The Third Ten

by Jacqueline Druga

  “So what do I do?” Robbie asked. “I need answers.”

  “If you really feel the need to find him, and you find him.” Jason said. “No one can know. In fact, no one but us three can ever know. At least until, Joe’s point of return has surpassed.”

  Robbie nodded.

  “Wow.” Jason exhaled. “This is remarkable. “Thank you for sharing. I... can’t thank you enough. I will help in any way I can, and I’ll not tell a soul. Thank you.”

  Dean bobbed his head. “Thank you for giving us an idea on answers.”

  Jason stood.

  “One other thing.” Dean said. “Joe wasn’t the only reason we brought you up here.”

  Robbie added. “Guilt was.”

  “Guilt.” Jason asked.

  “We have something. And not only do we need your help on how to figure it. It’s only right that you help figure it out.”

  “What is it?” Jason asked.

  Dean walked to the table and lifted the cloth covered box. With dramatics, he held it before Jason. “We give you …” he lifted the cloth. “The HG Wells.”

  <><><><>

  Frank rushed, but made it out to the airfield in Bowman before George took off. Not that he expected George to leave before he got there.

  As expected, the plane was positioned and George was loading a bag inside.

  Tigger was behind him. Handing him more bags. Frank guessed that they were Tigger’s belongings. Not because the bags were small or anything like that, but because there were so many. Only someone planning to leave for a while, would have that many bags.

  “George,” Frank said. “Glad I caught you.”

  “Not leaving yet.” George looked at his watch. “Waiting.”

  “Did you get a chance to talk to Callahan? I’ve been busy.”

  “Yes, yes, I did,” George replied.

  “So you agree about what Hal told me.”

  “Definitely. My gut says there are more of them. We need to find out where, when, and how many.”

  “I want to pull all of Doyle’s men, less the one’s I’m making trainers. Pull them and get them ready to head north if need be.”

  “Well then we’ll mobilize your replacement troops this way for training ASAP.”

  “Appreciate it.”

  “You said Hal’s scouts are confident that these men didn’t want to hurt the soldier they captured.”

  “That’s what they said. Almost if they grabbed him for information. They were pretty confident that if need be, they could get in there and get him. I have no doubt, Hal’s men are good. But my problem is, would that be what they’re waiting for?”

  “What do you mean?” George asked.

  “I mean. Let’s say this is one of the ways we get hit. Let’s suppose there is a huge base up north. And they’re waiting, waiting for the other invaders North, South, East … what if taking our man, and us hitting them in retaliation is what they want.”

  “Diversion.”

  “Possible.”

  “Probably.” George looked at his watch again. “I’ll be back in three days. I’ll need you to secure me permanent housing. Preferably here in Bowman. Close to the airstrip”

  “Hal’s on that.”

  “I’m going to hand pick a crew. Robbie and I will determine what kind of birds we need to get, and me and the crew will head out to the bases. I’m going to work as fast as I can to get them operational. I am figuring we can fly three back at a time.”

  “How many planes are you figuring we need?”

  George raised his eyebrows. “A lot. But right now, we don’t have the pilots.”

  “How are you going to instruct on flying and do all this?”

  George smiled. “I’ll be a busy man. We have Robbie, John, Jesse and … Johnny to teach.”

  Frank nodded. “I think Johnny will like that.”

  “And I think he’d like hearing that from you.”

  A single nod from Frank.

  “We’ll get a flight crew yet.”

  “I know.”

  George peered at his watch. “And where? … .Ah, yes, there.”

  Frank turned around to see the jeep pulling up.

  Lars Rayburn stepped from the jeep.

  “Sorry it took so long. I had to say my goodbyes and settle my wellness center,” Lars said.

  “What’s going on?” Frank asked.

  “Lars is going to Quantico,” George said. “With me retiring, I have to put people in charge of each division.”

  Lars spoke. “I’ll be taking over the entire medical and research facility. Plus, George is sending regular doctors out here, so I’m really not needed. There are too many good minds here, Frank. I’m a number. Out there. I’m back where I need to be. Plus, Mike needs me there.”

  George added. “I plan on having Mike training men, too. He hasn’t given his answer yet.”

  “Hopefully Tigger will change that,” Frank said. “Seeing his son …” he paused. “Might change things.”

  “Good words to hold onto.” George held out his hand. “Good luck. See you in a few days.”

  “I’ll have everything ready.”

  Lars extended his hand to Frank. “Thank everyone I didn’t get a chance to speak to, please?”

  “Absolutely. I’m sure Dean will miss you.”

  “I said goodbye to Dean,” Lars stated. “He embraced me and even teared up. I think that new religious experience is working wonders for him.”

  “Oh, yeah, I’m sure it is.” Frank grinned. “Good luck.”

  After George, Lars stepped on the plane.

  Tigger walked to Frank. “See ya, Frank.”

  “Tig.”

  “Take care of Johnny, OK? We’re all he had for a while and we’re leaving. I tried to get him to come, but he wouldn’t.”

  “I will.”

  “You’ll talk to him.”

  “I’m heading there now.”

  Tigger smiled. “Thank you. I mean it.” He held out his hand.

  Frank took it. “Look how little.”

  Tigger retracted it with a shake of his head and moved to the steps of the plane.

  “Need help?” Frank asked.

  Tigger growled and walked up the steps.

  Frank just chuckled. He stepped back and moved to his jeep, watching the door to the plane closed.

  It was a new phase in Beginnings. The Country was on good terms. No enemies within the soil. And it felt good.

  <><><><>

  Robbie and Dean both freaked and jumped toward Jason at the same time.

  “No, no, no. don’t break it,” Robbie said.

  “Don’t take it apart,” Dean added.

  “Why?” Jason asked. “It’s not like it works. Fort said.”

  “It works, “Robbie said.

  “Definitely works.” Dean stated.

  “How do you two know this?” Jason asked. “Unless you used it.”

  “Accidentally,” Robbie explained.

  Dean fluttered his lips. “Without a doubt accidentally.”

  “Kind of pushed buttons. And zap.”

  “Literally zap,” Dean added.

  “You mean to tell me, you two haven’t a clue how it works or why, but you … pressed buttons?”

  Robbie shrugged. “We didn’t know what it was.”

  Jason placed it on the table. “Have you learned anything about it?”

  “Some,” Dean said. “Not much. We figured you would not only want to know about it, but you could figure out the logistics. The blue button is definitely a power button, and an enter button.”

  “Power and enter.”

  Dean nodded. “Once you turn it on, it will ask you for information on the screen. If you punch it in, press the blue button, it moves to the next screen. The peach button scrolls through numbers. Presets maybe.” He shrugged. “Green button means go.”

  “Green means go?” Jason asked.

  “Yeah as soon as you press it, you leave. You can press it when you
want to come back.”

  “Did you look at the display before you pressed it Dean?”

  “Which time?” Dean asked.

  “Both. You obviously pressed it twice if you came back.”

  “Um …. No.”

  Jason shook his head. “Then let’s check it out, shall we?” Unit on the table, Jason pressed the blue button.

  Princess Leah appeared. “Help me Obi Wan Kenobi, you’re my only hope. Hello Roy, my you look handsome. Where do you want to go?”

  Jason snickered in amusement. “This is wonderful. A diversion.”

  Dean instructed. “Look at the display.

  Jason bent toward the unit. “Ah, yes, set time.”

  “That means year,” Dean said. “Not time.”

  “I would think not. Tell me you didn’t think it mean time of day.” Jason asked, didn’t receive an answer, and shook his head. “Let’s see. Let’s go to 1985.”

  “Why 1985?” Robbie asked.

  “Have you never seen Back to the Future?” Jason reached for the blue button, and pressed it. “Hmm. Easy enough. Set location.”

  Dean explained. “As you can see it’s blinking the word current. My guess is, if you just hit enter, it means you go from where you stand.”

  Jason only glared at him.

  “But if you hit the peach button…” He reached.

  Jason smacked his hand away. “Don’t touch. In fact…” he lifted the box and pressed the peach button.

  “It scrolls,” Dean said.

  “I see that. These are coordinates. Actually precise longitudes and latitudes down to the millimeter. Presets, I would guess, like you said.” Jason kept on scrolling; “He has many in here. Ah, here. Must be the end.”

  “How do you know?” Robbie asked.

  “Um, perhaps it says, enter new coordinates?” Jason said. “I don’t have any. We’ll have to figure some out for a testing. Like I said I don’t know what all these coordinates are.”

  “Could this also be a cool way to travel?” Robbie asked. “Maybe go to Quantico and arrive two minute later?”

  “We should try that. I’m thinking there may be a window of time that the machine follows. Because it is not an archway,” Jason explained. “I’m betting there’s a time frame requirement. We’ll test it.” He pressed the peach button. “OK, it’s back at current.” He hit the blue button. “Set time of day. Current or insert. I’ll insert.” Jason shrugged and punched in 1845. “It accepted it. So we know it uses military time.” He hit the blue button again.

  This time Princess Leah appeared. “Good luck Roy and have a safe trip.”

  “Dude, it’s an Easter Egg,” Robbie stated.

  Dean asked. “What?”

  “You know when we used to rent DVD’s there was a hidden special feature.”

  “I don’t think it was hidden. I just don’t think you two ever made it this far.” Jason read the screen. “Trip ready. It's counting down”

  “Wonder what happens when it counts down?” Dean asked.

  “Let’s see.” Jason watched the time. It started at twenty. When it hit zero, it bleeped three times and scrolled the words: trip cancelled. “It’s a shut down.” Jason then proceeded to repeat the same steps again, putting in the time, and getting ready for the ‘trip ready’ screen. “Green means go and I press it to comeback, right?”

  Dean nodded. “I think.”

  “What do you mean you think?” Shaking his head in disgust, Jason took a deep breath. “See you in a second.”

  He pressed the button.

  Zap!

  Jason was zapped, but not only him, but Robbie and Dean as well. They were in the house, and immediately greeted with the screams and horrified looks of a family that sat around the dining room table

  ”Fuck,” Robbie whispered.

  “Pardon our intrusion,” Jason said, reached down, snatched a piece of fried chicken off the platter, and hit the green button.

  Zap!

  They had returned.

  The box beeped off, and Jason, holding the chicken set it down.

  “Holy shit,” Dean said.

  Jason nodded. ‘It has a radius. We have to test what that radius is. Obviously, it encompasses the room.”

  Robbie asked. “Jason, why did you grab the fried chicken.”

  “Simple,” Jason replied. “One, I wanted to see if we could bring something back or through. And two … it looked very good.”

  Robbie nodded. “It did.”

  Jason took a bite of the chicken. “Oh,” he gusted. “Perfect. Juicy and …” He looked at Robbie peering closely. “What?”

  “Can I have a bite?”

  Jason held the chicken leg to him.

  Robbie took a bite and smiled. “Thanks.”

  “Ok,” Dean spoke up. “We determined it does indeed work. We learned it can take us to a specific place and time and get us back without missing a beat. We’re gonna test it more, right?’

  “Yes,” Jason replied. “And we test it together. Not alone. We need to test the radius. The locations and so forth.”

  “Let’s start,” Dean suggested.

  Jason shook his head. “I want to get specific location information first. Then we’ll meet tonight and perform the first test.”

  Robbie asked. “Ok, where are we going?”

  “Simple,” Jason said. “There’s only one choice. We’re going ahead to January. Same time. Same place that you Frank and Hal went. We’re gonna see if all the trouble Joe went through … worked.” Jason smiled and took another bite of his chicken.

  CHAPTER NINETEEN

  When Frank made up his mind that enough time had passed, and enough ‘other’ things had been settled, he took the step toward Johnny.

  He wasn’t sure exactly how he felt about it, and had the drive to Creedville to think it over.

  Johnny didn’t have a telephone. There was a community link, and one to Creed. The town did have email, and Frank debated on using that. Instead, he called Creed and told him he would be coming into town and could he have Johnny meet him.

  Creed picked the place for him.

  There was a small shop where they sold the oddest little biscuits. Creedvillian food they had before coming to Beginnings. Square crackers in different colors, reminded Frank of the movie Soylent Green.

  The shop was a success and they served the biscuits with some weird tea.

  That was where Frank was meeting Johnny.

  The aroma was familiar to dog biscuits, but the place had atmosphere.

  Frank chose a table off to the corner, it offered the most privacy.

  Since it was still daylight, the Creedvillian woman wore her wrap and robe to cover her skin.

  She brought a pot of tea, laid down a small menu, bowed her head, and backed up.

  “Thanks,” Frank said, and nodded in return. He lifted the menu and read the list. The items were called Crisquits. And under the word it gave the types. Frank didn’t know what the difference was. He’d probably choose the sampler.

  He poured a small china cup of tea. Raw sugar set on the table and he added some. He sipped and cringed then added a ton more sugar. Second taste was better, mid sip he almost choked and felt the extra pound in his chest with the calling of his name.

  “Dad.”

  Frank set down the tea cup and stood. “John.”

  Johnny took an excited step toward the table and stopped. He caught himself. “Creed didn’t tell me I was meeting you.”

  Frank gave a closed mouth smile.

  “Wow. I’m shocked. I am. I’m so glad that you and I are in the same room.”

  Frank stared at his son. It had been the first face to face he had with Johnny in forever. “Sit down, John.”

  Johnny nodded and sat.

  Frank joined him. “Tea?”

  “Yeah, please.”

  Frank poured him some then watched Johnny sip it straight. “No sugar?”

  “No this stuff is good.”

  Frank shudd
ered.

  Johnny chuckled. “It’s good to see you, Dad.”

  “How are you feeling?”

  “I’m good. Headaches have stopped.”

  The waitress approached. “I take your order?”

  “Um, yeah,” Frank handed her the menu. “Just give us the sampler. We’ll split it.”

  “Yes.” She nodded once and walked away.

  “Good choice,” Johnny said.

  “Have you had those Crisquits?”

  “Yeah, they’re awesome. Haven’t you?”

  “I haven’t been able to bring myself to eat them. I keep thinking of the movie Soylent Green, and wonder where all the dead Creedvillians go.”

  “That’s funny. Wait until you taste them.”

  “So, John.” Frank folded his hands. “Lars is gone. Did you know that?”

  “Yeah. He told me he was leaving. Tigger, too.”

  “I’m gonna have you come to Beginnings to see Dean tomorrow. Someone will pick you up. Let him examine you, scan you and do what he needs to do.”

  “Dad," Johnny chuckled. “I just saw Dean ten days ago.”

  “I know. But ….he’s had some sort of revelation lately. I don’t know what. But he’s on the ball with things. I want to see if he has a different view.”

  Johnny shrugged. “Ok. Sure.”

  Frank nodded. “Also George is returning. Did he talk to you?”

  “Yeah, he said something about starting an air force.”

  “Yep. You’ll have to be involved in that.”

  “I need to hone in my flying skills again.”

  “Absolutely. But you’ll be getting more responsibilities now. You’re needed.”

  “I’m here. For whatever is needed.” Johnny paused. “Dad, I need you to know something. I’ve … I’ve been having such a hard time with Pap’s death. I loved him and never meant him any harm. I never did. I can’t believe the things I did. The things I said. I wish to God the tumor would have killed me …”

  ‘John.” Frank held up his hand.

  “No, Dad. I mean it. I caused so much suffering. There were things I was in control of. Like telling George what was going on. But the other shit, I lost my mind.”