by B. V. Larson
Out in the desert past the northeast corner of the structure, on the side farthest from the highway, I saw a new building. It was low and made out of concrete. I could see dark movement inside and a gun barrel pointed outward. The barrel pointed to the north, toward Mercury.
I crouched down, and Jacqueline crouched with me.
“What the hell is that?” she whispered into my ear.
“Looks like a bunker with a machine-gun nest inside.”
“But it’s pointing north, toward that Mercury place.”
“Exactly. It’s meant to keep people in more than it is to keep people out.”
“What do we do?”
“We back out of here quietly, then run.”
She didn’t give me any arguments about that. We crept away, and when we were out of sight of the machine-gun nest, we ran into the desert together.
When we were a safe distance away and the bunker was hidden by the natural contours of the land, Jacqueline and I crouched in a gully choked with weeds and had a whispered argument. It was odd to argue with someone you couldn’t see but who was holding hands with you. Looking around to make sure we couldn’t be spotted, I let go of her hand. A moment later, she became visible, too.
She had a few streaks of dust on her cheeks. Sweat had made dark lines in the dust, but it didn’t make her any less attractive.
“We’re going back to the car, Quentin. If they haven’t towed it or blown it up or something, we’re driving home.”
“They can’t see us down here. We’re okay.”
“You don’t know that. There might be cameras or motion sensors everywhere.”
“Maybe,” I admitted. “But this is a lot of territory, and I’m not seeing patrolling choppers or tanks. This place has been closed down for a long, long time. I would guess those troops were just left behind on guard duty to be certain. If there was any real danger, there would be more activity.”
She made a sound of exasperation. “You are making stuff up! I thought I was the one in charge of dragging us into dangerous situations!”
“I admit, this is tame compared to wandering the surface of an unknown world full of hostile aliens. But it’s the best I can do as payback today.”
“What if I say I’m leaving? I’m going back to the car, and I’m ditching you out here. I could do it, you know. All I have to do is vanish. You’d never find me.”
I knew she was right. But it didn’t matter. I couldn’t do this without her cooperation in any case. “Whatever happened to wanting me to make a move on you?”
“That’s about sex. I’m still attracted to you. But I’m not keen on dying in a government cell—or being shot by some sniper with an infrared scope.”
I frowned at the idea. “Would we be visible to such a system?”
“How should I know? We have shadows and show up on cameras. I’ve never teased any soldiers with scopes.”
I dug a water bottle out of my pack for each of us. We guzzled the water. Being out here in the noontime sun always dried a man out.
“Decision time,” I said when we were finished. “Are we pressing ahead or not?”
“Are you going to go on without me?”
“No. They’d just pick me up. But I want to go. I’m leaving it up to you.”
She pouted. “You really think your parents raised you out here? That you are some kind of a scientist’s kid?”
“I plan to find out.”
Jacqueline looked troubled. Then, finally, an idea seemed to occur to her. She reached out and grabbed me. Not for the first time, she kissed me. Hard.
I went with it. I had no idea what was going on inside that turbulent head, but I thought I might as well enjoy the ride while I could.
“Make love to me,” she whispered when she let me go.
“Now?”
“Yes.”
“Out here? It’s broad daylight.”
“Yeah. We’ll spread out your sweatshirt and we’ll be invisible the whole time.”
I felt my pulse quicken. She was so sexy—and so crazy. Moments like this were rare in a man’s life and hard to pass up. “Will you come with me if I do this?”
“I’ll get you into Mercury. That’s a promise.”
So we did it. In broad daylight, in the middle of an empty desert that ticked with old radiation. For all I knew, there were a dozen spy cams zoomed in on us, enjoying the action as much as I was. I figured, if they were watching us, we had a pretty good excuse set up for later as to why we were wandering a restricted area.
Jacqueline was invisible, but that only made things more exciting. I had to use my hands like a blind man, running them over her sweat-slick legs. When we finished, I sat up and drank some more water. I offered her the second half of the bottle.
“Keep it,” she said, becoming visible and adjusting her clothing. “You’re going to need every drop, I think.”
“What do you mean?”
“You’re going to Mercury alone,” she said, looking at me seriously. “Don’t worry. I didn’t lie. Here.”
She took something out of her pocket and put it in my hand. I looked down at it in confusion. It was red and white and slightly sticky.
“A candy cane?” I asked. “This isn’t it—is it?”
“Yeah,” she said. “You can even lick it if you want. Tastes sweet. But I wouldn’t do it. Who knows how many tongues have been on that thing over the years?”
The candy cane was perfect, and to test it out, I cracked it down hard on a rock. It didn’t dent, chip, or snap. It made a nice whacking sound, however.
“Harder than steel,” Jacqueline said, tying her new shoes. “But you have to trade me for it.”
“Trade you what?”
“Whatever you have. I know you have several things like this stick of candy. Give me something.”
I thought about it, and selected the wedding ring. I felt a pang of regret, even as I twisted it off my little finger.
“This looks like an old ring,” Jacqueline said, examining the diamond in the sunlight. “Who was she?”
“Who was who?”
“Don’t play dumb. What woman’s finger did you pull this from?”
“She gave it to me—she was a friend.”
“An ex-friend?”
“No, she gave it away willingly.”
“What does it do?”
“Brings you luck—and takes away the luck of everyone else around you.”
Jacqueline chuckled. “Sounds like fun in Vegas.”
“Yeah. Why aren’t you coming with me?”
“You’re more likely to make it on your own.”
I couldn’t argue with that. One slipup, one moment we lost our grip, and I’d become visible. But I was still disappointed she wasn’t coming with me.
“Where are you going?” I asked.
“Back to the car,” she said. “When you get back to the highway, call me. There are cell towers all along the roadway. But I doubt they will reach where you’re going. In fact, you should probably turn off your phone so they can’t trace it.”
I nodded. I turned off my phone, and as an added precaution I removed the battery. I knew some phones could be detected even when turned off.
“I take it you want this back,” I said, waving the candy cane at her.
“You’re damned right I do. It almost kills me to see it in your hand like that. But I want you back, too. Bring your body and my candy back to me. I’ll be waiting.”
She gave me a little teasing smile and kissed me again. We made out for a minute or two. Then she took off running toward the highway. I found myself sitting in the desert alone. I was left wondering about her motivations. Was she leaving me to a certain doom, after having had her fun? Or was she just trying not to be a burden? I had to admit, holding hands as we walked for miles was bound to be dangerous and difficult.
I rolled the candy cane between my fingers. I wondered if any little kids had ever cracked a tooth on this thing, trying to eat it.
I closed my eyes then and willed myself to vanish. When I opened them, I couldn’t see the candy cane, my hand, or the rest of me.
I stood up and began the long hike north toward the mountains. It took nearly an hour to reach Mercury, and by then it was late afternoon. Along the way I had plenty of time to think about Jacqueline and the ups and downs of my love life. The last woman I’d been involved with had been Jenna Townsend, a jilted bride who’d become my friend and companion after a number of shared adventures. My relationship with Jacqueline was different. She was a less serious girl, someone who seemed to be out to enjoy life by getting into the thick of it. I had an adventurous soul myself, and if curiosity had ever really killed a cat, I was overdue for my own demise, but Jacqueline made me feel like a prude. She also made me smile, and I hoped we’d have more trysts in odd places.
Walking across an empty desert can put anyone into a daydreaming trance. Coming out of my reverie, I realized I’d arrived at the outskirts of Mercury. I stood out in the sage and dust, staring at the small, secretive town. It looked deserted. I circled it, walking around the dust-shrouded streets. There were no cars in the parking lots. The few trees that stood in the tiny park in the center of town were dead. The last brown leaves rattled on branches that resembled bleached bones.
I couldn’t bring myself to walk those streets. Perhaps there were still active cameras or more pillboxes full of bored soldiers. But that wasn’t the only reason I stayed away. Somehow, the place gave me a bad feeling. As if it were haunted—or worse. I hadn’t come to do a house-to-house search of Mercury in any case, I reminded myself. This wasn’t where the action had been. This was just the place where the scientists slept and played. I wanted to see where they’d worked.
I passed the town and pressed on, walking about two hundred yards to the east of the main road and heading north toward the testing sites. Occasionally, I found a gully or an outcropping of rocks where I could sit and rest. I drank half a bottle of water each time I stopped—no more. I allowed myself to become visible when crouching in these hiding spots, mindful of Jacqueline’s warning: if I stayed invisible too long, my own vision would fade.
The candy cane stayed in my pocket. It seemed to work its magic just fine from there. I wondered about it as I walked. Jacqueline had never explained how she’d come into possession of the artifact. This often seemed to be the case with rogues. They didn’t mind bragging about their powers, but when it came to the backstory, they turned shy. I suspected it was because in most cases, they’d stolen the object in question. I didn’t blame them for that. For most people, they held a powerful allure.
The walk northward up to the major test sites was a long one. It took several hours and the sun dropped behind me to touch the mountaintops of the distant Sierra Nevada. I knew Death Valley was on the other side of those peaks. Ten miles to my northeast was the infamous Area 51.
I pressed on, passing the Yucca Airstrip and several clusters of abandoned buildings. Oddly enough, I realized I was getting a sunburn. I touched my hand to the back of my neck and felt the unmistakable heat of burned skin. I shook my head, marveling at the varied physics of these rule- breaking objects. How could an invisible man be affected by the sun? I knew I could feel the heat of it on my skin, but I’d thought I was somehow shielded. I wished now that I’d let Jacqueline spray me more liberally with sunscreen.
I began to suspect, as the hours passed, that the candy cane affected the mind, not the human body. I wasn’t really invisible, but the power made it so I could not be seen by human eyes. After thinking along these lines for a time, I shook my head, rejecting my own theory. If it was a mental effect, projected by the object, then my talisman should have prevented it from working on me. I should have been able to see Jacqueline all along.
I began to mutter to myself and debate other, more bizarre possible explanations. Perhaps the effect worked only on visible light, and therefore didn’t stop the ultraviolet rays that caused sunburns. That theory went out the window, however, when I pointed out to myself that cameras saw the invisible person normally. It was quite perplexing, as were all these objects.
Engrossed in my own thoughts, I almost walked into an old metal sign. It was yellow with black lettering. It was a warning, and the atomic symbol on it could not be mistaken. Neither could the words, which read ENTERING RADIOACTIVE ZONE.
Sobered, I paused there and looked ahead. The sight was jaw-dropping. As far as I could see, there were craters in circular patterns. Each of them was a few hundred feet across, and I knew that underneath this ground numerous nuclear weapons had been set off. They’d stopped the aboveground tests in 1962, but the underground tests had continued for another thirty years after that. This was the place where they’d set off so many underground bombs. I lingered at the sign, wondering if I should press ahead. Finally, I summoned my courage and walked forward.
“I wouldn’t do it, if I were you,” said a voice behind me. “Not without a guide, at any rate.”
I whirled around so fast I almost tripped on my own feet. Heart pounding, I searched the horizon for the source of the voice. I wondered, for a panicked second, if someone just as invisible was following me. Except maybe…this someone could see me.
“Who are you?” I asked, deciding not to bother pretending anymore.
“Trujillo is the name. Dr. Trujillo. Who are you?”
Finally, I spotted him. He stood directly to the west of me, backlit by the red blaze of the dying sun. I shielded my eyes and squinted. I realized as I did so that he was an outline, nothing more. Was he a rogue who could alter his appearance to that of rippling shadows? But as I looked around, I realized everything around me was rippling somewhat. I hadn’t really noticed as I’d marched in the heat and dust. But now it was undeniable.
In an instant, I knew that the problem was with me. Jacqueline had said my vision would fade with time if I stayed invisible. It must be happening to me now.
“I’m Quentin,” I said, answering Trujillo’s question at last. I had a sinking feeling in my gut. He could see me, and maybe that meant they all could. There were probably snipers somewhere, tracking my every step. I’d been a fool. Perhaps they’d even followed me for hours, laughing and nudging one another.
“That’s quite a trick you’ve got, Quentin,” the man went on. “Even with these goggles, I can hardly see you. You’re just an outline.”
As he spoke, he walked slowly in my direction. He was still indistinct, but he seemed older than I’d first realized. His steps were almost shuffles, and his back was slightly hunched. A stained tan hat covered his head. I thought I could see his goggles now. They covered his eyes with circles of glass as black as night.
“I’m lost,” I said. “Is this the way to the highway?”
He guffawed at that. “An invisible man marches straight past the pillboxes to the interior, then tries to pretend it was all an accident? Oh please, let’s not even go there. Don’t embarrass yourself, young man. I wasn’t born yesterday—far from it.”
The land was darkening quickly, and that was almost as alarming as being discovered by this geezer. At least, I thought it was the onset of night. Perhaps my vision was fading faster now and these were my final moments of sight. I tried to recall anything Jacqueline had said about the vision loss. Could it become permanent? I didn’t think she’d ever mentioned it. Perhaps, in a panic, she’d become visible the moment she’d noticed the effect. That seemed like it would be a reasonable reaction, and my mind screamed at me to do exactly that.
But I didn’t. I held on to my shadowy state. I stood there next to the warning sign while the old man shuffled closer.
“What are you thinking?” Dr. Trujillo asked me as he came closer still. I had no idea what kind of doctorate he had, but I could take a guess.
“If I should run or not.”
He laughed and wheezed. “Sane thoughts! You’re not like some of them, half-crazed and irrational. I hate that.”
I frowned. He now
stood no more than ten feet from me. He was looking right at me, so I allowed myself to become fully visible.
“There you are,” Trujillo said. “I can see you more clearly now. Tell me, young man, what are you doing out here wandering about on the forgotten asshole of Planet Earth?”
“Um,” I said, deciding to tell him the truth. “I’m looking for clues about my origins, I guess. I’m also seeking answers concerning the strange events going on back in Vegas.”
“Answers? You want answers, do you? Well, I’ll give you some. But I’ll warn you, you might not like them.”
“Are you alone out here?” I asked.
“No. Not anymore. You’re here, aren’t you?”
“Who exactly are you?” I asked. I hoped maybe this time he’d say more than “Dr. Trujillo.” But I wasn’t that lucky.
“Nobody,” he said. “Not anymore.”
He walked past me and headed into the radioactive zone. I hesitated a moment, then followed him.
The craters came and went until they almost became routine. Trujillo told me about them as we walked. The biggest of the craters was called “Easy.” They all seemed to have odd names like that. I had to wonder what had gone through the minds of the people who’d set up hundreds of physics-bending tests and given them such strange names.
“Deep underneath the ground here we lit hell’s own fire at each of these spots,” Trujillo said. “We sat safely in those bunkers to the west—at least, we thought we were safe. I was here during the Baneberry Test in 1970. That didn’t go well at all!”
I wondered why deserts always seemed to be full of crazy old guys. This particular specimen had been here in the days of the tests, and from his hints I thought he might know something about the artifacts and how they’d come to be. He seemed harmless enough, and I decided to tag along and learn whatever I could from him.
He was still chuckling about the Baneberry Test as I followed him to the edge of the deep crater called Easy and stared down into the pit.
“What happened during Baneberry?” I asked. “I’ve never heard of it.”