The Twelve Stones (38 page)

Despite
the temporary setback
, Geoffrey began to smile, his confidence returning. Things were never so bad as they looked.

The beat of helicopter blades against the night sky had been thrumming for quite some time, and while he had only been distantly aware of it when he first came to, there was no way to miss the sound of the approaching engine now.

Geoffrey looked up and expected to see a
p
olice
h
elicopter
, or SWAT
vehicle,
landing in the university’s quad, but instead was surprised to see that the heavy flying machine was one of Kline’s expensive birds.

The door opened, and Kline
emerged
, surveying the scene of destruction in front of him. Jumping down from the cabin, Kline walked casually over to Geoffrey and stood clucking his tongue sadly.

“
So
,
Mr. Tate,” Kline began civilly, “I see you’ve got yourself in quite a pickle here.”

Geoffrey swallowed. Rupert Kline was the last man on Earth he expected to see, and when conversations about your screw ups began quietly with Kline, they never ended well.

“
Sir,
t
here’s so much I…I can explain.” Geoffrey stammered, scared for his life. He was trapped, there would be no escape
,
and Kline was here to finish him personally. “I have to tell you what I saw, please! It’s not my fault!”

“
Quiet
,
you idiot!” Kline hissed
,
leaning down to Geoffrey’ face
.
“You want anyone hearing us?”

“
What?” Geoffrey asked
,
bewildered.

“
Keep your mouth shut like a good little soldier,” Kline replied kindly, “and I’ll get you out of here, but you need to look like you’re working to help me move this column
.
A
ll
right?”

Geoffrey, completely flummoxed
,
shut his mouth and repositioned himself against the white marble, pushing with every ounce of strength available.

Kline
,
using one hand
,
lifted the two
-
ton piece of rock quite easily, and quickly freed his assistant.

Geoffrey rolled out from under the column,
moving quickly as Kline casually dropped
the mammoth
weight.
T
he
loud thud of marble and concrete
reverberat
ed
against the University walls.
Geoffrey
swallowed,
his
eyes widening at his boss’
s
display of strength. He had seen demonstrations of his boss’
s
power in the past, but nothing had prepared him to see
a
frail, thin
-
looking
man
easily toss around a two
-
ton Greek Column as if it
w
ere
a child’s toy.

“
Sir, I…”

“
I told you to stay quiet. Get in the helicopter, and I’ll explain everything”

Geoffrey nodded, and holding his wounded arm,
he
walked slowly over to the helicopter. Following behind him, Kline stopped and looked out one last time for any possible witnesses. The blades spun back up,
and
the helicopter
t
ook
off.

Kline took the phone off the wall inside the cabin
.
“Back to Joshua Tree
,
please.”

The helicopter rose off the ground, tilting forward as it gathered speed
,
and moved quickly back towards the vast deserts of Southern California.

Chapter Twenty-Eight

Alex’s head bobbed up and down, his head falling victim to gravity as the Hypertruck purred over the California concrete that connected north to south. Drool hung precariously from his lower lip
,
threatening to drop onto his shirt, as dawn
began
to break over the California foothills. He was dreaming again. But instead of the
pleas
ant
memories of their first meeting, it was the nightmare of seeing her for the last time.

She would be home at any minute. No way would she guess what he was about to do. Alex had felt like a spy, buying the ring late last night at a jewelry store down the block. Every night now for the last two weeks, Alex had told his girlfriend that he was going out for a jog. It had been true, to a point. Each night, Alex jogged his way down to the jewelry store, nervously examining ring after ring until he had found the perfect one. Finally last night, he had. He opened the box for what felt like the millionth time and examine
d
the precious ring once again. Three stones, and a grand total of two and a half carats. He smiled, thinking of her reaction, and then swallowed nervously as he realized what he was about to do.

Checking his watch
again
, Alex looked outside at the empty driveway. She was late, but that was to be expected. Her job interview was today.

Alex checked his hair in the mirror once again and buttoned, then unbuttoned his shirt collar.

“
Pull yourself together
,
you idiot
,
”
h
e
muttered to himself. Definitely unbuttoned, he decided.

With one crisis avoided, Alex smiled at himself in the mirror and winked. He moved quickly towards the kitchen and opened the oven
,
checking on the homemade lasagna he had made from scratch. It was her favorite meal. Tonight was going to be perfect.

The garage opened. Alex looked up, smiling. She was home.

“
Showtime
,
”
Alex said to no one. Waiting in the kitchen, he attempted to lean casually against the counter, wanting to appear easygoing.
He r
eposition
ed
himself several times,
then
jumped as the door opened.

“
What on earth are you doing?” Emily asked, dropping her bag quickly on the floor by the door.

“
Just hanging out
,
”
Alex attempted. He smiled broadly, “Hey
,
lady, how’d the interview go?”

Her face grew serious. “I didn’t get the job.”

Alex’s face fell. Perhaps tonight was not the night after all.

“
I’m so sorry
,
hun,” Alex said comfortingly, “I know it was your dream to help ET phone home up in Berkley with those Search for Extraterrestial
Intelligence
people, but there are other things…”

“
They offered me a better job
,
”
Emily finished.

Alex cocked his head, “I don’t understand, what’s with all the
‘
sad panda
,’
then?” He put his arm around her. “Whatever it is, I’m sure you and I can…”

“
The job’s in Chile
,
Alex. I’d have to move, live
,
and work in the Chilean Mountains overseeing the Atacama Large Millimeter Array.” She sat down on the couch, and motioned for Alex to follow her.

“
That’s awesome…” Alex said, his voice trailing off and betraying how he really felt about it.

She looked up at him guiltily. “I took the job.”

All his life, Alex had never understood the expression ‘you’d better sit down for this,’ until now
,
anyway.

He swallowed and sat down opposite her on the couch. Withdrawing something from his pocket
,
he placed a small black box in between them.

“
That what I think it is?”
s
he
asked quietly.

“
Yeah...” Alex’s voice rang hollow in his head. Things were happening too quickly for him to process.

“
I’ve never wanted to get married
,
Alex
.
Y
ou
know that.”

“
I thought, after today, with the new job and all…”

“
That what
,
Alex?”
s
he
challenged. “That I’d suddenly change every principle I’ve held since I watched my father tear our family apart in a bitter divorce?”

“
That maybe you’d give me a shot!” Alex shot back angrily. “I’m not the one running off to Chile for some random job.”

“
I’ll be watching Quasars, discovering planets, deciphering the real mysteries of the universe!”
s
he
shot back
.
“What have you done with your life
,
Alex?” She got up off the couch and stalked off towards her bedroom, leaving one cheap shot behind
:
“Except live off your Mom’s trust fund!”

Alex felt himself go cold. Emily was tired and angry after her long day, and he was tired of her always being so tired and angry.

“
Enjoy Chile
,
babe
,
”
Alex called up the stairs as he stood and walked out the door.

A few more flashes of memory splayed themselves
across Alex’s dream
in intense detail. The trip to the local liquor store, waking in a pile of his own sick in front of a recruiter’s office, hearing Emily’s snide voice echoing in his head, telling him what a loser he was, asking what had he ever done or accomplished in his life
.

Suddenly
,
a particularly rough patch of road jarred the Hypertruck
,
shaking Alex awake and out of his nightmare. He opened his eyes, watching the road in confusion. The Hypertruck was approaching the rear of a large
semi
quickly, and their vehicle was showing no signs of slowing down. Alex, his eyes still only half open, looked to Scott
,
who was supposed to be driving their vehicle.

Watching the semi approach at an alarming speed, Alex called out to his sleeping friend, “Hey
,
Scott.”

No response, only a snore from his longtime friend. Alex leaned over and looked at the Truck’s speed. They were going well over
100
miles an hour, and the truck ahead of them was going
75
miles an hour at the maximum. At the two different rates of speed, no matter how tough and advanced Scott’s Hypertruck was, physics would make sure they ended up a smear on the rear end of the larger truck’s trailer hitch if they didn't move to one side.

Alex’s muscles tensed up as they approached the truck from the rear. His experience with the autopilot last night had taught him to expect a rapid lane change to get around the slower moving truck.

But as they roared up to the trailer
—
hauling what Alex assumed was tomatoes
—
the Hypertruck got within inches of the rear truck bumper, much closer than it did last night. Alex’s body flew forward, his nose nearly hitting the windshield as the Hypertruck decelerated suddenly. His body was then thrown to the right as the Truck’s computer navigation took over and accelerated into the next lane
,
passing the semi. The driver
,
who had been on the road for 32 hours straight, flipped Alex off as they passed. Alex waved weakly, trying to settle himself back into the bucket seat
,
his heart racing as he watched the next car appear on the horizon in front of them.

Alex grabbed his friend and began shaking him awake. “Scott! We’ve got a problem.”

Scott murmured something about whip
ped
cream under his breath. Alex rolled his eyes and punched his friend in the shoulder as hard as he could. That did the trick.

“
Ow
,
Alex!” Scott said crossly as he woke up. “That wasn’t cool
,
man
;
you could’ve…”

Alex cut him off. “I think something’s wrong with the autopilot.”

Scott rolled his eyes, “There’s nothing wrong with the autopilot. You’re just being paranoid ‘cause big bad Mr. Alex isn’t in control of something for the first time in his…”