Conquest ~ Indian Hill 3 ~ A Michael Talbot Adventure (66 page)

“Are you talking to me?” Paul asked.

“Just trying to reason this out.”

“We’re down to two minutes, maybe you
should
reason quicker.”

“That
oughtta
help,” I told him.

“Just punch in a number
,” Paul said
.

“It is true
,
Michael
.
I
naction is as bad as a bad action in this scenario
,” Dee
said
.

“Dee
,
don’t you maybe want to find safer ground?” I asked him with my hand hovering over the pad.

“I am confident you will figure this out
,” Dee said
, picking up some of Dunner’s possessions and looking at them as if he were at an estate sale.

I punched in
five
-
two
-
six
-
zero. We were immediately rewarded with an ear piercing buzzing sound and thirty seconds wound off the clock.
“Well,
at least now it’s a one in six shot
,” I said
as sweat poured off my body
.
M
aybe I could short it out with
the salt water coming off of me.
I had a good minute and fifteen seconds for that
to happen.

“Mike
,
leave
,” Paul said
.

“I didn’t leave you in that car and I’m not leaving now
,” I said
as I punched in five, two, six and my finger was hovering over the nine. I had made contact with the plastic when Dee turned
calmly
toward
me and told me to stop. If a fly had landed on my finger it would have tipped the scale and the button would have been plunged.

“Got an idea?” I asked him,
gingerly pulling
my finger back.

Dee ha
n
d
ed
me Dunner’s dog tags.

I grabbed them
,
not knowing what to think.

“Read them
,”
h
e prodded.

“I’ll be damned.”

Thirty eight seconds left
,
I quickly but very, very precisely typed in
a
seven. The mechanism flashed red once, then green twice
,
and the timer shut down.

I’d seen closer times in the movies
,
but
when you're living it, let's just say that's entirely
too
close to a blast.

“What the hell happened?” Paul asked.

I handed him the dog tags.

“I’ll be damned, it was his birthday.”

“More likely
,
he was paying homage
to his brother
.
L
et’s just be happy they shared the same date.” I patted Paul on the back
.
“
I’m going back to my room
.
Come on
,
Dee
,
we’ll talk as we go.”

“I would enjoy that
,” he said
.

Dee
and I ended up at the cafeteria.
I got a coffee and Dee drank a V-8
.
I
t was his
absolute favorite drink on the planet.

“I wish I was going with you
,
Michael
,” Dee said
after he downed a family sized bottle of the
liquid. I couldn’t stand the stuff, there was just something about drinking something
that
thick that made me get queasy.

“It’s not because you miss home
,
right?” I asked
,
sipping
my coffee
,
angry that they did not have any of the iced variety.

“I never wish to be among Progerians again unless they were to
have some great epiphany and wish to rejoin in the harmonies of all life. It would be for your safety
alone that I would go
.”

“My safety
?
W
hat makes you think I need any help?” I asked
,
not looking up from my coffee
.
I knew the folly of my question
,
plus I wanted to make sure I didn’t burn my lip on the scalding brew.

“Michael
,
you cannot even go to relieve yourself without some form of problem arising. Trouble follows you around like children to an ice cream truck.”

“Okay
,
how the hell would you even know what an ice cream truck is?”

“Your met
hods of deflection are
immature
.
Y
ou try to steer the conversation away from what troubles you most.”

“It’s a defense mechanism, but I still don’t know how you would know anything about that. So are you comparing me to the ice cream truck?”

Dee
sighed
heav
il
y, it seemed a very human thing to do at the moment.

“Michael
,
the fate of three species
rests on what happens tomorrow.
I wish you would not be so cavalier about it.”

“Dee
,
I’m so scared I can’t even think about it for more than a few seconds. I can literally feel my mind doing all in its limited power to avoid the subject at all costs. I have wrapped those thoughts up and every time I try to wrap my mind around them they squirt right out and away. I don’t want to think about it
—
what’s the point
?
I have to do it
.
I have to try no matter the potential for disaster.”

“That is a fair assessment
.
I did not think you were concerned at
all. D
o
you think they have more of these?” Dee said holding his empty bottle up.

“I’m sure they can find one somewhere
.
I’ve got to go back to my room, it’s been close to
an
hour
and
Tracy has got to be wondering where I’ve been off to.

“I’m going to stay here and meditate
,”
Dee told me.

“Alright,
my friend
.
W
ill I see you
later
?” I asked
,
but Dee was already in the early stages of his trance. “I’ll take that as a maybe.”

“You should get me another V-8 before you go.”

“Nice
,” I told
him sarcastically, although I did get him his drink.

I
headed back to my room
,
thankful Beth hadn’t somehow pulled another
appearing
act
and
was waiting for me somewhere along my path
.
I swear she had a tracer on me, probably
residually
attached to my heart strings.

I quietly opene
d the door to my room
, a sleepy-
eyed Tracy looked over at me. “That was quick
,
did you find out what those men wanted?
” she
asked
before she rolled on
to
her side
and back asleep
.

CHAPTER SIXTY-
S
I
X
- Mike Journal Entry
23

After all the commotion of the previous evening, the following day had been calmer than I could have hoped for.
Tracy and I spent the majority of the morning in bed.
To say we made bliss that
morning
would not give what happened between us justice.

I fell asleep for what seemed moments,
I had no sooner closed my eyes when Tracy was shaking me awake, she was already in her B.D.U.s.

“Any chance I missed the bus?” I asked her.

“Get up
,” she said
,
pursing her lips
.
S
he was less than enthusiastic
about my latest endeavor.

I got out of bed slowly, my body ached and for a moment I had forgotten why.

“
You’re getting old
,” Tracy said
as she strapped on her belt and pistol.

“I feel it today
,” I told
her as the memories flooded back
.
I’d let her have her barb
.
I saw no reason to clue her in on the events of the
previous evening
, although she'd find out soon enough
.
Paul had dismissed her after she and the guards had deposited my bathroom way
-
layers at Paul's office. If she knew s
he’d probably just knock me out
,
stick me under the bed, and tell the
g
eneral I had gone awol.

Paul was coming up the hallway just as Tracy and I exited. His face looked hardened, it softened a bit when he saw me. I think I had caught him unawares and he had not enough time to put his true game face on.

“How you doing
,
buddy
?” he asked
me.

My initial response was to tell him I felt like I was walking the Green Mile, but none of the three of us would see the humor. “Fine
,”
w
as all I could muster without lying or making some bad analogy.

“No
problems from last night
?” he asked
.

Tracy had been lost in her own thoughts
, but not so deep
she didn’t pick up on Paul’s words. “What happened last night?”

“You didn’t tell her?”

“No,
and I wasn’t planning on it
,” I told
Pa
ul more than a little bit angr
y.

“What happened last night?” Tracy asked.

“Nothing really
,” I told
her, knowing full well that approach wasn’t going to work.

"More than what happened after the bathroom incident?" She asked with alarm.

"Mike almost blew up the entire installation." Paul said evenly.

“Paul! You’re not helping
,” I said
.
H
e was merely smiling. I turned to Tracy, she had the look that said she was waiting for a more lengthy explanation.

“Fine.” As we walked to the eastern exit
,
I related t
he events of the entire evening.
Tracy looked appalled and relieved, she could not believe she had
missed it
. “How would you have known?” I asked her.

“Still.”

I had just finished up when we finally came to our destination.
Besides the two guards there
were
only Dee and Urlack
.
T
he absence of Dennis was an acute pain I would not soon get
over.

“I will see you soon
,
my friend
,” Dee said
,
grasping my hands in his.

“Do you truly believe that?” I asked him.