Skyfire

by R J Johnson

  Tate leaned back in his seat, wiped the knife off on the napkin and cut off another piece of steak as he watched Javier die. He chewed a piece of the juicy meat as his employee grew pale, slouched forward and collapsed on the tray table that lay between them, blood pooling on the table and seat.

  He heard Kline step out of his private office, a satellite phone in his hand. The big man’s eyes darted to Geoffrey, then over to Javier’s dead body. He huffed.

  The person on the other end of the line wrapped up his report to Kline and hung up the phone.

  “Dinner prepared to your satisfaction?” Kline asked.

  “I thought you might feel freer to talk without a potential security leak,” Tate replied calmly. He decided he didn’t give a shit what Kline thought anymore. He worked hard for the man and always had his best interests in mind. To think he would replace him so easily with a punk like Javier was something he’d need to correct. No matter Tate’s failures over the last few days, Kline needed to know that he was the only one to count on.

  Kline looked at Javier’s dead body and sighed. “You’ve put me in a delicate position.” He sat down next to Javier, carefully avoiding the blood around the man’s seat. “You must understand, something like this cannot go unanswered.”

  “You know as well as I do that Javier was a test,” Tate snapped. “So long as he considered me a threat to you and your business, he would’ve been constantly looking for ways to be rid of me. Since I’ve grown fond of breathing, that meant I had to kill him before he had the chance to kill me, just as you knew I would. If I hadn’t, the second I became less than useful to you, I’d be dead by his hands and you would’ve gotten what you wanted anyway.”

  A slow smile spread across Kline’s face. “Look at us,” he said with a nod, “still surprising each other after all these years.”

  Tate decided not to respond and continued with his meal. They were stuck with each other.

  Kline sighed again and looked uncomfortable in his seat. “Besides, I need your help and expertise.”

  Tate looked up in surprise at this. Kline had, in fact, hired him for his help and expertise, but the man had never actually asked for it.

  “It appears that one of my mines has stumbled upon one of the stones,” Kline said.

  “Where?” Tate asked, leaning forward. His meal lay forgotten on the table between them. If it was time to talk business, Tate was all ears.

  “Zambia. My notes pointed to a chamber there, like the one we uncovered in Joshua Tree. So I purchased a copper mine in the area three years ago.”

  “And they found the chamber?”

  Kline nodded. “I’ve instructed our pilot to change our destination.”

  He stood and made his way back toward the plane’s private office, barking orders as he went without breaking his stride. “Your plans for Mr. McCray will be put on hold for now. If we are able to get a hold of a third stone, we should be able to handle anything Mr. McCray and his ‘team’ can throw at us.”

  “It will be done,” Tate said nodding.

  Kline paused at the office’s doorway and looked back at Tate, an ugly look on his face.

  “Whatever leverage you believe you may have achieved with Javier’s death, remember that you are still completely disposable. You live and breathe only through my good graces. A God has a use for fools, but there are plenty of other fools out there.”

  With that, he turned and shut the door to his office.

  Tate turned back to his meal, picked up the wine and saluted Javier’s body. At least he’d have a companion for dinner.

  Chapter Twenty

  Ododa sat in his small trailer, holding a damp handkerchief to his forehead. He swallowed some water from a cup and thought about how he was going to explain what Mbasi had witnessed.

  It was all so confusing, Ododa thought to himself. He’d been next to his car, five miles away from the camp, then found himself standing next to Mbasi just moments later.

  He wondered to himself what could possibly be wrong with him. Every law and principle of physics he knew told him that what he had just done was impossible.

  Was he mentally ill? Was this the beginning of a long descent into madness? Would the state commit him?

  Would his family be okay?

  He swallowed and looked at his hand, which shook in terror. He breathed deeply and tried to run through the night’s events in his mind once more, searching for any answer that might alleviate how insane he felt in that moment.

  The door to his trailer opened. Mbasi stepped through, eyeing him cautiously.

  “Is everyone getting the medical attention they need?” Ododa asked.

  “They are being seen to,” Mbasi replied. He took a seat across from Ododa.

  “What is it?”

  “I think you know…” Mbasi said, staring at him.

  “I really truly, do not,” Ododa said honestly. He knew what Mbasi was doing; he just didn’t have any answers for him.

  “You were outside the mine,” Mbasi said. “I spoke with you. You were there for sure. And then suddenly, you were gone, and to my surprise, just as suddenly, you appeared with our people from a place that was completely and totally collapsed.”

  “You want to know how I got inside the mine,” Ododa said matter-of-factly.

  “It is a legitimate question,” Mbasi argued.

  Ododa sighed and let his shoulders slump. “If I had an answer, I would tell you, my friend. I don’t know how I ended up in the mine as I did. What I know is that one moment I was outside speaking with you, and the next I was inside the refuge, taking cover from the landslide.”

  “You speak of this as if it is not witchcraft,” Mbasi spat at him. “I went back over by the landslide and refuge. There was no possible entrance you could have taken to get everyone out as you did!”

  Ododa shook his head. He’d done what he could to keep superstitions to a minimum, but miners, no matter their culture or country, were a superstitious lot, “Whatever this is, I swear to you, it is not magic. My guess is the explosions revealed a previously unknown shaft. It must have opened up underneath me and somehow led directly to the refuge. After we were freed, the land must have settled in once again, collapsing whatever passageway I fell into.”

  “There’s no indication…” Mbasi began, but stopped when he saw Ododa’s face.

  “There had to be,” Ododa said firmly. “Occam’s Razor, my friend. The simplest explanation is generally the correct one. It’s the only thing that makes sense.”

  Mbasi began to argue again, but stopped and nodded instead. “That is how it will appear in my report.”

  “Thank you, Mr. Mbasi. I appreciate that,” Ododa replied with a nod.

  “Perhaps you ought to return home again, for good this time,” Mbasi reminded him. “I will remain onsite tonight and see about getting our people back to work.”

  “That sounds like an excellent plan.” Ododa rose and placed his cup on the desk next to him. “I shall return tomorrow morning, and we’ll finish the report for the home office then, yes?”

  “Get some rest, my friend,” his boss said, clapping him on the back. “You did amazing work tonight. They will remember you for a long time because of it.”

  Ododa smiled. No matter how confusing it had been, his friend was right; he’d saved a lot of lives tonight. Perhaps that’s all he needed.

  He exited the trailer and began to walk towards his customary parking spot when he remembered how he got here. His home was five miles away, nearly a two-hour walk from where he was.

  He waited next to the gate and flagged down one of the departing trucks. They gave him a ride to his Toyota a few miles down the road. The driver had heard of Ododa’s heroism and talked non-stop about it on the way there. Ododa was grateful for the ride, but he was even more grateful for the peace and quiet after the talkative driver left him behind.

  Moving quickly over to his truck, he opened the passenger door, ducking inside the cab to retrieve a ro
ll of duct tape. He brought it out and opened the hood, wrapping the busted hose as tightly as possible. He then poured water, from a jug he kept in the back of the truck, into the radiator and started the engine.

  Ododa took it easy on the way back home, knowing that he couldn’t push the poor vehicle very hard if he wanted it to get him to work the next day. Arriving home, he saw the porch light turn on and his wife rush out to meet him.

  “Ododa!” Lwansa cried out. “My God, are you all right?”

  “I’m alive,” Ododa confirmed, smiling at his wife.

  “They were talking about you on the radio. They said you rescued everyone!” Lwansa gushed. “They’re calling you a hero.”

  Ododa chuckled and shook his head. “I was able to get the men free from the cave-in. But I wouldn’t go so far as to call me a hero.”

  “My husband, the humble hero,” Lwansa said, her eyes shining. “Come inside. I have some dinner warming for you in the oven.”

  He took his wife into his arms and hugged her tightly. She returned his affection, looking up at him with her wide brown eyes, “What was that for?”

  “For being you,” Ododa replied happily.

  She grinned, and he dipped her as if they were dancing on a glamorous ballroom floor.

  “One of these days, you’ll have to take me dancing in Paris like you promised,” Lwansa said with a grin.

  For a moment, Ododa thought of her longtime dream of traveling. Then, in the blink of an eye, there they were.

  Lwansa screamed in terror. Ododa looked around them, his eyes as wide as saucers.

  They were standing directly underneath the Eiffel tower in front of a small pond. Several bystanders were out strolling along the romantic walk in the evening air. Apparently, none of them had noticed the strange couple appear out of nowhere.

  Several joggers ran by and he watched them in wonder. Is this real, he wondered, or another hallucination? He slowly lifted his eyes to take in the perfect geometry of the Eiffel Tower.

  “What… What is this?” Lwansa whispered in terror. She clutched her husband tightly as she looked around at the City of Lights.

  “This is…” Ododa didn’t finish the sentence. He thought about their simple home back in Zambia and suddenly, there they were again.

  Lwansa squealed in panic and pushed herself away from her husband.

  “Did… Did I just…?” she stammered. Ododa’s gaze wavered left and right as he looked for an answer.

  “Your pocket…” she whispered, and pointed downward..

  His hand scrambled through his jeans pocket, finding the stone he had retrieved from the crystal chamber. As his fingers ran over his surface, everything clicked.

  He smiled and closed his eyes.

  Lwansa watched her husband disappear, and she screamed again, her cries echoing through the jungle.

  Seconds later, Ododa reappeared in front of her, holding a perfectly arranged bouquet of flowers. He smiled and held them out to his loving wife, who was still staring at him in fear.

  “I think our lives are about to change, my dear…” Ododa said, offering the flowers with a flourish.

  She moved toward him, feeling him up and down his arm to make sure he was real. Satisfied for the moment, she took the flowers, sniffing in their scent with her dainty charms.

  “Is this real?”

  Ododa smiled and extended a hand out to her, “If it isn’t, at least we’re going crazy together.”

  She smiled and glanced towards the house. “The children are asleep.”

  “Then I think we deserve a little adventure, don’t you?” Ododa asked, his grin spreading wider.

  Her fingers folded together with his, and together they disappeared into the ether.

  Chapter Twenty-One

  He’d been watching them from the shadows. Mbasi didn’t like stalking his subordinate, but the mystery of his appearance within the caved-in mine had continued to bother him bothering him. He hadn’t bought Ododa’s explanation, and so he’d decided to confront the man personally at home. Just when he was within shouting distance, he saw Ododa and his wife disappear and then reappear right before his eyes.

  He hid in the bushes, watching the pair, and he saw the stone in Ododa’s hands. It made sense then, all of it.

  Whatever had been in that chamber had given Ododa the power to disappear at will. No wonder the home office cared so much, Mbasi thought.

  Ododa and his wife clutched each other’s hands and disappeared once more. Mbasi rose from his hiding place and walked over to where the pair had just been standing. There were no tracks nor any other indications of where they’d gone. Whatever he’d seen, it was real, and it was incredibly powerful.

  Dollar signs danced in his vision as he thought of what the mining company would pay for the stone, once he revealed its powers. His faced turned grim when he realized what he would need to do next.

  He walked purposefully across the road and knocked at the front door. After hearing nothing at first, he knocked on the door again, making it sound urgent.

  A small child of about 8 years opened the door, rubbing her eyes with her pink blanket. She squinted as she recognized him.

  “Iwe!” the little girl cried out happily. “What are you doing here, Uncle? Is Father all right?”

  “Your father is fine, little one,” he said cryptically. He pushed his way into the home and closed the door behind him.

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Professor Collier made his way towards the bank he’d chosen as his first target. He’d been practicing his newfound powers all night and felt ready for whatever he might face. The scariest part was that each time he played with the power of the stone, he felt like he was barely scratching the surface of his new potential.

  He felt the comforting weight of the stone in his pocket and rubbed it between his thumb and forefinger, hoping it would help calm his nerves. He knew the stone made him powerful, but that didn’t change the fact that this would be his very first bank robbery.

  Well, he thought, at least you’ll have a memorable debut.

  He casually walked into Downtown San Diego’s Federal Reserve Bank. In seconds, a man in uniform spotted him and approached. Collier glanced up at the “No Loitering” sign.

  “Can I help you, sir?” The security officer’s tone was firm, but polite.

  Collier’s only response was to wave a hand towards the officer, who immediately burst into flame. The officer’s screams echoed through the marble foyer as others looked on in horror. One particularly quick-thinking man threw a jacket over the security officer, while a third began to spray the dying man with a nearby fire extinguisher.

  Undeterred, Collier continued to move towards the bank lobby and stepped through a second set of ceiling-to-floor glass doors.

  He stepped through and breathed deeply, then exhaled and blew an enormous ball of flame at the lobby’s large chandelier. The pyrotechnics startled several customers and tellers, all of whom looked up to the chandelier just as it exploded. Its shattered remains groaned and plummeted to the floor, crashing spectacularly, sending glass shards everywhere.

  “Ladies and gentlemen!” Collier shouted. He juggled a trio of fireballs, readying them to throw at anyone who might dare stand up against him. “I’d like to assure you I don’t look to harm anyone. I’m only here for a small withdrawal…” He cackled and tossed a fireball particularly high into the air, letting it arch before catching it behind his back. The crowd gasped in terror and confusion.

  “However, I must warn you, anyone who gets in my way will find themselves…” He giggled and blasted the nearest wall, leaving a wide black mark. “…in some very hot water.”

  The crowd shrieked in terror and fell to the floor, cowering under their hands. No one looked up. No one resisted. Collier smirked. There was no fight in any of them.

  “Sir,” a good looking man in a suit approached him behind. He was trying to keep his tone low and reassuring, but Collier could tell that he was ha
ving trouble keeping his composure.

  “Whatever you want, whatever you need…” he pleaded, “…please, you are in control of the situation right now and I will assist you in any way possible. We can help you get out of here as quickly as you want with as much as you can carry.”

  Collier grinned and turned to face the man in the suit, whom he assumed was the bank manager.

  “Take me to the vault,” he ordered.

  The manager looked to his left and stammered, “I’m sorry, the vault… It’s… It’s locked every day at three PM.”

  Collier grinned, fully aware of how terrifying he looked. “Let me worry about that.”

  With a trembling nod, the manager led Collier behind the counter, towards the rear of the bank.

  “I can assure you that no one on my staff has called the police,” the manager said desperately. “We have standing orders to give…” he coughed politely. “…people like yourself anything you want and help in any way possible if we are robbed.”

  “What a kindness they’ve allowed, giving up their money for your life,” Collier said.

  The bank manager led him down a narrow hallway until they were standing in front of an enormous vault. The door stood at least ten feet high by fifteen feet wide and looked impenetrable.

  “It’s time-locked until Monday morning,” the manager said nervously. “I want to help you, really I do, but the cash drawers are all we have left.”

  Ignoring the manager, Collier grinned, leaned back and cracked his knuckles.

  “Let me try my key...”

  A thin filament of flame lashed out from his pointer finger, striking the vault door. Unlike the rest of the flames he had summoned so far, this one was focused and intense, as a laser or cutting torch would be.

  The bank manager yelped and threw up his arm to protect his eyes. Collier turned away from the frightened man and continued to focus his will on cutting open the vault.

  He was quickly rewarded with the scent of burning metal in the air.. Engulfed in heat, but not in pain, Collier stared at the white-hot intensity, using the stone to make the torch even more intense.