Deadrock (4 page)

Planetary Earth Date: 13.7.2015

Max felt the
tingling of his skin start to fade and waited for the ringing in his ears to
stop. But it wouldn't. He waited in the dark alley and watched Bird's shape
appear and gradually fizz and bubble into solid feet, then legs, then torso,
and finally, head.

"Hey,
great flight, eh, Max?" he said.

"Yeah,
but I think something went wrong with my hearing. I can't get the noise to
stop," said Max, hitting his ear with his flattened palm.

"You can't
stop it! That's just twenty-first century civilization you hear!" shouted
Bird.

The two peeked
cautiously around the corner of the alley at the bustle of people, cars, trucks
and buses.

"Gnartz,
how do they stand it? I'll never complain about national noise restrictions
again!" yelled Max, poking a finger in the other ear.

"Could be
worse, Max. I heard about a guy who was transported to Planet Gerber and
somehow when he landed, he got one hand stuck inside the wall of a building!
They had to try to de-meld him and - hey, where are you going?"

"To find
the time capsule," said Max. "C'mon!"

As Max and
Bird tried to make their way down the crowded street they continually bumped
and jostled people on all sides. Bird sideswiped an angry man who cursed at him
even as he hurried away.

"Well,
that wasn't very polite, was it?" said Bird. "Interesting turn of
phrase, though. I guess mothers have a special place in this society if they
rate their own swear word!"

Max tugged on
his arm and saved him from colliding with a woman rolling a cart of open
broccoli boxes.

"Pay
attention, Bird. You have to try to find the flow of traffic and move with it,"
said Max. He reeled around a slow-moving man with a walker.

"Nice
moves, Max! I'll follow your lead!" With that, he took hold of Max's shirttail
and happily trailed a
half-step
behind him for three
blocks. Max stopped suddenly and Bird crashed into his back.

"Are we
there, yet?" asked Bird.

"I think
so," whispered Max. He mentally consulted the city map that had been
hastily programmed into his infochips. The two hesitated beneath the striped
awning of a high-rise apartment building and met the glare of the building
doorman.

"May I
help you, gentlemen?" he asked somberly.

"How
kind," said
Bird.
"Yes, we're looking for
the Rho-"

Max jumped in
front of the big man and cut him off. "No thank you, we're here to visit,
uh…" He pulled Bird into the foyer and took a quick glance at the registry
and pushed the elevator button. "Mrs. Turner, fourth floor. I'm her
grandson," he called back to the suspicious doorman and ducked into the
elevator.

"Mrs.
Turner?" asked Bird as soon as the door closed. "I thought we were
looking for Ted Rhoades."

The elevator
reached the second floor, Max pushed the stop button, and Bird had to step
lively to follow him out.

"I
thought we were going to the fourth floor!" Bird said, loping to keep up
with Max, who ran into the stairwell.

"Mrs.
Turner was our excuse to get into the building!" said Max, hopping up the
stairs. He began to lose wind by the time they reached the landing of the fifth
floor so he stopped to catch his breath. "When the doorman calls and she
tells him I'm not her grandson, he's going to come looking for us. On the
elevator," he explained to Bird.

"Say,
pretty fancy footwork, Max. I'm glad my partner's clever."

"Yeah,
well, just remember who's in charge here, okay, Bird? You almost ruined
everything by telling the doorman we're looking for Ted Rhoades. Who, by the
way, is on the eighth floor.
"

"Sorry,
Max. It's just that I've always believed that honesty is the best policy,"
said Bird, resuming the climb, two steps at a time.

"Ha! That's
a laugh! With your record?"

"I don't
know what you're talking about. Once you get to know me better, you'll see that
I'm completely trustworthy," said Bird.

Max decided to
let the remark pass since they'd reached the eighth floor. He peered through
the glass window of the stairwell door.

"It's
that apartment – number seven," he said, pointing to the door
opposite the elevator.

Just then, the
door to number seven opened and a tall, slim girl dressed in black slacks, a
tank top, and a pinstriped suit jacket came out.

"Quick!"
said Max to Bird. The two sprang from the stairwell, hid behind the hallway corner
and peeked around the corner to watch the girl.

As she waited
at the elevator, the girl perched her briefcase on her knee and fumbled through
it until she brought out a copy of a magazine titled,
Lucky
. She turned to a dog-eared page, studied it,
then
studied her own reflection in the shiny metal doors.
She smoothed her long red hair, pulled at the hem of her jacket and stood ramrod
straight. After a second survey she shook her head and slumped.

"Who's
that? His wife?" whispered Bird.

"She
looks pretty young," said Max.

The apartment door
opened again and this time a disheveled man in his early forties came out. He
mumbled to himself as he closed the door and went to stand by the girl.

"That
must be Ted," said Max.

Ted Rhoades
struggled to button his rumpled jacket while juggling his briefcase and a laundry
bag. "Nickie, have you seen my keys?" he asked the girl.

"Did you
check the door, Dad?" She waited for him to answer, then sighed and went
back to find the keys dangling from the lock.

"See, I
told you she was too young to be his wife," whispered Max to Bird.

"You did
it again, Dad!" she chided him. "One day I'll forget to go back and
check it, and burglars will come and wipe us out!"

He nodded and
turned his worried face to her. "You're right, honey. I've got to be more
careful. Like yesterday…it was just dumb luck that I wasn't killed. Such a
freak accident…"

"I don't
even want to think about it, Dad." Nickie put her arm through her father's
and leaned her head on his shoulder.

"It was
strange, though, Nickie," he said. "Like a cartoon, you know? I'm
walking along and I hear a whoosh…"

"A whoosh?"

"Yeah,
and the next thing I hear is the crash. It just missed me. Piano keys all over
the sidewalk…"

"You've
got to be alert, Dad. I think you're working too hard. Too many late nights."

"I always
imagined it would sound sort of musical when it dropped, but no, it was just a
regular-sounding crash…"

The elevator
doors opened and the two entered. Nickie waited for her father to push the
button, then sighed and pushed it herself. The doors closed.

"Run!"
said Max. "Don't lose them!"

Max sprinted
for the stairwell, Bird scuttling after him. "And get out the Bugger!"
Max ordered. Max sprang from the landings onto the banisters and slid down each
floor. Bird cast his long legs down the staircase, touching only every fourth
step. As he ran, Bird yanked the triangular, yellow fabric Bugger from his back
pocket and jiggled out the wires for the dual earpods. He reached the window of
the ground level stairwell door and peered out a second before Max breathlessly
reached him.

"Did we
miss them?" whispered Max.

The elevator
doors opened and Ted and Nickie strolled out.

"Nope,
let's go!" said Bird.

They waited
until the father and daughter exited, then dashed after them into the street
crowd.

"Hey,
you!" yelled the doorman.

They didn't
wait to answer him, but wove their way through the river of citizens until they
were within twenty yards of Nickie and Ted.

"Give me
the Bugger," said Max.

"I've
almost got them," said Bird, putting the earpod in and directing the Bugger
in Ted and Nickie's direction.

"I said,
give ME the Bugger!" Max grabbed the device, nearly tearing the pod out of
Bird's ear.

"Okay,
okay! Gnartz! I'm just trying to help!" said Bird.

"Just remember
who's in charge!" said Max. Bird walked silently next to Max and watched
him attach an earpod. He rubbed his sore ear and Max immediately felt like a
bully.

"Look,
Bird, I'm sorry, it's just that only one of us can be in charge. And that
someone has to be me. Okay?"

"Okay,
Max. I understand. Now let me get them into range!" He snatched the Bugger
from Max's hands and aimed it, putting the other dangling earpod in his own ear.

"I give
up," sighed Max, as Nickie's voice cracked into his earpod.

"Dad, did
you take the vitamins in that little packet I laid out next to your breakfast?
It's a supplement for stress."

"Honey,
stop mothering me! I'm fine – I thrive on stress!" he said,
spreading his arms wide in an expansive gesture. Nickie looked down at his fly.

"XYZ,
Dad!" she said.

"Huh?"
He glanced down and zipped up. "Oh, thanks, honey."

Bird burst
into laughter and Max elbowed him.

"Well,
you can take them with your dinner," Nickie said.

"What?
Oh, the vita…well, I won't be home for dinner tonight," said Ted.

"Again?
Okay, maybe I'll stay late, too, and keep you company."

"No, no,
you go on home. Why don't you call Jen and the two of you can go to a movie or
something?"

"Jen's in
Maine for the summer, remember?" said Nickie.

"Oh,
right. Well, another of your friends, then."

"What
other friends?" she muttered.

"I know
it's hard, Nickie. Leaving Denver wasn't easy for me, either. But you'll make
new friends soon, honey. As soon as school starts again."

"Yeah,
right."

"And you
can still go join Jen. I'll bet the offer to spend summer with her family still
holds."

"I'm sure
I'd leave you at the busiest time of the year, Dad! Give me a little credit!"

Nickie and Ted
waited in silence for a red light so Bird and Max waited in front of a
boarded-up nightclub ten yards from the corner. A passing cop eyed the two
detectives curiously. He stared from the earpods attached to the yellow fabric
triangle they held between them, and frowned. Bird smiled at the cop, nodded
his head and snapped his fingers in time to an imaginary tune. The light turned
green, Nickie and Ted crossed the street, and the two detectives left the cop,
shaking his head, behind.

Ted and Nickie
walked in silence past a copy shop, an Oriental carpet showroom, an optometrist's
office, and a store that sold just pencils.

"
'Get
the Lead Out'," said Bird, reading the neon sign
over the door. "Boy, people sure specialized in the 2000s!"

"Quiet!"
said Max.

Just then, Ted
put his arm around Nickie's shoulder and said, "You know, I really do
appreciate your being here. I don't know what I'd do without you. You help out
at home, you help out at work…"

"Speaking
of work, Dad, there's a problem I've been having. Nobody knows what my job is. Even
me. If I just had a title…"

"After
the time capsule ceremony we'll map out your duties, Nickie. Maybe something in
personnel."

"Gloria takes
care of that," said Nickie.

"Well then,
quality control."

"Powers
handles that. You know what I mean though, a title like Director of - Something.
Anything," she said.

"I
promise we'll take care of it as soon as the ceremony's over. Until then, you handle
the shopping for the time capsule and
be
the Director
of Shopping. How's that for a title?"

"Nickie
Rhoades, Director of Shopping. Well, I was hoping for something, you know, more
like, Nickie Rhoades, Acquisitions Director. So when I answer the phone it's
not just, Hello, Nickie Rhoades, I Shop."

They stopped
at a corner and the two detectives hid behind a bin of watermelons outside a
bodega. Ted gave Nickie a quick kiss on the forehead.

"We'll fix
it, I promise," Ted said. "But right now I have to drop off my
laundry. You go on to the office and tell Powers I'll be there in a few
minutes."

"Okay,
Dad. I love you."

"I love
you, too, honey. I don't know what I'd do without you."

"Me
either," she said, but he'd already walked away.

Max gave Bird
a light shove. "They're splitting up. Get ready. You take Ted, I'll tail
Nickie," he ordered.

"Righty-oh,
Boss," said Bird. He leaned against a vegetable bin and watched Ted go to
the curb and wait for the light to change.

Nickie watched
her father, too. Then, she pulled a small red phone out of her briefcase and
tapped something into it.

"What's
she writing?" asked Bird.

"I'm not
a mind-reader, Bird," said Max.

"Sorry, I
thought you'd gotten the zoon-vision option with those infochips."
           
"No,
my Grandma-" He was interrupted by Nickie grumbling into her phone. "Nickie
Rhoades, Director of Haircut Reminders."

"Very,
very specialized," murmured Bird.

"Shhhh!
Hurry up, there goes Ted!" He gently pulled the earpod from Bird's ear.

Ted stepped
off the curb and tripped, dropped his laundry, and missed the green light. Bird
smiled. "Looks like I'm gonna be here a while."

Nickie put her
phone away and moved on. Max crept past a churro cart,
then
pretended to look in the Apple Store window next door to the boutique where Nickie
stood.

She considered
the dress in the window,
then
met her own eyes in the
glass. "Hello, Nichole Rhoades, Acquisitions Director," she said to
her reflection. Her reflection screwed up its face in consideration, then
frowned and shook its head. Max leaned to his right to catch every word.

She tried
again. "Hello, Nichole Rhoades, Director or Acquisitions and Antiquities!"
she said. This time the reflection smiled and gave her a high-five. Nickie
pulled herself to her full five feet, eight inches, held her head straight, and
marched down the street.

Max felt a tug
on his sleeve. "C'mon, Max, we know she's going to the office, let's trail
Ted!" said Bird.

"I'll
give the orders if you don't mind!" said Max, running to catch up with the
big man. Bird skidded to a stop and the two peered between the painted D and R
on the drycleaner's window. Ted picked up his laundry from the counter, paid
the clerk, and left.

"I figure
Ted's our victim, so we should follow him and see what happens," said
Bird, coasting along behind Ted.

"Yeah,
well, Ted might not be the victim, you know," said Max. "He might
even be the murderer. You take too much for granted. That's why I'm here to
give the orders."

"Oh,
right, Max. Absolutely," smiled Bird.

They waited
three or four people behind Ted at the crowded crosswalk. Ted shifted his
laundry package and smiled at the sweet-faced old lady and the uniformed Boy Scout
who waited on either side of him. The light turned green and the three stepped
off the curb. Suddenly, a battered pick-up truck raced into the intersection,
brakes squealing and barreling toward the three frozen figures.

"Look ou-"
Bird clapped a hand over Max's mouth.

The old lady
sprang into life and pushed the Boy Scout and Ted out of the way before leaping
to safety herself.

The pick-up
truck screeched around the corner on two wheels. Max caught a fleeting glimpse
of the driver clenching the steering wheel in a death grip and of the passenger
thrown like a bag of bones against the passenger door.

"Slow
down, you clown!" hollered the old lady.

Max ran into
the street after the speeding truck. A school bus abruptly pulled into the lane
and the truck slammed into its rear end. The driver exploded from the truck,
yanked down the rainbow-colored wig on his head and slammed the car door on his
hand.

His "Yeeeooowww!"
echoed up the block and Max gave chase. He was starting to gain on the driver
when he jerked up short, his feet scrambling a foot above the sidewalk. It took
him a second before he realized what had happened.

"Bird!
Put me down!"

"Sorry,
Max," said Bird, releasing the boy's shirt collar. "But I think you
forgot the Policy of Non-Involvement for a minute there."

Max bent his
head and grimaced. "Ohhh, gnartz, I blew it!" he groaned. "I
actually warned Ted!"

"Don't
feel bad, Max. It's just a natural reaction," soothed Bird. "Look, we
can catch up."

The detectives
joined the morning rush of pedestrians who threw curious glances to the three
casualties sprawled on the pavement. The good citizens of New York allowed them
the space they needed to rise and brush
themselves
off.

"You
alright
, son?" asked the old lady.

"Yes, I
think so," said Ted. "Oh, you mean the boy…right. Are you okay,
fella?"

"Yeah, I'm okay!" He pushed Ted aside to
yell at the old lady. "Hey, who do you think you are? You're supposed to let
me do the saving! You know how long I've waited for a chance like this? You
just ruined the opportunity of a lifetime!"

"Forgive me for saving your miserable little
hide!" she said.

Ted backed away into a filthy brick wall plastered
with a rain-stained billboard. He read the ad for an insurance company: "You
Are Out in the World and Anything Can Happen." Ted nodded and reentered
the stream of movement on the sidewalks of New York, followed by two of New
York's Finest.