being cut down. It’s all so depressing. I’ve thought about having kids one day, but…” She trailed off, blinking her eyes rapidly. “It’s like the planet would be better off without us.”

  “That’s why you got to have fun while you can,” Caleb said, looking at her. “Live life to the max. Die surfing.”

  “Or do something about it,” Wilhelm said. “There’s time. Not much, but some. After billions of years, the earth isn’t going down that easy. It’s got friends, antibodies fighting the infection of human progress.” He made quotes in the air with his fingers as he spoke the last word. “I know you kids didn’t make this world. You were just born into it, but it’s the only one you have.”

  “Careful, Wil,” said Brad, climbing out of the pool. “That’s commie talk.”

  “Is it?”

  “My dad says we need growth for the good of the economy,” Brad said, “or we’ll be like the Soviet Union, with no reason to do anything or try to achieve anything.”

  “Fair point, but where does it end? This world is finite. It’s just a small island in the ocean of space. A bit too large, since people can fool themselves into thinking it isn’t, while they cut down all the trees and melt the polar ice caps with excessive industry, as if there’s no end to it.”