The Third Ten

by Jacqueline Druga

  At least he found the missing people. Now Joe had him looking for anyone new or different, in an attempt to find the ninja mask guy from the future.

  Danny figured if he was still in town, he’d find him, he wouldn’t be hard to spot. But the search was complicated by the fact that everyone wanted to know where Frank was.

  Dan from Security was the first one.

  “Where is he?”

  “He’s with Hal.”

  “Where?” Dan pressed.

  “I don’t know, off with Robbie and Dean.”

  That was the best that Danny could come up with since all of them were MIA.

  Dan gave a ‘hmm’ as he moved on. Danny didn’t think much more about it until he was approached by Jesse.

  “Did you see Dan from Security’s Hoi Book post?” Jesse asked.

  “No, I didn’t.”

  “You may want to look at it.”

  Danny pulled out his phone and looked. “Oh my God. Two hundred comments. When did he get so popular?’

  “He tagged Frank.”

  Danny read the simple post of, “Where is Frank. I can’t find him anywhere and I looked.”

  “The post isn’t bad,” Jesse said. “The comments however are a different story. They all think there’s a massive cover-up to stop panic because they think Frank is dead.”

  “No way.”

  “Go on. Search Frank’s dead. See what happens.”

  Danny did. And the search results were overwhelming. It seemed everyone had a memorial post to Frank.

  “Did you bring this up to Joe?” Danny asked.

  “You’re acting leader.”

  “Yeah, but he’s the father that knows where his son is.”

  “I’ll go speak to him.”

  Danny knew the rumor mill was off and running and wouldn’t calm down until Frank was found. What compounded it was Hal, Robbie, Dean and Henry were gone, as well.

  All that was in the first hour. The second hour the odd questions started.

  Gemma asked, ‘Can I try it next.”

  Jenny was like. “Will it hurt the baby?”

  Josephine grabbed hold of Danny and shook him. “I need it. I need it.”

  He didn’t know what they were talking about and in order to not have to deal with it, he simply told them yes. He thought, ‘really, he was the man, whatever it was, he was positive he could get.’

  They were excited to be told yes and were on their way with ease. However, soon text from every woman in Beginnings and Bowman was texting Danny asking to be put on the list to get it.

  Get what?

  Bleep.

  Cringing at the thought of another request for the mystery item. Danny was relieved to see it was from Joe.

  “We need to come up with a story. ASAP that explains my sons and Dean being gone.”

  While walking around the bend to the warehouse, Danny texted his reply. “I agree. Something believable.” he hit send and then … he walked right into a body. It was firm and strong and stubble Danny. “Oh man, I’m …” He paused and looked slightly up. “Sorry. I wasn’t looking. Wow. Ok. Oh Boy. Stay right here.” Lifting his phone again, Danny called Joe. “Hey, it’s me. Yep.” Danny grinned at the man. “I think I just found your ninja guy.”

  “Are you sure?” Joe asked.

  “Oh, Joe, I am positive and you...” Danny said. “Have to see this.”

  TEN – POLW

  “Fucking beautiful, isn’t it?” Frank peered up to the sky. “Whenever you’re ready, gentleman.”

  “Whenever we’re ready?” Hal asked sarcastically. “We’re on the trail waiting on you. And, put down the phone,” Hal told him. “You aren’t getting a signal.”

  “You never know.” He lifted his phone and took a picture. “That’s a good one, I’ll post it when I get back. I plan on getting lots of good pictures.” He put his phone in his pocket, adjusted the rest of his items over his shoulder, and walked with the group. “I’m fully charged. And fucking charging is three times the power.”

  “How do you figure?” Hal asked.

  “Solar charging, right?” Frank pointed. “Three times the strength. Three suns.”

  “What?” Hal immediately stopped to look, and he wasn’t the only one.

  In the sky were what looked like three suns. One big one, and two smaller ones to each side.

  “First one came up about an hour before the main sun,” Frank said. “The third one didn’t make a difference. Pretty cool.”

  “How is that possible?” Hal asked. “I don’t believe it.”

  “Uh, Hal, you just need to look up,” Frank said.

  “I mean …. How can there be three suns.”

  “Because the sky didn’t want three daughters.” Frank smiled.

  “Asshole.”

  “Hal has a point,” Robbie said. “It’s just weird for being only a thousand years in the future.”

  “Well, it’s there, so why worry about it,” Frank said, then took the lead of the group.

  “Because …” Dean added. “We don’t know what effects they had on this world. Their arrival probably caused global catastrophes, Disasters that the LEPS would survive over man. Which could have a lot to do with why they are the dominant species now.”

  Henry said, “That could explain the big lake where Kansas was supposed to be.”

  “Or,” Robbie interjected. “We didn’t even end up in Kansas. That could be it, too.”

  “Whatever the case,” Dean said. “The Great War didn’t cause the flip to LEP. We need to look for signs that something else did.”

  “For right now,” Hal said. “We look for Johnny and Fort.”

  “Trail stops cold,” Frank said. “Right here.” He pointed to the ground. “They stopped here. This is where he dropped Johnny. A few footsteps and nothing. No tracks going anywhere. They just stop. Another two hundred feet beyond this clearing, out of the woods is a drop off.”

  “You said you thought they went that way,” Hal said.

  Frank nodded. “At first I did. Then I got a good look at the drop. No way. It’s not a straight shot down to the river and it’s too steep to go down quick and safe. They didn’t go north toward the river, that’s for sure.”

  “Johnny was unconscious,” Henry said. “They may have stopped here, but Fort isn’t strong enough to keep dragging him. It’s possible Johnny got up and they aren’t together, anymore.”

  “Wherever they are,” Frank said. “They don’t have supplies that we know of and from that drop off you can see for miles. There were no signs of a campfire at all.”

  “How do you know?” Hal asked.

  “When you guys were sleeping, I looked.”

  “Frank!” Hal snapped. “You weren’t supposed to do that. We don’t know the dangers.”

  “The LEP are the dangerous ones.” Frank replied. “And I wasn’t worried. I had Chaka. He could tell them I was his pet.”

  Robbie laughed. ‘Hey, Frank, a pet to them is a sex toy.”

  “Yeah, well, he could say I was his gay pet. They have them, right?” He looked to Chaka. “There are male Hubra who like male Primal, right?”

  Chaka nodded. “But more fun is the female Hubra who likes the female Primal.”

  “Oh, yeah,” Frank laughed. “Wonder if they have a house of Lepsians in the future.”

  Robbie laughed. “That was good Frank.”

  “It was,” Frank looked at Hal. “You don’t think that was funny? Get it? LEP … LEP… sian.”

  “I get it. You’re an ass. For right now, let’s split up,” Hal said. “Go out for only so long and meet back at this point. Not for long, we don’t know where we are. Follow as close to the woods as possible to be …”

  “Oh! Oh!” Frank raised his hand. “Can I go first?”

  “First for what?”

  “We’re picking teams, can I pick first.”

  “Fine, Frank, pick first,” Hal said annoyed.

  “I pick Chaka.”

  �
��Aw,” Robbie whined. “What about me? I’m your favorite brother.”

  “Chaka is an LEP. Have to go with that.”

  Smug, Hal smiled. “Fine, then I pick Robbie.”

  “I’ll take Dean.”

  “Great.” Henry tossed his hands up. “Just like school. I’m still the last one picked.” He walked over and stood with Hal.

  “East and West,” Hal said. “Four hours we meet back here. That should give us enough time to see if they left another trail. Maybe even found a way down toward the river and ….”

  A long blow of the tusk trumpet rang out.

  Frank grinned “Oh, yeah. Here we go again. I have to see.” He took off out of the woods.

  “Frank!” Hal lifted a hand and dropped it. He then followed.

  Two hundred feet away, Frank was on the edge of the drop on his stomach. He signaled for them to get down.

  “You got to see this,” Frank whispered. “But stay low.”

  Hal made his way over, and heard Frank snickering. “What is so funny?”

  “This is so great.”

  Hal did.

  By the river, there were about a dozen humans, they ran as the tusk sounded again. Even from a distance, it was evident they dressed in loin cloths.

  “Tell me why this is so great?” Hal asked.

  “It’s like Planet of the Apes. They’re even dressed the same way. Bet me any second now, a few LEP come riding down on horse and try to catch them.”

  “Oh, please.”

  “They’re running,” Dean said. “But I don’t see what they’re running from.”

  No sooner did Dean say that, at least two dozen LEP on horseback raced fast from a high grassy hilly area down to the river bank. They chased the people. Two of them, riding side by side, carried a net. They tossed it toward a man, who quickly became entangled.

  Frank looked down below. He watched as the bad LEPS captured half of the humans. Seizing some with nets, others with rope around their necks, dragging them on the ground. The remaining who escaped capture, ran into the water. A part of him wanted to run down there, help those people. But he knew as soon as he did, the chase would be over and there was nothing he could do.

  “Segavas,” Chaka said softly. He pointed. “Segavas.”

  Hal turned to him. “Segavas. I thought your species called yourself Hubra.”

  Chaka looked at him confused.

  “Hal said he thought your people were called, Hubra,” Frank translated.

  “We are. They are not. They are not us. They are Segavas. We have them in my time.”

  “Fuck.”

  “What?” Hal asked. “What did he say?”

  “We are civilized,” Chaka said. “We live in peace. They started the war.”

  “Fuck.”

  “What?”

  “They are brutal,” Chaka continued. “They use Primal as slaves, keep them on chains and feast on them for pleasure.”

  “Fuck.”

  “What?”

  “They torture Primals and murder them in sporting games.”

  “Fuck.”

  “What!” Hal whispered, loudly.

  “They kill Hubra and torture us as well. We have fought for many years. They reproduce and are much like grown versions of your killer babies. They act as one, kill in packs. This is their sport. They breach the boundaries of their camp to get Primals.”

  “Fuck.”

  “Goddamn it Frank!” Hal lost it. “What?”

  “Fuck, Hal. I had to get it all. Translation….” Frank said. “Two types of LEPS. Good and bad. Those …” Frank pointed. “Sega ... Sega ... fuck it. Segs. Are the bad ones.”

  “That’s in Chaka’s time,” Hal said. “This may be totally different. They may be all there is.”

  “One way to find out,” Frank said. “Right now, we follow the plan. Stay low, stay out of sight, but split up and look for Johnny. We have two maps. We each take one and try to make sense of the area...” He stopped talking and over when Chaka spoke. “Okay, good to know. Important safety tip, thanks. Chaka says as long as we stay on this side of the river, we should be fine. They won’t cross the water.”

  “Is he sure?” Hal asked. “We’re safe of this side?

  “Absolutely,” Frank said. “They fear water. They won’t cross the river.”

  ELEVEN – POLW

  Robbie stopped cold, hands on his hips and chuckled. “Well, so much for they won’t cross the river.”

  Hal tilted his head and looked at the wooden bridge structure that spanned over the narrow portion of the river. “If they fear water, how did they build this?”

  “It’s not left over from a previous civilization,” Henry said. “It isn’t weather worn. It’s not that old.”

  “This …” Hal pointed to the bridge. “Tells me they are in some ways intelligent and advanced.”

  “It doesn’t mean they will cross it,” Henry said. “If they fear water, they may not chance it. This could have been built by humans. This is the same river. Bet people live by the water. I would.”

  Hal shook his head. “I don’t know. If I had an enemy scared of water, the last thing I would do was give them a way to get over it.”

  “So, do we cross it?” Robbie asked.

  “Not today or at least right now,” Hal replied. “Let’s keep looking a little while longer then head back. The bridge is here. It’s coming from or leading to something. Let’s see if we can find out what.”

  <><><><>

  “Thanks, Frank,” Dean places the translation ear bud in his ear. “I thought for sure you didn’t bring all of them.”

  “I did. But with only four, one of us would be without. So I figured it was best if I just had one. But while we’re out here as the dream team, you might as well have it. Good thing our hair covers it.”

  “You can pass the last one to Robbie. Wouldn’t it be funny if Hal and Henry had no idea what was going on.”

  Chaka laughed.

  Dean and Frank looked at him.

  “I like Hal. He reminds me of my own brother. Haka. I, too would irritate him on purpose.”

  “So great to know brotherly love breaks the bounds of species.” Frank said.

  “What do you think?” Dean asked.

  “I don’t know. We’ve been walking awhile,” Frank said. “We made our way down here. Following the river. No footprints. Nothing. We’re beyond civilization. I think. Chaka? How far are town or camps apart in your time?”

  “I know that we would need to cross the water to get to any civilization. We fell into a lake or the sea. This is a land space between that and the river. I would say this area is inhabited only by humans. There is no sign.”

  Frank nodded. “So we looked for hours and saw nothing but another one of the Segs.”

  “Map is useless, Frank,” Dean said. “None of the terrain is even the same. We’re supposed to be in Kansas. This is not Kansas. You think maybe Fort and Johnny were captured by these … Segs?”

  “Possible.”

  “Did either of you think …” Chaka said. “They went somewhere else?”

  “Like northwest?” Frank asked.

  Chaka shook his head. “Back to Beginnings. Another time.”

  Dean laughed. “How? We have the device.”

  “This Fort man. He came from the future. How did he get to Beginnings?”

  “He stepped through a time machine.” Frank said.

  “Was his plan to stay in Beginnings?” Chaka asked “Or was he to return to his own time. If so … how?”

  “Fuck.”

  “Exactly,” said Chaka.

  “Frank, really wouldn’t you have found the device on him?” Dean asked.

  “Not if he hid it,” Frank replied. “He walked around the underdeveloped area pretending to be Paul. Honestly, I don’t think we ever asked.”

  “That would explain why the trail stopped cold,” Chaka said. “He and your son went elsewhere. It makes sense. Lead you here. Leave. Ha. Ha. Ha. Jo
ke is on you.”

  “Ha, ha, fucking ha. I’m killing fucking Fort when I find him.”

  “Jason has the ability to track time jumps,” Dean said. “We go back and find out.”

  “I’ll find him, too.” Frank said. “He’s got my son. If … he didn’t time jump after Johnny was captured. We just don’t know. We need to find the Segs camp to be sure.”

  Dean looked down at his watch. “It’s time to head back.”

  “Yeah, let’s head back up the hill and meet them. Come up with a game plan. Chaka?”

  Chaka was occupied, crouched close to the ground he stared out.

  “Chaka.”

  Slowly he stood with something in his hand.

  “What do you got?” Frank asked.

  Even though he was a LEP clearly there was an expression on his face that screamed confusion. He marched by Frank, handing him the object as he walked to Dean. “Map. Please.”

  Dean pulled it out of his back pocket.

  “Writing device?” Chaka asked.

  Dean handed him a pen. Immediately, Chaka place the map on the ground on a flat surface.

  “Frank?” Dean asked. “What is it?”

  Frank looked at the black circular object. “It looks like a bracelet.”

  Dean looked at it. “There are markings on the inside and out. I can’t understand what it says.”

  “Dean,” Chaka called out. “Please show me where we are supposed to be.”

  “Sure.” Dean walked over and pointed. “Right here.”

  Chaka shook his head. “It makes sense. The terrain did not change, we did not arrive where we were supposed to. The body of water in which we landed … is here.” He pointed.

  “Fort Peck?” Dean asked.

  “The rivers are an extension,” Chaka said. “That high ledge of hills we followed, here.” Chaka ran his finger down the map, then circle. “If I am right, the Segavas are nearby. This here is the ruins of the once holy town. Sacred land. We go only there to seek answers.”

  Dean looked at Frank, ‘That’s Miles City or Bowman now. Which means we’re not far from Jordan. We are still in Montana.”

  “I know right where we are,” Chaka said and stood.

  “Are you sure?” Frank asked.