I approached the building, but the local authorities had yet to arrive on the scene. There were no signs of forced entry and the glass door was still locked tight. I looked around the building but couldn’t find a way in. Back by the front door I wondered if this was the right place, but then an unnaturally colored flash came from within the building. I didn’t like doing it, but I yanked the door open, breaking whatever lock was on it.
In the building, I found a security guard dazed on the ground. I cautiously searched the building for whoever tripped the alarm. As I was walking down a hallway, the lights turned off.
Immediately, I checked my surroundings and switched my mask to night vision.
A man with a canvas bag came around the corner, apparently he hadn’t turned the lights off because of me. His clothes must have been glowing somehow and the nature of my vision obscured most of his details, but he wasn’t an ordinary bank robber. I was planning on saying something smart, but his strange outfit caused me to pause for a fatal moment. Upon seeing me, he cursed and threw something to the ground. A smoke grenade went off and blurred my vision. Before I could gather my thoughts to react, a bright white bolt of energy came blasting from the mist and I was out.
I was shaken awake by an officer. I didn’t know how long I had been out, but the police had arrived at the scene. Aside from my head hurting, I was fine. The officer didn’t ask any questions.
“Did he get away?” I asked.
“You tell us; you’re the only witness.”
I opened my mouth to speak, but I couldn’t remember anything about the man. This was new to me, and honestly, rather embarrassing.
The officer didn’t seem to be surprised at my lack of reply. “None of the guards remember anything about the event, and some can’t even remember who they are.”
I stood to my feet. “Do we at least have any video of the criminal?”
He shook his head. “The blighter took all the recordings and used a virus to erase anything uploaded into the cloud. We are going to need you to give a statement before you leave.”
I gave the officers what they wanted, then left and ran back home to Greenleaf. Thinking about what had just happened, I wasn’t focused on my speed. I think I accidentally caused multiple sonic booms as I ran across the desert. As I’ve gotten faster, I’ve had to maintain more concentration to manage my pace, but today I couldn’t stop thinking about that man and wasn’t very careful. Who was he and why do I not remember anything about him? The sun was starting to rise as I ran past my father’s museum, which had a new wing added to it. It provided a nice distraction from my problem. Thanks to the Blue Blur, more tourists had been coming to Greenleaf and to the museum. I darted into an alley where I kept a bag of normal clothing, put them on and walked home.
I approached a standard apartment complex. Nothing too extravagant, just a typical apartment building. It had been in Greenleaf for a few years now, and you could tell the age by the vines that had slowly crept up the western outer wall. I trudged to my apartment and collapsed on my bed. I really didn’t like late-night hero-work.
I was startled awake by a loud Pop from within the apartment. Immediately I opened my bedroom door as smoke flowed across the ceiling and out the door. It looked like Simon, Abigail, and four teenagers were having a science experiment.
I groggily asked, "What on earth is going on here?"
Susie, a fifteen-year-old from our church, said, "Our weekly science lesson."
I recalled everything now. Today was the day Abigail and Simon ran a science co-op. He and I had agreed she could have it in our apartment. I did share this apartment with Simon, since it was cheaper on both of us.
Abigail smiled. "Sorry to wake you Arf, and don’t worry, the smoke is just excess hydrogen. We were mixing chemicals." Turning her attention to Simon, she added through her teeth, "But someone got carried away."
He tossed his hands up defensively. "Sorry, I didn’t think the measurements were that sensitive."
Abigail responded with, "Well when you're dealing with an Alkaline metal… it does!"
The teens started laughing and I interjected, "Well, it's all fine guys; the building isn’t on fire."
Abigail sighed. “I guess it is alright. No harm, no foul, but you can't help with experiments next time, Simon."
He nodded in agreement and she finished the lesson while I went back to my room. It was the larger of the two bedrooms in the apartment, connected to the other one by the only bathroom. The other bedroom was Simon’s. I tossed my backpack with my suit into the closet and looked at my calendar. I frowned when I read what was on it for today - Mom’s Results. My mom had been having some pain in various parts of her body for a few weeks now, and she had gone to the doctor’s a week ago. They had set up an appointment to run some tests, and the results were to be ready today.
Personally, I was worried about the results, though I thought I was worrying for no reason. I always feared the worst, and I was afraid that Mom would have some serious illness. I was also scared about how I would respond if God’s will wasn’t healing. I had already once responded wrongly to the death of a loved one. There had been a young woman, Rebekah, my Fiancée, but she was murdered before we were married. Her death had provided the emotional drive to partake in the experiment that made me the Blue Blur, but I had also rebelled against my parents’ authority and had walked down a dangerous path of revenge. God pulled me off that path however and showed me the danger in the way I was living. Now, by His grace, I have forgiven the murderer and am giving all my life and power to Christ and the advancement of His kingdom.
I could hear Simon and Abigail wrapping things up with their science group and leaving to take the teens back to their homes. Before they shut the door Simon called, “Hey Arf, we’ll be back and I’ll clean up then!”
“I don’t know what you’ll have to clean when I get done!” I responded back. When they were gone, I went into the living area and could see the mess in the kitchen. I shrugged my shoulders and used my speed to clean the kitchen. The part that took the longest was waiting for the rag to get wet. I then leaned back and fell on the couch. My speed definitely helped with cleaning, and since I lived with Simon, there was a lot of it to do.
I had barely a minute to rest when my phone rang. It was my father. “Hey dad, how did it go? What were the results?”
There was silence on the other end for a brief moment, which for a speedster is almost an eternity. I could tell by the sound of my dad’s breathing, that there was something worrying him. Finally, he responded, “Arf, she has stomach cancer.”
Cancer. The one thing I feared the most. I had to take a moment to register what this could mean, not just for me, but for my eight younger siblings. “How bad is it, and how long has she had it?” I asked.
He sighed. “It’s already spreading son. The doctors say it’s common not to notice it until now.”
I put the phone on speaker and forced the words out, “Is it terminal?” I didn’t know much about how cancer worked, but I was sure it spreading wasn’t good. At the thought of what could likely happen, I rubbed my hands through my hair.
“The doctors say six months, eight if we’re lucky. They predict she’ll be hospitalized within four.” I could almost see him hanging his head low as he continued, “I just can’t believe it; this morning I woke up thinking all was well.”
I took a deep breath, restraining myself from tearing up. “I thought the same thing the day Rebekah died.”
Dad said nothing.
“How is mom taking it?” I questioned.
“She’s taking it better than I am. But we don’t know how we are going to break it to your brothers and sisters.”
“By faith?” I asked.
He responded, “Yes, we’re going to have to do a lot of that from here on out. We are going to have a time of family prayer when we get home; you should come and join us.”
I nodded. “Yeah, I’ll be over there as soon as I can. I got some
of my own praying to do.” I hung up the phone and knelt on the floor.
Though I was concerned about my mother, I could tell my father was even more so. When I went over, I wasn’t going to let my dad know how much I was worried, as he didn’t need to worry about me with everyone else he needed to be concerned about. Even though I knew death was inevitable for all men, the idea of it felt unnatural. I prayed for my mother’s healing, and if that wasn’t God’s will, strength for my family to endure it.
As I was in the middle of praying, Simon and Abigail came back from taking everyone home. He opened the door, saying, “We got you lunch Arf! You wanted extra mustard on your fries right?”
Abigail laughed. “Stop it, Simon, that’s disgusting.”
They noticed that I was praying and Simon said, “Oh, sorry Arf, didn’t mean to interrupt you. We do have food for you, want some?”
I didn’t feel like eating. ‘No Simon, but thanks.”
Abigail put her purse on the counter. “Are you ok, Arf?”
I sighed. “Mom has cancer.”
Abigail gasped and Simon asked, “Is she ok?”
“No, she’s not ok. The doctors say she has six months left.” I took a deep breath to keep the tears back. Even here, amongst friends, I wasn’t going to break down.
Abigail came and sat next to me, with Simon not far behind. “I’m sorry Arf, is there anything we can do?”
“Just pray.” I got up and finished, “I need to go on a walk.”
Abigail shifted in her seat. “Well then, I should probably get back home.” She got up and gave her goodbyes. Before she left, she told me, “Don’t worry Arf, God’s in control. A good friend taught me that.” She left the apartment as I was getting up to also leave.
As I got to the door, Simon asked, “Do you want me to come?”
Lost in thought, I didn’t even look at him. I just stared at the ground and replied, “Sorry, I need some alone time.”
He nodded and I left the apartment. My walk quickly turned into a run. When I came to a stop, I found myself at the cemetery. I hadn’t intended to go there, but I must have subconsciously headed that direction. I wandered through the field of tombstones until I found Rebekah’s.
I felt a cold wind pass by and that shook the leaves of the tree the tombstone lay under. As I placed my hand on the stone I prayed, “I’m not sure what to do Lord. I know you have a plan, but I feel like I lack the strength to follow where You go.” My eyes watered and voice quivered at the thought. “If you take mom home, don’t let me act like I did when you took Rebekah…”
My prayer was cut short by a gruff voice behind me. “Mr. Fredrick we would like to have a word with you.”
Chapter 4
Threating
I turned to see two serious looking men. As I tried to hide my tears, I looked them over. The first, who was younger, had unruly brown hair and wore a black scarf along with his black trench coat. The second, the one I assumed spoke, had a military-style haircut and wore large dark sunglasses to match his leather jacket. I quickly noticed the younger had a concealed handgun inside his coat.
Remaining calm I asked, “Can I help you, gentlemen?”
The older guy straightened his jacket and said, “Yes, we have a proposition for you.”
The younger stretched out his hand and said warmly, “Hello Arphaxad Fredrick, it’s a real pleasure to meet you. I am Derek, and I’m a big fan of your work.” I shook his hand; he was probably not much older than me. “You are going to have to excuse Jeff, as he’s often too formal for his own good.”
Jeff, contrary to what his companion said, didn’t attempt a handshake, which was typically a formal thing to do. I asked, “What work were you in reference to? I’m just a museum tour guide.”
Derek chuckled. “See Jeff, I told you he would play coy.”
“We should retire to a more secure location. Mr. Fredrick, please finish your respects to Ms. Crown and follow me,” Jeff said gruffly.
He turned to walk towards a large dark news van and Derek followed after, “You meant us, right, Jeff?”
Jeff didn’t reply but just kept walking, placing his hands in his pockets. Questions started to swirl in my head. Who were these men? How did they know about me and Rebekah? How did they know that I would be here? Or better yet, did they know about the Blue Blur? Instinct advised me to run, but my curiosity convinced me to follow.
They led me to the van and Jeff heaved open the side door. He stepped into the vehicle and Derek followed suit. I hesitated at first but Derek popped his head back out. “Come on, do you want this business to be out in the open where anyone can hear?”
I looked into the passenger window; no one was in the driver seat. I entered into the van and Derek shut the door. For a brief moment, I was in shadow before Jeff flipped a switch and revealed a large desk that lined the driver side wall. The rest of the wall above the desk was covered in computer screens, most of which were off.
Jeff gestured to a chair and I sat down. The two men also sat in separate chairs and I asked, “What is all this about?”
Derek said, “The area is secured, you don’t have to play dumb.”
I began to give a response, but Jeff typed commands on a keyboard and said, “This is you, correct?” The screens came alive with different shots of the Blue Blur. Some were from interviews, and some were brief clips of me zipping by cameras.
Avoiding the question, I said, “Those are great clips, how’d you get them?”
Jeff rolled his eyes and pressed another key. The screens changed to satellite videos of me either running into my home or running in its direction. I rubbed my eyebrows and Jeff said, “If you were truly concerned with your identity, you would’ve been more careful, Blue Blur.”
I sighed and gave up the charade. “What do you want? Are you going to threaten me, or my family?”
Jeff folded his hands. “No, of course not.”
Chuckling, Derek added, “After what you did to the Troll, we wouldn’t dare.”
Jeff cleared his throat to hush Derek and continued, “We want to warn you about what you’ve stumbled upon.”
“Is this about that guy who was robbing the bank?”
He nodded. “Yes, we’ve been after him for a few months now.”
“Who’s we? Who are you guys?” I asked, but it seemed more like a demand.
Jeff pulled out a badge and briefly showed it to me. “We work for a specialized division of the C.I.A called I.O.D.I.N.E. It stands for International Operations of Defense, Intelligence, Negotiations, and Espionage. We are the part of the C.I.A that works outside of the C.I.A. We do the work that would otherwise be too dangerous for other agents to do.” He put the badge back in his jacket pocket and continued, “This thief has eluded our grasp for some time now. You just so happened to stumble across him.”
He pressed another key and the screens changed again. I watched a man, his features covered by shadow, walk down a dark hallway of what looked like a bank. Two security guards approached him with guns drawn. When they approached him, he shot flashes of purple light from his palms, causing the guards to drop. He then turned to the camera and fired an energy blast at it.
“We are calling him Mindsweeper,” Derek said ominously. “He never kills, but it seems with the energy from his hands, he can alter or erase memories. Fortunately, the two men in the footage only sustained minor memory loss, forgetting only that night’s events, just like what happened to you. Typically, that is what he does. He also occasionally takes the tape, but our agents were on him that night and he had to flee quickly.”
I nodded. “So, are you going to help me catch this guy?”
Jeff shook his head. “We are not planning to involve a civilian.”
Derek tried not to sound too obvious. “It’s not like Mr. Fredrick here is just anyone. I mean he could be of some help. Mindsweeper isn’t going to stop thieving anytime soon.”
“How much has he stolen?” I asked.
Jeff roll
ed his eyes. “There’s no telling exactly how much, with him being so good at covering his tracks. We estimate millions in total from around the world.” Turning his attention to Derek, he added, “You know what it would mean for him to be let into this investigation.”
“And that would be?” I interrupted.
Jeff shook his head and said, “We would have to recruit you.”
“Oh. What would that mean?”
Derek chimed in with, “Just think of the good we could do with our resources and your speed. We would be able to stop any crime before it even happened – neutralize any terrorist, any threat, in an instant.”
I rubbed my chin and started to think about it. Having government backing would definitely be a great advantage. I wouldn’t have to worry about my identity, because the government would help cover that, but something clicked in my head. “Is there a catch?”
Jeff nodded, “Yes, you see therein lies the problem. IODINE agents are not allowed to speak in public or private about certain things in order to keep a low profile. Some of these things you are very outspoken about…”
Derek laughed. “Very? That’s the understatement of the year.”
I didn’t even comment on that, as I knew where the conversation would be going.
“You could still go out and do your Jesus thing, but you couldn’t just talk about anything you wanted. You would have… restrictions,” Jeff said folding his hands again.
I laughed. “Ok, I agree with Jeff. I couldn’t fit in your agency.”
Confused, Derek said, “Why not? You mean you don’t want to be a part of a spy group, with all the cool gear and fancy cars, just because you can’t talk about what you want?”
I calmly stated, “I cannot compromise on what the Bible teaches. I will share the whole gospel. Nothing will change that.”
A Mission Remembered Page 2
