Encompassing (8 page)

CHAPTER 24

“I remember him telling me that at some point he saw the world in iterations.  Dots of color that moved with every breath and more so with every move of his hand or the flap of a butterflies wings.  I thought he was being dramatic.  Now I realize he saw the universe doing what the universe does.  I wish for that ability.  What an amazing level of perception.  Yet, I know so few of us will ever see what he saw.”  -- from the book of Christina

“Does it hurt when…I know the answer, I just can’t imagine what you see and why.”  Christina dotes over him while pulling off the gauze as requested.  “It doesn’t look great yet, but it’s…am I going to lose you?”  She blurts out.

“Honestly, I don’t know.  I purposefully never moved forward in this timeline.  What I see they see.  They are her and she is me.  Sounds odd, but I don’t have the time to explain.  There’s going to be a way down.  One of their ways out.  That close to her they\she will want ways to defend quickly, swiftly and without question.  While she may want total destruction that does not include herself.  Brady will be bait while I get me and Jacobs in.  I’ll take it from there.”

“What did you mean one more night?  Ren, you said, one more night before but you’re going now.”

“I’ll be back.”

Moving faster than Jacobs can Renfield begins running zig-zags after ordering Jacobs to run in a straight line.  Checking every inch of ground he stops, runs back to Jacobs and points.  When they get to the spot intended, he looks at Jacobs.  Renfield realizes that even with the meds Jacobs is in great fear.  In a calming tone he gives Jacobs the next set of orders, “I’ll go down, but be right behind me.”

As soon as they get to the bottom the attack is fierce and furious.  Renfield turns to see Jacobs fall and as he is fighting for his own life he watches as one of the beasts nearly exsanguinates Jacobs.  Then suddenly with a burst of speed, strength and will, he moves, grabs Jacobs and retreats.

Moving quickly up the hill, shoulder carrying Jacobs, he yells, “I need the chopper pilot, now!”  Then in a furious rush he yells that he needs the chopper pilot to pay attention.  He starts explaining a fast rotating machine made out of forks and canteens.  The chopper pilot, understanding the concept, jumps into action and begins building a centrifuge.

Brady runs over and looks down at Jacobs and yells, “What did you do?  He’s almost dead!  What the hell did you do?”

“Shut up, jam this in my arm, now!”  Renfield demands.  Brady not sure what to do but angry enough to do anything that hurts Renfield right now grabs the needle and sees it’s a shaft. He slows his hand as it sinks in,  He knows he’s supposed to hit a vein.

“Where is this going?”  Brady yells at Adam.

“In that canteen, hurry!” Renfield replies.

Without another question and still angry Brady finds a vein and pushes hard into it and then breathes as he watches it fill.  “Keep going!  Another canteen!”  Renfield yells.  As the third canteen is filled Brady looks at Adam as if he is insane, but he’s still angry.  Then he watches as Renfield finally loses consciousness.

Brady thinks to himself, “Well, I suppose he is human, sort of.”  He knows what to do next and the night is long as everyone waits tensely.  Brady realizes he is losing morale as is his team.  He kicks at a rock to avoid taking it out on the unconscious man in front of him.  He knows that Jacobs’ life depends on him staying focused on the task.

In the morning Brady walks over to Renfield.  “It’s plasma, so it will take him time to heal.  What the hell was that all about?”

“Ants.” Renfield replies and then Christina enters and garners his attention.

She looks at the man she is so mysteriously in love with so quickly and says in a soft but flowing voice, “We don’t know what you’re doing anymore.  One more night with you is not something I want to do now.”

Renfield nods.  “I’m going back in the morning.  This time alone.  Understand?”

“No, Ren, I don’t understand.  No one does.  You’re mad.  Today proved that.  You risked…”

Renfield sits up and interrupts her sentence, “What did I risk?”  He begins bellowing.  “I have no choice or you all don’t live, but none of you can see that.  I do wish I could have this last night, but…”  He falls silent and Christina leaves.

CHAPTER 25

“You.” – English word inscribed in a stone later found in a cave.

Now that he knows the way in, the travel is faster.  Before anyone woke he was at the hole and down in it sniffing for the Queen.

There was no attack this time.  He knew he was close as the chambers got wider.  He stopped and felt the ground for a pulse.  Then he stood, knocked on the wall of the chamber.  Hearing the void on the other side he knew he was in the right place.  He pushed the large façade stone aside and entered.

“Hello, Solstice.  Trick or Treat?”

CHAPTER 26

“Logic is a system considered logical by the person who decided on the system.  To others, it may be madness.”  -- from the book of Robert

“so, you’re back.”  Renfield says to Brian as he walks into his office.

“When have you been?”  Brian replies.

“Tell me when you’ve been, first, Brian.  I asked first.  Remember?”  Renfield looks at Brian knowing that would end that line of questioning because Brian was not going to tell him.

“So why there and a time when the technology had grown to be make the goal harder?”  Brian asked.

“Your mother was smart, Brian.  Like you.  The answer seems obvious to me.”  Renfield lowers a brow and looks at Brian inquisitively.

“I knew you would say that.”  Brian uncrosses his legs and removes himself from the chair he is sitting in.  “See”, he continues, objects go, but only one person can take one person at a time, so…”

“You’re wrong.”  Renfield snaps as he heads to his chair and looks at Brian with a look because Brian. having sat in it, annoyed him.

“I didn’t even finish!”  Brian snaps back.

“You’re thinking I am responsible?  I am, but not like you think.”  Renfield becomes visibly upset.

“If I’m doing what you are doing, how does either of us know the result?”  Brian asks.  Then as he asks, he realizes the answer.  His brow lowers as he notices something and adds, “You don’t look well.  How can that be?”

“Am I being interrogated or do you have some questions?”  Renfield retorts.

Brian looks at Renfield and walks towards him, “What’s the difference?”

“That was a question.  Now I’ve answered it.”  Renfield replies.

“You act like you don’t like me coming here, but I know you do because you think I will eventually answer your question.”  Brian circles the front of Renfield’s desk in a repeating arc as he then asks, “Isn’t that interrogation?”

“It’s only interrogation if you get answers otherwise it’s badgering.  Questions aren’t asked at a chess table.”  Renfield looks up at Brian trying again to hear what Brian is thinking.  He knows the chances are slim.  Brian has clearly learned, which was a clue, in and of itself. “In this case, which of us is the witness being badgered?”

“No it’s not and you know that.  The definition of badgering is asking a leading question in order to supplant a concept in the jury’s mind.”  Brian stops and looks at Adam.

Renfield replies, “We’ve both seen a lot of things.  Right now I’m tired.”

Brian locks his eyes on Renfield then audibly states, “You just figured out something or you wouldn’t have ended the conversation.”  Then he vanishes.

CHAPTER 27

“Right and wrong are not simple choices.  There is clear wrong and there is clear right.  What is in the middle is mud.  For eternity the sea ill encroach on the land and the land will send in it’s mountains, as troops to defend itself and via rain, recruited from the sea itself, land will erode into the sea.”  -- from the book of Brian

“Dad?  How did you get in here?  I’ll kill you!  Look at all I have accomplished!”

“Solstice, you started that sentence with ‘Dad’.  You’re angry, but you don’t want to kill me because you know I love you more than all the lives I’ve had to endure to get back to you.”

“You’re wrong, father, I will bring this nest down upon you!”

Renfield knew she was sick and slow from the poisoning via Jacobs.  He knew it was chancy but he decided to take his time.  He then responded, “Ok, so I’m at a disadvantage.  I’m on your turf.  Do you understand why I’m here?”

“I learned from you, how to absorb, take in and gain.  I am more powerful than you were.”  Solstice replied, although she was aware something was wrong with her and was wondering why.

“Solstice.  Do you know what year this is?  You’re about to be born.  Right now your mother is above us growing you.  You do understand your next plan of action will destroy the world.  I know you think it will solidify you as the ultimate conqueror, but it leaves you with nothing to conquer.  I know you.  You are the only mind faster than my own and you want to show that.  Don’t you think it was hard for me and that I wanted to show it?  However, we exist to shepherd those who cannot do what we do, not to destroy them.  I know people do bad things.  I wish it weren’t so.  However, most of the time they don’t know they are doing bad things, Solstice.  Change this, because that would be a more ‘true’ way to use the power you had and garnered.”

“What?  Why would I care.  Why are you giving me a speech?  You were foolish not to strike immediately and now you’ll die a fool!”  He sees the machination before him reel up, fighting off the effects of the tranquilizers clearly fed to her by her creations.

Renfield lowered his head, accepting that she may be right.  He did not want to fail again, but of course it was possible.  Then he looked up and said, “How many timelines did it take you to find this day?  Then how many did it take you to create what you have?  On this day your mother has rejected me because I chose you over her and made some risky moves.  You’ve seen what you’ve done before.  You’ve sent the beasts after me every time I come here.  Why?”

“They smell your presence; you are the first target.”  Solstice replied, fighting the poison, but clearly affected by it.

“So it is I, the person who taught you how to do this, that you are truly angry with?”

“If you don’t die,” she calmly stated, “the plan could fail.”  Then with a push from inside her she reeled again and glared at him, “Your failure to stop me causes you pain!”

Renfield asked, “Do you know why?”

The reply was unexpected, the look on Solstice’s face. Although from something inhuman, was pure anger and derision.  The flood of adrenaline was overcoming the drugs Jacobs’ body had provided.  “WHAT is SHE doing here?”

Quickly Renfield turned to see what caused the disturbance and he too is shocked.  “Christina, how…?”

“You’re not a dumb guy Ren, I knew you had some plan.  I can’t do what you do, but I listened to what you said and got myself here.”  Christina looked at him as if he was a complete idiot.

“Go!”  Renfield screams out in his mind.  Then he follows immediately out loud with, “No.  Damn!”  He thinks for a moment then adds, “No, you’ll die trying to get out now.  Damn!  Why are you here?  What? No!”  Renfield was recalculating everything in his head as fast as possible.  If something happened to Christina he would lose her.  Solstice would never be.  It was an unacceptable outcome.

Christina ignores his panic and calmly said, “So you’re my daughter?  You’re what’s inside me?”  Then she looked at Renfield and drew her sidearm and looked at Renfield with anger and then at Solstice.  She pointed the gun at her and then at her own womb and yelled, “I can kill you now”, motioning to her stomach, and then she raised the gun and pointed it at Solstice’s head, “or I can kill you now!  Do you understand?”

Solstice was wondering why she couldn’t communicate with her beasts, why were they not responding, then again, what would they do?  She would never exist if her mother didn’t give birth.  She looked over at Renfield, “As fast as you are you wasted…”  Then she went quiet.

Renfield, closer than he had ever been and seeing this chance fall apart was still thinking.  He knew there wasn’t time to explain everything to Christina, he could see the look of determination on her face and knew he had mere seconds to make decisions.

“Christina!”  He barked.  “Put it down, now!”  He was unwavering in the order.  “She is ours.  If it weren’t for her we would have never met.  She’s more than I can explain, but you are about to make a huge mistake.  STOP NOW!”

She was conditioned to orders and it gave her pause, as Renfield was counting on.  Christina looked at him and as tears started ran down her face she asked, “Why?”  Her hands didn’t waiver from her aim.

Renfield really was trying to keep it simple, given the urgency of timing.  He could see Solstice was coming out of the drug-induced malaise.  He knew she had learned the lesson of speeding metabolism and that was specifically why he knew, before he even came in, it would be the challenge.

“Her older sister will be here soon, that’s why!” he blurted out.

Both Christina and Solstice turned to him instantly and simultaneously shouted, “What older sister?”

Solstice continued, “Keep her out of this!”

Renfield looked down in resignation, “She’s not a threat.  She is younger than you right now.  She never got to learn any of this, but she travels.”

Solstice pointed out the obvious, “So you’re afraid that you’re going to lose.  Why not just jump again?”

Renfield put a knee to the ground and said, “Why haven’t you?”