“We cannot stop the others, but we can stop this one. It gives me no gratification to kill a boy, but I am here to save humanity from itself. If nothing else, may my epitaph speak of that singular accomplishment. We are the heroes. Yes? We gave James his childhood, as we agreed. But we will not allow that abomination to return to our universe. Join me to the end.”
She saw it in their eyes. There was no more doubt in the rightness of their cause. The pain raced through her like nails, but Agatha did not care.
Minutes later, after Jennifer Bowman drove away toward Austin Springs and the chopper took flight, Agatha’s determination was rewarded by a desperate man’s voice on the police band.
“Officer down! Officer down! Need assistance. Fortnight Road and Highway 39. Multiple suspects, heavily armed. Repeat …”
Agatha sensed promise. She turned to Arthur.
“Heavily armed at sunrise? Chancellors, perhaps?” As Arthur scanned the maps on the laptop and quickly assessed the report as coming from the west side of Lake Vernon, fifteen minutes away, Agatha smiled without pain.
“Dearest Walter. I do believe you’ve gotten yourself into a spate of mischief. Perhaps we should offer immediate assistance. Yes?”
32
S AMMIE WANTED TO take the outboard deep into Ginny’s Creek, but Jamie insisted she pull in to a small sandy spot near the mouth. He wanted off the boat. He just finished explaining almost everything to Michael, and even Jamie had a hard time believing his own.
Sammie veered the boat to a tiny stretch of sand which was covered in part by scattered pine needles and surrounded on either end by fallen debris and tree stumps. Low ground cover spread behind it into the woods, where trees – mostly pines – were thinly spaced. The trees cast impressive silhouettes in gray morning light.
Jamie and Michael hopped out, splashed through the shallow water and grabbed the bow, bringing the boat onto land. Sammie did not leave the driver’s seat.
“Now what?” Michael asked.
“We stop running,” Jamie was quick to respond. “I gotta think.”
“I’m down with that. Ain’t every night a fellow takes a couple slugs and has his best friend do a Jesus number on him.”
Jamie scoped the surroundings and saw no homes. He decided to follow the rugged shore back out to the mouth and facing the lake. He had no sense of why, beyond a vague notion that to go farther into the creek was not smart. The creek disappeared around a dark bend.
“You coming?” He asked Sammie.
“No. I need to be alone. Don’t worry, Jamie. I won’t leave.”
When he saw the emptiness in her eyes and heard the resignation cross her lips, Jamie knew he could trust her. He and Michael trudged along the shoreline, walking over and around driftwood and other debris, their wet sneakers squishing with every step.
“I’m sorry I got you into this, Coop. If they’d gunned me down on Main Street, they never would’ve come after you.”
“And you’d be a corpse, dude. We both got away, and that’s all that matters. We just gotta figure out our next move and before you know it … we’re gonna be running track again. New coach, I’d reckon. Maybe a guy who won’t try to kill us. It’ll be like nothing happened.”
Jamie broke a smile.
“I don’t believe how well you’re taking this.”
Michael dropped a brother’s hand on Jamie’s shoulder.
“You’re the best friend I ever had and you saved my life.” He snickered. “I used to tell people, ‘That Jamie, he’s always got my back.’ Damned if that weren’t the truth, huh?” His lower lip quivered. “I love you, J. Don’t you ever forget.”
They fell into each other and shared a firm hug. Jamie’s earlier sensation of helplessness grew into despair. He told almost all the story to Michael on the boat ride in, but he left out one important detail. He couldn’t say the words then, and he didn’t know how to do it now. He wanted to believe that maybe he could make the impending reality disappear so long as his best friend was at his side. When they separated, Michael asked a question.
“There’s something I got to know. When I woke up, first thing I saw was you sticking a gun upside her head. What’s up with that?”
Jamie trudged on toward the lake.
“She’s not what you think, Coop. We’ve got some trust issues.”
Jamie explained details of Sammie’s Chancellor heritage, her duel acts of betrayal, and how she trained as a soldier.
Michael’s jaw slipped.
“So what are you saying? She’s … Wonder Woman?” He pointed in the direction of the boat, which was hidden around the bend. “We’re talking about little Susie Q with a pink ribbon?”
Jamie offered an ironic smile. “Yeah, that’s right. Susie Q. She says she loves me. Hell, said it twice last night. That don’t mean I can trust her.”
“J. That is hardcore.”
They reached the lakefront. The sandy shore was deeper. Miles across the lake, the eastern sky formed into shades of pink and orange. Jamie found himself mesmerized by the colors, even though he’d seen them countless times.
“Beautiful, ain’t it?” He said.
“Yep. But it can’t compare to just being alive.” Michael took a deep breath. “I feel better than I ever have. It’s like somebody injected me with a couple thousand vitamins, and the Coopster is ready to play.”
Michael rambled on about his second chance. However, any notion of taking pleasure in his best friend’s revival dissipated when Jamie heard a new but familiar voice.
“Life and death, my dear sweet boy. Ironic partners, aren’t they?”
Jamie stared down Lydia, who came equipped with a pouting lip and the soft, compassionate eyes of a doting mother.
“Go away,” he sniped. “Leave me alone.”
Michael flipped about. “What’s up? Who you talking to?”
Jamie ignored Michael. “I want you out of my life. Hear, Lydia?”
Lydia sighed. “I understand your anger. You only have three and a half hours to live.”
“I don’t need this now,” he fired back. “You said your peace already, did everything you were supposed to. Now vanish.”
“Dude,” Michael reached out a comforting hand, but Jamie didn’t notice. “You’re worrying me. This is pretty f’ed up.”
Lydia was unfazed. “I must say, Jamie, your friend has recovered well. The transference of Caryllan energy into Mr. Cooper was unexpected. A fascinating development. The potential for a transfer was not considered, at least not in my programming. Do you have any theories as to how you made it happen?”
Jamie spit at her feet. “Theories? You’re asking me? You’re supposed to be the expert. Let me ask you something, Lydia. You got any idea how this little gift of mine can save me?”
Lydia twirled her pearls. “Oh, this doesn’t change your fate, sweet boy. But it is an intriguing anomaly. I’m studying the algorithms now.”
Jamie kicked sand toward her but did not hit Lydia before she vanished. Michael kept his distance until Jamie settled down and rested himself on a log. Jamie dropped his head into his hands and explained about the Mentor. Michael took a seat next to him.
“There’s nothing else good to come out of this, Coop.”
“This ain’t the end. We’ve been through a lot, but we’re gonna make it out.” Michael slapped him on the leg. “I reckon it’s time for a swim.”
Jamie looked up confused. “What?”
“Yeah, dude. I got blood all over me. I feel nasty. Ain’t right to be going around looking like the walking dead. You know?” Michael threw off his shirt and unzipped his blue jeans. “C’mon. Water’s warm. Let’s go. We’ll clear our minds and decide what to do next.”
Michael didn’t wait for an answer. He dropped his pants and made a dash for the lake. Jamie might have stayed put had Sammie not appeared a moment later. She kept her distance and stared, as if waiting for Jamie to invite her over. He picked himself up, keeping the pistol to his side.
He stopped arms-length shy of her and returned the stare.
“I’m a Chancellor,” she said. “Everything I did was because I had no choice. I don’t suppose you’ll believe that, and it’s OK. It is. I just want you to understand that no matter what my mission was, or whatever I did to you, the words I said before were true. I’ve been in love with you longer than I can remember. I’ve dreamed about you every night since …”
Jamie raised a hand. “I can’t deal with this now.”
Michael splashed far from shore, flailing his arms and shouting for Jamie to come in.
“Go,” she said. “You deserve a break. Give me your shirt and pants. I’ll wash them best I can. Coop’s, too. Maybe I can get some of the blood out.” She asked for the pistol, but Jamie hesitated to hand over the only thing that gave him the slightest sense of power.
“I’ll be right here,” she said. “I’m with you to the end, Jamie. I don’t have anybody else.”
He saw her grief as he placed the pistol in her right hand. Jamie slipped out of his sneakers then removed his jeans and t-shirt. He yanked the ponytail holder from his hair and allowed a sloppy blond mess to fall over his shoulders.
He faced Lake Vernon, but the changing colors on the far side caught his breath. The reds and pinks were turning orange. The sun would arrive at any moment.
“I won’t ever see one of these again. Will I?”
He dropped his boxers and waded into the lake, surprised by how much it felt like bathwater. When the water rose to his waist, Jamie dived forward. He remained submerged as he swam, and he knew right away that Sammie was correct. He did deserve this. He sensed something here that was lost above the surface.
Jamie felt peace.
He ignored Michael’s splashing far away and allowed his body to unburden itself and float. He almost cleared his mind of the most painful thoughts when he heard Lydia whisper from deep within.
“I have a gift for you, my sweet boy. I have been waiting for the perfect moment.”
“Go away,” he whispered without opening his mouth.
“Long ago, before you crossed the interdimensional fold, your parents prepared a series of messages for you. They hoped their words would provide solace as you approached your rest.”
“No,” he said without speaking. “I don’t want anything from them.”
“Of course you do, sweet Jamie. All children want nothing more than the comfort of their mother and father. Please, listen …”
Jamie could not move. He felt distant from reality, no longer floating on water. The darkness that embodied him in the cellar of the lake house returned. Unfamiliar voices rose within him as if echoes from another world. They talked over each other and tried to merge as one.
“Dear Son, Each day we have mourned for you, and we will continue to do so until the end of our lives.”
These were not the voices of Tom and Marlena Sheridan, but neither did they seem to come from strangers. They were younger, their voices drenched in grief, yet somehow pleasing.
“We hope you will find the capacity to forgive us … it is our sincerest hope … in the short time given to you … too young to understand all the answers … you were loved … you filled our hearts with a joy unspeakable … you are our greatest gift to humanity … we will miss you deeply. With Fondest Regards, Mother, Father”
The messages replayed. When silence fell, Jamie opened his eyes.
“Is that all?” He asked, hoping for more.
“There is one final message,” Lydia said, “but now is not the time. I will forward it to you just before the end, when I return to say goodbye.”
Jamie stood, his feet planted on the shallow, sandy bottom.
“Why then?”
Lydia did not respond.
“Why then?”
Jamie closed his eyes and listened to the echoes of his true parents’ voices. For the first time in at least two years, he felt loved. He also knew this gift would not survive the morning.
33
F IFTEEN MINUTES LATER, Jamie walked out of the lake refreshed and naked. He pushed his dripping hair out of his face then grabbed his jeans and boxers. He looked around for his ponytail holder.
“Do you know where my …?”
Sammie held a distant stare, north along the lakeshore.
“Gunshots,” she said. “I’m sure I heard them.”
“When?”
“Right after you went in the water. And then again, just before you came out. I don’t think we should stay here.”
Jamie sat down and slipped on his sneakers. Michael was still in the lake but nearing shore. Jamie felt a surprising ease in the face of her news.
“Calm down, Sammie. How far away were the shots?”
“Not close. Maybe a mile or more.”
“Probably just hunters.”
Sammie winced. “It’s almost summer. I don’t think they allow hunting this time of year.”
Jamie scoffed. “Whatever. Look, if they were gunshots, I reckon they got nothing to do with us. We’re all alone, Sammie. The others are dead. Nobody knows where we are.”
Jamie’s words, said with no drop of remorse, got Sammie’s attention. She diverted her stare and started toward Jamie, a pair of stained, wet shirts in her hand. She dropped Jamie’s t-shirt onto the sand beside him.
“You’ve got all the answers, do you? A few hours ago, you didn’t have a clue what was going on and now …” She bit her lip. “I’m sorry.” She dropped to a knee. “I didn’t know it was going to hurt so much. Daddy always said if anything happened to them, I had to move on. Stay the course, he said. Keep with the mission and don’t shed a tear.”
Jamie finished tying his sneakers. “He actually told you that? And you believed it would be that easy? Damn … is that how all Chancellors act?” Jamie wiped the steady drips from his face. “Sammie, don’t you remember what happened to me after my parents were killed? Hell, I nearabout went out of my mind. It’s been in my skin ever since. The dark shit I’ve thought about. I gave up last night. I was gonna take that money and that gun and I didn’t care anymore. Stay the course? Are you kidding me?”
Sammie wiped away a tear. “We’re supposed to be different.”
“What? Better? Because you’re more advanced? Look around, Sammie. Tell me who gives a rat’s ass. Don’t you get it? My life is almost up because of people who think like you.”
He lifted himself up, grabbed Sammie, and pulled her close enough to smell her breath.
“Chancellors created me and put this … thing … in my blood. They didn’t give a crud that I was a human being. You know why? Because they don’t feel. Me? Living with the pain has been a bitch, but at least I don’t feel like a freakin’ robot. These people who brought us here, they’re so advanced, so sophisticated, they have to design human nukes. And then, when the gig is up, they escape to hide their dirty little secrets. Really, Sammie? These Chancellors don’t sound like they’re worth a goddamn.”
Sammie backed away. “Go ahead and judge. My parents sacrificed everything to keep you safe.” Her dander rose and her cheeks reddened. “Tell me something, Mr. Know It All,” she said, checking on Michael, who was a few feet from shore. “If pain is such a great thing, why don’t you toss some of it on Coop? Tell him what’s going to happen when the program runs out at 9:56. He thinks you’re going to live happily ever after.”
Jamie lowered his voice.
“Not another word, Sammie. He’s been through enough.”
Michael wrapped his arms around his chest and pretended to shiver. He grabbed his pants and sneakers and stood between his friends.
“I can’t leave you two alone. Still in each other’s faces.”
Sammie handed Michael his shirt.
“I rinsed it, but I couldn’t get much of the blood out.”
“I don’t need the thing anyway. Hell, it’s gonna be ninety degrees before you know it.”
“Good point,” Jamie said as he tossed his own shirt, his eyes neve
r leaving Sammie’s. Michael stepped into his sneakers.
“What’s the plan? What are we going to tell folks, anyway? I don’t plan to talk about how I took a couple slugs, then Jamie gave me a back rub and all was right with the world. All that business about multiverses won’t fly, either. I mean, there’s dead people. Your brother, your mom and dad. Iggy Horne. A park ranger. Even if we get back to Albion before anybody sees us, the cops are going to come around asking questions.”
Jamie wrapped an arm around his best friend.
“Don’t worry, dude. You weren’t a part of this. Your parents are out of town, right?”
“Yessir.”
“Then we get you back home and you’ll be right there waiting for them like nothing happened. Sammie and me, we’ll deal with whatever comes our way.”
Sammie turned around and started toward the point, around which the boat was waiting. The pistol protruded from her pants, tucked between her belt and back.
“We have to go,” she said. “It’s not safe here. It’s ten to seven. The sun’s coming up.”
Jamie looked across the lake. He watched the oval, citrus sun creep above the tree line for the last time. Jamie choked up but knew he couldn’t let his emotions get the better of him. If he could safely see Michael home before the end, at least he might find some solace.
“C’mon, Coop. Back to the boat and figure out our next move.”
He started up the beach, but when he didn’t hear another one-liner from his best friend, Jamie looked over his shoulder.
“C’mon. Wonder Woman’s waiting.”
Michael turned his glare north along the shore, the same direction that fascinated Sammie. He raised his right hand and pointed.
“Ah, Jamie. Dude. Ain’t that …?”
Jamie needed a few seconds to see what caught Michael’s eye. The morning rays of the sun cast gold shimmers upon the shore and the trees. Out of that, however, came human movement. A man clambered over a log, perhaps fifty yards away. The man stumbled as he ran. He raised a hand and waved to the boys.
The Impossible Future: Complete set Page 15
