“Yeah, that’s great and all, but we still gotta sort this thing out. We don’t even know how many dead there are out there and...wait a minute! Where’s the doctor?”
Before Terry could say a word, a voice huffed out from behind the console. “H-here! Is that Steve D-Decker?” She actually sounded excited. She and Decker must have been closer than he had been led to believe.
Decker ran around the console and grabbed her hand.
Terry saw the look in his eyes as he surveyed the damage Abshrd had done to her.
Decker suddenly felt that the death that he got was a lot better than he deserved.
“Are you...how are you doing?” He was afraid to ask more for fear of the answer.
To the surprise of everyone there, human and Chrliti, she cracked a smile. “I’ve had better days. It’s good to see you again. You’ve made a good name for yourself in this town. I used to hear about you all the time. I guess I should have stayed in touch more.” She coughed once, but the smile remained. “I just let myself get lost and that thing—”
Decker cut her off. “Hey, hey. You hush that now. That thing was pure evil. The things you did—”
“Were things I did. That Abshrd was using me, I know, but that came later. First, he let me have the revenge I thought I wanted, and then, he started telling me all the things we could do if I let him work through me. And I fell for it. I let him build that...that conglomeration inside me until it was too late. By the time I realized what was happening, it was too late.”
She shook her head and closed her eyes. She was still far too weak, but she was fighting and that was a good sign. The more she fought, the better she would get. Provided, of course, she made it past the guilt.
She went on haltingly. “He used the things I know from both my home and my work. Once, he managed to convince me to do these meaningless rituals that he claimed brought out more of my ancestors. Instead, he had me meet more of his...people and joined them with me. They gave him more power over me, and he used it to make me believe more things until he had enough of them to override my will and turn me into a puppet.”
Decker shushed her then.
Almost as if in response, she again closed her eyes.
Terry looked at the pair of them and smiled. Then, he reached out and grabbed Traci, covering her mouth with a kiss. He was still hurting, but at that moment, he was feeling good enough to make the effort. When he broke it, he looked her in the eyes and said to her, Decker, Charlie and Mir. “Then, that’s it. It’s over.”
Traci chewed her lower lip and tried to smile.
Through the connection, he felt Mir’s satisfaction rising.
Charlie, though, was not as happy. And he let it be known.
“Excuse me, but there are still things we have to deal with. I do not know how many bodies there are outside or in these buildings, but we will need some kind of cover story. Dr. Broche can hardly go back and tell them what really happened, and there will be innumerable questions.”
Decker smiled slyly. “I guess this is where I come in.”
Terry and Charlie both focused on Decker intently. Then, in a manner of a test, Charlie asked, “Mr. Decker, can you still hear me?”
“Plain as day. Either Abshrd’s machine is still on, or I been sensitized to you guys. In any case, before it goes, I got a plan. And, brother, it is a doozy!”
Traci and Terry both looked at the big man smile. This, the pair of them thought, was going to be good.
Chapter Forty-Three
It was three days later and Alvin Crane sat behind the desk in his semi-hidden office and looked at the report that Bridger and Decker had filed. Then, he stood up, walked to the bar, poured about three fingers of a thirty-year-old scotch in to a tumbler, and after a quick whiff to enjoy its bouquet, downed it in one gulp. After a second to let the burning subside, he shrugged and repeated the process. After the second one, he refilled the glass and returned to the desk and the report, sat down heavily, sighing as he did.
He looked at the sheath of papers like it was going to bite him. Then, he broke out in a riotous laugh that echoed through the room and drew stares from the people in the office outside. After a few seconds of uncontrolled laughter, he calmed down, only to burst out again in another round of the same.
He had read the report three times, and each time, it had been worse than the last. The story was not just unbelievable, it was insane. The trouble was the story was not just compatible with the facts, it explained things they hadn’t even known. And the publicity of it was making the mayor the hero of the hour, even if he was still fuming over the money Bridger had demanded.
The gist of the story was this. This Cole and Carter had both decided the world sucked and they were going to change it. So, in a bizarre chain of events, they had decided to use their collective knowledge to bring about their idea of a New World Order. Unfortunately, their knowledge fell short in several areas.
Enter Dr. Laura Broche. Her knowledge of biochemistry, combined with her ancestral knowledge of Caribbean shamanism, gave them a way to get it done, once they had kidnapped her. After which, they grabbed the two lab/computer techs, Winston and Hardy, to handle the technical side of this thing they were building. Then, it was just a matter of money, which these two somehow managed to con the people they used in this grand experiment of theirs to finance their exploits. Bridger’s computer friend had dug up the dirt on that, showing accounts that had been drained in order to finance their operations, giving them in excess of two million dollars in their coffers. Given that and several connections made by those same disciples, plus Dr. Broche’s deserted compound to use as a base, they had everything they needed to create the mayhem they had for the last year.
Winston and Hardy even claimed that they had been held and then told to maintain their jobs, relying on the fear of what would happen to the innocents that were held if they said anything about their ordeal. Since both were single men and had no idea who might be watching them, they had been fooled into following the orders of these two madmen.
Whatever their ultimate goal was, it was easy to guess that they would never know, but when Bridger and Decker made their appearance at the compound following Cole’s demise in custody, Carter must have panicked. The drugs or potions or whatever they had used to strengthen the control they had on their cronies must have been powerful. Either that or this guy was a reincarnation of Jim Jones. According to Bridger, Decker, the two techs and the hooker that Bridger seemed to be so fond of, the people all went crazy and tried to kill them, wounding Decker in the process. While Bridger had managed to rescue Dr. Broche, Carter, the only remaining head of this cult, tried to escape in the small copter they had picked up, believe it or not, on Craig’s list. Fortunately, Decker was able to stop him with a confiscated assault rifle. True, there would be no questioning of him, but in the end, Crane decided that might be for the best. Spin control was always easier if all that was left was your side.
They were still trying to figure out how the cultists had managed to kill themselves or if it had been some kind of device that Carter had triggered himself. “Hell,” he wondered, “if he did, it would be worth a bundle to know what it was he used.” But like just about everything else about this case, he got the feeling that none of them would ever know. By the time the police got there, the only thing that was left was the weapon that Decker had used.
For what it was worth, most of the story was true, if misrepresented. It had taken Terry, Decker and Traci nearly an hour to find all the weapons they had had, remove them and to destroy any records of what had gone on there. They had even thrown fresh fuel on the helicopter to confuse the timeline.
The truth was that Crane could not care less what secrets Decker and Bridger were hiding. As long as the killings ended, it was fine with him. And these two computer tech guys were playing it to the hilt, making themselves heroes and victims in the same breath. He had heard the pair of them were going to do the talk-show circuit to tell th
eir stories, and from the sound of things, they were going to make a killing.
Dr. Broche was in the hospital, making what the doctors there were describing as the most amazing recovery in the history of medicine. She had already gained ten pounds and practically glowed in an interview she’d given to local news.
Crane noted that Bridger and the girl that was found with them were there everyday. What he didn’t know was that during those visits, Charlie and Mir took turns pouring energy into Dr. Broche and repairing damage done while she had been trapped in that chair. While they were hard pressed to accomplish everything they wanted, they, nonetheless, increased her recovery powers by a hundred fold, making her comeback one for the ages.
As for the two techs, both knew they were lying. They also knew that any deviation from their story would put them in the sights of Decker and Terry, which would be bad enough. Add in the evidence of their complicity in the crimes that Decker and Terry had collected and kept, and they knew that they would face murder charges if it ever came out.
Crane knew none of those things. If he had known them, the whole thing might have made more sense. As it was, he was still happy with the assurances that Decker had given him that it was over. Only time would tell if they were right, but that was not an issue for the mayor, who not only announced that the danger was passed and took credit for it, but went into great detail about the killings and the efforts made to stop them, as well as the reasons for the secretiveness of the handling of it. And it seemed to be working as even his enemies were finding it hard to find fault with his reasoning.
In any case, it seemed Bridger was well worth the money he had demanded, despite Benin’s still protesting that Bridger was somehow involved. His bosses had decided that he was a bit too obstinate about his dislike for Bridger and were trying to find him a less stressful position. He’d probably get kicked upstairs and end up in a position to do more damage to Bridger, but somehow, Crane doubted he’d be any more successful.
No, Crane wasn’t worrying about Bridger or Decker. Or for that matter about Dr. Broche. Yet, in a sense, he was worried about all of them. And it was not that they were hurt or damaged.
It was that they were lying.
He couldn’t identify how or about what. He couldn’t even point to an item in the report that he even found questionable on its face or unsupported by the facts such as they were. But as a whole, the entire thing was too ridiculously fantastic to be true. Crane shook his head as he ran through the events again. It didn’t help.
Finally, he sat back, drained his glass and sighed again. He would, of course, keep his eyes open for any sign of a recurrence of this tragedy, but in his heart, he knew it wasn’t going to happen. That they had done it. That it was over. And he could accept that he would never really know how. That didn’t mean he had to like it. Or that he would have to stop trying to understand what it was that he was missing. It also, however, didn’t mean he was going to find it. But in true politician’s form, he decided that it was one of those universal questions that never really had an answer that would satisfy anyone. All he had to do was keep smiling and nod a lot and no one would know the difference. The problem was that he did. Or at least, he knew something. Maybe someday he would know what it was.
Epilogue
A week later, Dr. Laura Broche was wheeled out to a waiting Mustang by a Viking wearing a three-piece suit to a throng of reporters desperately wanting a word on her plans after her ordeal. She had, in turn, smiled, waved and ignored them completely. Decker had several of his men on hand to insure that none of the fourth estate got out of hand.
Terry and Traci left by another door and met up with them at Decker’s place, where she would be staying for the rest of her recovery. And until she could reestablish herself. Fortunately, Charlie had to be able to realign some of the money that Abshrd had garnered into an account for her that made sure that she would never have to do anything she didn’t want to again.
“So where are you two heading?” Dr. Broche, or Laura as she now insisted on being called, asked after they had sat and talked for a while, studiously ignoring the events of the past year.
Terry had spoken up quickly. “We’ll be heading to my place in San Francisco, at least for a while. I don’t need to hunt down anything for a while, so we plan on taking a little vacation. Then, maybe, we’ll find a new base of operations.” He smiled then. “Maybe even something Midwestern.”
Laura nodded. Then, in a voice that hinted at the things she wanted to forget, she asked, “Are there more of his kind out there? Doing what he did?” She still feared to say his name.
Charlie, still able to be heard by those present, as was Mir, all thanks to their exposure to Abshrd’s devices, answered her question. “There is no way to tell. Our people have no centralized government. We exist as individuals. What one does, the others have no say on. The truth is we can only hope.”
“Yeah. Hope and be ready to stop one if he does.” Decker added. “And I’ll be there to help you if you need it. You know that, right?” The question was directed to Terry.
“We know that. And as one of the few that know about the Chrliti and can hear them, you can be invaluable. So, we never know what you might be good for.” Terry lowered his voice. “Or what you might run across. You know it might be best if you kept that ability under your hat?” He shifted his eyes to Laura and then back again. “Both of you.”
At that, the pair of them nodded and the conversation ended.
Terry and Traci slid into the rental car and headed for the airport. They had their lives to attend to and Decker and Laura had theirs, but all of them knew that there would be another chapter to this story. The when was the only thing in question.
As they drove away, Mir opened a private channel to Charlie and asked, “So, now what do we do? We live, our people live, but how do we make them coincide with the humans?”
Charlie answered him somberly. “We do what we can. We help them and let them do what they have to. With the powers we learned from Abshrd, we can do even more. Now that we know how, we can even improve on those powers and maybe find a way to reverse ourselves into something that can interact with them openly, without the need for occupation. Perhaps even be able to find ways to use our knowledge to help the whole planet. If there is any good out of this, that might be it.”
Mir seemed amused. “That would be another good thing. But for my part...” Mir issued a mental wink, “I think that being able to integrate with humans and experience their feelings, physical and emotional, makes that one of the best things we get out of the deal.”
Charlie agreed. “We do have a good thing going there. The rest, as they say, is up to those that look at it through history’s perspective.”
The two of them slipped back into the cocoon of their hosts’ minds, each enjoying the subtle happiness Terry and Traci experienced just from being in proximity to each other.
For Terry and Traci, there was a slightly different version. They were both trying to make sense of their new lives and their places in it. And the effect of their occupants.
Traci asked softly, “So, how does this work? The rest of our lives we have these guys in our heads and never be alone?”
Terry shrugged noncommittally. “The rest of our lives could be a pretty long time. And the way Charlie and Mir can learn things, there is every possibility that they may figure out ways to do things we have no idea of. They might find a way not to need us anymore, and then, we might even find we miss them. And besides, they don’t pry. The only time they come out is when we let them. We can keep them away from what we think with just a little practice.”
He leaned over at the next light and kissed her. Just a light peck on the lips, but it was full of promise of things to come. He smiled at her as he sat up. “And if they act up, I can teach you a secret.”
With that, he gave a shrill whistle. Instantly, both Charlie and Mir both gave groans of agony.
Charlie almost shouted, “Wha
t the hell was that for?”
Traci stifled a laugh.
Terry grinned. After a second, he said, “Just keepin’ things in perspective, old friend. Just keepin’ things in perspective.”
About the Author
I am an old sci-fi fan. Old enough to have seen the evolution of it over several decades. From the Saturday night Creature Features and The World Beyond, to the original Star trek and Battlestar Galatica. I have watched everything from the sublime, (Forbidden Planet,) to the ridiculous, (Plan Nine from Outer Space,). And on some level I’ve enjoyed them all. Sci-fi has never been a fantasy for me but rather a glorious display of what mankind could accomplish given the right circumstances. Or how badly it can be misused. Social commentary is always a factor in the best of these stories. But subtlety is a must for me.
Table of Contents
Dedication
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-One
Chapter Twenty-Two
Chapter Twenty-Three
Chapter Twenty-Four
Chapter Twenty-Five
Chapter Twenty-Six
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Chapter Thirty
Chapter Thirty-One
Chapter Thirty-Two
Chapter Thirty-Three
Chapter Thirty-Four
Chapter Thirty-Five
The Primal Connection Page 29
