New Earth

by Orrin Jason Bradford

  After completing the call, Todd stood for a moment reviewing the situation and enjoying the view. A lone bird soared on the early dawn air currents. I wish I could join you, Todd thought. Just spread my wings and fly away, leaving all my cares behind. Imagining what it felt like, he spread his arms and moved his body in time with the bird's motions. He relaxed his body as he consciously released the tension growing along his shoulders and down his back.

  At first, he thought it was a call coming in from one of his team members but then realized the voice was coming from within and not from the earbud. What was going on here?

  This is Kristin. Who are you?

  Kristin? That name sounded familiar but from where? Then he remembered.

  Well, hello again. How are you and your baby?

  Not good, came the reply. I’m with my sisters, and we’re in trouble.

  The message was so clear, it felt like someone standing next to him.

  You seem so close. Even closer than before.

  Yes, you're right, but I don't know how that's possible. My captors have taken my sister, brother and me out of the country. We're now with our other sisters, and it's horrible here.

  That sounded all too familiar. James hadn’t gone into much detail about who they were trying to rescue, but Todd had done a little of his own research.

  You’re one of the Kindred, aren’t you?

  There was a long pause. He was afraid he'd lost the connection but then...

  Yes, that’s right, but how did you know?

  Never mind. Remember I said I was someone who meant you no harm? Well, I think you'll find that our meeting is very serendipitous.

  What the hell does that mean?

  I'll explain later when we meet.

  What?

  But before Todd could answer, he heard the elevator behind him start to descend. What the hell? Had that been an automatic action, or had someone below requested it? Someone like the guard who'd broken with his routine for some reason.

  Sorry...gotta go, Todd said then broke the connection before Kristin could respond.

  He quickly calculated the time he had before the elevator's return. Two minutes down, two minutes back up. Was that enough time to complete the transformation? But even as he was asking himself that question, he stripped off his shirt and tossed it into the almost empty backpack then untied his boots and kicked them off into the pack as well. Meanwhile, he could feel the internal changes taking place as his bones started to hollow out and morph themselves. Forcing such a transformation turned what was usually an uncomfortable process into an excruciatingly painful one, but still, he continued. Time was running out.

  As the final transformation took place, he stepped onto the pack so his pants would fall at least partially in with the shirt and shoes. He could now hear the elevator drawing nearer. Less than a minute before the doors opened. He looked around through the now supremely crafted eyes of a Great Gray Owl. Spying the earbud on the walkway, he picked it up with his beak and plopped it into the backpack. Without moving the rest of his body, he readily turned his neck 180 degrees towards the door to confirm it hadn't yet opened. Then praying that the transformation was complete enough, he grabbed the pack's handle with his clawed feet and spread his wings. Was he strong enough yet to carry himself and his pack? Only one way to find out. Flapping his wings, he leaped onto the railing and into the night sky just as the elevator doors began to open; a lone gray feather was fluttering down to the tower's floor.

  Insomnia

  CHICKOWSKI TOSSED AND turned for the next hour while Petty snored away in the bed beside him. Finally, in frustration, he arose and stumbled into the bathroom to relieve himself; Petty's words still reverberating in his head. "What if your damn experiment doesn't work? What if something goes wrong?"

  As much as he hated to admit it, Miriam was right. He really didn’t have a clue how the template worked.

  He turned on the bathroom light and emptied his painfully full bladder. As he washed his hands, he stared into the bathroom mirror. Come on Thaddeus, give yourself a break. You'll be fine, he told himself. After all, he didn't really need to know how the template worked. He had to demonstrate to his royal jackass, the Sheik, that it did. After all, no one really knew how aspirin worked; yet millions of people took it every day to relieve many different aches and pains. Millions of others took it as a preventative against heart attacks. Besides, he knew the template worked. There were all those damn kids to prove it.

  At the same time, he wished he had learned more about the template from Adams, especially what had happened on that fateful day when Flip MacDonald had snuck into the Bio Vita to surprise his old college friend. Because later today he'd be expected to administer the template to the Sheik's test subject. What was the name? Ay, something. Some strange Arabic name. Maybe it would help to check out the lab facilities more closely. Perhaps he could come up with some legitimate reason to postpone the test. He glanced at his watch; not quite five o'clock. When was the last time he was awake this early, he wondered? Back when I was dealing with that jerk, Brown, he answered his own question.

  Yes, that’s what I’ll do. Since I can’t sleep, maybe I can persuade the guard to let me check out the lab.

  He walked back into the bedroom. As he dressed, he studied Petty's sleeping form. Boy, that woman could saw some logs, he thought. Wakes me up, passes along her worries to me, and then falls to sleep. Thanks a lot.

  He picked up his shoes where they lay at the foot of his bed, and tiptoed out the room, gently closing the door behind him before putting his shoes on in the hall. He was surprised to find the straight back chair occupied by the security guard empty.

  Guess even guards need to pee from time to time, he thought as he walked down the hall to the elevator that would take him down to the basement lab. As he stood waiting for the elevator doors to open, he turned to gaze out the patio door window across from the elevator. He was surprised to find the door had been cracked open and the guard was kneeling on the patio floor. So, not peeing, after all, Chickowski thought.

  Suddenly from a distance, he heard the sound of a man singing in a foreign language, then realized he was the one that was the foreigner in an Arabic country; an Islamic nation. The song he listened to must be the Asan—the Islamic call to prayer.

  How had he not heard it before, he wondered? Didn't these Arabs pray several times a day? The thick walls of Falcon Lair must have blocked the previous calls to prayer. But that meant he'd have to be careful; others would be awake at this god-forsaken time. Chickowski chuckled. Well, these people didn't consider this time to be God-forsaken. Otherwise, why would they be calling to him?

  He stood listening to the song. Even though he couldn't understand the words, he found himself mesmerized by it. The elevator door opened behind him, then closed. Still, he listened. Chickowski didn't consider himself to be a religious man. He was a man of science. Nevertheless, such a peaceful song made one pause and wonder.

  The ding of the elevator brought him out of his revery. As the door opened again, he entered and pressed the button for the basement level where Hassan had indicated the lab was located. Upon exiting, he stood for a moment in the hallway to get his bearings. He was pretty sure the garage was off to his right, which would mean the lab was most likely to his left. He headed in that direction until he came to a series of doors. Opening the first, he found himself looking into a storage room. Strike one. The next door revealed an empty room filled with dusty office furniture. Strike two. He struck pay dirt with door number three.

  He tried the handle, half expecting it to be locked. It wasn't, so he opened the door and walked in, surprised to find the lights on and a dark-skinned young man kneeling in the middle of the room, his back to the door. The man appeared to be deep in prayer as he knelt, his head touching the prayer rug on which he rested. He took no notice of the intrusion, which gave Chickowski the opportunity to look around the spacious room.

  Along the full-length count
er to his right was a line of laboratory equipment. Chickowski recognized the latest model of blood analysis equipment beside two binocular microscopes. Was that a portable spectrophotometer there at the end like the one he’d begged Franklin for months to purchase?

  But perhaps the most impressive area of the lab was the other side of the room that was taken up by a stainless steel operating table, complete with restraints for immobilizing the patient, or perhaps it would be more accurate to say, the victim. For next to the table was an array of equipment that could only be used for prying information out of unwilling subjects. Apparently, this room served two purposes; interrogation and experimentation.

  Chickowski was still goggling over the equipment when the young man raised his head from the floor, bowed a couple of times then stretched before standing up.

  "As-salaam Alaykum," he said as he turned towards Chickowski.

  “Ahh, sorry, I don’t speak Arabic,” Chickowski replied embarrassed.

  “Ahh, no problem,” the young man replied with a thick accent and a smile. “I speak English...a little,” he added. “I am Ayhem,” he continued bowing slightly. “May I help you?”

  As Chickowski stepped forward to offer his hand, he estimated Ayhem was probably no more than eighteen. Though slender, he appeared to be in good health with a wiry frame and a well-muscled body of youth.

  “I just came down to take a look at the lab,” Chickowski said as he shook the boy’s hand. He felt the callouses that suggested that the boy’s muscles had come more from hard labor than from spending time in the gym.

  “I’m Dr. Thaddeus Chickowski.”

  At the sound of his name, Ayhem’s smile broadened. “It is so good to meet you. I am honored to be a part of your project.”

  “Really?” Chickowski replied, a confused look on his face. “What have you been told about it?”

  “Honorable Sheik Hassan has told me that I am to serve him and my people in a great way. He did not tell me more. He did not need to. I have lived a selfish life, looking out only for what I want. Now, you and Sheik Hassan have given me this...” he struggled with the words, “...this time to make changes. To help others.” Ayhem bowed his head.

  Like an innocent lamb to the slaughter, Chickowski thought. He hasn't a clue what he's volunteered for. Well, what does it matter to me? He stared at the boy who was about to become his human guinea pig. Sometimes sacrifices had to be made in the name of science. Besides, how did he know how the experiment would turn out? Maybe it was an excellent opportunity for the boy.

  Chickowski remembered growing up in his native country of Hungary. Food was not always plentiful even though his family lived on a farm and had it better than many. His father had put him in charge of raising the chickens. The one lesson he remembered most vividly was the one his father had given him on the first day.

  “Never name the chicks, do you understand boy?”

  Not understanding, Chickowski shrugged.

  “Never name the chicks.” It makes it a lot harder to eat them later. Chickowski understood that it changed something knowing Ayhem’s name. It would make his afternoon duties harder to carry out; harder but not impossible.

  Damn this pack is heavy, Todd thought as he felt its weight trying to drag him to earth. He redirected his flight back to the South towards Central Park where he swooped down ten or fifteen feet from the ground. He struggled to maintain that altitude until he located the line of shrubs where he'd buried his chute. As he flew over the low-lying bushes, he dropped the backpack into them and felt an immediate release from gravity's pull. Now freedom.

  He felt the wind rushing through his body, the power of the wind in his wings. The feeling was intoxicating. He could soar like this forever. As he flapped his wings to gain altitude, he looked below. The night vision of his new form allowed him to see everything, the city and the surrounding area, with superb clarity; much more clearly than he could ever see with human eyes.

  Okay, this was great, but the purpose of the transformation was to gain intelligence. Besides, the safety of the teams was his priority. He fixed his location and flew north. He knew the approximate location of the units and wanted to check them out along with any dangers that might be a hindrance to the operation.

  Todd had discovered his ability to take on the form of other animals as a child when he'd felt a strong pull to leave the security of Dr. Pritchard's home. As he headed towards woods behind the house, he felt the desire for more speed, and before he knew it, he was shapeshifting into a large dog. It wasn't until much later that he learned that his first few weeks of life had been inside the womb of a mutt that had ended up at Dr. Pritchard's in need of a c-section. Arriving at a nearby lodge, he met Homlin, who would become like a second father to him. It had been Homlin who had encouraged him to embrace his differences and to learn how to shift into other animal forms, including the Great Gray Owl.

  His ability to scout the area from the sky unobserved had saved him and his teams on several other missions that could have gone badly. He now needed to ensure that this one stayed on course as well.

  Looking northward, he could make out the island that was in the heart of Falconcity. This place was more substantial, with more lighting than he had anticipated, but the canal circling the isle had shadows around the edges. That would make Jasper and Firefly's route to the second objective easier. He did not see anyone around the team's first objective, so he started circling the area. Where the hell were they? Todd noticed motion in the shadows about halfway down the east side of the canal and swooped down to investigate. There the team was, moving slowly in a small boat using the shadows as cover. Great, their part of the mission was going well. He flew over their objective and saw no risks that were not accounted for, so he flew on to the second team.

  Todd turned and gained altitude, aiming towards the second tallest structure in the city: the great pyramid. It and its two counterparts were massive structures. How in the world did they manage to acquire stone large enough to build such a gigantic structure, much less three? These Arabs and their money could seemingly accomplish anything.

  Todd picked out the second team's objective once he passed the pyramids and their massive lights. The power required to run this city had to be enormous. If a bird could smile, he would have. They were about to run short in the power department. Looking around, he could see the people on the ground that Python had indicated. It seemed that crews were working around the clock on the city's power station. But where was the team? It was time to go down and get personal.

  Todd swooped low above the ground, looking everywhere for some sign of Shark and Python. He needed to know their status. Halfway between the team's first and second objectives, he spied two people in a golf cart heading in the right direction. They looked familiar. Was that them? He landed in a tree near the second objective and studied the golf cart. Suddenly his eyes were drawn to some motion in the nearby bushes. What was it? Just some sort of big bird, possibly a chicken.

  I bet it would make a tasty snack, Todd thought, feeling the owl's natural instincts trying to take over. He watched the golf cart, as it approached his location. The golf cart veered into some tall bushes near the objective. Its two occupants, dressed as workers, disappeared into the shadows. One of them was helping the other walk so he knew the team had arrived. He wondered what additional headaches they might encounter due to Shark's injury, but so far they were inventively working through the challenges.

  Okay, time to get back and under cover before daylight, but then the thought of the chicken returned. As Todd, he would need to eat, and his tastes as a human were significantly more refined than those of his present form. So, free-range chicken would serve him well.

  Ten minutes later, the Great Gray Owl flew south toward the tower with a satisfied feeling. His teams were on schedule, and he had a full belly. What's not to like? Todd circled Falcons Lair but couldn't detect anything that might be a potential threat, so he flew to his hidey-hole.

&nbs
p; As he approached Central Park, Todd spotted the guard dozing on a park bench and decided to have some fun. The Great Owl landed in a flurry of feathers on top of the guard's head, grabbed his hat, and pecked him on the nose before flying away. The guard ran from the area screaming as if his life depended on it. Todd again smiled inside. This was the life; he thought as he landed in the bushes where his gear was stowed. Now he had to get some sleep. As he began to doze off, he could hear the early morning call to prayer.

  “James just arrived with the other girl,” Willow said as she walked into the Sheik’s office. “Do you want me to have Tina sent down again to ease this new one into the harem?”

  Hassan looked up from the papers he was reading and considered her question. “No, not this time. I want to ask this one some questions. I don’t want to take the chance Tina might try to interfere.”

  “Okay,” Willow replied. “Also, he’s brought along another woman. He said he needed her to keep an eye on the girl. Said her name was Pat something or other.”

  “Fine. Anything else?”

  “No, that’s about it. They’ll be up in just a minute. Do you need me for anything?”

  “No, not at the moment, but stay here in case I do. By the way, what’s the girl’s name?”

  Willow took her phone out of her pocket to check the message from James before answering. “Alp,” she replied.

  “Alp? That’s a strange name,” Hassan replied.

  “Yeah,” Willow agreed. “Evidently, she’s the twin of the boy.”

  “Really?” Hassan replied, suddenly showing more interest in the conversation. “This should be interesting.”

  In a few minutes, there was a knock on the door, and a moment later James walked in followed by Alp and Pat.

  “As-salamu alaykum wa rahmatullahi wa barakaatuhu,” Hassan said dropping the papers on his desk and smiling warmly at James.

  "Wa-Alaikum-Salaam" James replied. It was just one of the few Arabic phrases he'd managed to pick up from working for the Sheik.