Shauna stirred next to him. “What’s the matter babe?”
“Nothing. Just a dream. Go back to sleep. We’ve got another couple hours yet.”
Shauna turned over on her side and hugged her pillow tight. She was normally a deep sleeper, and often had prophetic dreams. He wondered if these recent dreams of his were prophetic in some way. If the Earth turned on its axis the polar ice caps would be melting a whole helluva lot faster than they were from global warming. The waters would rise insanely fast. But that was only one of the things that would take place. It would cause such devastation that he didn’t believe anyone would survive. Hawk laid down and put his arm around Shauna. He needed to feel close to her. He slept, but only fitfully.
__ __ __
Morning sun slitted through the blinds in Shauna’s bedroom. She turned off the alarm and went to take a shower. She’d had many dreams last night, and they were swirling through her foggy head when Hawk came in and asked her if she wanted any company. Laughing, she told him no, that she was doing fine by herself for now. Hawk smiled. He stood watching her filmy silhouette through the glass door of the shower for a moment.
An hour later they were out the door heading for the old Creamery building. The wind was blowing and it was chilly. Shauna didn’t mind when Hawk put his arm around her to help keep her warm, even if it meant someone from work might see them and the cat would be out of the proverbial bag about their relationship. Neither of them had any reason to make it known that they were together, but it was probably time to break the news. Shauna didn’t think it would be a problem for anyone unless someone thought there might be a conflict of interest. It wasn’t always wise to have relationships with people you worked with, but at times it was inevitable.
Shauna had been extremely shy in her school days. She liked boys, but at the same time was terrified of them. They were so very different from her. She came from a family of all girls; she and her two older sisters. Besides that, her father died of a heart attack when she was five. He had been a real estate agent and had been found dead in one of the bedrooms of a house he was trying to sell. They never found out who the woman was who had been with him at the time, but that had definitely been the case as he was naked under the covers in the master bedroom when they found him, and it was apparent that he hadn’t been alone. A telling pair of panties and a bra were laying on the floor in the bathroom. Of course it was years before Shauna heard the details of the story from her mother. Luckily for them, though, he had just taken out a large life insurance policy out on himself with his wife as the benefactor. The family wanted for nothing, and were actually better off financially than before he died. Her mom was able to put all three girls through college.
But Shauna missed her dad terribly. Her mother told her that he had climbed a giant ladder that went all the way to heaven. She couldn’t figure out what or where heaven was though. Had he gone to live in the clouds? Shauna didn’t see anything else up there but the stars at night. It was a riddle that plagued her young mind. Throughout school she attended several different churches and temples with friends at one time or another. Nothing in it all rang very true for her though. She would have done anything to find out what really happened to her father.
During college there was a get together of people curious about those who had passed over. Shauna figured this was her chance and was excited the night of the event. Twenty people came to that meeting, several having gotten in touch with sons, mothers, brothers, fathers, etc. Then this old woman came over to her and asked her if she knew someone named Harry or Henry. Henry was her dad’s name! ‘Yes,’ she said. She didn’t want to give any leading information, so kept her mouth shut as the woman spoke to her. ‘He’s talking about a ring on a chain, she said, does that make any sense to you?’ Shauna didn’t remember right away, but it finally came to her that she had won a ring at a carnival her dad had taken her to, but it was too big to fit on her little fingers, so her dad bought her a chain to put it on so she could wear it around her neck. The woman also told her how proud her dad was of her and that he had watched her grow up all these years. She said he was saying that she should keep up with the piano lessons because later on she would be glad she had her own music to play. Shauna got her greatest wish that night. She got to tell her dad that she loved him, and truly believed he could know that through this medium. Shauna felt so strongly about that experience that she focused her studies towards the paranormal and began to develop her own psychic abilities. She also began to see young men in a different sort of way.
Before her spiritual development she felt males were alien to her, that they were scary. But she soon realized that we all have male and female aspects to us, some more or less feminine or masculine, and that we have lived other lifetimes as the opposite of the sex we are now. Shauna allowed herself to become intimate with men on a spiritual level, and even on a sexual level, feeling completely at ease with herself and who she was. And although her and Hawk’s relationship was still in its infant stages, she had never felt as close to anyone in her life as she did with him. She felt she’d found the other half of her own self. And he had shared with her that he felt the same for her. They were more together than just the sum of their parts. Maybe that’s why they thought they had a chance to save the world together, because anything seemed possible.
Chapter Eight
The next morning Shauna and Hawk walked to the old Creamery building together. They had talked about it and decided to let their love for each other come out into the sunlight. They felt they could still remain professional. It was sunny but cold out. The light wind whispered the leaves across the parking lot. Shauna wore her tall shearling boots, a soft leather jacket, and one of her wool scarves. Hawk had a few spare sets of clothes at her house and wore jeans and a denim jacket. Although he was in his early forties he could have passed for one of the older university students that overran the population of Six Rivers. Shauna could see a little gray starting in the hair at his temples, though. Her own hair was so far gray-free as had been her mother’s at well past sixty. She had youthful genes. That was at least one good thing her mother had given her. You won’t get much love or attention, honey, but you’ll look ten years younger than you are. And feel ten years older, she thought, as the ache in her lower back shortened her stride. She’d had trouble with her back since her early twenties. She figured by the time she was her mother’s age she’d need a damned walker to get around.
Fern pulled up on her bike. She lived out by the beach and cycled into work every day. She lived amongst a hippy-type area of town. Partying was one of her favorite things. She was a homegrown girl from Humboldt County. She’d even been born at home and home-schooled up until high school when her mother and father relented and let her attend Six Rivers High School for her remaining four years. She had graduated at the top of her class and got a scholarship that put her through college with a degree in physics and a minor in English. Poetry was in her blood, though, and you could hear her read at the local open mike nights at the many coffee houses in town. She had also published a small book of poetry of her own. When Shauna first met her she had a clean-shaven head after deciding to do away with her “dreads,” having let her hair grow without brushing it for two years it had been a mass of ropy tendrils flowing down her back. If you wanted to change your hairstyle at that point, there was nothing to do but shave it off and start off fresh. Many of the local kids had dreads. It was a little known fact that it took a lot of care and attention to get your hair to look dreaded out, as they called it, even though the look seemed as if the hair had never been touched.
“Hi guys,” said Fern. “Nice day today, isn’t it?”
“Hi Fern,” they said. Shauna noticed Fern was getting sunburnt. “You need sun screen, girl,” she said.
“I know. It’s the Irish skin. I’m either white or red. No in between,” she laughed.
Fern locked up her bike and they went upstairs. For a change, they were the last ones to arr
ive. Hawk and Shauna, along with asides from Rob and Noah, described the events of the night before, then played the tape recording of the session for them to hear.
“Very interesting,” said Susan. “I’m surprised Jackson was able to get in touch with the Starborn ones. I think this must be a first from what I know of it.”
“We’re not sure if Mahcheck was a Starborn one or someone speaking for them, but he seemed to know what he was talking about,” said Rob.
“Yeah, Jackson didn’t say,” said Hawk. “So gang, what’s our first move?”
They sat silently for a moment or two.
“I say we get out some maps and look for likely places where we might find some interesting people to talk to,” said Susan. “Then let the rest fall into place.”
“Where do you all think we should go?” asked Peter. “We should go to some fairly remote places where we’re more likely to come across these aliens. Say Nevada or Colorado.”
Hawk went to the filing cabinet and brought out some maps. He spread one of them on the table. They all scooted in close to see better.
“It’s gotta be somewhere where there’s been some kind of natural disaster so we can do our interviews as well,” said Peter. “Maybe we should focus on the Midwest. There are always tornados that take a lot of people with them there.”
“Unfortunately, I doubt we’ll run into Meera or one of her kind in the middle of Kansas,” said Shauna, studying the map.
Peter brought up some data on the PC, trying to locate some ideal spots for them to try.
“What about the avalanches last year up near Vail?” Peter asked.
“That’s a possibility. Twenty or so people died in one season there a couple years ago,“ said Hawk. “Mark that on the map, will you Fern?”
Fern put a sticky tab on the spot and wrote ‘avalanche’ on it.
“What about flooding?” asked Hutch. He’d been quietly studying a map of his own. “The Russian River here in California might be a good place. It flooded just last year, killing dozens.”
“That’s a good one,” said Hawk. “Put that one down, too Fern.” She tacked another sticky tab marked ‘flood’ on the map.
“If we can stay nearby we can save your money, Hawk,” said Susan. Hawk looked at Shauna.
“Well everybody, there’s another bit of news. We have a new backer for the project. Putting it mildly, money is no object.”
He had their attention.
“And who might that be Hawk?” asked Hutch.
“Yeah, what’d you do, rob a bank?” laughed Rob.
“I got a very interesting call yesterday. Somebody from a subsidiary of the Walker Group. They offered me two and a half million to carry on with the project and hopefully save the world from destruction.”
“How can that be?” asked Susan. “How did they..?”
“I have no idea how they knew what we’re doing or why, but this guy wasn’t the type to answer a whole lot of questions. Half the money was delivered to me yesterday at Shauna’s place.”
“Man!” said Rob. “We’re not even gonna need that kinda dough, are we?”
“Doubtful. The benefactor behind it apparently thinks we’re on the scent of something big. I just don’t want to know what will happen if we’re not successful. I also think we’re in for more than a pound here, folks. If this guy doesn’t get what he wants there could be repercussions, if you know what I mean.”
“I think we do, Hawk,” said Hutch. “This could put us in a very compromising position. And we may not have very much time. Even if we find conclusively that the people have some say in what’s about to happen to the Earth, who’s to say we can do anything about it?”
Hawk looked thoughtful. A lot was riding on this pony now, maybe too much for it to carry. But that was in the future. For now they had to stay focused and do what they could to prove humanity had a part in the coming cataclysmic event.
“I have some theories I’ve been working on that may help when and if we come to the point of knowing the worlds’ people are in on this thing psychically, and I’m not talking about mass hypnosis, which is what I had been working on earlier,” said Shauna. Everyone looked at her. “I don’t want to say anything prematurely, but just wanted to let you guys know there could be a way out of this if it comes down to it. I still have a lot of work to do. I will let you know when I’m ready.” Hawk looked at her questioningly. She hadn’t even said a word to him about this. She must have her reasons, he thought.
They spent the rest of the day recounting varying events that had occurred in which there were enough people killed and happened as a result of nature. Their map was covered with little sticky papers. Peter entered the data into the computer and helped by doing some web surfing on the subject. They ordered in some pizza from the best restaurant in town for lunch, and Rob kept the coffee coming.
Peter took Hawk aside at one point and asked if they should include epidemics as part of the natural disaster data. It had never occurred to Hawk, but now that Peter mentioned it, epidemics did seem something that ought to be included. How many people did the flu kill off in any given year? Then there were the highly virulent strains that killed off many more than the normal numbers of people. He decided they would include the latter type only, not just the regular flu or the numbers would be too high, impacting the data they had too severely. That was how the major flu epidemics, along with a few others, came to be included in the study. Hawk brought it to the attention of the group. He wanted their input as well.
“Listen up everyone. Peter brought something to my attention that I think is quite interesting and valid to our research. It’s a different type of natural disaster, but I’ve decided it’s enough so to be included. It’s epidemics.”
“Of course,” said Hutch as he put his hand to his forehead. “I knew something was missing all along and I couldn’t put my little finger on the devil.”
“Do you think it’s natural disaster material, though?” asked Susan. “I mean, disease has never really been put in the same category with natural disasters. It’s a whole different thing.”
“It makes complete sense to me,” said Shauna. “Bacteria and viruses may be small, but they are a natural part of the environment and kill even more people than some other types of cataclysms. Hawk, we should have thought of this sooner. Good work Peter!” Peter blushed and looked away. “Thanks,” he said.
“You’re right, Peter,” said Rob. “Those little buggers can be quite nasty. Who knows, maybe the good old U.S. government is creating some highly virulent strain of flu for germ warfare as we speak in some lab somewhere that will leak out in 2012 and kill 99% of us off. I know that doesn’t jive with some of our research on the pole shift, but it’s a possibility in my mind, which I’m still trying to keep open.”
“I’m still not convinced,” argued Susan. “If we change tacks now in mid-race it’s going to screw with our preliminary data. I think we should leave it out.”
“But Susan, don’t you see how important this could be?” asked Fern. “Plus we could talk to a whole lot more people who’ve crossed over through Jackson if we include it.”
“I don’t know,” she said. “ It just seems like a whole different thing to me.”
The eight of them discussed the matter until it was time to go home. Susan still had problems with it, but eventually gave in and accepted the fact that it would be included whether she liked it or not. She didn’t seem convinced, though. Her brother had died of AIDS two years ago from sharing a syringe. He’d been a dope addict. She couldn’t understand how two people brought up the same way by the same parents could be so different from each other. His name was Paul, and he’d gotten in with the wrong kids in high school. First it was sniffing glue and smoking pot. It progressed from there to meth and heroine. Their parents had even hired this guy when Paul had been twenty two to do an intervention. Paul had gotten cleaned up for a while, met a nice girl, and seemed happy with his life. But all the drug use had
kept him from developing any kind of natural coping skills in his growing up years. When Patty dumped him the first thing he did was hunt down the first old dealer friend of his and start shooting up again. He had learned no other ways of dealing with emotional pain.
Susan remembered when Paul told her he was HIV positive eight years ago. She also remembered she hadn’t been surprised. She understood. They had a pretty rough upbringing with alcoholic parents, although they never called themselves that. But their parents drank on a daily basis, and Susan remembered learning to count by her father counting out the lashes of his belt on her little bare bottom. But it wasn’t she that got the worst of it. Compared to what Paul got handed to him by their father as their mother stood and watched, Susan got very little. Paul endured almost weekly severe beatings from their father, who was a police officer with a particularly punitive nature.
He was a big man with big, beefy arms and a red face, especially red was his bulbous nose. When he got a hold of you, you weren’t going anywhere. Your fate was sealed, and to resist only made him more angry. But it seemed to her that he liked it that way. Susan never resisted. When he told her to ‘come here’ and took off his belt, she obeyed. To this day when she heard a man, a lover, take off his belt to make love to her she cringed inside. Paul, though, was a resister. She watched as, through the years, he was broken in like a horse. So she did understand when he told her he had HIV. It made sense in some sick way. But he was her brother; an individual, not to be lumped together with all the thousands of others who had died from AIDS. But she figured that each one of those thousands had their own unique story to tell, as did those who died from floods or earthquakes or hurricanes. It was just a different kind of story.
The group decided to break for the day. It was getting darker earlier and earlier these fall days. Night came quickly. As Susan walked home she tried to save the tears, but they fell anyway. She missed her brother.
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