Now & Again

by E. A. Fournier

  They headed toward the door. Kendall put a hand on Josh’s shoulder. “Don’t worry, it’s not like old Hugh’s goin’ anywhere.”

  Josh nodded but then looked serious. “Hey Dad, about tonight; what if you wait until I’m asleep before you go to bed?”

  Kendall was instantly defensive. “Why?”

  Josh winced. “‘Cause you snore like a jumbo jet. Whole hotel room shakes. Hasn’t Mom ever said anything?”

  Kendall looked hurt. “You know, the old me didn’t snore.”

  “That’s a big help here.”

  CHAPTER 19:

  In the pharmacy prep area of the Turpin Hills drugstore, Doug Johnson dispensed elliptical white caplets into an orange prescription bottle. He locked the cap with a practiced flourish, affixed the label, and dropped it into a tote for bagging. The senior pharmacist took pride in his precision and his appearance, which is why he was so touchy about his baldness. He knew every available treatment regimen for his condition and knew that none of them worked. He checked off the prescription he’d completed and moved on to the next request on his list.

  A few steps to his left, Cecelia, his upbeat young assistant pharmacist, smoothly stapled a white pharmacy bag for the pickup bin. She crossed off her final order and looked over at her boss. “That’s it on my standard call-ins, Mr. Johnson, except for the C-3’s and 2’s. I can fill those next if you want.”

  Doug was fastidiously rearranging his work area. “Well, you’re speedy this morning. Sure. That’ll help.” He groaned a bit. “I have to do inventory today.”

  “Poor you.” Cecelia smiled at him in mock sympathy as she grabbed a separate sheet of requests and pulled open the drawer with the drug cabinet key.

  Doug started on his next order. “Make sure you update the register.”

  “Always do.” Cecelia unlocked the metal drug cabinet where the controlled drugs were kept. “Have you ever known me to forget?” She removed the bound register and opened it to her next entry point.

  “No. Sorry. Force of habit.” Doug pulled a large bottle of pills from his stock. “Thank goodness for cholesterol! I’ve got another stack of Simvastatin orders. I can’t believe how many people are staggering around popping these. Oh well, pays the bills.”

  Cecelia nodded and gathered what she needed for the controlled drug orders. “There’s only a few of these so I’ll be able to give you a hand with…” Her words stopped and she cocked her head, feeling a strange tickle inside. “What…ahhh?” She jerked stiffly and her hand struck one of the metal shelves, making it clang sharply.

  Behind her, Doug slumped heavily against the counter and spilled a shower of the expensive white pills onto the floor.

  * * *

  Nsamba wore a tiny, nearly invisible wireless headset. He sat in a black mesh chair and stared attentively at an array of live screens placed in a small arc in front of him. The compact room was kept darkened to reduce glare. Tiny directional lights, with slender ribbed necks, created pools of soft illumination on the nearby flat surfaces and keyboards.

  Beside Nsamba’s station, John, a curly haired jump tech, monitored his own multiple screens and banks of interface gear. He adjusted his slim headset and kept a finicky eye on his embedded display pads. Directly across from him, on the flip side of the control console, another jump tech, Will, worked his own gear. John and Will handled different aspects of the complex jump, but their cross-training and related interests guaranteed a great deal of redundancy between them.

  Various screens tracked the multiple targets for this initial timeline assault: the two pharmacists filling orders, a mailman driving in a mail truck, a newsboy riding a bike, Kendall, Josh and Leah snacking in their kitchen, and a neighbor cutting his lawn.

  John spoke into his mike in a calm voice. “Julie and Vinnie are go for the pill pushers. Archive visual in 4, 3, 2, and mark.”

  He hit a timer and watched the pharmacists in his screens jerk upright. The female hit her hand on a shelf and the other spilled caplets on the floor. They both stiffly started to move in new directions.

  Will’s voice filled the headsets. “Mailman’s in the queue – one block and moving. Alpha estimated in one minute.”

  John nodded and spoke into his mike. “Copy that. Sal, you’re on deck.”

  A wall separated the compact control area from the back of the 48-foot trailer where six cradles were mounted in pairs. Their transparent covers were down and secured. The riders inside were helmeted and all but indistinguishable. Julie and Vinnie were in the front set, Salazar and Fargo in the middle, and Rose and Kranzie at the rear. Cradle technicians stood nearby, or moved carefully between racks of equipment in the cramped space. The cradles were rapidly changing hue and the room hummed with rising power.

  “This is Sal. Looks good. One minute.” Salazar tested his handgrip and watched the results in his HUD; he casually slid the targeting reticle on and off the slow moving mail truck.

  Back in the control room, John glanced at Nsamba. “Taylor, your call.”

  Nsamba gave no physical reaction. He was carefully watching the screen that showed the pharmacists working together in the controlled drug area. “Thank you. Waiting on the drugs.”

  * * *

  Vandermark and Hahn were monitoring the jump from Maryland. They could access any of the multiple views available to the jump techs by toggling their screens in the upper level control room at the Point. In addition, they had a single dedicated screen that showed a live, high angle view of Nsamba and his jump techs at work.

  * * *

  In the Turpin Hills pharmacy prep area, Cecelia, with Vinnie inside her, capped the needle on a second syringe filled with a milky solution, and handed both to Doug. The balding pharmacist, with Julie inside him, smiled and handed Cecelia two more sterile syringes.

  “Here you go, Vinnie, fill ‘em up. And don’t bother writing it into the register.” It was Doug’s voice, but Julie was doing the talking. She laughed at her joke with Doug’s mouth while she used his hands to mark a green X on one of the syringes.

  * * *

  “Mail truck is at position alpha.” Will’s voice was steady and unruffled in Taylor’s headset.

  Nsamba responded. “Thank you. Drugs are going into the bag. John, how does it look?”

  “Everything’s good here.” John positioned his hand over the timer. “It’s all yours.”

  Nsamba made the call. “Sal, you have a go.”

  “Affirmative.” Sal’s fingers tapped with nervous energy. “Waiting for the truck to stop. Targeting…lock…and go!” He squeezed the trigger.

  John immediately confirmed the jump and hit his timer. “Mailman is go. Archive visual in 4, 3, 2, and mark.”

  * * *

  With his steering wheel on the right side of the truck, the mailman pulled up to the last house on the block and opened its curbside mailbox. He was stopped directly across the street from the corner drugstore. He grabbed the clump of presorted mail from a slot next to him and started to stuff it into the box. Something inside his head strangely tingled! The mailman thrashed briefly behind the wheel, dropping the envelopes. The truck jerked forward and bumped repeatedly against the curb.

  Salazar quickly gained control and used the mailman’s feet to jam on the brakes. “Easy, partner.”

  The mailman, with Salazar inside, looked carefully around. “Okay, looks like nobody noticed the flakey postman bumping the curb – good for us.”

  Sal put the mail truck into park and watched the front door of the drugstore across the street. “Get it together little guy, we got a special delivery to pick up.”

  The male pharmacist walked briskly to the front of the drugstore with the prescription bag. His gait had a very definite feminine motion. As he approached the front doors of the store, the friendly teenage cashier looked up and spotted the bag.

  “Is that a charge, Mr. Johnson? Or did you guys already ring it out?”

  Julie, inside Doug, looked startled. “What? Oh, no, th
ere’s no…I mean, it’s taken care of.” Mr. Johnson put his head down and kept walking. “I’ll be back.”

  The puzzled cashier watched the pharmacist awkwardly push open the metal and glass double doors and stumble out to the sidewalk.

  Across the street, Sal spotted the druggist right away. He put the small truck into drive, looked for traffic and then swung a U-turn. A horn honked! Sal immediately braked. A car swerved safely around him and continued on its way, beeping its horn a few extra times to make a point.

  Sal viciously pounded the steering wheel with the heel of his hand. “Dammit to hell! Looked the wrong way! Shit! Forgot the steering wheel’s on the wrong side!”

  Calming himself, Sal looked the right way this time, made a safe U-turn, and headed toward the drugstore.

  Doug, the pharmacist, looked jumpy as the mail truck bumped the curb and jerked to a stop right next to him. The pharmacist handed over the bag and hissed in a low voice. “Nice driving, Sal, you scared the crap outta me.”

  “Sorry. Won’t happen again.”

  * * *

  Nsamba watched his screen. The view was delayed five seconds so the truck was just pulling up to the pharmacist. He shook his head and scowled.

  John spoke into his mike. “Okay. Kranzie, you’re in the queue for the neighbor. Fargo and Rose, you’re queued for Kendall and Josh.”

  In the back of the truck the second and third sets of cradles were changing hues as their power went to max. One of the cradle techs tapped the glass on one and gave a thumbs-up to the rider inside.

  “Copy that. This is Kranzie. Trackin’ the neighbor.” He impassively watched his display, but the ticking muscles around his chin betrayed his tension.

  “Rose is go for Josh. Target marked.” Rose tipped her head sharply left and right to release some stress.

  Fargo smiled, her eyes dancing with eagerness. “Fargo’s go for Kendall.”

  Back in the control area, John replied, “Copy that. All in the queue.”

  Nsamba took charge. “Thank you. All in the queue. The meds are on their way. Waiting for Julie and Vinnie.”

  * * *

  Doug came striding back into the pharmacy prep area where Cecelia leaned against a counter. “Everything go okay outside?”

  Doug smiled at her. “Yeah. That idiot Sal nearly got himself killed and then he almost ran me over, but other than that, fine.”

  “So, time to get back?”

  “Let’s do it.” Julie, inside Doug, turned his head and glanced around the pharmacy area. “Bye guys. Thanks for the memories.” She used his mouth to laugh one more time and then was gone.

  Both pharmacists gasped and shuddered as they came back to themselves. They looked at each other with uncertainty. Suddenly, Cecelia covered her face and began to sob. Tears welled up in Doug’s eyes as he tried to master his own emotions, while awkwardly patting her back.

  * * *

  Julie returned to full awareness in her cradle. Her eyes were lively and she was enjoying herself. “Julie back on line.”

  She quickly twisted her targeting grip. Hopping from nano to nano she skewed her view to the McCaslin house, jumped into the interior, moved quickly into their kitchen, and deftly slid her target reticle over Leah. “Targeting Leah. On your go.”

  In her headset, she heard Will’s voice reply. “Copy that, Julie. Wait one.”

  In his cradle, Vinnie returned and blinked rapidly, acclimating himself. “Vinnie back on line. On backup.”

  “Copy that, Vinnie,” Will said and checked all the cradle readouts across his board. “John, all cradles are go.”

  John glanced at his screens and nodded. “Taylor, everything looks good. On your call.”

  Nsamba waited until the moving mail truck on one of his screens stopped. “Thank you. The mail has arrived. Vinnie stays as backup. The rest have a go. Repeat, all go.”

  Julie locked Leah in her crosshairs, smiling in anticipation. Leah’s expression changed as if she felt something, and abruptly set her coffee cup down. The hot liquid sloshed onto the table. Julie squeezed the jump button. Leah pushed her fingers against her head and groaned.

  Fargo grinned at the active image of Kendall in her VR glasses and thumbed the trigger. Kendall dropped his fork and jerked stiffly in his chair.

  Rose got a lock on Josh. He squinted and rubbed his temples. Rose activated her jump. Josh fought it but he was too late; Rose was already riding him.

  Kranzie tracked the tall, elderly neighbor across his yard until he stopped the mower to dump clippings. Locking on the target, Kranzie pulled the trigger. The neighbor cocked his head as if listening to a far off sound, and stiffened.

  * * *

  Inside the McCaslin kitchen, Leah, Josh and Kendall got up with difficulty and headed for their living room.

  Outside the house, their next door neighbor walked to the curb where a mail truck was waiting. The mailman handed him a white pharmacy bag.

  In the living room, Josh and Kendall calmly sat side by side in straight backed chairs next to the couch. Just behind them, Leah stood waiting. The neighbor entered the front door and handed Leah a syringe from the bag. Leah, with Julie inside, held it up to make sure of the contents, unsnapped the cover exposing the needle, and moved to Kendall.

  “Fargo, pull the shirt away from your left shoulder, would you?”

  Kendall mechanically exposed his upper shoulder. Leah injected him in the large muscle near his neck. She pushed the entire content of the syringe, pulled it out, recapped it, and handed it back to the neighbor. Franzie, inside the neighbor, took the empty and handed her a second full syringe, this one was milky and marked with a green X.

  As Leah prepared to administer the second shot, Kendall turned slowly and glanced up at her. “Hey, I ain’t waitin’ around. Everything’s startin’ to go grey. I’m outta here!”

  Kendall faintly shuddered as Fargo dismounted. Leah unsnapped the top and injected him with the second drug. Kendall’s eyes shut as his head slumped forward onto his chest. His body settled heavily into the chair.

  They moved on to Josh and did the same. When all was complete, the neighbor collected the syringes into the bag. He rolled it up tightly, and left. Leah calmly retraced her steps to the kitchen.

  In the now quiet living room, Josh and Kendall sat silently, comatose in their chairs.

  * * *

  “Fargo, Rose and Julie are back on line.” Will spoke quickly into his mike as he confirmed their cradle readouts.

  “Copy that” John replied.

  “Okay,” Nsamba confirmed. “Waiting on Sal and Kranzie.”

  The activity level in the cradle bay was high. Techs unlocked and hoisted off the large transparent covers from the cradles. Others powered down equipment in the racks.

  Fargo ripped off the VR glasses and lifted her wire laden helmet. “Man! That’s some wicked shit you guys stuck into me.” She ran her hands through her short hair and scratched vigorously. “Creeped me out!”

  Rose, in the cradle behind Fargo, piped up. “Yeah, that was bad. I could feel everything going dead. I was scared I wouldn’t get out in time.”

  Julie pushed up out of the seat in her cradle and leaned over its curved side to look at them. “Sorry. Told you these drugs were nasty – or weren’t you listening when I made my pitch? Anyway, just stay through the first injection; after that it doesn’t matter.” She smirked at them. “C’mon though, other than that, don’tcha think it was kinda fun?”

  * * *

  In the lawn next door to the McCaslins, the neighbor stopped next to the yard waste container and dropped in the bag with the empty syringes. He lifted the mower bag and dumped the grass clippings on top of it. Putting the catch bag back on the mower he halted. “There you go mower man. All back together. Be seein’ ya.”

  The neighbor shuddered, as Kranzie dismounted, and then jerked awake with a sudden breath and a look of panic.

  Back near the drugstore, the mail truck slapped the curb and stopped. The
door slid open and the mailman staggered out onto the boulevard. He stood bent over, with his hands on his knees, and began to weep.

  * * *

  Kranzie and Salazar snapped back to local awareness in their cradles, and immediately checked in.

  “Kranzie, back on line.”

  “Sal, back.” He flipped off his VR glasses and bellowed. “Hey! What’s the deal? How come none of you geniuses remembered that mail trucks steer from the wrong side?”

  * * *

  Up in the Point control room, Vandermark and Hahn watched the screens. Vandermark nodded in satisfaction. “That went well, despite your concerns about my people. One down.”

  Hahn sat unmoved. “Thirty-four to go.”

  CHAPTER 20:

  It was a cold, clear morning, and Kendall had the car heater going as he turned onto Weaver. Just ahead of the car, a frantic squirrel darted half way across the road and froze. As they drove closer, he suddenly bolted back in the opposite direction, and vanished into the trees.

  Josh watched the little episode and looked at his Dad. “Yeah, how ‘bout animals? They make choices. Do they make timelines?”

  Kendall rolled his eyes. “Aw c’mon! A new world every time a squirrel loses a nut? How would…” He looked up ahead and sobered instantly. “Uh oh, what’s goin’ on over there?”

  They both looked ahead at flashing emergency vehicle lights at the front entrance to the nursing home. Kendall raced into the parking lot and slashed the rental into the first open space. They both jumped out. Ahead of them, a flashing ambulance sat beside the main doors. A small group of staff and a few ambulatory residents had gathered on the sidewalk.

  As Kendall and Josh rushed up the walkway, Josh observed, “It might be anyone, you know. There’s lots of people here that could use an ambulance.”

  “I know,” Kendall tossed back, “but I got a real bad feeling about this.”