Kodon

by Chris Mills

  Ma sat behind a polished counter. She had some weight to her. Her hair had gone grey. She wore her normal white sweater over her black top. That smile never faded since the day Kim first met her. Clippings from newspapers, magazines, and Ma’s own sources were on a board on the wall. She had many children and showed their successes here. One of the clippings still revealed a champion that now sat in a chair, being pushed along by Kim.

  Gabe belched suddenly. Ma’s laugh overtook the roll of eyes Kim had for that. He was still a boy. “Enjoyed my food too much, eh, Gabriel?” Ma questioned.

  “Amazing as always,” Gabe chuckled.

  “You’re looking a bit lean,” Ma said. Those words came a lot around here. “Make sure you come back. It’s been a while.”

  “We live an hour and a half away, Ma,” Gabe said. “You need to expand.”

  “You’re sounding like Stephen,” Ma said. “Always trying to get my recipes out into the world.”

  “They have a point,” Andy said.

  “You hush, young man. You’re in here every week.”

  Andy laughed. Gabe handed over the bill. The old-style register rung up. “Forty-five, ninety-six,” she said.

  It had been very nice that Gabe offered to cover the bill. Kim couldn’t argue with the bonus he got. There was plenty for a beautiful honeymoon. The silver card slid in a device Ma once claimed she’d never learn to use.

  “Please be sure to tip Dillan,” Ma said a bit softly. It had been a first to see her eldest son waiting tables. “He’s going through a rough time.” Gabe nodded. Kim tried to do twenty percent unless it was horrid. “Stephen, try to cheer up. I’m sure you’ll be on your feet in no time.”

  “He’s having to make a difficult decision,” Andy explained. “He’ll be fine.”

  Since the accident, Stephen’s mood went here, there, and never up. Kim never saw him hit denial in this. He hated this beyond reason. It was different today. Stephen kept zoning, and at times, it took a bit to get his attention. She needed to check with Trina when they got back if she had given him anything strong. She trusted them to take care of him this evening. Gabe really hoped not to have to take Stephen to the bathroom.

  Ah! A nice August breeze greeted them outside. Deb’s van awaited them in a parking spot close to the door. Ma’s was located in the strip in the small downtown area of Lexville. Kim struggled lightly with the chair.

  “That’s new,” Stephen said faintly. The same words came out coming in.

  Brew Fusion opened up two years back. They did all sorts of coffee drinks, oven fired pizzas, sold books and interesting items for the home, and had a bar that opened up in the evening in the back. Locals really loved it. The wheels that struggled suddenly started to roll. Kim pushed again. Stephen’s hand retreated.

  “Do you want to go in there for a bit?” Kim asked.

  “Sure, whatever,” Stephen said.

  “What’s on your mind?” Kim questioned. She braced herself. Not a word came unlike these last weeks.

  Gabe held open the door. A cane moved about inside the shop. Coffee; a wonderful drug for the morning. Kim took a deep breath. The shop’s walls revealed some of the original brick of the building. Tables here didn’t match like chairs. A few corners were taken. Most had moved out to the bar by now. Another inhale made her smile. Dang.

  “Anybody want a drink?” Kim questioned - a regret she’d deal with later. A line ran from the counter.

  “Go,” Stephen said softly. “Put me by the window.”

  “Are -”

  “Get your darn coffee.”

  Kim took an easy breath. A red circular table would keep Stephen company. He rested his best arm on it and caved over. Her eyes met Gabe’s. “Do you want anything, bud?” he questioned. Stephen shook his head. He rarely drank pop or coffee as she remembered.

  “Give him some space,” Andy whispered.

  Being cooped up must have not been easy. Kim hesitated a bit. Her feet moved along and joined the line. Andy kept a hand on Gabe’s shoulder. “Should we have left him?” he asked.

  “He’s like twenty feet away,” Gabe said. “Give him space. He’s been a major downer today. More than usual.”

  “This is different,” Kim said. “I prefer him talking over silence.”

  “I agree,” Andy said. “Do you think he made his decision?”

  “He had when he learned,” Kim said. “I don’t know what to do with him. I’ve never dealt with someone in that situation.”

  “I don’t see him when I look,” Gabe said. “Dang, this is wrong.”

  “It shouldn’t have happened.”

  **

  Why couldn’t Ma’s have changed things? Stephen hadn’t ordered more than a breadstick and shared some of Kim’s alfredo lasagna. Nothing made sense to him. His mind kept revolving around his father and what he would tell the doctor. He shook his head lightly. One moment he agreed to help, the next he felt more pain than what a doctor said a woman in bad labor may have from those damn painkillers not working.

  “It’s Stephen, right?” someone asked. The man was possibly in his late forties. Grey had started to take to his hair, adding to the slight balding. He wore a red sweater vest similar to a teacher Stephen had known in high school. “Stephen Jones? I apologize.”

  “Yeah,” Stephen said. “Who are you?”

  “I was a friend of your father’s,” the man said. “My name is Herald Zumerkrin.”

  “Zumerkrin?” Stephen questioned. An odd name; one he hadn’t heard his father utter before.

  “Yeah, it was a long time ago,” Herald said. He took a sip from a tall white cup with a brown lid. ‘H Z’ had been written on the bottom. “I know it’s a little weird.” He shook his head. “You look a lot like your father.”

  “Like him?”

  “Yeah,” Herald said. “Do you mind if I sit?”

  “It’s not like I can go anywhere,” Stephen said. The others had a couple people left till they could order.

  “I’m sorry about what happened,” Herald said, sliding into a seat. He seemed to tower a bit from the height of the stool. This place was weird. “I hope recovery is treating you better.”

  “What recovery? I have to have more surgeries.”

  “Oh,” Herald said. “I’m sorry.”

  “How did you know my father?”

  “It’s a bit complicated. It would take a bit to explain. I don’t want to take too much of your evening up.”

  “Why haven’t I seen you before?”

  “Again, it’s a bit complicated. It’s also going to be a bit odd, the question I am about to ask.”

  One set of eyes had caught the attention of Herald. Kim tilted her head slightly. Stephen quickly shook his head. “Go on,” he said.

  “Your parents left you something,” Herald said. “I know it’s strange for me ask to have it, but I must.”

  “What exactly did they leave me?”

  “Something you’ve probably carried,” Herald said. “It’s a strange metal tube that you can’t open.” Stephen’s eyes lit. “You know what I speak of. Look, let me be honest. I’m not going to steal it or beg. There’s more to it than you will understand. I ask that you spare many questions and try to understand that -” Herald sighed. “I didn’t really think it through on how I would approach you for this.”

  “How did I come to have it?”

  “Your father,” Herald said. “He must have given it to you.”

  “How does he know you?”

  “It’s -”

  “Complicated, I get it, but you’re not going to touch it if you don’t tell me how you know him.”

  Herald took another long sip of his drink. Their eyes did not part. He didn’t seem like a man with a hidden evil agenda. There was more behind those green eyes to speak.

  “Try to understand,” Herald said. “Do you know that you’re adopted?”

  “Yes,” Stephen said.

  “I was good friends with you birth father and your moth
er too.”

  “Good friends with those who abandoned me.”

  “It’s not that simple,” Herald said. “There’s a lot more to it than that. Stephen, if I go into telling you more, it’s not helpful. You may not understand why. That’s how it is.”

  “It’s not simple, either. Tell me, Herald. How did I come to be on the side of the road in a metal pod?”

  “Uh, what?”

  “You heard what I asked, and I saw it in your eyes. You know. It’s very odd, Herald.”

  “The circumstances to you being there are complex, as are how your adopted parents managed to cover it up.”

  “They did very well,” Stephen said. Too well. His father claimed that he heard a noise and then saw something not high in the sky while driving. “Talk, Herald. What research lab put me in a pod?”

  “You ask questions that will only lead to more,” Herald said.

  “My father found me in a pod that opened up as he came close. Whose sick idea -”

  “It opened by itself?”

  “You didn’t know?”

  “I tried to understand it, but I didn’t -”

  “It supposedly told him to back away before it took off.”

  “Curious,” Herald said, scratching his chin. “You filled me into a mystery for another.”

  “Where did I come from? A lab, a -”

  “Have you noticed this conversation only adds more? I’d love to have time to tell you everything, but I don’t, nor a lot of time in general before I must go. I asked for what I did. Please give it to me, Stephen.”

  “Where did I come from? Why did my parents do that to me? You haven’t answered anything important.”

  “Your parents did it for you,” Herald said. He sighed deeply. “You really won’t budge without answers.”

  “My father left me a message that messed me up. Of course, I want to know the truth.”

  “The more you learn, the harder it will be to let go. Stephen, I spent a long time searching for you. A lot longer than you can believe. I thought many times of what I would say, and this had never been a scenario. I didn’t want to be stretched for time, nor come off like I am. Your predicament complicates thing.”

  “How so?”

  “You aren’t where you should be,” Herald said. “I’m not sure that helps. You should be where I was looking, not here.”

  “Were you in Russia?”

  Herald chuckled for only a second. “If it were so simple,” he said. “Where you come from is far different from this. I could say, you have been denied your birthright.”

  “What?”

  “Think of it as being born someplace and never being able to go back. Your birthright is where you were born. You shouldn’t be here. I figured I’d meet you in the last place I would look, yet here you are in this small town.”

  “You talk like -” Stephen began. The very word had slipped his mind. “You talk as if everywhere I have been is wrong.”

  “It is in some way. You have been blessed with a great life.”

  “Yeah, my family is dead, and I’m in a wheelchair. Oh, did I mention someone has to wipe my ass, Herald? Do you think I’m really blessed here?”

  Herald shrunk a little in his chair. “I’m sorry,” he said. “I wish things were different.”

  “If you tell me two things, I’ll give you it,” Stephen said. “You tell me the truth, in detail, or I’ll see to it that my friends take me away.” The others had finally gotten to the counter. The heavyset woman moved towards the back with a ticket in hand. Kim’s eyes were once again upon them. “Do we have a deal?”

  “That’s fair, but I warn -”

  “Yeah, yeah. I learn and question more. Where am I from?”

  “It’s, uh -”

  “What did I say?”

  “It’s not easy.”

  “Last chance. If you really searched for me, I hope it wasn’t only for this damn thing. What an honor to my parents who sent me away.”

  “Don’t speak about what you don’t understand.”

  “Then speak,” Stephen said.

  “You’re from a place far away,” Herald said. Stephen took a deep breath in through his nose. “Far away. I’m not sure really where you were born. Your parents weren’t allowed to say. They were working on your father’s project. He headed a very small team. You were born during that time, and one day, I got a message that you were coming my way in that pod with what I have asked for.”

  “Why?”

  “Is that your second -”

  “Answer me.”

  “I’m technically your godfather,” Herald said. “They trusted me.”

  “Where exactly are you from then? I don’t understand. Europe?”

  “No,” Herald said. He leaned back. From how he sipped, he might have preferred something else now. “I was born on Earth, but not this one.”

  “Uh, time-travel?”

  “Yes, but not controlled. I don’t think there is a way. It’s complicated.”

  “And I’m from Earth?”

  “No,” Herald said. “I haven’t lied to you. You came far from Earth. That pod had taken its time to be revealed.”

  “You found it?”

  “You’ve asked more than one question.”

  “Herald, come on,” Stephen said. He hadn’t really noticed that he had sat up, his skin maybe flusher, and his mind fully focused till now. He kept his eyes fixed. “I’m from the future. A different planet possibly. That’s not something I can easily pretend I didn’t hear.”

  “Which is what I warned, and why I’m a bit shocked you believe me.”

  “I told you, my father left me a message that messed me up,” Stephen said. “He never lied to me. Hid? Yes, but never lied. I refused to take what he told me before his death as a hallucination.”

  “You are from the future, and I am not sure where,” Herald said. “I know in your mother’s pure intention; she’d have wanted you to make it to me. It was her who sent the message”

  “Oh,” Stephen said. He tried to keep his mind from wrapping on too much. “What about the tube?”

  “I’ve answered enough, Stephen. I kept my end.”

  “You talked about birthright.”

  “What?”

  “You said I was denied it. The pod -”

  “I may find out in time why the pod managed what it did. No, it isn’t a time machine.”

  Stephen took a deep breath. “I want to know more,” he said. He found an ache within. “I need to know more. It’s not right for you to go.” Beep, beep. Herald pulled out a thin device that looked like darkened glass. It lit up just a little before he slid it back into his pocket. Had the image popped off it a little?

  “I know a lot about you,” Herald said. “Being here may disrupt a little of your future.”

  “So, you know what happens to me?”

  “Your life is not over. I will not give you details on it.”

  “Do you think it could be better?”

  Feet were starting to move across the floor their way. “What do you mean?” Herald asked.

  “Do you think I could have a better life if offered.”

  “I think I understand what you want to ask,” Herald said. “I was informed I could offer you a choice, but I didn’t want to.”

  “Why could you offer me?”

  “Universal Principle. Don’t interfere with non-advanced space-faring species and don’t mess with the past. You are not supposed to be here. That’s also why I need what we agreed upon.”

  The tube had been tucked away in Stephen’s short’s Velcro pocket this morning. “Can they heal me?” Stephen asked.

  “Heal what?” Gabe asked.

  “Hold on,” Stephen told his friends. “Can they do that, Herald?”

  “As much as I would love to be able to show you what you deserve,” Herald began, “it’s not the right conditions. You have to understand that.” If Stephen had been some farmer on a purple world, sure they would take him the
n, but not when he’s broken in the past - how unfair. “You have to really be -”

  “Can they do it?” Stephen said sternly.

  “Yes, of course they can.”

  “Who’s this?” Kim asked.

  “A friend of my father’s,” Stephen was quick to say. “Can you give us some time?”

  “We promised Trina.”

  “She’s not my mom!” Stephen exclaimed.

  “Stephen Jones,” Kim said. “That’s enough of that. You need to get home.”

  “That’s not my home.”

  “Stephen,” Herald said. “I need to go. Please, the tube.”

  “What’s he talking about?” Andy asked. “Who exactly is this guy?”

  “Please,” Stephen said. “Give me a little more time.”

  “I don’t have much more time I can spare here,” Herald said. “Please.”

  “You know what I want.”

  “You aren’t in any state to -”

  “Help me, please.”

  Eyes fell shut. Herald hung his head. The other’s voices seemed to fade. Maybe they’d haul Stephen out soon. A nod. Stephen groaned. Every part of him wanted to stand up. Herald rose from his chair. “The problem persists with them,” he said.

  “What the heck is going on?” Gabe asked.

  “This is Herald and he was a very good friend of my father. Will you please, give me some damn time to talk to him? I’m not a child. Just because I’m in this chair, doesn’t give you power over me!”

  Gabe threw his hands up. He headed to the door. Kim quickly followed after, unable to grab his arm once more. “You really ticked him off,” Andy said. “Sounds like it, at least.” Gabe hadn’t gotten this irritated since he came to the hospital before the surgery.

  “Andy, I must go with him,” Stephen said.

  “Did you say go?”

  “Yes, please understand. There’s more to this than I can explain. I know what I have to do.”