He nodded robotically. It had been a few hours since he’d last seen Krystal. He’d texted Johnny earlier while he’d still been a mess, and his best friend had picked him up and offered to drive him around the edge of town to help clear his head. The Sunday church bells rang clearly in the distance. After a moment, Noah let out a sigh and said, “She said we can still be friends.”
Like any loyal friend would, Johnny made a pained face and sucked in air harshly through his teeth. “Girls, man.”
“Girls,” Noah agreed somberly. “Like, I get her perspective, I just don’t understand why after all this time, she’d stick to her guns like that instead of, I don’t know—” His voice tailed off.
A few silent moments passed before Johnny hesitantly said, “I don’t think anyone is gonna be surprised about this, you know.”
“What do you mean?”
“Well, you and Krystal have kind of obviously had a thing for each other for a long time. It’s not like you two didn’t have options for dances, but you’d always go alone, and always end up dancing with each other. You hung out all the time. Like, some girls at school were definitely into you but didn’t think they had a chance. I actually know that one for sure.”
“Really?”
“Yeah.” The big boy sounded apologetic.
“Why didn’t you say something?”
“I kinda just figured you were with Krystal like everyone else did, maybe on the down-low or something. She was always around, so it was really normal for you to be together. I mean, you’re the smart one. If I could see it, you definitely would already know, right?”
Noah slowly closed his eyes and leaned his head back. I can’t believe this, he thought. Finally he sighed and went back to staring out the window. Johnny gave him some space, and the two drove in friendly, if slightly awkward silence for a while.
After a few more miles, Noah realized that they were passing a familiar, abandoned office building. Johnny noticed too. His friend said, “Look, it’s where your old internship used to be. I’m glad they moved offices to the other side of town. It used to be a pain for you to come out all this way, right?”
Happy to think about a new subject, Noah nodded and said, “Yeah, I think their budget grew or something.”
Noah knew the truth, though. The Merriweathers’ old office had been a dinosaur of a cold-war era location, originally built for a Merriweather genius in Michigan during that time. Noah had found this discovery extremely interesting. However, since the Merriweathers had begun regularly flying in to check on Noah, Burgess had thought the place was dated and too far away from the nearest airport.
Sometimes [Listen] really came in handy.
Noah glanced over at Johnny’s titanic frame in his varsity letterman’s jacket, and still saw the chubby-faced geek who loved to play video games. Under all that muscle, he was still a thick-headed, lovable goofball of a kid. Noah felt grateful for his loyalty.
The two talked about things that had happened in the last couple years, dredging up memories and dusting them off. Noah laughed more often than not, especially when his friend brought up the time one of their friends, Gregory Bist’s pants had fallen down at a dance. Of course, Johnny remembered a few things that Noah couldn’t recall, like Danielle Perkins following them around. His friend must have imagined that.
Johnny chuckled for a while, then said, “Remember last year when you told me about how all this preparing stuff you do is to secretly prevent humanity from all dying, like falling at the hands of alien space elves?”
Noah frowned. “Yes. Aelves. I know you don’t believe me, but that’s okay.”
His friend shook his head with a grin. “You have some imagination, but I never saw you so serious then.”
“What’s your point?”
“My point,” Johnny said, turning the wheel to the truck, “is even now, all messed up over Krystal, you don’t have that vibe. See, when you told me about the aliens and that thing, the Shift? I believed you.”
“You did?” Noah asked, shocked.
“Uh huh, but only for a second, and because you seemed so sure of yourself. Your eyes kind of glowed and you stood different,” Johnny replied. “Since then, I’ve seen that focused look come up every now and then, and realized I’ve seen it in the past too. You usually slip off or look at something on your phone and just brood forever, then you act normal again like nothing ever happened. The thing is, with Krystal, I know you really liked her, but I don’t see that look on you right now, that moody look.” Johnny glanced over and Noah could tell his friend was trying to see if he had gone too far.
He didn’t, of course–couldn’t. Johnny was Johnny. After a moment to think about it, Noah said, “It’s easier to say now with hindsight, but I guess I should have seen this coming.”
His big friend shrugged and said, “I’m not a shrink, I’ve just known you forever. I’m not saying Krystal didn’t matter to you, but like you said she said, you made her wait forever. Maybe she thought she wasn’t your number one priority, and that’s why she eventually let it all go.”
“I guess I understand what you’re saying. It just all happened so fast. Maybe if I’d been paying attention,” Noah said but paused, “I don’t know.”
Johnny made a face. “Those times you get serious, man, you can get distant. For me, I’m cool with it because I know beneath that cool guy persona you put on for everyone, you’re actually just a sappy little geeky emo kid underneath it all. Sometimes you just need a smushy hug.”
Noah punched Johnny’s arm, not hard, and he felt better. Something in his pocket buzzed and he pulled out his phone, pursing his lips at a text message from Burgess. It read: “Meet me at the main office. ASAP. Important. Not negotiable. I know you are in town.”
“We need to make a detour,” Noah said. “Can you drive me to my internship?”
Johnny checked his watch. “Sure thing, bro.”
***
The red pickup truck pulled in front of a two-story office building with a sign in front that read, “Jolly Seasons Insurance Company.” Like the previous Merriweather location, this one was located at the edge of town, just on the other side. The building stood in its own lot, separate from the nearby housing subdivisions.
Noah was glad the main office had moved. He’d been able to buy a nearby house to use as a stash spot, holding some weapons and gear. When the Shift comes, my people with Log Cabin are the first people I want armed, to take control, but maybe if Burgess’ people are in town, they could help too.
Johnny parked the truck and asked, “Why is your boss’ car the only one here?”
Noah shrugged, snapping off his seatbelt, guiding it past the Spyderco Bushcraft knife on his belt. He shrugged and said, “I don’t know, Maybe because it’s a Sunday.”
He knew the real reason, though. Most of the other members of Burgess’ team were away doing other things. In fact, Noah had planned to catch up on personal stuff over the week because most of the Merriweathers wouldn’t be in town, and therefore wouldn’t be bothering him. So much for time off, he thought. On one hand, he welcomed the distraction from what had just happened with Krystal. However, Burgess’ tone in the text he’d sent had him a little worried.
Johnny unlocked the doors and asked, “You want me to wait here for you, or is your boss gonna give you a ride?”
Burgess probably just wants to hand me some paperwork or something, or give me prep materials for another assessment. Burgess had done it before. The man was a stickler for the rules, and never just hand-waved away the tests that Noah had to take, or the reports he gave–basically all amounting to the fact he was not a menace to society.
The Merriweather Division was a tight ship. If the boss said jump, the rest of the agents didn’t ask how high–they’d just jump. From what Noah had seen, the organization was kind of strange, but all the agents from around the world took their jobs seriously, preventing kids with natural talents for mayhem from going bad.
Noah ope
ned the truck’s door and stepped out. “It should only be a few minutes. Wait here.”
“Sure thing, bro. I’ll just idle the truck and listen to the radio.”
Noah closed the door and walked toward the office. [Listen] picked up the sounds of children playing nearby in the quiet suburban neighborhood. Neighbors chatted in their backyards while grilling burgers. Something rustled in the nearby bushes behind the building, probably deer.
Noah reminded himself to go hunting with Johnny again as soon as possible. His bow skills had all been levelled to five. Their next trip would probably be his last time with his friend before everything changed. He reached the door and pressed his hand against the glass window. It hummed with a faint light, scanning his fingerprints before unlocking.
It was easy to find Burgess’ office, at least the one out in the open near the entrance. The public-facing office was spare and lit by overhead lights, a desk lamp, and a computer. Burgess leaned against the edge of his desk, his fingers drumming against the wood. That’s not a good sign, Noah thought.
The door was open, but Noah still knocked and gave Burgess a friendly smile. He said, “Funny enough, I was hoping you’d call me in. I really need a distraction right now.”
“Sit down, Henson,” Goodrich said evenly, not a shred of humor in his voice. He looked grim.
Noah frowned and sat in one of the two chairs facing the desk. His boss didn’t call him Henson unless it was serious, preferring first names when speaking. Something was wrong. Goodrich grabbed a pile of papers and handed them to Noah silently.
After blinking owlishly, Noah read through them and felt the blood drain from his face. What he saw were names, a long list of names, fake identities he had made over the years to help him prepare for the Shift. After the list of names were numbers indicating money spent in different countries by the identities. Additional pages tied these activities to Noah’s whereabouts over the years and his publicly known companies. A couple pages detailed surveillance on Log Cabin, and additional pages outlined the hoops Noah had jumped through for free requisition privileges with both raw resource distribution centers, and weapon manufacturers.
Several more pages listed at least a few hundred locations that Noah owned through various channels. There was even a grainy satellite image of a row of arbalests standing outside a remote storage warehouse, being loaded into the hidden, locked armory. “I can explain,” Noah managed.
Burgess frowned, the drumming of his fingers quickening. He looked like a tired father who had waited all night for his son, and had caught him sneaking home past curfew. The silver in his hair seemed duller, more of a grey. “I’m disappointed you didn’t come to me with this when it could have been managed.”
“Managed?”
“Yes, managed,” Burgess said, anger in his voice. “If we were having this conversation four years ago, or maybe even two, and you came to me with the full truth about everything, I could have stopped the higher-ups from allowing this to happen. Now, it’s too much at once.”
Noah tensed, caution in his tone. “Stop what from happening? Too much what?”
Goodrich adjusted his tie and spoke evenly, “I’ve worked with you this entire time. I knew you’ve been hiding things from us, but I just didn’t know what, or obviously how much. To be quite frank, I didn’t really care that much. I just assumed it was more hacking, taking down corrupt CEOs during your spare time, or whatever it was you did for fun. Meanwhile, another division of Interpol acted on their own suspicions and obviously found something. A lot of it.”
Noah’s mind spun. He had definitely not been expecting any of this. In the clarity of extreme stress, his mind flashed through the last few years how he’d gotten lax, complacent. No new issues had arisen with any world government and with the Shift coming, he grew to care less. But now it was all biting him in the butt. It was time to level with Burgess. “Boss,” Noah insisted. “I really can explain. In a few months—”
The stern Interpol agent cut him off with a snap of a finger. “Anything you say from here on has no credibility, not with Interpol and definitely not with me. Look at it from my position. If you saw millions, maybe even billions of dollars-worth of purchases in international real estate, doomsday prepping resources, and weaponry, no matter how weird, wouldn’t you assume that person is either a terrorist, or at least dangerously unhinged? You are an eighteen-year-old and you literally own a mountain. One of the fastest growing security companies in the West actually belongs to you. At the very least, wouldn’t it also be logical that you might be backed by some powerful, possibly dangerous people?”
Noah felt a flash of anger and slammed his hand against the arm of his chair. “I earned that money fair and square! From the time I was a little kid, I spent time other people got to sleep or watch TV to track stocks. Juggling so many businesses, even with help, it was exhausting. I worked hard for everything!”
Burgess’ eyebrows raised, then lowered in suspicion. After inspecting Noah’s face for a moment, he shook his head. “The worst part of all of this is that I want to believe you. We’ve done good work together, Noah. I’ve known you for a long time now, but this is just too bizarre, too…big. You messed up irrevocably. See, you’re no longer a minor. That means you are technically not my jurisdiction anymore.”
Noah heard the finality in the words, and he sat still. He didn’t know what to do. First Krystal, now this. “What now?”
Goodrich grabbed the papers from Noah and set them back on the desk. “As you know, the original plan was for you to be a ward of the Merriweather Division until you graduated high school. Prosecution for your past crimes was put on hold, and you’d be pardoned once you graduated from probation. Now your status with the Merriweather Division has been revoked. You’ll be on house arrest while the London office figures out what to do with you. If I don’t call in to the regional office after you leave, there are teams prepared to raid the corporate office of your Log Cabin security company, occupy your home, and come after you. There is literally a committee occurring this very instant arguing whether or not they should just toss you in a cell and throw away the key.”
“And you?”
Burgess shrugged. “My opinion doesn’t matter.”
Noah had never felt lower in this life. He looked away. “Why are you telling me all of this?”
“Mostly because I still don’t really believe you’re a bad kid. I honestly…don’t know what to make of all of this. The level of organization and funding to pull off some of this bizarre stuff that’s been pinned to you, it boggles my mind. You haven’t committed any crimes since your cyber hacking days still, though, at least not that I’ve seen. Of course, the other teams are currently looking into that too.
“That doesn’t answer my question,” Noah mumbled.
There was a pregnant pause before the older man steepled his fingers and said, “As of this moment, you are the greatest failure of this program under my watch. All of this is going to reflect poorly on me and on my team. I wanted to talk to you first, to gauge your reaction. Obviously, if I thought you were a real threat, meeting alone would not have been wise, but I obviously took that risk.”
“I don’t understand.”
Burgess cleared his throat and said, “For the moment, you haven’t been incarcerated…yet. Deliberations are still ongoing. I may be the only ally you have in the near future. So while we still have time to talk, why don’t you tell me what’s really going on? Why…everything? None of it adds up. Things that don’t make sense make people nervous.”
Is it really that easy? Noah wondered. He had been tempted to inform Burgess and the Merriweathers about the Shift and Aelves for years, but always knew they’d just think he was crazy. Even his best friend Johnny hadn’t believed him. There was no proof to back up anything he could say.
Now, even with Goodrich asking him outright, despite being so near the Shift, it was difficult for Noah to decide risking being seen more unstable than Interpol no doubt al
ready labeled him. Could he still prepare for the Shift on house arrest? What would happen to all of his assets over the next few months? Would Log Cabin Security be left alone?
It’s not like I have anything to lose, he realized. I still have a few things left to take care of, too—house arrest, and especially being in jail would be terrible. But where do I start with something like this? Telling Burgess the truth wouldn’t be like dropping clues to the geniuses from Camp Firestarter.
Noah decided to take the leap. “Okay. Alright. Uh, I’ve been keeping a secret my entire life. It started wi—"
The lights in the office went out and Noah’s heart sunk. A power outage in Michigan during the day with no bad weather? It was possible, but his skin crawled. With dread building in the pit of his stomach, he glanced through the window and noticed a car dead in the middle of the street. The driver, a middle-aged woman climbed out, confusion plain on her face even from a distance. Noah hissed and stood up in a rush. “It can’t be," he whispered.
Behind his desk, Burgess sat back slowly and cocked an eyebrow. “Noah,” the man said, an edge to his voice. “Do you have something to tell me?”
“No, oh, no,” Noah rasped, his throat dry. “Not now. It’s too early.” He stood and woodenly walked to the door of the office.
Burgess seemed to pick up the fear in Noah’s voice. The older man followed Noah out the hallway and growled, “Do you know what is going on? Is this more than a power outage?”
Outside, in the parking lot, Johnny had stepped out of his truck. The large young man circled his vehicle, scratching his head. Burgess’ hand gripped around Noah’s wrist. He demanded, “What is going on?”
The initial panic that had risen in Noah quickly died, overwhelmed by a lifetime of calm preparation. He had literally been born for this day, but he still had to make sure. “Pull out your sidearm and shoot it in the air,” he asked. As soon as the words left his mouth, he felt foolish. A government agent wasn’t going to fire a pistol in broad daylight at the request of a teenager.
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