Reborn

by Orrin Jason Bradford

  “Party, party,” Allan chanted as he shuffled down the hallway to his bedroom with a dance step left over from his high school days.

  Twenty minutes later, as Allan finished up his shower, he heard TJ returning from outdoors.

  “I’m back, Dad!” TJ shouted.

  “Good!” Allan shouted back. “Go get cleaned up, birthday boy. Our guests should be arriving in just a few minutes… And stay out of the refrigerator.”

  Allan finished drying himself off and walked over to his closet to pick out a fresh shirt and pair of pants. As he finished dressing, he heard an automobile bumping its way down the dirt road. Would that be Pat returning from Charlotte, he wondered? Not unless she had cut out some of her business appointments, which he had to admit was unlikely. He strolled over to the window and glanced out in time to see Donna’s light blue Honda pull to a stop in front of the house.

  He felt a moment of panic and held his breath, praying that Donna wouldn’t step out of the car. He resumed breathing when only Kendra and Mimi exited. He sighed with relief as he watched the car turn around and go back down the road.

  “Hey, birthday boy. Your guests have arrived. How about welcoming them? I’ll be out in just a minute, and remember, stay out of the refrigerator.”

  Allan walked back into the bathroom to comb his hair. As he did so, he stared at the reflection in the mirror. What are you doing, old man? The question came unbidden.

  What do you mean? He heard himself answer. I’m getting ready to hold a birthday party for my son. Really? I thought you buried your son beside your wife.

  Oh come on, don’t start on me; not today. Leave it alone.

  Allan tossed the brush onto the counter next to the sink and walked out.

  “Party, party,” he chanted again but this time with less enthusiasm.

  His mood brightened again as he walked into the kitchen to find Kendra, Mimi, and TJ all standing there staring intently at the refrigerator.

  “Hello girls,” Allan greeted them. Noticing their strange behavior, he asked, “What are you staring at?”

  “Oh, nothing,” TJ answered without taking his eyes off the fridge. “We were just wondering what deep dark secret you are keeping in there.”

  “Wouldn't you like to know?" Allan replied with a chuckle. "That's my deep dark secret, and you'll just have to wait a little longer to find out what it is. Meanwhile, why don't we adjourn to the den that I spent hours decorating for the occasion?"

  “Hours like maybe twenty or thirty minutes?” TJ said.

  “Yeah, something like that,” Allan replied.

  2

  The den had been decorated with festive crêpe paper and helium-filled balloons. On one wall was a large picture of a life-size donkey and on the floor the brightly colored mat for Twister. Allan stood there in the doorway, suddenly nervous that this had been a bad idea. How could you possibly hope to have a decent birthday party with just three or four guests? But then Kendra walked over to the table where Allan's boombox sat and turned it on.

  “I bet I can beat both of you at Twister,” Kendra said.

  “You’re on!” TJ shouted as he ran to the Twister mat.

  “We should do teams,” Mimi added.

  “Okay. Mimi and I against the two of you,” TJ said as he took Mimi’s hand and led her to the Twister mat.

  “I thought we might have the boys against the girls,” Mimi countered.

  “Nah, that’s no fun. Come on, Mimi. We will crush them. I doubt Dad can even reach over and touch the floor.”

  “Okay. After all, it’s your birthday.”

  They ended up playing the best two out of three games and, as TJ had predicted, his team crushed Allan and Kendra. By the end of it, Allan was pretty sure he'd have trouble getting out of bed the next morning, but he wouldn't have missed it for anything. By the time they were ready to cut the cake and open TJ's presents, Allan had made an interesting observation. TJ had a crush on Mimi. He decided to check out his suspicions with Kendra, so he asked her to help him in the kitchen.

  As he pulled the cake from the refrigerator, he shared his thoughts with her and was surprised by her reply.

  “So, it’s that obvious, huh?”

  “You’ve noticed it as well?" Allan asked. “How about getting me some plates?”

  “Yeah. It’s been developing for a couple of weeks, I guess. I haven’t said anything about it because I really don’t think it’s that serious.” Kendra took the plates from the cabinet and set them next to the cake.

  Allan wasn’t so sure he agreed with Kendra’s assessment. “What do you think we should do about it?” he asked as he placed the cake and plates on a tray.

  “I’m not sure there’s anything we need to do,” Kendra replied. “It’s probably just a phase he’s going through; don’t you think?”

  “Maybe," Allan said, "but sometimes crushes can grow into romances, and that would not be a good thing."

  Kendra reached into the drawer for serving knife and placed it on the tray. “Really? Why do you say that? Don’t you like Mimi?”

  “Sure. She seems like a good kid. It’s not that; it’s just… I don’t know. It’s just not a good idea. For starters, they’re both too young to be getting involved that way.”

  “ Oh, not really. Mimi is almost 16, just a year younger than I am," Kendra said. By that age, I had already had two or three boyfriends."

  “You are kidding.”

  “Not at all.” Kendra laughed. “It might just be that you are behind the times.”

  “That’s true enough,” Allan agreed as he picked up the tray and turned towards the door. At the same time, he realized that Kendra didn’t know TJ’s whole story; not by a long shot. He suspected that if she did, she would agree with him that this crush needed to be closely watched.

  3

  After they finished singing Happy Birthday to TJ and he had blown out all the candles, Allan heard a car drive up outside and once again he felt a familiar flip-flop of his heart before recognizing the sound of Pat’s Cherokee.

  “Oh good,” Allan said. “That must be Pat. She’s just in time for a piece of cake. Kendra, could you go get us another plate?”

  As he turned to follow Kendra out of the room to let Pat in, his gaze fell on TJ sitting in front of the cake. Was that a frown on his face? What could have happened to change his mood so suddenly? Just moments ago he was laughing as he prepared to blow out the candles. Maybe I made a mistake in inviting Pat, Allan thought as he walked to the door, but it would've felt strange not to include her. After all, they were still a couple, weren't they? If you have to ask then you may not be, came the reply. Oh, buzz off.

  Allan opened the front door just as Pat climbed the last couple of steps, holding a small gift bag in one hand. She smiled at him. She looked exhausted, as though a strong breeze might knock her over.

  “I’m so sorry to be late. The Charlotte traffic was terrible, and I had to stop for gas on the way.”

  “Nonsense,” Allan said as he gave her a hug and a peck on the cheek. “You’re just in time for the cake. Come on in. Everyone is in the den.”

  The two of them walked into the den where Kendra was cutting the cake. The two girls welcomed Pat enthusiastically, but Allan noticed that TJ didn’t join in; he continued to sit there with a sullen look on his face.

  “Look, TJ. Another present, all the way from Charlotte.”

  TJ nodded but didn’t say anything.

  Apparently noticing his mood change, Kendra said, “Hey TJ, would you like some ice cream to go with your cake?”

  “Nah, that’s okay,” TJ replied.

  TJ never turns down ice cream, Allan thought. Something was wrong, and he figured that something was probably Pat. The young boy must have heard some of the arguments they'd had about him, and they had affected him.

  After everyone had finished eating the cake, Kendra shouted, “It’s birthday present opening time! You sit right there, birthday boy. I’ll bring the other prese
nts in.” She left with a tray and returned a moment later with several wrapped packages on it.

  He started by opening Allan’s gift; a half-dozen DVDs of the latest science fiction and thriller movies. TJ loved watching movies in his spare time but had never been able to go to a movie theater, so he had to wait for them to come out on DVD or watch them much later when they came to television.

  “Thanks, Dad,” TJ said as he looked over the selection. “These look really good.”

  “I had some help in the selection process,” Allan said, nodding towards Kendra.

  “Why don't you open my present next?" Kendra suggested as she pointed it out on the tray. TJ picked it up and tore the paper off of it, revealing a plastic container that resembled a DVD. As TJ turned it over in his hands, examining it with a confused look on his face, Kendra said, "It's an advance copy of the new computer game entitled, Mercenaries: Playground of Destruction. I have a friend of a friend who knows somebody in the computer gaming business who got it for me. It might be a little buggy since it's still in beta, but my friend said he could get you updated copies as they become available.”

  4

  “Now you have a game and nothing to play it on,” Allan said. “I’ll just have to do something about that.” He walked out of the room. Everyone excitedly looked around, waiting for his return. Allan walked back in with a large box in his hands and handed it to TJ. "I think you need to open this now," he said.

  TJ tore off the wrappings and just sat there looking at the box. "What is a PlayStation?" he asked.

  "Just the newest and most advanced game playing system ever made," Mimi exclaimed.

  “Way cool!” TJ shouted. “Will you play it with me?”

  “Sure, but a little later okay? You still have some presents to open.” Kendra pointed out.

  “Oh, yeah,” TJ said as he glanced back to the tray with one more gift on it. He picked it up and looked over to Mimi with a warm smile that worried Allan. She nodded back to him to confirm that the present was from her.

  “I hope you like it," Mimi said, an embarrassed look on her face. "Money has been a bit tight of late, so I had to go the route of making it myself."

  “Those are often some of the very best gifts," Allan said to make Mimi feel better.

  “I’m sure I’ll like anything that you made,” TJ said as he carefully unwrapped the flat package. As TJ looked the package over Mimi explained to the rest of them what it was.

  “It’s a collection of short stories that I have been writing for the past year or so. I guess you could say it’s a bit of an advance copy as well since there aren’t enough of them yet to make a full book, but I’ve gone ahead and entitled it, Fantastic Fables of Foster Flat. I know how much you enjoy reading so I just thought…”

  “This is way cool too,” TJ said as he leafed through the book.

  “It’s about some of the strange things that have happened in this area,” Mimi went on to explain. “One story you won’t find in there is anything about you, TJ, and you never will. Promise.”

  “Thanks, Mimi. Dad was right. Made-up gifts are the best.”

  Yeah, Allan thought. Of course, Mimi could have taken a lump of clay, stuck her thumb in it, and called it a paperclip holder, and TJ would still have loved it.

  By the end, TJ’s mood had about returned to normal when Allan noticed there was still one present left to open.

  “TJ, you haven’t opened Pat’s gift yet,” Allan said as he handed the gift bag to TJ.

  “Before you open it," Pat said as she placed one hand on Allan's arm. She turned to Allan and whispered, "I probably should've checked with you first, but I was running out of time, and I couldn't think of anything else that a young boy would enjoy."

  “I’m sure whatever it is will be fine,” Allan assured her.

  Pat turned back to TJ. “Okay, TJ. Here’s the deal. If your dad doesn’t approve of the gift, I’ll take it back and get you something else. Okay?”

  “Okay, I guess so,” TJ replied, clearly curious about what was inside the package.

  He removed the tissue paper from the top of the bag and reached in to pull out what was inside. He hesitated for a moment for dramatic effect and then pulled out its contents. Allan recognized it immediately. He had seen it on Pat’s desk at her office in Charlotte a couple of different times when he visited her. He had finally asked her about it.

  “Oh, it’s the knife my father gave me when I first started working at B.I.U.F.O. I used it to pry my way into the alien ship, and shortly after that it saved my life when I was attacked by that beast."

  And now here it was in his son's hand. What in the world could have possessed her to give him such a weapon? Even as Allan had the thought, he noticed TJ's face beaming with pleasure.

  “Wow! What a neat gift,” TJ said as he waved the knife in the air, its shining sides catching the light from overhead. “I can keep it, can’t I Dad? I promise I’ll take good care of it and be careful with it.”

  What could he say? If he objected he’d be the bad guy; the one who had ruined TJ’s first birthday party. So he slowly nodded. “Yes, I guess you can keep it as long as you promise to be very, very careful with it.”

  “Thanks, Dad," TJ said as he carefully placed the knife down on the table in front of him, and then rising from his chair rushed over to give Pat a big hug. "Thanks, Pat. That's the best present anyone has ever given me."

  As Pat returned the hug, she looked over to Allan and shrugged.

  Mercenaries

  1

  In the game Mercenaries: Playground of Destruction, they were called Mercs, and TJ wanted to be one. According to the internet research TJ conducted, they were also known as soldiers of fortune, but TJ's favorite term for them was Mercs. After all, in the game Mercs were good guys who fought evil and terrorism, and if you were good at the game, the Mercs won most of the time. And TJ was good at the game—very good. At least that was the conclusion TJ drew after watching Kendra and Mimi play the game and from what he'd read on the internet. After playing the game for a short period of time, he started blasting through its many missions. At first, he thought the difference in his play and the girls were due to his choosing Chris Jacobs as his character while Mimi and Kendra always played as Jennifer Mui. In the game, Jennifer had been part of the British Intelligence services as an M16 agent before becoming a Merc.

  But that theory was debunked after he played several sessions as Jennifer and still excelled. Despite finding Jennifer to be highly efficient in stealthy maneuvers, TJ's level of play was essentially the same when playing as her and still substantially above either Kendra or Mimi's ability. He then decided to try a few missions as Mattias Nilsson, the third playable character. Mattias, who had been a Swedish Navy artillery officer before becoming a mercenary, had a different personality than Chris Jacobs. Chris, a former Delta Force operator from the United States, possessed a confident and reliable character, often dropping humorous remarks during the game. On the other hand, Mattias was incredibly reckless, violent, and obsessed with explosives. TJ appreciated that each of the Merc characters had their own unique personalities and other differences, including being able to speak a unique language in addition to English.

  He also liked that no matter which character he chose to be during a given game session, all three Mercs were good guys intent on fighting evil and terrorism. How cool was that?

  Cool enough for it to start TJ to thinking that maybe if Mercs really existed, he might just become one someday. A quick search on the internet confirmed that, indeed, there were such people in the world, and that many if not most had started in some branch of the military.

  That led him to research the various branches of the armed services, starting with Delta Force, M16, and the Swedish Navy. Obviously, since he was neither a British or Swedish citizen, those two options were out, but Delta Force was another matter. Once again from the internet, he learned that Delta Force was a "U.S. Army unit used for hostage rescue and counter
terrorism, as well as direct action and reconnaissance against high-value targets." He filed that information away for further investigation later. At the moment, his computer-generated world was calling to him.

  2

  Allan sat at his desk in his veterinary clinic catching up on some record-keeping after a busy day of seeing patients, when the phone rang. Having already sent the staff home for the evening, he considered letting his answering service take the call, then noticed the light blinking on the third line. That’s strange, he thought, for he knew almost no one had that number, which was only used if the first two lines were already busy. Pretty much the only other time it was used was if Dawn or one of the other staff members needed to reach him and knew he was still at the office.

  He picked up the phone expecting to hear the familiar voice of one of his female staff members, so he was surprised by the male voice on the other end of the line.

  “Hello, I’m sorry to be calling so late, but it’s important that I reach Dr. Allan Pritchard as soon as possible.”

  “This is he,” Allan replied as he tried to figure out who would be calling him with such a sense of urgency. The voice sounded vaguely familiar, but he couldn't quite place it.

  “Oh, hello, Allan,” the voice said much more cordially. “I didn’t recognize your voice at first. This is Lionel Adams. I believe you sent a very strange package to me a few months ago. Remember?”

  It took Allan a moment to gather his thoughts. He had spent a couple of weeks second-guessing himself about sending the larva to Adams, but had finally decided what was done was done, and had filed it away and forgotten about it. But here it was again, raising its dirty little head.

  “Hello, Lionel. I’m afraid you caught me at a very bad…”

  “What in the world did you send me and where in the world did you get it?” Lionel interrupted and then continued before Allan could respond. “This is the most amazing thing I’ve ever seen, and I think you know it. That’s why you sent it to me, isn’t it?”