The Twelve Stones

by RJ Johnson

  Alex looked over the truck and tapped the metal shell. To his surprise, it rang hollow, more like plastic than metal.

  “Ahh yes, the carbon fiber shell,” Scott said proudly, “Created with the latest in carbon nanofiber technology, which is stronger than steel, incredibly light, which in turn increases fuel efficiency, and….” he added smiling, “I think you’ll like this feature.”

  Scott took out his PDA and pressed a few buttons. Immediately, the Hypertruck (or Molly, as Scott called her), clicked on, lights flashing, the desktop LED screens turning on, and the engine purring softly, surprisingly quiet for such a large automobile. Alex was used to powerful throaty engines; when you heard that roar, you knew how strong it really was. With this truck before him on and running now, Alex couldn’t hear a thing.

  “Wait, you turn on the truck with your PDA?” Alex asked, somewhat impressed.

  Scott smiled. “I keep telling you, Alex...” he continued as he tapped away on his PDA, “welcome to the future.”

  Scott entered a final command. It was then the truck began to come apart and transform. The carbon nanofiber shell rippled as the whole truck became transparent. Alex’s jaw dropped to the ground, and Scott just stood, grinning at his friend’s reaction.

  Alex shook his head. “Wait-wait-wait a second… What is a rocket laboratory doing with a top-secret Transformers wanna-be future truck?”

  Scott looked down in an aw-shucks pose. “Well, who do you think designed the software for the transparent camouflage?”

  Alex opened his eyes in disbelief. “So you’re telling me, you not only invented a ray-gun for NASA, you also created invisibility camouflage for a Mommy-Mobile on steroids?”

  Scott looked offended. “Hey, the camo idea came to me in grad school. It was my thesis project.” He pointed to the vehicle’s display proudly. “The Department of Defense dropped her off to me last month so I could overlook the final install of all components.”

  Alex looked at the mechanical beast before him in wonder. “Well, I’ll tell you this much, I’m beginning to believe you deserve that parking space.”

  Scott snorted. “Thanks for all your support. I’ll be sure to mention you in my first Nobel Prize acceptance speech…”

  “First? So you’re going for more than one…” Alex jabbed back.

  Siobhan coughed. “I do hate to interrupt, but I believe they’re playing our song.” She pointed towards the sky above. Alex and Scott cocked their heads. She was right; through their arguing, they had missed the distant humming of a helicopter that was drawing nearer.

  “LAPD, most likely.” Alex said quickly, “Either way, we probably don’t want to be around when they get here. Get in the truck.”

  The three of them moved themselves into the surprisingly roomy SUV. The futuristic truck was brightly lit with colored buttons and LED screens all across the dashboard. Scott jumped in the driver’s side, completely at peace with the fact there was no steering wheel. Alex looked at him curiously.

  “One question,” Alex asked. “How do you drive this thing?

  “That’s the best part,” Scott said with a knowing grin. “You let the computer do all the work.”

  Scott leaned forward and spoke into the microphone embedded within the dashboard.

  “Destination: Allen Telescope Array, Hat Creek, California.”

  The screens immediately lit up, and the computers contained within the rear of the cabin began plotting the quickest route up north towards the radio telescope in Northern California.

  Pushed back in his chair by the acceleration, Alex was unnerved to watch the joystick serving as the steering wheel move without any human hands.

  “Look, Ma,” Scott cried out, “no hands!!”

  The Hypertruck’s doors closed, locking the trio inside. The engine spun silently as the truck moved quietly through the night, away from the destruction at JPL, and towards the possibility of answers.

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  The Hypertruck’s silence was almost unsettling as it weaved quickly through the early morning Los Angeles traffic. It was still early, just after four in the morning, so most commuters were still snug in bed — and thankfully so, Alex thought to himself, watching the joystick in front of him gyrate back and forth as Scott’s truck maneuvered completely under computer control.

  With every turn, bump and rustle, Alex stared at the computer nearly white with fear, waiting for the silicon chips contained within to betray them all and run the truck over the side of the nearest canyon. But Molly stayed obediently quiet as she purred quietly north, taking the two men and their new friend towards the Bay Area.

  “You sure this thing is safe?” Alex asked nervously as he watched the Hypertruck smoothly pass a slow-moving semi-trailer. The truck had the unnerving ability to sense exactly where every car was on the road, and would calculate the most efficient routes in order to avoid a collision. The unfortunate part was that the sensors were only calibrated to see things within six feet of the Truck - a perfectly acceptable margin of error, Scott had assured him. Even so, Alex winced every time the Hypertruck weaved on its own accord, no human at the controls.

  The sensors were mounted on all sides of the truck. Each second the truck was operating, the sensors were active, constantly detecting exactly where every car around it was, to the millimeter. Trillions of bits of information were streaming constantly towards a central onboard computer (which Scott had insisted they get on the ground and check out, underneath the truck, in an admirable bit of nerdiness). That information was then processed into various instructions to the gas, brakes and steering.

  As a result, the Hypertruck sped quickly through the traffic, the sensors acting as virtual bumper guards. What the Hypertruck lacked in noise, it more than made up in power as it purred up Interstate 5, slowing occasionally and maneuvering quickly around the slower cars and semi-trucks.

  Alex again clenched the dashboard in terror as the Hypertruck approached the bumper of a BMW, going nearly ninety miles an hour. Only at the last second did the Hypertruck change lanes and speed past it, leaving a bewildered Chinese businessman shaking his fist at the strange-looking vehicle.

  “See?” Scott said, “You’re being paranoid. It’s fine. The onboard computer does all the work; there’s no chance of a crash, and if need be…”

  Scott took hold of the joystick and tapped a few buttons. The Hypertruck’s female voice came softly out of the speakers. “Auto-drive disengaged.”

  “…I can always take control,” Scott said as Alex began to relax his death grip on the door handle. Scott turned to Siobhan. “He always worried too much in high school, too.”

  Alex ignored the dig. They didn’t have time for reminiscing. “How far to Hat Creek?” he asked impatiently.

  “Well,” Scott drawled as he began tapping the GPS on the center console, “at an average speed of 90 to 95 miles per hour, barring any serious traffic, we’ll probably get up there by ten.”

  “Six hours?” Alex asked incredulously. “That’s unbelievable.”

  “No, my friend,” Scott replied, “that’s technology.”

  Alex turned back towards Siobhan, who had so far remained quiet.

  “So,” Alex asked her, his eyes examining her, “you promised us a story, what’s your deal?”

  “It’s a long one…” she said vaguely, her eyes sad.

  “You heard Scott; we’ve got a few hours. No time like the present, don’t you think?”

  Siobhan sighed, staring out the window.

  “How old do you think I am?” she asked suddenly.

  Alex shrugged, “I dunno, 27 or 28. I’ve never been that good…”

  “Two months from now, or so I reckon anyway,” she interrupted, “I’ll be celebrating my 476th birthday, and the lady thanks you for your kind guess.” She smiled sweetly at Alex’s gaping jaw.

  “The stone keeps you young. Or at least…” Siobhan sighed, “’round the age you were when you first found it.”

&n
bsp; Alex shook his head. “That’s not possible. I’ve found this stone since I was ten years old, and look at me; I’m no adolescent.”

  “You wouldn’t know it if you saw him in the shower, though,” Scott interjected quickly, a smirk on his face. Alex shot him a look. This wasn’t the time.

  Siobhan cocked her head, her eyes crinkling in disbelief. “You’ve held onto the stone for this entire time?”

  Alex’s face grew hot as he realized what the woman had meant. “No, my dad stashed it somewhere while I was growing up. Last night was the first time I’d seen it since that day we…” Alex nodded to Scott, “found it in the forest behind my house.”

  Siobhan nodded. “The stone seems to rejuvenate you so long as you stay within a close proximity. I’ve worn it as an earring for a good hundred years now. Before that, I’d keep it close, in a pocket, grasped in my fist and the like. Over the last four hundred years or so, I aged slowly, depending on how close I kept the rock to me. It’s why I look like I’m in my twenties now and not eleven years old, like I was when I first found the rock.”

  “The rock?” Alex asked.

  She stared out the window again, watching the lights of the city streak past. Taking a breath, she began her story…

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  Siobhan crouched, watching as the waves began to wash back into the ocean. As she helped her brother gather the nets, they both heaved mightily, hauling them back onto shore, hoping there would be a decent catch.

  The fishing had been good this season, which made Siobhan happy. Some days they could be out here for several hours, hauling the heavy nets back and forth, trawling the waves for enough fish to feed their village and families for the day. Some days the basket they used to keep the fish in was filled quickly. Other days, it would take much longer.

  Siobhan didn’t mind the work; she loved the outdoors, smelling the ocean breeze in her native Ireland. At only eleven years old, Siobhan was beginning to find herself caught between two worlds. The first, where she had lived for the first ten years of her life felt unspoiled, where food had always been plentiful and love unconditional. Now, as she grew older, she was beginning to understand that life was not so easy, and to fear the cruel English soldiers who constantly harassed her friends and family, making their lives miserable.

  “Oi!” Her brother Seamus called out. “Watch the net there. It’s about to snap!”

  Siobhan focused on the net, shaking it to free it from a rock that had caught an errant loop. With any luck, this last cast would have enough fish to fill their basket, which would bring an end to their workday.

  Off in the distance, a low boom sounded, making Siobhan look back towards the green hills where their village lay hidden.

  “Seamus!” She cried.

  “What?”

  “Did you hear that?”

  “Just God playing a bit of the ten pins, is all,” he replied in good humor. Nothing ever bothered her brother, a tall, six-foot Irishman with flaming red hair, a trait everyone in their family shared. His eyes were filled with laughter, his wit always ready with a good joke. He lived to hear his sister laugh, and she loved that about him.

  The net, lying out on the beach, was now filled with several large flopping fish. Stepping carefully around the net, Siobhan and her brother began gathering their haul, putting them into the basket they brought along.

  “Tis’ a fine catch today,” Seamus said, smiling at his little sister.

  “Would momma make biscuits tonight?” Siobhan asked. It was a rare thing when they had biscuits for dinner nowadays. Two months ago, just as winter was about to fall on the tiny nation, the English had traipsed through their village, claiming most of the village’s flour for their army regulars. Neither of them had seen a biscuit in nearly six weeks.

  “Biscuits as big as your head!” He smiled broadly, winking at her.

  “No, they aren’t!” Siobhan protested hotly, as only an eleven year old could do when they knew people were making fun of them.

  Together, they finished putting away the nets and began walking back to the village. A few miles down the road, Siobhan began to see the smoke from the village campfires and smiled big. The basket of fish they were carrying was heavy, and she was ready to put it down.

  When Siobhan pointed out the smoke to her brother, Seamus grew very quiet, watching the thick smoke billow up from their small village. His sister couldn’t have known, but it was far too much smoke for a few simple campfires. Seamus had a bad feeling in the pit of his stomach. Something was incredibly wrong down there; he was certain of that.

  Before he could say anything, Siobhan dropped her side of the basket and began skipping down the road that led to their village.

  “Siobhan!” Seamus cried out. “Wait a tic.”

  Siobhan obediently stopped, waiting for her big brother. “Come on! I’m hungry, and they already have the dinner fire going.”

  Seamus swallowed and looked down, hoping she wouldn’t notice the fear that was getting harder and harder to hide.

  “I’ll tell you what. Why don’t you go and pick some Ox-Eyes for mum, and I’ll finish taking the fish down to the village.”

  “All right!” Siobhan cried happily, and she scampered off into a nearby field full of wildflowers.

  Seamus watched his little sister go into the field and busy herself examining each flower like a bee searching for perfect pollen. Whatever kept her from getting hurt, he thought. Another low boom echoed across the valley, and without having to take another step, Seamus knew his village was lost. As carefully as he could without being spotted, Seamus moved closer to the village. As he approached, he could see several dozen English throwing lit torches all over his family and friend’s thatch houses.

  “Bastards!” he swore to himself. Turning, he saw Siobhan waving at him from the field.

  Running back to her, he grabbed her arm and picked her up, leaving the basket of fish as he ran as fast as he could away from their village.

  “What’s going on?” Siobhan cried out. “Where are we going?”

  “Shhh,” Seamus insisted, he set her down and let her trot alongside him. “It’s OK. We’ve gotta get out of here is all.”

  Confused, Siobhan began resisting her brother, pulling at his arm in the direction of their village. “But I want to eat and see Mummy!” Siobhan cried.

  Seamus swallowed. “Mum and Da will be joining us soon. I can promise ye that, all right? We’re just gonna take a bit of a trip down the road now...”

  Siobhan’s protests quieted a bit, but she was still crying a few hours later down the road. Seamus, who had been alternating between carrying her and letting her walk, set her down as they approached another village.

  “It’s only a few more miles to Shilago. We’ll stay the night there, and get some food. Don’t you worry; 'tis just another wee adventure, and I know how you love our adventures, don’t ya, little sis?”

  Siobhan nodded, her dirt-covered face streaked with tears.

  As they crested the hill leading down into Shilago, Seamus grabbed his sister once again and shook his head, pointing at the hundreds of Englishmen camping around the city limits.

  “They’re everywhere,” Siobhan whispered in terror. She was eleven, not stupid. It had only taken Siobhan a few minutes to realize that they weren’t just on a little trip down the road. Her village was now gone, and the people she had loved probably slaughtered by the same sort of Englishmen below.

  “Regular army, which we shouldn’t worry about. They’re not looking for us,” Seamus said calmly. “We’ll camp on the shore, in one of the caves down the way.”

  She nodded, still frightened out of her wits. “And then what?”

  Seamus swallowed, and decided not to give her an answer. He didn't have one yet.

  After turning towards the shore, they were back on the rocky beach, looking for a decently sized cave where they might camp for the night.

  Only a few miles down the shore, Siobhan called her bro
ther when she found a cave that was perfect. Gathering some driftwood near the entrance, Seamus quickly built a fire, and for a moment, Siobhan felt safe.

  Seamus rose, and moved to the edge of the cave. “I’m going to find some supplies for us, Siobhan. Whatever happens, don’t leave the cave, all right?” He grabbed her and looked into her pale green eyes.

  “Stay in the cave,” he pleaded. “If I don’t come back, then head north for as long as you can and find some way to survive. Do you understand?”

  She nodded, frightened for her older brother. He saw it on her face and smiled broadly. “Don’t you worry, little daisy. Your big brother will be back before you know it!”

  He rose and left the cave, striding purposefully down the beach. She watched him, his figure growing smaller and smaller, until she was left completely alone for the first time in her life.

  Night came quickly, and Siobhan kept herself busy by tending the fire. As the hours passed and the rumbling in her belly began to grow louder, Siobhan began to worry about her carefree older brother who had yet to return from the nearby village with food.

  She lay down, staring at the fire as the warmth and the day’s long journey finally caught up to her. She stared at the flames licking up towards the ceiling, hoping to distract herself from the gnawing pain in her belly, which reminded her that she hadn’t eaten since breakfast. Despite her hunger, she eventually managed to fall asleep.

  Dreams began to invade her subconscious. Siobhan dreamed about her brother, purchasing food and provisions as he walked through the village captured by the English.