“He’s consistent,” Collin said.
“How did things ever end with Super Jesus anyway?” Joshua asked.
Collin and Hayden exchanged a glance.
“The Messiah dies, everyone but his disciples think he’s a criminal. Resurrection, goes to heaven,” Hayden said.
“But, that’s the same ending as the gospels,” Joshua said. “Aren’t you supposed to subvert expectations or something?”
“A wise man once said that rebooting the Bible was a lot like watching Titanic,” Hayden said. “You already know the ending.”
“Oh,” Joshua said. “He does sound wise, but then what happens to the Anti-Christ?”
“The Messiah asked him for forgiveness, for turning him into the villain. In the end, we had him choose to die along with Jesus. We made him one of the other two guys the Romans crucified on Golgotha.”
“Well, I mean, mankind is saved whether they knew it or not,” Collin said.
“I thought you guys had this whole plan to have Jesus and Damian team up and replace their fathers,” Joshua said. “To explain the personality change of God between the Old and New Testament.”
“They didn’t have to—holy and unholy trinity,” Collin said.
“Oh, trinity, sure, that explains everything,” Joshua mumbled.
“Think of it like this. There are three parts to this personality, then one part goes off and has an adventure by itself. Later, when that part returns to the whole, he is changed, and when he is reabsorbed, that change effects the other two parts. So, in a way, they are all changed.”
Joshua turned to Collin for a simpler explanation.
“The Messiah’s experiences on Earth make God chillax,” Collin said.
Joshua nodded. “I like it.”
They were quiet for a moment.
“So, heard from Lincoln lately?” Collin asked.
“Married, got a kid on the way,” Joshua said.
“What is it with everyone being in such a hurry to breed?” Hayden said. “No offense.”
“Yeah,” Collin said. “None taken . . . douche.”
As Joshua stared out over the hill, he saw a figure standing on the hill. A man in a black coat wearing a slightly less ridiculous fedora. A moment later the man was gone.
“I’ll be back in a minute,” Joshua said.
“Say hello to Heyer for us,” Collin said. “Yeah, I saw him. He’s not nearly as stealthy as he thinks.”
Joshua walked out to the hill, waited a minute, rolled his eyes and walked over to the nearest stand of trees. As soon as he was no longer in sight of the house, he heard Heyer’s voice.
“Hello, Jonathan.”
The alien, who didn’t visit frequently enough, was the only one who failed to remember that name wasn’t supposed to be used. He was also the only person Jonathan never bothered correcting.
“You know,” he said. “You’re always welcome in the house.”
“I noticed your roommates were visiting,” Heyer said. “And your mother.”
Joshua smiled. “Right, that would make decent Borealis repellent.”
“I apologize that it’s been so long,” Heyer said. “But I brought you something.”
He reached into his pocket, and pulled out Douglas’s pocket watch. He placed it into Jonathan’s hand.
“Thank you, Heyer,” Joshua said.
They spoke for a while, about nothing particularly pressing. The alien often seemed happy to hear about his life now that it was no longer in constant jeopardy.
“The last few times we spoke you said the link to your father’s mind was thinning.”
Joshua nodded. “Mr. Clean was right, without activation the memories fade.”
Heyer smiled though there was a sadness in it.
“I know,” Joshua said. “It’s a bit like losing him again.”
“Few people have truly known who I am,” Heyer said. “Friends, like your father, they come maybe once a century. The curse of living forever.”
“You know, I’m your friend,” Joshua said. “Dumbass.”
Heyer chuckled, and they grew quiet again, watching the sun setting. After some time had passed, Jonathan spoke, “Leah and I have spoken about this. My family has known you for more than one generation. In a way, on her side, you are family. I don’t see why you should be unknown to our children. That and, a part of me likes the idea that someone will be there to watch over them when I’m gone.”
Heyer was surprised. “But . . . I’ve brought your family nothing but pain.”
Joshua smiled. “Yeah, well, obviously this offer comes with the assumption you can refrain from installing any alien technology into them. And . . . get used to calling me Joshua.”
“That does seem reasonable,” Heyer said.
“Being honest, I think it’s important you have something to anchor you here. I mean, we’ve all seen what happens to a Borealis who spends too much time on the Feroxian Plane.”
Heyer nodded. “It is a species that leaves a great deal to be desired. At least as far as having a conversation goes. Burns the Flame is trying to break the younger generation of their beliefs that things like written language are sins against the gods.”
“How are things going over there?”
“Good,” Heyer said. “You were right, introducing members of their ancestral species into the population may solve the mating problem in a few generations. Even if I am to be left eternally in the dark as to how you came to possess the exact dimensional signature and planetary coordinates of their ancestral home.”
“Lucky guess,” Joshua said.
Heyer only raised an eyebrow. They had been through this dance before and he was resigned to the fact that Jonathan intended to take some information to his grave.
“This alien I know once said that some things are like humor, when you explain, you risk ruining a good thing for everyone,” Joshua said. “He’s one of the smartest guys I know. I don’t ignore his advice lightly.”
Heyer sighed, but it wasn’t humorless. “Was this the same alien you referred to as ‘dumbass’ a moment ago?”
“Well, no one’s perfect,” Joshua said.
Later that evening, while most of their friends were still chatting in the living room, Joshua found himself standing in his twins’ bedroom. “Teeth brushed?”
“Yes,” they groaned.
He tucked them in and sat down in a rocking chair next to the bed. He showed them book covers, letting them argue over which story to hear before they went to sleep. After much compromise, they picked one, and Joshua had read it twice before he said it was time for sleep. He reached over and pulled the string on the lamp.
He had barely reached the door when their pleading voices stopped him.
“Dad, will you stay?” Peter asked.
He turned around, kissed each of their foreheads, and sat back down in the chair.
“You won’t leave,” Rylee said. “Just until we’re asleep?”
He began to sway back and forth in the rocking chair.
“I promise,” he said. “I’ll never leave you alone in the dark.”
The End
DEAR READER
I am an independent author and word of mouth is the most powerful form of marketing at my disposal. If you enjoyed the series and know others would want to follow The Chronicles of Jonathan Tibbs, please tell your friends. Also, the more reviews posted to Amazon and Goodreads, the more likely it is for future readers to find their way to this and other works.
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
T. Ellery Hodges lives with his wife, two sons, and daughter in Seattle, Washington. He is currently hard at work on his next series. If you’d like to know more about T. Ellery, visit his blog at www. telleryhodges.com, follow him on twitter @telleryhodges, or Follow The Never Hero page on Facebook! If you prefer email, he’d love to hear from you at [email protected].
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SPECIAL THANKS
To all fans of the series for keeping my family fed. To all the Beta Readers who offered feedback to make each book the best it could be. To Mark, who was always willing to be the first to read my garbage. To John, for giving up a Saturday and getting me onto Base for book research. To Chuck and James, for all the obscure military, gun, and vehicle maintenance related questions they had to field. To my family, who helped in more ways then I can list.
To Justine and Tracy for all the hours they spent fixing every comma. To Brian, Patrick, and Will who called me on every plot hole . . . even if, allegedly, I’ve chosen not to fix some. To Steven Barnett, who is gonna have to narrate this beast for the audio edition… Stay hydrated, brother. Finally to ELOE, for standing at the finish line, checking their imaginary watches, but still cheering when I reached the end.
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