Giddeon (Silver Strand Series) (33 page)

It was big news when one of the richest men in the world won the lottery.
 
Some cried foul and suggested that the contest was rigged, but most just thought it was an ironic event that was part of the random nature of the game.
 

Many were pleased to hear that Raymond would put the money to good use, and several charities were set up to distribute his winnings to schools, hospitals and research laboratories.
 
He negotiated a lower tax rate with the federal government so that more of the money could be funneled to the causes… you can do things like that when you’re Raymond Bradford.
 
Of course, it helped that he was actively building and reinforcing the electrical and nuclear infrastructures of our country.
 
About half of the money was targeted into those projects.

During this time, Bradford Enterprises continued to carry on with its day to day operations, which included the launching of communication satellites and testing of near Earth reentry vehicles.
 
Without much fanfare, a government payload was jettisoned into space and quietly made its way into geosynchronous orbit off the Eastern coast of
Japan
.
 

*****

The launch window was approaching, and the Russians and Indians prepared their rockets and checked and rechecked their systems.
 
Calculations still had the asteroid doing a near miss of planet Earth, but, decisions were made by both countries to continue with their missions.
 

*****

Ray flew back in from
Texas
and was greeted by Sampson and Jennifer in the circular drive of his main entrance.
 
They had been out for a walk on the grounds, and Bradford stepped from the vehicle and broke into a big smile as Dr. Evans released her hold on Sampson’s collar and the
Labrador
made a dash in his direction.
 
The animal nearly bowled him over with an enthusiastic leap.
 
Raymond caught the dog in his arms, and lowered all four canine feet back to Terra Firma, whereupon Sampson spun and jumped and barked.

“He hasn’t done that since he was a puppy,” Raymond related to Jennifer.
 
“I almost changed his name to
Astro
Boy because of his flying jumps.
 
He just expected me to catch him… I suppose he still does.”

Jen gave Ray a hug that was a little longer than normal.
 
He didn’t seem to mind at all.

“Congratulations on the launch.”

“Went off without a hitch.”

“I’ll cook you dinner to celebrate.
 
Want some burgers and vegetable kabobs on the grill?”
 

“Sounds delicious… I’ll just take a quick shower and make a couple of phone calls, first.”
 
He reached back in the open door of his Range Rover and grabbed one of the ubiquitous tennis balls that he kept handy for Samson.
 
He threw it overhand into one of the pools that flanked the mansion, and the dog took off like a shot.

‘
Astro
Boy’ leaped into the
Caribbean
air and landed directly on top of his target with a tremendous splash.

*****

The burgers and veggies smelled great as they simmered on the grill behind the guest house.
 
Jennifer and Ray sat at the table with Sampson in close proximity; the dog realized some tasty morsels would be coming his way in the near future.
 
The staff knew to stay out of the way, even though
Bradford
had never instructed them to do so, and they didn’t intrude on their privacy.
 
According to Giddeon, there was much speculation amongst Ray’s employees as to the relationship between the entrepreneur and woman… and all of them seemed to be rooting for a romance to blossom.
 
They were quite fond of Dr. Evans.

The sun made its way towards the picturesque horizon, as it did with great regularity, from off the verdant shores of the island paradise.
 
Jennifer asked about
Texas
, and inquired as to the
Huevos
Rancheros at the breakfast spot.
 
Ray filled her in on operations at the facility, and also assured her that the breakfast dish was as delicious as ever.
 
He asked if she missed the mainland and if she was feeling a bit like a prisoner at the estate.

“Don’t worry… this is about as good as a house arrest can possibly be.
 
I’m enjoying it, actually.
 
Besides, I’ve got my head buried in a computer screen most of the day, anyway, so it wouldn’t matter where I was.”

“Do you miss your practice?”

Jennifer nodded.
 
“I do… but, I feel like what we’re doing takes precedence.”
 
She got up to check on the burgers and flipped them with a spatula.
 
Then, she turned the bell pepper, mushroom, cucumber, tomato, onion and squash kabobs.
 

“No argument, here,” said Raymond.
 
“Hopefully, I’ve thrown the government off of the
Coronado
trail by taking credit for the predictions, myself… so maybe you, Greg and Melody won’t come under any further scrutiny.”

“But, now, you’ve made yourself a target.”

He grinned.
 
“I can take care of myself.
 
Besides, I’ve got so much incriminating info on so many high-level people that I think they’ll leave me alone.
 
Plus, I think the President is on our side… I’m pretty good at reading people, and I believe he can be trusted to keep what I’ve told him to himself and a small inner circle.
 
After I gave him a list of
Giddeon’s
correctly predicted track changes (at a subsequent meeting), and they all came to pass, he did give me a very high tech piece of equipment.”

Raymond pointed skyward, indicating the direction of the latest launch.

“If I didn’t know better, I could swear you enjoy the 007 aspect of all of this,” she said.
 
Jennifer then stood up and went over to the grill.
 
She removed the food from the flames, and brought over two plates weighted down with huge hamburgers and vegetables on sticks.

He shrugged and gave Sampson a pat on the head before taking a bite.
 
Ray swallowed it down with a look of satisfaction on his tanned features.
 
“A martini, shaken, not stirred is okay, but it can’t compare to a good hamburger and better company.”
 

She laughed and felt herself blush, hoping all the while that the color in her face was obscured by the red rays of the setting sun.
 
Raymond plucked a piece of squash from his kabob and flipped it into the air, where it was expertly caught by his dog’s jaws.

“Are you talking about me or Sampson?” asked Jennifer a bit coyly.
 

Bradford
smiled.
 
“Both… you know, he spends so much time at your guest house, that I kind of think of you guys as a package deal, now.”

Sampson, as if to prove the point, went over and put his head on Jennifer’s knee.
 
The two humans laughed, and watched a beautiful ball of fire sink into the turquoise waters of the
Caribbean
.

*****

The Russian rocket lifted off into the air, its powerful engines thrusting it slowly from the Earth.
 
It gained speed as it rose, and ever so gently the flaming machine turned to the West as it acquired altitude and dropped two stages into the ocean.
 
When the vehicle left the atmosphere and streaked into the dark beginnings of space, all communication with the land based control room was lost.
 
Try as the controllers might, no information could be detected from the craft… commands from the ground were ignored as the rocket made its way into the reach of blackness around it.

No one had detected the powerful, focused beam of energy that had been emitted in a short burst from a recently deployed satellite.
 
It happened just immediately prior to the communications loss.

In
West Texas
, Raymond Bradford and two of his most trusted scientists watched the news come in over their monitors as television stations across the globe reported on the failure of the Russian mission.

*****

The Indian rocket successfully cleared the launch tower and lumbered into the afternoon sky.
 
Within minutes, it was free of the troposphere and headed away from the gravitational pull of the Earth.
 
As designed, the vehicle reached escape velocity and found its way free of the forces attempting to keep it orbiting the blue and green planet beneath it.
 
The ship then turned onto a path that would take months to bring it close to FYI-616-B, which was in the process of being partially covered with white paint and reflective material.

*****

A sequence of firing for the ion engine on Ray’s
lander
had been worked out by his scientists, and the burns were timed to coincide with particular orientations of the asteroid as it turned and gyrated in the quiet deepness of the vacuum around it.
 
It was akin to an ant pushing on a boulder, but in this case the boulder had no friction holding it in place so the ant could eventually produce results.
 
Detailed observations of the Indian rocket, on its way towards the asteroid, were made and recorded by NASA.
 
In addition, any perturbations (presumably caused by Ray’s ion engine) in the path of the incoming astral body were catalogued.
 
The information was quietly transferred to the scientists in
West Texas
.

*****

A transponder on Ray’s landing craft sat silent, awaiting a signal from Earth.
 

*****

If it all went away, tomorrow, do you think we would leave an imprint on forever?
 
Do you think that the days we’ve all shared and the dreams we’ve all dreamed would still exist?
 
Even for the monsters in the closet?
 
Would their lonely worlds have mattered?
 
Or, would their parasitic existence be as completely inconsequential as ours would be if nothing remained?
 
Is all vanity, just like it says in Ecclesiastes?

Ashes to ashes, dust to dust?

I don’t believe that, and I hope you don’t either.
 
If life is like a box of chocolates, I want the box of chocolates to have no bottom.
 
Like one of those multi-layered ones that you get at the store.
 
I want there always to be a new level of treats below the one we currently enjoy.

Is that possible?

Do you think that’s the way it is?
 
I really hope you do… because, like I said, that’s what Giddeon and I believe.
 
I know you haven’t had the benefit of seeing the things that he and I have seen, except sometimes when you dream, but I feel like once an imprint has been made, it’s there for all time.
 
I suppose if I believe it, then you must believe it, too… after all, we’re sort of the same person, aren’t we?
 
Just on different levels, like the chocolates in a box.

I know cats don’t eat chocolate, but if Schrodinger’s feline had everything he needed in his box… food and shelter and belly rubs… and his box contained a forest and trees and everything a cat requires to be happy and contented… then maybe the box is better off left alone.
 
Maybe there’s a lock on his side of the box, and he can shut out prying eyes.
 
Eyes that think they are necessary to tell him which side of reality he is on.

I watched Giddeon struggle with this concept before he knew I was with him.
 
I would follow him around and observe him checking out the tunnels of light as people passed away.
 
Sometimes he talks to himself, but even without hearing him I knew what he was thinking.

He was thinking that if Greg had died while in his coma, they could just stay right where they were.

They wouldn’t have to go into the glowing, oscillating conduit.

He thought that, maybe, since they were both together already, they would be able to make a joint decision to remain.
 
Greg would have had a choice that most others don’t usually have… and that they could have extended their existence, as it was, indefinitely.

Later on, Giddeon told me that he thinks that, normally, when someone passes away and goes through the tunnel, that the subconscious part of them is sucked right along into the vortex with them.
 
Off they go.
 
To wherever it is they go.
 
Only when someone stays behind does the subconscious get to remain… like with the lady whose tunnel was still in her house so many years after her death.
 
She had been in a coma, too, you know?
 
Although he couldn’t be sure, Giddeon believed that a similar situation had occurred with her… that she and her subconscious had remained on this side.
 
He watched the odd behavior of her cat and that kind of confirmed it for him.
 
All he had to do was get inside of the animal, open his mind and take a look, but, he didn’t think of that.
 
It never occurred to him.
 

Too scientifically minded to believe something like that would work, I guess.
 

Me?
 
I’m like ‘You never know until you try’.
 
No matter how crazy it sounds.
 
I would have gotten inside the cat and taken a look around.

Like with the lottery… you can’t win if you don’t play : )

*****

Anyway, do you remember when, years ago, Greg asked why Giddeon didn’t pick out another stock for him and my future hubby said that it didn’t seem right without his permission?
 
Right after that, Greg said ‘Why would you need my permission… you’re me, remember?’.
 
Well that hit Giddeon like a ton of bricks.
 
And, later on, when my sweetheart decided to try and get Greg’s blood and tissues to change, he remembered that question before making that decision.

He didn’t even tell his other half about the possibility of staying on this side.
 
If nature took its course and their body had died in the hospital, that’s what they could have done… stayed right there.
 
But, of course, like Clint Eastwood said in that movie a long time ago… ‘Dying ain’t much of a living, boy.’

And, that’s exactly what it would have been like to your soul-mate.
 
Without you by his side, that’s the way it would have felt to him… like every day was dying.
 

Giddeon knew that changing his blood type could kill Greg when they did the transfusion… but, he also knew that it was his only chance to make it back over to you.
 
He knew that the pain coupled with the emotional duress of the wedding would be their last possibility of waking him up… and, then, even if he did awaken, that the reaction could kill him.

 
And, if he had died, over there, Greg would have been on your side and would have gone up into the tunnel of light.
 
Of course, Giddeon had decided he would have followed him even if he could have resisted the pull… he wasn’t about to let Greg go, alone.
 
Their body was so weak that it was already slipping away… thank goodness you got the ambulance there and the proper treatment initiated.

*****

So, in the end, even though they had everything inside of their box that they needed, they didn’t have everything they wanted.
 
What
Giddeon’s
other half wanted was you… and, by the way, what I wanted was Giddeon.
 
And, isn’t it nice that that’s the way it all worked out?
 
You for him and him for me.
 
Yin and Yang… Yang and Yin.
 
‘You and Me, Baby… We’re Stuck Like Glue’.
 
Oh, great… I won’t be able to get that darned song out of my head, now.
 
It’s okay, because we’re stuck like glue to them, too.

You know, what?
 
I think we can glue the top of our little box shut, now, because we both have what we need and what we want.

All we have to do is keep an asteroid from smashing into the lid.

*****