The Watcher

by Bill Stenlake

  An hour later he is back. He had found a supermarket relatively close by. He’d parked in the lot and gone in. He bought a couple of items while he was in there. When he came out he walked away from the lot, in the opposite direction from his hotel. He then crossed the road and walked back along the other side of the road. Soon he is back at his hotel. The car he has abandoned has the key sitting on the driver’s seat, as if it has dropped out of his pocket. He has little doubt, even in an area like this, that it won’t be staying there for that long.

  Ricardo was not to know this, but the car did not move from that car park for over a week. The only reason it moved then, was that they had noticed it was still there. They got it towed away. It is probably still waiting to be collected from there.

  The next day, he is up bright and early. He has had enough of this relaxing and resting. His batteries are fully charged. He has adjusted to the new Ricardo. There isn’t the feeling that something else is driving him, so strongly now. It is still there, but he also feels he now has choices that he can make too. He is comfortable with that. He still wants to continue with what he is doing. It is not that he can see he will have anything to gain from it; it is just better than anything he has done over his life. He is doing something. Before, all he has really done is exist.

  He makes it away from the hotel, round the city and up towards Gaithersburg. He finds a supermarket and does his shopping, before getting back onto the 270. His first destination is Frederick in Maryland. It isn’t that far away; maybe only 30 or so miles.

  When he gets there, he makes for West Patrick Street. That is where his first target is. He needs to scout the area a bit, but without being obvious. He drives past his target once. He sees the target, but does not slow down or look too closely. He takes a few turns and finds a place to park up. He makes a mental note of where he is parked and then wanders back in the general direction of his target. He makes sure that he doesn’t get too close. He really does not want to be picked by any CCTV. He needs to find somewhere that he can use, to fire from. The main problem he has; is that he doesn’t know the range capabilities of the weapon. It is quite a long way he suspects. It was a pretty powerful weapon when he used it before. The thought does not cross his mind that it might be different now. He doesn’t connect the change in him, with any possible change in his weapon. He hasn’t used it, or tried it, since the change occurred in him.

  He finds his position and sets himself ready. If he has got this right, then no one is even going to notice that it is him who is firing. It is not as if his weapon makes a noise. He is all set. He decides on the moment and aims his weapon, albeit in its disguised covers, in the general direction of the police station. He knows that he will be able to see where it hits first and then adjust his aim for the next shots. He depresses the trigger. There is no noise, nothing new there. There is nothing happening at the police station either. He knows something is not right. He turns the aim towards something nearer. Still nothing happens. He ends up aiming it near to his feet. The result is the same. The weapon is not working and Ricardo does not know why. He is starting to get some funny looks from passers-by. He needs to move on from here.

  Chapter 19 The Watcher

  The Watcher tries everything he can to get some more information on the planet that George and Cassie have found. Like George, he is now finding out that there just isn’t any information to be found on it, when he checks. He checks the charts and finds, as they suspected they would, that there is a planet there now, which was not on the charts before. This planet has just appeared out of nowhere. Then George says something that makes everyone stop and listen to him.

  ‘There isn’t a star there. When I found this planet, I just looked at it, because it was highlighted. But now I think of it, there is no star there. It isn’t a planet at all. It must be something else.’

  The Watcher wastes no time confirming what George has just said. He too, in his haste has overlooked the star that the planet must be part of. This planet does not have a star. So what is it then? It makes it more an asteroid! It must have at one stage belonged to a star, but is now not in any orbit. It just has its own place in space. The next few minutes are spent with The Watcher tapping away on the keyboard. He doesn’t come up with any more facts on this planet, they are still calling it a planet, but he has come up with some interesting information. Do they all realize that where this planet has appeared, is in the middle of the greatest distance between any of the planets they have been looking at? In fact it looks to him as if there was a hole there, always waiting to be filled. He goes silent as he makes that statement. He moves away from the screen and the others, and goes to stand to look out of the craft. He is looking out at nothing, but that isn’t the point. He is not really looking at all. He is deep in thought; well he is deep in the memory banks of his systems. He is standing there for a good ten minutes, before he turns to the others. He has a smile on his face. He moves slowly back across towards them. He turns off the screen he had been working on earlier and then turns it back on. The screen returns to the place they have just been looking at. The planet is still not there on his screen. The looks on everyone’s faces fall markedly at this, realizing the planet does not exist. The Watcher is still smiling though.

  ‘George. Come here a second. Switch the screen off and then on again.’

  He does that on The Watchers’ screen and when he does so, the planet appears. Everyone turns to look at George. The Watcher is still smiling.

  ‘It is something about George. And what do we already know about George?’

  ‘He is connected to The Keeper’ Cassie says.

  ‘That is correct. This planet has appeared for George.’

  ‘Why can’t we find any information about it then? George asks, still a bit confused, as are the others.

  ‘There isn’t any information to found, is the answer to that question. No one else in this room would have been able to see that it exists, George, except for you.’

  ‘So what are we going to do?’

  ‘We are going to make for the planet. You will have to get the coordinates; otherwise I think we might find they will be corrupted.’

  George moves closer to The Watcher, while the others stand back, to give them all the room they need. It takes them a good few minutes to get the information they need. Even then, they recheck it a couple of times.

  The Watcher sets course for those coordinates. It is worth their while to go into the travel pods, so they all go in, except for The Watcher. He wants to stay alert for the journey. He hopes above all hope, that no one else knows what they have discovered. The appearance of this planet changes things once more. It changes them very much in their favor and there are people out there in the Universe who will not like this happening. They would do everything they could, to get there first and destroy it. That isn’t going to happen. He has nothing to go on to think that statement, but he can feel it within him. This time nothing is going to stop him doing what he is there for; to watch over The Keeper. He realizes that now extends to George too. Maybe he will be able to get an upgrade too, when they reach the planet. It has been a long time since he was made. Surely there must be things that have changed, to give him a better chance of being able to do what he needs to. Yes, a few upgrades would be a good thing. The next thing he turns his thoughts to, is what the planet they are aiming for, is going to look like. He doesn’t think he will know the answer to that one, until they get right on top of it. This planet is not going to be a big one. It is not going to be big at all. In fact he knows it is not going to look like a planet, in any way at all. He can’t help but let a smile cross his face. Things are very different from when he set out on his task. Everything was very casual in those days. He doesn’t think they will make that mistake again. Give an inch and they will take a mile. It doesn’t matter to whom you refer to about that, pretty much the majority of people will take advantage of a situation, if given the opportunity. At least they appear to be learning.
He is and he expects they are too.

  He brings them out of their travel pods, when there is still quite a long distance to travel. He needs them to be alert when they get there. It is going to come as bit of a shock to most of them, if not all of them. Maybe it won’t be a shock to George. He may well come out of the travel pod with a bit more information than he went in with.

  They gather in the control room, looking at the screen of the monitor. They still can’t see anything.

  ‘We are a good way off yet’ The Watcher says to them as they gather.

  ‘I take it we will know when we are there.’ George says.

  The Watcher knows that George has experienced a change.

  ‘I mean it will not be what we think it is’ he continues, as if he needs to expand on what he has just said.

  ‘You will not be surprised when you see what you see.’

  ‘I know what you mean, but then I don’t think I do’ George replies.

  ‘Are you two speaking in a kind of code?’ Cassie asks.

  ‘No, we are not really’ George replies, before The Watcher gets the chance to speak. ‘It is just that we are not expecting this to be an ordinary planet, when we get there. We don’t know exactly what to expect, except it will not be a planet. We might be able to see it. I will be able to see it. The Watcher might be able to see it. You and the others might be able to see it, and then on the other hand, you might not be able to see it. What I do know; is that it will be there when we get there?’

  ‘Now that sounds a whole load of confusion to me’ Cassie smiles as she responds to George.

  ‘We’re getting near now’ The Watcher interrupts them.

  They move as one to the observation window. There is nothing to see, as they glide through space. There is no perception of speed. There is nothing at all to judge it against. They are moving really fast, but to all intents and purposes, they might as well be standing still. The adjustment from one speed to another is incredibly smooth. Most forms of inter stellar travel have progressed to be this way. Even so, they can all feel that they are within a short space of time, of experiencing something that is honestly unique in the ages of time. Something like the birth of a star, or a planet, or something in a piece of space that wasn’t there a short time ago. Most things in space are measured in terms of millions of years as a minimum, or billions of years as a norm. This place, where they are near to reaching, has only just happened. It has happened in the space of less than an hour. It is young, it is new!

  Chapter 20 Vee & Bar

  As soon as they break the defensive circle, the attackers lose a large amount of the advantage they had given themselves. With Vee and Bar taking out vehicles at a rate of knots, the ones that have moved are finding it increasingly difficult to contend with, when trying to either move forward, to attack the army, or to try to retreat away from the square. For their part, the army have now seen what is happening and have ventured more into the square and are giving as good as they get now, in their attack against the vehicles in the square. That is a great improvement to their position. They have seen the small craft whizzing around and causing havoc and mayhem in the square. It took them a minute to realize that whatever it is is on their side. Who knows what the people up the line of command will make of it later, when they read the report.

  The battle continues, although it is fairly obvious that unless someone gets lucky and hits the tiny craft, there is only going to be the one outcome to this battle. They are not giving up yet though, and the fire intensifies on the army position. Vee is doing what she can, but there are some serious pieces of fighting machinery here in the square. Despite the power of her weapon, it is taking a few attempts at some of the vehicles, to effectively take them out of the game. Considering the size of her craft and thereby the size of the weapon she is using, it is surprising that she has been able to do any damage at all. Bar is doing everything he can, to put the craft in the best places, but at the same time to preserve their existence. Vee knows this and has total trust in him. They would be nowhere without the aid of the Air Micro Compounder technology. The speed it gives their craft and the firepower their weapon has; makes all the difference. Soon enough the battle is swinging in their favor. They have taken out the big pieces of machinery. There is a little resistance now from some of the occupants, but they can be left to the army to mop up now.

  They find Joe next. They only know this, because the lead vehicle in the next attacking group they find, has “JOE” painted on it. It is a shining beacon for them to aim for. Someone must have been communicating, as this group are almost expecting an assault from the sky. They are under attack, from a combined police and army unit. The attackers are well on top though and are able to fire on the buildings they came here to, as well as fend off the army and police. Not only are they able to do that, but they are also able to have some of their number with weapons, aimed on the sky in most directions, ready for when they come under attack from that direction. Bar just manages to dodge the first bullets that come their way. It is a close thing though and he decides they will need a different approach to attack this time. The problem is; that he doesn’t know what that will be. Now that they have their craft and are being effective with it, they don’t really want to leave it, to carry out an assault on foot.

  Bar takes the craft really high into the sky. They are far beyond the reach of any of the weapons the attackers might like to try to fire at them. It is doubtful that they can be seen up there. But saying that, the attackers had managed to pinpoint them, the moment they arrived on the scene.

  He does what he came up here for and then veers off and flies to one side, before making his way down to the ground again. He finds what he is looking for and soon has the drain cover removed. They take the craft underground and into the drainage system. He has the coordinates of each vehicle locked into the system. It isn’t going to be easy, as only a few of the vehicles are actually over or near enough to the drainage covers, to be effective. But it is somewhere to start and that is what they do.

  They don’t see it coming, because they can’t. It is coming from under the ground. The force erupting from the exploding drain, takes out the vehicle directly above the cover. It lifts the vehicle off the ground and over onto the next one. The craft is up and takes out another two vehicles, before they realize what is happening. By the time they do, Vee and Bar have disappeared down through the enlarged drain hole again.

  They work on the basis that the attackers are not aware that they might be parked over drain covers and so won’t be able to guess where they might appear and attack next. They are right on that one. It is good for at least one more attack. This one isn’t quite as spectacular as the first one, but it is just as effective. There is time to take out a few people and attack one more vehicle, by the time they are onto them again. Down into the drains they disappear again. It isn’t going to work again and they know it. The attackers have people on the ground now, checking out where the drain covers are. Bar takes the opportunity to spring the craft back out of the drains again and into the air. He dives down, with Vee firing onto a tank as they do so. They swoop down, reaching the ground, just as the tank gives up the fight. There are quite a lot of people out of their vehicles now, checking under them, to see if they are over a cover. Vee sprays them with the weapon and they are mown down where they stand. They do a complete sweep under the vehicles and then dive down into the drains again. The people still in the vehicles; are not waiting for their comrades on the ground. Joe has his vehicle moving first. He already has a planned escape route and is already nearly at the edge of the open space they have been using. Some of the others are already almost on his tail. The army takes up a greater role, trying to stop some of them leaving.

  By the time Vee and Bar come out of the drains again, Joe is just disappearing away from the area. He has quite a contingent of vehicles at his heels. The last ones are firing back at the army, who have now advanced, to at least secure the area where the stri
cken vehicles and people are. They stop when they get there.

  Joe isn’t going far. He might have been intending to, but Vee has other ideas. They are not that far from the river and Joe makes it onto the bridge, before he realizes that it might not have been the smartest move he has made. By the time he is on the middle of the bridge, Vee is destroying the road ahead of him. He thinks he will still be able to make it over, until he actually gets there, to find that Vee has been very effective in her firing.

  He tries to get over, but all he does is expose the underside of his vehicle to her weapon and she doesn’t hesitate to take advantage of the situation. Joe instantly realizes that he needs to get out of there and just manages to do so, before his vehicle is destroyed.

  Behind Joe, the rest of the vehicles have followed like lemmings and are all on the bridge and just coming to a halt. Vee and Bar move to the other end of the bridge and take that end out too, ensuring that the attacking force are stranded on the bridge, with nowhere to go, with their vehicles that is. Joe and some of the others have decided that they are going to have to abandon the vehicles totally. They are clambering over the destroyed end of the bridge where he was heading. Some of the others are remaining with their vehicles and are firing on any building they can reach. Vee turns her attack onto these vehicles first. She knows they need to get to Joe, but these vehicles are a bigger threat at the moment. She has just destroyed the first of these ones on the bridge, when three helicopters appear, flying fast towards them. Missiles are released when they are still a good distance away. Bar swings the craft away and towards the south bank of the river. They can leave the helicopters to take out the rest of the fighting attackers on the bridge. He and Vee turn their attention onto finding where Joe has gone, along with the ones who fled on foot with him.