Strangers and Shadows

by John Kowalsky

  “The last time she was at an overlap, Celia had to hole up in the Fifth for three weeks before we could come extract her,” Desmond said.

  “I see… why didn’t she just teleport herself back here, or whatever you guys call it?” Jack asked.

  “The overlaps have a dead zone around them that prevents anyone from jumping out. Some of the dead zones extend for miles,” Desmond explained.

  “What? You’re just stuck there?”

  “If you’re inside of that dead zone, then yes.” Celia crossed her arms. “Most fields only encompass the building or immediate surroundings, but the one that I got trapped in was almost a square mile. I can’t believe I’m about to do this again…”

  Jack had never seen Celia nervous before and he couldn’t say that he liked it. “But when you brought me here…?” Jack turned to Desmond.

  “We didn’t come from an overlap area, Jack, but even so, I am a bit of a rarity. I alone seem to be able to jump out of an overlap.”

  “Yeah, Dad’s a real freak of nature.”

  Desmond showed a small grin and turned to Jack. “Jack, have I ever told you Celia’s nickname?”

  “Don’t you dare!” Celia cut him off.

  “Sooo…” Jack began, “What’s an overlap again?” He still couldn’t get his head around the concept.

  “In addition to being what Celia said, overlaps are just what the name implies. They’re overlaps in the verses—places where one universe physically meets another. Some overlaps are just between two verses, some are between several verses, and a very small number are between all seven.” Desmond stood abruptly. “It’s time.”

  Celia murmured a few curses under her breath and joined her father and her new lover at the door to the office. “Here,” she handed Jack a semi-automatic pistol, “I assume you know how to use one of these things?”

  Jack nodded and tucked the weapon away behind his back, concealing it under his coat.

  “Normally, I’d give you a blaster, but, should the shit hit the fan, we can’t have energy bolts flying around in a verse that hasn’t invented them yet.”

  “Then I guess I’ll have to get by with good old projectiles,” Jack said.

  Desmond placed his hand on the oddly shaped knob and opened the door. “Come on you two.”

  Desmond walked through and his daughter and Jack Spade followed.

  @ The End

  Jack Spade found himself in a dimly lit dive bar. It was loud and smelled of spilled beer and sweat. They had entered at the back of the room with the bar on their left. Jack turned around expecting to see the door they had come through, but all he found was a wall with stickers and show posters of naked women on it. Guess it really is a one-way trip.

  The bar was about fifteen feet long. At the other end of the room, a loud rock band was playing on stage. The floor was crowded, the place was small, but there had to be at least a hundred and fifty people crammed into it. Most of the people were young, in their mid-twenties. Jack saw a lot of mohawks and strange hair cuts dyed an assortment of colors. Some were jumping up and down to the music, but most were just standing there, arms crossed, watching the band play as sweat poured off the musicians.

  They walked to the end of the bar where they saw the only exits. The main entrance was to the left and further down on the same wall was another door, a little wider than most. Must be where the bands load in, Jack thought.

  Do you see our guy? Jack heard Celia say in his head.

  No, not yet, but we’re a little early… I wanted to be able to check the place out first. Desmond thought back to her.

  “Guys!” Jack yelled over the noise of the band. “I can hear you in my head!”

  Yes, you can hear us, but you won’t be able to talk to us this way, and it’s too dangerous to be overheard here, so until our contact arrives, please keep quiet, Celia sent to him, all the while with a pleasant smile on her face as she looked at him with a twinkle in her eyes. Why don’t you order us a round of drinks?

  While Jack got the bartender’s attention, Desmond and Celia scanned the crowd for the man they were supposed to meet. No sign of him.

  Celia had just gotten her drink from Jack and was about to sit down when she felt someone’s hand grab her ass.

  She whirled around, ready to admonish Jack that this was neither the time, nor the place, and come to think of it, it didn’t seem like something Jack would do in the first place. She found the hand belonged to a middle-aged balding man, missing two teeth.

  “Now, please don’t get offended, little lady…” the blushing man said, the words whistling out through the gaps in his teeth. “Thing is, that man over there gave me a hunnerd dollars to grab your ass and tell you he’s waiting for you.”

  Celia shoved the man in the chest. “Get the fuck out of my way.”

  The man sailed backward into the wall, sliding down to the floor, his hand still wrapped tightly around the hundred dollar bill as if his life depended on it. If they found the scene amusing, Jack and Desmond didn’t show it. They followed Celia toward a dark booth in the corner. There was an older man sitting in the booth with a long dark overcoat, cut-off gloves on his hands, and a red-orange knit cap on his head. His long white hair showed beneath the knit cap and he had stupid grin on his face.

  Celia couldn’t help but laugh. “Uncle Wizard!” she managed to spurt out as she continued laughing. “What the hell are you wearing? Dad didn’t say you were the one meeting us.” She hugged the old man, instantly forgiving the bad joke.

  “Truth be told, I didn’t know,” Desmond said. “Jack, this is Wizard, an old family friend from the Seventh. Wizard, this is Jack Spade from the Fifth.”

  The old man shook Jack’s hand. “Good to meet you, son.” He turned to the others. “Come, sit down. We do have a reason to be here after all.”

  They piled into the small booth, Jack and Celia on one side and Wizard and Desmond on the other. Wizard reached into his pocket and pulled out a device that resembled a cell phone. He tapped the screen a few times and set the device down on the center of the table. Instantly the bar noise around them faded to silence and Jack could hear the rustling of his jacket against the back of the booth as he wiggled in his seat. Neat trick, he thought.

  Desmond began, “My informant mentioned you found the boy?”

  “Yes, we found him, but he’s gonna be tough to get to. White’s got him at one of her gifted facilities, running all sorts of tests,” Wizard said. “Problem is, we aren’t sure which one. And you know what it’s like these days... Anyone who knows anything is terrified to talk about it, and I can’t say I blame them.”

  “More importantly,” Celia said, “do we know what she wants with him?”

  “There have been rumors that she’s building some kind of machine. No two people have said the same thing about it. Some claim it’s a doomsday weapon, some say it’s for controlling the weather or modeling future events. The only confirmed thing is that the device does appear to exist. If I had to guess, I’d bet that she needs the boy for something to do with it.”

  “What could anyone possibly want from Kid?” Jack butted in. “He’s just a boy. He’s got nothing to do with any of this... Hell, he’s not even from any of your verses!”

  The group looked around at each other for a moment, as if hoping someone would have the answer to that question. Desmond appeared to be about to speak. His lips began to open, and then they stopped. His eyes went wide. “Get down!” he shouted as he flipped the table they were sitting at. The band stopped playing as the first few gun shots started.

  Jack crouched behind the table as the bullets flew by. The rage that had been building in him ever since Kid’s abduction now boiled to a head. He was only mildly aware of Desmond and Celia discussing what should be done as he grabbed his pistol and waded out into the bar, gun blazing.

  The Kid's Day

  Kid woke with his head pounding and his arms and legs tied up. The last thing he remembered was answering the door to
Jack’s apartment. He had been about to open the door when it came flying in at him, hitting him in the head and knocking him unconscious.

  Blood ran slowly down his face, most of it already dried. He couldn’t see his two assailants, but he could hear them talking. They were saying how they needed to hurry up, that a Shadow could be close by. They were scared, Kid realized.

  The door opened in whatever room Kid was being held and he saw the two shapes of the man and woman enter the room, silhouetted by the light from the hallway. They put a bag over Kid’s head, cut the rope that was binding his legs and hauled him up to his feet. They shut the door behind them, and though Kid couldn’t see anything in the dark of the bag, he could hear them whispering about whether or not something would work. He heard something about a key, and a watch.

  “Well, here goes nothing.” Kid heard the man say, followed by the sound of the door opening.

  “Hah! I told you it would work. How could you ever doubt your future queen?” the woman asked.

  “My apologies, Your Grace.”

  “Well?” It was the woman again.

  “Well what?”

  “Get the boy…” The woman exhaled a sigh of disgust. “Pick him up, or drag him through. I don’t care, just get him through the door.”

  Kid felt the man’s arms against his body as he tried to pick Kid up and throw him over his shoulder. Kid struggled, kicking wildly.

  “Stop it!” the man yelled.

  Kid did the opposite, putting even more effort into his escape. He was rewarded with a hard fall. His breath woofed out of him as his shoulder struck the ground and compressed into his ribs and lungs. His skull hit next and he saw stars inside the bag.

  “It was an accident,” the man said. He sounded apologetic.

  The woman sighed again. “Well, you did warn him… Pick him up and let’s go. We’re expected.”

  Kid opened his eyes to find himself lying down. He must have passed out again. He winced as he sat up. The bump on his head throbbed. He gently probed it with his fingers, finding a bandage with dried blood around the edges.

  He could tell that he wasn’t in the proverbial Kansas anymore, but it was hard to say how. Maybe it was the strange noises of people who shouldn’t have been there, or maybe it was just a feeling in the pit of his stomach. Either way, he was sure it was not a good thing.

  “Ah, I see you’re awake.”

  Kid jumped. There was a man sitting in a chair in the corner of the room. He hadn’t noticed him before. In fact, he hadn’t noticed much of anything about where he was.

  A cursory glance revealed that he was lying in a bed. There were guard rails on the sides and various pieces of equipment lined the walls with flashing lights and beeps and bloops. While not exactly like the ones he had seen on vids, Kid knew he was in a hospital room. Or something very much like a hospital room, anyway.

  “No need to be startled,” the man in the corner said, getting up out of the chair. “My name’s Dorian. I’m sorry about your injury, the agents I sent to rescue you really made a mess of things, and that’s on me. They haven’t been with us very long, and your extraction was, well, rather amateurish, I’m afraid. My apologies.”

  Kid watched the man, Dorian, as he spoke. His voice was gentle, but hard around the edges. He had a powerful physique and bright eyes. But there was something cruel behind them. Kid had seen that look before in the eyes of the boys from his neighborhood who used to throw rocks at cats, squealing delightfully whenever they were lucky enough to wound one.

  Dorian had the same feel to him, Kid thought. The kind of man who wouldn’t hesitate to inflict any amount of pain, if it would get him what he wanted.

  “They actually feel very bad about it and would like the chance to apologize to you,” Dorian said.

  The door opened and the young man and woman walked in the room. The man had his head bowed slightly, the woman, however, seemed to make it a point to hold hers as high as she could without staring at the ceiling.

  “We’re terribly sorry about your head,” the man said. “I’m Asher, and this is Ava. We didn’t know you were behind the door when we kicked it in. We just wanted to get you out of there as soon as possible. We should have been more careful, I’m sorry.”

  “Anything to add, Ava?” Dorian asked pointedly.

  Ava rolled her eyes and said, “Yeah, we’re sorry.”

  She did not seem sorry at all, Kid thought, but the young man, Asher, seemed to be genuinely sorry. Kid was in no mood for apologies, however. “Let’s start with someone telling me what the hell is going on here! And where is Jack? Where are my clothes?”

  “Kid, there is someone who would very much like to meet you if you’re feeling up to it. She can answer all of your questions for you. What do you say?” Dorian asked.

  Kid begrudgingly agreed. After all, what choice did he really have? He might be putting on a brave face, but most of that was anger. Below the surface, Kid was scared as hell and completely at the mercy of these adults.

  “Excellent. There are some new clothes for you on the table over there, and then when you’re changed and ready, I’ll take you to meet the Prime Minister,” Dorian said.

  He dismissed the young man and woman and left Kid alone in the room to change.

  Kid hopped off of the bed and examined the clothes left for him before putting them on. They had a strange feel, but they fit well and were comfortable once he had them on.

  Dorian led them to what looked like a fancy elevator to Kid. The doors opened, they walked in, and the doors closed behind them. The lift began to move even though no one had pressed a button.

  Dorian smiled at him and tapped his finger against his temple.

  Kid stared blankly at him, trying to figure out what he meant by it. He was starting to think that he was very far from home.

  The lift came to a stop and the doors opened to reveal a large spacious office with windows all the way around it, revealing the sprawling Capitol City as far as the eye could see.

  “We’re here for Lady White,” Ava said to the man dressed like a Secret Service agent.

  There was a bossiness to her tone that reminded Kid of the sandbox he used to play in as a child. Kid’s mother would make him go play outside in the afternoons so that she could take a nap before making dinner. The apartment complex had a swing set, some monkey bars, and Kid’s favorite, the sandbox. Most of the children were alright to play with, but there was one girl who was older and bigger than all the rest. She was mean, and worse, she had a gang to back it up. She used to terrorize that playground, sometimes making the other children eat disgusting things like worms, or mud, or even one time she picked her nose and made this little boy eat it. She told him it was pickles from a jar of relish.

  “Go ahead, she’s been expecting you,” the Secret Service man said.

  Kid was ushered into the room.

  “Ava, Asher, thank you for coming, and thank you for—oh my… Is this him, then?” The voice belonged to a woman, and reminded Kid of his grandmother’s voice. Her hair was snow white and came down past her shoulders. There was something oddly familiar about her.

  “Hello there, young man, I’m Lady Julia White. I know who you are, but I don’t know what you’re name is, I’m afraid.”

  Kid told her his name, but he got a bad feeling in his stomach. There was something scary about this woman. She wanted something.

  “I heard about your rather rough journey. I hope you won’t hold it against Ava and Asher here. They’ve only been with us for a few days now. Their methods were probably not the best, I’m sure.”

  “What do you want with me? Why am I here?” Kid asked.

  “Shh, dear. Calm down, is that any way to talk to your mother?” the White lady asked.

  “What the fuck are you talking about?” Kid asked, his face turning white just like the anger in his chest. “My mom’s dead!”

  The White lady tried to take Kid’s hands in hers, but Kid pulled them free, wildly lo
oking around for an escape.

  “I know this is difficult for you to hear, but I am your mother, Kid.”

  Kid shook his head back and forth, as if the very motion could unmake the truth of what he felt in his gut. He tried to back away, but his feet would not listen. His knees buckled and his vision blacked out as he fell to the floor.

  When he came to, Kid was lying in a hospital bed. There was an IV in his arm, and something was attached to his forehead on both temples. Must be hooked up to one of those brainwave machines, he thought. He remembered seeing a show about brainwaves back in the apartment with Jack. Sure enough, he looked over and saw the monitor that was displaying his vitals and his brainwave activity.

  The door opened and the White lady walked in. She had said she was his mother, but Kid didn’t know what to think. In fact, the more he thought about it, the more nervous he became. His heart started beating faster and a mini panic attack commenced.

  “Ah, you look much better Kid. For a while we were a little worried, so we ran some tests to make sure you didn’t have any serious illnesses. Turns out you just fainted from a system overload… too much stress.” She stroked Kid’s hair as she talked to him. “You should rest now. Everything is alright, I finally found you, and you’re home now.”

  She stood and began moving toward the door, her aide waiting for her just outside the room. She stopped and turned back. “I’m sorry about all this,” she began, “I know this can’t be easy for you. To be honest, it hasn’t been easy for me either.”

  “My mom’s dead,” Kid said. “She was killed by a crazy man with a giant robot.” It was the first time Kid had explained aloud how his parents had died and he realized how peculiar it sounded.