by Black, Chuck
Drew rubbed his eyes and leaned forward. “I’m so sorry, Sydney. I should never have asked that of you.” He looked at her and saw the anxiety and confusion in her beautiful eyes. Her only crime was getting to know him. For a moment he considered telling her everything, but he knew she wouldn’t believe him. The FBI had probably told her to report any contact she had with him. He imagined her telling them that he believed aliens had invaded earth, and cringed. He couldn’t do that to her. But perhaps he could give her enough truth without sounding crazy. He took a deep breath and slowly exhaled.
“It all started with the lab accident.” Drew watched her eyes to see if she was questioning the truth of his story. “Dr. Waseem was conducting research on accelerating light, which has some far-reaching scientific and military implications. He received a grant from the government even when most scientists and physicists thought his work was absurd.” He paused to see if Sydney was still with him. “That’s the first red flag. Ben was his number-one assistant, and he came to me the day Dr. Waseem was killed and told me that the professor’s experiment was successful. Ben was scared, Sydney, because he suspected foul play in Dr. Waseem’s death. I mean, not only did the doctor die under questionable circumstances but the entire lab, including all the research, was completely destroyed.”
Sydney’s brow furrowed. “But you and Ben were there, Drew. How does that have anything to do with it being a suspicious event?”
Drew looked down at the table. Just how far did he dare involve her? He looked back up at her. “Because I saw someone else there too. Someone who wasn’t supposed to be there.”
“Who? Who was it?”
Drew shook his head. “I don’t know. I only got a glimpse of him just before I went blind, but Ben and I both think whoever it was had everything to do with Dr. Waseem’s death. I don’t think this guy or the people he works for had any idea that Ben knew as much as he did about Waseem’s research, or Ben would have been killed too.”
Drew let Sydney think about what he said for a minute. “There’s something else I’ve never told anyone.”
Sydney leaned forward. She was hanging on his every word.
“I talked to Ben a couple of days after he disappeared. He told me they, whoever ‘they’ are, were after him. Sydney, he was scared for his life. That’s why he disappeared, and I don’t know if the FBI, the CIA, or even the MIB are the ones that are after him, but now it looks like they’re after me too.”
“You need to get help. What about the police, or at least Jake?”
“The police already investigated Dr. Waseem’s death. They won’t believe me. And whoever is behind this will be watching my family, including Jake. There’s no one, Sydney. I’m in this alone.”
“So why Chicago? Why are you hiding here?”
“I’m not just hiding. I’m searching … for Ben, just like I told you at Drayle. I believe Ben is here, and if I can find him, we have a chance of proving this whole story. Think about it—why else would they be after Ben? He hasn’t done anything.”
Sydney sat back against the booth seat. She looked stunned, as if she was trying to absorb this governmental conspiracy theory. Drew felt sorry for her. If she knew just how bizarre it really was, she would flip on him and the FBI would be at his door before midnight. He had to keep her tracking with what the world considered reality.
“It’s hard to believe, Drew … I mean, it’s just a little crazy.” Her eyes yearned for some sort of proof, some tangible evidence that what he was saying was true so that she could justify keeping quiet.
“I know the FBI has asked you to tell them if you have any contact with me.”
Sydney’s gaze dropped to the table, and her countenance fell in utter sadness.
He reached across the table and covered her hand with his own. “That’s why I tried so hard, once I saw you, to keep my presence here a secret. I didn’t want to put you in a compromising situation or bring any more danger to you, but I couldn’t let that gang hurt you either. Do you see my dilemma?”
“You saved my life … again. How do you … How can you survive such things? You moved so fast it almost seems impossible.”
“Once I understood the danger I would be facing, I started training with a seventh-degree black belt. He’s very good … I owe him a lot.” He hoped she would buy that for now. “You guys drove into the Dragons’ turf. That’s a bad place to go through, let alone break down. I’ve had encounters with them before, and I’m sure it won’t be the last. They don’t like me much.” He offered a sheepish grin.
She looked at his hand covering her own. “Thank you … for saving us.” She put her hand on top of his, then looked up at him. “All I have ever seen from you, Drew, is a guy who wants to do what is right. I know what I saw at Drayle, and I know what I saw last night.” She looked him straight in the eye. “I choose to believe you.”
Drew sighed in relief. “Thank you. You have no idea how good it feels to have someone believe you.”
“Actually I do. And perhaps one day you will believe me.”
Drew cocked his head to the side, not sure what she was implying.
“I’ve prayed for you every day since your accident back in Rivercrest. Now, more than ever, you are going to need prayer. God has His hand on you, Drew, but I’m scared for you.”
“I can take care of myself, Syd.”
“You can’t dodge bullets, Drew!” Sydney’s glare revealed her passion.
Drew loved that she was concerned for him. “Speaking of bullets, what I want to know is, after last night, how come you and your friends are still in Chicago? Don’t you realize how dangerous it is here?”
“We know the risks, but someone needs to share Jesus Christ with these people.”
Drew stared at her. How could he be so drawn to a girl who was so deceived and confused about life? “I can’t for the life of me figure out what drives you, Sydney.”
Her eyes sparkled. “What drives me is my love for God and for people. The time is short, the harvest is ready, and the laborers are few.”
Drew shook his head, smiling. “Girl … you say the strangest things. As happy as I am to see you, I wish you had never come to Chicago.” He glanced out the window and thought he saw something move. “You need to leave.”
She looked at him in an almost condescending way. “Drew, I didn’t come here to find you, and I didn’t come here for me.” Her voice was confident and cool. “I came here because I was called by God.”
Drew smirked.
“I know you don’t believe in God, but that doesn’t change the fact that He is in control.”
That’s what she meant when she talked about him not believing her—he didn’t believe her in regard to God and Christianity. But in light of all the injustice he had seen over the past months, of the dark invaders and the havoc they were wreaking on humanity, how could he believe in God? It frustrated him not to be able to show her the truth.
“Well, if God’s in control, then He’s not doing a very good job. Besides, it looked to me like you all needed some protecting last night.”
Sydney shook her head. “My protection is in following God’s will. The fact of the matter is, Drew, that you are the one who needs protecting. You are the one who is in danger.”
Drew looked at her for a moment and had the strangest feeling that she might know more than she was letting on. “What do you mean?”
Sydney looked deep into his eyes. He saw a fire in her eyes that burned from an ancient wisdom. “There are forces at work in this world that most people don’t know of.”
Drew’s skin tingled and the hairs stood straight on the back of his neck. Did she know of the invaders? Was it possible she had known all along? Had she been playing him all this time?
“How do you know this?”
“Because God’s Word says so. And unless you put your faith in Jesus Christ, you are in grave eternal peril, Drew.”
Drew sighed. More spiritual mumbo jumbo. He shook his head. �
�So God wants you and your friends to risk your lives in the ghettos of Chicago so homeless people can have a bowl of soup. Is that right?”
“It’s so much more than that, Drew. We’re here to teach the homeless and as many children that we can about the truth of God. To show them how to love and trust in Him and to show them how to win eternal life through Jesus Christ. There is no mission greater than this.” Sydney’s passion for her faith was admirable, Drew had to admit.
“Sydney, I’ve been living in the ghettos for the past six months. Every night I go out and rescue people, stop crimes, and try to help the police put criminals behind bars.” He shook his head. “It seems so hopeless. There’s too much … darkness. It would take an army of vigilantes to make a difference in just one city.”
Sydney’s soft and gentle lips curled into a broad smile.
“What are you smiling about?”
“You’re not that far away, Drew. I believe you will one day see the truth.”
“And one day so will you,” he said with a returning smile. Drew glanced out the window—and his blood turned cold. Four dark invaders were talking in the parking lot. The one giving orders …
Was Kurgan.
22
A MISSION FOR TWO
As dark as every dark invader was, there was something deeper about Kurgan’s darkness. Drew hadn’t seen him since the incident at the bus station. Were they looking for him … or for Sydney? Either way she and Drew were in trouble. If Kurgan was as much of a commander as he looked, and if he connected Drew to Kansas, it would mean the end of his search for Ben. It felt like a noose being tightened around his neck.
“What’s wrong, Drew?”
Drew turned to look at Sydney, trying to control his rising dread. “We need to go now.”
Sydney thought for a moment and then gathered her things.
As they walked to the exit, Drew whispered in her ear. “I want you to go into the bathroom while I pay. When you come out, walk directly out of the restaurant and toward the hotel. Understand?”
Sydney nodded. She looked around for some threat.
“Don’t look around. I won’t be far from you. Okay?”
She looked up at him, her eyes filled with concern.
Drew stood in line behind two other people waiting to pay, when he saw one of the invaders materialize through the wall where they had been sitting. He looked up at the security camera monitor, which was divided into four screens—two showing the outside of the building and two showing each half of the dining room. None of them revealed any sign of a seven-foot, darkly dressed warrior brandishing a sword on his back, but there he was, right in the middle of the camera’s field of view.
The invader scanned the tables in the room and then began walking toward the restaurant lobby. Drew stepped beside and ahead of the man and woman in front of him and slapped a twenty down on the counter to cover his ticket. Then he slipped into the opposite side of the restaurant, where there were multiple privacy walls and booths to give customers a more secluded feel. He maneuvered to the back of the restaurant, watching the invader’s search pattern, and stepped into the kitchen.
“Oh … I’m sorry. I was looking for the bathroom.” He tried to look embarrassed.
The cook pointed to a door on the other side of the kitchen without looking up. Drew crossed the kitchen and exited, ending up back on the side of the restaurant where they had been sitting and where the invader had already searched. Drew grabbed a menu, sat back down in their booth, and watched. Sydney stepped out of the bathroom and headed toward the exit just as the invader was returning from his search of the other side of the restaurant. Drew’s heart accelerated as Sydney walked straight at the invader, unaware of the darkness glowering at her. Drew searched the nearby humans to see if any of them were under the influence of the invaders, but the invader turned away and continued his search by entering the hallway to the bathrooms.
Drew made his way to the lobby and exited twenty feet behind Sydney. He scanned the parking lot but didn’t see any sign of the other invaders.
So … Sydney was clean. He was definitely the one the invaders were after, but had she inadvertently brought Kurgan here? After all, the invaders wouldn’t have ignored the attention brought on her by being detained and questioned by the FBI. Drew needed to distance himself from her, not only for his sake but for hers. He diverted his walk so that he entered the lobby of the hotel a few minutes after Sydney, then confirmed that neither of them were being followed. Inside, Sydney sat staring at an empty fireplace.
Drew sat down beside her, and she didn’t move. He didn’t know what to tell her. She had to think he was paranoid, just like his mother had thought. Drew reached into his pocket and pulled out an envelope addressed to his mother.
“Unless you think mailing a letter will get you in trouble with the FBI, will you do one last favor for me?”
Sydney turned her head and stared at him … expressionless.
I’ve said too much … pushed too far. He couldn’t take the thought that she viewed him as a crazy man. He turned away and started to return the envelope to his pocket. “It’s okay, it’s not that impor—”
He felt her warm hand cover his. “Of course. Where do you want me to mail it from?”
Drew looked back at her, the sadness in her eyes melted him. He loved and hated to love her. “You are intelligent, Syd. From the campus post office on Drayle University in a couple of weeks. I’ve been out of contact with my mom for months and I’m sure she is sick with worry. Thanks.”
Sydney slipped the envelope from his hand and stood up. Drew rose with her. He could tell she knew exactly what he needed from her—distance. She looked up into his eyes with a visage as serious as ever he had seen from her.
“You stay alive,” she whispered.
Drew smiled at her, then opened his mouth to tell her he would be fine, but she pressed her fingers against his lips. Somehow, she understood the gravity of his mission, or perhaps it was that she understood how serious he knew it was. Whatever the case, she would not be placated by meaningless words of affirmation. She turned and walked away from him, and it reminded him of high school. Every time she did it though, his heart fell further into her arms.
Two days later, Drew felt great relief and great sadness when the campus ministry van left Chicago. For the few days Sydney had been there, the darkness of a dreary city dissipated and the burden of his mission seemed lighter.
BY FALL, DREW HAD WORKED his way through thirty percent of the computer repair shops in the Chicago area. He’d covered all of downtown Chicago and a three-mile radius out from the Chicago Tech Center. He looked at his map and despaired as he realized that those were the easy ones. With every radial mile farther out, the distances became much greater and the density of repair shops diminished. He would have to cover more ground to reach fewer shops.
He was tired of bicycles, ramen noodles, invaders, and gangs. He threw the map across his musty apartment and wallowed in self-pity. He rubbed his eyes and decided to go to the one place that lifted his spirits, despite it being filled with homeless needy people.
Drew walked into Emmanuel Church and was greeted with a warm hug by Reverend Ray. Micah came running and jumped at Drew, who caught him and swung him upside down, threatening to drop him on his head.
“You’re here early today, Ryan,” Ray said with a smile. “The kitchen doesn’t open for another hour.”
“Yeah, I know. I just thought, well …”
“Hey, we’re always glad to see you, son, and always glad to have your help.”
“Save anybody last night?” Micah asked with big eyes and a smile as wide as his face could handle.
Drew grabbed him and swung him on his back. “I don’t know what you’re talking about, M.”
Drew and Ray walked toward the kitchen as Micah rode piggyback.
“We have another helper tonight,” Ray said with a sly smile.
“Yeah?”
“A volunteer
from the university.”
“She’s cool. I told her all about the Guardian,” said Micah.
Drew flipped Micah over his shoulder and set him on the ground. “Micah … I told you not to tell stories like that. You’re going to get me in trouble.”
“Let me introduce you,” Ray said as they stepped through the doorway.
Drew froze in his tracks. There, adorned in an Emmanuel Church cook’s apron, stood Sydney. She looked up from the soup she was stirring and smiled a knowing smile.
“Sydney Carlyle, I’d like you to meet Ryan. But don’t ask him his last name ’cause he’s kind of a mysterious fellow.”
Drew stared, dumbfounded, as Sydney wiped her hands on her apron and came to meet him. She held out her hand and tilted her head.
“I’m pleased to meet you, Ryan Somebody.”
Drew slowly stuck out his hand and gawked.
“I do believe you’ve made him speechless, missy,” Ray said.
“I … I’m pleased to meet you too.” Drew struggled with the shock wave of sensation emanating from his hand, an effect he could control from everyone’s touch but hers. “What brings you to Chicago?” he asked with an edge in his voice he couldn’t help.
“I’ve heard such great things about the University of Illinois that I transferred and am going to school here this next year.” She gave him the most delightful smile.
Drew once again was speechless.
“How long you gonna hold her hand?” Micah stared at their entwined hands, his nose scrunched up.