Jack had no idea he had support, until; as they lead him across the lobby, he noticed Abby, herself, sitting, facing the check in desk. He tried not to react; but, he looked surprised for just one, fleeting second. That was all the reaction InVoy’s fat man, guard had to see. Jack barely flinched; nothing the normal eye would catch; but, to the trained mercenary, it was more than enough. In an instant, the guard focused on Abby. He reached for his pistol and pointed it, at Jacks head.
“All right; you there, you girl; stand up! Stand up, or, so help me, he’s dead; and, so is the wife!”
InVoy turned, as Abby stood, and one of her team reacted from the elevators. He yelled, “Fire!”
InVoy’s guard turned and saw Abby’s man. At that second, a different Ever-Life man, at the front door, pulled his gun, as well, and fired it at InVoy, the guard and Jack. The airburst hit them all, and the three went down fast; but the fat man pulled the trigger of his automatic weapon, as he fell. Bullets spit out everywhere. The desk clerk was hit; and, as InVoy’s guard hit the floor, his gun shot toward Abby. It was over in three seconds. Then, the screaming started. People ran in all directions, away from the lobby. Two more Ever-Life men ran in, from outside to the scene. It took only seconds to grab the shooter. One tied his hands behind him, and the other helped Jack to his feet.
“Wait, wait!” Jack shook him off and turned to see InVoy was face down. Jack bent down and turned him over, to see his belly was gutted, from the shots. InVoy flopped into Jack’s lap, as his innards splashed all over. But, he was conscious enough to say, “Too late my friend…” InVoy opened Jack’s hand, and placed a two inch round wad of money in his palm. And a key slipped out, from the center of the roll. Then, the Chief of Staff, and henchman of Marion Brock stared into nothing. He was dead. Jack gently laid his head back, onto the floor, and stood up, with a twisting, sick feeling in his stomach, looking at the money and key.
“Sir! Here, over here; it’s Ms. Johnson.”
Jack rushed across the room to her. She lay on the lap of the Team Commander. She was clearly hit in the heart. Jack took the man’s hand and put it on the wound.
“Press hard; here! Abby, Abby, can you hear me?”
She opened her eyes. “It’s okay; do you know where Rachel is?”
“Hang on, stay with me.”
“Ask for Rosse, Charlie Rosse. Don’t forget the…” She looked at Jack with a dead stare. She was gone too. The Commander looked up and spoke quickly.
“Sir, we will clean up here. You go with those three. Find your wife. I’ll meet you back at the rendezvous point, the station under the statue. I’ll have a car for you, in the back of the hotel…Sgt. Strom, stick with the doctors. You get them back to the Carriers.”
“Yes, Sir.”
Jack kissed Abby’s forehead and then got up. They all heard sirens, while Jack took one last look at Abby.
“Come on Sir; we have to go.”
Jack looked at the key, in his hand, and read the tiny red etched word on it, “Base…Christ, what is this? What do you make of this, Strom?”
The Sergeant looked and shook his head.
“I don’t know; ‘Base’; maybe basement?’
“Christ, we have no time.”
As pandemonium reigned in the lobby, the three ran to an elevator, entered and Jack pushed ‘B’ on the panel. When the door opened, Jack was ready to jump out, but the guards held him back. Strom shushed him and looked out, carefully, to see nothing but the laundry staff, crisscrossing the hallway, wearing those silly head-nets.
“Even if there was anyone here, we couldn’t hear them over the sound of those washers and dryers.”
“Come on, let’s go. Easy doctor; you stay between us.”
They walked down the hallway, to another door, about 25 yards away. Strom tried the knob, but it was locked. He looked at Jack and said, “You don’t think?”
Jack took the key out, stuck it in the door and twisted the knob. He slowly opened the door.
“It can’t be that easy.”
The Sergeant looked down the hall and saw a man closing another door. As their eyes met, the man froze for a second; and then, he ran the other way, leaving the door opened.
“After him!” Strom said.
One guard ran after the man, out the far door at the other end of the hall, while Strom, Jack and the other guard walked through the door.
“Holy shit; what the hell is this?” Strom said.
Jack walked in behind him. “It’s a lab; a fully loaded lab, at that.”
They studied the room. There were instruments rivaling those at the Complex. In the far corner, they saw a gurney, with a bright light over it, shining on what looked like a woman’s body.
“Christ!” Jack ran to her. “It’s Rachel! Help me!”
She was barely breathing and clothed in nothing but a hospital gown. She was a wreck. Three needles stuck in her; one in both arms, and one in her neck. Jack quickly checked her vitals.
“What the hell are they doing to her? She’s alive, thank God. Hold her, while I get these out of her.”
At that point, the third guard came back. “He’s gone, Sir; disappeared.”
Strom gestured, “Quickly, help us here!”
Jack rushed around the room looking for anything medical that could help. “Damn; where do they keep the good stuff? What a shithole.”
He noticed several pieces of glass on the floor, blue glass. He bent down to pick one up; and there it was; a corked small two inch blue vial that he couldn’t mistake. He picked it up and studied it; but he didn’t notice the figure standing at the door with a gun.
“Yes, Jack; it’s a vial, like your magic potion, but enhanced. Stop! All of you! I am a pretty good shot. Stay calm, and you all might live through this.”
“Rosse; you bastard; let me tend to my wife.”
“First things first, my friend…Get over there with them.”
“What have you done to her?”
“Did you bring the papers, Jack? A deal is a deal. Give them to me; and she’s yours.”
“Fine, I have to reach in my pocket; they’re in my phone.”
Rosse pointed, “Over there, the printer; get going, or she will be the first to go. Even if you get me; she’s dead.”
Jack moved to the printer and took his phone out. He looked into it, to verify the retina scan. Then, he pressed his thumb on the corner; and, lastly, he plugged the phone connector into the printer port.
“Print them, Jack.” He pointed the gun at Rachel’s head.
Jack held his hands up. “Fine, wait; I’m doing it. Watch, look! See?”
He pushed the printer button. One paper came out, then two; then, finally, the third.
“Pick them up! Hand them to me!”
Rosse grabbed them out of his hand, and slowly backed up to the desk, in the middle of the room. On it was a cylinder, sitting vertically, roughly twelve inches high, with characters on the side. He pressed several and a display on the top read, ‘Insert’.
Rosse fed the papers, into a slit on the side, and then, turned to Jack. “Now we wait.”
It seemed like hours to the doctor. Finally, the cylinder beeped and the display read, ‘Confirmed; proceed.’
The cylinder did not spit out the papers; rather it displayed the following message, ‘Self destruct in five minutes.’
Rosse looked at Jack and smiled. “Thanks Jack, you can keep the vial. She’s all yours”
Then, he backed out the door, while pointing the gun at Rachel. He slammed it shut, behind him.
Jack ran to Rachel. Two guards ran to the door. “It’s locked!”
“Sir; she’s alive, but in a coma; look at her neck.”
“They were experimenting; Christ! We have to get her to back to the Complex; fast.”
Strom took his Knofer out, requested escape directions and the team’s car. The Knofer displayed a model of the Palace and notified one of the outside’s team guards of the exit location. Then Strom turne
d to the doctor. “Jack, the door; the bastard locked it.”
They both thought the same thing. Jack took the key out, again, and ran to the door…Bring her!”
They all took a breath, as Jack stuck the key in and turned the knob. The door opened. He held it for the guards, carrying Rachel. Strom went next. “My guess is, we follow Rosse’s exit. We can’t go back the way we came; the lobby will be filled with police. Let’s go!”
They ran as quietly and quickly as they could, up the narrow staircase, which led directly to a door, exiting to the alley behind the Palace. An Ever-Life crew member waited in a car, to take them all to the Carrier rendezvous station.
Chapter 26
Marshall’s Revenge
In the basement of the Arden City Courthouse, Angie Bellos and Brian Sheldon were about to be escorted back, up the stairs by the jailer. Halfway up, they all heard the scream:“YOU FUCKING BASTARDS… LET ME OUT! BROCK! I AM GOING TO KILL YOU!”
Then they could hear a crowd of cell mates yelling and banging on the doors. The guard turned and rolled his eyes. “It’s that shit, Marshall, again. He provokes everybody. I hope he gets the chair.”
Angie was quick to reply, “Excuse me, I am his niece. I’ve come to see him, for the last time. Maybe I can quiet him; before he drives you all crazy.”
The guard looked at her, as her eyes filled with tears. “I have never seen you here, before. He knows you?”
“I have been overseas. This is my friend, he is a lawyer. I wanted to see Davy, before the verdict. I have to go back, leave for the airport. I won’t be able to see him, otherwise. Please, I just want to say hello, and good bye; give him a hug. I can quiet him, really?”
Marshall let out another wail, and the three of them looked at each other.
“That bastard; sorry Miss; he has been a thorn in my side, ever since he came here. How can you stand to be related?”
“Please, it’s just to say hello and goodbye; really.”
The guard thought, and sighed, and finally, during another yell, he agreed. He led them down the stairs and back to the cells. As they walked down the general hallway, the guard yelled, over them all, “Hay; hay; quiet you wolfhounds; temper down.”
He stopped at Marshall’s 7X10 enclosure. “I have a surprise for you, Mr. Marshall.”
He opened the cell door, and Marshal made eye contact with Angie. “Christ, it’s you! What the hell are you doing here?”
The guard seemed protective and spoke for her, “Be decent, or I’ll beat you to a pulp. She came to visit…You’ve got 15 minutes, young lady. Call me if you want out, earlier.”
The two entered the cell; the guard closed the door and walked back out to his desk. Marshall sat on the cot and quizzed Angie. “So, I never expected to see you. Your boss, Swanson, said he would see me again. Are you here for him?”
“No, I am here for me. I don’t even know where to start, or, if anything I say will mean anything to you.”
“Well I have time. They don’t take me upstairs for the verdict for a while.”
Angie sat down next to him, while Brian stood, uneasy at the cell door.
“I’m not sure where to begin…”
“Oh just tell him, babe. She thinks she was transported back in time and is stuck, in some time warp here. She thinks it happened, here in the courthouse. So, we are here to find out where…There; was that so hard?”
Marshall stood up, looking and listening intently. He paced and then looked at Angie.
“Christ, it does work…But, why are we here?”
Angie interrupted him, “What are you saying? You know about it? Tell me; tell me what’s going on!”
Marshall ignored her concern. He went to the wall and stood, no more than a foot away from it. Angie could hear him say, “D.M. 006004.”
As he did so, Angie and Brian stared at the wall too. A nine inch by twelve inch area, at his eye level transformed, and two Knofers appeared, as if sticking to the wall. He pulled them off, held one in each hand and turned to face the two young people.
“Christ,” Angie said. “How did you get those?”
“They are my insurance policy, girl. Sit down and be quiet.”
“But, I thought you were a prisoner here, brought by Mr. Burns. How did you get those?”
“Now, be very careful how you answer me, young lady. If you play games, I’ll see to it you stay with me, here forever. You wouldn’t want that, now would you?”
Brian stood against the cell bars and had to face outside, to hide his rage toward Marshall. Angie simply replied, “No, I wouldn’t. Tell me what you know and I’ll do everything I can with the GGM.”
“Hah, GGM; you don’t get it. These little gadgets are my ticket out of here. Fuck your GGM! I had these programmed, long before the morgue murders. I gave samples to Brock, so he would get me out; so I would be free of that hell hole. These things have a defense protocol, you know, that will bring us home from where ever we are. That includes whatever time, we may be in. Don’t you see, all we have to do is take them apart, duplicate the science, and voila, a time travel gizmo.”
“But they’re programmed to Ever-Life citizens. You’re not one. Those won’t function.”
“Well, none of us can function without money, luv. At least that’s what I told Brock. If he doesn’t get me out soon, I have a special present for him. He’s tied to me, no matter where I am. His little toys won’t function the way he thinks. These are my insurance, to get me out.”
Brian couldn’t control himself. “You’re insane, you bastard!”
Brian lunged at Marshall, pushed him hard and he fell against the wall. Angie moved quickly to the cell door and watched the two men. Brian grabbed his throat with both hands and screamed, “You fucking bastard, you killed my Dad.”
Angie screamed in a whisper, “Brian, stop it! Stop it!”
But, he only heard his own shouting. Marshall thrust his two hands upward between Brian’s, and broke his grip. Then, he hit him. Brian fell on the mattress and Marshall jumped onto his back. Angie, instinctively, leaped toward Marshall, expecting to land on him; but that didn’t happen. She landed in her own bed, back in her apartment, with the covers over her. She flung the covers off; and, this time, Brian wasn’t there. She looked around in a panic and then focused, on the clock. It was 7 a.m. again. A two hour period of the anomaly had ended. It was shorter this time and repeating again.
It took her several minutes to collect her thoughts.
“Holy crap, I’ve got to get to the courthouse and find that sweet-spot.”
Chapter 27
The Fathers’ Return
Somewhere between now and then, between this and that, the three fathers lay in a time travel Carrier, riding on a wave in the Sidron highway. But they were not in the arms of tentacles, as they were, when they left Dr. Bellos’s office. Now they were lying on padded lounges, next to each other. Each man slowly opened his eyes. A stranger stood before them, of average height and weight. He smiled and gestured saying, “Hello my friends. Welcome back. You have been resting for some time, by my calculations. Do you remember what you saw?”
James was the first to speak. He sat up slowly and surveyed the empty room.
“We saw the prophet, our teacher, Moses!”
Ahmir sighed, reacting, “Allah be praised, we saw the one true prophet, Mohammed; blessed be him who believes.”
Kristos stood up and said calmly, “Same old, same old; we saw them both. We saw our Lord and Savior, as he willed us to. Who are you, and where are we?”
“I am a man, as you see me here; however, I am in truth, but a representation of this vessel you ride within.”
James politely asked, “And why are we all here? Dr. Bellos said we would return to his office.”
“What happened, back in that cave?” Kristos asked.”
“So much for the unity you conspired to achieve. You each saw something different, I take it? I wonder what you heard? Let me explain a few things, which perha
ps you can agree on. I represent a species, which is quite different from yours, in many respects. On the other hand, we are also quite similar in some.”
Ahmir interrupted, “What do you mean, you are a representation of this vehicle? This was a statue. Then it became a transport, right? A Carrier, Dr. Bellos said.”
“That is correct. I am a solid projection, given by the Carrier. We, unlike you, are a hive mindset-a collective consciousness, if that helps you understand. My name, in your language, is Tyree Master. A variation of this image is what we use, when appearing to your kind. I contain and express the will and thoughts of our entire species.”
The fathers seemed to studythe stranger. “And, what exactly is going on?” Kristos insisted.
“Before you leave our hospitality and end your trip, we have several questions and observations to share. Please, may I proceed?”
The fathers’ nodded yes.
“We are most curious why you negotiated with Mr. Marion Brock, in the first place?”
Kristos thought and offered once again, “We did not. I did. I was foolish to believe his parlor trick pawn, or to think any scientific explanation could prove God’s power on Earth. I accept the responsibility.”
“You miss my point…Let’s say you succeeded with Mr. Brock. Would the rest of your kind unite, as you planned, and accept one major religion?”
Kristos turned aside to think, while James replied, “I would have, knowing what I knew then; but, now; no. And I believe none of us can speak for any other. What we believe is a matter of individual choice. Our kind has laws, which we must follow; but, short of that, we have free will to act and believe what we choose.”
Then, Kristos added, “And it is our ‘free will’, our different choices that bind us, when dire threats or fear overcome us.”
Ahmir stepped directly in front of the stranger and said, “For God is One; and we are too, as mankind, when we need to be.”
The stranger grinned. “And so it is. That is what makes you so different from us. We are of one mind.”
The man walked a few feet away; and the three fathers watched as a table appeared out of nowhere. He opened a drawer, took out several papers and handed them to Kristos.
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