Escape to Earth 1: Running From Fate (19 page)

Salud went to her locker room while Lukas went inside and signed his card. The previous leader folded under the pressure and double bogeyed the last hole. Lukas was going to Augusta.

Salud stayed in her locker room and watched the final group come in and the presentation of the check to Lukas. He gave her all the credit, especially the last putt. She shook her head and waited for him to finish answering questions. When he walked away from the eighteenth green, she picked up his bag and stepped out of the locker room. Three caddies were waiting on her. They stood up from their chairs and walked over, “You don’t belong here.”

She looked at the tall caddie who made the remark and saw one of them block the door to her locker room. “I’ve been told that.”

He hit her in the chest with an index finger, “But you didn’t get the message.”

“If you touch her again, you’ll get a message you won’t have any trouble understanding.”

The three caddies turned to see Lukas standing behind them. The tallest looked at Lukas and took his measure. He didn’t like what he saw. Lukas was just as tall and was built solid. It wasn’t Lukas’ size that intimidated him, it was his eyes. The caddie saw something in them that frightened him. He looked at the short woman and then turned and walked away. Lukas said, “Go take the bag to the car. I’ll be there shortly.”

“What are you going to do?”

“Go to the car, Salud.” He turned and followed the caddies. He walked into their locker room and the room was silent. The three that had just entered were talking about their confrontation and when Lukas came through the door, they shut up. Lukas stared at the group and said, “I’ve tolerated your remarks and discourtesy for the last four days because I respect your feelings about us being here. However, you went too far a moment ago and I want to make it clear to everyone of you that if you show my caddie any further disrespect, I will show you what disrespect really looks like. Ignore us, give us the silent treatment. You can say whatever you want about me but if you treat her poorly again, I will straighten you out.” Lukas stared at them and the tall caddie walked forward, “You can’t tell me what to do.”

Lukas hit him so fast no one in the room saw the punch. The caddie flew backwards into three others who caught him before he hit the floor. They looked and saw he was out cold. Lukas looked at the others and said, “Anyone else not understand what I’m saying.”

An older caddie said, “We’ll leave her be.” Lukas looked at him, nodded, and walked out.

“Did you see that? I didn’t even see him throw that punch.”

The older caddie said, “I suspect you better listen to him. I wouldn’t want to be knocked out on national TV and have to explain why he hit me.” The caddies looked at each other and decided that was good advice. Even the tall caddie agreed after he regained consciousness that he wasn’t going to do anything to get hit again.

• • •

Salud waited in the car and saw Lukas come walking out. Thank God. He got in the car and looked at Salud, “We’re going to the Augusta.”

She wanted to know what he did but she decided what the heck and hugged his neck. “I’m just glad this is over.”

“I think I need to end this. The next tournament will be my last tournament.”

“Are you doing this because of me?”

“I allowed them to disrespect you this week and money is not a good enough reason to endure this.”

“Why are you doing this, Lukas?”

“What do you mean?”

“The investments are doing fine, we don’t have to do this?”

Lukas lowered his head, “I can’t explain it but it’s necessary we do this.”

“What is, then?”

“What?”

“What is a good enough reason?”

“I’m not sure what you mean.”

“Lukas, aren’t we doing this to save my planet from invasion.” Lukas nodded. “That’s a good enough reason to put up with this. I’ll be ok.” Lukas stared at her and she said, “What?”

“You are the most remarkable being I have ever known. I’m so lucky to have the opportunity to know you.” Lukas started the car and backed out of the parking lot.

• • •

The two TV announcers walked out of the front door and the main announcer said, “Look at that! A Kia Rio no less. I bet they’ll show up in something nicer at Augusta.” The former Pro shrugged. “No, he’ll come in a luxury car.”

“If you say so.”

“I’ll bet you a hundred that he comes in a Cadillac, Jag, BMW or Mercedes.”

“I’m not disagreeing.”

“But you’re not agreeing either. Come on, put up or shut up.”

“Ok, you’re on.”

“Why did you take that bet?”

The Pro watched the Kia turn at the end of the entrance and said, “He could have come in a more expensive car here. He has a walking bag for God’s sake. Worldly things don’t seem to be a priority for him. Would you like to make it two hundred?”

The announcer stared at his broadcast partner and knew he saw things others missed. “No, I probably made a mistake pushing the first one.”

The Pro smiled, “It might interest you to know that we had more responses to our broadcast than any other tournament.”

“Why?”

“Because those two were on the channel the entire round. The female audience loved his caddie.”

The Announcer nodded slowly, “How do you think he’ll do at Augusta?”

“If he’s in the top ten after the first day, he could win it. The greens at Augusta are tough for anyone who’s played there. For a first timer, they’re impossible. But if his caddie can see the breaks in the greens like she did on eighteen today, he could very well be in contention.”

“That will make for great TV.”

“Tell me about it.”

• • •

The Pod made a tight vertical turn and then arched to the left. A Stalker Searchship couldn’t make the turn and flew by at maximum speed. The Pod saw the Myot and Welken Battleships were too busy firing at each other to offer much of a pursuit. They had suffered significant losses in the chase and they were not even close to ending it. They realized a month earlier that the Pod had a more powerful force field and the chase intensified to gain possession of the technology that created it.

The Pod sensed five ships breaking into normal space around it and it immediately went into the void and skipped away. Frustration among the pursuers was reaching a breaking point and still the chase continued. The Pod enjoyed the mathematics of the chase. Figuring out the best escape routes and implementing them brought a degree of pleasure to the machine that was good to experience. It saw in its scanners that the pursuers had skipped into the void and were continuing the chase.

• • •

Salud stood on the eighteenth tee at Augusta and blew out a breath. Lukas was in the final group and was four strokes ahead of his playing partner. The first round hadn’t started well and, after the first day, Lukas was seven strokes back. He could have been ten back but for her taking control on the sixteenth green. He had landed on the top of the green and was putting downhill toward a pin on the bottom back of the green. He knelt down behind it and she saw him put his putter in the center of his chest. He was going to putt straight at it. He said over his shoulder, “How do you see it?”

Salud knew Lukas had an amazing eye for the slope of the greens, but their speed had fooled him several times earlier. She said, “You’re reading this wrong.”

Lukas’ head came back and he actually turned around and looked at her, “What?”

Salud blew out a breath. This was the first time she had challenged him and he was surprised by what she said. “Lu, you’re going to have to turn around and putt the ball along the top of this green and let it feed down to the hole. If you go straight at it, the ball will end up in the pond.”

Lukas stared into her eyes and then looked at the putt again. He looked at her again, “Are you sure about this?”

“I am. If you go for it and miss, you’ll be in the pond.”

• • •

The Announcers listened to the exchange and the Pro smiled, “She’s right. I am really amazed she sees it.”

“Let’s listen and see if he does.”

• • •

Lukas stood up and walked to the top of the green and looked at his ball. He then walked to the end of the green and studied the slope as it fell from the top and moved toward the bottom of the green. He shook his head and went back to the ball, “We’ll do it your way.” He lined up the putt and stroked it smoothly along the top of the green. The ball rolled and suddenly picked up speed as it turned down the slope, barely missing going off the green into the fringe. It made a hard left turn at the bottom and slowed as it climbed the raised front edge. It dove to the left and hit the back of the cup. It fell in and the crowd went wild. Lukas was three over par and now it was cut to two. He looked at Salud and shook his head, “How did you see that?”

Salud took his putter, wiped it off, and put it in the bag. She put her finger on her lips as Lukas’ playing partner lined up a short putt from eight feet above the hole. He barely tapped the ball and it went over the edge of the hole, rolled down the slope over the fringe, and into the pond. He went from putting for a birdie to a double bogey five. Salud picked up her bag and said, “I watched other caddies on that green rolling balls at it. Everything from above the hole went into the water. The only way to get close was to come around the green and approach it from the side.”

Lukas put his arm on her shoulders and gave her a quick hug, “If you see anything else, tell me.”

“I know the places on the green where you should aim. The other caddies that have been here before discussed it at length during our walk around Monday.”

“Tell me at every hole.”

“I will.”

• • •

Now they were at the eighteenth hole and Lukas was going to win the tournament. He was four strokes up on the group in front of them and his playing partner had fallen to eight strokes back. Lukas pulled a three wood and ripped a drive down the fairway. It hit and took a hard left bounce toward the fairway sand trap. The crowd moaned and Lukas shrugged. Salud arrived with him at the trap and saw the ball was a fried egg. It was slightly buried in a depression with sand around it on all sides. Lukas looked at the green and said, “Seven Iron.”

Salud pulled it out and said, “Are you sure about this?”

Lukas nodded, “I can get it there.”

“Wouldn’t you be better served to layup and go for the bogey?”

Lukas shook his head, “Seven iron.” Salud handed it to him and Lukas lined up the shot. He took a massive swing and as the ball shot out of the trap, Lukas screamed and fell to the sand. Salud dropped her bag and ran over to him; he was writhing in pain and had his left hand on his right shoulder.

“WHAT’S WRONG!?”

“I’ve done something to my shoulder.” Salud looked in the trap and saw the seven iron was broken in half. Several officials came over and helped Lukas to his feet and walked him out of the trap. He immediately dropped to his knees and shook his head. An official came over and said, “Are you able to continue?”

Lukas grunted, “I don’t know.”

“You will be disqualified if you can’t.”

Lukas forced himself to his feet and his playing partner and caddie helped him walk up the fairway. Salud carried the two bags and when they arrived at the green, she saw Lukas’ ball was forty feet from the pin. The Official said to the golfer and Caddie, “You may not assist him in making the putt. Outside assistance is a two stoke penalty.”

The golfer said, “We’ll help him to his ball.”

“He will be penalized if you do.”

Lukas had fallen to the green and lay there with his eyes closed. The golfer and caddie looked at Salud, “What do you want us to do?”

Salud knelt down beside Lukas, “Can you get up?” Lukas tried, moaned, and shook his head. She looked at them, “Help me get him to his ball.” They lifted him as gently as possible and he screamed when he moved his right shoulder. They carried him across the green and he went to his knees beside his ball. The golfer and caddie stepped away and Salud knew if they helped him again, he would lose a total of four strokes and be tied for the lead. There was no way for him to take part in a playoff. The crowd had come running when the news went out that the leader was down with an injury. They packed the area around the green and Salud leaned down and said in his ear, “You’ve come too far to give up. I’m going to pull you up and put your putter in your hand. Are you hearing me!?” Lukas slightly nodded with his eyes closed. Salud looked at the official, “Is it a penalty if I help him up?”

“No, you are the only one allowed to do so as his caddie.”

Salud looked at Lukas sitting back on his heels next to the ball. She shook her head, took his putter out of the bag, and put the putter’s head behind the ball. She lined it up as close as she could to the line that she had seen being used by the caddies on Monday. She took Lukas right hand and put it just above the putter head and said, “Come on, Lukas. Give it a push!”

Lukas took a deep breath, flinched, opened his eyes and stared at the ball on the green in front of him. He sighed and moved the head slightly back and pushed it forward. The putter fell out of his hands and he collapsed to the green. Salud knew he would not be able to rise again. She shook her head and suddenly heard the multitude around the green, who had been silent as they witnessed what was taking place, explode into a roar. She looked at the hole and didn’t see Lukas’ ball. Everything suddenly became too confusing to understand. She stayed beside Lukas as a stretcher was rolled through the crowd and Lukas was lifted on it. The Announcer arrived and grabbed Salud’s shoulder as she stood to go to the ambulance. “Wait, Miss Vazquez. We need you to stay and receive his award and trophy.”

“I’m going with him!”

The announcer looked her in the eyes and then slowly nodded. She looked at the stretcher making its way through the crowd and she went on her tiptoes and whispered in the announcer’s ear. His eyes went wide and he looked at her, “Are you sure?”

“That’s what he said he was going to do if he won.”

The announcer nodded as Salud turned and ran through the crowd toward the ambulance. She climbed in the back and official ran up and said, “Miss Vazquez, you left your bag.”