Indian Hill (28 page)

“No it sounds sane enough,” she replied “I’m sorry that you have to go through this, and I know that the burden you carry when you think of all of us makes your job even tougher.”

“Deb, if it wasn’t for you and the rest of the girls, I would have given up a long time ago,” I replied.

“Why do you say that?” she pleaded.

“If it wasn’t for all of you, the guilt that compiles upon me with each killing would have been too much. I think I would have let
Timmins
do me in. I’m truly afraid for my Judgment Day, how could St. Peter possibly let
me
through the gates?” I was almost crying.   

“He’ll open the gates wide when you get there. You are our savior, Mike; you put everything on the line to make sure that all of us here stay safe. Your sacrifice alone would have him open the gate. But I know the true you also, you are a very caring and compassionate person, I can see how this is eating you up inside. I’m not sure that I could do what you do even with all th
o
se other people’s lives on the line. God won’t have a choice but to leave the door wide open when you finally kick the can in sixty or seventy more years.”

And I laughed, I was counting my life minute by minute and Deb was figuring for the next fifty or sixty years. “I love you Deb, you’re just the dose of what I need tonight. And I hope that no matter what happens in our lives that you’ll always be there.”

Her face fell a little, but in true form she tried to hide it before I noticed. She understood that I still meant to get back with Beth at all costs, and that she was not included in that equation.

The next few weeks went by pretty much uneventfully. I was studying for midterms and my roommates were busy doing household chores. Although I can guarantee you there isn’t a freshman male alive that has the quality and quantity of women as I did. Although on that same line of reasoning, there isn’t a freshman whose life depends on passing his next test, although maybe in the abstract. Definitely not in the harsh cruel way that I was talking about. My ranking had improved some but not anywhere near the top tier I was looking for. I felt like Rodney Dangerfield, I couldn’t get any respect. I was ranked 10
th
which still made me an underdog. But it was still better than being grouped in the final three, instead of offering any byes this round the aliens opted instead to have a three way among Nos. 17, 18 and 19. I hoped that this wasn’t a trend that they planned to continue. They were having that tri-event a full week before the main course began. I hate to admit it but I was as excited about that fight as I was with opening season of Monday night football. The only thing missing was the beer. But I planned on being fully prepared for my bout before I sat to watch that one. My next opponent appeared to be from the
island
of
Jamaica
, he was a very dark skinned man named Jacob Farley. He wasn’t particularly big but he was well built, more on the wiry side. He could dole out punishment as well as receive it. In his last bout he had been speared straight through the leg and still had the presence of mind to sever the arm holding the spear. Unfortunately for Joe Parkerson, the shock and finally the blood loss did him in. Farley didn’t move, maybe the pain was too great or more than likely he just wanted the front row seat for the impending death. He was a scary looking fellow. I can’t say that I was particularly thrilled about fighting him, of the nineteen of us left I felt that I was the weakest link in this chain. Farley varied almost all of his styles to adapt to the competitor he was fighting. If the opponent was bigger and/or faster he would grab the bow. If Farley was bigger he opted for the sword. If the terrain did not allow for a clean shot with the bow he headed straight for the spear. And he was proficient at every piece of gear that he handled. He was going to be a tough nut to crack, but I had to believe he would opt for the sword against me. Great, I knew by what means he wanted to kill me but as of yet I had not figured out an adequate defense. Or offense. Maybe if I could get a hold of some killer alien weed and roll him a fat bone he’d stop and smoke it and I could club him over the head while he was eating a Twinkie. No, that probably wouldn’t work, where would I get a hold of a Twinkie? I had the inklings that a major headache was coming on, I began to rub my neck as best I could. And then I felt it, the touch. The touch of one who knew how to give a great massage. Tanya had come over, noticing my discomfort and had begun to rub my neck. Had I not been so delighted in the feeling I would have noticed the daggers being thrown my way by Deb
,
Steph
felt the need to tell me about the psychic daggers later
. If looks could kill I don’t know which of us would have been dead first, Tanya or me. Tanya, however, had noticed the stare and simply chose to ignore it. Under any other circumstances this would have been phenomenal, two gorgeous girls fighting for my affections, why doesn’t this stuff happen in the real world? No it only happens on alien spaceships hundreds of thousands of miles away from anybody who would actually believe that
it
was happening. When I finally did look up Deb had retreated from her spot at the top of the stairs, but I found out later that they had one doozy of a spat after I had
,
unfortunately
,
gone to sleep. I could have used a little enjoyment. Especially from two women vying for my attention, and it would have also been nice to witness a confrontation that did not end in bloodshed. But from what I heard from the other girls it could have gone that far had some others not stepped in.
T
his just never happe
ns to me, where the hell is a camera
when you need it? The month went by a lot faster than anticipated, things in the house stayed somewhat tense. I guess when your life is on the line you’ll always be sort of tense. Tanya and Deb didn’t actually work out a truce, but when I shunned Tanya’s next advances it kept Deb at bay. At least she finally realized that I meant everyone except for Beth.

I never did crack the secret behind Farley. I saw no obvious or not so obvious flaws in his fighting style. The man made very few mistakes. Tonight’s bout was going to come down to who made the least amount of errors. I had been lifting and doing cardio the entire month, in fact it
wa
s the first time in a long time I didn’t have to spend the majority of my downtown recuperating. So I figured I would match him in weapon selection and go sword to sword. Neither of us were sword-wielding swashbucklers. He might have the advantage in strength but I was confident that I had him in speed. So like I said before, it was all going to come down to who made the biggest mistake first.

Once again I was led into the arena first and listened to the crowd hissing and booing. Apparently I cost a lot of money to the ugly bastards. Well too bad because unless they bet on me tonight they were going to lose a bunch again. Farley came in after a few moments and received the lion’s share of adulation from the throng and he didn’t seem to mind. He bowed in the general direction of Beth and then proceeded to bow to every corner of the arena. They ate it up. I stood there hoping he pulled a muscle or something with all that bowing. But he didn’t.

Here was a twist; the aliens did not terraform the arena, they left it flat gray and lifeless. It looked much like a warehouse, maybe that was the effect they were shooting for. It didn’t really bother me as I had no intention of hiding anyway. Farley went to the far wall and grabbed a sword; I did the same. And then we just started walking to meet in the middle. There was no particular rush or sense of urgency. Both of us knew what had to be done, but hey, where
wa
s the fire. When we got roughly ten to fifteen feet away from each other, Farley actually bowed to me and saluted me with his sword. I thought that was a really classy thing to do, so I returned the bow, but I kept my head up just in case it was a ploy to catch me unawares. It wasn’t. He waited till I stood completely back up and then advanced, but much more warily than he had the first forty-five yards. So the dance of swords began.

CHAPTER 27

“Ground Control to Major Tom, Ground Control to Major Tom.”

“Butch, you know I hate it when you do that, my last name is Thomas and I’m a Colonel now, Major!”

“I know Ray, sometimes I just can’t help myself.”

Ray Thomas was the commander of the shuttle USS Liberation and had been dealing with his best friend Major Pat (Butch) Hatfield’s long running joke for years. He knew that Butch had been happier when he made Major then he himself had been. Butch had been calling him Major Tom since they were boot lieutenants out of
Annapolis
.

“How are things going up there, Ray?” Butch asked, adopting a more serious tone.

“Major, when are you going to start using military protocol?” the colonel asked half seriously.

“Come on Ray, I’ve never used it before, why would I start now. Besides I’m your kid’s godfather, that transcends all military rank.”

“Somehow I don’t think you’d be saying that if the ranks were switched,” Ray replied.

“Yeah, but then
I’d
be in charge and you’d have to do what I said,” Butch laughed.

“That’d be the day.” Colonel Thomas snorted, he wasn’t too thrilled with his lack of military bearing at the moment but Butch always seemed to have that effect on him. If he had never met Butch Hatfield he was sure he’d be a fu
ll colonel by now instead of a Lieutenant Colonel
. But if he had never met Butch Hatfield he would never have met  Butch’s sister Gina, and then he would never have had the light of his life, little Devlin. Some things were definitely worth the tradeoff.

“No, but seriously, Ray. How are things going up there?” Butch sounded a little stressed out.

“They’re going as well as can be expected, Butch. We’re traveling as fast as this bucket will go and we’re still a couple of months out. If the aliens decide to move at all, we’ll never be able to catch them.”

“Why’d you do it Ray?”

“Why’d I do what, Butch?” although he knew full well what the major was talking about.

“Why did you volunteer for this mission, there are a hundred captains out there who would have gladly given their right arm to fly this mission.”

“And what? Should I have sent them to their deaths?”

“I’m not saying that, but they have less to lose. You’ve got a beautiful wife and my godson. Ray, my sister is shattered.”

“I’m not quite dead yet Butch.”

“Come on Ray, who are you fooling, this is
me
you’re talking to. I’ve known you longer than anyone. You flew this mission because you knew the outcome and you couldn’t bear the thought of someone taking your place. But you have more to lose.”

“Would that make any of their deaths any less significant, Butch? How could I possibly send someone else when I know the odds of success are almost zero? I don’t even think they’ll let this ship get close enough to receive our transmission.”

“Abort the damn thing, Ray. Pull a fuse, I can create a computer glitch here that’ll make your ship look like it’s dead in the water.”

“Butch, you know this has to be done. If for no other reason than to let those bastards know we aren’t going out without a fight.”

“Ray, you read the reports, if by some grace of God you do get close enough you know the chances of you doing anything more than scratching their hull are one in a million,” Butch said with urgency in his voice.

“You don’t know that Butch, the scientists said that they believed that the original probe and the ships that took those people are more than likely made from similar materials but different ratios.”

“So you’re basing your whole mission on the results of a radar sc
an
?”

“What else do we have? I didn’t sign up for a suicide mission. I know the odds are horrible but if there is still a chance, I’m taking it. Even if our ‘transmission’ does nothing more than shake their dishes around I’ll be happy. They’ll know that we’ll go to any length. Maybe they’ll even second guess their reasons for coming here.”

“And maybe we’re just stirring up the hornet’s nest.”

“Listen Butch, we’ve been round and round on this. What kind of husband would I be to your sister or father to your godson if I didn’t do everything in my power to keep them safe from this threat? I’d never be able to live with myself.”