As the Eagle Flies

by J. D. Oliver

  “Uh, sure, Uncle Clay.” He said, not quite understanding, but he would.

  “Okay, Dominant, animals in the top of the pecking order won’t tolerate being placed behind a socially inferior animal. Instead, you place the Dominant horse or mule in front. Then there comes Herd mates, you pair them together in a string, but make sure you put the dominant herd mate in front of the other one. Next, the rear, or caboose you could say. If you have one that is a kicker and he can’t be broke, he goes last, then you also tie a red ribbon on his tail, that will tell everyone that he is a kicker. Now lastly, mules have a naturally tendency to follow a horse, keep a veteran pack horse in the string and locate him wherever a calming effect is needed.

  And also, always send out a lead rider to clear the trail for hazards, and if that can’t be done, the lead packer must be attentive and recognize hazards from his saddle.”

  “Alright Uncle Clay, you sound pretty serious, what’s going on?”

  “Oh, in the world today, it pays to be prepared, remember that, think ahead Hank, you may not get a second chance.” I said, as I left him to his charges.

  As I walked back toward the house, my mind swirled around the things I had seen. Could they have been hallucinations? No, no way, they were real. What worried me was all of the death and destruction, what about my loved ones. What did we have to do to be prepared. They say to be forewarned is to be forearmed. But what I had seen, how could you be prepared for that?

  The destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD came to mind. All of them didn’t have to die, cause the Roman army pulled back for awhile. Jesus warned them that they had a window to escape, but most of them didn’t listen, only the devout Christians did. But this was the whole world, where can everyone escape to?

  I shook my head to dislodge the disquieting thoughts. They say worry is nothing but a circle of inefficient thoughts whirling around a point of fear. If you are unable to remove the point of fear, the next best thing is get your thoughts in order, do something, quit pissing into the wind, be like the cattle turn your butt to the wind and drift with it.

  I dropped by Red and Daisy’s house. They were just finishing breakfast. They invited me to set down and have some coffee with them. I did. “Daisy, you’re my Mother’s cousin, as such I feel I have to warn you both about what is going to happen.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “As you both have heard I have been having ‘visions’, no there not hallucinations. The world is in store for a fall, that they will not be able to recover from. The only thing I can think to do about it, is return to our old ways. The ways of our forefathers. I have already started to make some changes. You both think about it. And oh yes, can you find a milk cow or two? Hope wants a milk cow.” I drained my coffee cup and got up to leave. They were both staring at me. I touched my hat brim and left.

  Shit, now they really thought I was crazy, but I had to warn them. What else?

  What else indeed. Life must go on, must’en it? He really wouldn’t wipe out all life would he? Naw, in the flood, eight people lived through that. A small voice from somewhere said, ‘no stupid’, just those that don’t listen’. Listen, listen to who?

  “Clay, where are you going, get back here, what were you doing walking off toward the mountains?” Faith’s voice brought me back to earth.

  “I’m sorry, I was just thinking. I told Red and Daisy about how the world’s due to flush itself down the John, they looked at me like I was crazy. You don’t think I’m crazy do you?”

  “No honey, I don’t think you are, but I can see how others might. I don’t think you should go around telling people.” Faith said, taking my hand and tugging me toward the house.

  “But, if I didn’t tell people, would I be responsible if they got killed?”

  “I don’t know, you’re not your brother’s keeper, are you?”

  “That’s what Cain said, after he killed Abel, we just might be, you know.” I said.

  “Okay, I’ll give you that, people should be warned, but why don’t we start with our loved ones in New Mexico. Rosie said that she needs to go down there and correlate details. Tiff will stay here and keep things running. Have you checked the plane lately?”

  “No, but what about Mary Jane and Iris?” I said.

  “Wolf Hunter called her this morning, he’s sending a helicopter for them.”

  “Really? Well, that’s only logical, if Pete Frank is up there, I get it. When are they leaving?”

  “It’s supposed to be here in about a half hour.”

  “How can that be, if he just called, it would take longer than that for one to get here.” I said.

  “I don’t know sweetheart, but I hear they have all kinds of stuff that the governments of the world would like to get a hold of. Perhaps it’s some kind of new one or something.”

  We went in the house, Alita and Iris were setting on the couch talking. Alita didn’t want Iris to go. Faith went up to help Mary Jane with her packing. I sat down by the girls. Alita crawled into my lap and hugged me. “It’ll be Okay,” I said, “we have to go down to see Grandma and Grandpa anyway, that way Iris won’t be lonely. Iris, did you say goodbye to Luke, you had better explain things to him.” Iris got off of the couch and went out the back kitchen door.

  Rosie came in, followed by Faith. “You don’t have to check the plane. Rosie has been doing that.” Faith said.

  “Yes Dad. It’s fully functional.” Rosie said.

  “How do you know?” I asked.

  “Well, I haven’t told you this, but while you were in that six month coma, I have been taking the plane out and practicing my take off’s and landings. I was taking navigation and flying lessons from the internet. Are you mad?”

  “No, I’m not mad, relieved I guess, to have another pilot in the family. But I take it, that you don’t have a license?”

  “No, I haven’t got around to taking their test yet. Should I be worried?” Rosie said, with a lopsided grin.

  “No, not really. I don’t think it will be too long and there won’t be any need for one.” I said.

  “What do you mean?” Rosie asked.

  “Well, what will you need a license for when the governments no longer exist?” I said.

  “I get your point, but till then, I suppose I had better get one. Since we really don’t know how long this system of things will last.” Rosie said.

  Faith changed the subject, I think all of the talk about things going down the toilet makes her uncomfortable. “Suong will be staying here with Hope and the children while we are gone. She’s getting tired of living out there at the rigs. She’s finally got them more safety conscious, they aren’t hurting themselves so much.”

  “Good, I’m afraid I haven’t been paying too much attention to everything like I should. In fact I haven’t seen Poppy very much, what has she been doing?”

  “She’s been keeping herself busy helping Hank with the horses and mules, she’s rather good at it. You know how much young girls love horses.” Faith said.

  “Good, that talent will come in handy in the near future.” I said.

  “There you go again, you’re always looking on the dark side of things.” Faith said.

  “I’m sorry Honey, Suong isn’t thinking about leaving us, is she?”

  “No, of course not, she likes it out here. And besides, we are paying her rather handsomely. But I don’t think it’s the money, the reason she wants to stay. She sort of talks like you, she thinks something is going to happen, also.” Faith said.

  “Well, it’s not hard to see the hand writing on the wall. Shoot, there I go again. I guess I should write a song, ‘there you go again’, or has it already been done?”

  “I don’t know, that phrase does sound familiar.” Rosie said.

  “So,” I said, “how soon are we to leave for New Mexico?” Knowing it wasn’t up to me to decide. Since it was Rosie who wanted to conduct some business down there. I just wanted to see everybody, so did Faith.

  “How a
bout the day after tomorrow, I want to have some fresh fuel delivered for the plane. Boy, aviation fuel is sure expensive now, it’s up to ten dollars a gallon. Those clowns in the present administration sure have a lot to answer for. History is going to paint them black, that’s for sure.” Rosie said.

  “What about getting fuel from our own company?” I said.

  “Dad, you really haven’t been paying much attention, our refineries aren’t on line yet. When they do come on line, it’s going to shake up prices good, I mean we’ll sell for a lot less than the oil company’s do.” Rosie said.

  I sat there thinking about what Rosie just said. I looked at Faith, I think she was reading my mind. “Rosie, have you beefed up security at the refinery sights, as well as our wells?”

  “No, not all that much, we do have security guards and all, but just the usual. Why do you think they’ll try to blow things up?

  “Yes, of course, do you think they’ll take the loss of their billon dollar profits without a fight? I think you ought to call down to New Mexico and put them on alert and then hire more guards up here.” I said.

  Just then Mary Jane and Iris came down all packed, “I just got a phone call from the helicopter, they’ll be here in three minutes.” Mary Jane said.

  “Wow! I wish I had a plane that would fly that fast.” I said.

  We all got up, I took a couple of their suit cases, I was going to miss them both, even with Mary Jane running around without any clothes on. We went out in the yard, by the time we got there, a big copter was settling down. Now when I said big, I wasn’t kidding. It was about the size of an old DC-3. It had copter blades on top, but they weren’t going around. Something else was powering this beast.

  It settled down on its wheels, but then they sucked back up inside of it, and it settled on its belly. A door slide open with a whoosh, and a walkup ramp slid out. No one came out. A voice said, “I’m Elizabeth, Oh, there you are Mary Jane, and I see Iris with you. Are you ready to embark?”

  I said, “Who are you? Where are you at? Can’t you come out, or do you need to stay at the controls?”

  “Oh, I’m sorry, I’m being impolite.” A holographic image appeared standing in the door way. “I’m afraid that’s the best I can do. You see that is just the image of what I would like myself to look like, you see I am the machine that you are looking at.”

  We all looked at each other, “Why isn’t the image wearing clothes?” Faith asked.

  “Again, I’m sorry, have I offended you? You see where I was created, humans do not wear clothes, do you want me to put some on?”

  “No, no need, we’re rather liberal around here anyway. Are all of the women where you come from that pretty?” Mary Jane asked.

  “Well yes, as a matter of fact, they are. But I’m afraid that I don’t have the time or the permission to explain everything to you, perhaps next time we meet, would that be alright?” Elizabeth said. The holograph held out her hand to Mary Jane and Iris. They went ahead with us following with the luggage. The inside was luxurious, with chairs and couch’s and tables. Of course I didn’t have time to look at everything.

  Elizabeth showed them where to store their stuff. I had a chance to look at the image. She was standing right next to me. I reached out a hand and touched her, she turned to look at me. I touched her again. “You feel like a real human, not an image?” I said.

  “Yes, it is rather nice, isn’t it. But it’s only inside here that it is that way, if I step outside, it goes back to a regular holograph.”

  “I get it, nothing like this was made on this planet, you come from another planet, don’t you?”

  “Well, yes and no, but that can wait till later, we have to get underway.” She took us by the hand and escorted us out. Her hand even felt warm. But not before we gave Iris and Mary Jane a good bye kiss.

  Just before I went down the gangway, I said, “Do you mind if I give them a feel?” Pointing to her breasts. I wasn’t trying to be a letch, but I just wanted to see if they felt real also. She smiled at me and indicated to go ahead. Yep, they were sure enough real.

  As we were standing in the yard, Faith said, “Well, were they real?”

  I said, “I don’t know, let me feel yours.” She kicked me in the shins.

  The gangway slid back in and the hatch closed with the aforementioned whoosh. There was no noise and the blades didn’t turn, it just lifted straight up and then it started to cloak itself and disappeared. The blades must have just been for looks.

  Rosie said, “Dad, sometimes I just don’t know about you, asking to feel her boobs.”

  Faith said, “Well from now on, just stick to the real things, mine for instance.” Then she kicked me again. It was a good thing I was wearing cowboy boots.

  Alita leaned over to her mother’s ear and said, “What are boobs?” “Never you mind Dear, you’ll find out soon enough.” Faith said.

  Then Alita said, “Are they what Daddy was feeling on Elizabeth?”

  “Now see what you started?” Faith said to me, as she kicked me once again.

  I couldn’t believe how feeling an holographic image could get me in so much trouble. “For goodness sake, she wasn’t real people, get a life.” I said. Don’t you hate it when your teenagers tell you to ‘get a life’, I know I sure do.

  “That’s Okay,” Rosie said, “I shouldn’t have said anything, I was really wondering myself. Anyway, I had better make that call to Grandpa and Grandma. Then where would you suggest that we hire more guards?” Rosie said looking at both of us.

  “I guess, we could check with the National Guard, or such. Maybe some of their returning Vets would like a job?” I said.

  “Good, then I’m giving you that job.” Rosie said to me. “Who and where do I tell them to report to?” I said.

  “Give them my cell phone number, I’ll take care of it.” Rosie said. I looked at Faith, “Do you suppose that Hope could watch Alita, then you and I could go into town and see what we can round up, then perhaps we could eat out and have a few cocktails?”

  “Sure, it would be nice to have a night out, sort of a date night, right?” Faith said.

  When we left after lunch we were wearing our regular ranch clothes, but we had changed to clean and pressed jeans and shirts. We had been having cool weather, so we both had our overall jackets on, and of course our weapons. We never went anywhere without them. But we did pack an overnight bag, Faith had put a dress in there. One never knew, we might want to go dancing.

  I don’t know whether I had told you or not, but where that bullet had grazed my skull, the hair that grew back was white and it looked like a lightning bolt. Faith said that it gave me a rather sinister look. I just thought it looked silly.

  When we got to town, we went by the recruiting office. Faith stayed in the pickup, I went in, there was a female staff sergeant setting at the desk. She looked at me, “Want to sign up?” She said.

  “Nope, I’ve did my time. I was looking to hire some security guards. I thought maybe you might know of some Vets that needed a job?” She got up and sat on the corner of her desk, looking at me. “Well now, I just might,” then she said, “are you married?” I guess there’s nothing like being direct.

  “Yep, sure am, my wife is waiting in the truck, so?” I said.

  “Damn, all of the good looking ones are. But as to the help you want. Their having a drill at the Armory this afternoon. Some of those week end warriors might need some extra money.” She said as she stood up right on top of me. I thanked her and got out of there, if I had of stayed longer, I’m afraid she would have thrown me down on her desk and had at it.

  I got back in the truck and said, “Whew, that was one horny woman in there, next time you’re going wherever I go, Okay?”

  “What’s the matter, can’t my big brave boy defend himself?” Faith said, mockingly.

  “Not from her, I should of known that she was in heat, I was lucky to escape with my pants on.”

  “Alright, next time I’ll go
in with you.” Faith said, scooting closer to me.

  We went over a few blocks to the Armory. We went in together. This time there was a male at the front desk. I didn’t mind him giving my wife the once over, after all she was a knockout. I explained what we wanted. He said, “Give me your phone number, I’ll post this up on the bulletin board. I’m sure you’ll be getting some calls. I know a lot of them are out of work right now.”

  So that task being taken care of, we went to the fanciest Hotel in town. It was a brand new one, with eighteen floors, with a restaurant and dancing on the top floor. You could eat, get drunk and dance till you dropped and your room was within crawling distance. Mighty convenient. Oh yeah, it also had a Casino, which we didn’t pander to, since I hated gambling.

  We made reservations at the restaurant at the same time we checked in. The room was nice, with one of those tubs that had air jets. It was a while before it was time to go eat, so we laid on the bed and turned the idiot box on. They had cable of some kind. The previous room occupant’s had left the TV on a racy channel. We were some surprised by all of the moaning and groining going on. We hurried and changed the channel. Not that we were against sex, which we weren’t, we just didn’t need to watch other people doing it. We stopped on the Disney channel.

  We watched a movie, then it was time to change for dinner. Not me, but Faith, she had brought a nice little black dress. That was just long enough to cover the stilettos that she had strapped to her thigh. Plus of course, that Bra that held two of them. Shoot, you couldn’t even get to second base with all of that steel she had on. I mentioned as much, she said that was just the way she wanted it.

  We were seated at a window that overlooked the whole town, what there was of it. I hadn’t notice it before, but it was Saturday night. The place was filling up fast, I guess it was a good thing we had made that reservation. Isn’t it strange, I had to ask my wife what day of the week it was. I didn’t even know what day of the calendar it was.