Always.
As the program searched for Tremain’s signal, Christopher’s imagination went wild with images of what his uncle might be enduring. One thing Christopher knew with certainty; that van took off way too fast for it to be an AI.
His uncle must have been inside.
The computer pinged upon locating the tablet. Christopher noted the screen showed a map of Capital City with a flashing green dot for the tablet’s location: a mile or so away, in a warehouse district.
Christopher set his uncle’s transmitter for a block away and activated it.
The flash of light startled both Desmond and Senator Markus.
“Where did Christopher just send himself?” Markus asked.
Desmond took a quick glance at the smart wall, back to the transmitter and shook his head.
“Those two are gonna give me a nervous breakdown.” He muttered.
A flash of coruscating light appeared in a dirty, dim-lit alleyway. As it faded, Christopher peeked around the corner to the building where his uncle had been taken. The sign on the side of the building read:
Jesper’s Courier – wherever it needs to be, we’ll take it there.
Not the best written tagline, Christopher mused, but it did get the message across. Tremain used this company quite often for parts.
The few windows Christopher could see sat high on the walls. Not easily accessible for him without a ladder. He decided to take a circuit of the building to find a way in. What he would do if he did find his uncle, he didn’t know yet. But he was certain he and Tremain would figure something out.
Around the back of the building were two large garage doors, one of which was open. Christopher snuck over to the wall and pulling his best spy-moves, peered inside.
A white van with smart-signs showing static sat silently just in front of an office.
Tremain’s face was clearly visible through the office window. He seemed calm, but something didn’t look right.
His arms had been tied behind him.
“Here now, what you sneaking around for?” came a booming voice behind him.
Christopher whirled to see the largest human being he’d ever seen standing right in front of him. Before he could run, a huge hand had closed around his arm. He froze.
“Up to no good, I’m sure.” The man said and dragged Christopher inside, past the van where two other men stood, and into the office.
“Jesper, I found this runt creeping around outside.” The huge man said as he pushed Christopher ahead of him.
The office was smaller than Christopher had realized from the outside. Filing cabinets lined the right wall, the left wall contained the windows Christopher had seen from outside. The back wall was dominated by a huge map of Capital City. Below that was Tremain, sitting behind a large, ornate desk that looked out of place. Facing Tremain, his back to the newcomers, was a short man, his balding head reflecting the lights from the ceiling.
“Christopher?” Tremain asked, amazement in his voice, “What are you doing here?”
Jesper turned, a sneer on his face. He gave Christopher a once over as he patted his enormous pot-belly.
“You know each other?” he asked, thumb pointing back at Tremain.
“He’s my nephew. Let him go, he doesn’t know anything.” Tremain pleaded.
Jesper turned his head to Tremain.
“You just be quiet. I’ll come back to you,” he faced Christopher, “What you sneaking around for? Looking for your Uncle?” he chuckled, “well, you found ‘im.”
“What’s all this about?” Christopher asked, angry, “Why did you kidnap my Uncle?”
Jesper’s eyebrows shot up in surprise.
“Got some spirit, do ye? Well, your uncle and I have some business to discuss.”
“What kind of business needs kidnapping?”
Jesper’s brows furrowed.
“You ask too many questions.” He reached out and pulled Christopher into a seat next to Tremain, and motioned the huge man to go wait with the others. “Now, seeing as you asked, I’ll tell ye. Your uncle, see, is gonna put me and others like me outta business. I’m only expressing my displeasure with that.”
Christopher looked at his uncle, who sat frowning at Jesper, then back to the balding man.
“I don’t understand. He uses your services.”
Jesper nodded, his hands waving that away.
“For now he does, but I heard through the grapevine he’s invented something that will make it easier for him to get his parts. Once everyone has that, what am I going to do? Nobody will use me if they don’t have to. If I don’t get jobs, I don’t get paid and I like getting paid,” he folded his arms, “so you see, we’re at a stalemate.”
Christopher sat stunned. Really? This is what this is all about?
“You bet we are at a stalemate. You can’t stop progress!” Tremain shot back, his eyes blazing.
“Wait,” Christopher held up his hands, “you’re serious?” He asked Jesper.
“It’s my lively hood at stake. You’re just a kid, what do you know?”
“You do realize it’ll be years before anything will be ready for mass-production.” Tremain chimed in. “But you didn’t think about that, did you? You had to kidnap me?”
Jesper waved that away.
“I tried to talk to you, but you were always so busy. Too busy to talk to the likes of me. So, I took it upon myself to get your attention.”
Christopher shook his head. This made no sense.
“So, wait, you kidnap my uncle to tell him you don’t like his transmitter?”
“That’s right.”
“What do you want him to do?”
“Turn it off and never use it again.”
“WHAT?” Tremain shouted, “That’s ridiculous!”
Christopher held up a hand to calm his uncle down.
“And if he won’t do that?”
Jesper laced his fingers together and cracked his knuckles one by one, each one a loud pop.
“I wouldn’t want things to get … ugly.” He growled.
Christopher gulped. Nothing like a little persuasion. He thought hard for a moment, then turned to his uncle.
“Uncle Tremain, you do realize there’s an easy solution to this. We can shut the transmitter down remotely right now.”
Tremain blustered even harder.
“Do you realize what you’re suggesting? Giving in to whatever nebulous threat this imbecile suggests?”
Christopher raised his eyebrows and glared at his uncle.
“We could delay the inevitable, Uncle, move all this unpleasantness to another time.” He didn’t blink, hoping Tremain would pick up on what he was implying.
Tremain’s eyes widened for just a split second as the realization hit.
“Well, if you want to be reasonable about things,” he huffed, “but I’m afraid I can’t reach my tablet with my hands tied.”
Christopher slowly reached over and pulled the rolled-up tablet from his uncle’s lab-coat pocket.
“Now wait just a minute,” Jesper commanded and gestured at the tablet, “what you think you doin’?”
Christopher put on his most innocent expression.
“I’m going to remotely shut down the transmitter so you don’t have to worry about your lively hood.” Christopher said, and started working. “There’s a process, you understand, you can’t just flip a switch and it’s off.”
Jesper nodded, a satisfied smile beginning to appear on his rather ugly face.
“Now, there you go, being reasonable. We could have avoided all this trouble if you’d just listened to me in the first place.”
Christopher tapped the screen one last time. Making a satisfied noise, he turned it to face Jesper, who saw only a countdown timer.
“There you go. When this hits zero, the transmitter will be off.” He handed the tablet to Jesper who looked at it in amazement. With a yell of victory, he turned away and headed to the door. The other kidnappers gathere
d around him as he gestured to the tablet.
“Look, gents, we did it – the thing will be off in about three seconds …”
Christopher waited for two seconds before he started to stand.
There came a flash of coruscating light and a yell of surprise that was suddenly cut off. Christopher untied his uncle’s hands, who then gestured out the office door as he rubbed life back into his wrists.
“Ingenious of you to program a delay in there. Where did you send them?”
Christopher smiled.
“The police station. They’ll have a fun time explaining how they got there.”
Three uniformed police officers burst into the small office, guns drawn, followed by Senator Markus and Desmond. The officers quickly stood down when they realized there was no threat.
“About time you showed up.” Tremain huffed at Markus.
“I’m not about to use your transmitter,” Markus shot back, “so it took me a little longer to drive here.” He looked around, “where’d they all go?”
Tremain laughed and indicated the police officers.
“The Police station. Come along, I have charges to press!”
As they all filed out, Desmond ruffled Christopher’s hair.
“Next time you want to go being hero, let me know? You just about gave me a heart attack. You could’a got hurt!”
“But I didn’t.” Christopher pointed out, then looked around the garage, “um, Desmond, can I get a lift back to the lab?”
The Wrath of the Revenant
CHAPTER ONE
"Christopher!"
He barely heard his name over the chatter of the other students grabbing their books and slamming their lockers as they left school for the day. Christopher was dressed like most of the other students at New Earth Progressive High School, wearing a loose-fitting tee shirt and jeans. His hair was cut on the long side, but was kept neat.
He grabbed the last textbook from the shelf in his locker and shoved it in his backpack before looking up. He almost dropped the whole thing as his heart leapt into his throat.
Celeste.
She was one of the prettiest, most popular girls in the entire school. She played soccer, basketball and was a cheerleader to boot. He'd had a crush on her since the sixth grade.
What in the twin moons did she want with him? Heart hammering, he felt sure his mouth was hanging open or something.
She walked towards him, her jeans perfect, her shoes perfect, her hair bobbed in that perfect way. Her shirt, which read: 10% Glitter, 90% AWESOME, was the perfect color for her. She smiled as she came up to him, her perfect teeth gleaming white in the school's lighting. He gulped hard, thinking he should say something profound.
"Hey." DOPE! Who says that? Not hi, or hello, or how's it going, but hey? Lords, if she didn't think he was an idiot, she did now.
Celeste came up to the locker and leaned back on the one adjacent to his.
"I saw you tried out for the basketball team again." She said as she hugged her books. Uh oh. It's going to be one of those afternoons. He felt his face get hot as he blushed.
"Yeah. I'm not very good, am I?" was all he could say, zipping up his backpack.
She giggled, her smile showing more of her perfect teeth.
"No, sorry to say, you're not." She put her hand on his arm. "You're better at other things, though."
That brought a smile to Christopher's face.
"Not in sports. I suck." They laughed together. Celeste held up a hand, ticking items off her fingers.
"You're great at math. I totally suck at it. You're great in chemistry. I've broken too many beakers to count. I could use some help." She looked up at him, expectantly. Christopher realized she was asking him for help.
She was asking him!
"S-sure, I'd be happy to help you," he threw his backpack over his shoulder, "but I have to help my uncle out at the lab." He glanced away, then back at her. "D-do you want to walk with me? Maybe I can cut out early?"
Celeste smiled and nodded yes. Christopher's chest seemed to expand as they walked towards the exits. He was walking to the lab with Celeste!
Holy crap!
"Can I ask why you keep trying out for the team?" She asked as they left the school. "You've never made it. . ." She had been paying attention to him? Christopher cleared his throat as he thought about it.
"It's my dad. I hardly remember him, but mom says he was pretty good at sports." He stopped as they reached the intersection. "I guess it's my way of trying to be like him."
"Oh . . . that's sweet."
Christopher glanced at her, not sure if she was serious or mocking him.
"Well, I don't think I'll ever make the team, so . . ."
"I think you're okay just as you are." She said, not looking at him. His heart beat faster yet. She was complimenting him?
"T-thanks."
They walked in silence for a bit, before she whirled to face him.
"Have you thought about who you're going to ask to the dance this weekend?"
Her question caught him by surprise. Normally he never went to the dances as the thought of standing against the wall the entire evening didn't appeal to him. When he did ask a girl to dance, the usual response turned out to be no. They all wanted to dance with the jocks, not with him.
"I'm not sure I'm going to go." He answered, not looking at her.
"Oh." She sounded disappointed. "I thought maybe you might want to ask me." That stopped him dead in his tracks. His eyes flew wide open. Now he was certain his mouth was hanging open. He'd never entertained the thought as he was sure she'd say no, just like all the other girls he'd asked.
"W-what? You want me to ask you?" He said, incredulous. "I thought you'd rather go with . . ."
"The jocks?" She finished for him, smirking. "Like they can hold a conversation." She mimicked being a muscular boy, her shoulders hugged up to her ears, her arms held out at an odd angle, as if she had tons of muscle. "Ya, did you see me hit the game-winning home run? Did you watch that game last night? Did you see me block that goal?" She dropped her arms and waved it all off. "That's it. That's all they talk about. The game last night, the game this weekend, how well they played . . . " she blew out her breath in frustration, while Christopher laughed nervously. He knew exactly what she meant.
"That bad, huh?" he asked. She glanced sideways at him.
"You have no idea." She wrapped her arm around his, making him stiffen and blush once again. Celeste didn't seem to notice. "I, for once, want to spend time with someone who thinks and can talk about something other than sports." She paused. "Like you."
Christopher swallowed hard. He had no idea what to say, so he stared straight ahead. They were coming up to Centennial Park, and had to walk all the way to the opposite side of the park to reach. He needn't have worried as it seemed Celeste was content to carry the conversation all on her own.
"Oh! I read your paper in English class. The one about the expedition with Professor Perlmutter. Did it all actually happen? Weren't you scared?"
Christopher looked over at this girl who before now hadn't given him the time of day, let alone talk his ear off.
"Yeah, just like in my English report. You bet I was scared, but I knew my uncle would do something brilliant. If not, well, it would have been a quick end."
Celeste stopped, her eyes wide.
"HOW COULD YOU SAY THAT?!" she yelled.
Christopher held his backpack straps, stunned as she pointed a finger in his face.
"You could have died! Then what would have happened?"
Christopher thought about it as they continued into the park. The familiar gravel crunching sound comforted him as they walked. Was she really worried about his adventures with his uncle?
"Well?" She asked him again.
"Well what?" He asked as they reached the hedge bordering the lab campus. He pushed on through the gap between two bushes, pulling her with him.
"You could have died!" She repeated.
"Yeah, but a lot of other people could have died instead. Don't get me wrong, dying would have sucked, but I didn't and . . ." they had reached the entrance to the lab. His hand on the handle, he turned to her to finish his thought. "Instead the professor found a treasure trove of stuff." He pulled open the door and entered the lobby. "He's promised a huge exhibition once he's cataloged everything."
They pushed their way through the throng of people in the lobby of the Hawking building, making their way to Tremain's lab. The place is getting busier, Christopher thought, deftly avoiding a cart full of archive boxes, as he and Celeste finally made their way to the receptionist desk. Maggie was on desk duty today.
She was a flurry of activity herself, one hand holding a phone to her ear, the other drumming a beat on the laminate with a pen when she wasn't using it to take notes. She gave a wink and nod to him as he passed, handing Celeste a visitor's badge as he did so. Being a regular has its perks, he grinned.
Coming upon the lab, Christopher and Celeste watched the usual chaos through the glass door before entering. There was something smoking way in the back, causing one of the new interns to jump and grab something liquid-filled. The tech on call quickly pulled the vessel out of the intern's hand (it was probably something flammable) and doused the flame with a quick toss of a pellet, which upon hitting the combustion, made a whumpf sound, resolving the issue. Desmond, his uncle's longest serving assistant, shook his head, the nozzle of a hose in his hand. He turned to see Christopher and Celeste enter the lab.
"You sure you wanna be here today, Chris?" He asked, his eyes full of humor as he acknowledged Celeste with a smile.
Christopher laughed and set his backpack down.
"It's better than doing homework. What happened back there?"
"These are the smartest minds in the colony. Smarter than smart. But they still can't work a damned microwave." Desmond shook his head, then pointed to the door. "If you're looking for your uncle, you'd better go upstairs to the atrium. He said something about a tea date."
Christopher stopped in his tracks and Desmond laughed at the stunned look on his face.
"A tea date? My uncle had a date?"
The Adventures of Tremain & Christopher BoxSet Page 19
