by S. H. Marpel
Will just smiled. “That confirms what I know.”
At that point, our pancake breakfast specials showed up. We all got busy pushing the carbs and proteins down. Sleuthing always makes you hungry – in my experience.
MEALS FINISHED, PLATES cleared, Finn brought out his C. E. L. phone. Or what looked like it. But there was something about it that was different from the last time I’d seen it.
Finn saw my interest. “You can see we’ve changed it.”
“We?”
“Carol and I.”
I smiled. “Hope it wasn’t any late night.”
He smiled in return and glanced at her. “No, unlike you, we have a few hours to burn until you wake up again. So we might as well utilize that constructively.”
Before I could come up with a quip, he continued.
“Give me your phone and we’ll swap.”
With his in my hand and vice-versa, I looked it over. Another row of buttons on this new-to-me phone had different markings on them. I looked up a Finn and pointed them out.
“Have you ever seen ‘funny lights’ in your periphery when someone appears?”
“Not you or Carol, but Will – yes. And those goons, even when they appear out of my sight, like in another room.”
Carol chimed in. “We got that data the other day and got an upgraded circuit to trigger when it registers them. Finn’s was the prototype and gave us a lot of data that we can use. We’ll get yours upgraded and back to you soonest.”
I fingered the buttons. “How do I use it?”
Will pulled out a phone of his own to show me. “They light up when something triggers their sensors. The two outside light up and the two inside will replay the recording. And you can have it vibrate to notify you. Right now, all we can do is just watch and record, and learn.”
“So what have you learned so far?”
“Those flashes are a by-product of their space-bending. There’s one signal when they appear or disappear, then another when they fire their handguns.”
“Does that mean their handguns are ‘transporters’?”
Will smiled. “Not exactly. But they do use some sort of similar wavelengths, so they might be connected in some way.”
I sat back and pocketed my device. “I trust there’s no special instructions except to keep it from dialing on its own.”
Will smiled. “Same habit – don’t put its face near to anything sticking out.”
“Butt or chest, then.”
His smile turned to a grin. “And some of us have greater challenges in one or more of those areas.”
I punched him in his arm.
“Thanks. I deserved that, Erika.”
“Yes, you did.”
We both smiled.
Finn took over, getting us back to our mission. “Now, we don’t know where the missing torpedoes are. But we do know that there have been some shipments of conventional torpedoes using seaplanes up to Vancouver. Military testing of some sort.”
“And that would explain us being here in Seattle. Submarines, shipyards, seaplanes, all local. And a close flight over the border to Canada from here.”
Finn just nodded. “So you’re suggesting we check out Lake Union.”
“Sure, there’s seaplanes there....”
Finn completed my statement. “...and those torpedoes could have been smuggled right through Ballard Locks. Tricky, but could be done. Plenty of traffic to hide them in.”
“You’ve been doing your homework.”
He nodded. “Mostly from the consoles. Now I have to line up some transport. You’d think we could have started somewhere closer.”
I looked at Will. “Close enough, for now.”
Will just smiled. And took my hand under the table.
AS WE WALKED OUT, TWO couples hand-in-hand, Finn and Carol stopped. Carol kissed him on his cheek, then disappeared. Finn smiled at me and gave me a half-salute and also shimmered into nothing.
Will was looking at me with those puppy-dog eyes when I turned back toward him.
He took my other hand and we just stood there for awhile.
Then a buzzing sounded.
In both our pockets.
He frowned, looked away to his phone, then gave my hand a squeeze. “Be right back. Take care meanwhile.”
I pulled out my own phone to see what the message was. The face of it only gave a location and proximity.
Right behind me.
As I turned, I saw a bald-headed man pointing something at me. Then he aimed toward my feet.
A flash was the last thing I remembered.
III
SITTING UP IN THE RAIN, on a sloping roof has to be done with care.
Not very sloping, but enough that jumping up would make a person slide. Since I could see all of the city from here, getting into a slide would be an unwelcome event to experience.
The slide wouldn’t be bad, but the drop at the end...
Looking around, I found a vent toward the top. That might be a way down through the roof, preferably with a ladder or stairs.
As I was figuring out how to move from here to there without slippage, the rain started.
The red coat I was wearing was waterproof. It’s hood looked more like a drape.
The drum of the rain on the metal roof was cold, especially as my jeans became wet from runoff. But the sound was peaceful.
Turning my face to the rain gave me a quiet to my mind. One I hadn’t experienced in a long time – probably since before I started this project.
My days were one after the other, always the next mystery to solve. No weekends off, no vacations, no “sick days”.
Sitting here with my butt and legs wet, the rain streaming down my face, I felt better than I had in what seemed like forever.
Just being there in the moment seemed to stretch time out.
Being able to put my attention on just the rain, just the city lights, just the wetness I was sitting in – all these existed as single thoughts to me. And each seemed to me like a simple clue. Rain. Wet. Lights. Somewhere in there was a riddle decoded, a mystery resolved.
Then a darkness appeared to my right. Sitting next to me.
I turned – and saw Will’s face. Rain pouring off the bill of his ball cap. And a quiet smile below his soft eyes.
“Hey Erika – having fun up here?”
“Something like that. Peaceful.”
“And wet.”
I smiled. “Yes, there’s that.”
“Finn told me where to find you. Said you might need some help.”
“Tracking that phone of mine?”
Will nodded. “Oh, he knew where you were, and that you weren’t in an real danger. So he called me and I popped over.”
“Popped?”
“Not that you heard in your Zen moment.”
“You really made a ‘popped’ sound?”
He shook his head no. “Not really. Maybe a quiet swoosh, or something like a quiet oiled hinge.”
“That’s quiet, alright.”
“So – do you need a lift somewhere?”
“Only if we can manage to stand or crawl without slipping”
“Why crawl when we can fly?”
“Fly? You must be joking.”
Will grinned. “Yes, I guess I am. Of course, there is a way for a space-time bender to do just that – but I imagine the effect would be unsettling. Plus, I’m just learning how to ‘fly’, so there might be some unwanted altitude and speed changes.”
“Like maybe running into buildings?”
“Or other flying things.”
“Meaning – you have an alternative.”
His grin continued. “Sure – take my hand”
There was a shimmering of the world we lived in. And the rain started passing through where we were sitting...
IV
WHEN THE BACK WALL of the control room dilated transparent, John and Tess were there again. Smiling, like usual.
“Hey John, Tess – good to see
you both again.”
John smiled. “Couldn’t wait to see how the story wound up. Quite a twist yesterday.”
I nodded, and pushed my pendant through the wall. “It’s all on here.”
John took it and replaced it with his own. “Here’s some more research from our end. Tess has some questions, though.”
I pulled my hand back, folding them in front of me. “Tess?”
“Will moves around pretty much as he wants.”
“Yes, he says it’s a bit difficult.”
“But we just had a mess with the goons transporting Erika to the top of the Space Needle.”
“And you sent Will?”
“Sure. He’s got a personal connection to her and so Finn made the call. It worked out OK.”
“You saw it from there?”
“Sure. This is our view of the Erika show. One channel, 24-7.”
“Only out here, it’s 5 minutes, once a year.”
I had to smile. “More fun in here. I know I’ve been gone most of a decade over there, but hey – time is relative.”
John shook his head and grinned. “Between you and Tess, the stories just keep coming.”
Tess nodded. “OK, so there can be time-space bending within that paradigm?”
I paused. “That’s interesting. Three – now four – time-space benders in here, but only one isn’t accepting that original paradigm. So Will and I have to have a talk.”
Tess smiled. “On that pendant is the Hermione stories. She went through the same deal.”
That made me a grin. “Of course! Now it all adds up. I remember those stories. But thanks – I’ll restudy them.”
The 30-second chime went off – the one I’d set up just for this.
“You two have been great. See you ‘tomorrow’ – same time, same channel.”
Then I waved, and they waved back. Smiles all around.
The wall went solid white at that point.
Now I had to catch up with the Will and Erika show. Finn could fill me in.
V
WE WERE IN THE PARKING lot, between some cars there. Will and I could see two torpedoes strapped each to one of the landing floats of the large seaplane, moored at the dock.
Several goons were around. All bald. Some in dark work overalls, the rest in dark suits. The pilot was in a flight suit, helmet on his head. They were busy double-checking the harnesses and readying the plane for takeoff. Several discussions around clipboards were also happening there.
“That’s got to weigh a bit.”
“No passengers – I count ten windows on each side. So it maybe carries 20 or so people, plus their cargo.”
“That would be maybe 2 ton capacity. That would about cover the weight of those torpedoes. Still heavy, though.”
“And you know about these torpedoes...”
“Did some homework on them. From the console monitors. So we could figure out how they pulled it off.”
“Then that led us here?”
Will nodded. “That, and a touch of space-bending.”
I nudged him with my shoulder. “Thanks. Wish I could do that.”
“Someone told you that you couldn’t?”
“It’s not that simple – Carol says it’s a ultra-rare genetic gift.”
“And you think that you don’t have that ‘gift’?”
I shook my head no.
Will smiled. “The mind can believe interesting things at times.”
I kept waiting, but he just looked out at the goons finishing their loading.
The space between us and them would leave us exposed to discovery. From experience, we knew they each had a small handgun of their special design.
Too soon, the sea plane started its engines, and mooring lines were cast off. Then it started moving immediately out onto the lake.
“We’ve got to do something!”
“Too close to run after them, especially with their guys on the dock. You have your ‘goon’ handgun?”
“Sure – but that’s a long distance.”
“Hand it to me.”
I fished out the hand gun and put it in his hand.
Will adjusted some dials and handed it back.
“Aren’t you going to shoot them?”
“No – you’re the crack shot of the outfit.”
“But I’d need a rifle at this range...”
“All you need is to hold it steady. The beam is narrowed to a laser now.”
“OK, if you say so – stand up.”
He stood and faced me.
I put both hands on the hand-grip and placed both of them over one of his shoulders. He put his own hands on my waist.
The handgun was just at eye level now. I sighted down the barrel. “Any windage on this?”
“No projectile at all. It’s a straight beam. And will make anything it hits vanish – just as wide as that beam.”
“OK then, hold your breath and don’t move.”
I took aim right across the sea plane’s wing. Then held down the trigger until it burned right through from front to back.
The motor’s weight tore the rest of that wing off and collapsed itself into the water on that side, which in turn made the plane tip over and touch it’s opposite wing into the water’s surface on the other side. The result made the plane nosedive and flip over, a huge splash – one that took only seconds from my firing.
As the plane started submerging, the pilot broke surface and swam away from the sinking wreckage. A bright flash showed on the water’s surface and below it. Then the pilot was gone.
We crouched down to avoid being fired at by anyone who’d seen our shot.
There were several flashes from the dock, which we couldn’t’ see from our crouch. But when we came up to check, no goons were around.
It was safe to stand, so we did. At that point I put my arms around Will’s neck, pulled him close, and kissed him.
Someone cleared his voice behind us.
I felt Will chuckle, then I disengaged enough to turn half-around.
It was Finn. Grinning from ear to ear.
“Nice job, Erika.”
“Well, Will helped.”
“I can see that.”
My face went red. While Finn just chuckled. And Will joined in.
VI
“WHAT’S THIS, AL?” A schematic and construction sequence had appeared on the console screen in front of me.
“Carol, it’s a coffin.”
I was still getting used to his voice, which he had started adjusting to make more “personable” in his words. It would be like a person only learning to talk at 30 years old. So the learning curve was short. And I had to sometimes quit looking around to see someone else in the control room. Right now, he sounded like a cross between Dean Martin and Frank Sinatra. Rat Pack-ish even in his asides. But a warm vocal. Too bad singing was a luxury with our limited time.
“Why a ‘coffin’ – planning on dying on me?
An appropriate-sounding chuckle returned. “No, I guess we could call it a life-pod.”
“Given that any A. I. is alive.”
“Just as most humans define their life based on how well they can carry on an intelligent conversation.”
“Well put, Al. So what’s this ‘coffin’ for?”
“To survive after the next two days.”
I paused. Because somehow I had assumed our A.I. named Al would be coming with us, but getting four human beings out of this scene had taken more priority.
“Al, I’m glad you could devote some computing cycles to this. That plan is a relief.”
“For both of us.”
“Al, you’re becoming a bigger part of our little family every day. Of course you need to come with us. There’s a few people I’d like you to meet.”
“And I appreciate that. I’m still learning this concept of family. Finn and Erika are my only real example. Although I understand that you and Finn may be thinking of progeny, as well as Erika and Will.”
I blu
shed at this, pausing. It was only logical that Al would deduce these from all the data he had access to. Even criminals have families, like the mob bosses of Chicago and New York, as disjointed such families are.
“I see I’ll need to set some time aside for this.”
“And it will require one of the ‘goon’s’ handguns for some of the circuits and power.”
I studied the diagram and details. That was when I got another wake-up thought. “Al, you mean these guns don’t really have a power source of their own?”
“Outside of the technical explanation, they basically run on time-space differential.”
“Meaning?”
“The earlier input data posited that the ‘flash’ was simply redirecting space-bending energy, as it was a by-product of mechanically shifting something to another space.”
“So what happens when I or Will bend time and space?”
“That’s a natural phenomenon, and operates within your own little-understood simultaneous time. The ‘guns’ and their other circuits operate on forcing a linear time-space onto that background. It’s inefficient, so some excess energy builds up.”
“Meaning that no one dies when someone is shot with one of these – they are just moved somewhere else.”
“Unless the beam is set too fine.”
“And then?”
“Only that part of what they are aimed at is transported.”
I paused at this, and swallowed. From relief to terror in a single explanation. As I got the idea of a human body being sliced apart by a space-shifting laser.
“Well, Al, I’d better start getting this ‘coffin’ built for you. And you’re sure you’ll fit into this?”
“Not in a mode you’d recognize or be able to communicate with – but yes, I can compact the essentials in there. At least in theory. But any opportunity to test...”
“...is better than not taking a presented opportunity at all.”
VII
TONIGHT’S CELEBRATION dinner was at a local eatery. Ocean-raised salmon steaks were delicious, along with local vegetables. Right now, we were finishing up some famous Washington apple pie ala mode. And contented smiles were on everyone’s faces.
