Vernon takes a knee in front of Eric. He takes a shallow breath through his nose and says, "Please tell me where my girlfriend is, and I will leave you alone. Unharmed."
Eric’s eyes dart around, from Vernon’s eyes and face to the floor.
"I...but I shouldn’t...I...alright, I’ll tell you. She’s in the shed in the back corner of the property to the left over there." Eric motions his head toward the shed.
Vernon stands, and looks in that direction. "Duke keep holding him, while I look for her in this shed he is leading me off too."
"Sure thing, just watch out for any triggers, like at the entrance."
"Triggers, what triggers" says Eric befuddled.
"The locking gate and the locking double doors to the front of this place, that’s what I’m talking about." replies Duke.
"Those are just sensors, there were no triggers, and are no traps. Also there is a lock on the shed, the code is Paladin."
"Paladin!? Are you working for them?" Duke questions.
"No, that’s just the code. This was an old paladin facility and I knew how to turn the place on and what to put in for all the codes."
"Well I’ll see if Marie is really there. Duke just keep an eye on our friend here." Vernon says as he starts heading through the forest.
It doesn’t take very long for Vernon to find the shed. It was more of a decent sized shack than a shed. There is a lock on the door, just like Eric said with a keypad next to it. There was something weird about it, all the keys are backwards. He types in Paladin for the code and the computer starts talking gibberish but doesn’t open. He scratches his head, and with everything backwards he tries nidalaP next. It opens.
"Stupid reverse mirror shifted area bull." Vernon says under his breath.
17
He opens the door and sees Marie tied up in a chair, and a glass display panel to the right. The panel is still on, and shows there are five people in the area. It also is listed as training facility three. There is a countdown on the upper right of the screen that says reset in five hours. The display is also in full color.
What is all this? Vernon thinks, but just ignores it to focus on Marie. He doesn’t notice anything wrong with her other than she is a sleep. He tries to call out to her putting his hand on her cheek, but gets no response. He then shakes her a little, but still won’t wake up. Looking around the room there isn’t anything else in the room, other than the computer, chair and Marie.
"Come on Marie, wake up!" Vernon says again to no response. He unties and picks Marie up. Carrying her out of the shack and back to where Duke is waiting.
"Duke, I have Marie right here. She seems fine but she won’t wake up."
"So what did you two do to her?" Duke says turning to Eric.
"We sedated her it should wear off in a couple of hours." Eric replies, "So you have her and she’s fine, can I go now?"
Vernon looks to Duke and looks back to Eric saying, "Sure but first. Duke."
Duke proceeds to punch Eric on the stomach knocking all the air out of him, and he passes out. Duke then unties Eric and leaves him there.
"Let’s get Marie out of here. How are you holding up Duke?"
"I’m doing alright, after the heal I’m just a little woozy nothing too bad. So did it feel like they hit harder to you too, because this feels nothing like when we were in practice."
"I felt the same way, it was invigorating and scary all at the same time. I thought I was done for there for a second while the wind girl had me flying around in the air. I couldn’t even move or react."
"I know what you mean, that kid had a brass knuckle beam weapon and a personal shield generator. I didn’t even get a chance to hit him before I got shot."
"Yikes man, luckily you were here, because I could not have done all this on my own."
“That’s what best friends are for Vernon. If not for this than what, am I right?"
Vernon laughs, “I guess you’re right Duke. Alright, should we at least check to see if the other girl is alive?”
They walk over to Suzie, and Duke inspects her. From what he could tell she is still breathing, and seems to be alright.
"The only thing is she might have a concussion from you flinging her into the wall here."
"Well I wasn’t aiming for the wall, it was just there. Now that we know she’s alive let’s get out of here and call the knights. That will get these two locked up so we don’t have to deal with them anymore."
"That sounds like a good idea, now we have Marie back."
They head toward the front of the building, Marie in tow in Vernon’s arms still asleep. There is still no sign of anyone else. Reaching the spiral stairs Vernon puts Marie over his shoulder and descends slowly. They decide to have Duke go first back though the mirror. Checking to see if there is anyone waiting for them on the other side.
Vernon gets the all clear signal from Duke, in the form of a disembodied arm and a thumbs up. As Vernon steps though, his HaLO connects back up to the network. His and Marie’s start beeping at the same time. For Vernon it is his parents. He guesses it was the same for Marie, but answers his first.
"Hey mom, dad, I’m alright." Vernon says as he answers his HaLO, voice only.
"My god where were you, we couldn’t even locate you?" Alexandria asks.
"Yea mom, I know, but can I talk to you about it when I get home. I promise to tell you everything but I really need to contact Marie’s parents right now."
There is a pause on the line before Alexandria answers, ”Alright. But I swear mister, you are going to be grounded for good if you don’t. You better tell me everything, and I mean everything, you hear me?"
“That goes double for me too.” Eugene says.
"Yes sir. I love you both, and I’m sorry I made you worry." Vernon replies.
He then pulls up Marie’s parent’s number. Going through the story in his head. All he had to do was tell the truth, but it just didn’t seem real. Hoping her parents won’t hate him for getting Marie into this situation. Vernon sets Marie down on the ground with her HaLO still flashing and looks down the metal lined hallway. He notices that there is someone at the entrance of the building.
Vernon says softly, "Duke we got company." Trying not to alert the person standing at the end of the other end of the house.
Duke turns his head to Vernon saying, ”Sorry about that Master Selief, but I have to go. What are you talking about Vernon?"
"There is someone at the door at the end of the hall."
"It might be the person that put those two up to all this? We need to be careful."
"Your right Duke, watch Marie for me." Vernon replies.
Duke nods. Vernon walks slowly down the hallway, watching every move of the stranger at the door. As he gets closer, he can see out the doors. A car is parked out in front of the gate, and the gate is open. He feels like he has seen this man before. There’s something about the long brown coat he’s wearing that seems familiar. Vernon decides to try and talk to person instead of attacking. He readies himself just in case.
"Hello there. Can I help you?" Vernon asks.
"That’s what I should be asking you." The figure says, and as he turns around to face Vernon. The man’s face becomes clear and it’s Tyler Hemlick.
"Commander Tyler, what are you doing here?"
"This is a paladin facility that I look over. I saw the power had turned on here and came to check it out. There shouldn’t be anyone here. So why are you here?”
“To get my girlfriend. She got kidnapped by two New Atlantis students I fought a couple of weeks ago at a tournament. They're knocked out, in the uhh…"
"The Shifted Area. We call this one negative reflection. It resets every six hours to be just like new. It’s a great place for training recruits, but we don’t need a high level facility like this right now."
“So that’s what the reset thing was."
Tyler’s eyebrow raises, "You saw the computer. Where is it?"
“It was in
the shed in the back. They had Marie tied up inside.” Vernon leans back, “Hey Duke it’s alright. It’s the paladin commander. He came to check on this place."
Duke picks up Marie and brings her over to Vernon. He sets her on the ground next to the door.
"So what about the two that kidnapped her, where are they?" Tyler asks.
"Eric and Suzie are the only names I know them by and we left them alive but knocked out in there." Vernon replies.
Tyler hangs his head and begins to shake it slowly. "Are they now, I’m sorry about that. Those are my children I’m going to bet. There aren’t many people that knows this facility is even here. Let alone know how to use it."
Duke says, “Your children? That would explain the paladin tech they had."
Tyler’s eyebrow raises, "Paladin tech? What did they have?"
Vernon says, “There was a brass knuckle beam weapon and a shield generator."
"I guess Eric had those, they’re prototypes. He must have taken them from me. Thank you for not killing my children. Which you could have done, and most wouldn’t hesitate to do under the circumstance. Those two are going to be in a whole heap of trouble. So if you don’t mind, I’ll take care of those two.“
"What do you think Duke?"
"Well they did just kidnap Marie, but this is the paladin commander here in front of us. So I guess it’s alright to just let him handle it. He will probably punish them worse than what the knights were going to do since they’re his kids." Duke replies.
Vernon nods and turns to Tyler, “So can you make sure this doesn’t happen again?”
"I can promise you on my word as the commander of the paladins, they will not bother you again. That will be assured."
“Great.”
“Thank you for letting me deal with them, and you two must be a pair of good fighters. My kids aren’t easily beaten.”
"They almost had us, we just had a bit of luck on our side." Vernon says.
Tyler laughs, “I guess you did. You know what, you two have what it makes to be good paladins. You already know how to get a job done discreetly, and without having to kill anyone. We are always looking for more good people like you two. If you two ever need anything, just give me a call." Tyler’s contact information pushes onto Vernon’s HaLO. "And there it is, my contact information."
Vernon says, “Wow, that’s crazy, how did you do that? I didn’t even have to accept it?"
"Paladin level access, it comes with its perks. Also why don’t you take her home in my car instead of carrying her out in the cold like this? It can get both of you home, and all you have to do is tell the car to go home when you’re done with it. The auto pilot will kick in and get it back here to me."
"Thank you, that’s very kind of you."
"Have a safe trip home then you two." Tyler says.
Vernon grabs Marie in his arms again, and puts her into the back seat of the car. Vernon gets into the front of the vehicle, and buckles up. He wants to be excited, but can’t. The commander of the paladins just told him he would make a good one. Vernon looks back to Marie, still asleep. Now he has to call her parents, but at least it won’t take as long to get there.
He says, “Auto-drive, take me to Marie Zieschang's house."
The car powers on, and starts to travel down the road.
Duke says, “So Vernon, do you think that was the right thing to do?"
“My parents seem to know him pretty well. They told me I could trust him, so I will. But your right, I do feel like something is off with everything that just happened. Now I have to call Marie’s parents.“
***
Tyler watches as his car fades into the distance. He runs into mansion as fast as he can down the hall, and though the mirror. As he turns the corner of the house he can see his daughter on the ground. He reaches into his pocket and pulls out a syringe. He kneels down at her side, and injects his daughter with what he knows to be golden liquid, but in this place it has a shiny grayish tint. He only needs to wait a moment as the fluid circulates though out her body.
"Eric, Eric is that you? Are you alright?" Suzie says as she comes too.
"It’s alright honey, its daddy."
"Daddy, oh thank goodness. I’m alright, where is Eric?"
"I’m not sure, I haven’t seen him yet but I’ll go look for him. Just sit here and rest, and let the agility do its work. Ok?"
"I will. I love you dad, thank you."
"No thank you honey. For doing the biddings of an old fool testing out someone I already knew the character of."
He turns and heads toward the shed in the back. Eric is beneath a tree on his side, the knuckles and shield generator are both at his side. Tyler pulls out another syringe and kneels at in front of his son’s body. Injecting into Eric.
"Ugh I’m hungry. Dad, is that you?" Eric says as he comes too.
Tyler laughs, ”Yes son, it’s me, how are you feeling?"
"Good. You gave me that agility stuff didn’t you?"
"I did and I’m sorry, but I wanted to make sure you were alright. You know I’m no good with healing magic.”
"It’s alright dad, I guess this is your way of healing?”
“You two did good on your first task as paladin apprentices. Thank you."
"Thanks dad, I love you. I would do anything you asked, you know that. So don’t have that look on your face. Suzie and I chose to do this for you. We could have always said no."
"I know, but I just couldn’t trust this to anyone else for this one and I have such great children. To put the two of you into danger like this."
"Aw daddy, me and Eric feel the same way about you and don’t worry about this. You said you knew his character already, so we were fine Dad." Suzie says as she walks up from behind.
"I should say you should be resting, but I guess the agility has done its job already."
"It has." she replies.
"I gave you both a watered down dose I know how you hate it, but it should be enough. So what is this about the shield generator, beam knuckles, and the computer in the shed?"
"They saw the computer too, sorry dad. I didn’t know I left it on in there."
"It’s alright they bought the story, but be a little more mindful next time alright."
"So did they pass?" Suzie asks.
"They did, they will be good additions to the force if they join. Now let’s go home. Anyone want ice cream?" A beeping nose comes from Tyler's halo and a message pops up, request from HQ for a check in.
"Aw dad do you have to go now?" Suzie asks.
"Not right now, I’ll start heading there in the morning. It isn’t a priority message and even if it was, you two are more important right now."
"Thanks dad!" both Eric and Suzie say in unison.
18
The car ride was silent after Vernon hung up with Marie’s parents. Duke gives Vernon a prayer and a good luck before he opens the car door at her house. It was simple for Vernon to get out of the car and carry Marie to the front steps. The walk past that first step to the door was much harder. Telling her father that she got kidnapped and drugged was difficult to put into words. It was followed by a new emotion Vernon did not have much experience with, shame.
The shame of feeling he somehow caused this. Marie’s father was angry but surprisingly not at Vernon. He wrapped his arms around Vernon and thanked him for being so quick thinking and strong enough to rescue his little girl. He even apologized for ever thinking ill of him, and told Vernon that he was glad that his daughter had found someone of such character.
Marie’s mother was quietly crying for a long time, rubbing her daughter’s hair. When she finally spoke, she blamed and thanked Vernon in the same sentence. She said she knew that he wasn’t responsible. There aren't many people willing to risk their lives for someone nowadays days, and how that speaks volumes about him. Vernon tells them that he'll come by in the morning to check on Marie, and will leave them for the night.
Marie’s father thanks Vernon
again, and tells him that he is welcome at his house anytime. Vernon was in shock the whole time, it almost didn’t seem real. He finally had the approval of someone he wanted it from, but didn’t want to have it because of this. Duke waited for Vernon to return, even though Vernon’s house was just up the street.
Duke asks, “Everything go alright in there Vernon?”
“It did. Better even than I could have guessed. Her father hugged me. He doesn’t hug, and then he thanked me. Then there was something about it being an election year, and no calling the knights. It was all weird.”
“Wow.”
Vernon shrugs, “Exactly.”
“The world works in mysterious ways. Don’t let it get to you, just enjoy it. For now, let’s get you home.”
They drove up the street about a block and a half down to Vernon’s house. The doors on the car open, and Vernon gets out slowly. Looking at his house. The red brick siding, the one window on the front left to his room, and the oval glass in the middle of the front door. All things he is familiar with but tonight they look different. He wishes that things could have gone differently. Just walked in after a tournament and talked with his parents about how fun it was to compete. Now has to go in and talk about his pendant, a kidnapping, and Tyler.
“You going to be alright?” Duke says standing on the other side of the car.
“Yea Duke. I’ll be fine.”
“We could always go find a hole somewhere and let this all blow over.”
“We could, but I have to talk with them. Once I figure out what this pendant is, then I might just take you up on that offer. Just go meet with your master and I will catch up with you tomorrow?”
“Just take deep breaths and try to stay focused. It helped me out when I had to deal with some personal issues with my parents a few years back.”
“Thanks Duke, see you tomorrow.”
Duke waves at Vernon as he climbs back into the car, and it drives away. Vernon can see the lights on in the house, and knows both his parents are in there waiting to hear what he has to say. Wondering what he will ask. Vernon stares at the house for a few minutes, and tries to let his mind go blank. Questions keep bubbling up in his mind. Not knowing what’s appropriate or important to ask. They are his parents and he knows they love him, and wouldn’t hurt him or lead him down a wrong path.
Cypher Theorem Series Box Set: Books 1-3, The Zero Class, Shadow Moon, Dragon Fire: A Science Fiction Fantasy Page 12