Torn (16 page)

Colin cringed. “You should have seen that coming.”

“I did. Not a big de
al in the scheme of things. And
…my house was condemned while I was gone.”

“You should have seen t
hat coming, as well. You didn’t…
you didn’t by any chance purchase more pets and forget about them, did you.”

Darius stared at Colin.

“You did!” Colin whined. “Ah, Darius, learn some responsibility.”

“Ha!” Darius laughed. “Responsibility. You forgot about me at the airport. How responsible is that?”

“Well, not very, but I had a good reason.”

“Which is?” Darius asked.

“Birds attacked Pittsburgh,” Colin waved his hand. “I’ll get into it later. Come to the kitchen
;
I bet you’re hungry.”

Darius followed him. “Birds attacked Pittsburgh?”

“Yeah, all over th
e news, too. Your little friend
Bret is the focus.”

“No way.” Darius nodded. “Was any one hurt?”

“Not serious
ly
. Hot dog?” Colin opened the fridge. “I have some left from today’s Memorial Day feast.”

“Yeah, sure.” Darius slid on a bar stoo
l. “Was it magnetically related?
”

“Bingo.” Colin popped o
pen the microwave. “Solar flare…
sun spot thing.”

“The frequency will increase,” Darius said. “We know this. Has
anything been said at all about
….”

Colin shook his head. “Not a thing.”

“It has got to be on everyone’s mind. People have to be wondering what the hell is going on.”

“Basically, I don’t believe people are wondering what’s going on. I believe they just want a sc
ientific explanation they can ac
cept, believe, and then they move on.”

“Only one problem with that,” Darius said.

Colin nodded his agreement. “If we give them our scientific explanation to believe… how
can
they move on?
”

‘Thank you, Brenda. If the word ‘mayhem’ was derived from a crazy month of May some years ago, then this past month certainly reiterates that. From multitudes of rising ants across the n
ortheast, b
irds in the
‘
burg, to what you see behind me. For the past two hours, hundreds of students have gathered on the campus of this West Virginia
U
niversity to protest the firing of Professor Darius Cobb, who was official
ly
released this morning from hi
s head of Ecological S
tudies position. Profes
sor Cobb is nowhere to be found;
however, these students are making
their
voice
s
heard. Carrying signs, promising cand
lelight vigils, and chanting, ‘B
ring back Darius
Cobb’. One student even told me
that they’ll stay as long as it takes. Official
s
here at the university are
citing just cause in releasing P
rofessor Cobb from his contract
.
He disappeared a couple weeks back for Africa and other than a simple phone call today, no one has seen or heard from him. What make
s
it all so interesting is
that
Professor Cobb disappeared at
the beginning of the month too, t
aken
under the
watchful eye of the CDC when he was attacked in one of the freak cockroach incidents. This is Blain Davis, live from West
Virginia University, Morgantown. B
ack to you, Brenda.’

Bret wasn’t a rocket scientist, nor did she need to be to figure out who ‘DC’ was when the call was placed to her station while she was taking listener calls on the topic of depression.

“The answer you seek will be found,” he said cryptically.

Bret looked at her producer, then at the screen which revealed why he
called. Simply typed in was one word
, ‘answer’. Figuring they must have really been desperate for calls if they let such a vague one through, Bret prodded.

“Answer? What answer?”

“To it all, to the end, to the beginning, who knows.”

Just as she began to think, ‘what a fruitcake’, she looked the name. “DC’, the ever so slight hick accent
that
laced the voice like a country singer, she shook her head. “So,
uh, DC. What’s the answer?
”

“Tomorrow. Two. Catch it at the Rye.”

Click.

Bret put it together. Rye. Reye. Colin’s house, the next day at
t
wo. After murmuring, ‘what an asshole,’ she pressed the next line. “Next caller, Jeanie. You’re live with Divine.”

The cryptic Professor Cobb didn’t answer her call or email, and contacting Colin only bred, “He’s an idiot. Yeah, he wants to meet here.”

So Bret went.

She took Luke for the trip. Having met Colin mainly in public places, it was the first time she had seen his impressive home. She even commented as she pulled in the driveway, “A man who lives alone shouldn’t be permitted to have a house this big.” She stopped. “Scratch that. Bet me Darius is homeless now and moved
i
n
.”

“How can you tell?” Luke asked.

“His car is packed. He hasn’t unpacked it,” she muttered on the way to the door. “He’s probably been here for days.”

She rang the bell.

Brightly, Colin answered the door, “Ah, Bret. You’re early.”

“A little. I was curious. Colin, this is my son, Luke.”

“Luke.” Colin g
reeted him with handshake. “And…
why aren’t you in school?
”

“Oh, my mom let me cut out for this.” Luke nodded proudly.

Responding to Colin’s grumble with a
‘hmm’, Bret waved her hand at him.
“Anyhow. Do you know what’s going on?”
she asked.

“I wish I did.” Colin f
inally shut the door. “Trust me;
he’s been as secretive with me as he’s been with everyone else.” He led them down a hall. “I’ve known Dare-Dare since he was Luke’s age. He always has to be the first and he always has to be right. Want something to drink?”

“God, I’d love c
offee. I worked last night. But…
I’m sure you knew that.” Bret said. “Dare-Dare called the station.”

“He’s an idiot.” Colin poured her some coffee.

Luke said, “So you don’t know what’s happening with the earth. That’s what he wants to meet us for
,
right?”

“Correct,” Colin replied. “He is finalizing his figures. I know which way he’s going, but I promised I’d let him reveal since he’s t
he one who came up with it. And…he
has me and Virginia pulling verification material. That’s what he’s doing now in his wonder world.”

Bret looked quizzically.

“This way,” Colin said and opened a door adjacent to the kitchen. “He’s gone overboard. But then again, that’s our Dare-Dare.”

Bret and Luke followed Colin down a flight of stairs, and after Colin knocked once on a door, he walked in.

“Dare-Dare. The first of the team is here.”

Without turning around, Darius said, “Is it Bret?”

Colin smiled
sinisterly
. “How’d I know you’d ask for her
first?
”

“Whoa,” Luke commented as he stepped in.

“Whoa is right,” Bret too
comment
ed on
the former family room. It no longer looked like a plac
e to dwell and watch television, b
ut rather a sophisticated computer lab. Images of the earth, maps and so forth graced each computer screen while readouts from noisy printers continuously flowed out.

“Colin,” Bret said in awe. “Is this all yours?”

Colin pointed to Darius. “His. He’s been buying it since yesterday. Hasn’t been to bed yet. Hence why he called late
last
night on your program.”

“I got it all in synch now. Just printing up,” Darius said.

“I
thought you were unemployed
.” Bret commented. “How did you afford all this?”

“Well, I was gonna use my money,” Darius clicked away at the computer, eyes on
the screen. “But I’ll need that.
So I just used the credit cards and applied for more.
I have lots of it now. Instant c
redit. You have to love it.”

“If you can get it,” Bret said. “How are you gonna pay for the cards?”

“I’m not worried about it,” Darius rep
lied. “What the hell is seventy thousand?
Probably be more later,” he spoke nonchalantly.

Bret gasped. “Seventy…. Well, if you have that attitude, let me borrow one of those cards, I need a new TV.”

Seemingly without thinking, Darius reached into his back pocket, pulled out his wallet and blindly handed it to Bret. “Take the platinum one.”

“Wow. Thanks.”

“Mom,” Luke scolded. “You can’t do that.”

“He gave it.” Bret spoke tough cle
nched teeth. “We need a new TV.
Jesse beat the other one too bad.”

“Dare-Dare,” Colin finally
spoke up. “Bret brought her son,
Luke. He was allowed to cut school for this.”

“I would have let
him too,” Darius said. “In fact.
…” Finally he turned and
f
aced everyone. He ran his fingers through his hair and smiled. “I’d just take him out now.”

“Yes, dude.” Luke clenched his f
ist. “I like this guy.”

Again, Darius smiled
then just rattled off. “I mean, it really doesn’t matter, and there probably won’t be any school by the end of the summer anyhow. Left to go to I mean. Maybe.” He shrugged and faced the computer again. “Latest October.”

“What?” Bret asked. “Darius, that’s not funny.”

Over his shoulder,
Darius peered at her solemnly. “And neither is what’s about to happen.”

Virginia and Chuck arrived, and they all took a seat around Colin’s glass dinette table.

Darius—as expected—started things off. He held a bag. “I have a gift for each of you. Call it cheesy, but it’s part of my demonstration.” He walked around the circle handing out his black treats and continued speaking. “I know we’ve all worked on theories as to what is occurring. I believe we’ve collected enough data to make educated guesses. I want to share mine. My gift is my introduction.”

Bret looked down t
o the object placed in her hand, a
compass.

“Mom?” Luke called her attention as he tapped the face of the compass. “Mine is broke.”

Bret pulled out her compass. Oddly, the needle bobbed, and when the compass was turned the needle barely moved. “Mine too.”

“They aren’t broke,” Darius said. “They represent what is going on with our world.”

Luke turned his compass and played with it. “The world is going in a wrong direction?” he questioned.

“In a sense, y
es. My trip to Africa confirmed my fears. At first, I believed
E
arth was tilting
on
its axis. Colin believed we were finally feeling
t
he effects of global warming.”

“if you believe in global warming.” Colin interjected. “I
believed
it was
the misalignments of the planets and the fact that the moon is now ten more thousand miles away. I was looking astronomically at the geological changes. That is where I went. OK, so I was wrong. Don’t rub it in, Dare-Dare, you’re living in my house. Then again, I still do
n’t know what you’re building t
o.”

Darius cleared his throat. “Yours was a good theor
y. I’m not rubbing anything in.
My thinking should have been there as well. It wasn’t. Yours helped me though. That’s where Virginia came in—sort of.”

“I helped?” Virginia asked with surprise. “I didn’t think I did anything. I thought Colin was thinking in the right direction.”

Colin gave a smug look.

“He was.” Dari
us nodded. “We needed a tie-in.
Something that connected both t
heories, m
ine and his.”

“Oh.” Virginia
sang out. “That. Okay
. It was simple.”

Darius smiled. “Elementary.”

“Then I must be in kindergarten.” Bret raised her hand. “Space? The solar system is causing this. And how in the world did the moon drift ten thousand more miles away.”

“We don’t know.” Virginia answered. “But I only suggested what tied magnetic reversals to the solar systems.”

“And as you saw by my basement
.
…” Colin added. “Dare-Dare more than likely worked out the fine details.”

Up went Bret’s hands in defeat. “Then why am I here? Chuck
,
too.”

Darius answered. “Research and supportive information.”

Chuck finally spoke. “Excuse me?”

“You guys a
re research. I need both of you;
while we’
re working on the other aspects,
you two have to put together a list of every freakish geological event and natural disaster that has occurred recently.”

“Why?” Chuck asked.

“Because watching what happens lets us see the path of what is going to happen. Also, you two are the voices. You can get the word out.”

Colin snapped his finger. “And don’t forget that big CNS reporter who
’s
been snooping around. He did a wonderful piece on you, Dare-Dare.”

Bret, lost, shook her head. “What are we gonna get out? You said you know what’s happening. You know what’s going on.”

“I believe I do.” Darius replied. “But to get there, many other things must occur. Collect
ing data, information, can help
us predict the when and where of such events.”

Virginia added. “Predicting the when and where’s will help in saving lives and getting people more prepared.”

Colin spoke, “But we need to build a concrete case, present it to our government, so they can do something about this.”

Quizzically Bret glanced at Colin. “I thought you didn’t know what was gonna happen.”

Colin shrugged. “I don’t. But no matter w
hat, my phrase fits. What
ever it is has to be big. Right?”

“Right. But
. . . .
”
Bret questioned. “What
ever it is
,
can
it
be stopped?”

Darius shook his head. “Hardly. We can’t stop it. We can only prepare for it, and figure out a way to have as many lives as possible.”

Annoyed, Colin huffed out. “Now that you’ve gone aroun
d it a million and a half times, q
uit being me
lodramatic and get to the point. What is going to happen?
Please.”

Slightly irritated, Darius asked, “May I explain to Bret and Chuck what has happen
ed
first?”

Grumbling, Colin agreed.

Darius went on, “When I went to Africa, my revelation of cosmic radiation, and the documented cases, confirmed
that
a window o
pened up in our magnetic shield, a
window big enough to let the cosmic rays through. We’re fortuna
te;
anything stronger could have scorched
E
arth.” Darius pointed to the compasses. “The reason the needle is bobbing so predominantly is because the world is experiencing magnetic reversals.”

Luke perked up. “Oh, dude. I heard about that. North will be south. South will be north. Things shift around.”

“Yes,” Darius replied. “Takes tens of thousands of years to reach the full point. That is where we are. What causes this? Solar flares. Solar flares cause magnetic disturbances. Virginia?” he pointed at her.

Virginia answered, “When Darius asked me about recent sun activity, I was shocked.  Our sun has been producing an enormous amount of flares, ranging from small to la
rge. Though this is common,
lately it
’
s been out of the norm
, b
ut so gradual
ly that
we didn’t notice.”