Project Lazarus (19 page)

Gilbert jumped slightly out of his chair.  It caught Commander Henrid’s attention.

He glared at the boys.  He knew there was a problem.

“We,” Gilbert composed himself, knowing now, to let nothing escape, “we saw nature.”

“Nature?” Commander Henrid inquired.

“Yes,” Ivan commented, “we like to explore the woods.  We learn about trees, leaves, birds and animals.  We like to study for Science class, you know for school.”

“School’s out,” Commander Henrid lashed.

“I know,” Ivan said quickly, “we like to be smarter than the rest of the class.  Mom tells us it’s good to be ambitious.”

He sighed, annoyed at the turn the conversation had taken.

“Okay, we’ve established you boys like going in the woods.  I’m talking about a particular area of woods in Cotter.”

“Yeah,” Gilbert catching onto the lie now chimed in, “We go exploring out behind the empty lots of our house.”

“You never go near a large military compound in the back woods down by the river?”

The Commander asked directly and studied the two boys not for a verbal response but a physical one. 

Ivan could feel his cold steely eyes on him and clenched his jaw slightly. Gilbert stared at the ground, afraid his eyes might give him away.  Commander Henrid saw an opening.

“Let’s not play games here.  You’re smart boys.  Let’s make this easy for you and your family.”

“Are you threatening us Commander Henrid?” Ivan asked.

Gilbert would have been scared, as usual, like the day in the woods but he found incredible strength that day and actually helped his brother Ivan.  Now, he felt that surge of strength again.

“You said this was voluntary,” Gilbert roared, rising to his feet, “Come on Ivan.  Let’s go,”

“Wait,” yelped the Commander, seeing the only chance at Charlie Dempster slipping through his hands, “Sit down.  I didn’t mean it that way.  Look we need your help.”

The boys sat back down.

“We’ve got a tape here.  I want you to look at it.”

He put in the tape.  The two boys watched the grainy film.  Everything was muted to block out that terrible sound that had deafened them.

The film showed two boys on the ground approached by a man.  The boys recognized him.  It was the man from hell. Then it showed the two boys again, this time frightened and running away.

They watched motionless.

“Could be anybody,” Ivan announced.

“Yeah, looks like Harold Imble to me,” Gilbert agreed.

“Yep, could be him.  Maybe you should talk to him,” Ivan addressed the Commander.

“Look boys, I know what it’s like to keep a secret.  I know you probably think you’re doing the right thing.  Protecting yourselves.  But secrets have a way of getting out and destroying other people.  Sometimes they destroy us because it’s draining just keeping the secret.  Believe me I know,” he got up and limped around.

“See this leg, a secret kept.”

“Really?” Ivan asked, now genuinely believing Commander Henrid might be a good guy.  Could he be?

Commander Henrid sat back down.

“All we want to know is what a stranger in the woods might say to scare off two boys?”

They kept silent.

“We already know what happened in the woods.  A man was raised from the dead.  I’m telling you so you don’t have to keep a secret and neither do I.  It’s causing a lot of trouble in Cotter.  We’re gonna make sure folks stay safe.”

Ivan looked at Gilbert and silently they agreed.

“Well, my guess is the guy would be scary.  Might say something like he was dead.”

“Okay, anything else?”

“Hell,” Ivan said wishing the words would choke him.  Instantly, regretting them.

“Sounds about right,” Commander Henrid announced.

“Okay then, you’re free to go.  Thanks for talking.”

“Did you catch that man on the tape?” Ivan asked.

Commander Henrid shook his head, “No.  That’s the problem.”

The boys left the trailer.

Commander Henrid grabbed the phone from his make shift desk.

“Get Charlie Dempster in here on the double.”

Five long years passed.  The galaxy changed.  The whole universe was moving at warp speed.  Some 100 billion years from now, planet earth would outrun every solar system, so that when the human eye looked up and saw the sky, there would be nothing but pitch black.

Dark and empty, unlike other civilizations, who used the stars to tell time, time would become meaningless to us.  With nothing to measure time and perhaps a civilization tired of keeping time, time would cease to exist.

These were the things Charlie Dempster pondered.  Now facing the news, he would have to report to Commander Henrid.  This was the world he wished for.  100 billion years in the future.  Time ceased to exist.  It was meaningless.  The past was the present and the future all mixed into one.

In this fantasy, the trip to the Amazon didn’t happen.  The secrets Charlie guarded didn’t exist.  His son Dylan was safe beyond any time and place.  Commander Henrid was a figment, just a being full of molecules that Charlie at will could pass through like an unseen ghost.

But like so many ghosts from the past, they haunted him.  For as much as Charlie dreaded his encounter with Mr. Adams and the Amazon man, he feared Commander Henrid.  They would be at odds and Charlie had no cards to play with the Commander.

Just as Commander Henrid had meticulously spent his time looking into Charlie Dempster, Charlie had kept tabs on the Commander.  He had a lot more power now than the day filled with sweat, fear and gore in the Amazon.  It was a triumph for them both.  Charlie would save his son and his science.  Commander Henrid would save his career.

What Charlie didn’t know was Commander Henrid had him pegged back then.  Henrid wanted to kill him that day.  Henrid knew he was there for more than science.  Surely, Charlie thought, the Commander now knew the whole truth.  And what would he do with it?  Bribe him?  Blackmail him?

The Amazon man wouldn’t stop the living dead from hell until Charlie sacrificed his son.  The Commander couldn’t know this information, as the Amazon man would only speak to Charlie.  No one else.  Charlie was already making a plan to kill the Amazon man.  The hell with everyone else.

He had to find Millicent.  She was the key.  Commander Henrid would most likely threaten him with Millicent.  How long could she hold out before spilling the truth?

A long time.  A very long time.

Mr. Adams led Charlie outside.  The light blinded him.

“Where are we going?” He implored.

“Commander Henrid,” Mr. Adams replied bluntly.

“I don’t see what he’s got to do with all this,” Charlie said matter of factly.

“Neither do I,” Mr. Adams confided.

“Then what’s this all about?  You said you wanted me to fix things and I can’t fix anything with that buffoon taking up my time.”

“I get the feeling you’re a man with some kind of motive Charlie and I’m not liking it,” Mr. Adams told him.

“What’s with this blinding sun?  Where’s Millie?  I want to talk to my wife.”

“She’s safe,” Mr. Adams said and continued, “we’re outside because that’s where Commander Henrid’s post is located.”

“Whatever.  I want to see Millicent.”

“Okay,” Mr. Adams conceded, “maybe when we’re finished here.”

“What do you want with her anyway?”

“Oh, I don’t know.”

“You idiot,” Charlie raged, “you want me to fix this?  Get me out of the meeting and let me see my wife.”

Mr. Adams wasn’t a man to quicken to anger by the use of insults.  Quite the contrary, he was very sublime in combat of any form.

“You’ve called Commander Henrid a buffoon two times now Charlie.”

“You didn’t almost get killed in the Amazon with him.  Should be sidelined.  Fired.  Retired.  Hell, let him go get his little army and go up against the one’s from hell.  How about that Adams?  Why is he talking to me?  Get his army.”

Mr. Adams paused long enough to study the man beside him.  Charlie Dempster was a menace maybe even a sociopath.

“You know what I think Charlie?”

“Dying.  Just dying to know.”

“I think you’re a man with something to hide.”

“Prove it,” Charlie demanded.

“Maybe I can’t.  Maybe someone else can.  Don’t know Dempster.  Don’t know.  But if you’re the cause for this mess, I’ll kill you myself.”

“How very official,” Charlie replied snottily.

“I think you’re a damn good scientist Charlie.  Maybe too good.  You better be careful.  You might outsmart yourself.”

Charlie said nothing.  The long walk in the hot sun was demeaning and wasting his precious time.  He had to kill the Amazon man.  That was the plan.  He was trying to figure out how to do it and when.  That took planning.  Commander Henrid would poke and prod and break his thoughts.  Perhaps, break him.

No, Charlie thought, he would never give up Dylan.  Not to those barbarians.

Mr. Adams stopped abruptly in front of the trailer.

“We’re here,” he announced.

Charlie gasped.  Commander Henrid threw open the door, greeting the two men.

He looked every bit the ambitious military man he met in the Amazon.  He was still every bit the capable opponent he was back then.  The look in his eyes frightened Charlie.  Commander Henrid knew something.  He could feel it in his gut and he wanted to bolt but he couldn’t.

The two men had Charlie.  Suddenly, he felt like a wild animal in a cage.  Pacing back and forth.  He would let Commander Henrid pounce first.