by R. E. Rowe
“We have lock,” a voice says over an intercom.
Mom and Mack? Oh no! Hell no! I try to move, but can't.
I hear Dennis respond as he paces near the front of the room behind a long row of computer desks manned by more clones. “Wait until they’re a mile out. Then shoot the damned plane down.”
“No!” I regain just enough strength to stand.
Bree is passed out on a chair, secured handcuffs attached to her wrists and ankles. She’s bleeding from her forearm where someone has torn off, again, her recently reattached gold bracelet.
Five more clones join the other two, trying to cut through my energy shield. They throw bursts of white light at the bubble, over and over again, trying to penetrate it.
“Your shield is down to fifty-percent containment,” Bouncer says.
“You won’t be able to hold it together much longer,” Honesti says.
I try to form another spark, but I’m getting weaker.
The clones continue throwing bursts at the shield.
I fall back on the floor inside the shield. So weak. I can’t lift my head. “What now, reckoners? What the hell now?”
“I wish I knew the answer,” Honesti says.
“Damn,” Bouncer says. “My money was on you too.”
“Where’s Aimee? Where is she? Get her. Hurry!”
Another moment passes. Nothing.
Then, Honesti says, “You still have the device?”
“Of course!”
“Press all four corners. Enter a new code: 11336699.”
I fumble for the device in my pocket, take it out, and then enter the code.
I expect to see Honesti and Bouncer, but Aimee appears.
“Aimee! I—” Her small hologram has a glow around her that makes her appear mystical. She brushes her bangs away from her face and winks at me. Her skin looks soft and her lips dark red lips inviting.
I’d give anything to hold her, to kiss her. “Uh, I’m in a little bit of trouble here.”
The voice over the intercom says, “Aircraft approaching go-zone. Charging lasers.”
“Energy level is twenty-five percent,” Honesti says.
“Boss man has ten seconds tops,” Bouncer says.
“I’m so proud of you, Reiz,” Aimee says and smiles. “Look at what you’ve learned to do.”
Searching around, I don’t feel so worthy. Is there something she sees that I don’t? “What do you mean? I’m about to die for good this time. I’m sorry, Aimee. It looks like I failed.”
“Well, that’s not exactly true,” says Aimee. “You’re actually getting stronger.”
“Stronger? Seriously?” If anything, I feel weaker.
She continues. “Enter this code on your device: 333333.”
I quickly do what she says. She winks and blows me a kiss, and then disappears.
“Aimee?”
Suddenly, all the clones around my energy shield collapse, followed by the remaining clones in the room. The overhead displays goes blank and the computer system blasts, “Immediate shut down. System is offline.”
Everything goes silent and my energy bubble strengthens.
Panic washes over JT’s face. “What the hell did you just do?”
Dennis straightens his five-foot-five frame and runs toward Bree. “No!”
I imagine another force field like the one that surrounds me. I visualize it wrapping around Bree. Instantly a shield forms and Dennis is thrown backwards.
“Damn you!” Dennis shouts and uses both hands to rub his head.
“What happened?” I ask Honesti. “What did the code do?”
“The council allowed Aimee to talk with Carmina,” Honesti says. “The worm Carmina had created was more than snoop malware. The code you entered forced a shutdown of all major systems. Took the orbiting nukes offline too. It was Carmina’s fail-safe.”
“Right on, Carmina!”
“You’re still dead, Reiz!” JT shouts. He turns and runs to join Dennis, then glances back. “Asshole.”
“Goodbye, Rush. This is one thing you can’t stop.” Dennis hits a large red button with the palm of his hand, and then runs with JT out the double doors.
Just as the doors swing behind them, a large metal panel, the size of the exit, falls from the roof and blocks the doors.
“Fourteen minutes and forty-five seconds until self-destruct,” a metallic voice echoes over loud speakers somewhere in the room.
I release the energy shields, then run to Bree. Her arm is bleeding. She squints to open her eyes and pulls against the chains surrounding her wrists and ankles. “Reizo. You go. There’s no time for me.”
“You just hold on a second.” I tear off part of my shirt.
“That won’t help,” she says, nodding toward a bloody bracelet sitting on a table ten feet away. “I’ll need that.”
“Give me a second.” I notice two locks are holding all of Bree’s chains together. I grip a lock in each palm and imagine the locks melting as if they’re under the beam of a welder’s torch. In an instant, both locks glow red-hot and break apart when I let go.
I pull off the chains.
Bree jumps to her feet. I try to help her, but she jerks away and stumbles to the table. She winces as she forces the bracelet back on her arm. The jewels on the bracelet flicker and glow. “It won’t work as good, but it’ll at least entangle.”
We quickly walk over to the exit and stand in front of the large metal barrier blocking it. The obstacle is at least twenty-feet high and six inches thick. “Any ideas?”
Honesti and Bree answer at the same time.
“No,” Bree says.
“Touch it with both palms and imagine what you envisioned with the locks,” Honesti says.
“Twelve minutes and thirty-one seconds until self-destruct,” says the metallic voice from the loud speakers.
I position both palms on the metal and focus on melting it. It takes a few seconds before the metal glows red around my hands then spreads to cover the entire metal barrier.
Bree gasps. “Oh my.”
“Harder!” Bouncer yells.
Without a sound, the red glowing barrier turns white and crumbles into a million pebble-sized pieces. The double doors are clear.
“Now where?” asks Bree, followed by a groan.
“The hangar,” Honesti says. “It’s your only chance.”
“Can you fly?” I ask Bree.
“I’ll be able to after a download from cloud memory,” she replies, holding her arm. “I just need flight experience from a past life. What am I flying?”
“Let’s see what’s ready to go.”
We take off running.
chapter thirty-five
We reach the hangar just as Dennis and JT fly a fighter jet down the enclosed runway, and then roars out a far opening into open sky.
“Ten minutes and twenty-nine seconds until self-destruct,” a metallic voice says over another loud speaker somewhere in the near distance.
On my right are row after row of military fighter jets, on the left are an assortment of propeller planes and helicopters. “Which one?”
Bree points to the Black Hawk helicopter closest to us. “That one.”
We run to the helicopter and climb into the front seats, sitting side-by-side, and put on headsets.
Bree whispers, “U-H-Sixty. Black Hawk Helicopter.” She presses on her gold bracelet, causing the jewels to glow brighter for a few seconds. Her face tightens as if she’s experiencing a brain freeze, and then she relaxes a moment later and rapidly flips switches and pushes buttons on the helicopter’s control panel.
The panel lights up. The blades rotate. Before long, we’re taking off, although more like a wobbly windsock than a helicopter. She quickly gains control.
“Can I help at all?”
Bree shakes her head and flies above the runway toward the massive opening at the end. When we fly out the opening, Bree works the radio. “Mayday. Mayday. Birds Nest, this is Migrating Robin.
We’re in a black hawk and need your position, over.”
Nothing.
She repeats her radio message.
A distant voice with a Southern accent interrupts through the radio static. “Migrating Robin, this is Birds Nest, confirm with your initials.”
“This is B-P and I’m with R-R. Alaric I set to explode. We couldn’t stop it. Need to know which way to go and advise you to back away.”
“Migrating Robin, set heading to three six zero true . . . Be advised, boggy above you at one-three-thousand five-hundred. Closing on your position at Mach point-six-four.”
The radio operator’s voice changes to Captain Rex’s voice. “Move your ass, Migrating Robin. Night Owl above and the submarine Killer Whale are both on the way. Suggest you descend to maintain flight level one-zero-zero.”
“Roger, Birds Nest,” Bree says.
Richard’s voice comes over the radio. “Migrating Robin, this is Night Owl, I’m ten miles out.”
“Negative, Night Owl. Turn around. Alaric I is going to detonate. Repeat, big boom is coming your way, move Birds Nest back to—”
A fighter jet streaks past us and pulls up out of sight. Bree banks hard right and lowers our altitude until I see waves. “Oh hell,” Bree says. “Bogey is on our rear.”
“Is it Dennis?” I ask.
Bree nods and speaks into the radio. “Night Owl, Bogey is on us.”
“Roger, Migrating Robin. Recommend ditching. Killer Whale will pick you up.”
“Screw that,” says Bree.
A light buzzes on the control panel, prompting Bree to bank the other direction.
“A bogey?” I ask.
Bree pulls up. “Dennis and JT are in it. Obviously, Dennis wants you dead for good—”
A missile shoots past us and explodes in the distance.
The jet streaks past again. Bree fires a machine gun and launches a Stinger missile.
Dennis pulls up and out of sight.
We missed.
Dennis’s jet suddenly reappears coming straight at us. He launches two missiles and pulls up.
Lights and warning alarms blast from the Blackhawk’s control panel. Bree works the controls sending out decoy blasts that cause the missiles to miss us.
Bree follows Dennis upward, launching missiles in return as he attempts to turn. One missile explodes near the jet’s wing, causing it to wobble out of control.
“Migrating Robin,” says Richard. “Be advised Killer Whale is below you. Surfacing in fifteen seconds.”
Off in the distance, a large section of the wing from Dennis’s jet breaks off. The person in the back seat ejects. An instant later, a second person ejecting explodes with the jet.
“Got him!” Bree shouts, pumping her fist. I follow it with a high five.
Suddenly, a massive blast lights up the distance. Alaris I has exploded. The electromagnetic pulse hits us, causing everything inside the helicopter to go dark, including the control panel. “Oh hell.”
The nose of the helicopter points straight down. My stomach drops as we quickly lose altitude. I see only waves.
A moment later, impact.
chapter thirty-six
Darkness. Floating. Confusion. But I’m not scared.
I remember an old poem I used to say to myself.
I am alive. I am dead.
Dreams strive. Feelings shred.
The sun rises. The sun sets.
The dark prizes. The unpaid debts.
The time passes. The light goes.
Lifeless masses. Spirit froze.
Why should I care? Why do I cry?
Spirits glare. Hopeless sky.
In the distance, a small point of white appears and grows to the size of a train tunnel. The silhouette of a girl stands within it. Waiting for me.
Aimee?
I move closer.
Yes! It’s Aimee.
The next instant, I’m in a field of green grass embracing her, spinning around and around, crying joyful tears. I’ve never felt so much love and joy.
Wait. I have experienced this feeling before. The pond.
Bold colors all around, greens are greener. Deeper blues, bold red flowers, browns are richer. The scenery is brighter and more colorful than any 3-D scene I’ve ever sprayed. All around me, everything is more alive than anything I’ve ever known.
Oak trees. A lizard doing pushups. Swaying bushes. A rippling pond reflects majestic colors from all around it. A butterfly. Singing birds. Harmonizing frogs, singing crickets, and scurrying crayfish.
I’m at Murdock’s pond sitting next to Aimee. It’s as if we are painting like we did so long ago. I stare at her flowing black hair and shimmering, side-swept bangs. Excitement fills me as I feel her warmth and golden, loving glow.
She’s so beautiful. “I’ve missed you.”
Aimee smiles. “I’ve missed you too, Reiz.”
“Oh God, my mom? Did she make it?”
“Yes, Reiz. Mack and your mother both made it back to the aircraft carrier. They’re safe.”
I’m relieved. “I can’t believe we’re finally together.” I lean in and kiss her, and then gaze deeper into her eyes.
“I’ve dreamed of this day.” My gaze scans across the vibrant pond. I remember the last time I saw her. It was here in this mystical place. “We can finally be together forever.”
She touches my hand and kisses my cheek, but then glances away.
“What’s the matter?” I ask.
“I’ve been given a chance to talk with you.”
“What do you mean a chance?”
“You’re not dead yet. You’re in an adjustment place, a place to reflect and review your lifetime experience. A place where you can take time to transition from a lower dimension to the next higher, if you choose to stay. Some souls need time to let go of a recent life experience. Some simply need adjustment time before transitioning back to full connection with all souls. Some souls like you still have a choice to make. You can return or stay, Reiz. But you must decide soon.”
“Screw that. I want to be here together with you, forever. You do too, right?
“I’m trying to tell you being together here is different. It means reconnecting with everything and all souls, not just me.”
“But I don’t give a crap about other souls. All I care about is you, Aimee. Your soul.”
She touches my arm and calm returns, her voice smooth as silk, soft as cotton. “Staying here doesn’t mean we can be together like we were in Franklinville. When a soul is incarnated on Earth, it’s disconnected from all other souls. The soul pairs with a biological body. When the incarnated life ends, only the body dies. The soul returns and reconnects with all souls.”
“But Aimee, all I care about is your soul.”
“I know. But if you stay here, you will reconnect with all souls, not just me. Right now, you only remember your most recent lifetime. Soon, you’ll remember much more than a lifetime.”
“But I want our old life back, Ames. It was stolen from us. Remember? I want to be like we were in the beginning, before everything changed.” I talk faster. “Carmina made some kind of high-tech silicon body. It’s like a robot. Bree said a soul could use it instead of a biological body. You can come back with me. We can live life together just like did in Franklinville.”
Aimee smiles, but it quickly fades. “I need to tell you something else.”
“Tell me what?”
“There’s more. I’ve been asked to replace General.”
“General? The one-in-charge of the system and the rules? Isn’t General the one who wanted to stop Carmina? He stopped her, right?”
“Let me explain. A group called the council of souls watches over the one who runs the reincarnation system. That was General before Carmina hacked the system. Now the council wants me to run the reincarnation system, evaluate the existing rules and propose updates where needed.”
“But why can’t General do it? I thought his rules and the system were perfect?”
“General broke his own rules. He established a secret group of followers to remove enforcers without approval from the council. The council fired him.”
“Fired. Wow. Souls can get fired?”
Ames nods. “Of course. However, it’s more like reassigned. He’ll be normalizing cloud memory for the next eternity, I’m afraid.”
“What about Carmina? Can’t she do it? I thought she wanted to change the rules?”
Aimee shakes her head. “Carmina has requested to incarnate and return with a soul named Chien. The council has given her permission to prove her new rules in a silica human body will work better than the existing rules in a biological body.”
“But why does it have to be you?”
“The council believes my past lives experiences of love and loss, joy and suffering, qualify me to be fair and balanced. My task is to oversee the existing system with biological humans while allowing Carmina to build a small, isolated, underwater outpost to experiment with her silica humans and proposed rule changes. Carmina believes souls can experience a more meaningful life while remembering past lives and living a longer life. She thinks suffering can be eliminated and souls can experience more in the silicon body her team designed. But the council is demanding proof.”
“I thought remembering past lives causes confusion and a lack of motivation for the present lifetime.”
“It’s true for biological humans, but not true for silica humans.”
But going back without Ames isn’t my choice. No way. “Fine then. I’ll stay. I want to die. I’ll help you here. I can be your assistant. You tell me what to do. I’ll do it, Ames. I’d do anything. Please. Living isn’t the same without you.”
Aimee places a hand on my shoulder and instantly calms me. “Reizo. I know it’s hard to understand. It’s my duty to stay. It’s my choice. The gray incarnated world needs the color only you can give it. You have more to do.”
“But I won’t go back without you. I can’t go.”
“Look me in the eyes, Reizo.” She caresses my face with her soft fingertips and every part of me tingles. “You can.”
“But why me?” I sigh so loudly it feels like wind blowing from my lungs.
