He couldn’t use his real last name. All he could think of was his old call sign. He coughed and said, “Josh, uh, Josh Fuze.”
“How do you spell that?”
“J O S H.”
She shook her head. “No, I mean your last name.”
“Uh, F U Z E.” He wasn’t even sure it was a real last name, but it was definitely appropriate. His body was clearly a fusion of genes from every race. With a slight smile, he realized he was GMO, but his smile faded as another image appeared in his head. It was the electronic fuze on a nuclear warhead ticking down to Armageddon.
The driver’s license was more difficult, but one of his fellow employees from El Salvador helped him with a “workaround.”
He spent all his free time online. There was nothing about a new comet, but he plowed through everything he could find on Near Earth Objects, orbital mechanics and ... abnormal psychology. He was painfully aware that with Jesse still nothing more than a voice in his head, crazy was still a viable explanation.
He said quietly to himself, “Insanity is preferable to a reality with a million-megaton impact.” He sighed. “But until they put me in a padded cell....”
He needed help. Clearly, Jesse wasn’t ready to bring him in yet, and trying to do serious research on his phone wasn’t sufficient. Elizabeth was into computers. Maybe she had an old laptop he could borrow. Regardless, he owed her and could use a friend right now.
After work, he went up to Neuro ICU. One of the nurses pointed him in the right direction.
He saw her in the hall. “Hi, Elizabeth. I want to thank you for everything you did for me. Got my first paycheck and was wondering if I might be able to take you out to lunch or something ... some time ... I mean if you’re not busy—”
Before he could stumble through any further, she said, “Sure, my place for dinner, say seven?” She wrote her address and number on a small piece of paper, handed it to him and said, “Gotta go.”
As she turned and left, he felt a little like a teenager who invited a date to the prom.
As Elizabeth walked down the hall, Lesia, who’d overheard the conversation, fell in alongside. Elizabeth glanced sideways at her friend.
Lesia said nothing but raised her eyebrows in question as they walked.
Elizabeth said, “I’m just curious. Everyone loves a good mystery.”
Lesia’s expression didn’t change.
“It’s not like it’s a date. I just didn’t want him to spend money on an expensive restaurant.” Seeing Lesia wasn’t buying it, she stopped and turned to her. “Look, I’ve been around him enough to know he’s a good guy.”
Shaking her head, Lesia said, “Honey, he doesn’t even know if he’s a good guy.” She softened. “He probably is, but did it ever occur to you that whatever happened to him might have been intentional, and whoever did it might still be around?”
Elizabeth sighed and shook her head.
“Elizabeth, it’s so good to see you taking an interest in men again. It’s long overdue, and he’s cute as a bug, but you know you shouldn’t have invited him to your place on a first date.”
Elizabeth started to protest but saw the “don’t even go there” look.
Lesia took one of her hands. “I’ll tell you what. I’ll just happen to be in your neighborhood around seven. I’ll call. If you don’t answer and say, ‘Lesia, you’re the best,’ you’ll have extra dinner guests.”
Elizabeth hugged her and said, “You are the best.”
“Josh Fuze. Josh Fuze.” he repeated it several times, trying to get used to his new identity. “Josh” was easy; “Fuze” as a last name took some getting used to.
As an amnesiac, his dinner conversation topics would be limited, so he surfed the Internet for “Year in Review” articles. He discovered the world was wound tighter than when he left. Dozens of countries were involved in military actions, standoffs or rising tensions. Terrorism continued to pop up like metastasizing cancer cells. The only bright spot was a European Union Vice-President from Turkey named Doruk Turan. Turan was apparently having success ridding Europe of terrorism, but the rest of the world wasn’t getting better. He shook his head. He had doubts about whether the human race could survive even without a comet.
Elizabeth’s condo was a few miles away. It was getting dark and there were very few people on the streets. Having no privacy in the hospital, he enjoyed the walk. He also noticed his night vision was exceptionally good, and, at least for the moment, didn’t feel like he was being watched. Taking advantage of it, he decided to try to contact Jesse. Looking around to make sure no one was nearby, he automatically put his hand to his right ear and, using proper radio etiquette, whispered, “Jesse, Josh, can you read me, over?”
Yes.
It sounded like Jesse was standing next to him, and he instinctively glanced over his shoulder. “Wow. This is pretty bizarre.” He took a deep breath. “OK, Jesse, I’m maintaining my cover, learning as much as I can, and playing nice with the other kids. How much longer before you bring me in?”
What have you learned?
“The impact threat’s well documented.” He shook his head, adding, “We’ve known about this risk for decades, and we’ve been playing Russian roulette.” He paused. “I’m also surprised how many people think the world would be better off without a dangerous species like us.” With a half-smile, he added, “Crazy, but it does make you wonder about us sometimes, doesn’t it?”
What is the most powerful force in the universe?
He shook his head with a smile. “Back to fortune cookies.” He took a deep breath. “Well, in physics, the Strong Nuclear Force is hundreds of times stronger than gravity. Guess that’s why they call it the strong force.”
What does it do?
“Holds atoms together.”
Can it organize itself?
“Uh, no.”
Can it organize its environment?
“No.”
Can it replicate?
“Of course not. You’re talking about life, aren’t you?” He thought for a moment. “The Strong Force holds atoms together, but life actually organizes them, grows and reproduces. I understand where you’re going, but it’s kind of an apples-to-oranges comparison, isn’t it?”
How many planets in the solar system have life?
“We don’t know. Aside from Earth, Mars probably had microbial life. A couple of Jupiter’s and Saturn’s moons are possibilities.”
How common is the Strong Nuclear Force?
“It’s universal.”
How common is life?
“If our solar system is any indication, probably pretty rare.”
How common is sentient life?
“Intelligent life? Probably extremely rare.”
Life is rare. Sentient life is the most incredibly rare and precious force in the universe.
Josh nodded, but continued to play devil’s advocate. “Yeah, but just because we’re rare doesn’t make us good. I mean, polio is rare. Mankind’s done a lot of awful things.”
Would you kill a three-year-old because he hit his sibling?
“Of course not, but they’re children. We’re not. And we don’t just destroy ourselves; we drive other species to extinction.”
The human race is the only life capable of protecting all other life on Earth.
Josh frowned and actually stopped walking. He’d only thought about the comet killing people. Nodding he said, “The impact that killed the dinosaurs wiped out three-quarters of all species.”
If the species you drove to extinction could speak from the grave, what would they say?
He started walking again. With a slight smile, he said, “You mean would they vote us off the island?” He shrugged. “Guess if we were really able to stop an apocalyptic impact, we’d make up for a lot of past sins.”
Life is tenacious and will find a way under the most extreme conditions, but only if it has time to adapt. Catastrophic events don’t allow that. Only sentient life can interv
ene.
It was hard to believe Jesse might just be a figment of his imagination. He was too good a teacher. Josh pictured him as a gray-haired professor sitting in a big leather chair with a headphone and mic.
Looking up, he realized he had arrived. He found himself surprisingly nervous ... for multiple reasons.
10
ELIZABETH
Elizabeth’s condo was part of a high-rise complex sitting on top of a small hill overlooking the city. The building wasn’t new but looked well maintained.
Josh took the elevator to the fifth floor, found her number and rang the doorbell.
As Elizabeth opened the door, he realized he’d never seen her in anything but scrubs. Framed in the doorway, he saw a beautiful woman with blondish shoulder-length hair wearing a white silk blouse and perfect fitting jeans that confirmed curves in all the right places.
“Hi, Elizabeth.”
She smiled, and said, “You look great with your clothes on.”
A woman coming up the hall glanced up quickly with raised eyebrows.
Elizabeth stammered, “I mean you look good without your bathrobe on.”
The woman looked straight ahead.
Elizabeth shook her head, laughing. “You know what I mean. Come on in.”
As soon as he was inside, a blonde Cocker Spaniel walked up to him with its stubby tail wagging. He bent down to play with it. “What’s his name?”
Elizabeth corrected, “Her name is Toto.”
“I thought Toto was a terrier.”
She just looked at him.
Smiling and shaking his head, he said, “Oh yeah, I forgot; we’re in Kansas.”
Classical music played in the background as she showed him around. The furniture was simple but expensive teak sitting on thick, cream-colored carpet, contemporary but comfortable. On the far side of the living room were giant windows and sliding glass doors that opened onto a balcony, giving her fifth-floor home a beautiful view of the city lights. The living room opened onto a large study with several floor-to-ceiling bookcases. Sitting on a teak desk were two huge monitors.
“Video games?”
“I have an Internet business on the side and some real estate.”
His impression of her went up still another notch.
They spent the next hour enjoying a simple but delicious dinner. He asked her about herself and her job. She told him many funny stories from her profession, and a few sad ones. Finally, he asked, “If you had all the time in the world, what would you do?”
“That’s easy. I love to travel. I want to see the whole world, the more exotic the better. I’ve been to Canada, Mexico and the Caribbean, but I’ve only been to Europe once.”
“Why haven’t you traveled more?”
“For years, I used credit cards to rack up airline miles. I have enough to fly around the world many times.” She paused, looking pensive. “Before I was married, I thought it would be great to travel with my husband. Then, after ... well, it’s not the same traveling by yourself.” Shaking her head sadly, she looked back at him. “That’s just an excuse, isn’t it?”
Instead of answering, he gently said, “I’m sorry.”
She looked down. “He went out for a motorcycle ride and I ... I never saw him again.” Glancing over at the coffee table at a framed picture of a man, she said softly, “The accident was terrible. They had to ... identify him with dental records.”
Josh suddenly realized he was witnessing the same anguish his wife might have experienced. He had been robbed of one of the few benefits of death — not being around to worry about those you left behind.
By tacit agreement, they moved to less painful topics.
Finally, she said, “I’ve never talked this much about myself in my life.” Playfully, she added, “Amnesiacs make perfect dinner guests.”
He laughed. He also realized he’d broken a stereotype. There was an inside joke about fighter pilots on first dates. After totally dominating the conversation by talking about flying, the fighter pilot finally smiles benevolently and says, “Well, enough about flying. Let’s talk about — me.”
Elizabeth said, “Now, I want to know how you think.” She paused. “What do you want to do when you grow up?”
“Save the world.”
Her cell phone rang. “I’m sorry, Josh; I really need to take this. Someone was, uh, facing a small crisis and needed to be checked on.”
He nodded. “Sure.”
She answered, “Hi. ... Yes, fine. ... Yup. ... You’re the best! Love you, girl. Bye.”
He asked, “Is she OK?”
Smiling warmly, she said, “Yes, she’s doing great.” She paused. “Let’s see, where were we? Oh yeah, save the world.” With a slightly challenging smile, she asked, “And how are you going to do that?”
He smiled back. “I’m still working on it.”
“Not sure everyone thinks we should be saved.” She paused. “Why is human-race-bashing so chic nowadays?”
He shrugged. “I don’t know. Maybe we give ourselves too much credit for being all-powerful destroyers. We forget that for most of our existence, we were the endangered species.”
She gave him a questioning look.
“For millennium, the climate has driven the rise and fall of civilization with ice ages, floods and droughts. We didn’t cause that, not back then. It’s only in the last century or so we’ve turned the tables and messed with the climate.”
She frowned.
He smiled. “Yeah, I know, the climate will probably have the last laugh, but the point is, it’s our usual arrogance that we believe we’re the bane of all life on the planet. We didn’t invent uranium. We just dug it up and concentrated it. On a geologic scale, the human race looks like nothing more than a temporary infection, a simple case of acne on the face of the earth. And, unfortunately for us, it’s an infection that can be cleared up with a nuclear war or extraterrestrial impact.”
With a half-smile, she said, “And this is supposed to make me feel better about humanity because...?”
Laughing, he said, “Sorry, that’s the dark side. On the other hand, we have incredible potential. As a global civilization, we’re babies.”
Elizabeth giggled. “I like the idea of being a baby better than acne.” She added, “But it’s hard to see us as babies.” She waved her hands toward the cityscape, accidentally knocking her empty wine glass off the table.
With astonishing speed, Josh caught it before it hit the floor. Looking up, he smiled. “There’s a law of physics that deals with something called entropy. It says the universe and everything in it tends toward disorder over time. Everything will eventually scatter, run down, burn out,” he held up the glass, “or break.”
She nodded.
“We see it in our daily lives.” He set the glass down. “Unless we add energy, our home becomes more and more disorganized. Eventually, we have chaos, with everything scattered or in disrepair.”
With a wry smile, she said, “What a relief. I thought it was just my housekeeping.”
He laughed. “Yet, life creates order out of chaos, and sentient life can even organize its surroundings and create incredible things.”
Looking thoughtful, she said softly, “When I think about the universe, I feel small and insignificant, but when you explain it this way, I know that despite all our shortcomings, we are one of the most amazing things in it.” She paused. Looking a little sad, she added, “I think entropy applies to people too. If we don’t constantly add positive energy, people become dark just like the universe.”
He nodded. “Never thought of it that way.”
Carefully stacking their plates and glasses, she gave him an impish smile, and said, “Second Law.”
“Pardon me?”
Taking the plates into the kitchen, she said over her shoulder, “Entropy, it’s the Second Law of Thermodynamics.”
He shook his head with a half-smile and quietly said, “So much for impressing the little woman.” He picked up
the silverware and followed her to the kitchen, further reducing entropy.
After putting everything in the dishwasher, they moved out onto the balcony. Leaning on the railing, they looked down across the twinkling carpet of lights. It was a beautiful view on a crisp spring evening. Shivering slightly, Elizabeth stood close. Turning to him, she said, “I really like your view of the world.”
Looking down into her eyes, he couldn’t help but say, “I really like the view from here.”
She tipped her head up and kissed him. He kissed her back, putting his arms around her. Her scent was amazing. Physically, he felt like he was on his first date, and was certain his new body had twenty-year-old hormones.
Unlike his first date, however, he felt remorse as Kelly’s face flashed into his mind. He couldn’t convince himself their marriage was no more. He stopped before his hormones got the best of him.
As they separated, he said, “Elizabeth, I ... I really should be going.” Trying to keep it light, he added, “I know I’m still on double-secret probation.”
She looked at him carefully, obviously trying to read him. Finally, she said softly, “Yes. I didn’t realize it was so late.” With that, she went with him to the door. He thanked her for a wonderful dinner, leaned forward, and kissed her on the cheek.
After he left, Elizabeth sat down on her couch with a slight frown. It’d been an incredible evening. She was certain he was attracted to her, and there was real electricity when they kissed, but then he shut down. There was something wrong, something he wasn’t telling her.
Lesia was right. This was a date, and the first she’d had since her husband died. She picked up the framed picture of her husband from the side table. As ridiculous as it was, she realized part of her had been expecting him to walk through the door at any moment, telling her it had all been a terrible mistake.
Looking at the picture, she shook her head. “You’re not coming back.” The words sounded as if they were coming from someone else. She repeated them. “You’re dead. You’re never coming back.” For some stupid reason, she began to cry. She was angry with herself but couldn’t stop. She cried hard. She cried like she did when she was a little girl.
Impact (Fuzed Trilogy Book 1) Page 5