by Alex Myers
“What?” Ray Canter said as loud as a rifle shot entering the stateroom. “What did you say?”
Jack and Annie realized they were still holding each other’s hands and they both snatched them away. This time Jack saw the look of terror on Annie’s face.
“She’s like a mother to me too sometimes,” Ray said with a big smile on his face.
Jack could barely find his voice. “What? What was that Ray?”
“What you were saying when I walked in, about how she was like a mother to you—well, me too. I knocked for the longest time up there, I could hear you two talking. Hey, what do you two have up your sleeves?” Ray continued to beam his big toothy smile.
“Ray thinks I’m planning a fifty-fifth birthday party for him next week—I tell you Ray, I’m not,” Annie said.
“Oh, I think I’m in for some surprises, don’t you think Jack?” Ray said giving Jack a big wink.
“I think you are,” Jack said.
CHAPTER 4
Jack backed the boat away from the dock. The hydrogen engine was nearly silent, but extremely powerful. He cleared the last dock and hit a button that unfurled the front jib, immediately filling it with air. The wind pushed the boat with strength and surety, and he turned off the engine.
He rounded the spit, cleared the breakwater, and unfurled the main sail. Almost instantly, the boat’s speed increased by several knots as the golden Kevlar sail filled with air.
As a formality, he needed to get his e-chip renewed before he could take legal possession of the boat. This included a forced attendance at a nondenominational religious service. But the trip was an excuse for him to take the boat out on his first solo journey.
It was twelve-thirty, and he gave himself an hour to make the ten-mile trip. The sun was dancing on the face of the one-foot waves and a warm, stiff breeze was blowing in from the east.
It was a robin-egg blue afternoon and the boat was on full auto. Jack had programmed in his destination and a dock had been reserved for him. All he had to do was steer the boat, but only if he really wanted to—the nearly three thousand square feet of sails trimmed themselves and a tack warning tone would warn him when he needed to change direction. It gave him plenty of time to think.
It’s my money, yet I still need to check in with big brother every thirty days. He was also a little put off with the fact that this mysterious Professor Finney had never called him back. What did the professor want from him? On the wheel, an LCD displayed information about boats in the vicinity. Their radar image was displayed and highlighting a boat gave more details. Every licensed boat or ship carried a transponder much like one on an aircraft. Not only could it display a physical description like power source, beam, draft, and displacement, but in some cases the name of the owner, registered crew, and port of call.
Several of the big navy ships from the Norfolk Naval Base showed up as blips on his LCD display, but every time he tried to retrieve information, it was classified. He tried to log on to several of the smaller navy boats and got the same classified response from all of them.
Sailing by the huge aircraft carrier, the Ronald Reagan, once the largest ship in the US fleet, looked like a toy sitting next to the monstrous carrier, the Scarborough. Jack had no idea who the Scarborough was named for, but by the way it dwarfed the Reagan, it must’ve been someone important. Jack couldn’t get a readout on the display, but he figured the ship had to be at least seven hundred yards long and thirty-five stories high. The size was so unusual, the design so abnormal, that Jack felt disconcerted, and he didn’t know why. He remembered they used to call carriers like those in the Reagan class, floating cities because they could hold about nine thousand people. The Scarborough was at least two and a half times bigger than the Reagan and was significantly taller.
Even though his new boat was incredibly fast, it still took him a couple of minutes to traverse the beam of the behemoth ship. As he passed, he could see men with guns standing lookout on several levels of the ship. He grabbed a pair of binoculars from a storage compartment, and looking into them, he saw several binoculars staring back at him along with at least two sniper rifles. He gave a friendly wave and moved off as fast as the sailboat could sail.
He passed the naval yard and made the turn toward downtown. The buildings that made up the inner-city cluster were bigger than he remembered—taller and larger and gleaming with glass and reflective metals. He couldn’t believe the immensity of the buildings. Set against the water, they looked enormous.
He docked the boat at Waterside and caught a trolley to the service. A group of protesters was waving signs and warning of Revelation and Armageddon. The police were there with their radar-type guns scanning the crowd for missing e-chips. They would periodically find a violator and a struggle would ensue as the violator was hauled off into custody.
Jack kept his eyes straight ahead and unconsciously felt the e-chip on the back of his hand. The service was quite long, but he found it surprisingly interesting. The sermon was about the evils of gluttony, the overindulgence of food, alcohol, virtual reality, sex, and in something called “venoming”. He understood what they were talking about had something to do with replacing the drugs of his world with what they called the ultimate high—a DNA cocktail made from the user’s own blood with a pleasure sensing hormone kicked into overdrive. The sermon didn’t say any of these things were illegal, just that the overindulgence would lead to fallout in productivity.
At the end of the service, instead of receiving communion, the clergy renewed the e-chips making them valid for another four weeks.
On his way out, Jack picked up a pamphlet about special twelve-week renews available for people traveling to remote areas and other extenuating circumstances. A special meeting had to be arranged with a member of the clergy along with a valid excuse provided, but then a one hundred dollar e-chip debit and a special e-chip dispensation could be made.
Jack was still reading the flyer when he was hailed by a frantic female voice. He searched the crowd for the source.
“Jack Riggs! Over here!”
Jack looked in the direction of the protesters and saw a beautiful woman waving frantically. She found her way through the crowd and grabbed his arm. “Jack, it’s really you. I thought I would never find you.”
She had shoulder length chestnut-red hair and vivid blue-green eyes. Her skin was a perfectly clear olive brown. She looked to be about thirty-five. She was stunning. He also had never seen her before in his life.
“Are you okay?” She asked trying to catch her breath.
“I am fine. What’s going on?” He searched her face but she was a stranger to him.
“We’re in danger; we’ve got to get out of this crowd.” She grabbed his arm and led him quickly to a nearby alley, her long reddish hair bobbing as she moved into another alley, dragging him behind. In the darkness of yet another alley, she finally stopped and turned to face him. “I think we’re safe here for now.” She was keyed up, wiping the palms of her hands on the front on her jeans, panting, her eyes sparkling.
“Safe? Safe from whom?”
Having never let go of his arm, she took a step toward him. “From the people who are trying to kill you.”
She let go of his arm and hugged him—hugged him hard.
He broke away from her embrace and took a step back so he could see her face. “I’m sorry, do I know you?” The words came out sounding accusatory.
“This is no time to play games,” she said. “My God, I’ve missed you.”
“Wait a minute,” he said, holding her back at arm’s length. “Who’s trying to kill me?”
“Men hired by Martin Riggs,” she said.
“My father?”
“Jack, you really don’t remember any of this?”
“I don’t even remember you.”
Now she searched his eyes for any signs of recognition, and not finding any, she turned away.
“They said in the hospital that your memory had holes in i
t, but I never thought it would be to this extent.”
“What hospital?”
“Presbyterian Hospital. I read Dr. Mizell’s notes and she said because of the extent of your injuries, your memory was damaged, but she made it sound like it was only temporary.”
“You talked to Dr. Mizell?”
She furrowed her brow, not understanding his concern. “I told you I read her notes, why wouldn’t I?”
“I don’t know; it just seems really personal.”
“Personal?” She stepped closer to him again and searched his face. “Jack, are you saying you really don’t remember me?”
“Not at all. Should I?”
“I’m Payton. You were going to pick me up the day you crashed your car in the storm.” She bit her lower lip, one breath away from drawing blood. I waited for so long.”
“You have to forgive me,” Jack said putting his hand on her shoulder.
“Did I talk to Dr. Mizell? All those long nights while you were there lying in your coma.”
This woman, Payton, obviously had meant a lot to the other Jack. He didn’t know what to do. “I’m sorry; I just can’t seem to remember. As hard as I try I still get nothing.” She seemed to be withdrawing. “You said my father sent people to try to kill me?”
“No, that’s what you said, Jack. You said you had proof, something that would blow this whole thing apart.”
“Wait a minute, how did you find me?”
“Your e-chip. I hacked into the government’s e-chip renewal program. I had some people after me so I had to lay low for about a week, then I checked back with the hospital and you were gone. I kept trying to reach you on a special access line, but you never responded.” She wiped her palms on her pants again, this time like it was a nervous tick, not like she was trying to wipe something off. “I went in your penthouse this week and it looked as if you were never there.”
“You have a key to my apartment?”
“It doesn’t use a key, it uses a retinal scan and only you could’ve given me that access.” Now furrowing her brow, she looked indignant. “Do you not believe me?”
“It’s not that. Put yourself in my place.”
“That’s exactly what I have been doing. All that time I sat with you while you were in the hospital, looking for any kind of sign.”
“You found me by looking into a computer?”
“Not just any computer, the mega-mother of all computers, the one world government e-chip database. The protection schemes that are the most sophisticated in the world, the best I’ve ever encountered.”
“And you were able to beat it?” He asked skeptically.
“Hey, I just happened to be the second-best computer hacker in the world.”
“Second best? Who’s the first?”
“Steve ‘The Spirit’ Sanjay. He’s the guy who designed the protection scheme of the database.”
“I’m sorry, but this all seems a little far-fetched. How do I know you and you just happened to be the second-best hacker in the world? Did we just by chance bump into each other at the Apple Store?”
“We did not meet by chance. It was very deliberate.”
“Was it my money?”
“As a matter of fact it was.”
“My money? You’ve got to be kidding—and you’re admitting it.”
“I’m completely serious. You hired me.”
“To do what?”
“To hack into your father’s computers. Sacco Corporation, something the company was doing with archeology in St Lucia.”
“For the second-best computer hacker in the world, it doesn’t seem like you know very much.”
“You pulled me off the case after the first attempt on your life. You made me promise to stay away. Fang was killed when they bombed your office.”
“Fang Lee? Fang is dead?” Fang Lee was one of Jack’s close friends in his other reality. Fang and his wife, Melita, owned and ran the software company that made the computer game Craftwars.
Jack needed to sit down, but they were standing by an overflowing dumpster. “Let’s get out of here,” Jack said.
“Ok, but if I knew how to find you, your father’s henchmen probably do too. Do you have some place safe we can go? And I don’t think your penthouse is safe.”
“About the safest place I can think of—I have a boat docked at the harbor.”
“A boat? I thought you hated boats?”
“See what a great hideout it will be?”
“Did you borrow it? Are you renting it?”
“Bought it—why?”
“You paid with your e-chip?”
“Yes, well, technically, no. I couldn’t, it needed to be renewed. That’s why I came here.”
“Trustworthy people?” she asked.
“Old family friends.”
“Not a place your father would think to look for you?”
“Not ever.”
“It sounds like we are in luck. There’ll be no trace of the transaction. There have been no traces of any transactions for a week now. How have you been living?”
“I’m a man of simple means.” He smiled and it was genuine.
“That doesn’t sound like the Jack I knew.”
“I’m not the Jack you knew.” He became serious.
The disappointment was clearly written across her face. “But I loved the Jack I knew.” She turned away from him.
“I’m sorry. That was rude. I didn’t mean it that way.” He put his arm around her shoulder and squeezed.
She turned back to him and smiled. That smile, it about knocked him over. He thought she was one of the most beautiful women he’d ever seen. It felt like there was absolutely no chemistry though, which Jack thought was a little strange. In the old days, a woman who looked like this, there didn’t need to be chemistry, he would have invented the chemistry.
“Back to me being a man of simple means, you should see my boat. It’s pretty extravagant.”
“A big power cruiser I bet, with a huge fast engine?”
“Actually no. It’s a sailboat.”
“Sailboat? Now I’m even more blown away. You said that sailing was for people with too much time on their hands. That really doesn’t sound like the Jack I know.”
“Up until a few minutes ago, I did think I had a lot of time on my hands.”
“And now?”
“Now it’s seeming like I have less and less.”
“I need to get a few things from my hotel.” She looked at him expectantly. “Should I check out?”
His thoughts flashed to Frances, but right now, she seemed like a million miles and a century and a half away. “Yes.” The words barely made a sound.
“Was that a yes?”
“Yes!” She had no trouble hearing him this time. “Meet me down on the Waterside Docks. I’ll be the guy in the biggest, most conspicuous boat there.”
CHAPTER 5
“I don’t know anything about sailboats,” Payton said, taking a seat opposite Jack in the cockpit.
“This boat runs itself. Just hold the wheel straight, the sails will take care of themselves. Aim the boat at that lighthouse over there on Fort Monroe. I’ll be right back, I just want to go store some stuff below.”
He was back on top in less than five minutes.
“I’ve got you set up in the third stateroom, if that’s okay?”
“Yeah?” She gave Jack a look as if he was crazy. “It’s not as if I wanted to be set up in the same room with you.”
It looked to Jack like she said this with no malice. He was confused but he continued. “I have a bunch of stuff spread all over the place in the second stateroom. I’m using it as an office.”
“How many staterooms do you have?”
“There are six, and of course sleeping quarters for the crew. Are you sure you’re okay with everything? I realize you put your life on hold for the longest time.”
“Jack, I’m not going to bring it up again. I don’t want you to feel something yo
u don’t feel yet, but I’m sorry, it’s just real hard for me to pretend that we’re strangers.”
“Can I ask you a favor?” He asked.
“Ask all you want, I can’t, guarantee I’ll go along with it.”
“Can you give me a little time? A little time to get to know you? Just a little time, before you know, we get intimate.”
Her eyes flew open wide and her mouth dropped. “Jack, you got this all wrong. That can never happen.”
Now Jack was confused. “Why, because I didn’t recognize you?”
Payton’s eyes began to fill with tears. She tried several times to speak but no words came out of her mouth. She turned away and shook her head no.
“Why then? Is it because I wasn’t all over you?”
“No. Just stop, please.” She wrapped her arms around herself, shaking.
“Tell me then, why?” He was loud and sounded angry.
“Because.”
“Because why?”
“Because I’m your sister.”
“Sister?”
“Twin sister.”
CHAPTER 6
Jack sat down in the cockpit seat across from Payton. The boat was sailing itself out of the harbor.
This was falling into place with everything that Annie told him. Jack finally spoke. “Who told you that you were my sister?”
Payton had her knees up to her chest and her arms wrapped around her legs while she rocked in place. It looked as if she was mustering the courage to speak. Finally, she said, “You did.”
“I did what?”
“You told me I was your sister. You found me—no, you hunted me down in Baltimore. You said you found evidence. I still remember the first thing you asked me: you asked if I had always felt there was something missing.”
“I did?”
“You were very emotional about it. You threatened to kill your father over it. You said that not only did he ruin your life, but mine and our mother’s.”
