by David Yates
"Take him straight to the clinic,” Bemis said. “I've already alerted Dr. Archer. He's waiting for you."
"On the way,” Bullard replied, and headed down the hallway.
Gwen fell in step beside Bullard. “I'll go with him, Joe,” she said.
Bemis nodded to her and turned to Espinoza. “Well, Manny, are we ready for this?"
"All my lights are green across the board. The entire staff has been notified and my people are rarin’ to go. Sharon's already in the kitchen working on an early breakfast. In fact, I was just headed over there to get a cup of coffee. Want one?"
"Yeah, that sounds good,” Bemis said. “Pick me up one and meet me in the clinic."
"You got it."
Bemis entered the clinic and went to the exam room. There he found Gwen watching Charlie Archer examine the boy. Gwen was holding a blue stuffed rabbit. “How's he doing, Charlie?"
"Excellent,” Archer replied. “He should be coming around in the next half-hour or so."
Gwen smiled at Bemis. “I'm really excited about the possibilities here, Joe. It all depends on him, of course,” nodding at the sleeping boy. “I'll know a lot more after I can talk to him and administer some preliminary tests. By the way, Charlie, when will I be able to do that?"
Archer said, “Well, his vitals are solid, respiration steady and clear, pupils reacting well...we should let him rest for a day or so. You can talk to him whenever he wakes up, but I wouldn't recommend any testing or evaluations of any kind until at least tomorrow. I know everyone is eager to see if the million-dollar baby is really worth a million dollars, but my primary concern is his welfare."
"Of course,” Gwen quickly agreed. “Mine too. I'll stay here until he wakes up, and then if it's okay, I'll take him to his room and spend the day with him. That way I can kill two birds with one stone. I can observe him and talk with him, and at the same time I can try to get him adjusted and comfortable with his new surroundings."
"I don't see a problem with that,” Archer said, “as long as he reacts well when he wakes up."
They were all silent for a minute, all looking at Braden. “Good-lookin’ kid,” Bemis mused.
"Yes, he is,” Gwen agreed. Bemis looked into Gwen's face and saw that she was already falling in love with the boy. Archer turned to his instruments which monitored the boy's heartbeat and pulse rate. There was also a sphygmomanometer cuff attached to Braden's left arm, taking his blood pressure automatically every ten minutes.
The door opened behind them and Espinoza walked in, carrying two cups of coffee. He handed one to Bemis. “Thanks, Manny,” Bemis said, taking the cup.
"De nada," Manny replied. “How's the kid?"
"Charlie says green all across,” Bemis replied. A pause, then, “We pulled it off, Manny. Your people really did a bang-up job. I can't thank you enough for your efforts.” Bemis patted Espinoza on the shoulder.
Manny smiled sheepishly and looked down at the floor. “Aw, shucks, Joe, t'weren't nuthin'.” Espinoza had always been shy about accepting compliments.
"Oh, I beg to differ,” Bemis said. “If it wasn't for you and..."
"Joe."
Bemis looked around at Gwen. “He's awake,” she whispered, nodding at the bed.
Bemis looked at the bed. Staring back at him were the largest, brightest blue eyes he had ever seen.
Archer swung into action. He placed the stethoscope on the boy's chest and listened. He moved the stethoscope around the boy's torso, still listening. He glanced at the heart monitor, then back to Braden. Braden bore all of this without a sound. They could see, however, that there was no fear in his eyes, just simple curiosity.
Archer finished his exam, and nodded to Gwen. Gwen approached the bed, smiling, and said, “Hi, Braden. My name is Gwen.” She extended her hand, holding the rabbit in front of his incredible blue eyes.
He didn't seem confused or concerned at all about the use of the name “Braden". He took the rabbit with a small smile on his face. Bemis was watching all of this closely. “Hi,” Braden replied in a clear, fair voice.
"How are you feeling?” Gwen asked. “Do you hurt anywhere?"
"No,” Braden replied. He paused, then asked, “Where's Mommy?"
Gwen and Bemis exchanged a startled glance. Mommy?? That glance said. The kid's supposed to be an orphan! Gwen pulled it together enough to ad-lib quite admirably.
"Well, I'm not sure, honey. But you're in a safe place here. No one will hurt you. We are going to take care of you here for awhile. I am going to take care of you.” She smiled at the boy.
Gwen waited with bated breath for the waterworks to start flowing. But it never happened. Braden gazed into the rabbit's eyes for a moment, seeming to consider his new situation. Everyone remained silent, waiting for him to sort it out in his mind. (While Gwen was waiting for waterworks, Bemis was waiting for the kid to get hysterical or angry, but that didn't happen, either.)
Finally, Braden looked up at Gwen. With a smile that was at the same time shy, hopeful, and absolutely endearing, he asked in a small voice, “Do you have TV here?"
Bemis sat steaming at his desk. Gwen and Manny were there as well; they were all waiting for a phone call from the Stooges, checking to see if their package had arrived safely. They didn't have long to wait.
When the phone rang, Bemis snatched the receiver out of its cradle. Without preamble, he said, “What the hell's going on here? You said this kid was an orphan!"
A slight pause at the other end, then Alexander said, “Yes, that's correct. He is an orphan."
"And was he an orphan at the time you took him, or is his status as an orphan the result of a recent development?” Bemis asked with unmistakable sarcasm.
"Of course he was an orphan before the fact. Why are you asking me this?"
"Because the first thing the kid did when he woke up was ask where his mother was,” Bemis replied. “Now I'll ask you again. What is going on here?"
A longer pause this time. Finally Alexander said, “All right, Bemis. The truth is, we took the kid from his parents. I realize this wasn't what we planned, but remember that this is a project for the Federal Government. The child is of vital importance to national security. As you know from your military experience, national security must take precedence over any other matters."
"Taking a kid from an orphanage and abducting him from his parents are two completely different things! And what about the kid's parents? They must be going crazy right now!"
Alexander said patiently, “Children have been taken from their parents before. They'll survive."
Bemis sat in silence, fuming. Alexander said, “Look, Bemis, this is just as distasteful to us as it is to you. We don't like the idea of taking a child away from its parents, either. But in this one particular case, this child is so important to us... to the security of this nation, that we simply had no other choice. We must all learn to live with it. And it's already done, so there's no use crying over spilled milk. There's nothing we can do about it now, except to just continue on and do our jobs. I know you don't feel right about this right now; none of us do. But you must believe me when I say it was the right thing to do."
Bemis sat in silence for a few moments. Gwen and Manny watched his face anxiously. Finally, Bemis spoke to Alexander.
"If there's nothing I can do about it, then I have no choice but to accept it. But I want you to know, for the record, that I don't like it one bit. I don't approve and I do not condone it."
"So noted,” Alexander replied. “Let's just get on with our jobs and do what we have to do. Keep us updated on his progress."
Bemis was about to hang up, then said, “Alexander?"
"Yes?"
"No more surprises. I don't like surprises."
Four days later, Bemis was in his office when Gwen practically skipped through the door. She stood in front of his desk, too excited to sit down. She was smiling widely and shifting from foot to foot. Her eyes gleamed. Her hands were clasped together under her c
hin. As Bemis sat there looking at her, a wry smile on his face, she giggled.
"Well,” Bemis said finally, “are you gonna tell me what's up or are you just gonna stand there doing the pee-pee dance?"
At this Gwen laughed out loud. It was the high, clear, tinkling sound of wind chimes in a warm summer breeze. It made her seem like a girl of twenty again. Bemis had never seen her so utterly intoxicated with glee.
"Braden!” she exclaimed, and laughed again. “It happened! He did it! It was.... I can't.... oh, don't you understand? He DID IT!” She clapped her hands together and jumped up and down like a little girl.
"Did what?” Bemis asked, but his heart began racing, too. He thought he knew what Braden had done, and if he did... Not this quickly? Is it possible?
"He just... He...” Gwen was searching for the words but couldn't grasp them.
"Okay, Gwen calm down.” Bemis got up and strode around his desk, placing his hands on Gwen's shoulders. He put his face right in front of Gwen's and made eye contact. “Gwen, look at me.” She looked into his eyes.
"Take a deep breath.” She did. “Now let it out.” She did that. “Now take another deep breath.” She inhaled again. “Now, out.” She exhaled. “Better?” Bemis asked.
"Yes,” she replied.
"Okay, now come over here and sit down,” Bemis said, guiding her to the chair. She sat. Bemis went back to his desk chair and sat down. He looked at Gwen and said, “Okay, now tell me what happened. Calmly."
Gwen took another deep breath (without assistance this time), and exhaled. She's still grinning like the Cheshire, but at least she's calmer now, Bemis thought.
"I was working with Braden in my suite. You already know that he's been moving things telekinetically from the first day. We had been at it for awhile, and he asked to go to the bathroom. I said okay, and he disappeared. I just sat there in shock for a few seconds, then I jumped up and called his name. When there was no answer, I started walking around the suite and called out again. I said ‘Braden, where are you?’ Then I heard his voice. It was muffled. He said, ‘I'm in the bathroom! I told you I had to go!’ I went to the bathroom door and peeked in and there he was, doing his business! Can you believe it!?"
Bemis just sat there looking at her. He couldn't think of what to say. There was silence in the room except for the clock and an odd rubbing sound; now Gwen was doing the pee-pee chair dance.
Finally, Bemis was able to unstick his tongue from the roof of his mouth enough to say, “Wait a minute, wait a minute. Are you telling me that he..."
"Yes!” Gwen squealed. “He had to go to the bathroom, so he went! He transported himself to the bathroom!!"
Two weeks later, Bemis was in his office reading a short report from Gwen on his computer screen. Everything was going beautifully, Gwen had said. There was one thing that bore mentioning, though.
"Whenever Braden teleports (or travels, as I like to call it), it exhausts him. It's like running a piece of machinery on a battery. The more power the machine pulls, the quicker the battery drains down. I've seen it before in my studies. He can move small objects with no problem, but the heavier the object, the more power it pulls from his brain. That makes sense, because the brain runs on electric impulses. This simply means that he is tired after he teleports, and he cannot teleport somewhere and immediately teleport back, because his battery is too low to make the second trip. He must rest and recharge his battery before he can teleport again. If he were to try and make the immediate return trip, it could kill him."
[Back to Table of Contents]
Chapter 3
16 years later
On Bemis’ desk there sat a black plastic telephone. It looked like any ordinary telephone, with push-button digits and a caller-ID window. The difference between most phones and this phone was that the push buttons didn't work. The caller ID window had never displayed an incoming call. In fact, it had no phone number assigned to it, listed or unlisted. It had been on the far right front corner of the desk for many years, unused; it had just sat there taking up space, asking no questions, telling no lies.
If one were to pick up the receiver and put it to one's ear, one would hear a ringing start immediately, without pushing any buttons or toggling the connect switch. It was a direct link to another phone several hundred miles away. This second phone was set up for incoming calls only. Bemis had received strict instructions from the Stooges that he was to use this phone only for absolutely urgent matters.
And so, for the first time in untold years, Bemis pulled the phone in front of him on the desk, took a deep breath, and picked up the receiver. After two rings, Anson picked up at the other end.
"Bemis?” he said. The anticipation in Anson's voice was unmistakable.
"Yes,” Bemis replied. His voice had gotten a tad gravelly over the years, but still not bad for a sixty-something-year-old man, he reasoned.
Anson paused and said, “Is he ready?"
"Yes,” Bemis said again. “According to Gwen and all of his instructors, they can't do anything more with him. In fact, all of his instructors told me a long time ago that they had nothing left to teach him. Firearms training, military and law enforcement tactics, martial arts... he surpassed all of his instructors years ago and began teaching himself. I've just been waiting for Gwen to give me the green light to call you. And now she's done that."
"He's really that good?” Anson asked.
"Yes, he is. I've seen him in action, and the nearest I can come to describing it is awesome.” Bemis picked up a piece of paper from his desk. “I'll tick off his accomplishments for you. He has mastered the martial-arts disciplines of Sun Tai Chi, Wu Shu Kwan, Shorin-ryu, Shotokan, Aikido, Brazilian jiu-jitsu, Eskrima, and Kendo. As I said, he began teaching the teachers in these disciplines years ago. His tactical skills are exemplary. As a former military man, I can vouch for that myself. As for firearms...did you ever read any of those gunslinger books? They were written years ago by a guy named Stephen King."
"Yes, I did,” replied Anson. “I enjoyed them very much."
"Well, you may not believe this, but the kid is that fast and that good. It's like he was born with a gun in his hand. Pistols, shotguns, rifles; single-shot, semi-auto, auto... the kid's better than any actor in a movie could be. On the firing range, he always shoots center-of-mass, and he never misses. The firearms instructor told me Braden hasn't missed with a single shot, with any firearm, in over seven years. Something else I can personally vouch for, because I've seen it repeatedly: with a pistol, either revolver or auto, his draw is like liquid smoke. He can draw, fire, and reholster in less than a second and still hit his target, center-of-mass, 100 out of 100 times.” Bemis paused, then said, “1000 out of 1000 times. He's scary fast and scary good.
"And thanks to the martial-arts training, especially kendo, he's an expert with bladed weapons, too. And he's a master of ground fighting, as well."
When Anson said nothing, Bemis continued. “I'll tell you something else. About two weeks ago, I witnessed a... well, I guess you would call it a ‘sparring match'. It was Braden against all of his martial-arts instructors at once. Sort of a ‘final exam', if you want to call it that. Braden put them all on the ground in nine seconds. And remember, these guys are masters at their craft."
No verbal response from Anson, unless you want to call a sharp intake of breath verbal.
"I can go on all day about his skills and accomplishments, but I'll just put it to you this way: Braden is as close to invincible as a human can be. If you want anything more from us, I guess we'll just have to build you an android."
There was a thoughtful silence on the other end of the line for a few seconds, and then Anson said, “Okay. What about the other thing?"
Bemis said, “If by ‘the other thing’ you mean the teleportation, he's ready there, too. Over the past two years he's been traveling, as he puts it, all over the world. When he leaves, he just fades away. At first, Gwen started him off with short trips, like just outside th
e compound to pick an apple. He was back in just a few seconds with an apple in his hand.
"As time went along, the trips got longer and longer. I won't bore you with the details, but let's just say that Braden has not only made trips across the United States, but he has also been to Europe, Asia, Australia... He's been to every continent except for Antarctica.” Bemis chuckled. “He says he doesn't like cold weather."
"How do you know he actually went to these places?” Anson asked.
"Gwen always had him bring back a souvenir from wherever he went. Something that would prove incontrovertibly that he had been there. For example, one of the last trips he went on was to France. He came back with a current copy of the Paris newspaper."
"And no one has ever seen him just appear out of thin air?"
"No, and I don't believe that will ever happen, either. He apparently has the ability to use his mind to control the speed with which he appears and disappears. For example, he can either ‘pop’ in and out, like on that old TV show about the genie, or he can ‘fade’ in and out. I had a conversation with Gwen and Braden a few years ago about this. When Braden ‘pops’ in, nothing happens; but when he ‘pops’ out, there is a noise which sounds just like thunder. Gwen tells me that this sound actually is thunder. Do you know what causes thunder during a storm?"
"No, I can't say that I do,” Anson replied.
"Well, according to Gwen, the sound of thunder is caused by air rushing in to occupy the space that was just vacated by a lightning bolt. So, when Braden ‘pops out', you can hear the thunder of his passage when the air rushes in to occupy the space he just left. I've heard it and it's quite loud. So we decided it was best if Braden just ‘faded’ in and out. When he does it this way, there's no sound at all."
"But I still don't understand how this ‘fading’ keeps people from seeing him just appear in front of them,” Anson said.
Bemis said, “Well, all of this will be in the detailed report that I'll be emailing to you, but as I said before, Braden has the ability to control exactly how fast he ‘fades in'. He has perfected it so that if he is ‘fading in’ someplace and he sees people around, he just puts his ‘fade-in’ on hold for a moment. During this holding phase, he can see what's going on around him in the place he just arrived at, but people can't see him yet. If he's ‘fading in’ and sees people, he will dial back the fade-in just a notch before it gets to the point where people can see him. Then he simply waits until the coast is clear and completes the fade-in."