Age of Power 1: Legacy

by Jon Davis

  She, Max, and I talked over the fun times we had had in our younger days. Later, when the two of us were alone, Danielle asked if I’d found someone. I told her no, though a certain blonde’s face kept coming to mind. Danielle just gave me an odd smile as I told her that I hadn’t and shrugged. The party went on, and finally, in the late afternoon, people started to leave. The cake was all but gone, as was most of the soda.

  Overall, it had been a good day, and I’d been able to set aside a lot of my problems. And if this was what Brand had wanted, he’d succeeded. As the last of the partiers took off, Danielle gave me one more surprise. She kissed me goodbye. I stood there out on the steps, watching her walk away. She turned and gave me a wave, then I watched her get in a car with Max and drive off. As it went out of sight, I turned to walk back inside, feeling nostalgic.

  The only people left inside were Brand, Dana, and her brother, BJ. Dana was stuffing a garbage bag with used plates, paper wrapping, and general refuse, while Brand went around picking up said garbage and taking it to her at the front counter. I smiled at her and grabbed the last Pepsi from the cooler just as BJ grabbed a Mountain Dew. He grinned at me. We’d met quickly at the start of the party, but I hadn’t had a chance to talk with him much.

  I didn’t know the guy, and he seemed too energetic for me. But hey, he had been Alex’s boyfriend. I felt I should try to say something. I started with, “So, have you been having fun?”

  BJ nodded. He slugged down a large drink of the soda. Then, wiping his mouth, he said, “Oh I love this kind of stuff! So you’re the guy that Alex said was into comics and history. He was right about you being a hot-looking guy.”

  I blinked. Brand gave a snort, and then just started laughing. Dana said, “BJ! Stop embarrassing the birthday boy!”

  He chuckled and said, “Relax, Vaughn. Alex told me you were straight; you’re safe from me!”

  I nodded and smiled. Dana sighed. “Please forgive my brother, he’s insane, and he needs serious psychiatric treatment.”

  Brand laughed again. “Really? Then these two ought to be perfect together!”

  My face went red and I glared at him. BJ just chuckled some more, then pulled a flash drive out of his front pocket and handed it out to me. “Here, it’s my present.”

  I took it with an inquisitive look. I asked, “That’s nice. What’s on it?”

  He shrugged and said, “Dana said you liked comics. So I made a copy of the digital copies I had at home. I also added some historical reads. It’s good for a phad, iPad, or any laptop. Enjoy. I figured it would be a good present. It’s about half full, so you can add more if you want.”

  I nodded and glanced at the flash drive, then looked again. The thing held three-terabytes of memory. Oh my, that was a lot of comics and history books!

  I said, “Uh, thank you, BJ, I think you just gave me every comic known to mankind. I appreciate it!”

  BJ smiled and said, “Mind you, some of that’s from my collection. So don’t read those in public.”

  From behind me, Dana said, “BJ, be nice. Stop scaring the natives. They get edgy and tend to blow up asteroids.”

  BJ coughed and stared at Dana as she and Brand came up to join us. “Really? You had to go there?”

  Dana said, “Naturally; how better to foil that psychotic humor of yours? Short it out before you can build it up. Vaughn, don’t worry, you’ll get used to him. BJ grows on you—eventually.”

  I chuckled as BJ shook his head, bemused. Dana put her arm around my waist and said, "So how are you holding up? I heard about that fracas at the high school. But what about everything else? Are you doing all right?”

  I just looked at her. I took a moment to answer. I knew what she meant—or, actually, I knew whom she meant. Finally, I said, “I miss him. Didn’t think I would. But whenever I read comics we liked, or see something about science, I think of him. And he isn’t there to talk to.”

  Dana hugged me tighter. I didn’t mind. I liked my hugging.

  BJ nodded to what I’d said. He then said, “Goddess, I know what you mean! He could talk your ear off when it came to physics and space stuff. You know, if you ever want to talk over this stuff sometime, I’ll be in town again in a few days.”

  Brand said, “I like you already, BJ. Let’s have lunch the next time you’re in town. But while I hate to say it, bud, you and I need to head out. Your mom wanted me to get you home by nightfall. Your parents have something in the wind, I think. And I want to do some stuff at home, myself.”

  “Yeah, I noticed that you ate a lot of bean dip and chips. What, you don’t want to use up the toilet paper here?” I said, joking with him. Brand didn’t miss a beat as he raised a middle finger. That broke the tension that had been hanging in the air. It also ended the party. I wondered what my mom was up to, but I wasn’t going to push Brand for details. I’d noticed earlier that she and my dad hadn’t mentioned presents or anything. That was fine, since I felt that my parents getting back together was enough for me.

  Okay, I was a sentimental idiot at times. But I put that aside and said, “Okay, but Dana, can we help you clean up?”

  She hiked a thumb at BJ and said, “That’s why I brought him along. He makes a good maid!”

  BJ coughed. “Gee, Sis, I love you, too! Maid? Please! Maître d’ is better!”

  Brand came up to us, tossing me my jacket and hat. He flipped his hood up and said, “I don’t know, I think being a butler would better for you. And it comes with fringe benefits if you have the right employer.”

  Reaching out, I offered my hand to BJ and he shook it, meeting my eyes with his green and gray-flecked gaze. I noticed that his hand wasn’t cool to the touch as much as it seemed to feel like with people these days. Odder still, there was this buzz in my head when we touched. Lightly felt, but definitely there.

  He leaned closer and, in a softer voice, he said, “He snored, you know. And man, was he like a furnace when he slept! It drove me out of bed sometimes. He liked cigars, arguing about politics, and he was a major science and science fiction geek. And boy, could he ever talk you to death about the weirdest things from obscure movies. He could be boring when he talked too long. And I think you’re right to remind people of all that.”

  I nodded after a moment of absorbing that. Two good friends sharing a moment, missing a dear friend. It helped ease something that I hadn’t even known was there. I guess my friendship with Alex was deeper than I thought. Not once in all those weeks of defending Alex had I admitted that. BJ had just helped me to let go of some of the pain of losing my friend. Wow.

  He let go of my hand. I said, “Thanks. I think I really needed that.”

  Dana came up and gave me a hug. She whispered in my ear, “Don’t hesitate to come here or to my place if things get you down too much. Okay?”

  What, did everyone know I’d been a little down in the dumps? Okay, massively down in the dumps. Well, I was; I had to admit that. I noticed Brand smiling slightly and realized how she had known. Dana grinned at Brand and said, “Oh, I’ll be bringing your presents in the morning, so don’t stay up all night.”

  “Aw, my mom said not to get drunk, and now you say I can’t stay up all night. It’s my birthday, and yet, nobody’s letting me have any fun,” I said with a laugh.

  With a final wave to Dana and BJ, the two of us walked out and down the stairs. Even in the twilight, I could see my breath in the air. The sun was just past the horizon now, and what little light there was did nothing for the warmth.

  But Brand had one more surprise for me. “Hey, I forgot to tell you—I may be going to CTI next fall. Maybe we can be roommates.”

  I grinned and hit him lightly on the arm. “Great! Chicago Technical is a good school! How did you swing that?”

  Brand shrugged and said, “Oh, the old man went and pulled some strings. The school sent me a letter about it while you were off on your trips.”

  “I’m happy for you, bud! Maybe we can find somewhere to live together,” I said. I
fell silent after that. His mention of my trips, mixed with the chill of the night, had pushed me back into a funk.

  Finally, after a couple blocks of walking, Brand sighed, “Okay, out with it.”

  I didn’t say anything for a moment while we crossed a street. After more walking, though, I said, “I’m fine, Brand.”

  Brand said, “Bullshit. You aren’t fine. You should be telling me all about the plans you have with the comics you got from BJ, how you plan to tell your online friends about them, and talking about how hot Danielle has gotten since graduation. Man, we should be talking about where we're going to live in Chicago! Instead, you’re walking there, silent as…as, well; frankly, you’re making me think of Shaw.”

  When he mentioned Alex, I must’ve tensed, because Brand said, “Ah ha! So that’s what the problem is. Those media guys really got to you.”

  I said, “Is it that obvious? Yeah, they got to me. I wasted my time, Brand. Avatar is the big thing now, not Alex Shaw. It sucks, but while we were in the hospital, Alex turned into the answer to everyone’s prayer. That’s how people now see him. I tried to get everyone to see him as a human being. I wanted them to see that his final act wasn’t the only important thing about him.”

  “And I blew it. But at least now I know why.” Brand grunted as I told him what my mom had told me about Joe Andrews. Now I told him about the stuff that had come up during the last interview in New York City. The Andrews family had dug Alex’s birth certificate out of a courthouse archive in Wisconsin Dells, Wisconsin. It had showed Claire to be his mother, but the space for the birth father’s name was blank.

  Inconvenient for the Shaws, of course, but it was very convenient for the idea of creating a new messiah. The story also came out that Claire’s body was never recovered when her plane crashed in Lake Meade, Nevada. And that only added to the mystique. Alex had never told me that stuff about himself. So I couldn’t answer all the questions put to me about these facts. Alex had just told me that his mom had died in a plane crash.

  But Alex’s dad, Brian Shaw did have answers. He said that Claire Grell had been pregnant when she’d married him. After my mom said something about how Joe Andrews was involved, I was certain that the old man had coached Brian Shaw on how to say things. Add the strange sightings around the world of the Avatar—and the religious fervor had only grown.

  I thought about those sightings. It bothered me that they had happened at all. I would almost accuse Andrews of pulling some sort of a propaganda stunt if it weren’t for the fact that the stories were spread too far apart geographically and happening at the same time to make it likely. Witnesses had seen things in the deep of night, some in forests, others in desert country; they all swore it had to be the Avatar, because what they’d seen were things that only he could have done.

  People glowing, acts of superhuman strength, moving statues, hazy videos of flying people taken from a distance, glowing eyes, and, in one case, the so-called Avatar had been seen jumping over the roofs of Boston, laughing. All I could do was point out that Alex wouldn’t do things like that. If he were alive, he would just return to Riverlite. Or he would be a superhero and not hide in the shadows.

  In the last interview, they had all but ridiculed me in front of a national audience. After that, I was done. I came home. I was dejected, and then, with what happened at the high school, I had had enough. But, while I still felt like a failure, I had to get back up on my feet. It wasn’t going to be easy to do. Even while I laughed and joked at the party, I’d been feeling that sense of failure. Now, I told Brand all of this as we walked the streets of Riverlite, slowly heading home.

  Brand was quiet, taking it all in, and we walked in silence for a while after I finished talking. Then, as we crossed another street, heading south, he said, “Would it help if you knew that the Avatar movement isn’t all that it’s cracked up to be?”

  Sarcastically, I said, “Really? Gosh, I couldn’t tell that. What with all the fervor going on. Hell, they’re selling ‘I saw the Avatar’ t-shirts in stores. They're planning a movie about Alex’s life. In fact, I got an offer to be a part of the team to do up his life-story, before he was ‘blessed.’ Hey, do you want to join in? You’d love Hollywood.”

  Brand reached into his coat and swore. “Crap! I left my smart phone at the library! Do you have yours on you? I want to show you a website.”

  I shook my head. “No, I left mine at home.” I didn’t want to tell him about the strange feeling I got from laptops and cell phones. It wasn’t normal, by any means, and Brand wasn’t exactly into the esoteric.

  He didn’t ask why, though, and said, “Damn. Well, it’s like this, the Avatar is—”

  Brand stopped when we heard tires screeching on the road. We saw a burnt orange Roadster speeding toward us. That worried me. But seeing who was behind the wheel scared me out of my wits.

  Brand muttered, “Holy shit, Nathan Jessup!”

  CHAPTER NINE

  We ran. Taking a chance, we cut across a parking lot with a locked gate that kept Nathan out. Brand pointed down an alleyway between two business buildings that fronted the lot and we ran through to the other side. From there, we ran out of the alleyway and onto Esther Avenue. We were just in time to see Nathan, his tires squealing on ice and asphalt as he came around a corner.

  I grabbed Brand’s shoulder and changed direction. Running, we cut between homes and leapt over fences to keep off the streets so the bastard couldn’t run us down with his car. After a couple blocks, we came to a backyard and stopped near a fence. I heard the Roadster as it passed us by, its engine roaring down the street. As it passed us, we began to run the other way, hoping that he wouldn’t think to double back.

  I snapped at Brand, “I thought he was in jail for assaulting Hector Gutierrez! What the hell is he doing out?”

  Brand said between heavy breaths, “How in the hell should I know? Maybe his mommy got him out with her crazy whining. Whatever. He’s after us now, so keep running!”

  “I am running!”

  “Run faster!”

  A loud crunching sound came from down the road. And from the sounds of things, he didn’t care who he hit in order to get to us. We cut across side and backyards, sometimes slowed by fences, but still, we kept moving. Behind us, I heard the roaring engine closing in on us. Thinking fast, Brand and I decided to head to his place and call the cops from there.

  We didn’t have much choice. Businesses were closed now, and when we knocked on doors of homes, no one answered. It didn’t help my mood, since I knew people were home in some of those houses. I hoped that at least one person would call the police before Jessup caught up to us. After one last fruitless try for help at a house, we took a chance and crossed the next road to run down another alley.

  While running, I found myself listening for the Roadster. Jessup had his car tricked out to rumble like a heavy-duty drag racer. That made it easy to hear as it came closer. Finally, I saw it crossing one street over. He must have seen us, though, because I heard spinning tires. We ran faster down the road until I saw a red house on the next corner. I could hear the car coming. We started to pass the corner home when I realized that it had something that might help us.

  Getting Brand’s attention, I yelled, “Head down that way! We can cut into a short-cut know about!”

  Brand didn’t argue. At the end of the driveway, I pointed past the garage to a space between it and a tall wooden fence. I pushed Brand to run down the path, which was made wet and sloppy by melting snow from the roof. We had to be very careful because of the muddy ground, but we didn’t slip. I just hoped that we weren’t leaving prints for Jessup to follow. Getting around to the back of the garage, we crouched between two tarp-covered piles of firewood and waited.

  The car stopped somewhere out of sight, and I took a chance and stuck my head up and look above the woodpiles, trying to figure out where Nathan was. After a few moments, I saw three people moving back and forth, looking between the houses.

&n
bsp; I muttered, “Wonderful, he brought friends.”

  Brand snorted and said, “Of course he brought friends. He couldn’t just run us down with a car now, could he? That would be too easy!”

  Damn, I knew we’d have to move soon. I had hoped that Nathan would’ve just kept driving around. Then I winced when I recognized one of Nathan’s friends. It didn’t make me feel any happier. I’d seen this guy before. Every town had its crooks. And some were seriously bad. Joe Tindal was one of the worst. He sold drugs at the college, and, on occasion, he would show up at the high school.

  He wasn’t a big man, but he had the wiriness that made fighting him a definite no-no. The rumors were that he was fast, and he pulled out a knife whenever he felt even the slightest bit threatened. With a scruffy black beard and dark green eyes, his look alone usually dampened people’s enthusiasm. He wasn’t even wearing a jacket; I supposed it was to prove that he was ‘tough.’

  Despite the cold, he wore only a black t-shirt, blue jeans, and leather boots. The third guy in the group made me think of soldiers or cops I had heard about in real crime cases. Stories about bad people who’d seen too much killing and came to like it. This guy looked as if he would just as soon kill me as talk to me. Wearing a leather jacket, he had long, dark red hair and a slight point to his chin, but what grabbed my attention was an old knife scar at the left corner of his mouth, running up to his left eye. Oh no, this was not the kind of guy I wanted to meet in a dark alley!

  Brand whispered, “God, I am so stupid…should’ve remembered my cell phone! Get to my place…and call the cops…”

  I whispered, “I left mine, too…hell, I’m surprised people in the area haven’t called the cops yet!”

  Just then, my hearing went super again, and I heard, “Nate, they aren’t anywhere around here, man! Come on! Let’s just go! You gave the punks a scare! That’s enough! You can go after them any time!”