by Saxon Andrew
Candice and Jimmy looked at each other and she nodded, “Yes, I was. I’m surprised you remembered.”
“I remember thinking that I had to get an outfit like that. I’ve always loved fashion.” Summer looked at Jimmy, “I saw your mother but no one was with her. She was sitting alone on the steps.”
Jimmy shook his head, “No she wasn’t. I was right there beside her.”
Candice nodded, “He was! He predicted you would walk by us and described exactly what you’d look like.”
Summer looked at both of them and turned to Jimmy, “You know how you told me that before you would tell me all of it that I had to believe you could see the future?” Jimmy nodded as Tom came around the car and put his arm on Candice’s shoulders. Summer shook her head, “Unfortunately, I don’t have an ability to use to convince you I’m telling the truth. I remember the incident clearly now and your mother was alone, no one was with her.”
Jimmy stared at Summer on the other side of the car and turned to his mother, “Mom, she’s being honest about what she saw. I don’t know what’s going on but I know she would never be deceptive to us about anything.”
Summer heard him and she broke out in a smile and ran around the car. She wrapped her arms around Jimmy’s neck and kissed him hard. “What’s this for?”
“Believing me when I can see in both your faces that you were actually there.” She hugged him tightly and Candice said, “Well! Turn off the car and let’s go up and have talk about this.”
“Mom, I purchased the land for three-million Euros.”
Candice smiled, “A Baaagen! Tell me about it after dinner. I want to hear how the two of you came together.”
Summer said as they entered the elevator, “There’s not much to tell. I told him in the lab this morning that I have thought things through and that his dream at five years old was really about me and that we should be together.”
Candice looked at Jimmy and he shrugged and nodded. She looked at Tom and said, “Their courtship was just summarized in one sentence without any comas.”
Tom raised his shoulders and pursed his lips as he said, “That removes a lot of begging and pleading.” Candice elbowed him in the ribs and he winced, “I’m just saying!”
Candice frowned and looked at Jimmy, “Since everything else that is newsworthy had been discussed here in the elevator, Tom has asked me to marry him and I’ve accepted.”
Summer clapped and said “That’s wonderful.”
Jimmy hugged his mother and stuck out his hand to Tom, “Congratulations, you’re both lucky to have each other.”
The elevator door opened and Candice looked at Jimmy, “Are you sure you’re ok with this?”
Jimmy hugged her tightly as the elevator door closed and started down. He chuckled and said, “For someone who never had love in her life, you’ve given more that I could have ever wanted. I’m sure you love him as much and I couldn’t be happier.”
The elevator reached the ground floor and Tom pressed the button again, “Please, someone stop the door next time.” Jimmy smiled and hugged his mother.
They finally stepped off the elevator and Candice looked at Summer, “I’m surprised Jimmy didn’t come chasing you as soon as he arrived at MIT.’
“That’s my fault Ms. Caspari. I pretty much acted hateful toward him and things went downhill from there.”
“Why did you do that?”
Summer sighed, “I’m such a competitive person that I saw him as a threat to me being the Queen of the World. I was acting childish.”
Candice looked at Jimmy and said, “I’d never want to be in competition with Jimmy.” She turned to Summer and smiled, “I image it was pretty frustrating, particularly if he didn’t even notice the competition.”
Summer shook her head, “You have no idea. I’d try to make the best grade in every class we had together and the best I ever did was to tie one of his grades. He didn’t even look at the list on the wall. It was infuriating.”
“What about now, Summer?” Tom asked as they walked into the high-rise apartment.”
“I guess my perspective changed when he told me what is going to happen. All of those around me will be killed and there I was trying to prove I was better than them. It changed the way I see the world.”
Candice started toward the kitchen, stopped and said, “Where’s Jimmy?” Everyone looked around the room and Candice yelled, “JIMMY!”
Suddenly, Jimmy appeared directly in front of her. Candice fell back and Tom caught her. Everyone stared at him and he said, “I think I’ve figured out why Summer didn’t see me and how someone could have been in your room and not be seen, Mom.”
Summer’s eyes were wide as she said, “What is going on.”
Jimmy looked at her, “I think my father is an alien.”
Chapter Nine
“YOUR FATHER IS A WHAT!?!”
Candice waved a hand at her and started toward the kitchen, “He obviously hasn’t told you about my dream. He’s probably right about the alien thing.” She disappeared into the kitchen and Summer stared at Jimmy with her mouth slightly open as Tom said, “I’ll leave the two of you alone to discuss this.” He followed Candice into the kitchen.
Summer stared at Jimmy and as he approached her, she backed up. Jimmy lowered his eyes and said, “I’ve had my DNA checked and it is normal.”
“What do you mean by normal? I just saw you disappear.”
“That was a mental process and not physical.”
“Jimmy, you’re scaring me!”
“Summer, I am human. If we have any children, they will be perfectly normal.”
“How can you know that?”
“Because when you kissed me in the lab I closed my eyes and had a dream of you holding our new born son. He and you were stunningly beautiful.”
Jimmy moved forward and took Summer in his arms. He took her to the sofa and told her about his mother’s dream. She asked numerous questions and Candice sat down with her and discussed what happened in detail, while Jimmy and Tom brought the food out to the table. They moved to the table and Jimmy said the blessing. Summer stared at him with her eyes opened and wondered…
• • •
After the meal and all the dishes were cleaned and put away, Summer looked at Jimmy, “How did you make yourself invisible?”
“I really don’t know how it works.”
“Then how did you make it happen?” Tom asked.
Jimmy sat back in his chair and looked around the table, “I remembered the day we went to the building and I saw you walking toward us, Summer. You were so…so beautiful that I felt incredibly small and insignificant. I wanted to crawl and hide from you.” Summer’s eyes softened and she reached across the table and took his hand in hers. Jimmy continued, “I remember that feeling even to this day. So, I tried to embrace it and feel it again. A few moments later, Mom asked where I was.”
The others stared at Jimmy and Summer said, “Try to do it again. I’ll tell you if you disappear.” Jimmy nodded and his brow furrowed. A moment later, he disappeared. “We can’t see you, Jimmy.” They waited and Summer said, “If you’re talking to us, we can’t hear it, either.”
Suddenly, Jimmy appeared, “I was speaking to you. I could hear you but evidently I can’t be heard when I’m not visible.”
“Do you know how it’s happening?” Candice asked.
“No, I don’t.”
Tom shrugged, “Do you know how you think?” Summer, Candice, and Jimmy looked at him. “It’s my understanding that scientists know where it takes place in the brain but don’t really have a clue how it happens. Maybe what Jimmy is doing is sort of like thinking. He doesn’t know how he does it, he just does it.”
Jimmy smiled, “That is a good description, Tom.”
“Thank you, I’m here to help.”
“Speaking of that, where do we stand on our building fund?”
“We’ve managed to get our funds up to fifteen billion.”
“
I thought you told me we had over twenty?” Jimmy asked.
“We did but we invested a huge sum in stocks that won’t be available for a while. Why do you ask?”
“I need you to find a building contractor to start construction in the valley. I prefer one that will keep their mouth shut. Do you know any companies in Europe that we can use?”
“I actually know several. Some of my former clients that used us to hide their stock incomes come from Europe. However, you are going to need permission to build in that valley and I’m pretty certain that Switzerland is not going to be receptive to the environmental impact.”
Jimmy smiled and Summer tilted her head at Jimmy, “He’s right. That is not going to be an easy nut to crack.”
Jimmy smiled, “It won’t be as hard as you think.”
“Why is that?” Tom asked.
“The French are building the very large collider and the Swiss were left out of the project. They weren’t at all happy about that.”
“How do you know that?” Summer asked.
“While I was there to purchase the land, I called a Swiss magistrate and told him that I was purchasing some land in an isolated valley to build a scientific facility to study cosmic and gravity waves.”
Candice said, “Really?”
“Uh huh. I was fortunate that this lawyer knew what I was talking about. He had some detailed questions about how the facility I wanted to build would impact the natural environment in the valley and I told him that I needed the facility built inside the mountains on both sides of the valley so they would not be exposed to outside interference. They should have no impact on the local wildlife, ground water, or plant life. I requested him to see if he could get the necessary permits and he asked how large the project was projected to cost and I told him eight to nine billion.”
Tom smiled, “I imagine that got his attention.”
“He almost choked on coffee when I told him. Anyway, he’s working on that as we speak and he should be getting back to me shortly.”
Candice smiled, “The Swiss do love astronomy.”
Jimmy smiled, “I told the Magistrate to tell them that if it wasn’t acceptable that a second site in the French Alps was being explored and that I have someone working on that as well.”
Candice shook her head, “Jimmy, you know that sort of decision won’t be made overnight.”
“Actually, I received an email from the Attorney that if we are willing to sign an agreement that the valley will retain its current appearance, then he can get an agreement ratified in the next meeting of the Bundesrat. Tom I’m going to need you to set up a Corporation and go to Switzerland to sign that agreement.”
“Why me?”
“Because you are a licensed stock broker and have the authority to represent those who use your services. Tell the Magistrate that a full list of Officers will be given once the agreement is completed.”
“You don’t think there will be too many questions?”
“Not over that isolated, desolate place in the mountains. I believe they have already tried to go in and inspect it but backed out due to the high-powered updrafts. I suspect once we start paying taxes for the value of the improved property, there will be few questions asked.”
“Can we leave the land like we found it?” Candice asked.
Jimmy turned to her, “It’s imperative that we do.”
“Why is that?”
“Because humans are not the only species on the extinction block. Cows, pigs, chickens, goats, dogs, cats, and most all the other animals that play a role in human survival are going out with mankind. That five-mile long valley can be a Noah’s Arc to them.”
“But how will we feed them?” Summer asked.
“That valley is a self-contained bio-system. The warm water that flows through it will allow crops to grow even if the rest of the world is freezing around it. We’ll build fences to keep the animals separated and they should do well.”
“But there will be no sunlight,” Tom stated.
“That’s going to be up to me and Summer to come up with a way to build the high-power lights on the sides of the surrounding mountains that will provide it.”
“What about the power to run them as well as the facility we’re building?” Tom asked.
“There’s a waterfall at the end of the valley that falls into a gorge that disappears under the mountains. It’s a perfect place for a hydro-generator.”
Tom shook his head, “Do you honestly think that generator will be able to provide enough power for everything you’re planning?”
Jimmy shook his head, “Tom, you’re just full of good news.”
Tom shrugged and said, “Just saying; you need to plan against those things becoming issues.”
“Developing new sources of power and improving the current generators to a much better level is something that I will be working on during my graduate work. If all else fails, I’ll look at nuclear power.”
“How do you think the Swiss will react to that?”
Jimmy shrugged, “They will have their attention on other issues and not notice us doing it.”
Candice’s eyes opened slightly wider, “What do you mean by, ‘other issues’.”
“Mom, those asteroids aren’t just going to suddenly appear out of nowhere. They’re going to be seen and the world is going to get together to find a way to stop them. While that is happening, we will move whatever we need to finalize the construction. I’ve already developed a magnetic power generator on a small scale that will be more powerful than any generator currently being used. I think I’ll have them ready before the facility needs them.”
“Jimmy, how many people are you going to bring to the valley?”
“Mom, I’ve asked some experts at MIT about how many people would be needed to colonize a planet if we went to another star. They told me that a gene-pool diversity of at least two thousand couples would be enough. However, five-hundred couples might survive without major genetic issues if marriages are tightly controlled.”
“Jimmy, that’s not an answer.”
“We are going to need specific skills to rebuild after strikes.”
Summer watched Jimmy answer their questions and felt something inside her heart. He wasn’t paralyzed by fear or uncertain about what to do. If he didn’t know, he said so and moved on. She released her fear about him possibly being an alien and interrupted him, “Jimmy, what about my parents?” Jimmy looked at her and she saw his reluctance to answer. Summer smiled, “My father is Dr. John Reynolds, who is the head of surgery at the largest hospital in Dallas. My mother is the head of nursing and both have been instructors at Harvard Medical School prior to their accepting their current positions.”
Jimmy instantly said, “Do you have fifty more just like them? We need a good medical staff. Not only to treat those in the facility but to train the next generation of doctors and nurses.”
“Jimmy, I believe my father would know the perfect mix of physicians that we’d need to insure survival.”
Jimmy sighed, “Then we’re going to have to tell him what’s going on and every time we increase the number that know, we increase the risks of being discovered.”
“Don’t tell everyone.” Everyone turned and looked at Summer. She raised her left shoulder and said, “Choose your recruiters carefully. Let them in on what’s happening and allow them to choose who they want to bring and how many can come.”
“How would that work, Summer?” Candice asked.
Summer nodded toward Jimmy, “He just told us that the world is going to see the danger coming from a long way off. Have our recruiters tell their recruits that if they ever feel they are in great danger to contact him and there will be a way to save them if they keep that information to themselves.”
The three stared at Summer and she asked, “Are we going to need to recruit soldiers, Jimmy?”
Jimmy stared at her and Tom and Candice turned toward him, “Why would we need soldiers, Jimmy?” Candice asked
.
Summer said, “We’re moving too fast to not have everyone on board.”
“What is she talking about, Jimmy?”
Jimmy stared at Summer and then sighed, “Tom, there was a third asteroid that hit in the Indian Ocean.”
“You told me that.”
Do you remember saying before I left for Europe that the first two were hitting in the places almost guaranteed massive destruction of humanity. You said that to make it complete, all that was needed was a third one around the Middle-East and Africa.” Tom’s eyes narrowed. “You said that if that happened that God or destiny had a plan to exterminate humans.” Tom stared at Jimmy and finally nodded. “I’ve studied the odds on the three strikes happening naturally and they are more than a trillion to one. Someone is causing this to happen and whatever the world comes up with to stop them, it will fail.”
Candice and Tom were speechless and Jimmy looked at Summer, “We don’t have the technology to build a spaceship capable of just firing up the engines and flying to the moon. The only way we can get there is by using Earth’s and the moon’s gravity to help capture the ship as it arrives. Anyone that has a spaceship they can fly wherever they choose will easily remove any spaceship, missile, or anything else we launch into space to destroy those rocks coming at us.” Jimmy looked at the floor and sighed, “It’s like rolling a small car down a hill with no gas and having it try to avoid a fully powered armored car going after it. It stands no chance.”
Tom said, “They want our planet.” Jimmy pursed his lips and nodded. “They won’t be able to come and take it for a while.”
Jimmy nodded again, “It’s that time they have to wait for the planet to start healing that we must prepare to take them on.” He looked at his mother, “So to answer your question, yes we are going to need soldiers.”
“And weapons that use technology we’ve not developed.” Everyone turned to Summer. “I’m close to developing a laser that does not require the massive power that is necessary for those currently being used. If Jimmy can develop the sealed rechargeable power units, we’ll be moving in the right direction.”