The Last World (18 page)

Steve’s mind
was already focused on the various things he’d hear from his father if anything like that happened. While he had no great love for his father, being at his mercy and having to listen to his tirades about being an adult for the rest of his life was too much to bear. The pair continued on in silence, each thinking about the small piece of excitement that entered their lives.

Chapter 23

As their car made its way through the darkening streets of Tarken Heights to their hotel, the woman that had so easily brushed aside the two janitors, handymen… whatever they were, thought about the day’s accomplishments. So far, it looked as though their efforts to keep things quiet had some holes in it. Their saving grace was the fact she had been present. They never should’ve been sent to a National Guardsmen Headquarters in the middle of bumfuck nowhere. Real soldiers knew how to keep a secret. They didn’t buddy up to the hired help because there
wasn’t
any hired help on the bases. With all of that in mind, she wasn‘t overly angry at the corporal for he didn’t know anything more than anyone else there. Their cover story about monitoring energy spikes from the local communities was, to say the least, weak, but effective. Most would think they were being typical government automatons going about their assignments without the brains God gave them. Sometimes the simplest things are what works the best.

T
hinking like a career army officer made her smile even though she hated keeping secrets from anybody. Judith Reed was one of a handful of scientists trusted to team with Hans Fleece in his efforts to develop the Orion IV and she was honored to have such a distinction on her record. Not that anyone would ever see it, at least not for another thirty, forty years, give or take.

She sat watching the typical country scenery go past them without a single moment’s contemplation about what she saw. As a city girl and a scientist, the only thing she saw out of the window was dirt and future experiments, both animated and not. She should’ve been a test tube baby, considering her lack of warmth, but somehow she managed to charm people when she had to. It was an innate ability she discovered early on in life by accident and got her first chemistry set because of it. Now in her fifties, she was at the peak of her career and would have a very comfortable life after her government work
was done.

Out of all of her accomplishments throughout the years, Orion IV was, without a doubt, he
r proudest accomplishment. Sitting in front of the terminals in the National Guard’s computer lab and watching the numbers scroll by on the screen gave her a rush that no prestigious prize could. On that screen she saw the information being transmitted through a handful of other installations, each manned by another of her group, to its destination in the Pentagon. The process was an exhausting one, but after one day she was pleased to see the program was working perfectly. The next step would be to activate the auto filter at the Pentagon to clear out the background noise and private conversations people were having with one another. By her calculations, Orion IV would be ready to become fully operational by the end of the week.

What scared her was the fact that the information would need even more servers
, which were being constructed at that moment to handle the enormous amount of information that would begin streaming in from the four corners of the globe. Soon every electronic conversation would be subject to review, should the home system deem it necessary after certain keywords were found. It was the epitome of what the human mind was capable of to her. With it, they could stop any and all hostilities before they occurred, arrest those planning to commit a crime, and on and on.

She’d
once been asked by a fellow scientist if she read George Orwell’s
1984
and believed in the need for such precautions. Never believing mankind had much to offer the universe, she said yes, and soon afterwards was welcomed into the project. While she expected to find like-minded individuals, she was shocked that she was the only one that believed the world should be run as Orwell predicted. No one, not even the military people assigned to it, agreed with her. In fact, they all looked at her as though she were some demon spawn raised to destroy their very way of life. Not once was she ever told to change her point of view, but she did notice she always had someone following her, just as there was in Tarken Heights. She knew he was there to ensure nothing happened to her since the military heads were paranoid she’d either be spirited away or run off. While those were valid concerns the real reason, as she saw it, was they were afraid she would do something to the program they didn’t want her to. What that would be was a mystery to her, especially when the young man remained outside of the computer lab, but she was never one to let go of an opinion unless proven wrong.

With all of those thoughts floating around, her mind wasn’t on the young corporal she was working with, or th
e strange man that cleaned the computers. No, her mind focused squarely on top of the computer system and what she could do to improve it. They had the opportunity to change the world at their fingertips, and she’d be damned if she let it slip through.

*****

Franklin breathed deep when he stepped out of the hospital. It was the first whiff of fresh air he had in what felt like a lifetime. He didn’t count what he breathed while dreaming, that wasn‘t real, well, not as real as it should’ve been. After taking a few breaths and enjoying his newfound freedom, he started walking across the parking lot. Franklin assumed it was business as usual, with only a handful of cars parked there. The town of Tarken Heights wasn’t very big and he wondered what good did a hospital actually do when Settler’s Grove was twenty minutes away.

Thinking he was lucky there was a hospital here to begin with, he changed his line of thought to something else. Not sure where to go or what to do, he put his hands in his pockets
, where he found the paper Fulton Drake gave him the day before. At first, he didn’t remember what it was but when he unfolded it the memory flooded back to him in an instant. He paused and looked around, taking a moment to ensure he was heading in the right direction.

H
e spotted Jimmy’s Garage a short distance down the road and continued on his way, not wanting to call and wake his father for a simple ride. He could only imagine how much sleep his father had gone without since he came to visit him and he didn’t want to cut into the man’s time any more than he already had. Not a bad turn, considering twenty-four hours earlier he wouldn’t have cared less about his father one way or another.

Jimmy Jones looked up from his chair in the office of Jimmy’s Garage. The young man he saw approaching didn’t look familiar to him
, so he was sure he was the kid whose car he had in back. Jimmy knew everybody in Tarken Heights going back all of his fifty-four years. The one thing Jimmy was good at was being meticulous when it came to his customers. Fulton Drake gave him a copy of the young man’s driver’s license and he studied the picture to ensure he wouldn’t have any difficulty in spotting him. That was his plan until the young man with a shaved head approached him.

Despite all of his work and attention to detail, Jimmy was the epitome of stereotypical mechanics in that he wore a light blue jumpsuit with his name embroidered over the left breast pocket and the name of his business on a patch over his right breast pocket. His hair was greasy and
semi-long with graying streaks of black remaining here and there. He took a sip from his can of soda and leaned back in his chair and waited until the young man opened the door before welcoming him. “Afternoon, what can I do ya for?”

The young man looked at him and around the room with a quiet cunning Jimmy never saw before. After a minute
, he shrugged and scratched his head. “I’m Franklin Bowen. Mr. Drake said my car was here.”

Jimmy leaned forward and stood
. “Well I’ll be… you look different than the picture I was given of you.” He fumbled through his pile of papers on the edge of his desk until he pulled out a copy of Franklin’s driver’s license. “As you can see, I don’t do nuthin’ I shouldn’t. Your car’s over here.” He motioned toward the side door across from the one the young man entered through. “She’s out here and in right fine shape, if I do say so myself. I’m just waiting for a few more parts and I’ll have her together for you in no time.”

Franklin followed him out of the door without hesitation and into the side lot of the garage. A
pavilion of sorts was erected over the area where his Thunderbird and Steve’s truck sat side by side waiting for someone to work on them. From what he could see, his car was almost finished and needed both front panels over the wheel wells. Those, he figured, were needed because they were fiberglass and the hood was metal. The latter could be hammered back into shape while the fiberglass panels had to be replaced. All in all, it wasn’t as bad as he imagined.

“How long until you get everything?”

Jimmy looked into the air as he did his calculations. “I’d say no more than a day once I get the parts, so you figure another day, maybe two, until they arrive.” His eyes glazed over while he worked out the numbers and which day of the week it was. “All in all, I can have it for you by Wednesday, Thursday at the absolute latest.”

It wasn
’t what Franklin hoped to hear, but it was better than nothing. At least the repairs were being taken care of. That thought brought another thought to mind. “Do you need that paper now or then?” Considering Franklin was wearing or carrying everything he owned at that point, if he could lighten his load even the tiniest bit he would be grateful.

Jimmie lowered his eyes to Franklin’s and shrugged. “Whenever’s good with you. I can take it now or then, it’s all up to you.”

Franklin nodded as he fished the paper out of his front pocket and unfolded it. “May as well get it over with, otherwise I’ll probably lose it.”

Jimmie nodded as he took the paper and looked it over. “Looks good to me. Come on inside
, and I’ll give you a receipt for it.”

Franklin did as requested and within minutes he signed on the appropriate line and was getting ready to leave the small, but surprisingly efficient
, garage. At the door, he paused and turned to face Jimmy as a sudden thought struck him. “Where’s the nearest hotel?”

“That’d be the Miller’s place, about two miles east of here
toward the outskirts of town. You’ll be staying there, I take it?”

Franklin shrugged, it was better than waiting for his father. Maybe he’d pass his old man coming into town. “Better than nothing, I guess.”

Jimmy nodded his agreement. “Yep, can’t argue with that logic.”

Franklin turned and left the garage and Jimmy to do whatever work he had to do. After looking both ways
, he crossed the street and headed east for the Miller’s Hotel.

Chapter 24

Zach was driving past the college when Steve happened to look out the window and spotted his friends, Horace and Janice. “Hold up! There’s Horace.”

Zach’s head moved from side to side
. “Who?”

“My friend
. Pull over, I want to talk to him a minute.”

Zach cursed under his breath
; he was feeling the effects of lack of sleep from the previous night and wanted to make up for the lost time. He decided against putting up much of a fight and instead of continuing to drive, he pulled over next to the pair he assumed Steve meant.
A black man and white girl, well if that ain’t just wonderful.

When the car pulled over and Steve started to open the door to get out
, he noticed the engine was idling and glanced over at Zach.

“I don’t know them
; I’ll wait here.”

Something in his tone told Steve to leave it be at that so he did. With a nod, Steve climbed out of the car and headed
toward the pair and Buster.

Buster was watching the car with peaked interest
, and when he saw Steve he started pulling on his leash and barking short, little puppy barks. At first, Horace and Janice didn’t notice as they stood leaning against the side of Horace’s Pinto. When Buster began pulling at his leash, it caught Janice’s attention and she nudged Horace.

“It’s Steve.” Steve Drake, the one man in the world she felt comfortable around only in Horace’s presence. It wasn
’t that she didn’t trust him, quite the opposite really, but she had never gotten used to the way he looked at her.

Horace looked over and pushed off of the car. He knew her feelings about Steve and he respected them as well as the fact she never once tried to keep him away. Still, since he hadn’t heard from his friend in about two days
, this was a mild surprise. The last thing Horace expected was to ever see him in work clothes. “Steve?” He knew it was his friend, but the shock overrode that portion of his brain.

Steve stopped a foot away smiling his goofy lopsided grin. “Who you think it is
, my nigga?”

Horace paused for a moment as he was about to say something then shook his head. He chose to ignore Steve’s slang term as he didn’t want to get into a fight. “Where’d you get a job? I thought it was against your religion?” Horace couldn’t help but smile at his friend, throwing his own quote at him.

Steve’s smile disappeared a little, but then it returned. “My dad got it for me. But if he hadn’t, I wouldn’t have met Zach and found the meteor.”

From the look on the black man’s face, Zach figured Steve just told him about finding the piece of metal.
Dumb kid couldn’t keep his mouth shut.
He shook his head at the sight. It wasn’t bad enough his new friend listened to that crap they called rap, but his best friend had to be one of
them
as well. Zach never thought of himself as a racist person, but he didn’t believe in mixing of races. It was easier to tell who you were supposed to be with. It was simple to him and since he was at least ten years older than those two, he thought educating them about how the world worked was his job. No sooner had the thought came to him than he decided against it. If their parents couldn’t teach their kids the right way to live, it wasn’t any of his concern. He’d leave things as they were and hope the best for the pair.

He remained where he was and watched the clock tick away the minutes. This was the last thing he wanted to do
, and the last place he wanted to sit and wait. He mulled over the idea of leaving Steve there since he could obviously get a ride from one of them, but he decided against it. What kind of person would that make him?
One that wants to go home and get some rest, that’s what.
After pausing to think about it some more, he pressed on the car horn.

Janice watched the two friends talking without paying any attention until she heard the word meteor. Horace stopped talking and looked at
Steve as if he couldn’t believe it. “What meteor?”

“You’re shitting me?” Horace looked as if he couldn’t believe he heard his friend right.

“No shit, man, we found it. Me and Zach.”

Janice looked back and forth between the pair
, trying to get one of them to answer her. “
What
meteor?”

That time her voice broke through the barrier that always erected itself around the two of them when they discuss
ed something between themselves. It was as though they were speaking their own language and she’d never been able to penetrate it. The reason she was successful this time was as big a mystery to her as why men loved cars and football, and she planned to figure it all out at a later time. Right then, she was just happy to be heard.

Horace turned his head
toward her and acted as though he didn’t recognize her. It took him a couple of seconds to find his voice. For the life of him, he thought he told her about it. “We were out looking for it when we found that guy and his car on Old Sixty-Six.”

S
he knew that much, but she decided it was enough for now.
Let the boys have their fun.

Steve watched the pair and failed to hold back a sly smile. He enjoyed watching Janice make Horace nervous at times like that, it was something that made her unique among the women he knew. With the situation between them settled for the moment, he began talking again
, becoming more animated with each word.

“Man, we found this hunk of metal about the size of my fist… no, bigger than that… but still. It does the coolest thing. When you flash a light on it
, the metal disappears like one of those ships in
Star Trek
.”

That was when they heard the horn from the rusty old mustang. Horace glanced over
toward the car in annoyance. “I think you’re being summoned.”

“Yeah, can’t his royal highness come over and meet us?” Janice shared her boyfriend’s disdain
toward the man they never met before. Even Buster gave a bark toward the car.

Steve turned and motioned to Zach that he’d be right there before turning back to Horace and Janice. “Sorry, he was up late trying to figure out what the metal did and then today…” His voice trailed off when he realized he wasn‘t supposed to talk about what happened. After a second or two
, he looked up at them. “I’d better get going. See you tomorrow, bud?”

Horace smiled and nodded at hearing the usual energy in his friend’s voice
. “Sure.”

“Cool. See you then, see you Janice, don’t do anything I wouldn’t do tonight.” Laughing, Steve climbed into the mustang
and left his friends.

“He’s… odd.”

Horace smiled. “He’s not too bad when you get to know him.” Despite his protests, Horace was beginning to wonder about his friend as well. And who was this Zach, and where did Steve get a job? Too much was happening over the last couple of days for him to keep up with it all. She climbed in with Buster in her lap. The seating arrangements would have to change when he grew more, but for the time being Buster was still small enough for Janice to handle.

*****

Complications. What exactly were complications? The question was one of several Franklin pondered while walking along the road toward Miller’s Hotel. He thought a couple of miles would be longer, but he was surprised at how fast and easily he reached the point where he could see the building’s outline against the night sky. It’s yellow outside lights gave it the appearance of a beacon in a sea of blackness.

The more he thought about it, the more it seemed the fates had been doing what they could to cause more complications over the last couple of days than any one man should have to deal with. Every time he turned around and tried to do, or even
think
about doing, something the world seemed to conspire against him in every way it could. The more he contemplated the actions and reactions against him, he couldn’t help but wonder what he did to deserve it.

“It is your destiny.”

Franklin jumped at the sound of the voice. “Jesus Christ! How’d you do that?” It was the first time since he first began seeing Tanok that Franklin hadn’t noticed him anywhere. The thought of his imagination running rampant didn’t help him feel any better about himself at the moment.

Tanok
stood off to the side of the road and watched the young hero as he walked.
“I have given you the time you asked for. Now it is time for us to proceed.”

Franklin stopped and locked his eyes on his companion. Just as before, the man stood wearing his whitish-gray bodysuit and his long black hair tied back in a ponytail. Nothing ever emanated from him, not warmth, kindness, or compassion. The only thing
Franklin ever noticed in the man’s eyes was sadness. “How the hell did I ever dream you up?” Franklin shook his head, trying to figure out what part of him this… vision was supposed to represent. After all of the time they spent together, Franklin had never felt more sure of himself being sane.

“I am as real as you, as were the visions I gave you.”

Franklin paused, raising his eyes to meet Tanok’s. “You’ve told me that several times, but I haven’t seen any proof of that, have I? Not once have you shown me something to prove you exist outside of my mind.”

Tanok nodded
; he understood what was happening. Letting out a sigh, he nodded.
“So be it. I leave you as I found you.”

S
earing pain exploded into Franklin’s back, along with an intense burning sensation rising into the back of his neck and brain. Everything in Franklin’s world ceased in an instant as it was filled with the most horrible agony he could’ve imagined. He was screaming, but he couldn’t hear it through the torment flooding his mind and body.

“This is the result of my arrival and I do not wish it upon you. Do as I say
, or more than your life will be lost.”
Tanok’s words cut through the pain and pierced his brain in the lone area left unaffected by what was happening.

Franklin tried to focus on the sound of Tanok’s voice, trying to find a way to end his suffering. Images of Tanok’s vessel crashing into the field and the shockwave striking him, sending him into the side of his car,
and killing him on impact played through that small portion of his mind. The tugging on his consciousness afterwards as it was pulled back into his body by a powerful force he could never explain to anyone. In that moment, he understood and he offered himself in any way Tanok needed him.

The pain disappeared as fast as it came, leaving the young man on his knees beside the road. Everything around him was as he remembered it
. The town’s lights were still bright to his left, as were those of Miller’s Hotel about a mile down the road to his right. Tanok stood before him, unmoved since Franklin saw him before being crippled by the lesson.

“Now, you finally understand.”

Franklin nodded. “Yes… I understand.”