Escape to Earth 1: Running From Fate (8 page)

• • •

The driver of the car looked over his shoulder, “Report.”

“There was no abnormal response from any of the buildings within sight of the target.”

“Nothing?”

“Several of the beings saw our lights and looked out of their windows. But there was no increase in their emotional states. One of them appears to be sleeping in a chair next to a window and our lights appeared to awaken him.”

“And?”

“He was back asleep before we were out of his sight. Several others were having nightmares; they weren’t conscious.” The backseat occupant looked up from his small monitor, “Did you really expect him to be here?”

“It’s what I would have done.”

“But you are not like most others.”

“I realize that. However, leave nothing unexamined. If he were here, he’d be much smarter than the average Welken.”

“Do you think he’s smart?”

“Have we detected him?”

“Point taken.”

“We’ll go back to the ship and see what they’ve turned up. There’s got to be something that will give him away.” The car drove away and after three miles, turned into a storage facility and parked in the rear. The four scanned the area around them and walked across the small parking and disappeared one by one. A moment later, the wind suddenly blew and then calmed down.

• • •

Friday morning arrived and Salud waited anxiously outside the jewelry store. It was ten minutes until ten o’clock and she hoped her father had kept his promise. She sat in her BMW convertible and watched the front entrance. An eternity later, she saw a woman open the door and then close it quickly against the cold air. She pulled her coat’s collar around her neck and stepped out of the car. She walked to the door and the woman smiled, “We’ve just opened.”

“I’m here to see my father, Joseph.”

The woman smiled and walked behind the counter and through a door. A moment later, her father came out of the door with a small bag. She smiled and he smiled with her, “Just as I promised, I have your two diamonds.” Salud squealed and hugged his neck across the counter. “Hey, hey, hey, not here in the store. What will the customers think?”

“Dad, get real, I’m the only customer in the store.”

Joe looked around and pulled out a black velvet square. He turned the bag up and two stones rolled out on the velvet. Salud looked at them and shook her head; they were incredibly beautiful. “I really wish you’d let me use this cut.”

“If you really want to, go ahead.” Joe nodded and Salud picked one of the diamonds up and stared at the fire inside it.

“The diamonds your mother gave you are flawless. There are no impurities in them and you could sell them for a huge number.”

Salud looked up at her father and shook her head, “I will never sell any of them.”

“I know. It took years of searching for them on our trips to Africa. I’m so glad we did that as a family.”

“It was your reputation that allowed us to search, Dad.”

He waved his hand and shrugged, “I guess they wanted me to continue being a good customer.”

“Could it also be that they didn’t recognize what you found?”

“Well, they were dirty and looked to be without value.”

“But you saw their beauty.”

“I knew inside the crusty outer shell there was beauty within.”

Salud put the two diamonds back in the bag and said, “Just like you, Pops. I’ll be back later for the other two.”

“Give me another week.”

She nodded as she ran out of the store.

• • •

She drove to the faculty parking garage and walked quickly to the lab. Her students were waiting on her and she looked at the clock, “Sorry I’m late. Do you have your reports?”

Orin lifted a three foot tall stack of paper and shoved it across the counter toward her, “Everything checked out.”

Salud fought to keep her composure but still smiled brightly. “I want the five of you to jointly sign those reports you made and consider them you Doctoral Thesis. I am going to recommend to the University that you have completed the requirements for your degrees.”

They stared at her in shock and Trevor managed to say, “How does this meet the requirements?”

“The small power supply is enough by itself. Finding a way to reduce the radioactive material to a level that is safe to use as a power source will be a major development for miniature devices. You’ve managed to do more than enough.”

They looked at each other and began jumping up and down in celebration. “This calls for a party.”

Four of the five ran out of the room but Orin remained behind. Salud looked at him and he took a deep breath, “You solved the final equation, didn’t you?” Salud stared at him and he slowly nodded, “I thought so. Don’t worry, Doctor, your secret is safe with me.”

“What are you saying, Orin.”

“I don’t know what is going to replace the glass in the center of those devices but I suspect none of us really know what they are going to do. If you need help in the future working on them, I’m your man.” Salud continued to stare at him and he smiled, “It’s this device we’ve built that will be a world changer. I don’t like stopping just when our work is getting started. Please keep me in mind if you need any help in the future.”

Salud smiled, “Thanks, Orin. I will.”

Orin walked over and hugged her, “I know you, you are really special. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have a party to attend.”

Salud watched him walk out of the lab and she went to one of the four small, circular devices and pressed the release. It opened and she removed the glass from the inside and replaced it with one of the diamonds. She closed her eyes and closed the device and, after a moment, held it at arm’s length and pressed the power switch. She was immediately surrounded by a shimmering field. She walked toward the heavy steel table and when the field touched it, the table moved away from her. She stepped back and began turning the tuning slides. The shimmering slowly disappeared and then became invisible. She walked toward the table again and it slid away. She moved the slide that controlled the size and the field moved in next to her body. She could no longer see it but she could feel it around her. He moved her hand toward the table and it slid away. She walked over to the mirrored wall and saw her reflection. She couldn’t see the field. She turned the power off and put the device in her pocket. She took another device and snapped it open. She put the other diamond in it and put it in her pocket as well. She jumped up and down and hugged herself. Now there was one more thing she had to do.

• • •

Lukas cleaned off another table and headed toward the kitchen. It was early in the evening and the restaurant had a light crowd. He saw Bob give him a thumb’s up and he nodded back to him as he headed toward the kitchen. He turned the corner at the end of the bar and looked back at the front door. He almost dropped the tub but immediately shocked his system preventing any adrenaline being released into his blood stream. He kept his heart at the same rate and locked his brain in a steady rhythm.

The Stalker who was driving the car in front of Kathy’s apartment was entering the front door. He stumbled into the kitchen where he put the tub down and closed his eyes. He thought furiously and tried to remember if his body had responded to his fear. He forced his nervous system into a calm state and he picked up the tub and emptied the dirty dishes into the sink. He looked out the round glass in the kitchen door and saw Tara lead the Stalker to a table directly in front of the kitchen door. He focused tightly and forced himself to remain calm. The Stalker looked around and took a small device out of his front pocket and quickly moved it in a semi-circle around the restaurant. He glanced at it and put it back in his pocket.

Lukas knew the ship in orbit was observing the restaurant and he turned, went back into the kitchen, and took a new tub off the shelf. He turned it over and inspected it carefully before turning back to the kitchen door. He walked through loudly as the door squeaked when he pushed it all the way open. Lenora looked at him from the bar with her eyebrows down and Lukas said, “Sorry!” The Stalker looked at Lukas as soon as the door squealed and saw his interaction with the female. He shook his head and looked back across the restaurant.

Lukas forced his system to remain in neutral. His heart wanted to accelerate when he realized the Stalker had not detected him. He walked by the Stalker, nodded to him with a smile, and moved to the front of the restaurant to clean a table. As he picked up the dishes he saw the stalker briefly touch his neck and knew he was communicating with the ship. He maintained tight control and after a few moments the Stalker touched his neck again and looked around. He finished cleaning the table and headed back to the kitchen. He stopped at the Stalker’s table and smiled, “I see one of our waitresses hasn’t come by to take your order. Would you like me to go and get one for you?” The Stalker looked at Lukas and shook his head. Lukas nodded and headed toward the kitchen. After twenty minutes, the Stalker stood and left the restaurant without being served.

Lukas continued to keep tight control over his autonomic nervous system but found the effort was tiring. He finally decided he had to do something, so he dropped a tub of dishes on the floor. They fell with a crash and he released his body; it flooded with adrenaline and his heart rate increased to a hundred and forty beats a minute. He bent down to pick up the broken dishes, as Jack came over and shook his head, “There’s always the first time, Luke. You’ve been lucky so far to avoid breaking any dishes.”

“I’m so sorry, Sir.”

“Like I said, there’s always the first time. Keep up the good work.”

Lukas eventually leveled out his heart rate and thought about the Stalker. He wondered why it hadn’t spoken to him; it surely had the language downloaded. Perhaps it was beneath his dignity to respond to a lower life form unless forced to speak. Lukas was certain the long dark trench coat he was wearing had numerous devices stored in it and he kept it on, even inside the restaurant. One of those devices would cause anyone being hit by its beam to follow the Stalker wherever it went. Their capture devices were legendary. Why had it come to this restaurant if there was nothing inside setting off their alarms? He had to discuss this with the Pod.

• • •

He climbed up the hill that night after work and walked around the building to the parking lot behind it. It was almost midnight and it was getting colder. He saw the Pod had moved into a parking space under the eve of the old house and wondered why it had made the move. He opened the door and sat down in the driver’s seat, “Are you able to hear me?”

“I am.”

“Why did you move here?”

“The asbestos in the roof and walls of this old building will shield me from their scans.”

“I thought the paraffin wax would do that?”

“It will shield me from their electronic scan but not from their visuals. This spot can’t be seen from orbit. I’m concerned that they may overlay their sensor and visual scans to see if anything shows up in one but not the other.”

“Now that’s good thinking.”

“You can’t stay here but a few more moments. They would see you walk around the building if they’ve kept a continuous scan on Kathy’s apartment in the hopes you might show up. You need to leave here with something in your hands.”

Lukas looked outside the glass, “I’ll take that old extension cord with me.”

“That should work. Why are you here?”

“One of them showed up at my workplace.”

“I was afraid that might happen.”

“Why?”

“I didn’t leave a skip trace to track but I came in using my thrusters to get me down into the lower atmosphere until I went to the gravity compensator. They must have been able to track the dust particles my thrusters left behind. They know you came here but those particles settled down to the surface over an extended area, which includes that huge city to the west. They must be localizing their search inside the area where they detected those particles. You’ll probably see them again as time passes and they grow more frustrated at not finding you. They will frequent the most popular businesses more often than the others. They’ll probably call in more teams to assist in the search. Just keep acting normal.”

“Thanks, I’ll avoid coming in the future unless it’s absolutely necessary.”

“That would be good.” Lukas got out of the car and grabbed the extension cord. He walked out from under the eve, brushing dirt and leaves off it as he went around to the front of the building and entered the front door. He took it upstairs and plugged it into an outlet. He then plugged a lamp into it and it didn’t work. He knew it wouldn’t. He had pulled it apart as he was cleaning it. He took the cord out of the wall, took it back to where he had picked it up, and threw it back under the eve. He shook his head and went back to his apartment.

Chapter Six

Lukas began seeing Stalkers in the streets, walking around or driving by, and in the restaurant more frequently. His body prevented showing fear by force of habit, he no longer had to focus to control his emotional state. He continued working but kept his eyes on the front glass as he moved around the main floor. He would see them walking toward the front door and prepare himself for their arrival inside. He moved around normally and even cleaned a table while one was sitting at it. He eventually decided that whatever system they used to search for him eliminated those that were examined and passed their inspection. He deliberately walked in front of them when they were examining people around them and one was quite irritated by him. He quickly walked away and decided he didn’t need to stretch his luck. This particular night was going to prove different, in a rather nasty way.

Lukas walked toward the Kitchen and saw Tony sitting at the bar. “Hey Tony, this is your night off.” Tony looked at him and Lukas said, “What’s wrong?”

Tony shook his head and continued staring at the bar, “I think Rachel has found someone else. I’ve been calling her over and over but she doesn’t answer.” Tony looked up at Lukas, “She didn’t come home last night.”

Lukas put his hand on Tony’s shoulder, “Have you been fighting?” Tony nodded and Lukas shook his head, “She’s probably just cooling off with a friend. Give her some time.” Tony nodded and picked up his cellphone. Lukas turned toward the kitchen and saw the Stalker walking down the street in front of the restaurant. It was the driver he saw the first night they arrived. He went into the kitchen and emptied the tub.