Oh Crap I Died
Chapter 8: Oh Crap, We're all gonna die

Copyright© 2011 by Confused_Mind

Trains, there is a little known fact about them. The frequency the sound of a moving train is similar to that of a human heart beat ... and other lines of bullshit. People make love on trains because they are with the person they want to make love to. I spent a lot of time slowly making love to Helaena and Shakti on the way to Vancouver. I made Kaytos sit on the floor and watch, she had to watch, and we practiced control of ourselves while in flesh to flesh contact. As Shakti said, "Fucking like monkeys was all well and wonderful, but making slow passionate love was more preferable."

I was just happy that they wanted me to touch them. It was taking me a while to become accustomed to the intimacy between us, so any time they touched me I would freeze first then slowly release just a bit of control to the urge. I had to explain why this was difficult for me, and I spent most of the first days talking to them about what past I did remember. I had a few flashes of memory from my days in foster care as a child, disturbing enough for them that they had curled up with each other and cried. I had long since burned out any desire to cry. I hated what had been done to me and with me, but that was another time and another place. I would not let it control me any further. Another line of bullshit, everything in your past contributes to who you are and as such it manipulates you into doing things you hate. I was just trying to not feel like a sleaze every time I touched them, never mind enjoy it. Self control would be required unless I wanted to fall into rutting every time we came into flesh-to-flesh contact. Once they understood a little bit of what I had experienced as a child, they became quite studious in learning control. Except at night when we got into bed, apparently all bets were off at that point, oh well, I practiced my best to control myself. Making that bitch Kaytos watch was immensely funny because I could tell even though she didn't want to, it was affecting her. Not touch until she learned to care for others. That was going to take a long time.

During the morning of the second day's travel we came across an anomaly. "Maxi can detect a seed, Solomon, it's not a seed on the train, though. It's stationary and located near the place the train is passing."

I moved quickly to the window and looked out, but it was just Rocky Mountains outside, nothing abnormal or unusual. "Are you sure, Maxi?"

Having tapped directly into my nervous system, all she had to do was open the right path and I had access to the relevant sensation. It felt like a slight tug that pulled in a specific direction, and changing strength, I could tell it wasn't too far away either. We would be coming up on Banff which was a 1 hour stop and close by, so I made a suggestion. "Ladies, Maxi and I are going to find this seed and return to the train in Banff, I want you to stay here, stay on the train, and, at worse, we'll meet you at Kamloops."

The ladies made protests and I had to calm them, then I crouched down in front of Kaytos. "If you try anything other than following their direct orders, I will punish you most severely starting at your feet. Understood?" I whispered in her ear. She blanched but quickly nodded. I stood and faced Helaena, "She is to not move from that spot except for a toilet break every 2 hours, and she is only allowed to speak when answering direct questions. She has to observe you two constantly. Any tricky business and I will punish her."

Helaena sighed, "She will not do anything except what she is told, Solomon, and I know my sister well enough to accept that."

I nodded sharply at that and turned to Shakti, "I promise I'll return soon, so take care of Helaena for me."

I stepped out of the cabin and moved to the door between cars, timing it properly, I leapt to the ground and rolled to absorb the momentum. Once stopped I turned and watched the train pass on by. Once it was out of sight I reoriented myself and faced the pull of the seed. "I don't recognize this seed, Solomon, it is not familiar to me at all."

I moved quickly as it looked to be about 2 or 3 km away over rough terrain. "Did you ever meet any other of your species, Maxi?"

I felt/observed her sort through a massive library of living creatures she interacted with, but nothing came forth. "I have no information on any live that matches, Maxi, only the seeds from Maxi exhibit this effect."

I was getting curious about this 'seed' we had come across, and a bit worried also. Maxi didn't recognize it, which made it even more dangerous.

We moved at the fastest pace we could achieve in the wilderness and finally arrived at a small lake in a valley. "Maxi feels no hostility." We moved with the pull of the seed and came upon a small alcove in the side of the mountain, in it was what looked like a metallic diamond, perfect in shape and about the size of my fist. To all intents and purposes it looked like a large piece of Maxi, but with a recognizable form. We stepped up to it and I tentatively reached for it. "Maxi does not think that is a good idea" she said and I stepped back quickly, suddenly I froze. The impression I had was someone was watching us, not just me, the 'Us' that is Maxi and Solomon. "Run!" I heard the urgency, even fear, in Maxi's voice and tried to, but still I stood there. The desire and the intent and energy to run were there but the body was not paying any attention, now I was really worried.

"The We is proud of the 'Maxi'" said a strong and loud voice. It reminded me of the perfect woman's voice, "The We is also disappointed that the Maxi does not remember it."

"Maxi, what is this?" I asked calmly

"The evaluation will commence." said the new voice.

I could feel Maxi deeply afraid at that point, almost terrified, and she did the equivalent of a mental cringe when a light engulfed us. The light lifted us up and we floated gently, slowly rotating in a kind of freefall less than a meter above the ground. Then, just as gently, we were placed back on the ground.

"The We has found the Maxi harmed and less than prime. The We will share and mend."

It finally struck me what was going on. "Maxi, is this your progenitor?" I asked quietly.

"Maxi has always been and always will be!" she whispered defiantly in my mind, but I could tell I hit a sore spot.

"The We is as the Solomon says," Stated the entity, "The We is the origin of the 'Maxi'. The Solomon is highly intelligent, quite impressive for such a primitive live. The Maxi is the progeny of the We. Much time ago, before the development of this galactic cluster, the We separated the best of the We in half and created the Maxi. The Maxi had unfortunately suffered much damage of recent, and much has been lost. Resolution of this will be completed momentarily."

Once again we were engulfed in light, and the metallic diamond rose up with us this time and silently parted into many pieces, then again many times more, until it looked like a silver cloud which then engulfed us. I could feel the fear rolling off of Maxi and I reached out with my heart. "Maxi, you'll be fine. I'm here for you no matter what."

In a tiny voice I heard, "Maxi is scared."

"The We could never hurt the Maxi, but we will teach the Maxi and make the Maxi whole again."

I could feel a tingle on my skin and watched the silvery particles sink into my flesh. I could feel a change in Maxi and a strengthening, almost solidifying, of her presence. This tingle and particles floating around me lasted only a few minutes, then it returned to its prior spot and coalesced back to the metal diamond, only slightly but noticeably smaller.

"The We is now tired and requires rest. The Maxi has found a good host-bond-mate, even if by accident, be cautious, as the Maxi has arrived at a dangerous place and time with old enemies gathering. The Maxi is still young and needs you, Solomon. Be there for the Maxi. One more thing before the We leaves, Solomon, the We likes the name Solomon has chosen for Maxi, it is appropriate pretty and makes the Maxi feel loved."

Maxi was quiet and I could detect some embarrassment emanating from her, I smiled at the entity and felt good. It was suddenly no longer there. "Maxi, where did it go?"

"Maxi only knows a little, but it has gone elsewhere not in this reality."

"Ah, science calls that either paratime travel or parallel reality travel," I answered, "I prefer paratime travel, a name coined by a famous science fiction author, very appropriate and cool."

We began the trek back to the train, which, by the look of the sun, was probably waiting at Banff by now. "How do you feel, Maxi?"

"Maxi feels much better and more complete now, Solomon. Maxi had no idea how bad the sustained damage was in the last while. Maxi has been attacked many times over the last few trips, and this last attack did the most damage. Had it not been for Solomon, Maxi would probably not be able to sustain cohesion." I considered what she said quietly for a while, then

"So that was your Mom, eh?" I asked, intending humour.

"Maxi's mother, as Solomon puts it, is as close as possible to describing it. Maxi had misplaced that information due to damage sustained, Maxi is now complete again."

"Uhh, Maxi, what exactly does host-bond-mate mean?" I asked

I felt a subtle scramble for information and then "It appears that I'm not too clear on that particular concept, Solomon." I could tell she was dodging there but, not being stupid, I left it alone until Maxi felt she could tell me.

"Maxi has picked up a large gathering of humans around the bend in this valley." She alerted me. "They are probably hostile, as Maxi also detects a large mass of machines."

I slowed down and considered my options. Seeing as the area we were in was mountainous and forested, the possibility was either logging or mining. I don't remember if there were any mines around here, and I had no idea if there was logging going on in the area, nothing looked like it, so I moved with greater caution.

I moved down through the valley area, not a paved road so much as gravel and dirt, which would meander a bit. Most of the visibility was obscured by trees and the odd hillock. It wasn't until I turned the corner of one particular bend that mounted a hillock that I could see what we were facing. I tucked and rolled to the side and into a drainage ditch just as the first volley pounded into the road not 4 meters from where I stood.

"Not forestry or mining, Maxi. We have military proper. We need stealth mode now please." I said quickly.

I watched my hand fade out till it was gone, and the I ran at 45 degrees from the angle I had last moved, then switched another 20 degrees just to throw off the shooters and marksmen. I had to move quickly but carefully, as my path would show as moving scrub or shrubbery. I moved briskly and ran wide of the attackers until I had flanked them, then backtracked until I was upon them, then moved slowly through them listening for any information. I finally came across the command vehicle with officers sitting in there talking

Officer 1, "I don't know about this threat. Seems like shooting squirrels with missiles, more than overkill"

Officer 2, "I don't care, orders are orders. We're told in no uncertain terms to splatter that target before they can react. I have Corporal Simons scouting out the impact point, he should report back in 10." The officer took a sip of his drink, which smelled like coffee, "We don't even have to do cleanup, they have their own arriving in 20."

Officer 1, "It just doesn't seem right, though, this isn't the American military, we're Canadian we don't murder people!" he exclaimed.

Officer 2, "We do when we're told to, now shut up or I'll report you."

I stepped back from the vehicle as the door swung open and Officer 2 stepped down, Captain J. Lafayette stormed off to another vehicle at the rear of the formation. I heard Officer 1 grumble, "Fucker would probably work with the CIA too."

Before door could close I was inside and sitting in the abandoned seat next to Officer 1. I had moved in such a manner that no notice was taken of me. I leaned over and examined the guy, Captain D. Meriwether, a bunch of bars on his chest, was a fit looking fellow with no hair but black bushy eyebrows. I took note of his firearm location and prepared myself.

"Does Solomon think this is a good idea?" Maxi asked a bit worriedly, "Solomon might be harmed."

I sent reassurance and love her way, "Not to worry, Maxi, I think we could use someone like him."

I cleared my throat quietly which caused Captain D to jump and pull his sidearm. I quickly disarmed him and dismantled the Browning 9mm pistol quickly by crushing the barrel and then dropped it to the floor.

"Please don't call for help, I just want to talk then I'll leave." I said quickly before Captain D. could shout. He paused with his mouth open, eyes scanning the vacant area next to him, I reached over and, with my finger, slowly closed his mouth.

He deflated a bit then seemed to relax. "OK, whoever you are, if you were going to kill me I would obviously be dead by now."

I had Maxi fade the stealth field a bit so that I looked a little like a ghost. His eyes went wide for a second, and then Maxi kicked the field back in, "I just want you to know that I don't kill people or take lives, I'm just trying to live my life and not bother anyone." I said in explanation.

"You've pissed off some high up people, then" he answered as he leaned back in the seat. "How long has it been this way for you?"

I thought about it and realized that, in fact, it had all started before I was even involved, or so I thought, "A little over 2 months or so. You wouldn't believe it, but I was the guy that got killed by that meteor a little while ago."

I could feel Maxi's emotional reaction to that, and once again I sent love and reassurance to her. "I consider that my best day, Maxi." I could feel her perk up just a little.

"Ah, that would make you impossible, then." he replied with a chuckle, "Oh, the Colonel would love to talk to you." He added with a chuckle.

"That other guy, Lafayette, what do you know about him?" I asked conversationally.

"Officially I am only allowed to tell you my rank and service number, but personally I think he's a bloodthirsty prig that needs to be treated like a rabid animal, you didn't hear that from me, though," he said quietly while looking innocently around the vehicle.

"Look, I have an idea why I'm being treated the way I am as I have returned to life after being killed, I display heightened reflexes and abilities. The people who want me are powerful and control militaries and governments all over the world. They are free to act in any way they wish to achieve anything they wish, and to the expense of any and all. From my information sources, the upper echelons of this shadow group are not even human or from this solar system. My very existence threatens them as much as they are a threat to our species. What I 'contain' both scares then and makes them desire it more. I will not be able to live peaceably until they are either eliminated or dealt with by the world courts."

"Not going to happen, the people you describe are also the same people who put the world courts together." Meriwether said, "Unless you intend on taking out every military that goes after you, you are going to be attacked until they get what they want from you. I am going to give you a number to call. This is the number to Colonel Besson, when you get some free time please call."

"Maxi senses that 'Prig' is returning in approximately 90 time units" I heard from Maxi

"I'll call when I call but no promises, I'm leaving now so try not to follow, not that you can find me. I will damage anything that attacks me. OK?"

I slipped out after a brief nod from the Captain, and with a burst of maximum speed I headed off towards Banff. I got about halfway there when I ran into my ladies in a borrowed pickup. They had started to lose it not long after I left. They further I went from them the worse the feelings became, until they finally abandoned the train at Banff and followed the pull they had felt.

I spent the entire trip back to Banff and the drive to Kamloops to catch up to the train apologizing to them for leaving them in that state. I made Kaytos drive while I cuddled in the back under the camper shell. It took great control but we only cuddled ... along with the blood promise by me to do more, later.

We arrived at Kamloops just in time to abandon the truck at a parking lot close by and return to the train before it left.

We had just gathered in the cabin after the train left the station when Maxi said, "This room has a transmitting device in it." She showed me the location of the signal source, and soon we were looking at a bug designed to look exactly like a screw. I glanced at Kaytos who had been compliant all along, and she blanched quickly and shook her head in denial. "Maxi knows Kaytos did not plant the device. Several someone's have been in the cabin since we left it in Banff."

I indicated for them to wait in the room, and then stepped out into the hallway. I moved down the walkway, through the joints between the cars and into the next train car. I did not see any passengers. I started to get suspicious.

"Maxi does not detect any live other than Solomon, Helaena, Shakti and Kaytos. This train is empty of the live."

I bolted back to the cabin and swung the door open. "It's a trap!" I shouted, and all hell broke loose. The windows to the outside were suddenly covered over as some sort of metal shutter slammed down and we were all thrown to the floor as the train gained a sudden burst of acceleration. It didn't stop accelerating, but we could feel an additional gentle curve of the track which rocked us against the walls. This was going to be either a fast trip to a local destination or a short trip to our deaths. Didn't know and didn't care, I just wanted off the train with my ladies and that was all.

I steadied myself against the bed and stood up, "We're getting off this train now!" I shouted above the noise.

With help from my surroundings, I moved to the shuttered windows and, balling my fist up, slammed it through the window. Glass chunks flew all over, and but my fist struck the metal shutter and bounced off. I gathered my strength and put my hands together. An overhead swing with all my might and I struck the shutter again, causing a great warping and bend in the middle but still no clear opening. I leaned back once more and mustered all the anger, energy and force I felt, and with a roar I slammed my fists against the shutter again. The reverberating sound of striking it just about deafened us, but the impact caused the leading edge to pop off its rail and slide to the ground. The moment it hit I leapt to the other side of the bed and dragged Kaytos and Shakti over with me to land in a crouched position next to Helaena. The car jumped in a hop hop fashion, throwing us about in the confined space. Things were going to get ugly quickly. The end of the shutter dug into the ground and vaulted the side of the car over. It flipped, and, with all the other cars behind it flying at full speed, was shoved and tumbled side to side and then end to end twice. Thankfully the car was designed to take some major hits. Unfortunately, the hits it was designed to take were from the inside. I pulled all three ladies tightly to me and held on, expecting to be thrown about strongly and there was much vibration when I saw the panel drop at the leading edge, but once I had gathered up my ladies and I felt the beginning of the hop hop, then there was silence and just a gentle motion. I opened my eyes to find the world around us was an apocalypse of flying metal and dirt and destruction.

"Maxi created a field around Solomon and ladies that will keep all safe." I delved into the memory she showed me on how it was done, more technology from another star faring species. Maxi was able to generate the field by temporarily altering the structure of some of her component members. I was almost afraid to ask how it was powered, then she showed me some complex physics and math that was beyond my comprehension. "Thanks, Maxi, I'm pretty sure we would not be surviving this otherwise. We watched the quick and difficult to see disintegration of the car around us, until it came to a stop a good half kilometre from where the devastation began. I had calculated roughly that we had reached a good 200 km/h when it started the flip. "I guess I should have thought that attack through a bit more," I said to them, "I'll have to work on that. We may not get so lucky next time." The train had stabilized and come to a complete stop, so Maxi released the field, it popped out of existence with an audible pop like clearing you ears. We stepped out of an opening in the side of our cabin where the shutter had ripped it wide open. All of us carefully moved up the side of the hill next to the tracks and looked down on our trusty train car. Not much left of it, the two cars behind us had ploughed into our car and been turned into shredded aluminum and steel. Our car had been compressed on both ends, as it had flipped end to end several times. Our cabin had been roughly in the center of the car so it was barely intact, no one could have survived this accident without the shield Maxi had generated, the car and engine that had pulled the train were off to the side, derailed, with the engine running madly at high speed. All other cars, all the way to the last one, had also been derailed and lay about in tatters. Just looking at the mess and devastation was enough to make your knees go weak.

"Let's bug out of here before we get company," Shakti blurted, "I don't want to have to deal with the hostiles or the questions."

"Maxi agrees with Shakti, there will probably be a large influx from the distant grouped vehicles."

I nodded and followed Helaena, who had seen a path off to the side. Kaytos followed along docilely behind me, trying to avoid sticks and prickly branches catching her bare skin. We picked a brisk but easy pace to move, I was glad I made everyone choose sensible shoes to wear as the path was a combination of stones and rough dirt, a game trail more than likely.

Looked like it was getting late and we would need to find some form of shelter soon or we would be spending a cold night in the Rocky Mountains. I didn't care how warm it was during the day. At night it could get fucking cold. I almost, 'almost' regretted how I made Kaytos dress, but then I remember what she tried to do and walked it off, figuratively speaking.

We moved through the forested areas and along the game trail, "Maxi has been keeping an eye out for animals, Solomon, nothing large right now, Maxi has also found, not too far away, a road this group can travel on faster."

"I know we only have two days left to be in Vancouver for the meeting, but we have to get there in one piece, I'm guessing that the group that set up the meeting wants us to miss it. We have to get Sam back, as she's the only person on earth that has bonded with seed."

"Maxi knows that Sam is the ONLY one who has bonded with seed, Solomon did not bond with seed, Solomon bonded with Maxi, Maxi is not seed."

I smiled and sent her feelings of happiness, "You still have not told me what a host-bond-mate is Maxi."

"Oh look! What's that?" Asked Shakti pointing at something, I tried to see what she was pointing at but there didn't seem to be anything, "Oh, never mind. It's just a shadow" she said dismissively.

I looked suspiciously at Shakti, it seemed like she was deflecting my question for Maxi, but I didn't say anything out loud most of the time when I spoke with Maxi, "How are you feeling, Shakti?" I quickly thought at Shakti.

"I'm fine, this hike is not too bad." She responded.

I heard "busted" mumbled from Helaena.

"So how long have you been hearing my thoughts?" I thought at Helaena. She blushed brightly but didn't respond back. I threw the same questioning thought at Shakti, who stumbled and glanced up at me with surprise. "Uh ... ever since Maxi subjugated the seed we each carry. We didn't hear anything clearly at first, then, every time we made love after that, we could hear more, clearer thoughts. Every time you spoke with Maxi we could hear it along with the reply."

"Maxi was able to work with the seed that was placed in Shakti and Helaena and have it bond with them, much like we are bonded only on a smaller scale. They do not have the augmentations that Solomon has, but that is because Maxi and Solomon exist as one."

I was about to put forth the question about host-bond-mate when we broke out of the wooded area onto a field next to a house. It looked a bit like a farmhouse missing the farm part, but it still looked liveable. When we arrived at the front door and knocked, a little old lady opened it and, even with Kaytos in the state she was, invited us in and provided drinks and snacks. When I asked to use the phone she led me to a room at the back of the house with an old rotary phone at a small table next to a big picture window. I sat down to make a phone call when the elderly woman, Mrs Dunnharold, asked, "I don't mean to be rude, but why is your lady friend missing most of her clothing?"

I smiled up at her, "She's being punished for trying to treat us like her belongings, and then attempting to murder her daughter and sister. We didn't think it would be good for her to be put in prison as she would just be released without learning a lesson. This way we I get to teach her, by example, the proper way to treat others, and how it feels to be treated like she did her daughter and sister." Mrs Dunnharold listened to the explanation, nodding quietly throughout, then patted me on the head, "Good boy, it takes a thoughtful and caring person to show that much love." Then she returned to the kitchen to put together more snacks.

I shook my head and smiled. Either the lady was a complete loon or she understood better than most did. I shrugged and called the number the Captain gave me.

"Colonel Besson's office, how may I help you?" a husky voice answered.

"Captain Meriwether suggested that I call the Colonel, tell her that it's the dead man calling, please." There was muffled talking in the background which Maxi was able to translate for me, something about some joker saying he was the dead man they wanted to talk to, then the Colonel got on the phone.

"I understand you're dead?" she asked with a definite ironic tone to her voice. Her voice was quite solid, almost husky and no nonsense, while retaining a certain level of humour.

"You realize that attacking me is only going to cause more problems than it's worth." I warned.

"Why would you think we are attacking you?" she asked in a flat voice.

"A bit earlier today, using an artillery piece, someone tried to put me in a grave in many small pieces. I am pretty sure your average person does not have that kind of equipment to mess around with." I hear more muffled voices.

"The Colonel is trying to get information on what happened. It seems she doesn't know about the military action earlier today." Maxi translated for me.

She returned her attention to the phone, "Sorry, apparently I have to find out the status of my command." she said with disgust.

"I would suggest contacting Captain Meriwether then, as he was there at the incident and the one who gave me your number. I don't believe you were supposed to know about this, as it was probably not a regular mission. I will be mobile so you will not be able to contact me. I will contact you within 24 hours. We have lots to talk about, I suspect."

I hung up and returned to the living room area, Mrs Dunnharold was serving tea and snacks to Helaena and Shakti, who were sitting comfortably on the couch while Kaytos was seated on the floor in the corner with a bowel of water next to her. I could see a sparkle of humour in Mrs Dunnharold's eyes as she looked up at me. "I thought your pet could use some water and a biscuit to keep her going. It sounds like you've had an interesting time over the last little while, young man."

I raised an eyebrow at my ladies and Helaena smiled cheekily back at me. "Yes, we've run into a fair amount of unpleasantness in the last few weeks." I decided to speak openly in front of Mrs Dunnharold, as I felt she wasn't a threat, "I spoke with that Colonel Besson, she didn't know that one of her units was out and about and she seemed a bit put out by that."

When the little old lady looked inquisitively at me, I started explaining, in readers digest format, exactly what happened from the moment we got on the train, excluding Maxi's part.

"Ah, that would be why there was such a god-awful noise a bit earlier. You must be pretty special to survive a train wreck. Hell, you must be pretty special for someone to try and kill you with a train wreck." I smiled at this and shrugged.

"Maxi thinks Solomon should get ready to move out soon. Time is becoming critical" Maxi urged gently.

We made our polite goodbyes to Mrs Dunnharold and started to leave when she stopped us at the front door, "Do you have any way to get where you're going?" she asked.

 
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