“So, you slapped me?” Rick asked harshly.
“It worked!” Mel said. “Although, I’ve never had anybody punch me back.”
“Sorry.” Rick tried to be consoling. “It’s a reflex.”
“I should have remembered,” Mel said sullenly, twisting his neck and shoulders to put every joint back into place. “You always were quick reflexed.”
Pete interrupted. “I hate to break up da bondin’ moment, boys, but I’ve got da port set. It time to rock.” He said stepping away from the controls he had been working with.
Mel looked at the stone pedestal then back to Rick. “Okay, Rick. I’ll be waiting here for you and Pete when you get back with Rog.” He said with a smile.
Rick’s face quickly fell. “I’m still unclear on this whole thing about you not going. I don’t even know where I’m going.”
Mel took a deep breath. And put one hand on Rick’s shoulder. “Look, you’re going to port with Pete over to the asylum and pick up Roger and bring him back. Very simple, very quick, no fuss.” He said slowly and gently.
“Okay,” Rick replied in the same fake calming tone. “But, why aren’t YOU going?”
Mel stood back a little and looked uncertainly at Pete. “Well, that’s a little complicated.”
“I’m listening.” Rick prompted him.
“It’s not an easy thing to explain.” Mel tried to re-emphasize.
Pete stepped up and tried to lend a hand. “He’s right, bra. He got to stay here. Dere’s some really big reasons why.”
Rick looked over at Pete. “And those reasons are?”
Pete looked at him troubled. “Well, he…”
Mel interrupted him. “I tried to tell you some of this in the car.” He pleaded with his friend.
“Which part, Mel? The part about you and Rog being the same person or you leaving everybody when Pete kidnapped you?” Rick grew frustrated.
“I told you I wasn’t kidnapped…” Mel started.
Pete chuckled. “You done told him dis stuff, huh?”
Mel looked over at his mentor. “Most of it.”
Rick looked at semi-irritated. “Whatever? I’m still not getting the whole you can’t go along thing.”
Mel stopped for a moment looking at his friend closely and pondering how to explain the physics involved. “We can’t be together because we’re the same person, Rick. Didn’t you get it? Remember Ghosts Busters?”
Rick looked at him confused. “I’m not in the mood to play movie quotes, Mel.” He coldly responded.
“No, just follow me here,” Mel emphasized. “Remember when Egon explained about crossing the streams? Remember what he said would happen?”
Rick nodded his head. “Yeah?”
“Well, think that way. I am protected by a prime shield that comes from Company Headquarters. It would protect us normally. But, while Roger is in the asylum, an asylum built for him, he’s covered by another type of sphere built to help control his…um, mental issues. If you brought me and him together under the same shield, the Prime Sphere wouldn’t help, and the destructive potential would be much worse…a lot worse, than just normal ever day exposure. It would dramatically accelerate and intensify the destructive potential.”
Rick looked at him doubtfully. “Like what are you saying here? End of the universe kind of stuff?”
“Well, that’s the worst case scenario.” Mel acknowledged.
“What’s the best case scenario?” Rick asked.
“He and I would cancel each other’s realities out, and we wouldn’t exist anymore. Kind of put a whole kabash on our long range plans to stop the next apocalypse.” Mel shock hi head at Rick.
“So, that’s why Pete and I have to go and you can’t?” Rick asked him.
Mel looked at him hopefully, praying that the quick analogy would suffice and that Rick was mentally able to grasp what he was telling him. Finally, Rick nodded back and breathed a sigh. “Okay then. I can make do with that for now.” He looked at Pete. “You ready?”
Pete grinned and nodded that he was.
Rick looked at Mel Sternly. “I’m gonna do this for you, Mel, because we’re friends, and you asked me to. But, if this all goes horribly wrong, which I suspect it will…then I’m going to punch you again. Really hard this time.” Rick said.
Mel smiled, forgetting that his jaw really hurt from Rick’s punch, then grimaced from the pain. “It’s a deal.”
“You mind hittin’ the go button bra?” Pete asked his protégé as he stood closer to Rick. “Rick you remember what I said about comin’ in here? Get ready for worse den dat.” Mel went over to the stone pedestal and found the large carved button he was looking for and immediately pressed it. Before Rick could protest a flash of very intense light surrounded the two of them and they were gone.
Seasickness is a type of nauseating vertigo that, once experienced, one never forgets. Rick had just recovered from reality pyschosis in the port room when he was suddenly introduced to a whole new level of it while porting with Pete to Roger’s sanitarium. The bright flash of the port had temporarily blinded him. But, that didn’t really matter because where they ported into was pitch black and there was nothing to see. But, his head felt like somebody had opened up the top of his skull and spun his brain around really fast. The sensation was not pleasant in any sort of way. While he was left dealing with trying to figure which way was up, down left and right, his body was confused about whether it wanted to empty the stomach contents, the bowel contents, the bladder contents or maybe a random combination of several at the same time. Fortunately, he got ahold of that problem quickly and stopped it from doing either. Finally, his head stopped spinning; his vertigo settled down, and he realized he was standing on something solid…completely in the dark. He could tell, more by sensing it, that Pete was beside him. They were both standing somewhere in the pitch black together. Rick felt Pete’s reassuring hand. He heard him whisper. “Be very quiet.”
Rick tried to take a step, but his foot was blocked by something in his way. Unfortunately, for a man Rick’s size, it was next to impossible to recover from such a move and maintain his balance. His foot landed square in a metal mop bucket, and he twisted at the same time falling to the left, grabbing the door knob accidently while simultaneously opening the door and falling through it. Luckily a hard white tiled floor stopped his fall.
Rick found he had fallen very embarrassingly onto the floor of a semi-darkened hallway. But, even exposure to that much light was blinding. He squinted, tying to see down the hallway. As far as he could tell, there was nothing or anyone there.
Pete exited the utility closet over him and offered a hand up from the other side. “Bra, dat’s not very quiet.”
When he got Rick to his feet, they both pushed the mob bucket back into the closet and quietly closed the door. Rick was instinctively quiet, trying to control even the sounds of his breathing. It was several seconds before he realized he had been holding his breath. Pete put out of his hand and steadied him, putting a finger to his mouth to tell him to be quiet. Then he pointed down the half lit hallway toward the ceiling. There was some sort of device mounted there, but it was too deeply covered in shadow for Rick to see it clearly. All he could make out was a green light flashing on its base. Pete turned him gently until he was facing the opposite direction and he pointed at another one of the boxes in the ceiling at that end. Then he repeated the shush sign and moved very close to Rick’s left ear. “Voice an’ movement activated.” He whispered almost imperceptibly. Rick looked at him not understanding. “Dart guns. Knock you out in less dan a second.”
“How are we going to get passed them?” Rick asked just as quietly.
“Skill,” Pete whispered back. “Follow me. Do jus’ what I do.” He began to move quietly forward and closer to the wall until they were right against it inching their way forward. They both kept their eyes on the flashing green light as they moved ever so quietly and slowly forward. Finally, they made the thirty feet to the
end of the hallway and were directly underneath the box. Pete got Rick’s attention and pointed up at a large switch beside the green light about seven feet up. The old Chamorro was too short to reach it, but he indicated he wanted Rick to stretch up and turn the switch. Rick did so ever so slowly until he had it turned. The green light changed to a blue one, and there was a sigh of relief from Pete.
“It off now,” He said a little louder. “Dey motion sensitive but not so much on one side if you move really slow. Dat a safety feature. Green means armed, red means fire and blue means off.”
“How many of these things are there?” Rick asked.
“One at each end of da hallways. But, dat not de real problem. We got to watch for the roving sentries. De gonna be around ‘fore long. We don’t have much time. Dey got a badge dat lets ‘em pass by dese tings.” Pete informed him.
“Okay.” Rick looked a little worried. “How many hallways do we have to go down to get to Rog?”
Pete thought for a moment, remembering his visit from six years ago. “Two…no! Wait, three. Three hallways.”
Rick rolled his eyes. “You’re sure?”
“Yup, three hallways.” Pete reaffirmed.
“And all we have to do is move slow and quiet, disarm these things and watch out for this roving patrols?” Rick sounded hopeful.
Pete smiled. “Yup…oh, wait I forgot to mention, de patrols are androids, bra, and dey tied into the defense system. Dey go offline de alarms get tripped. So, be careful of dat.”
Rick shook his head in disbelief. “Is there anything else I need to know?”
“Nope.” Pete thought. “Wait! ‘Cept de patrols de got guns. Bad guns.” He added.
Rick sighed heavily. “And we didn’t bring any guns did we?”
Pete looked insulted. “We don’t need no guns for dese guys. Field agents use der heads, Rick. We smarter.”
Rick looked at him doubtful again.
“Unless we get in trouble. Den agents use guns.” Pete added, not realizing the futility of his statement to Rick’s anxiety. “Come on. Les’ keep movin’.”
The next hallway went the same as the first, and they managed to silently and stealthily disarm the next two dart guns. But as Pete edged quietly up to the corner of the next hallway and peaked around the corner he saw what he had feared most. An android sentry was standing six feet away with its back to them. The android had a humanoid torso but a canister like lower body with treads on each side for movement. It was silent and motionless, staring at its companion who was facing toward him at the other end of the hallway. In their cold metal hands, they held very powerful stun guns, but they looked to be in sleep mode. He could also clearly see two android guards standing behind a desk that was further down and past the second sentry. They, too, looked like they were in sleep mode, not moving, but they stood directly in front of Roger’s room. He knew that only the slightest movement would awaken them. Pete quickly drew back and looked at Rick concerned.
“What?’ Rick whispered.
Pete shushed him again and pointed to around the corner. Rick edged around and took a look for himself. When he was satisfied he, too, pulled back and emulated Pete’s troubled look. “What are we going to do?” Rick asked so quietly it was barely audible. He could tell Pete was trying to work out the next move, trying to use his finely tuned agent’s skills to outsmart the four androids. He waited silently for a few moments before frustration took over and he prepared to solve the problem his way.
“Oh, screw it,” he whispered harshly and in a move that was far quicker than Pete would have thought a man his size could make he rushed around the corner at full speed. The sudden movement was instantly registered by the first droid and the lights of its eyes turned on along with the sound of motors and gears coming to life. He began to turn in a very mechanical way, but Rick had already crossed the distance between them before it could make a quarter of a turn. He slammed into its back at full speed and despite the considerable weight of the machine, his momentum drove him into it hard as he tackled it at the midsection and its treads yielded. The sentry’s processors tried to determine the nature of the threat against it, but it was too confused and taken by surprise to respond. Rick continued forward, pushing the machine with him. The second sentry also came to life with the sudden movement, but Rick didn’t stop. He plowed ahead with all his strength and energy pushing the sentry in his grasp even as it tried to reverse the direction it was going by squealing it’s treads backward. But, it didn’t stand a chance of stopping Rick. Both of them plowed hard into the second sentry that reacted by firing its weapon into the metal chest of its fellow guard. Then they all three made contact and the metal arm of the second sentry sheared off, sending a last minute stun ray into the ceiling where it fried the circuits of the dart gun machine located just overhead in a shower of electrical sparks. But, the carnage didn’t end there. Now, all three of them were propelled by Rick’s momentum into the desk of the last two guards who stood watch over the locked door of Roger’s room. The flimsy desk broke and pieces of particle board flew in all directions as the three objects fell upon the two guards in a mass of man and machines. The sound of the crash was horrendous, and the sparks from shorting wires filled the half-lit hallway in a glorious display of color and light. When it was over all that remained was a few metallic clangs, darkness and the sound of wires hissing and gears grinding against the air. The desk, the guards, and Rick were all entangled in amass of broken wood, metal parts and falling ceiling tiles.
Pete stepped out in the hallway stunned. He had never expected such a bold and direct move from a novice Company man. He had never seen anything quite like it. Even Mel hadn’t shown that much aptitude his first go around. He walked slowly up to the distorted mass, avoiding the live wires hanging from the ceiling that were still sparking. The hallway was mostly dark now but a faint glow illuminated enough to see what destruction Rick had unleashed. When Pete neared the mass Rick sat upright groaning, a metal arm with a stun gun still gripped in its hand in his left hand and a detached android head in the other. He was covered in bits of ceiling tile and particle board, and he was staring blankly at Pete as he walked up, his hair flecked with small white bits.
He looked over at Pete; his face contorted in pain. “I think I hurt myself.” He sputtered and spit out bits of debris.
Pete was almost speechless. “Dat pretty good, oh boy. Not bad. How come you tink a dat move?”
Rick stared back at him. “I dunno. Sorta came to me is all.” He threw down the metal parts in his hands and they clanged on the tile floor. Pete reached over and helped him up, both of them grunting and heaving with the effort.
“You gonna make some kinda field agent someday, Rick,” Pete said, the closest thing to a compliment he could manage. “Come on, les open dis door and get Rog out.”
Rick grunted a painful reply and tried to follow, limping somewhat, behind Pete as he crept over toward the doorway directly in front of them. Above the doorway was the numbers 168.
“Hey, Pete I thought Mel said this place was built just for Roger?” Rick asked, noticing the number.
Pete stopped short of the electronic keypad on the wall next to the door. “It is, bra.”
“Then why is the room numbered? Are there more rooms than this?” Rick asked.
Pete thought about his question. “I guess so. Don’t know why do. But dis Rog’s room.” He started back trying to unlock the door on the keypad. “Dat not got me worried do,” He added.
Rick was surprised. “What’s got you worried?” He asked as a bit of a ceiling tile fell out of his hair and into his eye. He rubbed quickly trying to dislodge it.
Pete kept punching numbers. “How come de alarm not going off after dat move you just pulled?” He asked.
Rick looked around expectantly as if something or someone might come at them quickly out of the darkness. But, nothing moved, aside from them.
Pete had entered several combinations of numbers before he stood ba
ck in frustration. “Dey change de lock!” He hissed. Finally, he reared back and with a powerful kick he slammed his foot into the keypad with only his flip flop for protection. The keypad sheared off the wall, and sparks flew out from behind it. He locked at Rick and smiled as the door hummed and then clicked open. “Dat’s de Chamorro locksmith move dare.” He pushed the door open all the way, and they both looked inside at the same time.
Roger sat on the floor in the nude. He was sitting with his back towards them, reading a magazine. When the door opened, he turned to look at them, “Oh, hey guys. I forgot you were coming. Hey, Rick, how ya been?”
Pete chuckled and shook his head. “Rog, where you clothes, bra?”
The first thing about the situation that struck Rick in a shocking way was not Roger’s thin and gnarled nude body but how strikingly similar he was to Mel. Had he looked like this all along and he just never noticed it when they were kids? He was the spitting image of Mel. It was the same long thin features and the same pronounced forehead. Only his hair was slightly different. There was more of it, and it was parted on the side and longer. But, closer examination yielded smaller differences like a strange, otherworldly look in his eyes and a very unnerving spacey grin.
Pete grabbed the white blanket off Roger’s bed and wrapped him in it. “Come on Rog we gotta go.”
Roger stood up. ”You don’t mind if my pet cockroach Rufus comes along?”
Pete grabbed his arm, “You can bring you pet giraffe but we got to go, bra.”
Rick helped Pete with guiding Roger as they made their way back toward the utility closet. Roger looked at Pete, “Be careful of the hall walkers, Pete. They’re everywhere like rabbits. Hey, can I say goodbye to 178 before I go?”
“Okay, Rog, you de only one here do. You been de only one here since dey built the place for you.” Pete shook his head.
“No, that doesn’t sound right.” Roger looked very concerned. “There’s all sorts of people here. Stick around for lunch and I’ll introduce you to Mel Brooks. Speaking of Mel where is my brother? He didn’t come with you did he? Of course not, now I remember why.” He prattled on. “Hey, Rick! How’s your car? Hey, has anyone seen my family…?” Pete ignored him and pulled a small device from his pocket. He pressed several buttons and the port light opened around them and then they were gone, leaving the dark, the broken desk, the mangled robots and the deafening sound of silence. Someone had shut off the alarm.
Rick Carter's First Big Adventure (Pete's Barbecue Book 1) Page 13
