Escape to Earth 1: Running From Fate (10 page)

He followed Lukas into the kitchen and saw him throw the napkins into a hamper just inside the door. That explained why the napkins were put in the tub last. He also saw that Lukas kept all of a table’s contents in one side of the tub. The next table went in the other side. The napkins were always on top of each side and Lukas grabbed them and threw them in the hamper without slowing down. He went to the sink and put the silverware that were on top of the plates into the first sink, the plates went into the second and the glasses went into the third. He went to the fourth sink and used a hand sprayer to clean the tub. He took a towel from the top of a stack and wiped the tub dry as he turned back toward the kitchen door. He threw the towel he had used to wipe the tables into the hamper and put the new on in his back pocket already moistened from drying the tub.

This process went on until seven at which point Trevor said, “Let me see if I have this.”

Lukas handed him the tub and the damp towel and Trevor put the towel in his back pocket. He took the tub out and bussed three tables. Lukas followed him and saw him adroitly empty the tub in the kitchen and turn back toward the dining room. Lukas smiled and put his hand on Trevor’s chest, “You’re ready. I’ll let Jack know that you’re his man.”

“Thanks, Lukas. I need the work.”

“Are you a student?”

“I am.”

“What’s your field?”

“During the day I’m working on high energy lasers.”

“Do you have time to work and study?”

Trevor waved his hand, “Piece of cake.”

Lukas stared at the dark haired young man and smiled. He picked up another tub and went to the office, “Jack, you can take down the sign, Trevor is your man.”

Jack looked at Lukas and remembered Tony saying the same thing about Lukas. His eyes teared up and Lukas left the office. Lukas had heard Tony tell Jack and this was his way of thanking Tony for helping him learn. He felt his pain and then forced himself to go back to work.

• • •

Salud arrived at the restaurant an hour earlier than normal. She found her chair empty and she pulled the stool back and sat down. The bartender looked at her, “Long time no see.”

“I’ve been busy.”

“The usual?” Salud nodded. She began looking around and didn’t see the handsome busboy. Her wine arrived and she took a sip. She looked at the bartender, “Does the tall busboy work tonight?”

“Yes, he’s sleeping in Jack’s office. He should be out in thirty minutes.”

Salud’s head went back, sleeping in Jack’s office? She shook her head and looked at her watch. She could wait. She looked around again and saw a strange looking man enter the front door wearing a long black trench coat. He moved to a booth against the wall and lean back. He saw her looking at him so she smiled and looked away. That man looked like he had never smiled in his life. He probably couldn’t, his face was too thin.

Lukas came out of the front office carrying his tub and immediately saw the Stalker sitting in a booth. He nodded to him and the Stalker nodded back. They had both become familiar with each other over the frequent times the Stalker had come in. The Stalker watched him pass and looked toward the front door. Lukas bussed two large tables and lifted the heavy tub and started for the kitchen. Would the Stalkers never stop coming here? He turned the corner and saw the woman for whom he had inserted a line in her equation sitting at the bar and her face was one huge smile. If she said anything about him assisting her…they would know who she is; the ship in orbit would have acquired that information, and they knew who he was: a high school graduate, and he helped her with an equation. That would set off Stalker alarms. He walked quickly forward, put the tub on the floor, and took her in his arms and kissed her hard.

Salud was stunned and her eyes were wide open. She heard in her mind, “Please, please forgive me but don’t say anything about me helping you. I’ll explain later. Please do as I ask!”

She didn’t hear the words with her ears but she heard them clearly. She quickly thought about the situation and realized a very handsome man was kissing her. She closed her eyes and returned it. Lukas felt the change and he softened the kiss to just lightly touching her lips with his. But Salud wasn’t going to go with that. She wrapped her arms around his neck and planted her lips on his with a purpose. After a few moment Lukas broke the kiss and said, “Hang around and I’ll see you after work.” Salud looked into his eyes and saw the intensity of the request and nodded.

The bartender watched Lukas pick up his tub and go into the kitchen. Salud put her fingers on her lips and Julie said, “You should know that you are the first woman I’ve seen Lukas kiss and God knows all of us have been trying to get him to kiss us.” Julie shook her head and refilled Salud’s wine glass, “It’s on the house. Congratulations.”

Salud turned red and raised her shoulders. It had been years since she had been kissed and she had to admit, it was pretty good. At least he confirmed he was the one that made the insertion.

An hour passed and the Stalker finally got up and left the restaurant. Lukas watched as he walked down the street, stepped off the curb as a rental car stopped in front of him, and got into the passenger seat. Once it drove away, he went to Bob, “I need a short break.”

Bob was the night manager and he owed Lukas for saving him from busboy duties after Tony died. “Go ahead. Trevor has things under control.”

Lukas walked over to the woman and pulled up a stool, “I’m sorry if I embarrassed you.”

“What was that all about? And how did I hear you but not really hear you?”

“It’s complicated but…” Lukas paused and looked over his shoulder. There was a little old man sitting in the back corner booth staring at them. The stare was odd but the man’s smile was absolutely out of place. Lukas turned back to Salud and she said, “He is still staring at us. Do you know him?”

“I don’t.” Lukas turned back around and saw the old man was almost laughing. He was dressed in a tweed jacket with a white shirt and a bowtie. His hair was grey and he had whiskers that ran along his jaw lines down to his chin. The beard was immaculately trimmed. Lukas shook his head and knew the bowtie is what made him look…different. The man lifted his arm and waved Lukas over. Lukas turned to Salud, “Excuse me a moment.” Salud nodded and he walked over to the table. “Pardon me, but do I know you?”

“No, you don’t. But you and I need to have a discussion about some issues. You don’t have to worry, your Stalker buddies won’t be able to hear us.” The man never stopped smiling and Lukas was stunned into silence. The old man raised his eyebrows and said, “Invite your lady friend over, she should be involved in what we discuss.” Lukas couldn’t move. He felt paralyzed, was this the moment of his death? The old man shook his head and his bright smile turned into just a smile. He leaned to the side and looked around Lukas at Salud. He waved her over and she stood up and walked over to his booth. She looked up at Lukas and saw he was trembling. What was going on? The old man waved his hand at the other seat across from him and said, “Please sit down. Salud slipped into the booth and the man looked at Lukas, “Come on, Lukas. Don’t freeze up; you’ve demonstrated too much intelligence to do that now.”

Salud reached up and pulled him down into the seat beside her. She looked at him and said, “What’s wrong?”

Lukas shook his head and said, “You’re a Sentinel.”

The old man laughed out loud and said, “I told you that you were smart.” Salud saw Lukas’ face turn pale white. What was going on?

Chapter Seven

Salud looked at the little old man and said, “What is a Sentinel?”

Lukas forced his heart to slow down and turned to her, “The Sentinels are the most powerful species in the Universe.”

The old man smiled, “Call me Pat. And your statement is not completely true.”

Lukas looked at the Sentinel and said, “Alright, the most powerful in this galaxy.”

Pat smiled, “That’s better.”

Salud shook her head, “What in the hell are the two of you talking about?”

Pat looked at Salud and pointed his index finger at her, “For the next few minutes, why don’t you sit back and listen to what Lukas here and I discuss. By the time we’re about halfway done, you should understand what’s going on.”

Salud crossed her arms on her chest and leaned back in her seat. She looked at Lukas and heard him say, “Are you here to kill me?”

Salud dropped her arms, leaned forward, and opened her mouth but Pat extended his index finger at her again and shook it; she closed her mouth, “Wait…” he stared at her with a small smile and she leaned back again. Pat looked at Lukas and said, “Quite frankly, that was my intent, initially. I’ve been following you since you took that escape pod from your battleship. I must say that was almost the end of you.” Lukas nodded. “You have violated our injunctions about primitive planets. However, we usually allow the Stalkers to remove anyone that does that. We need some way to keep them occupied and busy so they stay out of trouble.”

Lukas shrugged, “I’ve often wondered about that. Why would you use someone else less powerful than you to do your work?” Pat shrugged. “Why are you here?”

Pat said, “Keeping an eye on everything that happens?”

“No, I mean, why are you here at this table now?”

Pat leaned forward and his smile grew smaller, “I don’t expect you to understand this, but we pride ourselves on knowing pretty much everything.” Salud snorted. Pat looked at her, “No, it’s true. We pretty much know all there is to know.”

Salud snorted, “That’s BS.”

Lukas looked at her, “No, he’s telling the truth. His species is beyond anything you or I can understand.” Lukas turned back to Pat and saw him staring at him. “I’ve done something you don’t understand.”

Pat’s smile was instant, “Did you guess that or did you actually see it?”

“It’s clear that something has caused you to make an appearance. I don’t know of anyone that’s ever come into direct contact with a Sentinel and lived. I guess if you know that your species is all knowing, the only thing that would be irresistible to you would be something you don’t know.”

Pat leaned back and said, “Now that is something else I couldn’t have predicted.”

Salud looked at Pat and lowered her head as she said, “Is that good or bad?”

Pat started chuckling and said, “It’s the only reason the two of you are still alive.”

Lukas’ eyes narrowed, “I don’t understand?”

“Whenever we observe anything, we always predict what is going to happen. We can’t help ourselves; we just do it without thinking. You should know that this conversation is being watched by every member of my species.”

Lukas started slowly shaking his head, “Why?”

“Because none of us have correctly predicted what you’ve done since you came here.”

Lukas looked at Salud and then back at Pat, “Would it help if I said I’m sorry.”

Pat laughed out loud and said, “And you probably mean it.”

“I do.”

Pat laughed harder and had to hold his ribs. He held up his hand and managed to get out, “Give me a moment.” He laughed so hard he shook the entire booth. Finally he regained control. He shook his head and said, “You were born and raised to be a Welken Warrior.” Lukas nodded. “Welken Warriors have no emotions. They have no sense of emotions or any of the other higher senses.”

“I’ve had emotions.”

Pat lowered his eyes and looked through his eyebrows, “Such as?”

“When we’re not killed during a fight, I’m usually happy.”

Salud looked at Lukas with her mouth open and her head shaking. Pat said, “Just a few more minutes.” Salud looked at him, “I’m speechless at the moment anyway.”

Pat smiled, “That’s good.” He turned back to Lukas, “How many intelligent beings do you think you’ve killed while operating a battleship’s disruptor?”

Lukas took a deep breath and tilted his head to the left, “I really have no idea.”

“Twelve thousand, eight hundred, and fifteen over the twenty four years you’ve served in the Welken Fleet.”

Lukas blew out a breath and said, “I somehow knew you would have the answer to that question.”

“Why did you fire?”

“It was kill or be killed. There really wasn’t another option. That was the rule of my existence.”

“Then explain to me that you have no problem firing on a major battleship killing hundreds of beings but refused to kill an unborn infant to save yourself from discovery.”

Salud looked at Lukas, “Unborn?”

Lukas raised his hand at her and said to Pat, “That baby was not trying to kill me.”

Pat leaned in across the table. “Every one of us predicted you would kill that fetus without a second thought. You chose not to do it knowing full well that the brain of that fetus would be visible to a Stalker’s Searchship in orbit. That infant’s brain would give away you being on the planet. You should have terminated it without hesitation.” Pat stared at Lukas and then leaned back, “But you didn’t.”

Salud looked at Lukas, “What about that baby’s brain would give you away?”

Pat shrugged, “Lukas is the baby’s father.”

Salud pushed herself away from Lukas, “What!?”

Pat wave his hand at her, “That brings up another issue.” Lukas looked at him. “The night you encountered your neighbor being attacked by the three gang members. Didn’t you realize that if you got involved, it could get you noticed by the Stalkers? Even your escape pod told you to stay out of it. But you went in and killed two of the attackers and saved her from the third. You then went to their warehouse and killed the other four. Why did you do that?”

“She kept wailing all the way to her apartment that the gang members would be coming to kill her for what I’d done. I promised her I wouldn’t let that happen.”

“Once again, all of us predicted you would walk by and ignore what was going on. Why did you intervene?”

Salud looked at Lukas and said with her brow furrowed, “That was your doing?”

Lukas turned his face to her and nodded. She saw his sadness and wondered if she believed any of this. She jerked her head back to Pat when he said, “Did you know she was planning to trick you into becoming a father?”