Escape to Earth 1: Running From Fate (7 page)

She felt miffed but she took a clean tablet out of a file drawer and went back to the couch. She took another sip of wine, winced, and then copied the first five lines into the new tablet. She started solving the equation and began seeing different results by the end of the second page. She forgot the wine, her class schedule, eating a meal, or anything else for the three days it took her to finally solve the equation. A University Official showed up and found her collapsed on her couch and called 911. She was dehydrated and too weak to refuse the trip to the hospital, but after another two days she returned home and opened the tablet again to confirm she had actually solved the equation and that it wasn’t a dream. She went to her classes and at the end of the final one, she headed toward the restaurant. There was someone she had to find.

• • •

Lukas looked at the crowd and shook his head. The Bruins had played and the fans had arrived with the students coming out of night classes. Jack called Tony in and both he and Lukas struggled to keep up with the crowd. Salud found her place at the bar taken by several students and waited while she looked around. The bartender was the same one that was there the night the notation was put in her pad. She watched the people in the room but watched the restaurant staff closely. Finally, Joey began performing and the three girls stood up to get a good place to listen; she went to her usual chair and continued to look around. Loren came over and smiled, “Do you want the usual?” Salud nodded and looked around. She had not been around for a while and she was looking for someone who had missed her. She saw a waitress look at her and smile. Nope, not her. The male bartender looked at her from the other end of the bar and then looked away. Not him, either. She saw a bus boy cleaning a table close by and she stared at him. He cleaned the table, stood up, and headed toward the kitchen door behind her. He looked at her and continued into the kitchen. Not him. Lauren came over with her glass of wind and she said, “I’m wondering if you could help me.”

Lauren smiled, “Sure, what is it?”

“I was in here about a month ago and I had to go to the restroom; do you remember?”

“Yes, I do. You asked me to make sure no one spilled anything on that tablet you were writing in.”

“Yes, that’s exactly right. I was wondering if anyone came here while I was gone?”

Lauren’s eyes narrowed and she stared out of the front glass. She started shaking her head slowly and said, “Nooooo. I don’t remember anyone. It was a slow night if I remember correctly.”

“It was. There were students listening to Joey.”

“Yeah, but Matt handled all their requests at the other end of the bar. Why do you ask? Did someone bother your tablet?”

“No, nothing like that. I found a piece of jewelry on the floor and I want to return it to the rightful owner.”

“You can give it to me and I’ll ask around.” Lauren lowered her head and looked through her eyebrows at her. Lauren held up her hands and laughed, “I understand. If I think of anyone, I’ll let you know.”

“Thanks, I’d appreciate it a lot.” Salud turned around in her chair and started looking at other people in the restaurant. Whoever made the insertion had to be a regular. The odds were clear about that. Whoever did it had to have seen her working on the equation many times and felt pity for her. Who was it? Thirty minutes later, she saw another bus boy, much taller than the first one, come walking around the bar with a full tub of dishes. He turned the corner walking carefully through the standing room only crowd and looked up to see her staring at him. IT’S HIM! He quickly lowered his eyes and went into the kitchen. Salud turned and motioned Lauren back over. She walked up and Salud smiled, “You have a busboy that is tall, well-muscled…”

“That’s Lukas. He’s pretty hard to miss. Isn’t he gorgeous?”

“Did he come over here while I was gone?”

Lauren looked at the bar and after a moment said, “I think he did. I called him over to get a glass of orange juice.” Lukas came out of the kitchen moving quickly and Lauren yelled, LUKAS! Come over here!”

Lukas stopped and knew to ignore Lauren would be worse than going over. Something about the female professor made him nervous. Lukas walked over and smiled at both of them. Salud saw he had himself under control. Lauren said, “Have you lost a piece of jewelry?”

“No, I don’t wear jewelry.”

Lauren looked at Salud, “Sorry, I guess it was someone else.” Salud stared Lukas directly in his eyes and saw he was not giving any more clues. But, when he was caught by surprise, his eyes gave him away. Salud smiled and said, “Let me buy you a glass of orange juice.”

Lukas smiled and shook his head, “I get it free. Besides, Tony and I are not keeping up with the crowd. Thanks anyway.” He turned and walked away. Salud watched him go and knew he was the one that made the insertion. She couldn’t tell how she knew, but she was certain about it. She would pay him another visit after she confirmed the equation would do all she hoped. Then, she’d have a piece of jewelry for him that he would want to accept.

• • •

“We’ve got problems!”

Lukas pressed the button on his wrist unit to connect him with the Pod, “What is it this time?”

“A Stalker Searchship has arrived in orbit and is scanning the planet.” Lukas stood straight up and felt his fear immobilize him. Don’t freeze. Keep doing what you’re doing?”

Lukas forced himself to pick up the dirty dishes, “We need to get out of Boston!”

“You need to slow your pulse down and force the adrenaline out of your bloodstream. Contact me when you can think.”

Lukas continued cleaning the table as he forced his body to remove the fight or flight enzymes out of his circulatory system. After he had cleaned three tables he thought, “Let’s try this again. Why shouldn’t we leave?”

“If a place is robbed. Where is the safest place for the robbers to hide?” Lukas thought for a moment and his eyebrows went up. “That’s right; close to the robbery location. The Stalkers will know that you have an advanced Escape Pod and it would see the developing fetus. They would expect you to put as much distance between you and that child as possible.”

“But they might scan me.”

“The paraffin will prevent that. You’re only showing the mental energy of ninety percent of the local population. If they find you it won’t be because of their scans.”

Lukas began thinking and saw Jack standing close to the front door greeting customers as they entered the restaurant. He walked over and Jack smiled, “You need to get to work.”

“I am, I just have a question.”

“What is that, son?”

“If someone asked you how long I’ve been working here, what would you tell them?”

Jack’s brow furrowed and he said, “Six months. Why do you ask?”

“I keep getting other restaurant owners asking me if I’d be interested in going to work for them. I tell them I’ve been here two years and really like it. I just don’t want to upset them if they ask you and you tell them something else.”

Jack was angry. Well, it stood to reason, it was clear Luke was a hard worker and any good restaurant could use a good busboy. “Forget two years, make it three from now on.”

“Thanks, Jack.” Lukas turned and walked back into the restaurant. Jack forced a smile and greeted a family as they walked through the door. Lukas hated to do it but he went in the back office and changed the employment date on his applications. His trail needed to be covered up. The pod made the necessary changes to his Social Security account and IRS tax returns. The Pod made the changes while the Stalker vessel was on the other side of the planet. Once it completed its work, it sent a thought to Lukas, “I’m shutting down all systems. If you need to communicate, you’ll have to come and do it inside.”

“Got it!” Now Lukas felt completely alone. He continued to clean tables and forced his fear away.

• • •

Salud walked into the lab and saw her five doctorial students waiting on her. She smiled and said, “How is it coming?”

Orin said, “We have four completed but they don’t do anything but shine light out of the glass prism. Is that what they’re supposed to do?”

“Are you sure you have the energy source directed properly at the exact center of the glass?”

Regina nodded, “All the beams from the four emitters are hitting at the exact center of the glass.”

“I want you to recheck your findings and have it done within three days. I want to see the report on the emitters on my desk no later than Friday morning. I want the power of the light measured exactly.”

The students groaned but took the four round devices off the table and placed them in a series of machines. Salud walked out of the lab and left the campus. She went to Cohen Jewelers and asked for Joseph. She stood at the counter for a few minutes and then Joseph came out from the back of the store and smiled, “I’ve missed you.”

“You always miss me, even when I’m with you.”

“That’s because I know you’re going to leave.”

“Why don’t you admit that you’d kick me out if I stayed with you longer than twelve hours?”

“It’s fourteen hours now that your mother is no longer with me.”

Salud leaned over the counter and kissed her father on the cheek, “I miss her, too, Father.”

“What brings you here?”

“I was hoping you still have the diamonds Mom left me.”

“Do you honestly think I’d let anything happen to them? Have you decided how you want them cut?”

“I think I have.”

Joseph grabbed his forehead with his right hand, “Oh, I feel the earth is going to fall out of orbit. You’ve made a decision?”

Salud pulled out a sheet of paper and placed it on the counter, “Can you cut four of them to match this?”

Joe stared at the diagram and looked up at his daughter, “Where did you get this?”

“I’ve been working on the right cut for a long time. A very long time.”

Joe nodded as he stared at the drawing, “I found those years ago and your mother insisted that you should decide how they should be cut. After a moment he said, “The dimensions you’ve put on it, are they flexible?”

Salud stared into his eyes and said, “No, they must be exactly as you see them.”

Joe looked back at the drawing and shook his head, “It may take eight or ten of the diamonds to make four.”

“I’d rather have four exactly like I want them, than twenty not done as I want.”

Joe looked at the drawing again and looked up at Salud, “You’re so much like your mother.”

She smiled and softly said, “I know.”

Joe stared at the drawing again and said, “If I cut them like this…the light entering the stone will gather in the center before it’s reflected.”

“That should make it really sparkle.”

“It will also increase the brightness of the light exiting. How did you come up with this?”

“I used one of the University Computers to help me.”

“Would you mind if I cut some other stones like this?”

“Only if you intend to give them all to me.”

Joe laughed out loud, “Now you’re acting like my daughter.”

“I’m so much like you, Dad. When can you have the first one ready?”

“I can have two of them ready in three days.”

“That would be wonderful. I’ll be back on Friday.” Joe kissed her again and Salud left the store and headed back to the lab.

Lukas sat in his apartment with all the lights off. He focused on his vision and watched the street and hoped he was wrong. He stared at the doorbell on the house across the street until it filled his vision. It had a dark spot on the center where someone with dirty fingers pressed it. He looked back out at the street and closely examined every vehicle that passed. He thought about the Stalkers; how long would it take them to be fully operational to drop on a planet? The Sentinels had placed restrictions on the Stalkers that made it extremely difficult for them to enter a primitive civilization. He leaned back and wondered why they had issued those restrictions. His former Commander had suggested that it was for the best outcome for the members of the Fellowship. The more advanced a civilization was, the more value they had to the civilization that claimed them. The development of a star drive was the perfect time to invade because it didn’t allow a new civilization to build up a war fleet.

He looked back out of the window and decided that was a good explanation…but not the real one. Those telepaths were too far beyond his understanding. Whatever reason they chose to issue the restrictions, no one in the Fellowship would understand it. He sat up straight in his chair. A car had come up the hill and pulled next to the curb across the street from Kathy’s house. He glanced at the clock above his fireplace and saw it was three in the morning. The time most humans were asleep and inactive. He forced his body to move into alpha rhythms and leaned back in the chair.

He stared at the vehicle and saw the front and rear windows on the side closest to Kathy’s apartment roll down. He watched closely and saw the occupant in the backseat raise a device and point it at the upper level of the old house. The car moved back a few feet and stopped. He squinted and saw the driver’s face. It was narrow and moved down into a chin that was almost pointed. The eyes were deep set and he couldn’t see their color in the shadow. The device was pulled back in the car and the windows went back up. The car pulled away from the curb and passed by the front of his house. He looked carefully and saw four individuals in the car. The Stalkers were here.

He guessed they underwent DNA modification on the way to the planet. They must have also been given the probe’s data along with any other information their ship’s systems could extract from the planet’s millions of broadcasts. He didn’t doubt their skills far exceeded what his escape pod could do. This was their specialty. Their ship was currently examining every document on the planet looking for a clue as to his whereabouts.

The pod was right about one thing, their scan did not see him. He started to close the blinds but stopped before he did. The ship in orbit would see the slightest change in any building around Kathy’s building. He left them open and remained in the chair. He hoped they would think he was asleep and restless. He closed his eyes and forced his body to stay in alpha rhythms. The only way to survive was to follow his normal routine and do nothing suspicious. He fought fear all night and didn’t allow his body to betray him to the ship in orbit. Its scanners were set to sense any change in metabolic rates around their vehicle. He forced himself to lose consciousness and slumped in the chair.