Ferdie and The Seven: Book three: Fractals

by Larry Buenafe

  This is very exciting and scary at the same time… still, I am ready for this adventure…

  Ling scrunched her face up with concentration, rubbed her hands together vigorously, and cried, “Now!” I dropped the force field, and an enormous ball of energy shot out, hammering the blue lump, dislocating it from the wall of the mind space. Immediately it tried to reattach, but before it could I spread an energy shield throughout the interior, and it recoiled from contact with it. It turned and hurtled at us, but bounced off the force field harmlessly. If it’s possible for a lump emitting feeble blue light to appear angry, then that is what we observed next; it appeared to be shaking with rage, and the light continued to pulsate.

  Hey, it worked! Good job, Ling!

  Ling had both arms raised up over her head in victory and shouted something in Chinese. I didn’t understand it, but I think was probably something like ‘In your face!’

  As we watched, the lump slowly began to dissipate just as we hoped that it would, but then, just before it disappeared completely…

  “You are just so clever, aren’t you, boy? You have ruined a perfectly good method of communication between us, I’ll have you know. I only have a few seconds left, and after that who knows how we will speak to one another… come now, Ferdie, won’t you be just a little sad at that? Well, either way, I am becoming increasingly annoyed at your interference, so consider this your notice. I am going to accelerate my time table, and good luck to you. Before all this is over, I will personally tear you to shreds, and not in a supernatural way… oh no, to paraphrase the movie quote, I will be going medieval on your ass. Sorry, just like you, I prefer to avoid profanity, but in this case it doesn’t have quite the same impact without it. I can feel my connection here fading, but before I go, do tell me how you are able to project whatever it is you are, well, projecting to block my implant from reattaching, if you don’t mind.”

  “Hmm… well, I guess I can tell you, there’s no good reason to keep it a secret. I have learned how to make a force field, and although it takes some effort, it’s pretty strong. We haven’t found anything that can pierce it yet.”

  “Oh, you really are something. What a team we would make… well, we’ve been down that road before, haven’t we? Oh, time’s up, friends… ta ta for now.”

  And just like that, before I had a chance to make a snide remark, he and the blue lump were gone.

  That was a small victory, but a sweet one… we need to get out of here and see if Pasquale’s alright… just in case, though, I’m going to keep this force field going until we get out of here… if I can that is… it’s really taxing to keep this thing going, it makes my brain hurt…

  We rushed back out of Pasquale’s mind space and then we were back in our own bodies in the real world in the blink of an eye. Pasquale was slumped forward in his chair and Arnie was holding him up as if he had started to fall. “Is he ok?”

  Arnie’s face was bunched up in concern. “He lurched forward in his chair about five minutes ago and convulsed for a few moments. He’s still breathing, though.”

  I glanced at Ling, and she raised her hand. “High-five!”

  We smacked palms at our rare victory and then returned our attention to Pasquale. “Let’s lay him down and make him comfortable. He may need to sleep it off. Wait ‘til we tell you what happened.”

  We then excitedly relayed our adventure, the story bouncing from me to Ling and back again. Arnie listened intently, his eyes wide at certain points, an expression of envy at other points, and finally an atypically broad grin with just a hint of smirk. The joyous mood quickly sobered, however. “We need to be happy for Pasquale, but I think we can take The Master at his word when he said that he would speed up his activities. You better consult with Marshall to assess if these events change the possibility of them making Artesia their next stop.”

  “Yeah, you’re right. We got a little carried away with our small victory, but we need to get moving. Well, we are moving, we’re on a freeway in the middle of Nevada, but you know what I mean. I’ll go check with him. Be back soon.”

  As I faded into the in-between, Marsh-dog was pacing back and forth while floating in mid-air. “I heard, I heard. The answer is that the percentage of possibility went up to almost one hundred, but you better get moving because he’s not going to wait around for you. It was pretty cool, though… dude, I wish I could have been there in person, that would have been awesome. Anyway, my math is right, there’s pretty much no chance that he’s not going there first. Here’s something to think about, though… he hinted to you that he was going to do that when he told you his next move would be a tribute to Aida. That could mean that he wanted you to figure it out and show up there in time for another ambush. He’s predictable, but still tricky, so we need to watch out. Well, you all need to watch out; I’ll be stuck in here. Sorry, man, I’m rambling again. I know you just got over being in a coma about a day ago, but do you think you could come by and visit a little more often? The Time Flies are not good conversationalists to tell you the truth. I learn a bunch, but they don’t crack a lot of jokes, and they don’t really get the jokes I tell them. They’re smart enough to control space and time, but not smart enough to appreciate a good fart. You know what I mean?”

  “Yeah, I do. Hey, would you mind coming down here and pulling my finger?”

  We both kept straight faces as long as we could, but soon were cackling like a couple of barnyard chickens.

  “Alright, alright, settle down, Batman. Can Aunt Martha drive this bus any faster? If you want to have a chance of stopping them you better do it quick, I think. One thing he said was right, though; how are you going to hear from him now? Another thing that was predictable about him is that he couldn’t resist letting you know what he was going to do, and now we won’t have that, unless he starts communicating some other way. You know, that makes me think: when did he put that implant in Pasquale in the first place? He was constantly in the company of one of you guys from all the way back to when Old Leo died. When could it have happened?”

  Suddenly I knew, I could feel when it took place. “When Old Leo’s angel and Denise were fighting, Pasquale was knocked out. When the angels started getting really hot, I picked Pasquale up and pushed him out the kitchen window, and he was outside by himself for a few minutes, and he was still unconscious. I don’t know why I know, but I’m totally sure that’s when it happened. The Master was there, right outside Old Leo’s house. I know it like I know my name.”

  “Dude, that’s heavy. And Denise is always hot… oh, you mean hot as in temperature. I get it.”

  I stared at him for a moment. “You will never grow up, will you?”

  “Not while I’m stuck in here, that’s for sure. I don’t age at all. And that’s a little hypocritical coming from the dude who just asked me to pull his finger.”

  That made me giggle a little. “I’m going to go see if I can get Aunt Martha to put the pedal to the metal. You’re sure about the almost one hundred percent thing, huh?”

  “Of course I’m sure. I told you, it’s a fractal pattern, and with this additional information I can see it through to its next point. Now go on, get this crap wagon rolling.”

  “Ok, you try not to float too much, Mr. Glowy.”

  “See, your jealousy is so sad I just feel sorry for you when you say stuff like that. I’m still gonna haunt you, though.”

  “I’ll see you later.”

  Chapter Twenty One

  I faded back into the little rear bedroom, and Arnie, Denise, and Ling were still there, but now Pasquale was awake and sitting up eating a cookie. “This is delizioso, friend Ferdie. Is best thing I ever taste!”

  “Whoa, you seem to be feeling better. How’s it going?”

  “I wake up, feel great, first time in a long time. Then Arnie and Ling tell me what happen, I am so happy I hardly can talk. Thank you, thank you all of you!” Pasquale jumped up and ran around the room, hugging each of us and kissing us on the cheeks.
He clenched me tight and laid a big, wet, slobbery kiss that seemed to cover the whole left side of my face. Oh, yuck… I guess it’s just one of those Italian things…

  “Listen, guys, we have to get serious for a minute. Marsh says the chance of them attacking Artesia first went up to pretty close to one hundred percent, and we need to get there asap if we hope to try to stop them. He also said we need to be careful that it’s not another trap. I’m going to go get Aunt Martha to drive faster, you guys talk about what our strategy should be once we get there. Be right back. Oh, it just occurred to me… did anyone tell Aunt Martha and Raffy what happened?”

  They all looked at one another sheepishly. “I think we just got carried away with all the activity, so no one has told them yet. You want me to do it?” Denise offered.

  Wait a minute… maybe we shouldn’t tell them yet… I haven’t had a chance to check either of them and it’s possible that… could there be more than one informant? I wouldn’t put anything past The Master… but if one of them is consciously informing The Master, they would probably already know about Pasquale, and if they are doing it unconsciously, it wouldn’t make any difference because The Master already knows… might as well tell them, then, there’s no advantage to keeping it from them…

  “Sorry for that little pause there, I had to think something through. You just stay here and see what plans you can come up with, and I’ll tell them. Pasquale, maybe you can use some of your knowledge of great generals and battle strategies to help us.”

  “Oh, yes, that will be my pleasure, my… in Italian is contributo.”

  “You mean contribution?” Denise queried.

  “Yes, yes, once again is almost the same. I will help.”

  “Ok, be back in a minute or two.”

  As I approached the front of the RV, I heard Aunt Martha and Rafael chatting. “Hey, Stretch, did I tell you about the time our whole volleyball team sneaked in to the pool at the local college late at night and went skinny dipping?”

  “Oh, yes, Ms. Martha, but please, tell it again. I love your stories.”

  I cleared my throat loudly; Rafael quickly turned and Aunt Martha looked in the mirror. “Ferdie! How are you feeling, honey? You’re looking a little better… you’re hair looks kind of crazy, though, maybe you should take a shower.”

  “I’m doing ok, I just need a little more time to recover all the way. How are you guys doing?”

  “Ah, Mr. Ferdie, Ms. Martha has been regaling me with tales of her youth. I could listen to them forever and be happy.”

  Oh, come on, Raffy, that’s laying on a bit too thick…

  “Ok, well wait ‘til I tell you what just happened.” I relayed the whole story about finding the object in Pasquale’s mind, and as I told it they sat in rapt attention, gasping at certain points, and clapping for joy when I reached the end.

  “I know, pretty cool, right? But here’s the thing: we’re going to need to get moving as fast as we can, because we’re pretty sure The Others are going to attack Artesia very soon. In fact they may already be doing it. Where are we now, by the way?”

  “Let’s see… we’ve been making pretty good time, and we’re approaching Winslow, Arizona. I was hoping we’d be able to stop there, get out, and stand on the corner, but it sounds like we don’t have time for tomfoolery like that. We still have a ways to go… It’ll take us about seven hours to get there from here.”

  “Oh, man. Do you think there’s any way you can shave some time off of that?”

  “Are you kidding? They don’t call me Lead-Foot Martha for nothing. Hey, Stretch, did I ever tell you about the time I peeled out in my mom’s Chevy Monte Carlo right in front of the school principal?”

  “Oh, yes, Ms. Martha, but please, please, tell it again.”

  Ok, he’s just trying to be a good wingman, nothing wrong with that… it’s kind of funny, too… he has a sly sense of humor…

  “Ok, Lead-Foot, you do your thing. We’re trying to come up with a strategy for stopping The Others that doesn’t involve us getting killed. Oh, wait… I know we’re a long ways away, but do you think we could get any radio stations from that area?”

  “We probably can get something from Albuquerque, but any stations near Artesia are likely to be low power… if anything big is happening in Artesia, though, it would be on the Albuquerque stations, so let’s try that. Let’s see…”

  “…one-oh-five point nine, your smoooooth jazz station, and up next, the Yellowjackets…”

  Country music… contemporary Christian music… oldies… “Ahh, here we go, an Albuquerque news channel…”

  “… and in local news, the triple-A Isotopes will be traveling to face the El Paso Chihuahuas today for the three game series. This Friday, there will be a tech expo at the convention center…”

  “Ok, if there was anything big going on I don’t think they would be talking about tech expos and semi pro baseball, so we’re good for now. Stretch and I will keep listening and let you know if anything changes.”

  “Thanks Aunt Martha, you’re the best. I’ll be back in a little while.”

  I felt the RV lurch forward as I walked to the back, and I had to hang on for a moment. Aunt Martha has to be the coolest aunt in the world…

  I entered the little bedroom, and the rest of the group was in an intense discussion. “Look, we have to be subtle, quiet like ninjas. We can’t go in with guns blazing, we don’t even know if The Others will be there, and if they are we’re likely to be greatly outnumbered. The Penetration of The Center move could work if we had a bigger group, but in this case we may take some of them out but we will get overrun by their numbers,” Arnie argued.

  “Yes, but a Single Envelopment, Double Envelopment, and Attack in Oblique Order will not also work, and for the same reason. It is obvious that the only classical strategies which will work are either Feigned Retreat or Indirect Approach. Oh, hello friend Ferdie. To plan a battle strategy for us is most difficult. We have discuss the ideas of great generals from history but always there are two problems. We don’t know how many we face, and we don’t have enough peoples. Is a problem either way.”

  “Yeah, we need more information if we can get it, that’s for sure. How about this: come up with three strategies that could work, and we’ll discuss using the one that makes the most sense based on info that comes in between now and the time we get there. How does that sound?”

  “Oh yes, friend Ferdie, this we can do.”

  “Awesome. Hey, Denise, can I talk to you for a minute?”

  It seemed that Denise had been daydreaming; she appeared slightly startled by my question. “Sure, let’s… let’s take a walk, at least as far as we can go in an RV on the freeway.”

  We rose and exited the little rear bedroom, and I headed for the other bedroom, which was the only other place in the RV where we could speak privately. I slid the door closed, and Denise said, “Are you thinking the same thing I’m thinking?”

  “I don’t know, it depends on what you’re thinking.”

  That got a little bit of a chuckle. “You know what I mean. We’re talking about this thing as if it’s a military exercise, and it isn’t, and for that reason military strategies don’t really apply, at least not very well.”

  “Oh, I guess we are thinking the same thing. I know Pasquale is hyped up from being liberated from The Master and he wants to contribute, but what he’s talking about won’t work against supernaturals. There are too many variables that military strategies can’t take into account. I didn’t want to make him feel bad, but we have to come up with something that makes sense for our situation, not what makes sense for normal humans.”

  “Totally. You’re pretty smart, did you know that?”

  I don’t know for sure, because I couldn’t see myself, but I think I blushed. “Nah, Marsh-dog’s the smart one, I’m just using common sense. I… I think I’ve said this before, but I’m sure glad we ran into you back in Dr. Reyes’ office. I’d be dead a couple of times over if
it wasn’t for you. If we get out of this, when we get out of this, I’m going to find a way to repay you. I don’t know how, but… but you deserve it, that’s all.” And then, right on cue, and totally beyond my control, I started crying and tapping my head.

  Denise wrapped her muscular arm around my neck like she always does, and whispered, “You don’t have to repay me for anything. This is my reason, this is why I’m here. You gave me a purpose, and you’re allowing me to fulfill it. That’s pretty cool, right? So we’re even, and if I have the chance to save you a hundred more times, we’ll still be even.”

  Oh, crap, now I’m crying even harder… I love you, Denise… not like that, but you know… I would never tell you out loud, that would be too weird…

  Finally, I recovered enough to croak, “I’m ok, thanks Denise. Let’s go see what’s going on with Aunt Martha and Raffy.”

  We walked to the front of the RV, and it was obvious that Aunt Martha had put the hammer down. She was also continuing a steady stream of stories and remembrances, and Rafael was laughing and encouraging her to tell more. “Hey, guys, anything new on the radio?”

  “No, not yet. They had a story on a few minutes ago about the goings on up in Roswell. Those people are nuts if you ask me. There’s no such thing as space aliens. Of course, not too long ago I would have said there’s no such thing as angels or demons either, so what do I know.”

  You don’t know about the Time Flies, that’s for sure…

  “We’re going to have to stop for fuel pretty soon, and I could use five minutes or so to stretch my legs. It takes a lot of effort to drive this thing, you know. A minute or two to freshen up wouldn’t be bad, either. Make myself pretty, you know.” Then she winked at me.

  “Oh, Ms. Martha, I don’t know how it would be possible to make yourself any prettier, but I suppose you should be allowed the effort.”

  Dude, Raffy is a pro. He’s right, though, she’s totally attractive… I’ve always thought so…