Quantum Cheeseburger

by Jeremy Michelson

  “This is the Presidential Medal of Freedom,” he said, “It the highest honor awarded to civilians. It is given for an especially meritorious contribution to the security or national interests of the United States, world peace, cultural or other significant public or private endeavors. Which, for some reason, higher powers than mine, have decided to bestow on you.”

  It sounded impressive. There was something I was curious about, though.

  “Why are you giving it to me?” I asked, “Isn’t there usually a ceremony at the White House or something?”

  The sour look continued. “There will be no ceremonies, and you can’t take this. I’m just letting you look at it. In the interests of national, and global security, your role in these events is strictly–and permanently–classified,” Mattany said, “You may not speak of the events of those days. Ever.”

  I leaned back in the chair and rubbed my chin. I was trying to grow a goatee, but so far all I got was patchy stubble.

  “So you’re saying I can’t write a book about this, or go on the talk show circuit?” I asked.

  Mattany’s face reddened. “No, you may not,” he said.

  I leaned forward. Reached for the medal. Mattany snatched it away.

  “Can’t I even touch it?” I asked.

  He gave me another hateful look. Then set the case down on the desktop and slid it toward me. He kept his fingers hooked on the back.

  “Don’t take it out of the case,” he said.

  I touched it. It was a pretty cool medal.

  Not that I really had any need for medals.

  I leaned back. Mattany snapped the case shut and stuck it back in his drawer. From another drawer, he brought out a sheet of thick, cream-colored paper. I glimpsed some sort of official seal on it. He cleared his throat.

  “There is a citation that goes with it,” he said, “Would you like me to read it to you?”

  I waved my hand. “Don’t bother,” I said, “You’d just order me to forget it after I heard it, right?”

  Mattany’s granite jaw snapped shut. He put the paper back in the drawer and slammed it closed. He folded his delicate hands on the desk and glowered at me for a long while.

  I was a problem for him. Or, more accurately, an embarrassment. He must have had friends in high places, otherwise, he would have been fired. Or maybe no one else wanted the job.

  The world didn’t know how close it had come to extinction. And probably never would, if Mattany and those like him had their way.

  Liz, Azor and I had managed to drag ourselves back to Bey Jodo’s big ship. The main engine was shot, but three of us got the ship repaired enough to bring it down to Earth. Back down to Mattany’s base. It seemed like the most sensible place to bring it at the time.

  Mattany, of course, wanted to arrest all of us and throw us in the deepest, darkest federal prison he could find.

  Liz and I didn’t cooperate.

  It took a demonstration before Mattany understood he couldn’t force us to do anything we didn’t want to do. From then on things were a bit of a blur.

  Azor sent out a call to his outpost at the edge of the solar system. The Stickmen only had a small base on Pluto. Reinforcements would be coming from SixUnion, but it would take years before they arrived.

  In the meantime, Azor and Pejk composed a report on what happened and sent it off to the SixUnion leaders. I told them about the Dendon device infecting Bey Jodo. They included the information in their report as a warning to any Dons who might consider visiting. Or trying to rescue Bey Jodo. For them, Earth was deadly.

  Not that it would stop them from trying something.

  Which was why Mattany made his proposal.

  After he showed me the medal, he folded his girly hands on his desk and leaned forward. I took the intent look in his eyes for hate. And maybe it was, but there was something else, too.

  "We need your help," he said.

  Eighty-Four

  I found Liz in hanger seven at the end of the concrete tarmac. We were given free run of the base at Area 53. Not that Mattany or anyone were really capable of stopping us. Or Liz, anyway.

  Wind swirled gritty dust around me as I walked through the big doors. They were half open, letting in a wedge of hot desert sun. At the edge of the tarmac, the stealthing poles still buzzed and glowed.

  Liz, in the middle of the hanger, worked on the little ship Azor and I had used to chase Bey Jodo. She turned out to be a good spaceship mechanic. The military wanted to take the ship, but she had just given them a cold stare.

  They backed off.

  She looked up and gave me a dazzling smile. Brushed golden red hair out of her eyes. She put down the resonating tuner she’d been using on the power plant.

  “Hey babe, what’s up?” she asked.

  “Wanna go for a drive?” I asked.

  She gave me a questioning look. I shrugged and scratched at my ear. Our signal that we needed a conversation away from the base. I suspected we were being listened to every second we were there.

  Not that I was paranoid or anything.

  “Sure,” she said. She grabbed a towel and wiped off her hands. “Let’s get something to eat.”

  We took my Jeep. My poor, very well-traveled Jeep. When I found out the Blinkys had brought it back to Earth, I was ecstatic. At least until I got a look at it. The exposure to space had destroyed the engine and all the hydraulics. The fluids had frozen solid and cracked the block. The tires had frozen too and broken like glass.

  Fortunately, the soldiers in the motor pool had taken pity on it and rebuilt it. Though, I don't think they did it for me. They did it because Liz smiled at them.

  It felt good to drive down the road with hot New Mexico wind, scented with sage and mesquite blowing through my hair. I glanced at Liz. Her dazzling smile made my heart nearly explode with joy. For a little while, on that too short drive, there wasn’t a care in the world.

  If only moments like that could last forever.

  We pulled into the gravel parking lot and parked a distance away from the burned out building. On the other side of the lot stood a long, canvas canopy. Next to it was a big panel truck with a long opening on the side.

  A vinyl banner hung from the canopy, rattling in the breeze. In big, red letters it proclaimed: Guydoro’s 2 – Now Open!

  The tantalizing, mouthwatering scents of sizzling burger and bacon wafted across the lot. To one side of the truck a black cage rotated, propane torches roaring. The spicy scent of roasting green chiles drifted into the mix of wonderful smells.

  A huge line snaked out from the large panel truck. We walked up to the end of the line. Held hands as we waited our turn. It wasn’t a long wait. Guydoro moved fast behind the big grill in the truck. Before long, one of Guydoro’s daughters handed us a couple sturdy paper plates with our glorious burgers. We took them and a couple Cokes over to a picnic table under the flapping canopy and sat.

  Liz took a huge bite.

  “Omm mmm grd,” she said, “This is so good.”

  I lifted the bun on mine. All I saw were green chilis and bacon. I set the bun back in place and lifted the glorious construction to my mouth. I opened wide and took a bite.

  It was pure heaven.

  I wiped tangy burger juices from my lips. “You know,” I said, “Azor did an analysis of the makers Bey Jodo used on me. They were supposed to turn me into a bomb, remember?”

  Liz nodded, her mouth full of burger.

  "It turns out there's a chemical in green chilis that somehow altered the programming of the Don's makers," I said, "Guydoro's burger saved me."

  Liz swallowed. Wiped burger juice off her chin. She looked incredibly sexy doing it.

  “Guydoro should get a medal too, then.”

  I had told her about Mattany and the medal. She thought it was funny. Liz wasn’t much for empty praise anyway. I hadn’t yet told her about Mattany’s request.

  “So besides getting fat eating Guydoro burgers, what are we doing out here?” Liz
said. Reading my mind, obviously.

  I took a swig of Coke. Then took a deep breath.

  “Mattany wants us to take a trip,” I said.

  Liz chewed, her sea green eyes narrowed. “Where?”

  I scratched at my scraggly goatee. Liz had dropped a few comments about it already. Mostly of the shave that damned thing off, variety.

  “Apparently Kincaid really was working on a star drive,” I said, “I’ve been helping him a bit since we got back. With a bit of help from our friend.”

  Kincaid had somehow gotten back into the good graces of the government. He convinced them he was a double triple back flip agent. Or something. I had a feeling he’d sung a lot of deep intel about the Dons to Mattany’s debriefers to save his own slimy skin.

  Not to mention throwing Julie and her goon husband under the bush. Enough to get them incarcerated in an exceptionally well fortified military prison.

  I tapped my chest. The Dendon didn’t say anything, but then it was pretty quiet most of the time.

  “How are you and your buddy getting along?” Liz asked.

  I smiled. “We’ve come to an agreement. More or less,” I said.

  “So what does Mattany want?” Liz asked.

  I played with the paper cup full of Coke. “The star drive is about ready,” I said, “Mattany wants to install it in the Don ship.”

  “Okay, then what does he want?”

  “He wants us to go to the Dendon home world.”

  Her eyes went wide. “What? What the hell for?”

  “He thinks there’s weapons there we can use to arm Earth with,” I said, “Something to defend ourselves against an invasion.”

  “He’s nuts.”

  I nodded. “Yeah, but I think we should do it. At least the go to Dendon part.”

  She took another bite of her burger and gave me a long look as she chewed.

  “Care to elaborate?” she asked.

  I touched my chest. “This isn’t over. The Dons aren’t going to give up,” I said, “This thing in me still wants revenge. It wants to kill all of them. I need to find a way to protect our world without committing genocide.”

  “And you think the answer is on this supposedly dead planet?”

  I looked up in the faded desert sky. Did I? Maybe the Dendon was manipulating me again. Maybe it just wanted to go home. But something told me there was more to it than that.

  I looked back to her. I put my hand on hers.

  “All my life I’ve been following. Doing what I was told. I’ve been told it wasn’t personal when people hurt me, it was just business. Well, now I want to do something. Something that shows that everything is personal. I want to make them see that. I think the place to start is where all this began. On Dendon.”

  Liz shrugged. “Okay, works for me,” she said.

  She smiled and her beautiful eyes flashed with laughter. My heart lifted. Whatever lay ahead of us, I knew I could count on her.

  My golden warrior.

  What Happens Next?

  Chris and Liz defeated Bey Jodo and saved the world.

  They have a new mission.

  But someone has ideas of his own…

  Revenge is a cold companion.

  A few years ago, aliens made first contact with Earth.

  A few years before that, a different kind of alien made contact with twelve year old Buck DeHaas.

  Now he’s on a one man holy war to get them off Earth.

  Even better, make them all dead.

  When the beat-up alien ship lands at super secret military base Area 53, he smells opportunity.

  He soon finds out hate might not be enough.

  Getting what he wants might be the last thing he needs.

  To save his fellow humans he must make a sacrifice. Of something more precious to him than even his life.

  Climb aboard for Buck’s twisting adventure. Get the second novel in the Star Ascension series, Escape Meridian, now.

  Click here and get ESCAPE MERIDIAN now

  QUANTUM CHEESEBURGER

  Copyright © 2018 by Jeremy Michelson

  Cover design copyright © 2018 Jeremy Michelson.

  Cover art © Abidal | Dreamstime.com | planet-earth-sunrise-space

  Cover art © Dtguy | Dreamstime.com | The jeep with the white background

  This book is licensed for your person enjoyment only. All Rights Reserved. This is a work of fiction. All characters, places and events portrayed in this book are fictional, and any resemblance to real people, places or incidents is purely coincidental.

  All rights reserved. This book, or parts thereof, may not be reproduced in any form without permission.

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