Cataclysm Epoch (The Valkyrie Chronicles Book 1)

by Paul Heingarten

  Time for high gear.

  Chapter 15 (Nelson)

  I hadn't been back on the job a week when Travis fired me. He waited long enough that I was back after Mom's funeral before he laid this on me. Of course, he softened it with “Contracts are not coming in as much, we need to tighten up for now, call you when things change,” blah blah.

  Well, at least I had all the writing time I needed.

  #

  I drove nowhere and everywhere for an hour or so. I still wasn't ready for anything productive. My mind reeled. What was the point of anything anymore? I was kidding myself, my usefulness was imaginary. Mom was dead, and now I was now unemployed.

  I needed a release.

  As fate or my muscle memory would have it, I ended up next to a bar. I leaned on my car for a minute, my feet slid along the gravel in the parking lot. The early afternoon sun cast a judgmental glow on me while I headed into the small watering hole. The place was pretty quiet. One long bar held up the far wall, a few tables and a pool table welcomed me like I was a long lost relative at a family reunion.

  Just fine.

  Three stools each held up a person at the bar, along with several more empty ones. The bartender looked like he was a few seconds away from a nap.

  “Gimme a whiskey sour,” I said as I approached.

  He tossed a coaster on the bar and busied himself as I took a seat. A TV over the bar ran a slew of commercials, Dial-A-Sue Attorneys and the reality show du jour promos. Reality was furthest from my mind. It was all about fantasy for me right then.

  My phone blared my ringtone “Pick up the Pieces”, and I felt a lusty smile on my face when I saw Tina's number on the caller ID. Speaking of fantasy…

  “Hey, what's up?” I asked.

  “You tell me, baby. How you doing?”

  I heard the rattle of ice cubes and saw my drink ready for me. I ran my finger around the moisture on my glass. “Eh, been better. What’s going on?”

  “Well, I thought you needed a little to get your mind off things.”

  A burst of heat rippled through me at the thought. You have no idea, honey.

  She added, “I don't work until morning. Wanna come over?”

  I swiveled on the stool and eyed the others at the bar. All of a sudden a drink wasn't the first thing on my mind anymore. And with the swirl of crap on me, getting laid made everything else less crucial for now. “So tell me, what you wearing?”

  “T shirt and panties, baby. Come over; you know you wanna,” she laughed.

  I licked my lips. “You're on.”

  I grabbed a plastic cup for my drink and cashed out. I cast another look at my fellow patrons, fellow members of the “Life is shitty so I'm drinking all day” club. Two guys in identical work shirts sat together. Off to the far side was this girl. Our eyes met. She gazed deep into mine, enough that I felt weird about looking away and even stranger that I couldn’t break my gaze either.

  Who was she?

  I swished my drink and listened to the clink of ice cubes while I ran through a litany of people she could’ve been. Maybe she was a movie star? Stranger things have happened in this town.

  I've had my share of one night stands, but she wasn’t that kind of familiar. I’d never seen eyes like that ever.

  The bartender returned with my receipt, and it snapped me back. I had a hornier place to be than here. “Here ya go, buddy.”

  I grabbed the pen, and I heard this female voice. “Hello?”

  There she was, right next to me. Dressed rough, but not in a homeless kinda way. She seemed pleasant, but who knew? Sure wasn’t shy about things.

  “Yeah?”

  She took a few steps closer. “Have we met?”

  “Mmmhm, I get that a lot.” I tossed the pen and receipt on the bar. “You move pretty fast, you know? My mom always warned me about women like you.”

  “I need to talk with you.”

  I caught her eyes again, and I froze. They were so intense they almost glowed in the dim light. “Yeah? What's with the outfit, you going to a comic con?” I grinned and stood up.

  “Xander?”

  I stopped short and spun on my heel at the name. “Whadya say?”

  She stepped closer. Her gaze deepened, and I lost interest in leaving the bar for the moment.

  “Xander. You're him, aren't you?” She pulled out a very old and tattered book. A paperback novel. But damn, this may have been an early printing of the Bible from all appearances.

  She showed me the front cover. In the dim light I made out the words on it. Cataclysm Epoch.

  “What is that?”

  She eyed it and ran her hand over the cover. “It's written by Xander Lee.” Her eyes tracked back to me. “It's about a war on Earth that could destroy the planet.”

  Another flash of warm rushed over me, this time fear instead of lust. I took a swig and swirled the tart alcohol around my tongue for a second before I swallowed. This sounded like my synopsis. The synopsis that I had showed no one. Oh, and the pen name Xander, which I mentioned to no one. And the tiny miniscule fact I hadn’t even finished the damn thing yet, but there it was, like it was dropped off by the Amazon Weird Shit drone.

  “How the - where the hell did you—”

  “So you're Xander Lee? You sure look like him.” She turned the book around to the back cover. Still faded but I saw a photo on it. Me.

  “When did you get this?”

  “It was in a cache.”

  “What's a cache?”

  She grinned. “I think your people call ‘em time capsules?”

  “A time capsule? Really? Who the fuck are you? What are you doing? Did someone put you up to this?” I reached for the book. It was my manuscript alright. Part of it, anyway. The last half, I'd never seen before. But it had my characters in it. I felt a soreness in my gut, like I’d been punched in it.

  “Xander-”

  “Alright, first off, my name's not Xander. It's Nelson.”

  She squinted at me, and looked back at the book. “Then why Xander?”

  “What do you care? I could be William S. Burroughs for all you know.” She glanced at me with blank eyes. “Never mind.” I shook my head. My brain ached with thoughts of how this elaborate ruse was put together. Or was it even a ruse? Was everything getting to me at last?

  “Xan- Nelson, what I'm about to say is gonna be difficult for you to believe. But you have to trust me.”

  Maybe this is a dream. “I'm not in the mood for any shit right now. I lost my job, my mom died, and I can't write a novel for shit. Well, at least I can't write all of one.” I stabbed a finger toward the book.

  She grabbed my arm. “Nelson, please hear me out. I'm sorry for your troubles. I have to tell you a few things.”

  My thoughts swayed between sex with Tina and my troubles forgotten for a few moments, and how this girl I'd never met had a published copy of a book I never even finished yet.

  For some strange reason, whenever I focused on her eyes, it stopped me, like a stick shift car stuck between two gears. Any thoughts of leaving, even for Tina, were gone from my head once I locked eyes with this girl.

  I motioned back to the bar. “Might as well sit; it looks like you're gonna tell me you're having my baby.”

  “What?”

  “Forget it.”

  She put the book on the bar and sat down. “No, not even close.”

  “Want anything to drink?”

  She winced at the sight of the beer taps. “Water.”

  I signaled the bartender and studied her a bit more. I had another look at her clothes – I noticed a pattern to them, almost like fatigues. But nothing I'd ever seen.

  “Alright, you have my attention. You've got some crazy finished copy of a book that I'm still writing, you look like you came from a war, what else?”

  “I have come from a war.”

  “Where are you from?”

  “Nelson, I'm from Earth. But the future.”

  She talked about where she live
d, the time, the threats. The more she said, the more I dreaded where she headed with it all. Details mixed together and painted a picture that was way too familiar.

  “So you mean to tell me this world that I've created for a fictional novel is real?”

  She nodded.

  “And it happens, on Earth, several hundred years from now?”

  “Yes.”

  “What is your name?”

  She smiled a little. “Don't you know?”

  I studied her face: her piercing eyes were bordered with a full head of downward swept dark hair. She smiled a little as she waited for my epiphany.

  “No clue.”

  She blinked and reached for my hand. “I'm Ana Crucinal.”

  I sipped my drink and crunched an ice cube. “Sorry, never heard of ya.” I snorted.

  Her eyes narrowed.

  “Offended?”

  She pondered a moment. “A little. Can't blame you for being skeptical though.” She turned away and sighed. “Not sure I believe it either.”

  I set my glass down. “I never wrote of or even heard of you before. Yeah, I wrote a novel that you somehow have.”

  Her gaze softened. She grabbed the book and pet it like it was a puppy. “I need your help.”

  “But I never finished it. I think you need ‘future me’ or something.”

  “Please.”

  “What if I say no?” I slammed the glass down.

  Her eyes sharpened up quick when the glass thumped the bar. “You could. But no matter what, other people from my time are coming for you, and if you don't accept my help, you're gonna end up dead or worse.”

  That comment brought me over my limit, which I had reached earlier that day, thanks to Travis. I knew I had two choices: either I let this day spun more and more out of control, or I took control of one of the few things I still could.

  Amazing enough, even my lusty link up faded away from my thoughts. I wouldn’t have been good for Tina like this, I wasn’t sure I was even good for myself.

  I pulled out a ten-dollar bill for the extra drinks and set it on the bar. I wiped my mouth and gazed at her. “Well, Ana, very nice meeting you, but I'm gonna take this as a sign to cut myself off on the booze. Have a nice afternoon and evening.”

  Her eyes widened as I spoke, and as I darted for the door I heard her behind me. “Wait, Nelson! You gotta listen!”

  I was in my car in seconds and on the road. Soon as I got home, I locked the door behind me. This couldn't have been real. I sunk onto the sofa as I dozed off to sleep, my head full of wishes the world kept a safe distance from me.

  Chapter 16 (Ana)

  N elson's car rocketed away and disappeared around a corner. I thought about what I had said. What he had said. How I could've convinced him further.

  I didn’t know. It was a pretty tall order to start. Remy wouldn’t have done much better. But that wasn’t consolation either.

  At least Nelson wasn’t compromised.

  Not yet.

  If he had, they'd have been all over me the second I showed up.

  My vehicle, like most I’d seen, was nothing like the Landcrawlers. The seats inside were soft, with a fabric covering, unlike the cold hard insides of our vehicles back home. It would’ve been a lot nicer riding in one of these in the Outlands.

  A small marker with a word “Ford” on it was what I saw for any indication of it. I parked down the road from the location where I had landed. Several people lay on the ground, and a few were in makeshift tents in a large open area by several large buildings. It reminded me a little of the Encampments back home.

  Since we moved around so much, there wasn't much time for anything more than a few fighting positions, tents and if you were lucky enough, the mobile housing units. A few always stayed outside though, in a wide perimeter as a watch for any Lebabolis patrols.

  I drew a crude map on the P-LAD of the areas I'd seen Nelson in for my next move. I brushed my hands on my pants to dry them off a bit from the night air.

  “There she is,” a gravel rough voice said. My friend Louie from the other day. He and another man stood over me. I quickly slid the device into my jacket pocket but not quick enough. Louie’s friend stooped down. “Whatcha got?” His eyebrows were so large they formed one straight line above his eyes.

  “Oh, something I found.”

  Eyebrows regarded me for a second, sizing me up. “Lemme see it.”

  “Mike, leave her 'lone. She didn't do nuthin.”

  Mike ignored him, his eyes locked on mine like an animal studying its prey. My arms flexed a bit, and I imagined his look if I sprung for him.

  Instead, I tried the verbal approach. “I saw it first.”

  Mike grunted. I bet he wasn't used to rejection, or he just made sure everyone was scared of him. Big mistake on his part. I had complied with others way too long. This moron was close to a painful lesson from me.

  I got on one knee, hunched my shoulders. “Mike, I'm looking at it. That's all.”

  Mike grunted again, and Louie grabbed his shoulder. “C'mon, Mike. Stevie got food from the Mission. Let's go eat.”

  One mention of food and Mike's attention was diverted. He glanced past my shoulder for a moment. He smacked his lips and looked at Louie. “Shit, I could eat. Let's go.” As they walked off, he gave me the eye.

  I returned his icy gaze and waited until he looked away before I pulled the P-LAD back out.

  Chapter 17 (Nelson)

  I almost exploded.

  I had never had it this intense before.

  I slid my hands over Tina's ample thighs as she lay atop me. I felt the curves and tone of her frame and gasped as she took me inside of her ever so slowly.

  She gazed darkly at me and cooed, “Give it to me, baby. I want it.”

  The glow of the street lights peeked into the room with a few slivers of light, enough so I saw her tattooed body and her sultry gaze as I felt her tighten around me.

  The sensation and the sight of her over me was too much; couldn't hold out long at all. I released loudly as she shuddered. After a few seconds, I unfroze and rolled to her side while I caught my breath. She gently nuzzled me in the dark.

  “You needed that, didn't you?” she whispered, panting.

  “Um, yeah. Way more than I can say.” I chuckled as she laughed as well.

  She brushed a strand of hair from my face. “You’re lucky I had you back after you stood me up.” She patted my cheek.

  “Sorry about that, baby. Had car trouble, and it ran awhile.”

  “Mmmhm. Well, ain't no call like the booty call, huh?”

  “Yeah. Thanks, been a rough few days. We should do this again soon.”

  “Call me, baby. You know the number.”

  She slid away as I tossed the condom and got dressed.

  My phone growled to life on the bed behind me. I grabbed it as Tina slinked under the covers more.

  There was a new text:

  ----

  From: UNKNOWN

  Xander - Seize Your Destiny. Meet me on the Moonwalk near Jax Brewery tomorrow.

  ----

  First the weird texts and voicemails and now the weird girl at the bar. Why was my crazy quota upped? I felt like I was falling for a second and thrust my hands out. Tina eyed me, her eyebrow arched. “You doing OK?”

  I managed a nod in response. Once the feeling stopped, I almost threw the phone against the wall. No, not the right time nor place. I leaned over, kissed Tina, and headed out.

  I focused on what I knew. Dad needed me. Maybe my imagination was running crazy with everything that had happened. This wasn’t real, right? First things first. I needed a new job before I got Dad situated.

  Writing was on the back burner again. How my book world became real was none of my business. And whatever crazy stalker bitch gunned for me, a little tasing would’ve settled her down a bit.

  #

  I walked into the Kerry Irish Pub right after five. The place felt as comfortable as a warm blanket on
a cold night. It had that French Quarter feel that those remote Metairie bars just never touched. The bar was already filled with a few regulars. I meandered around the tables in front of the bar until I slid onto a stool at the far end from the door.

  The air was filled with loud discussions and the occasional laughter, people glad they weren’t at work for at least a few hours. The loud clicking of glasses and bottles punctuated the conversations around me.

  After I ordered a pint of Guinness, I texted Harvey. I needed a dose of lucid common sense and a fresh perspective on things. If nothing else, a change of subject was enough.

  ----

  May 3, 2014

  5:13PM

  Dude, you busy? I need to talk. @ Kerry. Call/Text or come by.

  ----

  I scoped out the others nearby. A few familiar faces, but no one I trusted with this kind of story. Alright, it was pretty freaky how close she'd gotten on things. But the part I hadn't written yet? Someone had played me in a freaky way, that was all.

  But how? And who?

  Was Travis that vindictive? What else was there that he wanted, my head on the wall next to his vacation picture at “Yo-See-Me” Park? He already got me axed from the company. Maybe he caught my writing on the printer at work, but he had no reason for pranks now that I was gone, right?

  The first pint of Guinness stood no chance with me. I ordered an Irish Car Bomb as Harvey walked up. “Hey man, you in a hurry?”

  “Dude, I'm unemployed and job hunting. I don't need the stress, alright?”