The Big Ten: The First Ten Books of the Beginnings Series

by Jacqueline Druga

  Forgoing his penlight, Danny sat up some and bent the temperature gauge out from his stand. On the back it was there, a magnet, tiny, black, and adhered.. “Shit.” Danny took it from the back and watched the needle fluctuate up and down from the release of the magnetic pull. The gauge stopped in normal range and Danny looked at the magnet he held in his hand.

  He pushed the case out further, retrieved his pen light, straightened the metal stand of the gauge and returned the case to its normal position. Upon standing up, he checked the lock. The freezer was secure.

  Tucking the clipboard under his arm, he started to leave that back room, still looking at the magnet. He was relieved to see the temperature was still normal, but puzzled at his discovery. Obviously it was placed in the back of the gauge to hinder any knowledge of fluctuation in temperature when the case was opened or closed. He made a comment in his notes and left the back lab. Danny dismissed the first question that came to his mind. The question of who all had access to the code to the back lab. In Beginnings, no code was ever secure. Someone always gives their code away, no matter how many times they had been told they shouldn’t. Danny was a culprit. After all, he gave Johnny his code that afternoon. But two questions did pop into Danny’s mind. Two questions he really wanted to know the answers to. One, how long had the magnet been in place impairing a true temperature reading. And the second, who in Beginnings would have the mechanical knowledge to know that not only placing a magnet on the gauge would stop it, but know that it only worked on certain types of gauges.

  With this question on his mind, the magnet in his hand, Danny waved to the rabbits--even the dead one--and left Dean’s cryo-lab.

  ^^^^

  Quitting time. Leaving the leadership in progress, Joe still had to do the cleanup. His desk looked straight. Files were put away and he readied to leave and go home. Or so he thought.

  “Got a minute?” Danny popped his head into Joe’s office.

  “Just that. What’s up?” Joe asked.

  “This.” Danny laid in Joe’s hand the magnet.

  “O.K.”

  “I found that.”

  “Good for you.” Joe gave it back.

  “No, Joe. I found that on the back of the temperature gauge on the freezer in the clinic.” Danny saw Joe didn’t quite understand. “Joe, that magnet stopped a valid reading from occurring. It made the needle stick and not move. Also, Dean has a dead rabbit in his lab so if you could break the news to him, I’d appreciate it. Man are those rabbits getting so fat I . . .”

  “Danny. Stop.” Joe halted him. “Halt the temperature gauge?”

  “Yeah. Makes the needle stick. What do you suppose Dean is up to making those rabbits so . . .”

  “Danny.” Johnny stopped his again. “Is the case working.”

  “Oh yeah. Temp is good, but if it did go bad, we don’t know.”

  “Do you think someone got into that case?”

  “Um . . .” Danny looked in thought. “Couldn’t say. Only Dean could say by opening it up, but . . . we wouldn’t know, see, because they could have that case opened forever. The temp could drop and we wouldn’t have known because of that magnet.”

  “I’ll have Dean check right away.”

  “Thanks, Joe.” Danny moved to the door. “Could we possibly put some alarm contacts on that case. That’ll be just between you and me.”

  “I’ll get Henry on it right away.”

  “Joe, between you and me. O.K.?”

  Joe looked oddly at Danny. “Why would you not want Henry involved.”

  “I don’t want anyone but us involved. No one is to know that case is armed. Someone with some knowledge rigged that gauge for a reason and if you want to find out who it is, then the best way to find out is to keep the knowledge of the alarm system to a minimal.”

  “I understand. Let me give that some thought.”

  “Thanks, Joe.” Danny waved and opened the door. As he did, Henry and Dean stood there. Danny snickered. “Sonny and Cher.” He laughed again and walked out.

  Henry gave a weird look to Danny “I hope he’s not calling me Sonny.”

  “Henry,” Dean snapped at him. “I think he was making me, Sonny. I’m the shorter one.”

  ‘Then he’s saying I’m a woman.” Henry walked into Joe’s office.

  “You have that long black hair like Cher,” Dean said.

  “I don’t want to be the woman. You should be the woman. Even thought I didn’t like Sonny, it was a shame how he ran into that tree, wasn’t it,. But . . .”

  Joe had enough. “Henry! Dean! I’m leaving. Is this important because I really don’t want to stand around hearing you two debate on which one of you is Sonny and which one of you is Cher.”

  Henry sat down. “We got information at the quantum lab today.”

  First Joe was going to get annoyed because Henry and Dean just sat and made themselves comfortable, but when he heard that bit of information, he perked up. “What did you find out?”

  Dean wanted to have his say first so he spoke before the words came out of Henry’s open mouth. “Jason gave us the history print up and his . . .”

  “Wait.” Joe held up his hand. “Jason gave you? Why is Jason giving you anything? You were supposed to sneak the information.”

  “Dean!” Henry pointed. “He started fighting with me.”

  “Me?” Dean laughed “No Henry you called me a dick. You started it first.”

  “You could have let it go. I was making a mere observation.”

  “I was going to let the fact that you called me a dick, go? Right.”

  “Grow up Dean.”

  “You grow up.”

  “Boys!” Joe yelled. “Why are you two bickering so badly.”

  “Him!” Henry pointed again. “He’s a . . . a . . .”

  “Dick Henry?” Dean questioned. “Go on say it. It’s your favorite word for me.”

  “Dick.”

  “Asshole.”

  “Boys!” Again, Joe yelled loudly. “Knock it off and get to the point, Jason gave you the . . .”

  “Joe.” Henry held out his hand. “Dean got physical with me. Look he sprained my finger when he smacked me.”

  Joe raised an eyebrow to Dean. “You smacked Henry’s hand?”

  “He pushed me.”

  “I see.” Joe nodded. “And then did you both stomp your feet and begin a flicking match?”

  So accusing Henry sounded. “He would have Joe, he’s so immature.”

  “Oh I’m immature?” Dean turned in his chair. “Who’s the one starting trouble because I won’t share Ellen?”

  “I’m not starting trouble Dean. You’re just over reacting.”

  “Over reacting.”

  Joe cleared his throat loudly. “I’m going to leave if I have to listen to this shit for one more second.”

  “He won’t share Joe.” Henry said. “And I even gave him his sight back.”

  Dean’s hand slammed on the arm of the chair. “I knew it. I knew one day you would throw that in my face. That is so like you. When you had that huge nasty cold sore on your face, I helped you get rid of that. You don’t hear me throwing that back at you.”

  “Ha!” Henry ridiculed. “I hardly see a comparison Dean. I gave you back your sight. I’d rather have a cold sore then be blind.”

  “Oh yeah! Obviously then you didn’t see how bad you looked.”

  Slam!

  The loud shutting of Joe’s office door made Dean and Henry turn around and it alerted them to the fact Joe had left.

  “See Dean.” Henry stood up. “You made Joe leave.” He hurried to the door. “I’m gonna catch him and tell him the news first.”

  “Don’t Henry.” Dean warned. “We decided to do this together.”

  “Too bad. I changed my mind. Ha!” With that as his final word, Henry flung open Joe’s office door and bolted out. Not wanting Henry to beat him to the punch, Dean quickly ensued behind.

  ^^^^

  One main thought ran t
hrough Robbie’s mind as he made final evening rounds in the community . . . George better get his ass in gear and call Dean so they could get a move on bringing Frank back home. Robbie was really getting tired of being head of security especially when he had to do rounds like he was stuck doing at that moment. He worked all day. He didn’t want to work nights too, making sure all buildings, front and back were secure. Besides mind-bitching about Frank and George--and Henry, just because--Robbie bitched about Dan. He was supposed to be doing these rounds. He volunteered to do them when Steve called off for the knee problem Robbie thought was borderline ridiculous. There was no reason Dan couldn’t do the rounds. Just because he got hit with a sudden case of intestinal flu didn’t mean he couldn’t work. There wasn’t a bathroom anywhere in center town that would be too far for Dan to run to.

  Making his final sweep was when Robbie saw it. The back door to the chapel was open. It was odd because the back door of the chapel was never used. No lighting back there made it unsafe--walking wise. It was ajar and, according to Robbie’s schedule of time, no one was to be in there. Thinking ‘finally a problem to perk things up’, Robbie walked in though the door. He passed Rev. Bob’s office. The light was on and the door was open to there as well. He peeked his head in and as he retraced it outward he noticed on the desk that the yearbooks were no longer there. ‘Bonus’ kept racing though Robbie’s mind, anticipating telling his father of the guilty move of the yearbooks. But first, Robbie had to do his job. Stepping toward the main part of the chapel, Robbie heard the voices. He would have gone further in but instead he moved back.

  “I should be leaving now.” Andrea said. “I’ll go back out the back.”

  “There really isn’t any need, Andrea, but let me walk you. I’ll leave that way too.” Rev. Bob told her.

  “Thank you.”

  ‘Shit!’ Robbie heard them coming and quickly darted back into Rev. Bob’s office.

  “Remember, Bob,” Andrea spoke as they passed his office, “some secrets are best kept hidden.”

  “Thank you for telling me that, Andrea.” Rev. Bob blindly reached into his office, flicked off the light and pulled the door closed. He checked the lock.

  In the dark office, Robbie stood cringing at what he heard. There could be a hundred explanations for what conversation transpired between Reverend Bob and Andrea and Robbie promised himself he would keep that in mind. But first he would finish his rounds and find his father to inform him of what had just transpired.

  ^^^^

  Bowman, North Dakota

  Hal’s elbows rested on his desk and his fingers massaged his temples as he stared down at the marked maps before him. “Two.” He raised his eyes to the scout that stood before him. “This one here. Wyoming is too small but, this one in Calgary, Canada bothers me.”

  “Too close to Beginnings,” The scout stated.

  “That’s why they keep getting hit. How many did you say there were?” Hal pulled the scout’s notes closer and squinted his eyes, blocking out the tension headache that built.

  “Too many to count. It looked like an Indian reservation. Tents. Fires. Animal hides drying out.”

  “And what made you and the other scout draw the conclusion that this was a savage camp?”

  “Sir?”

  “Sorry. Wildcats.” Hal studied the information.

  “They had found a man, sir and . . . besides the look we know well, the fact that this man was cooked on a fire like a pig gave it way. He was still partially clothed.”

  Hal swallowed. “The whole town?”

  “What was left of it. As you can see in our report . . .” The scout pointed. “They had pretty much wiped out the buildings outside of Calgary and set up camp.”

  “Why there?” Hal thought out loud. “Why there?”

  “Mountainous range. Safety. Well hidden. We wouldn’t have found them had we not followed a pack of four back there. They . . . they speak their own language, sir. All the details are in my notes.”

  “And they didn’t appear to be moving?” Hal questioned.

  “No sir.”

  “O.K.” Hal handed the scout his notes back. “I head to Beginnings in three days. I need you to work on a very detailed report of both camps. The Calgary one and the smaller one you discovered by accident. I need your observation, approximate head counts, what you saw as weapons, and lifestyles. You hid for two days. You know this, so report as much as you can come up with. I will give you better maps to draw what you and Tom saw as well.”

  “Yes sir.” The scout took his notes and nodded. “I will give you what I have daily and should you have any questions, just ask. That way I can have the completed report ready for when you leave.”

  “Thank you.”

  Giving Hal a departure salute, the scout left the office.

  Hal looked at the map that remained in front of him. Hal was aware of Savage camps and he knew Beginnings was aware of them also, but Hal was willing to wager, like him, Beginnings had no idea of the organization and size of camp so close to the border of the state they call home.

  ^^^^

  Binghamton, Alabama

  He remembered the melody well, but the words were a little lost. In Frank’ mind, as he lay on his bed still awake, he replaced those words. He would do anything at that moment to make the visual in his mind more real. Him and Ellen.

  He held her in his arms, a memory that had happened years before. They danced slowly to a song that everyone griped was on the jukebox. A song Frank thought was annoying at first, until he started to pay attention to the words and then the song became special.

  Though a tad different in his head, the words still meant the same and the memory frustrated Frank even more. He flung the covers from him and slipped out of bed, adjusting his boxer shorts. He moved across the dark room and turned on the light. Rubbing his eyes then scratching his head, Frank walked over to his dresser. He caught a glimpse of his reflection and his hair that was tossed about. “Fuckin’ hair.” As he patted it, his eyes shifted down. He saw what he wanted resting against the mirror. With the song so strong in his head Frank lifted the photograph that he sought out, needing to see. He pulled it closer to his view. His eyes closed only briefly and he let out a long heavy sigh, staring at it. “I miss you El. I miss you so much.”

  ^^^^

  Beginnings, Montana

  Ellen’s head sprang up and then her body slowly rose from her seat on the couch. How odd. She was just thinking of that song and now she heard it? Or was it her imagination? Ignoring Dean and Henry’s call of her name, in a trance-like state Ellen followed the music. It took her from the living room into the hall and to Josh’s room. She did hear it. Josh was playing that song. How did he get it?

  Her hand gripped on to the archway outside of Josh’s room as she drifted into the slow song that played. Without realizing it, while thinking of Frank, her head leaned into the door frame. She closed her eyes. Thoughts of Frank hit her as she got lost in the music. The feeling of missing him was so strong at that moment her chest actually ached.

  Ellen was entranced. She never heard the music stop playing or Dean and Henry call that it was ‘her turn’ in Monopoly. She never heard the bedroom door. If she had, perhaps Josh’s shriek of surprise when he saw her wouldn’t have started Ellen into screaming just as loudly as him.

  “Mom.” Josh grabbed his chest. “What are you doing?”

  “Sorry.” Ellen tried to calm her racing heart. “Josh, where did you get that song from?”

  “Dad’s things. Why?”

  “No reason. I just . . .” Ellen’s eyes widened in horror. “Oh my God, Josh, look at that room.”

  Quickly, Josh stepped into the hall and slammed the door. “What about it?”

  “Josh it’s horrible. I want that cleaned.”

  “O.K.” Josh shrugged. “I’ll do it now.”

  “Thank you and I’d better get back to the game.” Ellen pointed. “Clean that room before Dean sees it.”

  �
��Yep.” Josh nodded, waited until Ellen disappeared into the living room, and went back into his room, totally forgetting about the glass of water he left his domain for in the first place.

  Henry watched as Ellen took her seat on the couch and reached for the dice, rolling them. “You don’t get a double turn, El.”

  “I know.” Ellen moved her piece. “I won’t last too much longer anyhow. I only have forty-six dollars left.”

  Dean readied to take his turn. “That’s because Henry cheats.”

  Henry was appalled. “How do you figure that?”

  “You bought up all the property right way,” Dean said.

  “It within the rules, Dean.” Henry scoffed. “Read them and you owe me forty dollars rent.”

  “See.” Dean tossed him the money. “You bought everything you landed on. Now no one can build houses but you , because neither me or El has a grouping.”

  Henry snidely took the money. He took his turn, pleasingly landing on his own property.“Too bad. If you weren’t so cheap you would have bought some property the first time around.”

  “I ended up in jail,” Dean argued. He watched Ellen take her turn. “El, you OK?”