“Anais close the doors. That will provide some protection from the x-rays.”
Anais had her Emmie communicating a command to the vehicle's Emmie. The doors closed somewhat slowly. Before closing completely Pearce could see the lightning flashes even in the bright sunlight. Then the doors closed and locked.
The booming of thunder announced the end of the merging bubbles.
“You did it Pearce,” said Crawley through the comm.
Then with the line still open Anais and Pearce heard Crawley, “Uh-oh.”
“What is it Crawley?”
“They're coming again Pearce.”
This time Pearce heard explosions as the van shook and swerved. He and Anais tried to wrap packing straps attached to the walls around them to keep from being thrown about. Then the deafening sound of an explosion and the van jumped and came to an abrupt stop. Luckily the spin-two drive remained secure and though shaken Pearce and Anais were alive.
The van's network was down, Pearce had to crank open the doors manually. He helped Anais from the van and they walked around to the front. Edgar was just opening his door. The front of the vehicle had buried itself in the hole left by the explosion.
“I was wondering when they would use regular ordinance,” said Edgar. “All this temporal bubble stuff is way overkill.”
“I imagine they will still use the temporal bubble,” said Pearce. “To get rid of the evidence.”
“You're probably right Pearce. Speaking of that here they come again.”
“Quick down the embankment on the other side of the van.”
The three ran around the rear of the van and dropped down the embankment on which the road had been built. Just as they were settled Pearce looked to see Dave and Crawley struggling out of the van. Crawley fell. Dave tried to pull him down the embankment but stumbled. Pearce was up and running to help followed closely by Edgar. It was too late the military craft was upon them and thundered overhead dropping more ordinance but off-target. Pearce recoiled from the concussive force but saw the enemy craft fleeing. He was confused until he looked up the road to see some vehicles coming.
Pearce felt like he had been hit by a brick but since he was the only one standing he crawled back up the embankment to meet the approaching vehicles. He hadn't seen Lawrence emerge from the van so he looked into the cab. Lawrence was slumped in his seat still secured. His face had been crushed when the windshield crumpled. Pearce figured it had been a quick death and that Crawley was very lucky.
He moved around the rear of the van as the first vehicle was pulling up. A man got out of the truck dressed in military fatigues.
“Hello,” he called. “What's happened?”
Pearce was wary of giving too much information so he just said that the van had struck a sinkhole and that one had been killed and several injured.
“I'm Max Cleveland.”
“Pearce Rawlings.”
“Well Mr. Rawlings looks like you need some help. I'll get my boys to help get your van out of the ah, sinkhole. And we'll get y'all some help for your injuries.”
Cleveland turned around and motioned to the second truck in line to pull the van out of the hole. While Cleveland's “boys” worked on the van one of them looked into the rear area.
“Hey Reverend look here,” he said.
Cleveland walked over and looked inside and then returned to Pearce.
“I say Mr. Rawlings you've got a spin-two generator in there. I recognize it from my days in the military.”
“Yes Mr. Cleveland that's right. I'm actually a physicist as are several other members of the group.”
“Well then you must be Dr. Rawlings. Whatever, I'd like to talk to you some more. Let's get everyone and your van to my place. We'll fix you all right up.”
Pearce, Anais and Edgar got in one of the small vans in Cleveland's motorcade. They put Dave and Crawley in the back of another van on stretchers. The body of Lawrence followed in another. With the van pulled out of the hole the front had been hoisted onto a back of a flatbed as if it were a wrecker and tied down. After almost an hour of activity all was ready to travel.
Going in the same direction as originally they stayed on the highway for about half an hour before turning onto a smaller, narrower side road for another half hour. Finally they turned onto a dirt road and after a few minutes pulled up to a scattering of buildings.
Cleveland's place was like a compound of half a dozen-odd buildings. What looked like a farmhouse, a bunkhouse for the “boys”, a couple of large barn-like structures, some silos and other odds and ends made up the encampment.
Pearce and Anais were shown where they could clean up. Crawley, Dave and Edgar were taken into the house where the compound's nurse doctored their wounds. Two men left with the body of Lawrence for the county coroner's office.
Once Pearce had cleaned up he met Cleveland in the house's living room.
“Well Dr. Rawlings how are you?” said Cleveland.
“I feel better.”
“I've got some bad news about your former friend Lawrence.”
“What do you mean, where's his body?”
“A couple of my boys took him to the coroner's office. But that's not the bad news. Did you know Dr. Rawlings that Lawrence worked for the territorial government?”
CHAPTER 21
“How do you know Lawrence worked for the government Mr. Cleveland?” asked Pearce.
“Some of my boys have excellent computer and network skills Dr. Rawlings. They have run a background check on everyone. Lawrence was the only one that did not have a warrant out for his arrest. No reason to arrest one of their own I guess. But it's kind of sloppy work, that's what I love about bureaucracies. Ultimately they are all sloppy, I just don't think they know how to motivate their folks. You know what I'm talking about, the bureaucrats do just enough to not get fired.
“While everyone here is highly motivated I can assure you.”
“That's good to know Mr. Cleveland. May I ask though, since you know all about us, do you know what we are trying to do?”
“Well if I believed the government I'd think you were insurrectionists. You know, trying to overthrow authority. But since I don't believe anything the government tells me I'd say you are trying to develop a defensive weapon to meet the aggression of the government.”
Pearce was surprised, “Well Mr. Cleveland I'd say you have quite a crystal ball.”
“Not really Dr. Rawlings. Just experience with the government.”
Anais walked into the room.
“How are you Dr. Eiffel?” said Cleveland.
“I'm well Mr. Cleveland. I see you've learned my title.”
“Dr. Rawlings and I have been talking and some of my boys are good at finding things on the net. You see Dr. Eiffel it would be a very bad thing for me to be surprised. Literally it's all that keeps us safe here, no surprises that is.”
“Where is here Mr. Cleveland and what do you do here?”
“Why, here is my home Dr. Eiffel. And I live here as do all the others. It's really no more than that but in the times in which we live it's just not enough to mind your own business, you see you need to mind everyone's business too, especially the government's.”
“Mr. Cleveland, at the accident site you said you wanted to talk to me about the spin-two generator?”
“Yes I do Dr. Rawlings. As y'all found out today the government will use anything they can against people they consider to be an enemy. Well I fully expect that eventually we will receive the same treatment that you did today. I would like to have a chance at defending myself, my people and my property. I thought in return for the help we are already offering you that you might teach us how to use our spin-two generators for defense.”
“Spin-two generators? You have more than one.”
“We have several Dr. Rawlings, although some are just being used for parts to keep the others working.”
“I might be interested in revealing some information that might be of hel
p to you Mr. Cleveland if you will help me with one thing.”
“And what is that Dr. Rawlings?”
“You will help me, Anais and the rest get to the Northwest Territory.”
“I see. That might be easy Dr. Rawlings, we might be able to link you there.”
“Link us there? How? You would need to have a clear shot to the destination mouth. That's hard to do on a planet's surface. I mean matching the destination mouth to the source mouth is tricky on a planet because you need to know so much about the destination's elevation, its path through parameter space and remember both mouths of the link are moving. The necessary calculations are quite daunting and they have to be updated continuously until the link is accomplished. It's easier to link from the planet's surface to geosynchronous orbit and then back. But of course we would need a spin-two in orbit.”
“Exactly Dr. Rawlings.”
“Exactly?”
“I have contacts that have such an arrangement. We've used them several times.”
“I see,” said Rawlings admiringly. “Mr. Cleveland if I may ask, what got you into this, for lack of a better word, business?”
“You know Dr. Rawlings I was a law-abiding citizen just like you and Dr. Eiffel up until a few months ago. Then something happened to my family. You see my wife and daughter had gone on a shopping trip that day to Clarksville. They enjoyed such day trips. Unfortunately they were caught up in one of the riots that have been sweeping across the Territory since the deal with the Core planets was made. Anyway, they were in the wrong place at the wrong time and both died.”
He paused.
“The police did nothing because the government has decided to use the riots to its own benefit. Eventually they hope people will be fed up enough to support a territorial police force because their local police have failed. This would give them power down to the local level. Of course no one points out, especially our acquiescent news media, that the local police are failing because of government directives. So in a sense my wife and daughter's deaths were politically motivated and I have responded in the same way.”
“I see,” said Pearce. “And I am sorry for your loss. These are crazy times.”
“Crazier than you know Dr. Rawlings.”
“Why do you say that?”
“Well since I got into this “business” as you call it I have become what in the old days would have been termed a conspiracy theorist. Of course when there really is a conspiracy what would you call me? A conspiracy realist maybe.
“You see the government is not who we think they are.”
“How do you mean Mr. Cleveland?”
“You are aware of the coalitionists?”
“I am, they were in my old neighborhood. They support local control.”
“Yes that is what they were proposing Dr. Rawlings but things have changed. There is credible evidence that our government is not acting in the self-interest of the people. In fact, there is evidence that our government is not even acting in its own self-interest. But is acting in the interests of a third party.”
“What third party? What do you mean?”
“Consider Dr. Rawlings. The governments here on Earth have been bullied into a treaty with the Core planets. If there were some way they could resist wouldn't they? After all no one likes to give up power and self-determination.
“But that is exactly what most governments on Earth have done and especially our territorial government even though they could have a way of resisting the bullies.”
“You mean using the spin-two generator for defense?”
“Exactly Dr. Rawlings. But instead of fighting back with a weapon that gives them a fighting chance they are trying to destroy the men and women who can give them that fighting chance. Odd don't you think?”
“I see your point. So who is behind it?”
“There I'm afraid our evidence becomes less than convincing. Tentatively it points to the Dhalkans.”
“I have worked with the Dhalkans Mr. Cleveland,” said Anais. “I don't think they would of their own initiative do as you are suggesting.”
“Well if there is someone behind the Dhalkans. Someone we do not know and then they have set up quite an operation with so many levels.”
“Well Mr. Cleveland when do you want to learn to use the temporal defense system? As Dave calls it.”
In one of the barns, which was more commercial-sized than a typical farm building, Pearce, with the help of some of the boys, set up his generator and one that the compound owned. Both generators were wired for remote operation. The operators were behind a berm created for the purpose of protecting them from the x-rays given off by the merging bubbles of negative energy.
Dave was outside, feeling better, seeing better, and helping with the training. Each time a bubble was neutralized by the TDS the sound of thunder shook the barn and those behind the berm as it echoed from ground zero up into the hills surrounding the farm compound.
During one of these deafening displays Pearce noticed a familiar sound overhead. He looked up and there high overhead were territorial military craft seemingly diving straight at him.
“We've got incoming,” yelled Pearce as he began running towards the barn containing the spin-two generators.
“Come on, help me reconfigure the generators.”
Dave and several of the others began running to help. Pearce quickly began reconfiguring his spin-two so that it could aim well above the horizon. A couple of the men began pushing the other generator out of the barn when Pearce yelled for them to stop and just reconfigure it as he had done the other. Then he took off for the berm soon followed by the others.
“Dave you use the compound's generator and put up some fast-time bubbles. I'll use ours to try to protect targets here on the ground.”
Dave immediately began producing small bubbles a few feet across in front of the incoming craft as if he were laying down a minefield in the sky.
Suddenly a large bubble appeared above the farmhouse moving in its direction. Pearce pivoted his spin-two in the direction of the bubble and launched his own bubble in front of the larger one. It was no more than thirty or forty feet above the house when the large bubble encountered Pearce's. The merger occurred with the lightning and thunder mega-show they had come to expect. The house was saved, for now.
But the military craft kept coming and more and more of the large bubbles appeared on course for one or other of the compound's buildings. Pearce was able to again and again place a small neutralizing bubble in front of the larger bubble except for one and the house was gone, leaving nothing but dust.
By this time Dave had enough of his bubbles in the air that the attackers were having a difficult time avoiding them. It was affecting their ability to place more bubbles on target, yet one made it through and a barn turned into dust.
During the resulting lightning and thunder show parts and pieces of one of the territorial craft began to fall around the berm.
“You got one Dave,” yelled Pearce.
Unfortunately Dave was busy trying to get out of the way of what remained of the craft. His remote control console took a direct hit. The compound's spin-two was off-line. By this time Cleveland and the others were behind the berm.
Seeing Dave's control console smashed Cleveland said to Pearce, “Pearce focus on the buildings with the spin-twos, everything else is expendable.”
Pearce did just that. Meanwhile, Dave had worked his away around the berm and into the barn containing the spin-two he was controlling remotely. He couldn't see the attacking craft but he could still put up a defensive minefield of the fast-time bubbles from inside.
It worked enough to bring down another one of the attackers and the rest then seemed to scatter. The attack was over but the damage was severe. Pearce had only been able to protect the two barns containing the spin-twos. Every other building of any size was gone. Also gone were some of Cleveland's boys.
CHAPTER 22
Taking stock after the attack found
all the spin-twos still available and most of the vehicles. As for the compound, only the two barns that Pearce had focused on protecting still stood. Three of Cleveland's men had been buried. Pearce noticed the change.
“I'm sorry for your losses Mr. Cleveland,” said Pearce as the two reviewed their situation.
“You'll call me Max please Dr. Rawlings, we've been through hell together.”
“Of course Max and I'm Pearce.”
“Pearce, I'm proud of my men. It was the first time they were actually under such a severe attack. I think they handled themselves admirably.”
“So do I Max.”
“Well I guess there's no reason for me to stay here now,” said Max. “If you want my help to get you to the Northwest I'm available.”
“You've done more than could be reasonably expected Max but do you think your contacts would still be willing to get us there.”
“No I don't Pearce. I think we are on our own. We've become too hot to handle for most folks. But this attack makes me more determined and if getting you to your destination will help with fighting the enemy then I'm willing to help.”
“I don't see any other way Max.”
“Very well let's prepare. I'll see how many of my men feel the same.”
“Thanks Max.”
Pearce woke early on the day they were to leave and as he always did when he had a moment he opened a book on his Emmie.
“What is this spirit in man that urges him forever to depart from happiness and security, to toil, to place himself in danger, even to risk a reasonable certainty of death? It dawned upon me up there in the moon as a thing I ought always to have known, that man is not made simply to go about being safe and comfortable and well fed and amused. Against his interest, against his happiness he is constantly being driven to do unreasonable things. Some force not himself impels him and go he must.”
“Well, that's the truth,” thought Pearce. “I've been driven to do unreasonable things for months.”
Time's End: A Future Chron Novel (Future Chron Universe Book 34) Page 14