The Slip

by Tom C Willoughby

  The energy flows he was able to sense and ride between bodies must be in essence electrical forces conducting between two people’s bodies when they touched. If he could be in contact with the metal bars at the same time as the sheriff when he locked them in, maybe the metal bars would conduct the same connection between their bodies, just from a greater distance. How far away he could be and still pick up on another person’s energy flow was a big question. Certainly now that he had gotten to know the exact feeling he was looking for, he would have a better shot.

  Once inside, the cuff circle pulled the cell door closed behind them and moved to the far corner. The sheriff then made his way over with the key to lock them in.

  Sam brushed Max’s hand and transferred to Max who was the closest to the cell bars, and tried to casually move the group a little closer to the bars. If he reached out suddenly he was pretty sure he could get one of Max’s hands on the bars but ideally he wanted to get both hands on them.

  As the sheriff put his key in the lock, Max awkwardly grasped the bars with his right hand. Sam reached out for the sheriff’s energy signature, visualizing an energy path going through the bars. He couldn’t feel anything. Sensing he was out of time, Sam went all in and forcibly pulled his other arm backward so that he could grab the bars with both hands behind him. This drew the attention of the other three agents who immediately suspected something was going down. Sam was down to seconds before either he was pulled back from the bars, the sheriff walked away, or both. He tried again to reach for an energy signature, but there was nothing there.

  Sam yelled to the sheriff, “Make sure that door is locked, something is going on over here,” prompting Wilkes to put his hands on the metal bars to test the lock. As Wilkes grabbed hold of the bars Sam tried to relax into the feeling as he did the very first time he changed hosts back in the hospital. He visualized his energy pushing off into the bars towards the sheriff’s hands, like jumping off a high dive.

  Everything went black, and then he saw a pulsating mass of micron thin strings of energy fibers extending out from his body. These were the energy flows he had also seen in Julia at The Farm. Everything slowed and a feeling of dislocation overtook him. He was trying to leave his host without a new destination. Reaching into the darkness he was losing his connection with Max. His consciousness waned, and he feared that if he let go he would disappear into the darkness. A single fine hair of light came into view. If he could stretch just a little bit more he could reach it. With a final exertion he intertwined the tip of his energy fibers with it, slowly weaving more and more of the energy streams until instantaneously he was pulled in and found himself in the sheriff.

  “Fucking yes!” he celebrated now in Wilkes head.

  What seemed like a long period of time to Sam must have actually been only a second or two. The Sheriff was still pulling back and forth on the cell door when he took over, and looking at the cuff circle he could see the group was just starting to try to pull Max away from the bars.

  Taking quick inventory, Sam found that Wilkes did not have his daughter’s social memorized, but he did have it saved in her contact information in his phone, along with her birthday and other pertinent information. Back at his desk, he hung the keys and started scrolling through his phone. Sam didn’t think he was out of time but the margin for error on his guesses was getting uncomfortable. He found the daughter’s information, added the zero to the end and dialed the number for Julia.

  21

  UHLI LOOKED UP AS BRIAN walked into the room. Uhli and Jerry were sitting next to each other and had been looking at the laptop screen intently. “Hey Brian, we are running the analysis on the flights. Getting the flight data was the hard part, but once we got in touch with the right people at the FAA they were able to send us the complete lists of incoming flights to the infected airports. Jerry was then able to quickly adapt an algorithm he already had for the sorting,” Uhli said.

  “How did you convince the FAA to give you the flight info?” Brian asked.

  “Well, you’ll be happy to know that your name unlocks some doors. It took them a minute to call up the chain of command after we gave them your name, but in the end we got what we needed,” Uhli said.

  Brian raised his eyebrows a little at this and tucked that nugget of information away as he stopped next to Jerry and watched the results showing up on the projector.

  As expected, there were a lot of non-stop international flights into these large metropolitan airports, which kept listing out on the screen. The goal was to find a single city of origin that serviced all the airports showing infections in the U.S. The software routine was set up to remove incoming flights from international cities which did not also fly into all of the other U.S. airports showing infection blooms. There was a tug of war on the screen as new airports were added from the data, and the sorting routine removed airports that did not fit the criteria. Within seconds the routine started winning as the list dwindled, and finally they were left with a shortlist of all the international airports that flew into all the infected U.S. cities including:

  Beijing

  Bellingham International

  Billings

  Bismarck

  Calgary

  Edmonton

  Frankfurt

  Guadalajara

  Kalispell

  London-Gatwick

  London_LHR

  Manchester

  McAllen

  Mexico City

  Minot

  Montreal

  Ontario

  San Juan

  Santa Maria

  Seoul-Incheon

  Toronto

  Vancouver

  “COCKSPLAT. Gentlemen, there you have it,” Jerry said leaning back a little in his chair, pleased with the results.

  Brian smiled, happy with the quick execution, and entertained by Jerry’s inappropriate (though uncontrollable) expletive.

  The jubilant mood in the room took a sudden nosedive as Uhli looked up with alarm from his phone.

  “Looks like the news outlets have picked up on the illnesses. Viral Outbreaks Throughout the City, is in the NY Times,” Uhli said.

  Everyone grabbed their phones and scanned the various news sites online. The reports were coming mostly from the largest of the cities hit by the latest attacks.

  “That didn’t take long. I’m surprised I haven’t gotten a phone call yet,” Brian said.

  On cue, the conference table phone started ringing. Brian gave Jerry and Uhli a look and reached to pick it up.

  “Yes, this is Brian Storm. Really. Okay, this is good news. Well, news anyway. Thank you.”

  “The guys in the field are finding magnetic discs on planes and the tarmac,” Brian said.

  “What does that, ASSDICK, mean?” Jerry asked.

  “It helps our theory. Let’s go next door and talk with the whole group,” Brian said moving toward the door.

  22

  “YOU HAVE THREE MINUTES UNTIL I take off from the airfield 1.5 miles west of you,” Sam heard on the other end of the line, followed by a click as it went dead.

  Phone still to his ear, he stared at the wall for a moment before understanding he had another deadline. He grabbed the sheriff’s car keys and ran out of the station with shouts from the cuff circle fading in the background.

  A Dodge Charger cop car was parked right in front. Sam went for a hood slide across to the driver’s side. Wilkes body was a little old for that move and he stopped short on the hood and had to roll across the remaining portion. Sam laughed a crazed cackle at how ridiculous he must look. He opened the unlocked door and slid in, simultaneously jamming the key home and igniting the mighty 6.2 liter, 707 hp Hemi engine. The wheels spit dirt as he reversed too quickly. He threw it into drive before coming to a stop and punched the pedal to the floor. The chargers haunches bucked and danced as the wheels spun trying to get purchase, finally rocketing them out of the square and squirting them onto the main rode.

  Sirens on, 140 mph o
n the speedo, Sam saw the signature tail fins of small aircraft at what must be the airfield off to the right. He took the turn at 60 mph and hammered it back to 100 mph down the straightaway. He saw Julia standing with one foot on the pilot step of a helicopter, the other on the tarmac. The cockpit door was open, rotors already turning.

  Sam put the charger into a sideways slide, smoking the tires furiously to keep it in that position as it slid to a stop 20 feet from the helicopter. He opened the door and stepped out just as the car came to a halt. The tire smoke rushed ahead of him toward Julia. Sam walked casually over to her, the smoke enshrouding him before being blown back by the rotors’ downdraft. He threw his gun 20 feet to his left and attached his cuffs to his left wrist. “Nice day to fly,” he said as he stopped in front of Julia, bent down and connected the other end of the cuffs to his right ankle. He smacked Julia’s dangling hand to transfer into her, leaving Wilkes to stumble and fall over. “Sorry to leave you like this Sheriff, it’s nothing personal,” Sam said through Julia.

  Almost at the same time as Sam transferred through her hand, she swung herself up into the cockpit, closed the door and accelerated the rotors for takeoff.

  “Not bad, Sam, not bad,” Julia said as they lifted off heading back towards DARPA.

  23

  ENTERING THE OTHER CONFERENCE ROOM with Jerry and Uhli in tow, Brian gave the rest of the crew the news the discs were being found.

  “We also have the list of origination cities with non-stop international flights that fly into all the airports of the affected cities. Jerry, can you pull up that list, please.”

  Jerry sat down at the computer and typed in his login information while Brian continued.

  “The list is about 20 cities long as you will see in a moment. But the really interesting information from the field is that the discs have so far only been found on Chinese airlines’ planes.”

  “Okay, so what are these discs that we are talking about?” Uhli asked.

  Jim filled Uhli and Jerry in on the disc theory.

  “Holy shit, we have our origination city,” Brian said, staring at the results Jerry had pulled up. “There is only one Chinese city on the list.”

  “Beijing.”

  24

  “SO HOW ARE THINGS, HOW did I do?” Sam asked.

  “Well you made it, so you passed. Things have accelerated while we’ve been away. There has been another attack and the infections are starting to make it into the news,” Julia said as she maneuvered the helicopter up and away from the airport.

  “We have been green lighted for departure leaving today,” she continued.

  “All work and no play makes Sam and Julia a dull…..uh..person? Where are we going?” asked Sam.

  “Beijing. We will get more specific target data as it becomes known. Brian and team are working double-time and the group has expanded. We are getting close to operating in real time which will mean we have to be on our toes at all times. We are heading directly to Dulles airport to catch a direct flight to Beijing,” Julia said.

  Julia had been on the phone all morning getting updates from Brian and Paul Greenfield, including the new mission plan which at this point consisted of getting to Beijing as fast as possible and awaiting further orders. The flight was about 15 hours which was hopefully going to be enough time to put together a more detailed plan. With the search narrowed to a single city, even a city as large as Beijing, they would be able to make much faster progress.

  In the meantime, more people were getting sick. And more were dying.

  DAY 16

  25

  LEANING BACK IN HER SEAT, Julia felt relaxed for the first time since all this craziness had started. Certainly the two glasses of wine and the beginning of the third were helping, however it was more being on a plane, without connectivity or the ability to really do anything, which forced her to take a pause and just sit. They were about 3 hours into their 15 hour flight to Beijing, and Julia was letting herself get a little tipsy, knowing there was plenty of time left on the flight for her body to filter out the alcohol and return her mind to sharpness. But for now, with her head back, her eyes closed, and her earbuds in, she was enjoying the familiar mental numbness served up by the wine.

  “Oh Julia, what do we have here?”

  Sam had been fairly quiet for the last part of the flight and his rhetorical question broke the silence and brought Julia out of her self-induced reverie.

  “It’s quiet time, Sam, I’m trying to relax,” Julia said without opening her eyes.

  Although Sam had greatly improved his ability to integrate and become aware of his host’s overall mind, he could still find more by actually poking around in the grey mass. With time on his hands and feeling liberated by Julia’s drinks, Sam started to pick through the various parts of Julia’s mind, which she seemed to have compartmentalized.

  “You were very strong willed as a child I see. But it seems like you don’t have many happy memories from that time.”

  Julia felt Sam exploring parts of her mind even she didn’t like to visit and her eyes popped open. “What the shit, Sam, what are you doing!?”

  “I’m getting to know you better. What was the deal with your stepfather—”

  With a sudden violence that surprised both of them, Julia smashed Sam into a dark corner of her mind until she couldn’t hear anything he was saying. Sam felt himself compressed into a tiny dot of existence and held there in a vacuum void of sensory input. He was completely helpless and felt he would disappear completely with the addition of any more compression.

  Julia was shaking with rage and she had to talk herself back to control. She had somehow overpowered Sam and was holding him forcefully in a tight black ball. Realizing the violence of her actions she slowly managed to unclench her hold on Sam. She had understood the risks of allowing someone into her mind but she hadn’t anticipated this situation or the way she would react.

  After fully releasing Sam, she felt what she could only explain as him cowering in a corner of her mind. She was physically shaking as adrenaline worked its way through her body.

  As softly as possible Sam said, “Julia, I’m so sorry. I wasn’t thinking about what I was doing.”

  Julia retrieved two sleeping pills from her bag and quickly chased them down with the rest of her wine. It was double the suggested dosage but she wanted to make sure she was out.

  “Don’t EVER do anything like that again. My life and memories are my own and NOT yours to explore. If you want to know more about me you ASK! DON’T EVER HELP YOURSELF TO MY MEMORIES AGAIN!” Julia barely held onto her self control as she said this to Sam before closing her eyes and succumbing to the wonderful darkness.

  26

  SAM WOKE TO SOMEONE SHOUTING at him to get up, asking if he was okay. The voice was in his ears like he was wearing some kind of communication head set. He was groggy and tried to force his eyes open. Slowly, they opened, but he could only see shadows in the dim light. His eyes began to adjust, and Sam saw he was outside, the only light coming from a full moon which he was staring up at from the ground.

  A series of bright flashes forced his eyes closed again followed by loud explosions, and there was the voice in his ear again, “Up and at ‘em Sanders!” Then a strong hand closed around his arm and he was lifted up to his feet.

  Forcing his eyes to focus, he could see a mask six inches in front of his face. Eyes stared at him through the lens.

  Once they made eye contact, the person in front of him smacked his head. “There he is,” he heard. He felt like the voice he kept “hearing” was not in his ears, but emanated from within his mind. The mask in front of him revealed only his cohorts eyes, covering everything else. Sam couldn't see his mouth moving but he was sure this was the person communicating with him.

  Sam felt something heavy shoved into his belly and his hands reflexively grabbed hold of it. The eyes in front of him turned away. “Now let’s get after it!” He was certain now the voice was inside his head. Looking d
own he at first wasn't sure what he was holding… EPR suddenly came into his mind. He knew what that was… electric pulse rifle. How did he know that?

  The lurch of his body interrupted the thought. He started forward and realized he was only observing and not in control of his host.

  Getting his wits about him a bit more he started to take in the surroundings. Explosions continued to violently illuminate the darkness, playing havoc with his vision. An immense backlit flock of birds became visible as they crossed in front of the moon.

  As his host looked to the left down a hill, Sam saw an immense undulating carpet of dark shapes continuing into the far away darkness. The shapes resolved into helmets as the flashes of light from their weapons provided a staccato series of still images he stitched together. The carpet continued off to his right and everyone was moving forward in line. He was part of this group of thousands.

  The entire sky was suddenly lit up by a light so bright it felt like his eyes were burning out of his skull. The sky turned white as hundreds of lightning bolts arced down jaggedly from the birds he had just seen.

  Men were falling and then he felt the jolts of power through his own body as whiteness turned black.

  DAY 17

  27

  JULIA CAME AWAKE WITH A gasp as her body tried to double over in her seat. All her muscles tensed as she sat frozen with her gasping mouth hanging open. What the hell was that!

  Realizing she was on an airplane, she slowly relaxed and managed to get a breath of air in to restart her breathing. Must have been the double dose of sleeping pills.

  The lights in the plane were at full brightness and the pilot announced the beginning of their descent into Beijing. Julia had taken the sleeping pills only a couple of hours into the flight, which meant she had slept for over ten hours if they were already landing. Wow, I must have really needed the sleep.