“I thought I had lost me, too.”
I don’t remember my friends finding me, but they tell me they came looking when the fog disappeared. To be honest, I still have trouble understanding how I can be alive.
It had taken some time before we could discuss what had happened. Two of the guests at the retirement party were RNs. They stopped the bleeding. Once the fog was completely gone and we were able to contact others, Krone had his private helicopter flown in from Montgomery Field, which had been far enough outside of downtown San Diego not to be affected by the fog.
“Any word from the mayor on the city’s condition?” I asked. I didn’t want to talk about me anymore.
“He’s being tight-lipped about such things. They can’t explain the loss of life, the power outages. The official word is that this is an ongoing investigation. Local police, the military, the FBI, Homeland Security, and groups I know nothing about are investigating. There is no reasonable, logical answer.”
“Trust me,” the professor said. “I know reason. I know logic. Nothing of what we’ve experienced makes sense. It is, nonetheless, real.”
“What do these people want?”
The professor always fielded those kinds of questions. “We’re not certain. We’ve seen them try to control the thinking of people. At times it seems as if they want to make our universe theirs. This time they unleashed organisms to kill and to cause terror. They’ve also used microscopic organisms to infect people and animals.” The professor shrugged. “I’m starting to wonder if our worlds aren’t so different that we can’t understand what they’re doing. I know one thing: The Gate isn’t finished with us.”
“What I don’t understand,” Krone said, “is Brenda’s gift. You told me she is never wrong, yet Tank didn’t die.”
“I’ve been thinking about that,” Brenda said. “I’ve been pretty bummed about gettin’ that wrong.”
“Hey!” I smiled when I said it.
“You know what I mean, Cowboy. I’ve grown . . . oh, what’s the word?”
“Fond of me,” I suggested.
“No, that’s not it. Gimme a sec. Got it. I’ve grown to where I can tolerate you. That’s it. Anyway, I think I have an answer. I’ll let the professor tell you if I’m right or wrong. He’s going to anyway.”
“You can count on it, Barnick.”
“I think Tank changed the future,” she said slowly. “What I drew was true. Tank made a new truth. I don’t know how. Maybe he just powered his way into a different outcome.”
“That’s deep,” the professor said. “Especially coming from you. Just like some physicists think that if there are multiple universes, there may be multiple futures.”
Changed the future. As I thought about Brenda’s words, it occurred to me that that’s what we’d been doing all along. Changing the future.
I caught the professor looking at me. “I’m glad Tank is still with us.”
“Aw, gee, Professor. You’re gonna make me blush.”
“Don’t get a big head, Tank. I just don’t want to be left alone with these two women.”
“You love us, too,” Andi said.
Brenda was a little more direct. “Shut up, old man.”
“For the last time, I am not old!”
“Ancient.”
I’ll let you guess who said that.
You okay?”
Daniel said nothing. No surprise there. Just kept starin’ out the window of the plane. But the workout he was givin’ the napkin in his hand said somethin’ was up.
I motioned to the hills across the city. “Check it out. That’s the Hollywood sign over there.”
Nothing. Vintage Daniel.
We were a minute or so from landing, so I capped my pen and closed the sketchpad. I’d been drawing some sort of octopus thing. In the old days it would have been for somebody’s tattoo. Not now. Now the stuff I see in my head has nothing to do with tatting somebody’s future . . . and everything to do with our group’s assignments.
The plane shuttered and jerked. Not a big deal. ’Cept I’d be more comfortable if Daniel hadn’t muttered something.
“What’s that?” I said.
He stayed glued to the window and repeated it. Something like Leviathan, whatever that means.
The plane bucked harder. I sucked in my breath. Me and flying aren’t the best of friends. Though you wouldn’t know it by the free miles I’ve been racking up.
None of us knows who’s footing the bill for these flights, or paying the expenses when we get there. But we got ideas. For starters, they’re the good guys. Least that’s what we hope. And they’re fighting off what we think are the bad guys—something called The Gate—a group that’s got lots of nasty ideas and nasty dudes . . . some who aren’t so human.
’Course we got some unearthly types on our side, too. Seems more than just our world is interested in what’s going on down here.
The plane leaped again and dropped—this time a couple seconds. Enough for people to shout and scream. ’Cept Daniel. He just kept lookin’ out the window. Only now his lips were movin’ a mile a minute. I can’t hear words, but I know he’s prayin’. Or talkin’ to his imaginary friends (who we’re findin’ out aren’t always so imaginary).
Another drop.
“Daniel!”
He reached out and took my hand. A nice, sweet gesture . . . before we die.
More bucking and falling. The screams became nonstop.
Out the window I saw a freeway with cars—so close we could touch ’em. The plane’s engines revved hard, throwing me back into the seat. The pilot was gunning it, trying to reach the runway.
But we were down. And in pretty good shape—’cept for the weeping and swearing . . . and the smell of vomit across the aisle.
Daniel leaned back into the seat and closed his eyes.
I took a swallow and turned to him. “We good?”
He nodded. Took a deep breath and blew it out.
I did, too.
The pilot came on, all apologies. Something about wind shears that may or may not be true. Who knows? Who cares. I stole another look to Daniel, his face all wet and shiny, but he seemed relaxed.
I let go of his hand, wiped my palms, and took another breath. Long and slow.
Just another day at the office.
Selected Books by Bill Myers
NOVELS
Child’s Play
The Judas Gospel
The God Hater
The Voice
Angel of Wrath
The Wager
Soul Tracker
The Presence
The Seeing
The Face of God
When the Last Leaf Falls
Eli
Blood of Heaven
Threshold
Fire of Heaven
NON-FICTION
The Jesus Experience—Journey Deeper into the Heart of God
Supernatural Love
Supernatural War
CHILDREN BOOKS
Baseball for Breakfast (picture book)
The Bug Parables (picture book series)
Bloodstone Chronicles (fantasy series)
McGee and Me (book/video series)
The Incredible Worlds of Wally McDoogle (comedy series)
Bloodhounds, Inc. (mystery series)
The Elijah Project (supernatural suspense series)
Secret Agent Dingledorf and His Trusty Dog Splat (comedy series)
TJ and the Time Stumblers (comedy series)
Truth Seekers (action adventure series)
TEEN BOOKS
Forbidden Doors (supernatural suspense)
Invisible Terror Collection
Deadly Loyalty Collection
Ancient Forces Collection
For a complete list of Bill’s books, sample chapters, and newsletter sign-up, go to www.billmyers.com or check out his Facebook page:
www.facebook.com/billmyersauthor
Selected Books by Frank Peretti
Illusion: A Novel
This Present Darkness
Piercing the Darkness
The Oath
Prophet
Tilly
The Visitation
Monster
www.frankperetti.com
www.facebook.com/officialfrankperetti
Selected Books by Angela Hunt
Roanoke
Jamestown
Hartford
Rehoboth
Charles Towne
Magdalene
The Novelist
Uncharted
The Awakening
The Debt
The Elevator
The Face
Let Darkness Come
Unspoken
The Justice
The Note
The Immortal
The Truth Teller
The Silver Sword
The Golden Cross
The Velvet Shadow
The Emerald Isle
Dreamers
Brothers
Journey
Doesn’t She Look Natural?
She Always Wore Red
She’s In a Better Place
Five Miles South of Peculiar
The Fine Art of Insincerity
The Offering
Esther: Royal Beauty
Bathsheba: Reluctant Beauty
Delilah: Treacherous Beauty
www.angelahuntbooks.com
www.facebook.com/angela.e.hunt
Selected Books by Alton Gansky
By My Hands
Through My Eyes
Terminal Justice
Tarnished Image
Marked for Mercy
A Small Dose of Murder
A Ship Possessed
Vanished
Distant Memory
The Prodigy
Dark Moon
A Treasure Deep
Out of Time
Beneath the Ice
The Incumbent
Before Another Dies
Submerged
Director’s Cut
Crime Scene Jerusalem
Zero-G
Finder’s Fee
Angel
Enoch
Wounds
www.altongansky.com