by SW Matthews
The two men looked at him for a moment, then the closest one spoke with a deep, monotone voice. “You can call me One.”
Andy raised his eyebrows. “One? Your name is One?”
“You can call me One.”
Andy shook his head. Tough guys. “Okay, fine. I guess that makes you Two, huh?” he asked the second man.
No response.
Andy looked back and forth between them. “Alrighty. Tuffy One and Tuffy Two it is. Well, we’re going to leave in about an hour—”
One cut him off. “We’re ready now.”
“Yes, I’m sure you are, T-O, but I have to run my checklist, and we can’t leave without my navigator. Doc’s place isn’t easy to find. I’m going to need her help.”
Again, no response.
“Okay, so about an hour then. Look, you guys can come sit in the passenger cabin—”
“We’ll wait here.”
With a shrug, Andy went to work.
It was about an hour later, and he was just finishing up his preflight checklist, when Piper stepped onto the plane carrying a bag and a thermos.
She motioned toward the dock. “What’s with them?”
“Too much macho,” Andy responded.
Piper nodded. “Everything ready?”
“I think so. Go ahead and get settled. I’ll get them.”
She raised her bag and thermos. “You think they want something to eat, or coffee?”
Andy shook his head. “Nah, they’re used to synthetics, and I bet they had some stowed in their gear. Besides, the real stuff would tear them up, and I don’t want them stinking up my plane.”
Piper smirked as she turned toward the cockpit.
Andy stepped out onto the dock, summoned the tough guys, and escorted them through the cargo hold to the small passenger cabin, which consisted of two rows and a total of five seats. The back row had two seats next to each other on the pilot’s side, and one seat on the co-pilot’s side. The front row had only two seats next to each other on the pilot’s side. Windows were located at both ends of each row.
Andy indicated the two seats in the front row. “First class seats for you guys, right?”
The two goons didn’t say a word as they sat down, placed their gear in front of them on the floor, and put on their seat belts.
Andy opened a trunk that was secured at the front of the cabin. “It’s going to get cold up there, boys,” he said as he pulled on his leather flight jacket. “There’s blankets in here if you want ’em.”
The men just smirked at him.
Andy let the trunk lid fall. “Right, I guess you have to have balls before you can freeze ’em off, huh?”
He saw a flash of anger in both pairs of eyes, which made him smile as he entered the cockpit and closed the door behind him.
He shook his head at Piper as he turned on the music. “Wow, I hope I wasn’t ever that big of a douche.”
“I’m sure you were, honey,” she assured him with a smile.
The fog had almost completely dissipated as the Loon pulled away from the dock. It taxied out to open water, picked up speed, and gently lifted into the sky, heading north.
***
Hourglass Lake was about 230 miles north of Ely. It was named Hourglass because of its shape—two large basins with a narrow channel connecting them. It was one of the few local lakes with a sandy beach, which was located along the southern basin. That was also the location of Doc’s cabin.
They didn’t travel at full speed, but it still only took about two hours to reach Doc’s place. As their destination came into sight, Andy saw a small plane preparing to take off from the lake.
“Perfect,” he said to Piper. “This will buy us some time. Go ahead and get started.”
Piper nodded, took a deep breath, and opened the door to the passenger cabin.
“Okay, okay, okay, okay!” she said frantically as she rushed into the cabin and closed the door behind her. “Oh, I hate this part! Oh, God!”
She rushed to the lone seat on the opposite side of the goons and sat down heavily. They were both staring at her, and the one by the window had opened his shade.
“I’m sorry, guys, but I’ve never gotten used to landing this damn thing.” She stood and pushed past the two men to close the shade. “I just don’t want to see anything,” she explained, then turned to the speaker mounted on the front wall of the cabin and turned the music up. “Or hear anything!”
The men smiled at each other, no doubt mentally ridiculing and humoring her at the same time.
When Andy heard the music volume increase in the passenger cabin, he pressed a button on his commlink.
***
Tuck was relieved when his commlink flashed, indicating it was time. It was getting cramped in the roof cargo hold. He had endured much worse conditions for much longer, but he was getting older, and he was beginning to think that maybe this had not been the best of plans. But his doubts fled at the signal from his friend. He made sure all of his gear was secure, opened the cargo door, and fell into the air.
***
Andy felt a slight shudder and knew Tuck was out. He picked up the cabin microphone “It’ll be just a minute, guys. There’s a plane taking off down there, so I’m going to circle once, then we’ll land. Sorry, babe.”
As the music came back on, he heard Piper fake moaning. He knew she’d keep her eyes on the two goons to make sure they didn’t open the window shade.
Andy circled slowly, watching Tuck’s parachute disappear below the tops of the trees on the small peninsula across the lake from Doc’s cabin. Right on target, he thought. He slowed down to give his friend more time to set up.
After a few minutes, he activated the microphone again. “Okay, hold on, baby. I’m taking her down.”
For a moment, Piper’s over-acting drowned out the music.
The landing was perfect. As they were taxiing toward the dock, Piper reappeared in the cockpit.
“Nice work,” he said.
She winked at him.
Once they were secured at the dock, Andy walked back to the cabin. One and Two were standing and checking their gear.
“Okay, guys. Let me go find Doc, then—”
“We can find him,” said One.
Andy held up his hands. “No, you can’t. I will find him, and maybe find this kid too. Look, I’m here to help you guys, and I want the rest of the money, so I’m not going to do anything funny. I know Doc. Let me go talk to him, then I’ll bring him down to the plane.”
The men didn’t answer, but they didn’t move either, and Andy took that as a good sign. He turned and exited the plane.
Doc’s cabin was about forty yards from the water’s edge, up a gradually sloping hill, almost completely surrounded by trees. Andy had just stepped off the dock when Doc called out to him.
“Andy! What are you doing here?” he yelled.
Doc smiled through his trimmed gray beard and attempted to smooth his short gray hair as he walked toward Andy. He was wearing his usual short-sleeved white smock, its zipper straining against his midsection.
“Hey, Doc, hold on,” Andy said, holding up his hands, trying to get the man to stop approaching.
“Someone sick?” Doc asked. Then he turned toward the plane and said, “Who’s that?”
Andy spun around just as One, who was standing on the dock, raised his rifle at Doc.
“Wait!” Andy screamed, leaping in front of the doctor with his arms outstretched.
The rifle fired, and the large sphere at the end of the barrel released an electrified net made up of small, intertwined metal cables. The net hit Doc from mid-chest to mid-thigh, and also caught Andy’s outstretched arm, pinning it against Doc’s waist. The cables tightened and emitted electrical shocks, immobilizing both men. They fell to the ground.
One slowly walked to the victims. “Where is—”
“There he is!” interrupted Two from the dock, raising his rifle toward the cabin.
Andy’s bo
dy was on fire, but he was able to lift his head to look. The white-haired, white-skinned boy stood at the top of the hill. He didn’t have a chance to move before the net from Two’s rifle knocked him to the ground.
Two started running uphill. One watched, unmoving.
Mercifully, the electric shocks ceased, but still Andy was unable to pull his arm free from the webbing. He struggled to no avail, then at last gave up and turned to watch the scene unfolding at the top of the hill.
To Andy’s amazement, the boy was practically free of the net. It appeared that he had broken several of the cables with his bare hands.
“What the…”
Two pulled the handgun from his shoulder holster and shot the boy three times directly in the head.
My God. Andy was stunned beyond belief. He could only watch stupidly.
Two calmly replaced the weapon under his arm, pushed some buttons on his wrist commlink, then removed the larger gun from his thigh, pulled the end of a cable from it, and attached it to the boy, then aimed straight into the sky—and fired.
The canister, with the cable attached, flew into the air and exploded, releasing a self-inflating balloon. It hung motionless in the windless sky, tethered to its tiny, unmoving anchor.
Within seconds, a drone appeared. It raced toward the balloon, clasped the cable with jaws mounted on the front of the craft, then began to rise higher into the air as it sped away. The boy’s limp body was dragged along the ground, bouncing off of rocks and trees, then was finally lifted into the air as the drone gained altitude.
Andy turned his astonished eyes back to Two. He still didn’t understand what he had just witnessed.
Two was watching the boy with a smug look of satisfaction. Suddenly a figure in black appeared next to him. With a quick flash of sunlight, Two’s head fell to the ground next to his still-standing body, which then crumpled and collapsed.
Instantly, One came alive again. He pulled his handgun and fired twice at the new threat, but if he found his target, there was no sign of it. The figure in black walked slowly down toward One, a sword drawn and held in both hands.
One aimed the gun at Doc, who was still unconscious. “I will kill him,” One stated matter-of-factly, his voice shaking.
The man said nothing, just kept coming closer.
Andy saw One’s finger tighten on the trigger. “Tuck!” he yelled. “Help!”
Before the words were even out of his mouth, One’s head exploded in a cascade of blood. His limp body fell to the ground as the report of Tuck’s sniper rifle echoed across the lake.
A few very tense moments passed as Andy and the warrior in black regarded each other.
The man’s movements reminded Andy of a lake cougar, or maybe it’s shadow. He was silent and unnervingly quick. He appeared to be in his mid-twenties, clean-shaven, with bright blue eyes and a head full of thick, black, unruly hair. Andy’s first thought was he needed to keep Piper away from this guy.
The man stopped next to Doc, with his sword tip pointed at Andy.
“Whoa, buddy,” said Andy, holding up his free hand.
Then Piper was running toward him and screaming. “Andy! What happened? What’s going on?” She stopped when she saw the corpse of One. “Did Tuck do that? Are you okay? Is Doc okay? Who is this guy?” She motioned toward the swordsman.
“I’m fine. Just stuck to Doc’s big gut…” Andy answered.
Before he could answer her other questions, a young woman exited the cabin and ran down the hill to join them. “Is he okay? What happened?” She knelt down beside Doc and inspected him.
“It’s a long story,” Andy said. Then to Piper, “Babe, will you go get the bolt cutters?”
Piper had started to turn when the man in black spoke for the first time. “Wait,” he said forcefully. He brought the sword closer to Andy.
The young woman responded while attending to Doc. “It’s okay, Niner, we need to cut them loose.”
The man relaxed, and Piper ran to the Loon.
Andy looked up. “Niner? What are you, an over-the-road trucker?” Then he smiled and said in an accent, “Breaker, breaker, one niner, is that you, Bandit? You got the Porkchop Express back there?”
Niner stared coldly at Andy for a few seconds, then quietly replied, “Maybe nine is the number of smartasses I’ve killed.”
Andy’s smile disappeared, and the two men stared at each other. Then the hint of a grin wrinkled the corners of Niner’s eyes.
Andy snorted and turned to the young woman. “I like this kid,” he said.
She ignored him. She looked a lot like the kid. Same blue eyes, same dark hair. She was beautiful.
“You two related?” he asked.
She continued to ignore him. Same personality, too, he thought.
Piper returned with the bolt cutters and got to work freeing Andy and Doc from the net.
“Babe, this is Niner,” Andy said.
She stopped and raised an eyebrow.
“I know,” Andy said. “I think he’s a trucker.”
Piper smirked. “Who’s the chick?”
“Don’t know, but I think she likes me.”
Both women ignored him this time.
Doc started to awaken as the last of the cables was removed. “Rosie?” he said, looking up at the young woman. He turned to Niner, then Andy and Piper. “What are you two doing here? Wait, where’s the boy?”
Niner answered. “He’s gone. These two helped.”
Doc looked at Andy and Piper incredulously. “What? Why?”
“We were hired, Doc,” Piper explained. “We were told the boy had been kidnapped.”
“Who hired you?” Doc asked.
“The guy said he was the boy’s dad,” said Andy, rubbing his wrist and checking his commlink. It wouldn’t turn on; apparently it was destroyed by the electrical charges.
“Cregor Hoff?” Doc said.
“Yep.”
Doc nodded. “Technically he is the boy’s father, I suppose.”
“So you did kidnap him?” Piper asked.
“About a year ago.” Doc shrugged.
Andy and Piper looked at each other, then at Doc. “Seriously?”
Doc nodded. “I wouldn’t really call it a kidnapping. We rescued him.”
“Rescued him?” Andy asked. “Oh, God, Doc, the boy’s dead. That goon shot him three times point blank before the drone dragged him off. I’m sorry. I would never have—”
Doc motioned for him to calm down. “It’s okay, Andy. He’s fine.”
“He’s not fine, he’s dead. I saw it happen. Trust me.”
“He’s not dead, Andy.” Doc stood, with Rosie’s help, then helped Andy to his feet. “Let’s go inside. It’s a long story.”
Chapter 5
Doc’s cabin extended into the hillside, so it was much larger than it appeared on the outside. The entire front of the cabin was a kitchen, immaculately appointed with the best materials and appliances.
They all sat around a large kitchen table.
“We need to get Tuck,” Andy said, looking at Piper.
“Where is he?” Doc asked.
“On the point across the lake. He saved your ass, Doc.”
The old man turned to Niner. “Will you go get him in the boat? The rest of us need to talk about all this.”
Niner nodded and left.
“I’ll let Tuck know,” said Piper, raising her commlink.
As soon as Tuck had been notified, Andy began the discussion. “What the hell is going on here, Doc?”
Doc sighed. “I think the first thing you need to know is who I really am.”
“I know who you are, Doc. You’re Dr. Ouch! You and your wife Gabby… Hey, where is Gabby?” Andy looked around. “Come to think of it, I haven’t seen her around here for a while.”
Doc looked at Rosie, then down at the table. “She’s dead, Andy. And my name is not Dr. Ouch.” He paused. “My name is William Braxton the Eighth. My family started, and still owns, Braxton Incorp
orated. My father is the CEO.”
“What?” Andy said. “You’re a Braxton? Like the richer-than-God Braxtons?”
“Hoff said he worked for Braxton,” Piper interjected. “He said he was the vice president.”
Doc nodded. “Yes, he’s one of many vice presidents of the company, as am I. He’s also my brother-in-law.”
“Wait,” Andy said. “You’re saying you kidnapped your… nephew?”
“Like I said, it’s a long story.”
“Okay,” Piper said, “you’ve got our attention. Just start at the beginning.”
Doc sighed again, sat back in his chair, and clasped his hands together on the tabletop.
“My family started Braxton Incorporated back in the nineteenth century. Eighteen eighty-seven to be exact. It started as a surgical dressing manufacturing company, and over the course of the twentieth century it grew into a large pharmaceutical company. In the early twenty-first century, our headquarters and most of our manufacturing plants were relocated to Colorado and central Canada, which turned out to be a very fortuitous decision. Most of our competitors on the East Coast and abroad were destroyed by the great cataclysm of 2051. Those that survived were destroyed by the war that followed. We were suddenly the largest pharmaceutical company in the world, by default. My grandfather, and eventually my father, took full advantage of the opportunity, and the company has grown by leaps and bounds ever since. Braxton has expanded into all types of new enterprises…”
“Like helijets,” Andy said.
“That’s right. You know of our aircraft?”
“That’s what I flew in the war. Great bird. Not pretty, but very useful. I loved flying it.”
Doc nodded. “Yes, they’re very useful. That’s how Gabby and I always traveled. By Braxton helijet. That’s how we came here.”
“And you’re really a vice president of Braxton?” Andy asked. He still couldn’t believe it.
“Well, technically, yes. It’s really just a title my father gave me to keep me involved; I never worked for the company. I guess I never had the personality required to succeed in the business world. I was more like my uncle, William the Fifth—Cinco, we called him. He was a surgeon too. He just wanted to be an asset to humanity, you know? Help people on a one-to-one basis. Which was why my father ended up taking control of the company. My whole life, everyone told me how much I reminded them of Uncle Cinco, and they even gave me the nickname Ocho. I decided to follow in his footsteps, and when I was accepted into medical school, my family nickname was jokingly transformed to Ouch-o.”