by Thomas Babak
“We’ve, uh, we’ve…and we haven’t been using protection and we’ve…so many times and uh…” he trailed off as Tasha relaxed, slumping back down onto the couch, the panic and fear gone in an instant and replaced with a smile and a laugh. She picked the book back up but didn’t open it.
“Oh, now you think about it, huh?” Sandy was confused by her laughter and her tone.
“Only after you’ve had your way with me…” teasingly “…dozens of times” she laughed as she enjoyed Sandy’s discomfort.
Sandy still stood there frozen. Tasha, relenting, put the book down and peeled herself off the couch and stood up. She put her arms around Sandy and said “I’ve been on the pill since I was fourteen.”
“Fourteen!” Sandy said with surprise on his face. The fear and anxiety had fled. Even though she was his first, he knew that he wasn’t hers. He hadn’t cared about that before and still didn’t. The only thing that mattered to him was that she was with him now.
“Yes, fourteen. I have a pretty strong cycle. Going on the pill helped a lot with the cramps, bloating, headaches…” she got out before Sandy interjected quickly to cut her off.
“Okay, okay!” he said.
Tasha laughed again and said, “Just like a guy!” She shook her head, still holding him and not letting him off the hook either physically or figuratively. “Doing and saying stuff without thinking about the consequences. Doing whatever they want to whomever they want, whenever they…” Sandy shut her mouth with a kiss. The kisses went on longer and got more passionate. The couch was right there.
After a late dinner, Sandy and Tasha sat on the couch reading. When Tasha had first moved in, they’d spent a lot of time watching TV. Lately, they found themselves reading or talking more. TV was just for movies now.
“Ever see Breakfast at Tiffany’s?” Sandy asked. He’d started browsing online to see what they should watch tonight.
“Never heard of it,” Tasha replied.
“It’s a chick flick, but it’s an oldie so we’ll probably both like it,” Sandy said.
Just as with the books, Tasha didn’t care for the military, historical or science fiction movies that Sandy loved. Historical movies could be muddled through, but she couldn’t stand the others quite so easily. Sandy loved old movies and they could both enjoy them together…Even if it was a chick flick.
Tasha smiled and said, “Sounds good.”
Sandy closed the lid on his laptop and set it aside. He picked up the remote and switched on the TV.
“Breaking News” displayed on the screen. A male reporter was speaking, oozing excitement despite the calm demeanor he was trying to maintain from the traumatic situation on display behind him. The wind was blowing briskly and he briefly reached up and stroked his hair back into place, losing the battle with the gusts. The camera’s lights highlighted his features in stark relief to the darkness and flashing lights of emergency vehicles in the background.
“…understand there are a several people trapped on the terraces, Firefighters are unable to reach them.” The frame cut to a higher angle being shot by a helicopter circling around from above. Smoke and fire were coming from all sides of the building from about ten stories below. Terraces were stacked above each other up the side of the building and the search light from the helicopter flashed over people waving their arms. Their yelling was clearly visible from the camera.
Both Tasha and Sandy sat transfixed by the scene.
The report continued, “as you can see, there is no easy way to get to them, but rescue efforts are underway. We’ve been told the strong gusts of winds are making it extremely hard to mount those efforts.”
Sandy could see that the building was a U-shape design with terraces on each floor inside the arms of the U. The people were nowhere near the top terrace and were scattered on a couple floors. The building also had a pointed roof. The design made the building aesthetically appealing, but left no way for a helicopter to land. Since the people were not on the top terrace, there was no way to lower a rope or ladder. It would be a long, long rope anyway. Even if all the people were able to gather on the top terrace. The fire was burning furiously in the wind. The helicopter camera view bounced around as the pilot adjusted for the gusts.
I can save them, Sandy realized.
“Those poor people” Tasha said quietly.
Sandy looked at Tasha and thought about all the cameras and people that would be watching. The thought of Bubble technology being revealed while he still hadn’t thought of a way to control it safely was far from his thoughts. He thought only of the people trapped by the fire. I can save them, he thought again.
“…again, there was an explosion and fire earlier…” the reporter continued.
“Where are they?” he asked, thinking that he’d missed it while his thoughts raced.
“Des Moines,” Tasha answered.
Sandy tried to think of an excuse to leave. Luckily, it came to him quickly.
“Oh my gosh!” Sandy exclaimed looking at Tasha.
“What?” Tasha said looking over at him with sudden concern at the tone of his voice, what they watched on the TV briefly forgotten.
“I forgot to do something at the Yard!” Sandy exclaimed.
Tasha relaxed visibly and said “Can’t it wait until tomorrow? The movie is starting in a few minutes, isn’t it?”
“Yes, but I promised Mr. Bullock. Go ahead and start, and I’ll get back as soon as I can” Sandy said, getting up calmly, kissing her and heading for the door.
“Okay, I’ll see you later Sandy,” Tasha called, uncertainty in her voice, the last couple words following him out the door. She could tell something was odd, but trusted him to tell her eventually. It didn’t worry her too much. She flipped the channel over and waited for the movie to start.
As Sandy ran to his truck, pangs of guilt cycled through him. It was one thing to withhold the truth, but it was another thing to lie outright. He’d never lied to Tasha before. This had been the first time. As long as he kept the Bubble Tech secret, it might not be the last time. He didn’t like to lie. Equally as important, he wasn’t very good at it, as he’d just discovered. Saving the people from the fire was important, though. His lie would be worth it if he was able to save them…He hoped.
Twenty-Four
Sandy never sped nor broke other traffic laws while driving. He was too afraid of getting pulled over, enabling the law to reveal his secret. So, he slavishly obeyed speed limits and traffic laws. He’d only had his license for a few years, but his hyperawareness meant that he never received a single traffic violation. He pushed the limit tonight, though. Every minute counted. His truck headlights lit the outside of the closed Yard office as he turned into the gravel parking lot. He jumped out and quickly unlocked and opened the side vehicle gate. He drove inside, closing it after himself. Hopping back into his truck, he drove down and around back and parked.
Everything was dark after his headlights were turned off. Sandy, thanks to hours and hours spent at the Yard walked quickly and unerringly to the barn door. He unlocked it after several attempts at getting the key into the lock and made his way inside, flipping on the overhead lights as he did.
The first thing he did was go to the Bubble Van and power everything on. While the laptops were booting up, he went over to the barn door and lifted it up. The sound of the door on its rollers was the only thing that disturbed the quiet of the Yard. It seemed as if not even the junkyard cats were about. He looked up at the night sky. The hard-as-crystal stars were shining clearly until the slight fog his exhaled breath caused them to waver and shimmer. Time? He still had or minute or two while the laptops booted.
He rushed to the tool bench, reached up and grabbed some nylon rope off a nail on the wall. He looked around the bench quickly and saw the small fire extinguisher hanging on the wall. It had been there for years. He wasn’t sure if it even worked or if it could possibly do anything to alleviate a massive fire. He grabbed it anyway, just in case.
/>
He ran back to the van and got in, slamming the door closed. The monitors showed no alerts or errors. Sandy activated the Bubble Field and took off quickly but carefully, flying out of the barn doors and immediately circling to head south as he gained altitude.
He reached over to the GPS monitor and tapped in Des Moines as his destination. He’d be flying so fast that the GPS probably couldn’t keep up. Sandy decided he’d head southeast until he hit Interstate 35 and follow that south to Des Moines. Over the last few months, his map recognition and geography skills had improved so that he could visualize where he was and where he needed to go.
He pushed the thruster forward and the ground began to blur as he flew. Within a couple minutes he could see the north south Interstate coming up. It had to be the Interstate, he thought, by the number of headlights of vehicles on it. He tilted the flight stick to the right and tried to keep it directly under him. Pushing the thruster forward more, the blur of the ground increased as well. He made it to Des Moines in eight minutes, only slowing down once he got downtown. If he had been in a regular car, it would have taken four hours. He still hadn’t tested how fast the Bubble Van could actually go. One day.
Once he reached the outskirts of the city, the burning building could be seen easily. Three helicopters flew around and above, seemingly helpless to save the people trapped in the building. He’d have to be careful about the helicopters. He could see them, but they couldn’t see him.
Sandy decided that the safest option would be to descend below the tops of the buildings. The helicopters wouldn’t fly there at all, especially with the gusts of winds that were blowing. The wind had no effect on the Bubble Van.
Sandy flew to the burning building. He turned down streets below roof level and kept an eye out for powerlines, traffic lights and flags. Once he reached his target, he rotated the van sideways so he could look up. He found the terrace side around the first corner and hovered within a few feet of the building, releasing the flight controls. The Bubble Van stayed in place, steady as a rock. He unhitched his seatbelt and got up and went to the side door and opened it. It only opened a few inches before it hit the inside of the Bubble. Damn. He’d have to turn off the Bubble Field, staying on Lifters, and then open the door. As such, he’d be under scrutiny by the helicopters, cameras and people for much longer.
He went back to the driver’s seat and turned on the Lifters. He felt just a touch of lightness. One of these days, I’ll figure out exactly what the setting for one Earth gravity is, he thought. Switching back to the Bubble Drive he then maneuvered the van within three feet of one of the terraces.
He pushed a button on the flight stick and then pushed the thruster forward slowly. The van rose straight up. Sandy kept looking out of the side door window. He’d never counted how many floors up he should go. He’d noticed on TV that there were a couple terraces with people on them but in his excitement, that’s all he had noticed. He didn’t know if there were more people that he couldn’t or hadn’t seen. Maybe there were some still in their apartments hiding in bedrooms, closets or whatever they felt was a safe place. He had to push that from his mind. He wasn’t sure what he could do about them if they didn’t come outside.
The wind gusts died down briefly as he rose through the fire and smoke, watching it briefly wrap around the Bubble Field as he went. He looked around to see if anyone noticed. People on the street were yelling and pointing at him and the Bubble Van. Damn.
Another dozen seconds went by. There! He’d passed by a terrace with people on it. Sandy reversed the Thruster and descended down. He brought the van to a stop by the bottom of the door. After eyeballing it, he guessed that he was by the entrance.
Sandy hesitated for a second. This situation as different than rescuing children, who were young and who wouldn’t be believed when they talked about a flying van. Rescuing adults would be a different story. Plus, the people on the ground had seen something. In a few minutes, they’d see a whole lot more.
Shouldn’t I have a mask maybe? No time! Sandy looked up at the visor and tilted it down. Grandpa’s old gold framed Ray-Bans were tucked into it. Sandy grabbed them and put them on. He then ran over to the side door and tried to open it again. It opened just a few inches and banged against the Bubble. Idiot! Forgot to shut off the Bubble, he thought. He glanced out the window to see a man and a woman waving frantically at the helicopters. Smoke was flowing by with the gusts of winds, sometimes thick and sometimes minimal. Both the man and the woman were crying. Neither noticed the smoke wrapping around the “nothingness” in front of them.
Sandy ran back to the driver’s seat. He leaned down and shut off the Bubble Field. The sound of sirens, helicopters and the wind could now be heard now that the Field was off . He ran back to the side door and opened it. He looked down and had a flash of vertigo as he realized how high above the ground he was. He swallowed and beat his fear down. He had to do this quickly. Wind tugged at him. Looking back at the couple, they stood there clutching each other, shocked surprise on their faces.
“Come on!” Sandy yelled.
The couple hesitated for a moment. Then, releasing each other, they ran to the railing. Sandy thought for a moment about grabbing the rope, but instead held onto the door frame and reached out. The man started to climb up onto the railing but then stopped, backed up and helped the woman up. She reached out and grabbed Sandy’s hand, pulling him hard and almost pulling him out of the door. Sandy heaved her into the van. She stumbled, but Sandy had a strong grip on her and he almost fell along with her onto the van floor. He had to shake his hand in order to get her to release his.
By the time Sandy turned back to help the man, he was already on the railing and leaning over with both hands on the van door frame. Sandy got out of the way quickly as the man jumped into the van, landing and stumbling over the woman who let out a soft grunt.
“Get in the back, please,” Sandy called out as he headed back to the driver’s seat.
“Who are you?” the man yelled.
“No time,” Sandy called back as he sat down. He turned to look out the van side door so he could fly up to the other terrace that had people on it. The man was still standing where Sandy had left him and the woman was still sprawled on the floor. Sandy couldn’t see out the window with the man standing in the way.
“Get in the back, please! Now! There’s still some more people!” Sandy called out again.
The man hastily moved back a step, stumbling on the woman again. Regaining some composure, he reached down and helped her up. He pulled her stumbling around the belly Stator post that Sandy had built in the center of the van to the bed in the back of the van.
Sandy was already flying upwards, quickly scanning each terrace. Soon, he found the second group of people he’d seen on TV.
They were all standing there, looking at him like he was some sort of alien or two-headed monster. He maneuvered the van in place and ran to the side door.
Sandy leaned to the side and yelled to the people standing there, shock still etched across their faces. “Come on!” he cried, holding out his arm to them.
“Come on,” he yelled again to a man and a woman, still holding out his arm. The man held a small child desperately clinging to him and the woman held a small dog who was barking furiously at Sandy and the van.
The woman handed the man her dog and took the child. Sandy got her into the van. She hovered in the way behind Sandy.
“Ma’am. You’re in the way. Could you please move to the back, please?” Sandy asked.
She looked at him and started to say something but then stopped and moved towards the man and woman sitting quietly on the bed.
“Come on!” Sandy called out to the man with the little dog, holding out his hand to help them.
The man awkwardly climbed up onto the railing using a patio chair and reached out with his free hand. Sandy grabbed it and the man hunched over and stepped into the van as Sandy pulled. The little dog immediately ceased barking.
Sandy excused himself around the man, woman and little girl and went to the driver’s seat and sat down. The little dog watched him intently as he walked around them but didn’t offer a single bark.
Sandy turned on the Bubble Field and the outside noise stopped suddenly. There was some brief excited muttering from the people in the back but that was all. Even the small dog barked once or twice.
Sandy maneuvered the van away from the burning building. There was a collective intake of breath, and even a few moans from the people behind him, but for the most part they were quiet. They were all in shock.
Sandy flew around the building to check if there were any more people in danger. He didn’t see anyone. That didn’t mean there wasn’t some still trapped. He hesitated some more looking as hard as he could but didn’t see anyone else. He had already exposed himself and the Bubble Van too much. He had to go. He swung the van over and headed to another tall building that had a flat roof.
There were several people already on the roof looking over at what they just witnessed at the burning building. A flying van that had appeared out of nowhere, rescued people and then just disappeared. It had been an amazing spectacle. All of it captured it on their camera phones.
Sandy flew the van behind them and down close to the roof. He shut off the Bubble. No one that was on the roof noticed. They were all looking at the burning building and talking about the Flying Van.
Sandy got up and opened the side door and said “Get out! Get out please!” and then said “Hurry, please,” as they reacted slowly at first but then rushed to get out of the door.
They all got out the door quickly, the dog resuming barking furiously at Sandy again once it was outside.
A few people on the roof turned around and started yelling. Before they could get their camera phones up, Sandy had already slammed the door and heading to the driver’s seat. He turned on the Bubble field and flew the Bubble Van up and over the edge of the building and dropped several stories down, where he brought the van back into a hover. He needed a few moments for the adrenaline to die down and so that he could catch his breath.