Shady Oaks

by Jerry Boyd

  John replied, “I put one in the doc at Shady Oaks this morning. That’ll be enough for now. Private Crang will be out this evening, if we need another one.”

  “So where did Mike and Tina get to?”

  “They’re staying aboard their saucer until we get all these folks going. They didn’t think they could pass for Earth people yet.”

  “Did you get a chance to find a place to go with that grenade we found this morning?”

  “Not yet. Been a busy day. I was supposed to tell you, don’t worry about picking up Snitz. Jane and Greg will bring him out when they come to supper.”

  “I thought you were in the doghouse with her?”

  “She calmed down after she had a minute to think about it. Things are complicated with her husband right now, and she’s afraid of making it worse.”

  “Do we need to tell the Guide to hold off on that bounty, so he doesn’t get half?”

  “It’ll be in an untraceable account in the Caymans. The only way he would know about it is if she told him.”

  The patients showed up then. Luckily, Jane was with them for moral support. She said, “Oh, look, it’s Bob, the instigator-in-chief.”

  “Hi Jane. I’m in the doghouse, too?”

  “Not really, but warn me next time, okay?”

  “It was all John. I just let him use my crew.”

  “Sure, Bob. That sounds believable, you bet.”

  “Who needs help getting in the house?”

  The first was a little girl, twelve or so, bald from chemo. I asked, “Are you okay with steps?”

  “Not really, I’m pretty weak.”

  “Would it be okay if I carried you, then?”

  “That would be fine.”

  “Okay, but don’t tell my wife. She gets jealous.”

  She grinned. I said, “I’m Bob.”

  “I’m Rhonda.”

  “Now wait a minute, the song says you’re supposed to help me.”

  “Maybe later, I’m tired now.”

  I asked, “Jane, could you come and help Rhonda get ready?”

  “Yep.”

  I picked her up. Max held the screen door, and the basement door was open. “Jane, can you see which machine has Rhonda’s name on it? They’re all preset.”

  Jane found the right ‘doc, and I put Rhonda down. “The machine should be ready to go. Do you know which one is the start button?”

  “John showed me earlier. I can call him if I have any problems.”

  “Good deal.”

  Dingus was coming down the steps with the next patient. “What’s his name, Dingus?”

  “Rick Jones.”

  The first machine I looked at was Private Crang. The next one wasn’t right either. Finally, I found the right one. “Over here, Dingus.”

  As I headed up to get the last one, my comm rang. It was Topper. “Topper, what’s up?”

  “We got both safes installed. I found a bike for Mr. Sloan, but they won’t ship it. He needs to go pick it up. They’re open till nine, but they’re in San Diego.”

  “Text me the details. We’ll get in the air as soon as we’re done here.”

  The last fella was in bad shape. John had him on a stretcher. “Good, you’re here. Can you help Max get him downstairs?”

  “Sure can. Guess I need to take the front?”

  “It would work better that way.”

  It was tricky, changing my grip to keep him level as we went down the stairs. Dingus was there to help when we got to the bottom. Once we got him to the ‘doc, I left him for Dingus and Max to get started. Back upstairs, Jane was calming family members. Since I didn’t know these folks and she did, I stayed out of it. She promised to call as soon as there was news, and they headed out. She said, “I know it works, but it’s hard to convince someone who hasn’t seen the results.”

  “They’re trusting their loved ones to something they don’t know squat about. If they weren’t worried, that would be a bad sign.”

  “You’re right. Things just happen so fast around you guys. I’m not used to it yet.”

  “Me either. I’ve got to fly to California in a little bit, to make something happen that was only a gleam in someone’s eye this time yesterday.”

  “When are you going to do one of those projects for yourself?”

  “Have you seen the bad ass car hauler the boys built me?”

  “That’s for work. Other people get stuff that’s fun.”

  “A cherried out 96 Toyota wagon, that’s a barrel of laughs.”

  “Not having to worry what’s gonna break next, yes it is.”

  John, Max, and Dingus came up from the basement and shut the door. John said, “That went smoother than I thought it might. Thanks for keeping everyone calm, Jane.”

  “Least I could do, Mr. Branham.”

  “We’re not at work. You could call me John.”

  “I could.”

  “I see Bob’s been giving you lessons in asshole-do.” He turned to me and bowed. “Thank you so much for your instruction, Sensei.”

  “You are welcome, Pad-a-half.”

  “I’m not up to Pad-a-one yet, Master Yoda?”

  “Not quite.”

  Jane giggled. “You two idiots never take anything seriously, do you?”

  John replied, “Of course we do. Once you’ve done all you can, it doesn’t do any good to keep worrying.”

  I turned to Max. “Max, are you up for flying the freighter? Your Dad and I need a pilot.”

  “I can do that. Are we retrieving a saucer?”

  “Nope. A motorcycle.”

  Dingus spoke up, “Topper found one already? I thought he was having it delivered?”

  “This place doesn’t deliver, but it’s sitting on their lot and they’re open till nine.”

  “Where at?”

  “San Diego. That’s why we need a good pilot who can stay hidden.”

  “We better get going, we’ll have to land a long way from town.”

  Max and Dingus went to open the barn and get the freighter ready. I got Nikki’s Yukon and rolled it on board.

  Max slid out, Dingus closed the doors and climbed aboard. We shut the ramp and we were underway. Max found some wilderness not too far from the city, and put us down on a fire road. He said he was going to wait in the Mojave, where there were fewer people. Dingus and I took off. Luckily, G. P. Guess knew where the place was. Nikki’s rig was a little nicer than mine, so we actually got a salesman. “What can I help you gentlemen with today?”

  I replied, I believe my foreman talked to someone here about an electric dual sport you have for sale?”

  “You’re Mr. Wilson?”

  The look on his face made it all I could do not to say, “Yes, Dennis.”.

  “I am. We happened to be in the neighborhood, so we thought we would drop by.”

  “I see. Would you like a test ride?”

  “It’s for Mr. Sloan, here, but I’m sure he would.”

  Dingus said, “Oops, I didn’t bring my helmet.”

  “We have a loaner that I think will fit, sir.”

  He got Dingus the helmet, and the keys. Dingus took it for a little spin. When he got back, he said, “This’ll do, Bob.”

  I asked the salesman, “You equipped for wire transfer?”

  “We are, sir. What name shall I make the paperwork out in?”

  “Dingus Sloan.”

  A boatload of paperwork later, we were on our way. Once we were out of town, I commed Max. “We’re ready, if you’re through communing with the snakes and cacti.”

  Give me a few minutes, Bob. I’m getting a weird sensor reading I want to take a closer look at.”

  I commed Dingus and asked him to find a place to pull off, since Max was delayed. Soon the comm rang, “I’m coming in.”

  “What did you find, Max?”

  “I’ll tell you when you’re aboard.”

  Max landed on the road, and we got aboard. I hit the button to close the ramp, and headed forward.
Dingus had already made it to the cockpit. “Okay, Max, what’s up?”

  “I found a saucer hidden in a cave. Yes, under a mountain of guano. The power core reads as a design that hasn’t been used in a long time. I can’t be sure, the reading doesn’t seem quite right, but I think there might be someone in suspension in there.”

  Dingus replied, “You mean somebody marooned, even longer than me?”

  “That’s what it looks like, Dad. Go over the readings and see what you think.”

  Dingus sat in the copilot seat, pulling up the sensor data. He studied it intently for a few minutes. “I see what you’re looking at, Reggie. If I hadn’t known it was there, I would’ve looked right over it. Good work, Son.”

  Max lit up like a Christmas tree. Dingus went on. “So you’re thinking this is that old style power core, the one that didn’t put out much power, but would run basically forever?”

  “That’s the only match the computer could find.”

  “You think there’s a chance of reviving them, don’t you?”

  “I’ve seen John do amazing things, but I don’t want to get my hopes up.”

  Dingus asked, “What do you think, Bob?”

  “I think if there’s any chance at all, we have to try. If we want to live, we better call Lyla right now.”

  I commed her. “Hey Lyla, how are you?”

  “Thanks to your outfit, I just filed the biggest story of my career. You’ve called to crap in my oatmeal, haven’t you?”

  “Don’t rightly know. Max found something pretty interesting. Thought you might want the scoop.”

  “You’re calling it ‘pretty interesting’? That means it must be flat out amazing. What have you got?”

  “We don’t know for sure till we recover the saucer later tonight, but it looks like we might have another marooned traveler.”

  “As old as Dingus?”

  “All the data we have so far says older, but we haven’t even cleaned the guano off yet.”

  “Older than Dingus? I’m on my way.”

  “We don’t yet know if we’ll be able to revive them. Don’t get too excited.”

  “Even if you can’t, finding a marooned saucer after that long is a big story. See you soon.”

  She hung up. I commed Topper. “Hi Boss. Get the bike?”

  “We did. Bringing it to you now. We found something else, though.”

  “Do we get to build the Chariot of Bob?”

  “Not yet. We found a marooned saucer. Appears to be very old. We’ll be coming back for it after dark. Gather up anything you think might help. We’ll bring the 6X6, but I’m not sure it can fit in the cave.”

  “We’ll get ready, Boss.”

  I looked at Max. “Do we have records of lost saucers? Any way we could get a clue who might be aboard?”

  “I found a few possibles, but until we know more, it’s hard to narrow down.”

  We got to the shop. Dingus unloaded the new bike. Ozzie was there to receive it. He asked, “Does it need anything besides a power core?”

  Dingus replied, “It’s fine for now, Ozzie.”

  He turned to me. “Boss, could you remove the Yukon from the craft, and pull it forward some?”

  “Sure Ozzie.” I hit the intercom by the ramp and asked Max to pull forward far enough to get the 6X6 aboard. Then I backed Nikki’s truck off, and parked it out of the way. I heard the diesel catch, and then Thorogood’s ‘Gear Jammer’ filled the air. Topper loaded the 6X6, and then Taz led a procession of smaller bots with recovery gear into the cargo bay. Ozzie was going at the new bike like a madman. I looked closer, and realized he was putting it together already. Ozzie finished, and asked Dingus, “Will you need your Steed of Silence on this trip, Sir?”

  “I don’t think so, Ozzie. But I would like to ride it before we leave.”

  “Ride her hard, Sir. Ride her hard.”

  Dingus jumped on and got the feel of it. Then he flew off a little hill, waving at Ozzie. Topper said, “All loaded, Boss.”

  I looked at Ozzie. “Get aboard, speed freak.”

  I used the intercom again. “Max, you’re loaded. When the ramp closes, head for John’s. We’ll meet you there.”

  I hit the close button and jumped out.

  I fired up Nikki’s truck and headed out. Dingus followed. When he had room, he pulled up beside me. “See you there, Slowpoke!” He zoomed out of sight.

  When I pulled in to John’s, Dingus was giving Greg a ride on the new bike. Snitz came running as soon as I slid out of the truck. John walked up as I was petting Snitz. “I hear you found another project for us.”

  “Nossir. That was Max. I asked him to stay out of sight while we bought a motorcycle, and he wanders off and finds a problem that needs our attention. No Bob, no how.”

  “What are you planning?”

  “Going back to get that saucer after dark. Then it’s on you to figure out how to get this fellow vertical, if that’s possible.”

  “If?”

  “Dingus and Max both said the readings looked strange. I don’t have enough medical knowledge to know exactly what they meant, but if neither one of them has seen it before, it’s pretty odd.”

  “Yep. Who do you want for this one?”

  Max for sure, it’s his find. Dingus, if we can scrape him off his new toy. I’d like to take you with us, but your plate is pretty full right now.”

  “Won’t Dingus’ battery run down soon?”

  “Aah, nope. Ozzie hooked him up.”

  “That thing’s got a power core? I figured the boys hadn’t been ahold of it yet, since it still has stock paint.”

  “Ozzie changed it out in about five minutes while the other two were loading the freighter. Topper hasn’t had his turn yet. I don’t even know if he’s talked to Dingus about what he wants, yet.”

  “Those boys get some work done, that’s for sure. The remodel at Shady Oaks is fantastic!”

  “Tell them, not me.”

  “I did. Come help me with supper.”

  Dee showed up while we were waiting for the fire to be ready to cook on. “I left Topper’s paint order in the shop. Nobody was home.”

  “They’re on the freighter out in the barn. We’ve got a mission to fly tonight.”

  “You’re waiting till dark? Won’t somebody else get there first?”

  “Max found a derelict that’s been marooned longer than Dingus. A few more hours isn’t going to be an issue, I don’t think.”

  “Speaking of Dingus, I got him a present, but you bozos keep your trap shut about it, okay?”

  “What did you get?”

  “You’ll see, when Topper finishes the paint on the new bike. You gonna have him home in time to do that tonight?”

  “No clue. We’ve only got scans of the saucer. We haven’t even been in the cave yet. I’m guessing we’re going to spend a while shoveling guano.”

  “You have to leave me openings like that, don’t you?”

  John replied, “You didn’t know you were in deep shit when you took up with us?”

  “You two are hopeless. Is supper about ready?”

  John picked up a steak to look at the bottom. “Getting close.”

  “I better go get Greg and Dingus off that bike before Greg’s grin meets in the back and unzips his head.”

  We took the food in the house. Everyone was already at the table. I was a little surprised to see Mike and Tina with their trainee. John said, “Waiting for us? How nice of you.”

  Dee said, “Only because you have the food.”

  We all dug in. When Greg came up for air, he asked, “Are all of you family? Why do you eat together so often?”

  All our faces got thoughtful looks. Finally Dingus spoke up. “I hadn’t thought about it, but most of us are family. Mostly, though, we’re just good friends. Are you friendly?”

  “Mom says I should have more friends my own age. Most of the people I know are grown-ups.”

  “That’ll come, now that you feel better.”<
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  John’s comm chimed. He said, “Oh, I’ve got work to do. Tina, do you mind coming downstairs with me?”

  “Not at all, John.”

  They took off. Greg asked, “What are they doing?”

  I said, “Tina’s friend got hurt. She’s been in the machine like you were. They’re going to get her up.”

  “John helps a lot of people, doesn’t he?”

  “He sure does.”

  Private Crang was still a little wobbly when they got back. John sat her down at the table and said, “Eat. Your body needs fuel.” Tina sat with her, showing her how to use Earth utensils. I said, “Hey Greg, you up for some Frisbee, before it gets dark?”

  “Sounds good, Uncle Bob!”

  I looked at Jane. She said, “I didn’t want him calling grown-ups by their first names. I didn’t think that other name people call you was appropriate either.”

  “The one with an A?”

  “That’s the one.”

  “Thanks for that. Never been an uncle before, have to get used to that.”

  We went outside. I whistled for Snitz, but he was slow coming. Finally he poked his head out of the barn. When he saw the Frisbee, he came running. We played for a while, then Mike came out. “Ah, Mike, come to learn how to work this thing?” I asked, waving the Frisbee at him.

  “No. Just came to tell you we’ll be heading out soon.”

  “Do me a favor and wait till after dark, please?”

  “Not a problem.”

  “Do me another favor?”

  “What’s that?”

  “Start checking for trackers before you leave base. Next time you might not be so lucky. I hear there are planets around even more primitive than ours. Hate to have to organize a safari just to get you home.”

  “You’d do that, wouldn’t you? I’ll be sure to check, Bob. That was too much excitement for me.”

  Greg managed to talk Mike into trying a few throws. He wasn’t very good at first, but he definitely improved by the time it got dark enough to quit. I shook his hand. “Fly safe, Mike. Will you be here a week from tomorrow?”