Jericho Johnson: The Gauntlet of Time

by J. A. Stowell

  “Very,” Chloe said. I hadn’t seen her this shook up since she explained to me about her father’s safety ages ago, “They’ve had clinical tests on subjects to try and make something like Beck for a-hundred years or more. The reason it was deemed illegal over twenty years ago was because the subjects all ended up with the same results… or side-effects.”

  “Like being extremely obnoxious?” I asked.

  “Try the human brain completely rejecting the process of robotics being grafted to the spine,” she said. “Once that was discovered scientists found out that by simply isolating and removing a single brain cell in the left frontal lobe, a secure binding could be achieved.”

  “Let me guess--that was the brain cell that made people not be obnoxious.”

  Shrugging, Chloe said, “I suppose you could look at it that way. Side-effects aren’t visible right away but over time the cell will try and grow back and sometime during that process the subjects became removed from themselves as well as other’s around them.”

  “So they, like, start feeling crazy?”

  “They start feeling human again and that causes the conflict. Regardless of how many times the greatest minds of our generation have tried and retried, the end result was always a reclusive, sometimes violent person with a lot of expensive hardware inside of them that ended up being disposed of.”

  I looked at her. “Disposed of? Like, killed?”

  Nodding, she said, “That’s when they outlawed it.”

  “So your sister’s problem is…?”

  “She’s still alive,” Chloe said quietly. “Beck is my sister, Jericho. But that doesn’t change the fact that she wasn’t supposed to be like this. No one is. That’s the reason the cell grows back in the first place. The brain knows that the spine is being violated and it tries to purge it.”

  This was a lot to take in. “So Beck could snap at any time and start, like, killing people?”

  “The cell normally grows back in a few months so she’s already snapped. That and her memory returning were most likely the reasons she ran away again,” Chloe said.

  “But Beck is anything but reclusive,” I told her. “If anything she’s the exact opposite. And I can vouch for her knowledge of the English witticism dictionary personally.”

  “That’s where I draw a blank,” Chloe said, shaking her head slightly. “All previous tests were done in a controlled lab with simulated scenarios at best so there isn’t any data on how people like Beck would react to the real world.”

  “Well, she runs things around here so I guess she’s reacting pretty well.” I stood up straight and stretched. “A group of rebels screaming, shouting and fighting for equality in the world might be just the thing a person who feels non human might need.”

  “Maybe.” Chloe said and then we were silent for what seemed like a long time watching the weapon construction below us. Then she asked, “Does Piper think that I kissed you?”

  I nodded. “Yeah.”

  “You don’t have to worry about me getting in your way, Jericho. I’ve seen the way you look at her.”

  “Appreciate it,” I muttered. “Now if we could only get the D batteries out of your sister’s back I’d be at the top again.”

  Chloe laughed at that before getting serious again and saying, “Please don’t say anything like that to Beck. I’m not sure how stable she is so you might want to lay off the synthetic jokes and comments.”

  Uh oh.

  “So, what’d the two of you talk about?” Chloe asked.

  Shrugging, I began walking the direction Piper had gone and she fell in step behind me.

  “Nothing.”

  Chapter 35

  “So you didn’t kiss Jericho?” Piper asked Chloe after the two of us had found her in the dingy, hard room that the Rebels had given to her and Chloe and explained what had happened.

  “No,” Chloe confirmed. “Although the thought has crossed my mind.” she added with a smile. “Only he doesn’t look like he’d be the best kisser, if I had to assume.”

  It took Piper about three full seconds for the story to sink in, her to be cool with it, then for her to realize that Beck had mega played her and then she was mad. “Who does she think she is?” Piper asked, looking ever the dangerous warrior chic.

  And also kind of hot. Just saying. It was still crazy that she was wearing 2012 clothes to me. Cool, yet crazy at the same time.

  Crazy hot. Okay, okay… I’ll stop.

  I listened again to Beck’s not-so-easy-on-the-ears back story as Chloe once again related the tale to Piper. Not sure why she felt the need to explain things to the Viking girl considering Piper had long since given up trying to understand the future.

  When Chloe had finished, Piper said, “A renowned man in our village once killed a mother bear in a cave but kept her cub alive and brought it home. It was fun and cute when it was small and on a rope but as it grew it became dangerous and bloodthirsty as a bear should be. Then it had to be killed.”

  This wasn’t what Chloe wanted to hear but it also wasn’t anything she hadn’t already thought of, I could tell. “She’s like this because her team came up against mine in a firefight and mine won. I’ve already killed her once and I’m not exactly standing in line to do it again, if I can help it.”

  “Well, I’m glad you got that off your chest.” Beck said.

  What the heck? Where’d she come from? Whirling around like fifth graders caught with cigarettes, we all looked at her leaning against the doorframe with her arms crossed.

  “Don’t worry, sister. Words can’t explain how little I fear you so I’m not worried about whether or not you intend to put down your bear-like sibling.” Then she entered the room and nodded at Piper. “Good metaphor, by the way. Think that up all by yourself?”

  Before Beck could say anything else hurtful to anyone, I said, “You run the show, Beck. So when are we going for Klaus?”

  “Look at you all eager to die,” Beck said, flopping onto the ragged couch in the room. Leaning back into the almost nonexistent cushion on the sofas back, she crossed her legs and extended a hand to me. “Sit with me, Jericho.”

  “I’d rather stand, if it’s all the same to you.”

  “It is all the same to me and I’d prefer you sit.”

  “Go to helheim.” Piper said, taking a step in Beck’s direction.

  Beck laughed at that. It was a goodhearted chuckle really, the way someone might chuckle when playing a laid back fun game of foosball with a few friends.

  Not the way someone normal chuckles at a hardened Viking girl with more than a few kills under her belt.

  “You three are a tiresome lot,” Beck said and almost yawned, “Just sit, Jericho. I really don’t bite no matter how bearish you might think I am.”

  Since I wasn’t exactly ready for another round of wit warfare, I sat beside her. “See?” She asked, smiling and linking her arm through mine. “How hard was that?”

  “Just tell me your plan,” I said, shifting uncomfortably beside her.

  Shrugging, Beck said, “There really isn’t much to it, really. I could’ve killed Klaus long ago but never had a reason to.”

  “How about saving the world?”

  No sooner had the words left my mouth than Beck’s very inhuman eyes flicked to mine and all traces of jokes and laughter vanished.

  I know this sounds crazy but my heart also skipped a beat when the thing beside me locked her gaze on me.

  And not in a good way.

  Leaning toward me slightly, Beck’s eyes never left mine while her arm tightened around mine and she said, “Do you really think that I care what happens to this world?”

  Not wanting her to realize I was actually almost crazy scared, I said, “I’m going to go with no but, if that’s so, why help us?”

  Beck leaned back again. She didn’t look positively demonic like she had just looked, but she wasn’t playing around anymore for some reason. I know this is a tad unimportant now but I really didn’t unde
rstand why, after all the trash talk she and I exchanged, did she decide to go all crazy on me when I asked her about saving the world?

  I mean, not to put too much of a point on it but, hey, it’s only saving the world, after all, right?

  “Although you’re all tiresome I can’t help but be intrigued by your little suicide mission.” Pulling me backward, she clasped my hand between hers and said, in a manner that an older sister would explain something to a younger one, “You see, Jericho, although Klaus has never given me a reason to kill him I must confess that his knowledge of me is most unsettling.”

  I frowned. “What would that matter?”

  “Klaus was the head of the research teams twenty years ago,” Chloe told me. “He’d love to get his hands on Beck.”

  “Now you don’t have to feel bad for wanting me, sugar.” Beck said, smiling “I’m in high demand, you see.”

  It was hard not to say something along the lines of, “Oh yeah? Are the newer models going to be bug free and not have as many mental issues?”

  It was so hard to not say, in fact, that I, uh, might have actually said it. Just kind of slipped out.

  Beck’s smile broadened. “He’s so cute. I’ll take four.” Then she sighed and stood. “On a serious note, Klaus just wants me so he can dissect me and find out what makes me tick.”

  She glanced at me after a few seconds of silence and said, “What? No snappy comeback? There might be hope for you yet.”

  Not being able to help myself yet again, I asked, “Didn’t you leave the first time for some Rebel Romeo dude? I’d love to meet this guy because obviously his brain would be a great contribution to science in their studies of complete idiots.”

  “Jericho-“ Chloe began but Beck held up a hand, cutting her off.

  “His name was Devlin,” She said. “And you’re a few years late for a meeting, I’m afraid. I killed him a long time ago. If you find his body, though, let me know. He had wicked boots when I broke his neck and tossed him off a bridge.”

  I guess I must’ve been the only person in the room with shock on my face because Beck lol’d big time when she saw my expression. “I took his spot as the leader and he must not have liked that because I found out he was selling information to the Bears.” Shrugging, she added, “Plus he was a terrible kisser.”

  “Sorry I asked,” I muttered. “You’re tough, scary and a little on the crazy side of things. I think we’ve all established that. Now can we please get back to Klaus?”

  “His makeshift presidium is actually only fifty stories above us,” Beck said simply and all four of us glanced at the ceiling for some reason. “We’ve found the entrance to the lower levels of his building but never went into it because, like I said, we never had a reason to.”

  “So we won’t know what’s on the other side,” Piper said.

  “Oh, I could think of a few things that would probably be there to greet us and none of them are good, honey,” Beck told her while sitting on the arm of the mutilated couch. “And the firepower we’d need to fight back with won’t fit through the backdoor, so to speak.”

  We were all silent while we hashed out different plans in our heads. I mean, I know that’s what I was doing, anyway. Not exactly about getting into Klaus’ facility, but more so what the helheim we were going to do when we actually found him.

  Klaus was no doubt getting ready with his plan but I kept reminding myself that we had the final piece of his evil puzzle with us. He couldn’t finish his scheme without the original gauntlet. As if she were reading my mind, Beck said, “I would advise leaving the glove here, Jericho.”

  I was a little disconcerted at the mentioning of what I was thinking and glanced at her. She was watching me closely. Wait. She wasn’t really reading my mind, was she?

  Not a freakin’ chance in helheim. I thought, to see if she was really in my head.

  Smiling, she said, “You know it’s not a good idea to have it with you when confronting Klaus.”

  “I also know that it’s not a good idea to leave it in the hands of you and your pals. Sorry, but I can only handle one psycho time-traveling overlord at a time, thank you.” I know Chloe had warned me to lay off but Beck wasn’t exactly giving me the best material to work with on being polite.

  Beck shrugged. “Have it your way. I hope I’m close by to tell you I told you so.” Then she addressed Chloe, “When do you guys want to do this suicide mission?”

  Suicide. The word was meant to apply to everyone going on the said mission except everyone going all knew that the only suicide certain was mine.

  Then I saw that they were all looking at me for a decision. “What’s the rush?” I wanted to say, “We got his port key so why hurry off to my death?”

  Except I didn’t say that.

  I simply said a sophisticated version of it.

  “I’m not ready to die yet, guys,” I told them all. “I think I’m going to take a day to, like, think about a few things first.”

  Incidentally that’s when I decided to verbally record what you’re hearing right now on the gauntlet. I’m not sure what good it’ll be but I just had to tell someone. So thanks for listening, whoever-you-are.

  “Craven,” Beck said, crossing her arms. “Death isn’t so bad the first time around so long as your dear sister uses incinerary rounds causing instant third degree burns. Then you won’t feel a thing while you die.” Then she smiled at Chloe, “Thanks for that, by the way.”

  “You’re welcome,” Chloe snapped. I guess even she had had enough of Beck’s mouth. “What makes you think I wanted to kill you?”

  “Oh, no doubt you were just following the rules like the good little soldier you always were.”

  “And you were breaking them like the good little rebel you always were and you paid dearly for it,” Chloe said, her voice rising.

  “Did I?” Beck asked her menacingly and then they were in each other’s faces.

  That’s when I left. I didn’t know where I was going or why but I just couldn’t hear squabbling sisters right then. The underground went on forever, it felt like, as I trudged along, passing lots of people with smudges of grease on their faces and guns in their hands.

  Eventually I must've went in a circle, or something, because I ended up close to the room I'd woke up in. Hours had passed by already during my walk around the Rebel base and since I figured I didn't have anything better to do I entered the medical room with the notion of lying my soon-to-be deceased body on the rather uncomfortable gurney and at least get a good night's sleep before I died the next day.

  Except when I laid down I couldn't sleep. Like, at all. After tossing and turning on the ragged gurney for about ten minutes I sat up.

  And that's when I decided to record my story.

  I stood and crossed the room the the nightstand, the only other piece of furniture in the room besides the one chair beside the gurney, and I picked up the gauntlet of time. Sitting in the chair I put the glove on, flipped through the touchscreen and found the recording section.

  I guess this was originally added to the glove for a no doubt intrepid explorer to verbally record their many journeys through time.

  “I might be dead in a few hours,” I started off. “Please, I don't need your pity, sympathy or any other means of...” I talked for a good two minutes or so and stopped right before I started talking about the Vikings because my thoughts turned to Piper.

  I stopped the recording and stood up suddenly.

  I had a few things left to do before I delved into my tale.

  Chapter 36

  It didn't take me long to find Piper. She ended up being in the same room I'd left her in only Beck and Chloe were nowhere to be seen. Which was great, let me tell you.

  "Jericho," she said, smiling warmly at me when I entered the dim room, "Are you well?"

  I'd tried to work up a good way to put the thoughts in my head. Here, check out what it sounded like in my mind.

  "Piper, I just want you to know that I'm scared
. I've tried to be tough this whole time but now that I'm staring death in the face I must confess I'm hesitent. The world as we know it depends on me facing Klaus and maybe dying in the process. I don't want you to go with me because I'm afraid you'll die, too. I love you, Piper, I do. I want you to make it back to your village and live the rest of your life not having to worry about things that don't even apply to you or your time.

  Yeah, that's what it sounded like in my mind.

  What I ended up saying was, "So you really like me, huh?"

  She nodded.

  Crossing over to her, I pulled her up to me and brushed a strand of her blonde hair out of her face, "This is for just in case I die tomorrow," I said, holding the back of her head and planting a one-of-a-kind, bodacious, classic Jericho Johnson kiss on her lips.

  Not to brag but seriously, it was a great kiss that lasted around twenty seconds or more.

  After it was over she pulled back with her eyes still closed in- I'm not sure, actually, but it probably had something to do with the residual awesomeness I'd just showered her lips with. "And this," she opened her eyes, "Is for if you don't die."

  Then she kissed me.

  I'm not sure how long that one lasted because, frankly, I didn't have a stopwatch on hand and also don't really feel the need to explain the length of kissing to you anymore.

  After another hour with the warrior woman of my dreams, which had more kissing, talking, laughing, kissing, joking, kissing, more laughing, more talking and yes, more kissing in it, I stood.

  "I'm going back to the medbay, dearest," I told her, "There's something I have to finish up."

  Piper pulled her adorable mouth into a pout. "Are you sure you have to go?" She asked.

  Smiling, I brushed my knuckles across her cheek. "Yeah. This is kind of important. But I'll see you tomorrow and if I don't die the day after tomorrow, too."

  If you haven't already deduced that I left the hottie Viking chic of my dreams to come sit in a dusty, dark room and record this story for you, then I'll go ahead and say it for you:

  I left a hottie Viking chic of my dreams to come sit in a dusty, dark room alone to record this story for you, whoever-you-are.