He stood up and then got down on the floor. His body did feel a bit lighter, but that was all he could notice. He readied himself to do a few push-ups, but stopped when he heard Ron Baxter call out from across the hallway, “Don’t!”
He stood back up. “What? I was just gonna-”
“I know what you were just about to do, Jack. If you’d tried a push-up, you would have cracked the back of your skull on the roof. Trust me, I did.”
Jack frowned. “Why didn’t Truly stop you? Or me, for that matter?”
“She told me she prefers to let us find our own way,” Ron replied. “Truth be told; I think she’s got a sadistic streak in her code. Wait until she puts you through some training exercises.”
Jack looked at his arms again. Ron laughed. “Yeah, they don’t look, or feel, any different, huh? Come with me.”
Jack got up and followed Ron down the hallway. He felt really light as he walked, like there was a problem with the artificial gravity. Ron led him to a room on the lowest deck. Jack had never been here before. There was a gym and a sauna. He’d never asked about a gym; he always did his PT in his room at night and first thing in the morning; it had become habit ever since he started working with Mandy twelve years ago. He was always wary lest she spot his fitness level; it didn’t fit his identity as Jack Short. Well, he thought, that doesn’t matter anymore, I guess.
“Heads up!” Jack turned and saw a heavy medicine ball coming his way at high speed. He instinctively blocked, but knew it wouldn’t be enough. He braced against the impact and the ball shattered against his upraised forearm in a burst of leather and sand.
“What the-”
“Catch!”
This time it was a 35lb cast-iron dumbbell, also inbound at good speed. He grabbed it out of the air with one hand. It felt half as heavy as it ought to. He tossed it up and down a few times. He looked at Ron and laughed. “That’s unbelievable!”
“Yeah,” Ron replied, “isn’t it just?” He came and stood next to Jack. “The trick is to adjust to your new strength so that you don’t show it unless needed. First meal I had I bent the knife and fork when I picked them up. Our muscles, our bones, and several other parts of our bodies have been given the ability to perform much better. Truly started to explain it in detail, but all I got from the lecture was a headache.”
Jack nodded absently. “What else has changed?”
Ron laughed. “It would be a lot quicker to tell you what hasn’t, to be honest. For example; lights out!”
The room went pitch black, but within less than a second, Jack could see clearly. “What the hell?”
The lights came back up, and his eyes readjusted almost instantly. Ron smiled at him. “Like a cat, yeah? Here’s something else like a cat; reflexes.” He swung a fast punch at Jack’s head, which Jack blocked effortlessly. Ron grinned at him. “I know you were fast before, but I bet you weren’t that quick.”
“Nope,” Jack said, “nowhere near it.”
Ron raised a finger in the air. “Ah! I know one you’re gonna love. Check this out.”
He walked over to the far wall, and picked up a marker pen from a bench on his way over. He put a tiny dot on the wall with the pen and came back. He passed the marker to Jack. “See how close you can get to the dot from here.”
Jack frowned. “With this?” He held up the marker.
“Yeah,” Ron replied, “just throw it.”
Jack shrugged and took aim. He was no slouch at the dartboard, but a marker pen wasn’t a dart, and a dartboard was a lot bigger than a little dot. Besides, he thought, the opposite wall was at least twice as far as you stand from a dartboard. He threw the pen, and he saw it hit just down and to the left. When he walked over to it, he realized he had missed by no more than a whisker.
“Not bad, huh?” Ron asked. “Hand-eye coordination off the charts, right? But that’s no ordinary eye you got there, buddy. It’s no ordinary hand, either.”
Jack looked at his hand. It was then he noticed he could see every minute detail of his skin. As he focused in, he realized he could see into the pores. He put his hand down. His head spun and he staggered slightly. He felt Ron’s hands on his shoulders. “Easy there, Jack. Just a little disorientation, that’s all. I’m sorry, my excitement got the better of me. I’m supposed to ease you into all this, not throw you in the deep end.”
“I’m okay,” Jack replied. “I just need a seat for a minute.” Ron led him to a bench and sat down with him. They sat in companionable silence for a few minutes.
“Damn,” Jack said. “This is incredible.” He also started to notice sounds he’d never heard before. He heard Ron take every breath. He swore he could hear air as it left the vent in the ceiling above them. “Hearing, too, then.”
“Yeah,” Ron said. “That’s a hard one to get used to. It seems sound is balanced in some way. We can hear much quieter sounds, but the loud ones aren’t too loud.”
Jack thought things through for a few minutes. “That thing with the marker pen,” he started.
Ron held up a hand. “I know what you’re going to say.” He stood up. “Let’s go hook you into the VR training suite. I’ll get Truly to load up the gun range.”
Jack laughed. “Great minds think alike, it seems.”
“Bud, let me tell you,” Ron replied, “you’re gonna love this.”
*****
Global News Update
“…52 people were arrested and charged with various gun related offences after police raided a remote property in Kansas today. The property belonged to one Reynold Dwight, leader of the ‘God’s People of the Earth’ movement, a radical Christian militia group who claim to be fighting a holy war with the Independent Worlds. They say the Independent Worlds is an organization of demons, and that their representative, Kestil, is the Devil. When police entered the property, they found heavy machine guns, anti-personnel mines, home-made cannons and even a restored M4 Sherman tank.
“Police say they decided to raid the property after the group recently made contact with an undercover FBI operative with regard to the purchase of nuclear waste. It’s thought the cult’s members planned to carry out ‘Dirty Bomb’ attacks on the soon to be onlined Vincent Generator. The cult apparently believe Vincent CEO Donald Vincent had signed a deal with the Devil in order to make billions of dollars from the generators. When asked for a comment on the cult’s claims, Donald Vincent quipped, ‘I was in a relationship with the Devil, but I divorced her two years ago.’”
*****
2 hours outside Washington DC
Robert Markham pulled his SUV into a small clearing. They’d driven for two hours, and it was nearly dusk. He killed the motor and got out. His three crewmates followed suit, and stretched their aching backs. Robert gestured for them to gather up some coolers from the back of the vehicle and follow him. He led them up a small path and out onto an escarpment. The night was mild, the sky clear and star-filled.
He turned to his old crewmates. “No mobile phones, or any other tech? You guys absolutely sure?”
They all looked at each other and back at him. Everyone nodded.
“Bobby,” Drifter said, “what the hell is going on? You tell us to ditch our phones, put us in your truck and then drag us out here in the middle of freaking nowhere. You lost the plot, buddy?”
Robert laughed. “I’m perfectly sane, Drifter, believe me.” He gestured to the surrounding forest. “Let’s gather some wood to get a fire going, and crack a bottle. Then I’ll lay it out for you.”
Less than half an hour later, a fire crackled in a ring of stones, and they were all seated around it. Drifter pulled a bottle of bourbon out of a cooler. “This better be good, Bobby.”
Robert nodded. “It is, Drifter, believe me. You boys all understand about my son on that alien ship, right?” Robert had filled them in on the way out here. “Well, that ain’t even the half of it, not by a long shot.”
Robert told them everything he knew; the truth about the fleet fight in E
arth space, Kestil’s infiltration of the US government, his coercion of the leaders of many countries; everything David had told him over the past few months. After he was done, they sat in silence and mulled it over.
“So,” Magnus Marx said, “this Kestil guy has control of our government. How much control?”
Robert shrugged. “I don’t know, Karl, to be honest.”
Graham Fullerton drew a deep sigh. “What you tellin’ us all this for, Bobby? What you expect us to do? We’re just a bunch of old guys; irrelevant.”
“I wish I knew, Bear, I really do. But, I was just asked to get you guys here and fill you in on as much as I knew.”
Drifter frowned. “Who told you? The other alien guy?”
“No,” came a voice from the tree-line. “I did.” David Markham walked into the light of the fire. Robert leapt to his feet and embraced his son. He introduced his old crewmates to David, and invited him to take a seat with them. Bear pulled a beer out of his cooler and passed it to David. David smiled and raised the bottle to them all.
“How long you down here for, David?” Robert asked.
David smiled at his Dad. “For the foreseeable future, Dad. Let me bring you guys up to speed.” He outlined everything that had come to pass since the fleet fight. He told them what he knew they would understand, and omitted what they would not.
Drifter took a long pull on his bottle and laughed. “Damn, boy. That’s better than any movie I ever seen.” He leaned over toward David and tapped his leg with the bottle. “But, you ain’t told us why we’re here, have ya?” He held up a hand. “No offense, but why all this fuss over a bunch of old farts who’ve done their bit already?”
David looked around at the group. “Because you’re needed. Not yet, but somewhere in the near future. I can’t explain much more, as your knowledge might change the outcome.” He explained the ability the Entity, and by extension he, had to calculate the future.
Bear scratched his head. “So you know you’ll need our help. Do you know how we’ll give you that help?”
David spread his arms wide. “I’m afraid I have to ask you to trust me, but you guys are a vital part in a series of events that will come soon. In order for us to avoid catastrophe, these events must take place exactly as we have planned and predicted. I’m very sorry, but I can only tell you as much as I already have.”
They all sat and thought about that. Drifter looked at Robert. “Bobby, you in on this?”
“I am, boss.” Robert replied.
Drifter sighed. “Well, Bobby’s the only one of us with a good woman and a fine home. If he’s willing to do it with all he has to lose, who am I to let him go in alone?”
Bear laughed. “You guys are damned crazy. But, I ain’t got nothin’ to lose, except my ass. I’m in.”
Karl just nodded, and grabbed another beer.
David looked around at the men. “I must tell you; this help you’re to give us, it may well cost some, or even all of you, your lives.” He turned to his Father. “That includes you, Dad.”
Robert nodded. “I know, son.” He swung his gaze around his old crew. “What do you guys say to that?”
Drifter leaned forward. He pointed a finger at David. “We already been through that kind of deal before. I can’t sleep at night, even now, because of the things I’ve seen.” Robert made to interrupt, but David tapped his arm and gave a slight shake of the head.
Drifter carried on, oblivious. “It’s got so bad, I really don’t care if I die, now. I pulled screaming boys out of downed Hueys, all burned to hell, with the skin peeling off of them, and when I go to sleep, I see them again. I flew choppers into LZs lit up like the 4th of July, and somehow got us out. Now, every night, I fly in again. And when I wake up, I’m not just scared; I’m freakin’ terrified.”
The other members of the old crew stared at the fire. David knew they all still got the dreams Drifter spoke of; he could feel it.
“And why did I go through all that madness?” Drifter sat back. “Because from what I could see, it was the right thing to do. That’s why all of us went; to do what we saw as right.”
“Damned straight,” Bear said.
Drifter waved a hand in the air. “Sure, other guys burnt their draft cards. Sat around smokin’ weed, singin’ protest songs and skipping off to Canada. But we believed the same as our parents did in World War Two, Korea, and God knows where else. Somebody had to stop the wrongs being done. Now I know that most folks these days think it was a waste. We should’ve minded our own business; same thing they been sayin’ for years.”
He shook his head. “The trouble with that thinkin’ is, if we didn’t fight them, then who would? And if nobody fought them, then why would they stop what they was doin’?”
“So,” he continued, “we put aside our own lives to fight for what they told us was right, and we fought damned hard, let me tell you.” Drifter’s face clouded over. “But, when we were done, those same people that told us to go, the guys who told us who the bad guys were; they turned their backs on us. They watched our own countrymen spit on us and call us baby-killers, and they did nothin’. Just paid us a lousy little pension and expected us to disappear.”
Magnus Marx raised a finger. “And they’ve kept on doing it, too. Lebanon, Iraq twice, Afghanistan, it never stops. Every time, our boys go in, right or wrong. And every time, some don’t come back, and the ones that do?” He fell silent.
“This time, it’s different,” Robert said. “This time, there can be no argument; it matters. If we don’t fight, we lose the entire planet. But this time, they do nothing. Hell, they’ve damn near handed Kestil the keys to the world.”
Drifter spat into the fire. “To hell with the lot of them, I’m ready. At least this time we know what the fight is really all about.”
“We know who the winners and losers will be, either way,” Bear added.
The rest nodded their agreement.
David gave them a warm smile. “Thank you, all of you.”
Bear scratched his beard. “Thank us when we’re done.”
David nodded. “I have to go, I’m afraid. But, before I do, there’s someone else you need to meet.” He passed Drifter a little cube. “After I’m gone, just put this on the ground.” He got to his feet and shook hands with them all.
Before David left, Robert took him aside. “Listen, son. You safe down here? I mean, from what you told me, Truly can’t help you much, if at all. This computer thing of Kestil’s, can’t it find you?”
David put a hand on his Father’s shoulder. “Kestil’s AI uses the Earth’s technology, Dad. The internet, mobile network, TV, radio, microwave, shortwave, satellites, radar, you name it. As long as I’m off-grid, it can’t see me. I have to portal out now, because a satellite passes overhead in ten minutes. We have a base to set up, which is as remote as it gets. We can jump around because we have portal generators in our heads. Though mine is the only one powerful enough to take me anywhere on the planet.” He gave his Dad a boyish smile. “It’s pretty cool, actually.”
Robert shivered. “My God, son, you’re running a terrible risk. If those lunatics get hold of you…”
David hugged his Dad. “What happens is what happens, Dad. When the time comes, your life will be on the line, too. The future is in flux, right now. Kestil’s empire is smaller, and way behind. But, our hands are tied here. We can’t just march in and take the Earth, our consciences won’t let us. Besides, if we did, the human race would fall apart. Humanity must determine its own future. Kestil wants to fool them into a pretense that they’re doing just that, and we have to stop him, or at least expose him for the liar he is.”
Robert stood back from his son and held him at arm’s length. “And just what do I tell your Mother, hmm?”
David grinned at him. “You’ll think of something, Dad. But listen, if this all comes down as we currently see it, you and Mom might not be able to stay here.”
“Here? You mean this planet, don’t you?”
Robert frowned at the ground. “Well, we’ll worry about that when we get to it.”
“Kestil hasn’t made a move on either of you since Truly lost most of her control here. We don’t know why, exactly, but we calculate his plans to capture me don’t include you two.”
Robert searched his son’s eyes. “Your Mom, is she in any danger, son? Please, I have to know.”
“No,” David assured him, “she is under permanent observation, Dad. The second we sense any change; she’ll be portaled up to the ship, even if it risks another connection to Kestil’s AI. You would be taken to our base. We need you both in place for as long as possible; otherwise Kestil may make some connection between you and the future. That could put these guys here in real danger, too.”
Robert laughed, “I wish I could make the connection between me and the future.”
David patted his father’s shoulder. “All in good time. I have to go, I’m afraid. I love you, Dad.”
“I love you too, son.”
The two men embraced, and David disappeared. Robert went and sat with the others by the fire. Drifter looked at the cube in his hand. “Well, let’s see what this is all about, then.”
He sat the cube on the ground and a glowing sphere appeared above it. “Hello,” a woman’s voice said. “My name is Truly.”
9
Los Angeles, California
Democrat Senator Jarrod Charles Dwight raised his fists in the air and strode onto the stage. Flags waved and the crowd cheered him to the microphone. He could have wished for a larger turnout for his acceptance speech, but he was a man who took what he could get. He secretly thanked Senator Jack Wright, who had dropped dead of a heart attack; it was like a dream come true. The old coot had made life a living hell for Jarrod. Jack always portrayed Jarrod as a young upstart with no experience and no future in politics. Well, old man, Jarrod thought, you’re just as wrong as you are dead. Jarrod won the special election by a narrow margin, but enough to give him a firm seat.
The Independent Worlds (The Sixteen Galaxies Book 2) Page 9
