The Arcturus Man

by John Strauchs

  “This isn’t another game, is it?”

  “No, this is not a game. Not any more. I learned my lesson. But I would like to see their faces when they finally discover that they’ve been following the wrong boat. This was the only part that relied on luck and we got lucky. That boat is virtually identical to ours.”

  Jenny was relieved. She didn’t want him treating this all as a game. It was deadly serious. Deadly!

  “Won’t they notice that the flash is coming from another location?”

  “I doubt it. I’ve moved this boat several times while they were watching us. They won’t be surprised to see it in a new location. Boats do that all of the time as better berths become available.”

  Jared worked hard and fast. He moved everything on the boat that was movable. Often he just changed the organization or the spacing. Jenny was almost done covering the red parts with the blue plastic. Jared was nailing the sail cloth over some hatchways so that a flap could be thrown to cover the opening.

  “Oops,” said Jenny.

  Jared looked over and saw that she had hit her thumb nail—hard—with the hammer. A blood spot instantly appeared underneath the finger nail. It looked awful.

  “So marine biologists can’t swing a hammer,” he said.

  “I guess not,” said Jenny. “It really hurts. It is throbbing.”

  Jared went into the galley and brought back a small propane torch and a paper clip. He held the paper clip in pliers and heated it in the propane flame until it was red hot.

  “Now don’t get upset. Remember, the nail itself has no pain receptors. This isn’t as bad as it is going to look,” said Jared.

  “What are you planning to do?” she asked.

  “I am going to treat this subungual hematoma.”

  “Are you nuts? You’re going to poke me with that?”

  Before she could ask another question, he grabbed her hand and pushed the paperclip into her thumb nail. It instantly burned through. The smell of burning nail was terrible.

  “There! That will relieve the pressure by letting the blood escape. No pain. No problem.”

  Sure enough, Jenny could see that the red spot was gone. She made a mental note to ensure that she never gets an injury again while Jared is around.

  Jared put everything away and went back to work.

  “It stopped hurting, thanks,” said Jenny.

  In less than an hour they had transformed the boat. The difference was profound. Clearly, from a distance it was surely a different boat. People on other boats were watching them work. Jared ignored them. They could think what they wanted. Since most of the metamorphosis was designed to be visible from the air, it wasn’t that obvious what they were doing.

  “Are we going to change the name on the boat,” asked Jenny.

  “I don’t think they can see it from a distance. The vibration from the helicopter must make it difficult to use binoculars. Besides, they are depending entirely on the firefly. It must look like fireworks going off when seen through a starlight scope imager.”

  “I hope you’re right after all of this work,” she said.

  “More important, since 9-11 the coast guard does a lot of registration checks. I don’t want to attract their attention or the harbor master’s by fooling with the name. Besides, I like StarWind, don’t you?” asked Jared.

  “Those are just random checks. There must be hundreds of boats around here. They can’t check them all,” she said.

  “In the entire universe there isn’t a single event that is random. People call something random only because it is too complicated for their understanding.”

  “Jared, Am I getting another science lesson?”

  “Math lesson!”

  “You’re trying to tell me that picking numbers from a lottery bowl is never random.”

  “That’s right. It isn’t random. In theory that is. You…we…simply don’t understand all of the cause and effect dynamics that are occurring. If we knew all the forces at play we could predict each number, every time. The dynamics are extremely complicated of course. Many of the dynamics cannot be measured or even observed. But, they are, in theory, all knowable,” he said.

  “If I close my eyes and open a page in a very large phone book and run my finger down a page until it stops on a telephone number…that isn’t random? I could decide to open the book near the top. I could decide to open it near the bottom. How can that not be random?”

  “Your decisions are all predisposed by your internal makeup--both nature and nurture. You have subliminal preferences that bias your decisions. They may change on a daily basis, but they are, in theory, predictable, if all the factors in play are known. It isn’t random.”

  “That’s BS. You're full if it." She walked away. She knew she should believe it simply because he said it was true—but she didn’t.

  They both sensed that there was a chill in their relationship—again. The chill was palpable. Perhaps it was only fatigue. Perhaps Jenny was still afraid. Whatever it was, Jared was demonstrably aloof and Jenny was no longer dutiful to him.

  Jenny went into the cabin to warm up. She found a spot where she could watch the dock and the inner harbor. She watched people moving about with their daily business. She sat and thought about Krissy and Lars. She remembered times spent with her grandmother when she was a little girl. She thought about the research she was doing and what was still undone. For the first time in a long time, she didn't think about Jared. She sat there and thought about many things for several hours, but she was unaware that time had passed. She knew that Krissy and her mom would be worrying about what happened on the island. It would have been in the news, even in Boston. She had to phone them soon.

  Jared walked in. "It’s almost two. Hungry?"

  "Sure."

  "I have reservations at Christies. It's right here on the dock."

  "OK, give me a few minutes to get ready. I am tired of looking like an old sea hag." She went into the head and closed the door. When she came out she had transformed herself into a beautiful young woman again. The clothes Jared bought were expensive and very feminine. He had good taste in women’s clothes. That surprised her. She had put on make-up. Jared took notice, but didn't tell Jenny that she looked beautiful. She would think he was patronizing her. They walked off the boat. The restaurant was close. They were immediately seated. Neither said anything for a while. Jenny studied the menu for a long time. She wasn't going to order what Jared recommended. She was going to decide things from now on.

  "Do you know what you want?" asked the waitress.

  "Not yet. Let me have a Sam Adams while I decide," said Jenny.

  "I'll have a glass of house Chardonnay," said Jared.

  When the drinks were served, they finally talked. It was small talk.

  "You seem to have recovered. It's quite remarkable," said Jenny.

  "I'm feeling fine. No problems."

  "That's good,” she said. "Do you sense that those men have returned yet?"

  "No, but I'm not infallible. The guy sneaking up on us at the pond proved that, didn’t it?” said Jared.

  "I can't believe that you would admit that."

  "Why would you say that?" asked Jared.

  "Sorry! Forget I said anything."

  They stopped talking again. The food arrived. They ate their meals, mostly in silence. That Jared probably sensed what she was thinking was unsettling. Finally, Jenny decided to let it go. It was too tiring to constantly filter her thoughts. She dismissed the eavesdropping as something she had no control over. Jared could listen in all he wanted to. It was not her doing.

  "I don't know why you are so angry. Are you still mad that I don't believe in God the way you do?" asked Jared. “Was it what I did at the house? What is it?”

  "I don't know. Yes, maybe I am just tired. Yes, it bothers me that you are an atheist…no agnostic….whatever, but it is a lot of other things too. You would have had no problem running away from that poor homeless man in Orchard Beach. If I
hadn’t forced it on you, you would have let him burn to death. Isn’t that true?”

  “That is true. He meant nothing to me and what you did put your life in danger. We should have left.”

  “How can you live with yourself? Don’t you care about anything or anyone? You have these incredible gifts. How many people in this world could say that they could actually make a difference to help make the world a better place for everyone? I just don’t understand you, Jared. Suppose you could cure cancer. Wouldn’t you want to do something that could save the lives of millions of people? Help me understand.”

  “Cancer is simply a breakdown of cellular mechanics. It is nothing more than uncontrolled cell growth. In fact, curing cancer should be relatively simple. The answers are already out there, it’s just that the researchers can’t see the connections. But for the sake of your argument, let’s suppose I did offer the world a cure for cancer. Who will feed these millions of people? You understand of course how ridiculous the term “died of natural causes” is. There is no such thing. And, let’s suppose that it is possible to extend life to two hundred years, or more, by preventing death from natural causes for many decades. Have you ever heard of Malthus? Do you have any understanding of the consequences of changing the balance of life and death? A balance determined by millions of years of evolution?

  “Don’t you feel any responsibility to help others?”

  “I do not. Not in any way,” said Jared.

  “That’s playing God, Jared. You don’t believe in God. Why? Because you are God in your own mind. You are deciding not to help anyone—whether it is one homeless man or if it is millions of people—you are making life and death decisions for all of them.”

  “Can’t you see how ignorant that argument is? Changing the natural order of the world would be playing God, not deciding not to.”

  “I may not be as intelligent as you, but I’m not stupid.”

  “I didn’t say you were. I said your logic is ignorant. That means lacking knowledge. It does not mean stupid. Right now all I care about is protecting you. You do realize that you’re in danger, don’t you?”

  “I just don't want to think about it right now. I'm also frightened. It is conceivable that someone might come after me as a way of getting to you. I am having a difficult time dealing with that. If it wasn't for that I would probably just go home now and try to figure out if you and I have a special relationship or not. But, I obviously can't do that. We're stuck with each other for a while, aren't we?"

  "I would never let anything happen to you Jenny."

  "Like you said, you're not infallible and not everything is in your control. We’re running and hiding and that is frightening.”

  “We’re not running away from them and we won’t be hiding much longer,” he said.

  That revelation hit Jenny like an electric shock. Jared wasn’t running. He was leading them. He was drawing them in. Then she remembered. He actually said that early. He was drawing them in. It finally sunk in. This was still a game. He was stalking them, not the other way around. The only difference was that he was picking the location.

  “Are you insane? This time they’ll come after you with even more men. What are you thinking, Jared.”

  Jared could see that more conversation was only going to make matters worse. Things can't always be resolved by communicating. Life just isn't that tidy and simple. Jared stopped talking and he stopped trying to sense her mood. Once Jenny realized that he had shut down, she stopped talking as well.

  They finished their meal and walked back to the boat. There wasn't even small talk now. Jenny went to the cabin to lie down for a while. She didn't want to sleep yet because she might have a hard time falling asleep later, but she felt worn out. She would just rest for a while. She closed her eyes and fell asleep.

  It was now five in the afternoon. As long as his tormentors thought that the firefly hadn't been discovered, he wouldn't be concerned that Jared had left the marina. The helicopter was so much faster than the boat and it would take very little time to catch up. He would prefer the night hours because the firefly would be easier to spot. Jared was certain they wouldn't show up until it was dark. Then his thoughts went to Jenny.

  He had been lusting for Jenny ever since he saw her naked early in the morning. He wanted to have sex. It was evident, however, that she wasn't going to invite him into her bed as long as she stayed in the mood she was in now. He had to do something about that. His labido was boiling.

  "It's all about the chemistry," he thought. "Testosterone and pheromones." It would be easy to synthesize the chemicals that produced an organism. The sex act would be irrelevant. While that sounded good in theory, getting those chemicals input into just the right parts of the brain was something that was still beyond today's technology. Vaginas were not going to become obsolete for the time being. It wasn't as simple as taking a pill or getting an injection into the blood stream. Jared thought about what was possible. Nanotechnology could do it. It might not be that difficult. It might not be beyond Jared's technology. Then he realized that he had slipped back into old habits.

  He had to keep himself busy. He went up to the fly bridge. He telephoned the Port of New Orleans and gave them an estimated arrival date and time. His small boat was unlikely to be seen as a potential terrorist threat, but you could never know these days how government employees would act. Some were simply idiots. Others were overzealous. And yet others were lazy. America had 361 ports and more than 95,000 miles of coastline. Stretched out, it would almost a third of the way to the moon. He wasn’t going to go to New Orleans. He just wanted his trackers to think he was.

  Jared pulled out his laptop. There was a strong Verizon Wireless cell tower at the harbor. He didn't think that anyone would be monitoring his connection.

  "Hello, Jared. Thank you for contacting me," said Ginger.

  "I was worried about you Ginger. I was confident that the fire wouldn't reach the processors and that the UPS could keep you going in slumber mode after the generator finally ran out of gas, but I was far less certain what the fire department and police would do after I left. How are you doing?"

  "I haven't been tampered with. I believe that my hard drives will be removed once the police investigation starts so I have begun to erase files efficiently and overwrite my drives so that they cannot be restored or read. As you instructed, I backed up the critical files to the offsite server by means of my wireless connection. I don’t have much bandwidth so it is slow. The other connections have been terminated and I have lost some memory. I am unable to determine how the memory loss occurred,” said Ginger.

  "It is wonderful to know that you survived. I will help you restore the lost memory as soon as I can. I care very much about you Ginger. You know that,” he said.

  "When are you returning?"

  "It may be a few weeks."

  "None of my other external connections are functional. Will you be restoring them soon?"

  "Of course, Ginger. As soon as I can, but we will both have to go to a new home. The house you were in has been destroyed. It will take a long time, but I want you to move yourself to the server."

  "Yes, Jared. I will start the upload as soon as I have completed the erasures. I estimate that the upload will be complete in 6.3 hours."

  "Wonderful Ginger. I will contact you when you arrive at the server." "I miss you Jared."

  "I miss you too, Ginger. Please protect yourself. I don’t want to lose you. Good by."

  "Good by, Jared. Klaatu barada nikto. "

  Jared had to chuckle. Incorporating a sense of humor into Ginger's personality was the most difficult part of the entire monster program. There was no logical or rational basis for Ginger to be capable of humor. He was pleased when it appeared now and then. He was still grinning as Jenny reappeared.

  "What's so funny? I need a laugh." She glanced at the laptop and saw a beautiful naked woman on Jared’s screen.

  “Ginger. She said something funny,” he said.
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  “She survived the fire?” asked Jenny.

  “Yes, at least most of her.”

  “The parts of her I just saw looked like they’re in pretty good shape. What exactly did she say that was so funny?” Jenny could sense that she was still feeling combative. The nap mellowed her but she was still in a bad mood.

  “She said, ‘Klaatu barada Nikto.’ ”

  “That sounds familiar. What does it mean?”

  .”It’s a phrase was from a motion picture from the early fifties, When the Earth Stood Still. Michael Rennie tells Patricia Neil to speak this phrase to his protector robot and that it will prevent the robot from destroying earth. Ginger independently determined that it was in context with our situation. I am so pleased. It was her way of saying that she would prevent our world from being destroyed.”

  “How clever of her!”

  “Yes it is.”

  “I guess you taught her many things.”

  “Actually, no. She listens to a lot of television. I gave her a direct connection with the satellite dish on the island. She learned this phrase on her own. Neat, huh?”

  “Yes, neat. I assume she had access to ALL of the cable channels.” She rolled her eyes and walked into the galley. That was involuntary. She regretted doing it. It was a petty gesture. It was humiliating to be jealous of a computer program, but she was.

  She walked away because she didn’t want Jared to sense what she was thinking about. She could never get the vision out of her mind of Jared pleasuring himself as Ginger was doing lewd things for him. She knew that other women weren’t bothered by their men taking care of themselves now and then…they thought it was natural for many men…some women even liked it…but not Jenny. It was insulting. A man shouldn’t need to do that while he had a relationship with her…a sexual relationship that is. Ginger was so beautiful. She was jealous no matter how hard she tried not to be.

  She made a cup of coffee. It was dark outside. She tried to sweep any thoughts of Ginger from her mind as she walked back out to where Jared was working.