by Paul Rice
Ken felt the hairs rise on his neck and arms and just managed to suppress a small laugh. The sound of his own stifled mirth helped to calm the strange sensation, which George’s performance had produced in his mind. “Shit… George, are you for real or what?”
The old man had stunned him.
George looked at them innocently. “You would be surprised by what we can see and hear from up there…” He nodded his grey head upwards in a gentle reference to the heavens above.
Mike whispered. “Yeah, I just bet we would?” He glanced at Ken out of the corner of his eye, the look said it all.
The old man continued. “Anyway, should the disc fall into the wrong hands then it will only ever appear as the aforementioned music. You must use Michael’s communicator to read it properly. Without that machine the information will remain hidden.” George’s reference to the weird laptop back at the Lodge reminded them all of where they were. “Right,” he said, “I think we are just about done for the time being, my friends. A lot to deal with I know, but I trust you will sleep on it and then see how you feel in the morning?” Turning towards the door, he peered at the light outside, it looked as though some sort of dawn was breaking as there was a faint glimmer of light beginning to filter through the dirt stained glass. “You should go my boys, don’t worry about the equipment, it will be transferred to your abode this very night. Have a good look at it when you have the time please?” He walked across the room towards them and all three engaged in the by now customary embrace. “Travel safely my friends.” George broke from the embrace and moved towards the door. Turning, he said, “I will be in touch shortly, sleep well.” The door grated shut behind him, and like a ghost, he was gone.
Mike turned to Ken and said, “I guess we’ll be back to sleep in a minute, what do you make of all that then?”
Ken thought about it for a second or two. He glanced down at his large hands as if seeking the answer within their shape. “To be honest, I don’t really know what to think at the moment?” Looking across at the suitcase once more he said, “One half of me… well, it just wants to get on with it, whilst the other half wants to run like hell. We’re damned if we do and everybody else is damned if we don’t!” As he spoke, Ken felt the familiar sliding sensation as the Dream Maker arrived and pulled the plug. He looked up and into the eyes of his friend and knew this particular meeting was over. He could see that Mike felt it too. In the spiralling blackness, Ken heard Mike’s voice answering his own last sentence.
“A rock and hard place huh?”
The last thing he heard was Mike laughing.
Chapter 12 - First Timers
It was to be four days later when they received their first assignment, four long days during which the trio discussed every detail of their situation, over and over again. Trying to come to terms with what they were going to undertake and also learning to use the equipment properly. The suitcase, just as George had said it would be, was waiting for them in the Lodge on the morning after the night of their crazy meeting with the old man. There, when they awoke, nestled on top of the kitchen table, lay a small dark container. It was much smaller in size than the remote control device, which sat next to it. Jane, who was first up, moved both the items to the far end of the kitchen work surface, and then put the kettle on. She had a splitting headache and needed tea and aspirins; she was in no mood for weird expanding suitcases and other equally as bizarre things. Not just yet anyway. “Tea first, please, if you don’t mind, George?” She said out loud. Hearing the stairs creak, she turned and watched her husband as he padded through the hallway to join her in the kitchen.
“Morning gorgeous, talking to yourself again I see?” Ken gave her a quick kiss and then took three mugs down from the cupboard, placing them on the table and then preparing the makings with tea bags and sugar. Looking at her he asked: “All OK after last night hun, can you remember everything, how’s the ear?”
She passed the milk to him and said, “Yes and yes and, it’s given me a headache.” Grimacing, she pulled out a chair and plonked herself down in it.
Ken laughed and looked down at her. “We should take a walk and blow the cobwebs away a bit, eh?” Jane said that she thought it was a grand idea and then suggested they have a couple of mugs of tea whilst they waited for Mike to get up. Ken smiled. “We’ll be here until lunch if we do that, he likes a lie in does our Mike. I’ll take him a brew and throw his arse outta bed.” Within five minutes he had done just that and they were soon joined in the kitchen by the weary looking, unshaven Australian.
“Bloody hell, people, what time do you call this – it’s the middle of the night, for Christ’s sake!” Mike collapsed into the chair and lifted the mug to his lips, cupping it in both hands as he sipped the hot tea. He looked at them and said, “There’s only one seven o’clock in my day and it ain’t this one! God, I’m knackered.” He yawned and then grinned. “Ah, country folk, salt of the friggin earth…”
Ken looked at him without pity and then refilled their mugs. “I don’t know about anyone else but I’m starving, fancy an omelette, anyone?” Without waiting for an answer, he began to prepare breakfast. As soon as the smell of frying eggs and mushrooms wafted through the kitchen, the other two realised just how hungry they were. Afterwards they had donned their coats and whistled for the dogs, before trekking up the slope behind the house. As they walked, the three of them discussed their meeting with George and the things he had said to them, they also talked about the weird items they had been shown. Strange, deadly objects that now lay in a tiny case back at the Lodge below them.
Jane said she was OK with it and apart from the now departed headache, she felt fine. “It makes sense in many ways I suppose? I don’t want to hurt anyone but if, as George says, there are some people who for whatever reason are going to prevent the future of our planet advancing… then it puts us in a difficult position, doesn’t it?” She clambered up the final slope and slid onto their stone perch.
Mike agreed. “That’s exactly what Ken and I were saying last night. We know about this now and we have the choice as to whether we act on George’s information or not?”
Ken interjected. “Don’t forget, we still have the choice, and even when we’ve been given the information we can still say no, can’t we? And who says we have to hurt or kill anyone, if we get the chance perhaps we can just persuade them otherwise?” He looked at the other two and they all thought about that. His remarks made sense and also gave them a comfortable get out clause. They talked some more and then, after some fifteen minutes or so, decided to wait and see what happened next. They couldn’t anticipate George’s next move and there would be no point in them trying to second-guess themselves.
Mike chipped in. “Let’s get the kit sorted and then have a look at the Spears as well; Jane needs to get used to how they work anyway?” Looking at Ken he continued, “And since it’s been a while, I guess that we could do with a refresher too?” They all agreed and decided to head back down to where the strange items awaited them.
Over the next four days they familiarised themselves with all the lethal things held within the case. Mike inserted George’s ‘music disc’ into his machine. Jane laughed when she heard about the old man’s impromptu rock star performance. “Now that I would liked to have seen…” She said as she practiced arming the pen. She could now do it with her eyes closed. Ken had made them do all the drills over and over. Standing, kneeling, sitting, and also whilst lying down. On their backs and on their bellies – they practised using the weapons in every conceivable position and situation.
“Practice makes perfect, guys… practice makes perfect.” It was Ken’s motto and he made it theirs too. By the end they could all find, arm and use the devices in complete darkness. The target screen glowed with their accurate shooting. They discovered the pens had an almost unlimited range and that the effect on the target was just as devastating no matter what range they fired from. The only problem being, those longer ranges made it more di
fficult to aim accurately. The other thing to become apparent was the strong odour that each device emitted after they had been used. It reminded Ken of the Storm and smelt of burnt electricity, or something similar. Using the stun guns was a simple affair and it didn’t take too long to master a reasonable technique. Ken had decided they should use them as a back up weapon in case something went ‘Pear shaped’. He looked seriously at them and added: “Well, you never know what‘s gonna happen and its better to have a plan, isn’t it?” They agreed and concentrated even harder on their training.
They also had a few goes with the spray cans: the carpet of electrical sparks, which the vapour left after each discharge, still fascinated them. “You just know you wouldn’t want a face full of that stuff, don’t you, really you wouldn’t!” Mike said as he shook his head in distaste. The other two agreed, totally. The other thing, which amazed them, was that none of the weapons ever seemed to need recharging. Every morning they performed just as they had the day previously. When Jane asked about it, the men had no answer. Mike said, “I haven’t got a clue, it must be something to do with the design, I’m sure that we would have been told if it was otherwise?”
Ken had read the instruction disc thoroughly and there wasn’t a single thing about recharging anywhere. “Let’s just hope they don’t conk out when we need them most, eh?” He commented, shrugged his shoulders and then packed the aerosols back into the case. They had done what they could with the training, and after all, it wasn’t rocket science, was it? The best fun they had was with the Spears. Ken had carried them into the old barn, which lay in the field next to the lodge.
Although he and Jane didn’t officially own it, they had almost assumed squatters rights over the old building. Frank Ball, the neighbouring farmer, had moved away from livestock about five years ago and had asked Ken and Jane if the old barn was a nuisance: “I’ll ha’ the boys take it doone if it’s a wurry to you Jane, aye?” The red faced Scotsman was a great guy and had become one of their favourite neighbours. They often stopped off at his old farmhouse and delivered a brace of pheasants to the Ball’s. They never left empty handed and there was always a spare black pudding or a huge homemade meat pie, which just seemed to miraculously appear from the larder as they were leaving. Ken had told Frank the barn wasn’t a worry and if it was OK, then he may well use it as a small shooting range, just to keep his guns zeroed in? They had agreed and that was the end to it. And so their pseudo ownership of one large barn had begun.
Right now it became the perfect place to check out their new additions. Whilst Ken unpacked the vehicles and dug out the fobs, Mike opened his Communicator and asked Jane to come over to where the machine was now displaying a blank screen, she noticed that there were several bright blue dots racing across the bottom of it. Mike pushed the screen all the way back so that it now lay flat. He pointed at the screen and said, “Stick your hand on there palm down, please, don’t worry, it’s just so you can gain entrance to the Spears. Think of it as a state of the art alarm system is all, yeah?” Jane did as she was asked and seconds later she was done. Feeling slightly puzzled, she stepped back from the machine and turned to see what Ken was doing.
He had placed the two miniature vehicles on the floor, making sure there was plenty of space in between them, before taking one of the key fobs and handing it to her. “Just point it in the general direction and push the big arrow once, I don’t know which vehicle belongs to what zapper, but just zap them anyway?” He stood back and watched as she tuned the device over in her hands.
Lifting it parallel with her chest, Jane did as Ken had asked, and pointing the device at the little cars she pushed down on the slender button with her thumb. To her amazement she saw a tiny green whirlpool suddenly begin to take shape in front of her, it shimmered and rotated for a second before suddenly blooming with a deep, sloshy liquid sound. With a fluid green flash, the vehicle suddenly seemed to expand before her very eyes – one second a toy car and the next, well, a very large and very real looking vehicle appeared miraculously on the straw covered barn floor. Jane felt a slight waft of pressure on her face and saw several loose strands of straw do a quick gymnastic display past her feet. The unseen force ceased as suddenly as it had started and left her staring in amazement at the deep black paintwork of the car. “Good God! That is absolutely the most amazing thing I’ve ever seen! Oh my bloody hell, shit… I mean, how in the…” She turned to the two men who stood smiling at her. Shaking her head Jane quietly said, “I know you’d tried to explain it to me, Ken… but I had no idea it was like this! It’s fantastic… I want one of my own! I wouldn’t have any trouble parking it outside the apartment with one of these, now would I?” She threw the zapper to Mike and stepped towards the vehicle in anticipation.
After they had shown her how to gain entry to the Spear, Jane climbed into the driver’s seat and waited whilst they joined her inside. Mike climbed into the front. “Mikey will give us the demonstration on all the gizmos Jane. He’s a wizard at this stuff!” Ken said as he opened the rear passenger door and clambered into the back. The rich smell of new leather filled the cab as he looked over their shoulders. During the next twenty minutes, Mike showed them all of the controls and strange devices, which the vehicle had hidden in its leather clad interior. To the casual observer the inside of the car was almost exactly as standard, but with the touch of a few hidden switches the true nature of the beast was cleverly revealed. Jane marvelled at the scanner and she couldn’t get over how it could see straight through the solid brick wall of the old barn. The entire windscreen was softly illuminated and its head-up display showed them the fields beyond. Several sheep could be seen glowing brightly in the distance. “No way,” she breathed softly. “That’s awesome, Mike, simply awesome!”
He showed her the Pusher and gave it a little flick in demonstration. Immediately a huge cloud of straw and dust pulsed away from the nose of the vehicle. “Don’t mess about with it too much in here or we’ll have the wall down!” He smiled and then showed her how the screen could find where they were by locating their implants. Tapping the smaller sat nav screen, which lay on the front of the dashboard, he called up a menu and scrolled quickly through it by sliding his finger softly across its glass surface. The word ‘Locate’ flashed up and he selected it with a slight tap. As Mike did so, the windscreen pulsed slightly and then displayed three bright blue dots within the car shaped emblem that glowed in the top left corner. Underneath the dots were their initials and the word: ‘Interior’. He said, “That will find any one of us anywhere on this planet, probably anywhere in the universe, actually.” Both Jane and Ken shook their heads in awe at that statement and then continued to listen in fascination as Mike carried on with his tutorage.
The only thing they didn’t cover was the Spears alleged new ability to take them to wherever they wanted. They had talked about it but not really considered the practicalities. Ken said, “George reckons we can do it using Shrink Down, maybe we should have a practice run at that, wouldn’t you say, I don’t fancy ending up on a motorway or something while we are still miniaturised, you know?” Jane looked at him in admiration, she hadn’t thought about that at all. By the look on his face, nor had Mike.
“Good idea,” he said, “I’ll have another look at the old ‘book of words’ and see if there is anything we have missed. I’ll check out the navigation thing too, and let you know – apparently we have to take a tablet and wear the suits as well?” Turning to Jane, he apologised to her and than explained about the instructions George had given them after she had fallen asleep. It wasn’t too long before all three of them had become familiarised with the intricacies of their amazing new vehicles. Mike put the Spears back into miniature mode, and after making sure the barn was locked, they all headed for the house.
It was on the afternoon of their fourth day since the dream when Mike was to put his knowledge into practice much sooner than he would have liked. They were gathered round the kitchen table where Ken and Mike had
casually been discussing some of the things that had happened whilst they were on the airbase in Afghanistan. As Mike joked about some funny event, or another, his laptop suddenly flashed brightly. The green light stopped them in their tracks and they waited in silence whilst he swivelled it towards himself and turned on the screen. Tapping the keypad, he said: “Communicator on please.” The screen slid upwards and blinked once, there was a slight moment of fuzziness before George appeared before them.
He was sitting in a large black chair, his baggy blue jumper and white shirt collar appeared in perfect colour on the monitor, the shirt collar peeking over the neck of his overly large sweater. It made him look rather like the Village Vicar. “Hello there everyone, I trust you are well?” The old man smiled at them before continuing. “I have downloaded some information and it is in the machine now so, when I have finished, Michael will retrieve it for you. Since this will be the first time for you, I would simply like you to try out the equipment o start with. To that end, I have given you a small surveillance task to complete along with some navigational practice as well.” He looked down at his notes and then said, “Very simple really, go and see how you get along, we will be watching. Oh, use the Shrink Down too, please” Without another word from the old man, the screen went blank and then slid back into the machine. Mike leant over and tapped some keys. Another smaller screen slid into view and displayed a set of written instructions. There were also some photographs of a man and some other separate ones of a small, blonde haired child. Her hair was held up in a bunch and one of the pictures had caught her whilst she looked at something that obviously delighted her. Her tiny milk teeth were displayed in a wide grin that was spoiled only slightly by a small black gap where, by the looks of things, the tooth fairy had just visited.
They scoured the information and, after about ten minutes, Mike pushed another button, a tray slid open and out popped a tiny disc. It fitted easily into the palm of Jane’s hand and was almost translucent. “What do we do with this?” She said as she looked at it and then glanced back to Mike.
