Escape to Earth 1: Running From Fate (20 page)

She shook her head, “Keep it.” The rear door was closed and the official shook his head. This simple walking bag with fourteen clubs was going to be extremely valuable. He turned and carried the bag to the clubhouse.

• • •

Salud sat in the ambulance and a man in a green jacket sitting across from her said, “I’ve given him a shot of morphine. We’ll get him to the hospital and take a look at what he’s done to his shoulder.”

“He swung hard enough to snap his club in the trap.”

The doctor nodded, “I suspect he tore something. We’ll know as soon as we get some x-rays.

The ambulance had the radio on and she heard the announcer speaking, “…is the first time in the history of this tournament that we’ve not had the winner present at the presentation. However, we will get the awards to him as quickly as possible and we’ll update everyone on what his medical status is as soon as we find out. I spoke with Lukas’ caddie briefly before they left and she asked that I make sure a request he wants done takes place. She told me that if he won this prestigious tournament, that he wanted half of his winnings to be donated to the PGA Caddie fund to help train future caddies and support those that come on hard times. I have told the officials here at Augusta and they have agreed to make the donation and match it with an equal amount. Let us all pray that his injury is not something that will prevent him from playing soon.”

The caddies heard the announcer in their locker room and a number of them started shaking their heads. The old caddie that had helped Salud on Monday looked around and said, “I believe all of you should be ashamed of yourselves.”

The tall caddie shook his head, “But they made it here without paying the price.”

“Well, you and everyone else made his caddie suffer enough to pay their admission. The fact that he made that donation should tell you that he and she are better people than all of you.”

The tall caddie took a deep breath and after a moment nodded, “Yes, they are. I’ll tell them when they play again.”

The old caddie shook his head, “His golf career is over; I’ve seen shoulder injuries like that. He won’t be back for a very long time, if ever. You should have told them while you had the chance.”

• • •

The ambulance arrived at the emergency room entrance and Salud stepped out of the rear door to find Joey standing there with a man dressed in a grey suit. Joey hugged Salud and said, “We’ll be taking Lukas with us.”

“What…why…what’s going on?”

“Dr. Blanchard is one of the foremost orthopedic surgeons in the country. We’ll be flying him to his office where he’ll examine Lukas.”

The press arrived right behind the ambulance and saw Lukas put in a private ambulance and taken away from the hospital. They were told what was going on and they jumped in their vehicles and took off after the ambulance. The ambulance arrived at the airport and rolled out to a private jet where Lukas was moved on board. The jet taxied out and took off to the east.

The reporters were furious. They didn’t have a chance to speak with Lukas or his caddie. They began calling in their reports and had to be satisfied with being at the site where Lukas was flown out.

One of the men in the crowd of reporters watched the private jet take off and watched it until it disappeared. He turned, walked through the crowd of journalists, and opened the passenger door on the blue car. “Well, it looks like we missed our opportunity.”

“Who could have known he would be injured?”

Jinks looked at Stoney, “That seems to be just a tad too convenient.”

Stoney looked at the Colonel, “You think he made us?”

“If he did, he didn’t show any stress or other behaviors indicating he knew we were there. But this sudden exit makes me wonder.”

“The woman that lived next door didn’t say he owned the corvette.”

“She probably didn’t know. We lost our chance at confirming it when the owner that took his application died three months ago of a heart attack. His partner never met or saw the owner of the Vette. It could have been his or someone else’s.”

“If he’s not human, he’s certainly not keeping a low profile.”

Jinks shrugged, “That does make me wonder if he’s the one we’re looking for. But think about it, a complete unknown shows up and wins at Augusta. That is enough to make him different from most humans.”

“Boss, we scanned him several times. He’s human.”

Jinks shook his head, “That scares me more than you know.”

“Why is that?”

“Because if the one’s watching our planet are able to change their bodies to ours, what does that say about their level of technology?”

Stoney drove away from the curb at the airport and after ten minutes of silence he shook his head, “Jinks, now I’m starting to worry.”

“Get in line, Stoney. The positrons at that house in Boston was enough to scare the bejesus out of me.”

“I’m going to hate myself for asking; why?”

“I questioned Dr. Carter for a long time. Positrons are created from the largest explosions in the universe. If someone can create and harness them…”

Stoney blew out a breath, “They probably possess a weapon powerful enough to do massive damage to a planet.”

Jinks nodded, “Something like that.”

“What do you mean?”

“Positrons are the electrons that are in the outer shell of antimatter. A pound of antimatter would shatter this planet.”

“I knew I shouldn’t have asked.”

“Well, at least the General sent the report up the ladder. The Joint Chiefs are looking into it now.”

“What can they do?”

Jinks shook his head, “Worry like us and scramble around chasing ghosts.”

Stoney made the turn out of the airport, “We need to stay busy or this is going to run me batty.”

“I need to go and speak to that pregnant woman personally.”

Stoney nodded, “She didn’t tell us everything.”

Jinks shook his head, “You are the best Lie-Detector in existence.”

“She told us the truth.”

Jinks smiled, “But not the whole truth.”

“Something like that.”

“By the way. They’ve announced that Lukas Axel will never play golf again. The press reports he’s gone into isolation to deal with his sorrow.” Jinks raised an eyebrow and Stoney smiled, “What did you say about convenience?”

Jinks shook his head, “I was going to take them in for questioning. I think I’m going to pay a visit to that caddie of his.”

“Why?”

“She knows something and getting to him won’t be easy now. I have a feeling that she will help me put things together.” Jinks thought about the tall blonde gofer he had watched for two days and, though he didn’t want to, he liked him. The feelings he had for his caddie were real and he didn’t appear to have an oversized ego. There was something…He shook his head and was glad he didn’t arrest him. There was something playing around the edges of his consciousness that he couldn’t quite grasp. He had a feeling that he was supposed to be here to see him. He shook his head and wondered what was going on.

Chapter Thirteen

Salud sat in the back of the jet and listened to the drone of its engines. She held Lukas’ hand and saw Joey come out of the cockpit, “I think we’re clear.”

She said, “Clear of what?” just as Lukas sat up on the stretcher and pressed his wrist unit, “Do you see anything?”

“No, it doesn’t appear they had time to get a flight up before we took off.”

Salud’s head went back as Lukas stood up off the stretcher and raised his arms above his head. “WHAT IN NINE HELLS IS GOING ON?”

Lukas went to a knee beside her, “I couldn’t tell you. Your reactions had to be real.”

Salud’s eyes narrowed and she slapped Lukas hard on his right cheek, “You’ve scared me out of my mind!”

Lukas rubbed his cheek as Joey shrugged, “It was critically important that you acted that way.”

“What’s going on?”

“On the third day of the tournament, ten Defense Intelligent Officers arrived and have been following you and Lukas around the course.”

Salud stared at Joey and then looked at Lukas who nodded and said, “They have been taking measures of me trying to determine if I’m human. My wrist unit picked up their scans and notified Joey that my golfing career was coming to a sudden end. You should have been suspicious when Joey was at the emergency room.”

Salud looked at Joey and then nodded, “There was no way for you to have been there before we arrived without your knowing about it in advance.” Joey nodded. Salud looked at Lukas, “What’s made them suspicious of you?”

Lukas shrugged, “It has to be Kathy. She probably recognized me on TV and told those that were questioning her that I was now a golfer and that their suspicions were false.”

Salud started shaking her head, “This is not good. They’ll know you owned the Vette.”

Lukas smiled, “Not really.”

“Oh, why not?”

“Because that parking space was not assigned to my apartment. I moved the car there while the owners were snow birding in Miami.”

Joey nodded, “And I’ve purchased a new Corvette in Lukas’ name and had the transfer of title back dated to a month before he rented the apartment.”

Lukas looked at Salud, “They found my Corvette parked at Joey’s West Palm office and it has made them question whether or not I’m the one they’re looking for.”

Salud stared at them and then looked at Lukas, “Who rented the apartment that was assigned that space?”

Joey smiled, “Actually, no one. That will make them wonder if someone that lived somewhere else, illegally parked it there.”

“I think the two of you are stretching things here. They will find a loose end you didn’t tie down and the jig will be up.”

Lukas sighed, “This whole house of cards could fall but, for the moment, they’re just not certain if I’m a viable candidate. They are torn between the owner of the suspicious Vette being on board when it left the planet or still here. They want to believe he left but they’re too paranoid to not make sure.”

Joey looked at Lukas, “If Kathy tells them about your killing all the members of that gang…”

Lukas nodded, “I know, they will come after me with everything at their disposal.”

Salud shook her head, “So what are we going to do now?”

“Lukas is going to the site of our manufacturing facility and you are going back to teaching at MIT.”

“I don’t know that I can do that. I took the leave of absence never intending to go back.”

Joey nodded, “We need to throw them off the scent. If Kathy tells them what he did, they’re going to come to you if they can’t find Lukas. Your background is not cobbled together and they’ll know you are not an alien. We need you there to keep them off Lukas as long as possible.”

“What about the money we intended to make on Lukas’ golf winnings?”

“The programs the Wrist Unit is using has already made us enough capital to start the project. It’s not worth the risk to have him continue to play golf.”

“Where is this facility Lukas is going to?”

“It’s on an island in the Caribbean. We leased it from the government of Barbados to build a car manufacturing plant. We’ve leased it for a hundred years.”

Salud looked at Lukas, “I don’t know if I like being away from you that long; I’ve become accustomed to having you around.”

Lukas smiled, “I didn’t know you cared.”

Salud shook her head, “More than you know.” She looked at Joey, “If I’m going back to teach, I have to be there tomorrow.”

“We’re landing now. I have another jet taking you back to Boston.”

Lukas looked at them, “What do you mean, more than I know?”

The plane jerked as the tires touched the pavement and Joey said, “I had your things picked up from the condo and they’re on the other jet. You need to get moving.”

Lukas said, “What did you mean?”

Salud looked at Lukas and shook her head, “I’ll tell you later. Keep me informed on what’s going on.”

“Why can’t you tell me now?”

Salud smiled, “Now is not the time.” The jet came to a stop and the door opened. She kissed Lukas on the cheek, “Be safe and be careful.”

She went down the steps to the tarmac and Lukas had his hand on his cheek where she kissed him. He looked at Joey and he said, “Sorry, we have a schedule to keep.” Lukas watched Salud run to the other jet and go up the steps. She stopped and looked back at him. She had an expression that he didn’t understand and then she turned and went into the jet. He lowered his head and hand. The door closed and both jets taxied out and lifted off the airport in Myrtle Beach. One was headed north and the other south. Lukas sat down and closed his eyes. So much had happened so quickly and he felt more alone than ever before. The jet stopped once to refuel and then headed toward his new home.

• • •

“Dr. Vazquez.”

Salud turned around and saw a young man standing at her office door. She immediately knew he was military. His stance, his close cropped hair, his eyes that appeared to take in everything around him, and his tone of voice all screamed military. “Yes?”

“Do you have a moment?”

Salud smiled, “What would happen if I said I didn’t?”

The young man actually smiled, “I’d come in anyway.”

“Then, yes. I have a moment.”

The young man walked in and Salud nodded toward the chair in front of her desk, “Take a seat, Mr….”

“Jekins.”

“Why are you here?”

“Why would you ask me like that, Professor?”

Salud shook her head, “You might be good with camouflage during combat but you didn’t wear any here. You’re obviously military so this isn’t a social visit.”

Jinks’ head went back, “Am I that obvious?”

Salud smiled, “Mr. Jekins, you’re wearing boots under those jeans and the shirt you have on doesn’t match the jeans’ color. Your top button is buttoned and you look at everything around you as if you’re expecting an enemy to jump out of hiding. I could go on but your appearance screams military. Am I wrong?”

Jinks raised his hand and scratched his neck, “No, I’m a Colonel in the Air Force.”

“Now that’s interesting. I was expecting Army or Special Forces.”

Jinks started chuckling, “Why would you think I’m Special Forces?”