Excelsior (6 page)

“Or whatever?” Jason's voice sounded tight but he didn’t meet Matthew’s gaze.

”Yeah, you know. Covering the board meeting or the police station or whatever. Anyway, since I was able to get the URL of the comic set up on the search pages, more and more people have been subscribing.”

Jason took a deep breath and followed it with a small sip of his drink. “How many do you have now?”

“Last time I checked, it was about 5,000 users already. I think we got another 3,000 brand new readers.”

Jason nodded and took another sip. Matthew could see the light in his uncle’s eyes start to dim.

“You all right?”

Jason nodded. “It’s the anniversary, you know.”

Matthew snapped. “Of course I know it’s the anniversary! They were MY parents who died, you know!” He stopped and took a deep breath and said more calmly, “But… I know I keep bringing this up every year, and I know it hasn’t happened yet…”

Jason cut him off. “But you’re worried I’m going to have another drink after this and another after that, right?”

“Well… I know I shouldn’t be worried, and I know you always tell me that you’re fine now. It’s just… well, I worry. I can worry, right?”

Jason put his hand on Matthew's shoulder. The whiskey smell was stronger now. “Of course you can worry. But you can also trust me. I’m fine. I was fine last year, and the year before that. And even the year before that, when I got out.”

Matthew nodded and smiled, doing his part to close the book on the whole discussion and move on to what was really important. Or at least, what was really important to him.

“You know, speaking of getting into trouble, what's this I'm hearing from your history teacher? She said she keeps asking you to pay attention and you ignore her.”

Matthew rolled his eyes. Why did she have to get his uncle involved with this? “I was paying attention, just not to what she was saying.”

“I thought these character designs looked too intricate to be done in just a few hours after school. They look like many, many hours were dedicated to them. Am I right?”

Matthew slowly nodded.

Authority returned to Jason's voice. “Thought so,” Jason said. “Believe me, I know what it’s like to want to isolate yourself and just concentrate on what makes you feel good. But we all have to eventually do what we have to do to make it in life.”

Matthew cut him off. “You want to finish that drink before you tell me this?”

Jason winced. “Ouch. Guess I had that coming to me. Not much of an authority figure, am I?”

Matthew studied his fingernails. “You’re all I’ve got.”

Jason squeezed his shoulder with surprising strength. “Your grandparents love you, y’know. But Gramps is showing signs of Parkinson’s and their assisted living in
California
doesn’t allow kids. Not even teenagers. They call regularly, though. They want to know how we're making out and everything.”

Matthew nodded. “Well... next time they call, you can tell them I'm doing just fine. And that you're doing a good job.”

Jason laughed. “Now you're starting to sound like the authority figure.” He gently shook Matthew’s shoulder and his face lit up with a smile that made him look much younger.

“So what’s in store for this week’s issue?”

Matthew turned back toward his computer and punched a few keys on the keyboard. The latest issue opened up on a new screen and Jason took a closer look at the most recent adventure of Excelsior.

“Very cool.”

*   *   *

“OUCH! Throngar’s backside!”

Katherine struggled to balance her bulging briefcase as she hopped away from the rock her toe just struck. She must have passed it, angled decoratively near the driveway, a multitude of times.

Mrs. Norris, soaking up the spring morning air in the embrace of her chaise lounge, lowered her reading glasses. “Are you okay, Dr. Sierra?”

Katherine looked up and forced a smile through the pain. Was it her imagination, or was Mrs. Norris holding back laughter? “Good morning, Mrs. Norris. I'm fine, thanks. And it’s Katherine.”

Mrs. Norris smiled. “Think you’ll make any new discoveries today... Katherine?”

Katherine gave a light laugh as she pointed at the offending rock. “I think I just did.”

The old landlady winced. “Oh dear, are you okay? My husband hurts himself on that all the time.”

Katherine took a deep breath and stifled the sharp reply that stung the tip of her tongue. “I'm fine.” She waved to Mrs. Norris one last time while limping to her car.

Once Katherine securely shut the car door, she removed her glasses and looked in the rear-view mirror. She squinted and noticed the deeper etching of the lines around her eyes. She then leaned her head against the steering wheel, feeling her exhaustion throb in time with her big toe.

“Damn this planet.” Katherine shut her eyes. “You know where he is,” she whispered. “Just find him and bring him home.”

*   *   *

“Okay everyone, we have a very special guest today,” Mr. Hayhurst announced to his homeroom. He darted a nervous glance at the elegant woman standing beside him and feigned a yawn to check his breath. He didn’t usually go for older women, but this one... wow! What a figure! Slim, restrained curves like a fine sports car. So sophisticated. That accent! And those glasses! What he wouldn’t give to get a peek behind those black, impenetrable frames.

“Class, this is Dr. Katherine Sierra from Tollund Laboratories. She has a fun experiment that has been okayed by the principal and she would like some student volunteers. Dr. Sierra?”

Katherine stepped forward and Mr. Hayhurst smiled as she spoke. “Good morning, class. What I am holding is the latest in state-of-the-art technology. This is something that, once it is perfected, will be a staple in all of your guidance counselors' offices. You've all heard of virtual reality, right?”

The students' muttering indicated that they had. Katherine continued. “Well, this takes the concept of virtual reality and turns it up a few notches. This is what we like to call ‘Virtual Future.’”

Katherine could feel attention shift toward her, as the room grew quiet. “On these goggles is micro-technology that reads the brainwaves of the wearer. This micro-technology taps into the subconscious of the individual and translates their best potential future into images that play out before their eyes. Now, who wants to go first to discover what they should become?”

Kristin Harrison raised her hand and Katherine motioned for her to come up to the front of the classroom. The slim blonde had no problem following instructions. She always paid close attention in class. Katherine adjusted the goggles on Kristin’s head around her pony tail and then activated her control box.

“Ready?” Katherine asked. Kristin nodded and gave a thumbs-up sign. Suddenly, Kristin was in a dressing room of what appeared to be a Broadway theater. In the mirror she saw an older version of herself wearing full theatrical make-up and an ornate costume. She gasped.

“I’m Lucy from ‘Jekyll & Hyde.’” Her favorite part from one of her favorite musicals. How often had she driven her family nuts singing “Bring On the Men” all over the house? Now she was going to perform it in front of a Broadway audience. She felt butterflies being swept away on a wave of elation.

Kristin touched her wig. Lucy! A chill ran up her spine as she heard a tap on the door.

“Ms. Harrison.”

She swept out the door and followed a stagehand to the wing. The orchestra played the all-too-familiar opening to “Bring On the Men” and she took a deep breath as she stepped onto the stage and…

“No, WAIT!” Kristin tore off the goggles. “Turn it back on! It was my cue!”

The class burst into laughter.

“I'm sorry, you're only allowed three minutes. That way, you don't get caught in the trap of just watching your future play out in front of you rather than concentrating on making sure it becomes your reality.”

“Please, three more minutes. Just let me sing the bridge!”

“I’m sorry. We have rules.” Katherine’s face was unmoved.

Sulking, Kristin threw herself into her seat. Suddenly, a thought broke through. Her hand shot up. “Professor, does this mean I really have what it takes to become a Broadway star?”

“It means you have the potential but making it a reality is up to you,” Katherine said evenly.

A clamor ran through the class. A boy in the back shouted, “You’ll always be a star to us, Kristin.”

Katherine quieted the class with a glance that made Mr. Hayhurst adjust his tie.

“Who would like to be next?”

After a moment of silence, the classroom erupted into pandemonium. “I’m next! I wanna go next! Me professor, me!” Jen Eldridge, Cara Jean Long and Lisa Brumley (who finally put away her notebook with “Mrs. Edward Cullen” written all over it) were the most persistent and most vocal of the class, their desks pushed together as always. Much to their chagrin, Katherine wasn't looking in their direction.

Joe Pospisil went next. While wearing the goggles, he looked down at the suit he was now wearing and then realized he was sitting at an executive desk. His office door open, he could see members of the New York Mets in uniform walking down the hallway.

Bruce Gibson took his turn and saw himself as one of the top producers for an independent film production company. He could make out the name “Tatum Pictures” before his time ran out.

Kyle Wingfield, wearing his varsity football letterman's jacket with pride, expected to see himself putting a poor wide receiver on his back but instead found himself in a courtroom. He listened to himself pleading a case in front of a jury.

Jim Bender, former elementary school bully and present lonely burnout, smiled for the first time in days when he saw a perfectly coiffed CEO’s wife defer to his choice of draperies for her beach house.

Katherine looked around the room for her next volunteer, ignoring the increasingly frantic pleas of the students. What was this? One boy wasn’t paying attention at all. Instead, his face was just three inches away from his notebook, completely immersed in his own world. Katherine glanced at Mr. Hayhurst.

“Who is that?” she asked as she pointed with her chin in the polite Denarian manner. When Hayhurst didn’t see where she pointed, she remembered that Americans weren’t that polite. She jabbed her finger toward the hunched over figure.

“Oh. That's Matthew Peters. If you want, I can take his pad away for the rest of the period.”

“That won't be necessary. Let's let him try this. I want to see what's in the future for, what's the word, an under-achiever?”

“Matthew Peters?” Matthew looked up from his pad at the unfamiliar voice. “Could you come up here please? I'd like you to test out our Virtual Future device.”

The class groaned. “Why waste it on him?” demanded a boy from the front of the room.

Matthew shrugged indifferently, then got out of his desk and walked forward. Katherine wrapped the goggles around his head and activated the controls. “Ready?” she asked. Matthew nodded, and the classroom faded away.

Matthew was in the air. He looked down and saw his high school fading from sight, swallowed up by clouds. He looked up and saw himself leaving the stratosphere and heading out to the stars. A frantic check of his clothing revealed what he feared. No spacesuit. The Earth faded away in the distance and he flew unprotected through space, but he felt fine. His velocity increased as he broke gravity and shot out into the universe. Where was he going?

Matthew passed the moon, then Mars, and several seconds later, Jupiter and its moons, then Saturn, Uranus and
Neptune
. He zoomed by an icy chunk that used to be a planet until Dr. Tyson convinced his fellow astronomers otherwise. Before he knew it, he flew out of the Milky Way galaxy and kept traveling. In spite of his speed and trajectory, he felt completely calm.

Soon, a new solar system came into view. The planets were uniform in appearance with the exception of the fourth from the sun. This planet had a radiant glow to it, a diamond among coals, and Matthew could feel its pull. His eyes widened as he was pulled into the planet's atmosphere and landed...

...in Mr. Hayhurst's homeroom. The Virtual Future goggles had reached their three-minute limit. Matthew thought he heard a tiny, feminine gasp.

“Is that it?” he asked looking curiously at Katherine.

Katherine nodded, her face unreadable, and gave Matthew a smile. “Thank you, Matthew.” He was dismissed.

Matthew slowly took off the goggles. He wanted to ask her what the hell he had just seen, but he couldn't conjure up the right words and she wasn’t exactly receptive. Instead, he placed the goggles into Katherine's outstretched hand and turned to go back to his desk.

“Mr. Peters, wait a moment.” Katherine spoke so softly that only he and Mr. Hayhurst – who was leaning in to hear her voice – could hear. “I'd like to see you after your last class. I know you have a lot of questions about what you saw, and I'd like to answer them for you.”

Surprised, Matthew nodded. His made his way back to his seat, his head filled with the images from the goggles. He sat down and rubbed his eyes, wondering. Thomas tapped him on the shoulder. “Well?”