What Shauna didn’t tell Johnson was where Mike was from. She figured that didn’t matter and would only complicate things.
“Okay. You two need to rest. Make yourselves comfortable here and I’ll go get some food, the fridge’s empty.”
“Thank you Johnson. We really appreciate it.” When he left, Shauna and Mike stretched out on the sofa bed. Within minutes they were sound asleep, curled in each other’s arms.
A noise woke Shauna. Fuzzy from a deep sleep she wondered why she was restrained. The strength of warm arms wound around her and brought her back to full awareness. Johnson’s apartment and Mike’s arms. She glanced at the digital clock on the wall and realized she’d slept all night long.
“Morning, Sleeping Beauty.” Mike tenderly wiped a short lock of golden hair off Shauna’s forehead. Then he leaned in and kissed her.
Desire was a potent wake-up call and Shauna’s body came fully awake. And fully aroused. She felt liquid fire race through her. Her breathing quickened, her heart pounded and she kissed Mike back with every bit of love she had inside her. “Morning.”
Mike’s hands roamed her body leaving tiny shivers along her spine. He licked her lips, nipped them then sucked on the soft bottom lip. “God, I love your bottom lip. It’s so lush, tempting.” Shauna groaned. “One day we’re going to finish this. And when we do, fireworks will explode.”
Shauna couldn’t even answer. Her mind fogged and she was completely caught up in the wild feeling racing through her body.
She soared. She craved. She needed.
Desperately.
The door crashed open and Johnson rushed in followed by three Global Guardians. “There they are!”
Shauna and Mike were roughly pulled out of the bed. Shauna’s eyes watered from Johnson’s betrayal. “How could you?” she whispered on a ragged sigh. “How could you turn on your life-long friends?”
“You were never my friend. Your parents only tolerated me. They gave me the worst assignments, put me in the most danger. I’ve been waiting years for this moment.” A maniacal light shown in his eyes. For a moment Shauna saw a yellow tint reflected from Johnson’s eyes. It reminded her of a feral glint from a stalking tiger. It was the color of madness, of weakness—of hatred.
The Guardians rushed forward.
The sound reverberated through the tiny apartment. Three loud booms. Each Guardian fell to the floor, the color of red mixing with the putrid color of lime. Johnson gaped, spittle dribbling down his chin. Then he turned and fled.
Mike shoved his gun into his waistband and said, “Let’s go. The noise has probably attracted attention.”
They ran out of the apartment and rushed down the stairs. “The apartments are soundproof,” Shauna huffed as she raced to keep up with Mike who led the way. “Otherwise so many people wouldn’t be able to live together peacefully. We can’t run down eighty floors.”
“A few more levels, then we’ll hop an elevator like we belong. I’m sorry about Johnson, Shauna.”
She fought back tears. There was no time for them now and she couldn’t let them blur her vision. “Thanks. That was a shocker. Mom and Dad will be crushed.”
They reached the seventieth floor and stepped into the elevator. Shauna pushed the button for the ground level and leaned against the wall. She took deep breaths and exhaled slowly, hoping to calm her racing, bruised heart. When they reached the ground floor they walked out as if there weren’t three dead Global Guardians lying on the floor upstairs.
* * * * *
They weren’t expecting the attack as they exited the door to the apartment building. Johnson flew at them with a taser blaring, a wild light in his eyes. The beam shot Shauna in the left shoulder. She cried out and fell to the pavement. A second shot hit her on the side of her head and she went limp.
Mike let out a yell of rage and pivoted. The sound from the perfectly placed shot reverberated down the tunnel-like street and people turned. Johnson fell to the ground, blood flowing from the center of his forehead. Mike dropped to Shauna’s side. “Oh, God, love. Don’t die.” He felt for a pulse and found one, weak and unsteady. He glanced up to gain his bearings and saw a skycar rental place across the street. Most of the pedestrians had begun to gather around. It felt as if they were forming a circle, protecting them. Mike picked up Shauna and carried her across the street.
“We’ll help you,” a male voice said. “I’ll rent the vehicle for you.” A short, rotund man with thin strands of hair across his head ran into the rental office and soon came out with papers for the rental. “Here. Take her and get her good care. Rest assured, we won’t be telling the Guardians anything.”
“Thank you. You’re very kind.” Mike placed Shauna in the passenger seat, strapped the restraint device over her and said, “Is there some way I can stop this bleeding? Some light thing?”
The man stared at Mike. “Your gun, your question. You’re not from this time. I always hoped it’d be possible.” It wasn’t a question so Mike didn’t say anything. He reached behind him to a younger version of himself and said, “Give me the pressure bandage.” The young man did. “Here, I’ll do the first one, watch closely.” He took out a square item that looked like an old-fashioned stamp with the handle on it. He pressed the top down and a blue light glowed out. The man slowly pulled it over Shauna’s shoulder. She flinched in her unconscious state but didn’t wake up. Then the man did the same with her head wound. The bleeding slowed. “That’ll help for a while. When she wakes up administer another dosage of this.” The man handed Mike a small gun. “It’s Pain Away. Just point the tip at her thigh then push the button.”
“Are you a doctor?”
“Yes. And I hate the Guardians. They killed my daughter.” The man looked around. The group that had gathered still blocked Mike and Shauna from prying eyes. “Now go. God be with you.”
“Thank you, Doctor.” Mike ran around to the driver’s side and hopped in. He gave a salute to the group outside, turned on the skycar and prayed he could fly this thing and Shauna to safety.
* * * * *
Now that he had it in the air, where was he going? Mike flew west. He wanted to get as far away from New York as possible. The rented skycar was a white and sky blue color, great for blending in with the atmosphere. If any green and whites followed he could slip into a cloud and hover. There was just one problem. There weren’t any clouds at the moment.
He adjusted the controls, put the skycar on autopilot and turned to check on Shauna. She was still unconscious. Her breathing had regulated and Mike checked her two wounds for bleeding. The device the doctor used seemed to be working. No blood seeped out and she didn’t look to be uncomfortable, thanks to the Pain Away. Mike stroked Shauna’s forehead, leaned over and gently kissed her on her full bottom lip.
God, he loved her. How could he love so deeply in so short a time? Shauna came into his life, glowing with vitality and swept him away on the adventure of a lifetime.
The only problem was the adventure could get them killed.
Mike studied the empty sky before him. He checked the monitors that showed him a wide-angled view of the back of the skycar and all was quiet. He took his first deep breath in hours and raked a hand through his rumpled hair.
What day was it? He glanced at his watch. February 6, 2110. He’d been in this century for almost two months. What a world this was now. No disease, overpopulation, a corrupt police state the world wouldn’t acknowledge. Cars flew, buildings reached the sky and elevators raced to the heavens.
He loved it and hated it.
Mike wanted to go home. To his more peaceful time. Well, peaceful where he came from. Bend, Oregon was a small town. It’d grown to almost seventy thousand people but by today’s New York standards that was small potatoes. He loved the quiet pace of the town, the nearby snow-capped mountains. He wished he were skiing down Mt. Batchelor right now.
Shauna shifted and groaned. Her eyes fluttered open and closed. He adjusted the harness so it wouldn’t rub
her left shoulder. “It’s okay, love. You’ll be fine. Just rest.”
She licked her lips and tried to say something. Mike realized she needed water. He opened the glove box and a bottle of water rolled out. “Drink just a little.” Mike held the bottle to Shauna’s lips. She drank a few sips but more dribbled down her chin.
“Thanks,” she croaked. “Where are we?”
“I don’t know.” Mike wiped her face with a rejuvenating napkin and left it on her lap. “We’re flying west. I wanted to get away from the city as fast as possible. I haven’t seen any Guardians.”
Shauna struggled to sit up. “How’d you get the skycar?” The effort cost her. She leaned her head back and blew out tiny puffs of air.
“A doctor and a group of people helped us. The doctor rented us this skycar, so it’s in his name.”
“Oh, good.” Shauna fell back, her head lolling against the headrest. “God, those tasers are painful.”
“The good doctor left me with a couple of doses of Pain Away. I’d give you another shot but I don’t know how long the drug lasts.”
“I’ll administer it now. There’s no limit on how much Pain Away we can use. Where is it?”
Mike reached behind him and grabbed the bag of medical supplies the doctor had left. “Here.”
Shauna put the gun-like device to her thigh and pressed the button. Mike watched her face clear of pain, the lines on her forehead smooth out. Her jaw slackened and within seconds she was sound asleep.
“Good. You sleep. Now all I have to do is find a place for us to hide until you heal.”
No problem, he thought.
* * * * *
Thank goodness skycars were solar-powered. Mike would have run out of fuel long ago. He flew the craft northwest hoping to get lost in the Rockies. It’d only been an hour since Shauna fell asleep but they were almost at the ridge line.
A pinging sounded inside the skycar. Knowing it was the signal that someone was calling, he pressed the button for the internal speaker to come on. Mike did it because he knew the Global Guardians didn’t use that frequency, it wasn’t allowed. They used their private frequency. “Skycar 13111.”
“Skycar 13111, descend to twenty-five thousand feet. You will be met by skycar 102,900.”
Mike didn’t like the cryptic message. “Who are you?”
“All will be explained when you hover.”
It could be a trap. Shauna still slept. His cop’s instincts kicked in and adrenaline rushed through his body. He didn’t see another skycar in the sky and figured the Global Guardians would use any sort of trickery to get them back in custody. Mike made his decision. “Skycar emergency ascent to fifty thousand feet.” The craft pointed up and shot into the blue. Mike was pressed back into his seat and his face felt like it’d been stretched to its limit.
“Skycar, 13111. We’re friendlies.”
“How do I know that?” Mike could barely speak, his lips were still flattened.
“Patching you through to skycar 102,900,” the mechanical voice said.
A female voice came over the speaker. “How’s my daughter?”
Mike started. Was this Shauna’s mother? He wouldn’t know. He’d never heard her speak. The skycar leveled out at fifty thousand feet. Mike heard the faint sound of oxygen rushing though the vents. “Tell me something about your daughter that no one would know.”
“She loved her dog Rover. Her father paid an unseemly amount of money for an old-time picture frame for that dog. We left Shauna a message behind the picture.”
Relief flooded Mike. “Thank God. Shauna’s resting. She has two taser wounds, one in her left shoulder and one on the right side of her head. She’s a trouper.”
“Come down to twenty-five thousand feet and hover, please. And thank you sir, for saving our precious daughter.”
“You’re welcome. Skycar, descend, twenty-five thousand feet and hover.” The craft tilted down and made a normal descent. Within minutes they reached the desired altitude and hung in the sky like a Christmas ornament dangling from a tree branch. Mike looked out the windscreen but saw nothing. He scanned the rearview monitors but didn’t see anything there. Where were they? Had he made a mistake? Was this really a trap after all?
Then, right in front of him a hovering blue skycar appeared like magic. Mike hadn’t seen it fly up from the front, the side or behind. It was as if the skycar had been hidden right in front of him. He started but the seatbelt jerked him back in his seat. “This better not be a trap,” he muttered. He pulled his automatic pistol out of his waistband and placed it on his lap.
The internal speaker dinged. “Turn on your video monitor.”
Mike did as was requested and the face of a beautiful but older Shauna came into view. A handsome man with white hair and wrinkles across his forehead and around his eyes anxiously looked on. Mike didn’t say anything. He knew from his studies that once the internal video was on, the occupants of each vehicle could clearly see the others.
“Her color is bad,” Shauna’s mother said.
“She just dosed herself with Pain Away about twenty minutes ago,” Mike said.
“Follow us to the landing site. We can help her there,” Shauna’s mother said. Their skycar pivoted in place and pointed down. Mike followed adjusting the instruments to follow the descent of the leading skycar.
“Thank you for rescuing our daughter,” Shauna’s father said. “I’m Douglas Wentworth and this is my wife, Louise.”
“Nice to meet you. And you’re welcome. Shauna’s very special.” Mike saw one eyebrow rise on Shauna’s dad’s face. Both parents looked at each other and a tiny smile appeared on Louise Wentworth’s face.
They descended over the Rocky Mountains and flew low among the peaks, hidden from any patrolling Guardian vehicles. Mike followed Shauna’s parents around a jagged tip and lower into a hidden valley. The landing was smooth and Mike was proud of his first experience flying in the twenty-second century. If it hadn’t been such a harrowing experience he would have enjoyed it more.
The gull-wing door opened and Mike stepped around to Shauna’s side. She stirred and opened her eyes. He saw a moment’s confusion then clarity. “We landed. Why?” Mike felt a tap on his shoulder and stepped aside.
“Because we asked him to,” her mother said.
Shauna’s eyes widened then tears spilled from them. “Mom.” She glanced behind her mother. “Dad.”
Mike stepped in front of Louise and helped Shauna sit up. She winced and he tenderly touched her face. “It’s okay, love. Take it slowly.” He reached under her, scooped her into his arms and turned to face her parents.
“Mom, Dad…they told me you were dead,” Shauna bawled brokenly. “I’ve missed you so much.”
Her head fell onto Mike’s shoulder and she went limp.
Chapter Eight
“I am not sick,” Shauna said. “I’ve been cooped up here for three days. Look, Ma—no injuries.” She showed her shoulder and head to her mother who hovered over her. There were only red marks left on her shoulder from the taser injury. The right side of her head didn’t hurt anymore and her hair covered those red marks. “Your magic potions, lotions and notions all worked. I’m healed.”
“But you’re still weak.” When Shauna tried to get up her mother put a hand on her good shoulder and held it steady. “No. Three days isn’t enough. You need to gain your strength.”
Shauna sighed. She wouldn’t argue with her mom. She’d just gotten her back from the dead. “I’m going to Dad. He’ll side with me.” She walked away from the sofa.
Her mother laughed. “He always did. Why don’t you go see what Mike’s up to?”
Shauna stared her mother down. No one had a more intimidating glare than her mother. Except her. Shauna knew she could wither an orange, if she ever saw one. “Okay, just ask it. I know you’re dying of curiosity.”
Louise Wentworth pushed her long auburn hair off her face. There were a few strands of silver that glinted in the light but her
mother looked remarkably young considering her five years in hiding. It seemed that life as a fugitive agreed with her.
“What’s between you and the time traveler?”
Bull’s eye. Only her mother would strike right between the eyes. “Actually, I’m not sure.” She evaded the pointed look. “Don’t you need help cleaning or cooking or something?”
Louise laughed. “No darling. You know your father’s the cook in the family. Since you’re not going to answer my question, I’ll ask another. What do you think of our little hiding place?”
“Little? You carved out a mini village in a valley in the middle of the Rockies. I’m amazed that so many people have kept your secret. You have homes, farms, plenty of food, medical care. It’s amazing.”
Louise beamed. “Yes, it is, isn’t it? We grow all our own food and it’s delicious. We created our own ecosystem, which replenishes power and is friendly to the environment. We’ve moved to the next step in computers where nothing’s tied into the Global Guardian network and we’re free of corruption. Everything’s solar, wind powered and geothermal. Your father’s a genius.”
“I’m sure you had a lot to do with it too, Mom.” Shauna stepped over to her mother and wrapped her arms around her. She still wanted to stare at the apparition that was Louise Wentworth and stroked a finger down her soft cheek. “So you communicate with the outside world but they don’t know who you really are. They think you’re who?”
“They think we’re a corporation from Europe that is creating a better way to feed the world in this day of overpopulation. We also have a subsidiary that works on modernizing telecommunications. We named it Papa Bell, the father of all the telephone and communications companies from the past. We’ve gone so far as to infiltrate the Global Guardians, right under their noses. Soon we’ll be able to access their top secret files. Then we can collect data that proves their part of the global conspiracy created by the CEOs.” Her mother looked completely satisfied, like a cat that had just finished drinking cream.
No Future Christmas Page 10