The Watcher

by Bill Stenlake

  Chapter 4 Ricardo

  Ricardo has rolled into Washington and completed one task. He has created more unrest, with letting his truck get stolen. He couldn’t have hoped for a better result, than the one that came about. His first thought on reaching his near deserted hotel, had been that need to get right out of the area and move on to somewhere new. Then a thought comes to him. That is, that he has not really achieved what he thought he would here. There must be another target for him. He suddenly feels very tired and that is another sign that he hasn’t achieved what he is supposed to yet. There must be another intended target, or maybe it is the same one and he just hasn’t realized what it is yet. He has no idea where he is, in relation to his intended target. But at this moment, he isn’t too bothered about that. He just wants to find somewhere safe, where he can get a room and rest his head for the night. And talking about his head, he has a pretty thumping headache.

  It looks as if they have things a little bit more under control here though, despite what he thinks he has achieved. There are police and army personnel out on the streets, but they are in a watching brief, rather being outwardly aggressive with their stance.

  Feeling a little bit more vulnerable, being in the type of vehicle he is in, a borrowed one, Ricardo tries as hard as he can, to not attract any unwanted attention to him. Ideally he would like to stop and ask someone where he might find the type of accommodation he is looking for. That is somewhere distant from where he has just been staying, but also in a safe district. He drives round for a bit, hoping upon hope that somewhere will just appear in front of him. That does not happen. He is also, not to help matters, going round and round in circles. He starts to get frustrated and can feel that his driving is starting to reflect this.

  He passes a gas station and even though he doesn’t really need to put fuel in the vehicle, he does a U-turn and pulls in. He doesn’t park by the pumps, but parks in one of the parking bays instead. His intention is to go into the shop and find something to buy; then while he is at the counter, he will ask where the hotel district is. He doesn’t want a cheap hotel and he doesn’t want a stand-alone motel either. He has just had issue with one of those.

  He looks around him, as he switches off the engine. He is just about to get out, when a thought comes to him. He has put his weapon in the front glove compartment. Does he really want to be parted from it, even if it is only going to be for the short time it is going to take him to buy what he needs, and get the information he wants to get. He leans across and opens the pocket, to retrieve his Air Micro Compounder gun. He has no idea how it works, but he has already experienced its extremely effective shots and the speed it can deliver them. He also has had no need to reload it yet, not that he knows what type of ammunition it takes, or has any in the first place. He has just accepted that, like so many things recently in his life, he isn’t in total control of his own being and actions.

  It is slightly awkward, as he brings it out of the compartment towards him. He has to change position, to allow him to stuff it, he hopes discreetly, down in his waistband. He then turns and awkwardly gets out of his vehicle. He adjusts his clothes round the rather awkward shape of the weapon. With another look around him before he sets off towards the doors, he is ready to go in, to buy his snack and ask his information.

  Inside the kiosk, one of the two staff there has been watching his actions, since Ricardo’s arrival. It wasn’t the way he had pulled in, because quite a lot of people drive past and then do a U-turn to come back. Most of those do so because they want gas though, and that is the first thing that rings an alarm bell in his head. That action, in that he parks up and not at a pump, raises his interest. He watches more closely and turns one of the cameras, so that it can pick up the actions of the driver. He sees Ricardo just about to get out and then changing his mind. He watches as he leans across and opens the glove compartment. Neither directly, nor on the camera, does he see exactly what it is that Ricardo retrieves from there. When he sees the body movement of whatever it is being stuffed into his waistband, he doesn’t think he actually needs to see what it is. He believes he knows already; this man has a gun!

  That thought is passed on to his work colleague and they both watch as Ricardo gets out of the truck and stands to have another look round. In their eyes, these actions are only going to lead to one thing. That is this man is going to perform an armed raid on the gas station. They press the alarm button under the counter. It doesn’t sound an alarm in the kiosk, or on the forecourt. It raises the alarm at the local precinct. Hopefully it will only take them three or four minutes to respond to the call. Mind you, things have been different in the last few days. There have been riots and people causing mayhem on the streets. The police have had more than they normally have to deal with. So much so, that the army has also appeared on the streets to back them up.

  One of them flicks the switch that locks the front door. Well it would have done that, if the door had been properly shut, but it isn’t. Someone, over the course of the working day, has dropped something that has stuck to the floor. It is not something that has been done intentionally. It is just a dropped sticky sweet that has stuck in a most unfortunate position; well it is unfortunate, now that they want the doors to lock.

  There is another customer in the kiosk too. One of the staff quickly calls to him, to go to the back of the shop and take cover. The customer wastes no time in obeying this instruction. They have been witness to an armed raid before. These kids with guns seem to have no problem in using them, if things don’t go their way.

  Ricardo is totally unaware that his arrival is causing such a stir. He walks slowly up to the door and pushes it open. This is the first moment that both of the staff realizes, that their effort to lock him out has failed. Their anxious looks towards each other are telling, as are their looks towards the street. They are hoping that the police will be here sooner rather than later.

  Ricardo looks across at them as he enters, but doesn’t look at them directly, or to be honest, in a threatening manner. He wanders down one of the aisles and picks up a couple bits and pieces that he wants, or thinks he will need. He stops at the coffee machine and gets himself a takeaway coffee too. He needs something to boost him, until he gets somewhere to rest his weary head for a few hours.

  The two behind the counter are following him on camera. To be honest his actions are not those of someone who is about to carry out a raid, but there had been little doubt that he was stuffing a weapon into his waistband, before he got out of the truck. Anyway the button has been pressed now and the alarm has been activated. There is no way that they know of, to stop the imminent arrival of the police.

  Ricardo makes his way towards the counter. His hands are pretty much occupied holding his purchases. This too tells the staff, that this is not the way someone would go about doing a raid. Ricardo stops in front of them and lifts up his purchases to rest them on the shelf. The action also lifts the front of his top, to reveal the weapon stuffed into his waistband to the two staff. They take an involuntary step backwards when they see it. Ricardo, at the same instant, realizes what has occurred and makes a comment to cover it.

  ‘Last time I left my gun in the truck; some joker went and took it.’ He makes no motion towards it, other than to smooth down the front of his top again.

  One of the staff starts to process the goods thru the till, while the other one helps him to pack the stuff into bags, as quickly as he can. This would be the worst possible moment for the police to show up. It could just spook this guy, even though he appears to be placid and calm enough at the moment.

  Ricardo has just paid for his goods. He has asked about hotels and the guys have given him directions to get there. The one they have directed him to, is only a mile away. Ricardo has just put his change in his pocket, when two police cars race into the gas station.

  Chapter 5 The Watcher

  As their craft successfully launches from Parlantte, The Watcher is expecting that maybe Baram may try
to launch an assault on them as they move away. There is no real reason why they should do so. After all, he has learnt things from being in the vortex, but none of what he has learned would be a danger from him, directly to the people of Parlantte.

  The Watcher keeps his guard up, as do the others, as they move away. The Wise Soul, Draton and Elkante, all keep their eyes on the monitors and instruments. All of them are unsure of what response may come from Baram. Ideally the answer to that one will be nothing at all.

  It is a long time before they are fairly sure that they are not going to be challenged in any way. They do not have a plan as to where they are going to move onto next. Parlantte had been as far as they had got, in where to go. Events there had stopped the visit being a successful one.

  They have a discussion about their visit to Parlantte. In many ways the existence of Parlantte is very interesting. In fact, it is exactly the kind of place that in normal circumstances, would be the ideal home of The Keeper. The Keeper may have been abducted, but what they conclude is, that there are forces in action trying to restore the Balance. Parlantte is evidence of that. The people there have been given access to information that they would not have been able to have on their own.

  The Watcher says that many areas where they had got access to will now be denied to them; as a result of his experience in the vortex. However it is a place to bear in mind, if they do find they are unsuccessful in their quest to rescue The Keeper and thereby restore The Balance in the Universe.

  The Watcher has learned that the Overseers are now also captured by GM3. He has learned of the self-destruction of the figure O. He has also learned that that figure may not have existed in a physical form in the first place, so there may well have been nothing to destruct!

  The Watcher has also learned that The Guiding Master 3 has not gone to where he might have been expected to go. He has gone to somewhere else completely. He has managed to create a haven for himself, whilst being a Guiding Master. He is not sure how he has managed to get this done, while carrying out his duties. That is by the by though, as it is a fact and that can’t be changed now. It can be fairly assumed that this place will have been turned into a fortress by him. It will be a place where he has planned that he can repel any attack that might come his way.

  Of course that will have been what he set up, when he was a Guiding Master. What The Watcher has now learned, is that some things will not be the same. That is because now he is no longer a Guiding Master. Things will change and he will be powerless to stop those changes. What no one knows is, when those changes will start to manifest themselves. No one knows exactly what those changes will be either. They know what some of them will be. The most obvious of those, is the change of being an immortal, into being a mortal. He will at some stage change. The Watcher has learned that the change back that has occurred before, in the cases of the 4 previous times, with GM1, GM2, GM4 & GM5; all have experienced a radical change to their looks and age. As a Guiding Master, they get the opportunity to choose not only the stage of their life, up to the point where they are appointed to be a Guiding Master, but they can choose the age and the stage they like the look of their appearance. The two do not need to be at the same stage of their life. The change that inevitably comes when they revert to being normal; will be as severe as the difference in the age they were and the age they chose. The previous four also experienced a bit more than just that adjustment. As to what that means, The Watcher does not have that information. What he does know, is that the four who have previously gone through this transition, found it an emotional shock, as well as it being a strange physical one.

  The Watcher knows that GM3 will also lose some of his powers on the transition. Exactly what powers he will lose is unclear. But it is in the peripheral areas that there is also a potential loss of powers. From what The Watcher has seen while in the vortex, he believes that the changes may include the use of some of the technologies that he has access to. Now the degree of those changes could be extremely important. For example the Air Micro Compounder technology, is something that The Guiding Masters all had access to. Some of those technologies were passed over to the populations in the world, not in their direct form, but in a very broad sense. It led to advances and progress that was needed in certain areas of the Universe. As far as weaponry was concerned though, it was only available to The Guiding Masters to allocate. It is obvious that GM3 has given this technology to the people he has recruited, in his quest to take over the world. What is far from clear, from what The Watcher has seen, is whether the power of using the Air Micro Compounder technology, particularly in weaponry, will be taken away from GM3. Will it be taken in its entirety? Will it only be reduced? Will it be changed at all? What effect will it take? Maybe the bigger question and there is no previous information to go on at all; is what happens to the use of this technology that he has passed onto others. Particularly, he thinks, those others who have joined him on his crusade. Those are the ones who are using technology that was not designed for them to use. Not only are we talking about the craft they are using, but also the weapons and the robots that they have had built for them. The Watcher has no information as to whether they will be downgraded, or whether they will be unaffected. No doubt they will find out in due course.

  All in all, they agree that there will be changes, but they are going to be unaware as to the extent of those changes, until such time as they come across either GM3, or the others who have taken his side.

  What The Watcher has found out is this. The Watcher now knows that, whereas it may have been perceived that the Balance was held in a state that appeared not to have a defense; it is in fact very much protected. The only point of issue which may not have been planned sensibly; is that the defense appears to be very much a reactional one, rather than a proactive one. The Watcher now is aware, that there are things in place to restore The Balance. How easy that will be, is open to question. The two remaining Guiding Masters may well have been abducted. The Keeper may also have been abducted. Spirit may have also got himself captured. But in the case of Spirit, The Watcher feels that with the knowledge he is now aware of, that it was always inevitable that Spirit would have to be where The Keeper is. Only when the two are together, would they then have what is required, to be able to achieve what was planned, when both of them were put in place. What The Watcher has no idea about, is what will happen when George comes into the equation. There is no precedent and nothing in any file, that can shed any light on what effect his presence might bring. From what has happened so far, The Watcher can only presume that his effect will be beneficial, to their quest of rescuing The Keeper.

  It would have been nice to have the full support of those on Parlantte, as they prepare to move towards where GM3 is hiding out. That is not going to happen. They will only have themselves to turn to, for the support that they need. They are going to be really restricted, with having just the one craft. But then that is what it is, so they need to just get on with it.

  On that note, they set course for Luvus and Boristal 7.

  Chapter 6 Vee & Bar

  The pilots and crew in the helicopters get a glimpse of Vee and Bar, as they come out of cover. Well they get a glimpse of the craft. Before they can even think about setting their sights on them, they are gone. The speed of their craft is incredible, but that is the effect of the Air Micro Compounder engines that they have in their craft.

  The first thing that Vee and Bar need to do, is to get clear of the area. That is really what they need to do, as there is a concentration of forces in this area, and that puts them at greater risk. But and there always has to be a but! They know that Ricardo had a base in the town close by. They need to visit there and see if they can pick up a trail, for not only Ricardo, but also for those who have joined forces with him. These are the ones who are behind the unrest in the cities in this country and around the rest of this area of the planet.

  They have no instructions as such, but they need to make the decision, as
to whether they spend a bit of time counteracting the damage Ricardo has done, or whether they go straight after him. Initially it will be a bit of both anyway, they feel.

  So for the first five minutes, they keep heading away from the area. After they have covered the first few miles at a low level, they go higher and slow down a lot. It is not because they believe they are safe, but it is because they want their pursuers in the helicopters and on the ground, to be able to pick them up. They go lower again after a few minutes and then come up again in a while. Each time they are hoping they are going to be detected and each time the people who detect them will be able to see that their speed is constant, as is the direction they are heading, away from the area. West is the chosen direction, as that one appears to Vee and Bar to be the one to cause the least concern.

  Once they have established a strong pattern, they go down as low as they dare, before they turn and start to retrace their steps back to Exmouth. As they do that, they also speed up as much as they reckon is feasible. It doesn’t take them long to get back to Exmouth and locate the house where Ricardo had briefly stayed. Their size makes it relatively simple for them to get into the house. Once there, they retrieve the information they are after. It is about the people they might have gone to see, to help lift this situation into one of chaos for the country.