Eunoia

by R J Johnson

  “Bloodiest day in American history,” Ash added. “What, are you looking to set a new record Washington?”

  Washington turned, scowling at them. “It makes strategic sense. Spring the trap outside the city. He’ll have to move his people all the way down to DC. If we can take out his initial force, we should be able to capture Kline without much trouble.”

  Tate and Ash looked over at Washington aghast.

  “Are you insane?” Ash shouted.

  “You’re a maniac!” Tate added. “There’s no guarantee he can’t zombify the people in the DC metro area too. Who’s to say he won’t just nuke the whole army?”

  “He can’t,” Washington answered. “Not with our birds he can’t. After what happened with Lutvia, we had our folks immediately remove the cores from every nuclear weapon in service.”

  “That doesn’t mean the nukes in Russia can’t be launched.” Tate snapped back.

  Washington cocked his head, and for the first time, sounded tired, “I can only control the variables available to me. Nothing else. The risks are there I grant you that. But the greater risk is doing nothing at all, and allowing this madman to seize total power over the world. This may be our last stand, but I’m going to at least say we gave it our best damn shot in stopping Kline.”

  Tate and Ash looked at each other, “What else you got in mind?” Ash said after a moment.

  Washington straightened his back and nodded. “I’m open to new strategies if you have them gentlemen.”

  Ash and Tate exchanged glances. “We need the last stone to stop Kline.” Ash said finally.

  “You take your army up to the citadel in New York. He’ll feel secure there,” Tate added. “He won’t risk doing anything that risks the city. He’ll hold back and use conventional weaponry there. In DC? He’ll turn that place back into a glowing swamp given half the chance.”

  “That wall is too big to get past,” Washington objected. He nodded to Ash, “You’ve seen as much for yourself Colonel.”

  “You run him down and keep his people busy while we go after the final stone,” Ash said. “We get that, and maybe we stand a chance against his superpowers.”

  Washington glanced between the two men who had up until a day ago had been Kline’s closest lieutenants.

  “You were comprised, and you’re a traitor,” Washington said pointing to them both. “By what measure should I trust you?”

  “Way I see it Lieutenant, you don’t really have a choice,” Ash said. “We know Kline and how to get in and out of his organization.” He looked over at Tate. “I can’t speak for Tate here, but for me, it’s personal. He took over and invaded my mind forcing me to do unspeakable things. And the thing of it is, I was aware of them the whole time. I didn’t want to. I knew it was wrong. But that didn’t matter. And I know he’s doing the same thing to other people right now that he did to me. I don’t plan on allowing that to happen to anyone else. No one’s free will should be taken from them. It goes against everything I’ve held dear my whole life. You can believe me, or not believe me when I say that I’m free of him now. I don’t know if it’s the distance, or time, or what, but I’m free. I’m my own man again. And I intend to keep it that way.”

  Washington glanced over at Tate who shrugged.

  “I’ve done bad things in my life, but I know pure evil like Kline needs to be handled.”

  Washington examined them for another minute and nodded.

  “Fine.”

  “One thing,” Ash said. “Before we help you, we’ll need something from you.”

  Washington’s eyes narrowed. “And what would that be exactly?”

  “Access to the NSA’s deep crypt in NORAD.”

  Washington chuckled. “Even I don’t have that power.”

  “You’ll need to find someone who does,” Ash said. “Because that’s the only way we’ll find the last stone. The NSA’s DeepCrypt has the whole entire national security complex within its database. I guarantee you, if there’s information about a stone that grants superpowers, it’ll be in there.”

  Washington shrugged. “I’ll see what I can do.” He turned and pulled out his phone, dialing as he did so. “But no guarantees. Could be the people I need to speak to have already been compromised.”

  “Then hopefully for your sake and mine, they haven’t been.” Ash added.

  Chapter Thirty-Seven

  Alex had spent three hundred thousand years refining his plan to take the twelve stones away from the Patrons. There was no guarantee it would work, but at this point, Alex felt he had no other choice but to proceed.

  He walked through the Patron’s corridors, looking around at the pristine city that had been built out of the Dyson’s sphere. Over the years, the Patrons had moved his channel away from the planet and into the massive exterior shell that had been constructed over the million or so years he had been on the Patron’s planet.

  Instead of a distant horizon, he could see the up curve of the planet around him. It was unreal to look at, sending his brain akimbo for a few moments. He hadn’t expected the world to change so dramatically in his simulations and took a moment to get used to his new surroundings.

  The scenery once he left his channel was impressive. Instead of the concrete jungle he had seen when he went into the Channel so long ago, he was now surrounded by what looked like a nature preserve. The area sort of reminded him of an exotic Montana. Soaring mountain ranges dotted with pristine lakes and never-ending forests of the Patron’s strange sweet smelling trees going on for miles. Alex paused, breathing in the sweet smell of the open air.

  He hadn’t smelled anything so good in a long time.

  Despite the nature surrounding them, there were several skyscrapers clustered around one another. At least twelve buildings surrounded one long spire that Alex immediately recognized as the same chamber where the Patron’s council had met.

  He moved toward the spire. The Patron’s had no idea about computer security and he had found learning how to hack their system easier than he initially thought it would be. The time scales the Patrons lived on made innovation a low priority. Once they had achieved a certain level of progress, many of the Patrons had forsaken science for the lives they could create within their own Channel.

  The hike to the central spire was a few miles away, and the longer he was out in the open, the less Alex liked what he was seeing. There was no one around. No one had even attempted to stop him in his quest for the twelve stones.

  He had gamed out thousands of scenarios, dealing with the Patron’s security forces. He had come up with a few dozen ingenious plans, all with back-ups in case they went wrong.

  But now, he was walking into their facility as easily as he pleased.

  Alex was grateful, but he remained suspicious. Something was wrong with the Patrons. Someone should have at least tried to stop him by now.

  He reached the Council door and was surprised to find it ajar. There was no guard. The screen in front of him chirped a cheery hello in the Patron’s language, but Alex ignored it.

  He moved into the expansive chamber where the decorations of a thousand generations of Patrons surrounded him. Murals and photos covered the walls, explaining revolutions, advancements, and even Alex’s arrival on their planet.

  Alex continued down the hall as the murals changed to one of peace, and scientific discovery until finally the construction of the Dyson’s sphere.

  After that the murals ceased, Alex looking around him, confused at the blank spaces left on the wall. There was room for more, but it didn’t look as if anyone had touched the walls in a hundred years.

  He turned and moved to the elevator that would take him up into the Council chambers. He pushed the button and the doors slid open. He entered the elevator, feeling it take him up to the top floor where he had last seen the council meet.

  The doors slide open once again and to his surprise, Alex found himself stepping into what looked like one of the crystal chambers that had contained the s
tones back on earth.

  In the center of the chamber was a large white Patron, nearly translucent and from all other indications, incredibly old. Alex approached him cautiously, as if scared of what the man could do.

  “Ahh, Alex…”

  The words floated into his brain, the Patron using his telepathic abilities to communicate with him.

  “Where are the twelve stones?” he demanded. He wasn’t sure what was happening, but he always liked pretending he was the one in a position of strength.

  And from the looks of the Patron, he was probably right.

  “Have you come to see you works?” The Patron hissed at him. “What your life accomplished?”

  “What are you talking about?” Alex asked, feeling the chill in the air between them. This had once been a species that had worshipped him for what he had brought them. But there was no positive energy coming from this Patron at all.

  “You’ve ruined us…” the Patron whispered. “You brought us technology we weren’t ready for.”

  “What are you talking about?” Alex stammered. “You left it on our planet. You brought it to us when WE weren’t ready. How could I have done anything?”

  “You!” the Patron moved quickly stepping in front of Alex’s face, the long white whiskers brushing up against Alex’s own beard. “You brought us the stone. We synthesized more and that brought war to our species. Someone always wanted more power! Someone always tried to do more with the stones! Someone…”

  The Patron began to hack violently as black blood began spilling out from in between its mandibles. “Our species was unwilling to grow with the technology and we nearly destroyed ourselves thanks to the unlimited power available.”

  Alex looked down in horror. “What happened to the stones?”

  “They remain,” the Patron answered. “The stones keep our people inside the Channel, slumbering and living out their own lives within them, keeping us safe from each other.”

  Alex realized why the city had looked so empty now. Ever Patron was stuck inside their own Channel, playing out lives that this Patron had created for them.

  “That’s your solution?” Alex reacted in horror. “To lock everyone away?”

  “That is the only solution!” The Patron cried out. “We were killing each other at an unbelievable rate. We were polluting our planet because that was more profitable than it was to save ourselves. So I took the stones and forced everyone to go inside their channel.”

  “You can’t…” Alex said, in horror. The Patrons had threatened to leave Earth as a spacial anomaly, but imprisoning your own species? That was too far.

  “You can’t get away with this.” Alex said, withdrawing the ceremonial sword he had taken from his statue, holding it out away from his body.

  “What pray tell do you think you can do with that little man?” The Patron spluttered. “You can’t kill me. I’m the only one left on this planet who can help. Everyone else has been locked away. You’ll die on here. Your planet will be vaporized into nothingness.”

  “You’re nothing to fear,” Alex said, feeling his voice become stronger. “And life without you will be much more pleasant.”

  He raised the sword and brought it down into the Patron’s head, cracking open the thin carapace. The Patron squealed in pain as Alex hacked away at the alien being that had kept him prisoner for thousands of years.

  “You can’t hurt anyone anymore,” Alex said quietly, dropping the sword at his feet.

  The sun outside went dark, and Alex looked up. He moved to the window and gasped, looking outside.

  While preparing his plans in the Channel, Alex had forgotten why he had come to the Patron’s planet to begin with. Their star was about to go supernova, and from the looks of things outside, the time had come.

  Alex began rushing around the Council’s chambers looking desperately for the twelve stones. They had to be here somewhere. Outside the wind was picking up as the atmosphere reacted with the increasing solar winds and energy put out by the now failing star.

  Darkness swept over the Council chambers as Alex continued to look around for the twelve stones. They had to be here somewhere! If he had been the only surviving Patron left, then he would be the one holding onto the stones. Alex knew how powerful their siren call could be.

  He moved to the Patron’s corpse and began rummaging through the bug guts that were littered all around the ground.

  “Gross…” Alex said, trying not to think of the smell emanating from the ancient rotting alien in front of him.

  The darkness was lit up by a brilliant flash and Alex knew he was running out of time. The sun had likely already exploded and the shockwave was heading for the Dyson’s sphere now.

  Just as he was about to give up, his hand brushed up against a flat stone, with several bumps all around the edges.

  Alex yanked on the stone hard, and to his delight, saw the twelve stones embedded within it. He grabbed the stone close to his chest, and thought hard about his home planet. The traveling stone glowed brightly and he disappeared mere moments before the shockwave from the Patron’s star hit. The shockwave ripped the Dyson’s sphere apart, tearing down the enormous super-structure.

  Alex cautiously opened his eyes and could hardly believe what he was seeing.

  Chapter Thirty-Eight

  Scott, Chrissy, Emily and Ted had grown close over the last few weeks. Ted had promised to keep their secret so long as they remained honest with him. Emily kept her distance away from little Alex, not wanting to influence the future in any way.

  Besides, they were busy getting ready for their fight with Kline. They knew it was only a matter of time before Kline came back to try and kill Alex.

  Emily wasn’t sure if they were ready when the morning came, but Ted assured her that he had everything under control. Thanks to his connections down in Los Angeles, Ted had arranged for a meeting between Scott and Kline’s company. Kline was already a big enough deal that he wouldn’t be present for a low-level meeting like this, but it was enough to get them in the door.

  Besides, they still had the shape-shifting stone, and they intended to use it.

  Kline had made his initial fortune in Los Angeles and New York City real estate and Ted’s contacts from his old job as a civil engineer had made it an easy thing to get an appointment with the man’s company.

  They arrived on time, waiting outside Kline’s offices. Ted turned to Scott who was looking around at the scenery with interest.

  “Something wrong?” Ted asked him.

  “Just odd seeing the late eighties from my adult perspective vs what I thought it was like as a kid,” Scott replied aimlessly. The world had changed so much in thirty years; it was hard to believe he was back here at times.

  “Don’t get too lost in your tourist moment,” Ted admonished him.

  “Time traveling is a bit weird,” Scott confessed. “I still expect people to be talking on their cell phones every moment.”

  “Their what?” Ted asked, looking confused.

  Scott’s eyes went wide, “Uhh… nothing, forget I said that.” He cleared his throat and pointed to the office. “That’s Kline’s right?”

  “That’s the one,” Ted said.

  “Then what are we waiting for?” Scott asked. He turned and moved briskly into the building, holding the door open for several well-dressed businessmen and women.

  Ted followed Scott into the bustling office building where they approached the receptionist.

  “Good morning miss, we have a two o’clock with Mr. Tate?” Ted said to the bored woman filing her nails.

  “Take a seat in the conference room, I’ll ring Mr. Tate who will join you shortly,” she replied, placing the headset back on her head, and the file down on the desk.

  Scott winked at her, and they moved into the conference room.

  “Swanky,” Ted observed of the room around them.

  “You ain’t seen nothing from Kline yet…” Scott muttered.

  A harried lo
oking Geoffrey Tate rushed into the room holding several folders worth of paper. Scott was surprised to see him with hair.

  And no scar.

  “Mr. Patterson and McGrey?” Tate asked, extending a hand. Scott had insisted he use an alias when meeting with Kline’s people just on the off chance. But, unfortunately for Ted, they had to use his real name and real connections.

  “McCray,” Ted corrected.

  “Of course, my apologies,” Tate replied setting the documents down on the table. “And you’re Mr…?”

  “Patterson, yes, it’s a pleasure to finally make your acquaintance,” Scott said, extending a hand. It was odd seeing Geoffrey Tate in this contest. The man had been his mortal enemy for so long, he had a hard time shaking the idea of punching him square between the eyes.

  But Tate had no idea who he was and he needed to keep it that way lest he provoke a paradox. Besides, Chrissy needed time to get into Kline’s office and that meant he would need to keep his cool somehow.

  “I understand you gentlemen believe you have an investment opportunity for Mr. Kline?” Tate asked, rifling through the paperwork.

  “You have no idea.” Scott said, trying to fake as much confidence as he could muster. “The return on investment potential is nigh unlimited.”

  Tate looked up from his papers cautiously. The man had been doing business for too long to believe in guaranteed investments. “Well, if your proposals are sound, I’m sure we can do business. Mr. McCray here comes highly recommended. What exactly did you have in mind?”

  Scott leaned back and raised his arms out wide “Time shares!”

  Tate looked at Scott blankly for a moment. “I’m sorry, what?”

  “Time shares!” Scott said, his enthusiasm not flagging at all. “They’re the next big thing in real estate Mr. Tate. Your company buys up a resort and sells out each hotel room a week at a time. We promise the purchaser that they’re buying into what looks like a mortgage, but really, they’re on the hook for most of our expenses. On top of that, we can charge them maintenance fees and upkeep. It’s a virtual ATM!”