Die Again To Save Tomorrow (Die Again to Save the World Book 2)
Page 34
“Tell me, did you know of the drone attack before the summit?”
“Who was the suspect and what do you believe his motive was?”
“What’s your take on the One campaign?”
“Are you familiar with One Republic Entertainment?”
“Did the bomber have any connection to Alister Pout?”
“Is Mike Fury single?”
The questions came faster than Rueben could process, let alone answer. He threw out a couple of vague answers. These reporters didn’t even know who he was. He’d just happened to step out of the elevator after the president.
“Could we get an exclusive?”
Somewhere in the crowd, he caught sight of his and Aki’s boss Sven Larson weeding his way through the throng.
“Is the suspect still at large?”
“What do you believe was his plan?”
Sven reached the front of the crowd and stood before the reporters. “I’m Sven Larson, State Department. We’re proud of our heroes today, but in the interest of national security, we’d like to debrief them before they take any further questions. Thank you.”
Sven winked at them and frowned at Zach and Martha. Then he patted Buzz on the shoulder. “Buzz, good to see you again.”
“Hey, Sven. Always a pleasure.”
Yolanda Martinez arrived downstairs, and the reporters zoned in on her like flies on hot shit, and Sven was able to corner Rueben and Aki. “I want to take you two out to dinner sometime soon.”
Rueben stared at Aki. He didn’t know about Aki, but Sven had never invited him to anything. Not lunch or drinks or even coffee. Now he wanted to take them to dinner?
Aki answered for both of them. “We’d love that.”
Their boss scrutinized them. “You’re a ‘we,’ huh?”
Aki blushed, and Rueben looked like he didn’t know—which he didn’t. Then Aki’s smile melted his heart as she said, “Yeah. We’re a ‘we.’”
Sven nodded and stroked his chin. “Well, after what you guys did…I’m sure we can allow it. Try to keep it on the down-low at the office, will ya?” Then he winked and left the building. Rueben made a fist-pumping gesture and Aki laughed.
Yolanda Martinez was now shouting at the reporters closing in on her and probably asking her stupid questions.
Rueben turned to Aki. “We have to get out of here.”
“Agreed.”
“Let’s go find the others.”
They looked around for Martha, Buzz, and Zach, but now a new batch of reporters was closing in on them. One was particularly aggressive, a blond woman that Rueben recalled seeing on the news footage from when Pete had kidnapped him. “I need to talk to him,” she called.
Rueben grabbed Aki. “It’s not safe here. You’ve heard of people getting mobbed by paparazzi, right?”
It wasn’t exactly paparazzi, but it sure felt like it. Cameras and live video feeds were everywhere. It bothered him more than a bit considering they were both CIA agents. They needed their anonymity.
“Rueben, Rueben Peet.”
Damn, who had leaked his name to them? Rueben held up his palm. “No comment.”
“Please, I need just a minute.”
He ignored the blond reporter and kept walking. Then he heard it. “Please, Mr. Hash Brown…I need to talk to you.”
Rueben stopped dead in his tracks. His blood ran cold, and his stomach froze. He whipped his head around. “What did you call me?”
He saw her face then, and his whole world stopped. The blond hair had thrown him off. “Mom? Is that you?”
Yesterday Never Dies
The story continues with Yesterday Never Dies, coming soon to Amazon and to Kindle Unlimited.
Author Notes Ramy Vance
June 15, 2021
I may write about super heroes and people with special abilities – but a hero, I am not.
As for special abilities? I so wished I had Rueben Peet’s ability to ‘repeat’ after my less than graceful attempt to save my son...
My kid, John, had decided to climb up one of those tube slides common in playparks. This is one of the more noble pursuits of children his age and something I would have taken no issue with had he not chosen to climb the outside of the slide.
I should note that the slide is high enough to serve as a perch for any peeping tom seeking to spy into a second-floor window.
Upon reaching the top, he got stuck, a situation only exasperated by how windy the day was and that my 1-year old daughter, Orla, was climbing an equally challenging, albeit much closer to the ground, pursuit of her own.
The priority was obvious. If John were to fall from such a height, he’d break a bone if he was lucky (I shudder to think of what would have happened if he was unlucky).
I grabbed Orla and placed her in the hands of a stranger – social distancing be damned. And then, in a manner uncharacteristic to my natural athletic abilities, I climbed up the structure and ran across the obstacle course created by sadistic city-planners to challenge children at play.
I achieved my goal and got across… albeit with all the grace of flummoxed pug.
Upon reaching to the other side, my heart sunk when I realized the wooden wall that stood between us was six feet high.
It is amazing how panic, accompanied by a complete disregard of self, offers clarity. Things actually did slow down as I assessed my best course of action. There were two bolts used to attach different sections of the wall. Placing a foot on each, I used my momentum to half hoist myself over the edge.
I can only imagine the amusement of onlookers seeing an overweight, middle-aged man teetering over a jungle-gym wall (this is the moment I wish I could ‘repeat’).
With my shorter-than-average arms, my son’s rescue was in doubt.
Yelling for him to reach up, I realized that I didn’t have the strength or agility to stay lodged on the wall and lift him over.
With my options limited, I did the only thing I could think of and hoisted him straight up as I allowed myself to fall backwards.
We landed with an audible thud that left a very visible bruise.
His response to his father’s Herculean efforts? “I’m OK, Daddy. I fell on you and you’re soft.”
Soft, indeed.
I have since enrolled in a Parkour course to prepare for the next, inevitable rescue.
Joking aside, John has expressed interest in the sport and we have found a course for beginners (6 and up). After the slide incident, I think it a good idea to enrol him.
His mother, not so much.
And herein lies my greatest challenge as a parent. My role is constantly moving away from protector and toward encourager: Test your limits, my wee ones. Climb the outside of slides. Try not to hurt yourself. And should you get stuck, I will endeavour to save you despite my short arms and even shorter comings.
And if you do fall, know I will be there to help you stand again. Forgive my tears when I do, for even though you don’t understand this now, one day you will learn that the expression, ‘this hurts me more than it does you’, is painfully accurate.
--
I really hope you liked Die Again to Save the World and will continue to enjoy the series. It was a gamble to write it the way we did. After all, heroes are meant to know what they’re doing.
But real people aren’t and we don’t get ‘do-overs’. Rueben does. As bumbling as he is, at least his heart is in the right place. Just maybe that, couple with his ‘warping’ abilities, will be enough to save the day.
If only barely.
Author Notes Michael Anderle
June 21, 2021
Thank you for not only reading this story but these author notes as well!
As I type this, one part of the United States was slammed with a Tropical Storm a couple of days ago that flooded areas and caused massive destruction in the southern states.
Fifteen hundred miles to the west, there is a multi-year-long drought in many states that might get to a point where perhaps
millions are affected because there will not be enough water.
So yesterday, I went searching for the latest technology related to desalinization.
Total freshwater on this planet is 2.5 – 2.75% of total water, so oceans and seas are the rest at about 97%.
The amount of water used (here in the USA) is by farming and ranching. Something like 70% of freshwater.
So, the amount we need for drinking is a rather small percent considering most freshwater is in ice sheets at the moment.
Essentially, we have the water; it just isn’t in locations where we need it.
I found some technology which (in a nutshell) is a permeable sheet with really small holes. The H2O molecules will pass through, the salt (NaCl) won’t. To accomplish this separation doesn’t require much energy, and we are left with the salt and other microscopic molecules.
Yes, I know. I’m majorly oversimplifying.
Because my brain creates stories, answers if you will, I quickly thought about using large magnifying glasses to heat up the oceans to cause evaporation. Well, space-based magnifying glasses because I think large and don’t ever have to worry about budget.
Then the whole “zapping oceans from space” issue where you accidentally burn up a ship comes into play. Or accidentally fry a few thousand fish by accident. Maybe we cause a flash algal bloom or some other massive ecological oops.
There is always a downside, it seems.
Regardless of my sci-fi-based shenanigans, I would like to understand how we could use natural solutions to fix the problem. For example, what would happen if we piped water to a naturally hot area that could evaporate the water more effectively?
Well, then we have concerns about how did we get the water into the pipe in the first place? Using any sort of suction is going to cause problems with plant and ocean life getting sucked into the intake pipes.
Another idea, another problem to solve.
Further, the ionic bonds of NaCl are very strong (and we would have a LOT left over after the water evaporated), plus it’s a pain to break them apart. It takes thousands and tens of thousands of pounds of pressure to move them to Na3Cl and NaCl3, something postulated by lead researcher Artem Oganov at the State University of New York in Stony Brook and confirmed by an experiment.
Not that we have any use for the substance that we know of at the moment.
So, we are stuck with a LOT of Salt. Not sure what to do about it unless we can use it for table salt. Should be easier to acquire than digging deep underground in salt mines, one would think.
Or, you know, we could create another dead sea on this side of the world and charge people to float in it for their health.
Ok, I’ve rambled long enough on this thought, and I appreciate you coming along for my inadequate mental effort to stave off the world’s water problems.
I am no closer to answering any questions about what is going to happen in the future, but I am thankful that people who are way more intelligent than I am are working on the problem(s).
I hope you have a fantastic week or weekend, whichever is appropriate, and thank you for reading our stories!
Ad Aeternitatem,
Michael Anderle
Other books by Ramy Vance
Other Middang3ard Books
Never Split The Party (01)
Late To the Party (02)
It’s My Party (03)
Blue Hell And Alien Fire (04)
Death Of An Author: A Middang3ard Novella
Dark Gate Angels
Dark Gate Angels (01)
Shades of Death (02)
The Allies of Death (03)
The Deadliness of Light (04)
Dragon Approved
The First Human Rider (01)
Ascent to the Nest (02)
Defense of the Nest (03)
Nest Under Siege (04)
First Mission (05)
The Descent (06)
Sacrifices (07)
Love and Aliens (08)
An Alien Affair (09)
Dragons in Space (10)
The Beginning of the End (11)
Death of the Mind (12)
Boundless (13)
Other Books by Ramy Vance
Mortality Bites Series
Keep Evolving Series
Fatebound Series
Welcome to the Dragon Show Series
Books By Michael Anderle
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