The Twelve Stones (33 page)

Alex leaned in close to Geoffrey’s face
.
H
is
eyes narrowed, anger and hate pouring through every ounce of his being. It took every bit of restraint in Alex to resist killing the smarmy bald man from the desert right then and there.

Without another word, Alex viciously hit Geoffrey in the temple with his fist, knocking him out.

“
And this time, stay down!” Alex spat angrily.

Scott swallowed. He’d never seen his friend like this. It wasn’t pretty, he decided. He jumped in, hoping his presence might keep Alex from going too far.

“
Yeah!” Scott added
.
“You, better stay down, or uhhh…else!”

Alex cocked his head towards Scott, his eyebrows raised questioningly.

“
Yeah, I got nothing.” Scott continued sadly. A smile returned to his face as he looked over his friend. “Are you OK?”

Alex didn’t answer. He didn’t want to. He stared at the stone wrapped tightly in his fist and looked out at the valley in front of him. He wondered if life would be so bad if he just forgot about his father’s murder. Hide the stone somewhere deep, somewhere safe, where no man could use it. He opened his palm
,
extending it out so he could clearly see that shiny black stone, the source of so many problems
,
and considered throwing it away into the night as hard as he could.

Try as he might, the injustice of his father, the deputy at the station
,
and now Carl’s murder going unanswered was too much to handle. Carl
had
expected to go home tonight to his wife and kids, and see another sunrise. The men who were trailing Alex had ruined his chances for all that. The least Alex could do was make sure
those men
got justice.

He turned to his friend, “We need to get to Emily. If they found you, they’ll find her next.”

Scott didn’t respond to this. In fact, he was pretty unnerved at how quickly the men following Alex had tracked him down. He knew how important Emily was to Alex, and after witnessing what the men were capable of,
he
didn’t wish to stand in his best friend’s way.

Alex breathed deeply as he calmed himself, looking for his center. After a moment, he opened his eyes and looked quizzically at his friend.

“
By the way, did I seriously see a grizzly bear attack one of the
m
ercenaries?”

Scott nodded
,
and was about to wonder about the same strange vision
,
when a musical voice sweetly interjected.

“
You did. I never liked taking that form, but it does come in handy for battles such as this.”

Alex and Scott whirled around, Scott aiming the MISAMP towards the mysterious new voice.

The woman who stood before them was incredibly beautiful. Her hair was a golden fire of curly blond locks, cascading down and around her face, shoulders
,
and breasts. Her face was hidden in the shadows for the moment, but Alex did not sense a threat from her. He motioned for Scott to lower his weapon. Scott glanced up worriedly, but complied. Blood was falling from all over her body, where Tate’s nine
-
millimeter rounds had
punched through her
. Weak, she fell to the ground.

Alex and Scott rushed over
,
Alex
rais
ing
her head into his lap. The stone began glowing
,
and the bullet wounds on her body began healing, leaving no marks behind.

“
Who are you?” Alex asked softly, after her eyes had reopened.

“
My name is Siobhan O’Neill
,
and I’m here to help you save the world.”

It was then that she turned her head
,
and her golden hair fell away from her ears. A dark purple claw
-
like stone dangled from her right ear.

“
Who are you?” Alex asked again slowly.

Siobhan chuckled,
s
at
up
,
and began rearranging her hair. “My dear, you’ve no idea the trouble you’ve managed to get yourself involved in.”

Scott spoke up quickly, “No, I’m pretty sure we’ve got an idea.”

Siobhan’s eyes flashed, and she shook her head again, sadly this time. “I’m afraid you don’t.”

“
Why don’t you enlighten us to it
,
then?” Alex replied harshly. He didn’t like games. This woman could help him or not. The alarms that had
gone
off had probably rung a few bells at the local police station too. That meant reinforcements would be arriving shortly at the complex. They needed to get moving.

Siobhan shook her head. “Now’s not the time. We have to move, as you well know…” Siobhan raised her hands above her head. “Whatever you may think of me, trust me…”
A
bright purple flash, and suddenly, the great grizzly bear was in front of them again, standing high on its hindquarters roaring loudly. Scott clutched Alex’s arm
and let out
a shrill
,
girlish shriek. Alex, annoyed with his friend, brushed him off and stood unflinching in front of the terrifying beast. Calmly, Alex brushed off the dirt and debris from his shirt and stared down the grizzly.

“
We’ll listen to what you have to say, but you come with us. Agreed?”

The bright purple light flashed, and once again, Alex and Scott were staring at the beautiful blonde woman. She shook her hair, tossing it back over her shoulder casually.

“
Agreed
,
”
s
he
purred.

Alex turned to Scott. “Since you blew up the first vehicle I stole
,
you think you might have anything else around here for us to drive?”

Scott’s smile broadened across his face. “I think I might have something…”

Alex looked quizzically at his friend.

Scott led
Alex and Siobhan around the corner of the building and down into a hidden driveway,
where
several vehicles unlike anything Alex had seen before
were displayed before him
.

Alex gaped at the monstrosity in front of him. It was a truck
.
S
ort
of, anyway.

The body was designed in a way that would make most Formula One drivers covetous. The low
-
profile truck was long, the body extending a good twelve feet. The truck was a monster, wide and beefy, with a sloping front hood that sat only six inches off the ground. The huge rear tires made the truck appear even stranger
,
as
they
raised the slanted rear profile of the vehicle a full five feet higher than the front.

“
Beautiful isn’t she?” Scott asked, “The boys down here named ‘em Hypertrucks, but me…” Scott blushed, “I call her Molly.”

Alex stood speechless in front of the behemoth in front of him. “I’m supposed to drive this thing?” he asked incredulously, looking at the truck in front of him, “I mean, how do you even get in?”

Scott sighed, his face sagging at the lackluster reception
.
“What?” He asked sullenly. “They’re the latest in totally green technology.”

Alex snorted, “Look, Scott, I appreciate saving the earth and hugging trees and whatnot else, but we need a vehicle that can take a beating and go fast when we need it to go fast.”

Scott set his jaw in defiance, “You know,” Scott started, “That argument used to make sense in 2006, but now,” he said tapping the exterior, “This is the future
,
baby…”

Scott’s face lit up as he began to run through the specs. “Molly has a top speed of
180
miles per hour, she runs on a hydrogen fuel cell, oh and yeah, that’s right - ONE nano
-
hydrogen tank the size of a camp stove propane tank can help her run four thousand miles without needing a refill. An on-board computer located in a secure mount on the undercarriage controls everything. All the latest and greatest in satellite hookup, GPS, internet access, multimedia possibilities…you can do it all with Molly…so go ahead and try to pimp this ride!” Scott finished his presentation with a flourish of his arms like a showroom model.

Alex looked over the truck and tapped the metal shell. To his surprise, it rang hollow, more like plastic than metal.

“Ahh yes, the carbon fiber shell,” Scott said proudly, “Created with the latest in carbon nanofiber technology, which is stronger than steel, incredibly light, which in turn increases fuel efficiency, and….” he added smiling, “I think you’ll like this feature.”

Scott took out his PDA and pressed a few buttons. Immediately, the Hypertruck (or Molly
,
as Scott called her), clicked on, lights flashing, the desktop LED screens turning on, and the engine purring softly, surprisingly quiet for such a large automobile. Alex was used to powerful throaty engines
;
when you heard
th
at
roar
,
you knew how strong it really was. With this truck before him on and running now, Alex couldn’t hear a thing.

“
Wait, you turn on the truck with your PDA?” Alex asked
,
somewhat impressed.

Scott smiled
.
“I keep telling you
,
Alex...”
he continued
as he tapped away on his PDA, “
w
elcome
to the future.”

Scott entered a final command. It was then the truck began to come apart and transform. The carbon nanofiber shell rippled as the whole truck became transparent. Alex’s jaw dropped to the ground, and Scott just stood, grinning at his friend’s reaction.

Alex shook his head. “Wait
-
wait
-
wait a second
… W
hat
is a rocket laboratory doing with a top-secret
T
ransformers
wanna
-
be future truck?”

Scott looked down
in
an aw-shucks pose. “Well
,
who do you think designed the software for the transparent camouflage?”

Alex opened his eyes in disbelief. “So you’re telling me, you not only invented a ray-gun for NASA, you also created invisibility camouflage for a Mommy-Mobile on steroids?”

Scott looked offended. “Hey, the camo idea came
to me
in grad school.
It
was my thesis
project
.” He pointed to the vehicle’s display proudly. “The Department of Defense dropped her off to me last month so I could overlook the final install of all components.”

Alex looked at the mechanical beast
before
him in wonder. “
W
ell, I’ll tell you this much
, I’m beginning to believe you deserve that parking space.”

Scott snorted.
“Thanks for all your support. I’ll be sure to mention
you
in my first Nobel Prize acceptance speech…”

“First? So you’re going for more than one…” Alex jabbed back.

Siobhan coughed
.
“I do hate to interrupt, but I believe they’re playing our song.” She pointed towards the sky above
.
Alex and Scott cocked their heads. She was right
;
through their arguing
,
they had missed the distant humming of a
helicopter
that was drawing nearer.

“LAPD
,
most likely.” Alex said quickly, “Either way, we probably don’t want to be around when they get here. Get in the truck.”

The three of them moved themselves into the surprisingly roomy SUV. The futuristic truck was brightly lit with colored buttons and LED screens all across the dashboard. Scott jumped in the driver’s side, completely at peace with the fact there was no steering wheel. Alex looked at him curiously.

“
One question,” Alex asked.
“How do you drive this thing?

“That’s the best part,” Scott said with a knowing grin
.
“You let the computer do all the work.”

Scott leaned forward and spoke into the microphone embedded within the dashboard.

“Destination
:
Allen Telescope Array, Hat Creek, California.”

The screens immediately lit up, and the computers contained within the rear of the cabin began plotting the quickest route up north towards the radio telescope in Northern California.