Chapter 28

“Sure. You want some lunch, or something to drink? I can stop at Sonic.”

His face was grim. “Thank you, but no.”

“Okay. That’s sufficiently mysterious for me,” I said, with a little grin. I drove south of town, but instead of turning to go home, kept going south on Lorraine, to the curve. Then I went off the road, back in towards the river, where some people dumped trash at times. I rolled my window down, he did the same. “Is this private enough for you?”

“Yeah, thanks.” He sighed. “Damn. I had something thought about to say, and now that I’ve got you out here, I don’t know how to say it, or if I even WANT to say it.”

“For what it’s worth, I’m wearing the necklace you gave me, if that makes it any easier for you.” I pulled it out, so it was visible. “I’ve only taken it off a few times, since you gave it to me for safekeeping.”

“Was that when you flew to Washington, to talk to President Reagan?”

“Um, the only Washington I’ve taken a plane to is the state of Washington, when Margie and I went out to talk to Bill Gates.”

“Are you really going to try that wordplay shit with me? I thought I was your brother.”

“SJ, you ARE my brother. Like you said, do you want to know? I mean, total truth, no bullshit, absolutely everything?”

“Do I want to? No. Do I have to? Yeah, I think I do. Not because I think you’ve done anything wrong, but because of what happened at the Wall. There’s one minor problem when you see the same scene on television time and time again. Especially when you’re combat trained to notice little details. You don’t know it, but when you’re standing still, you have a tendency to put your hands in the same spot, probably due to your unarmed combat training. It’s not a coincidence that I’ve noticed you carrying yourself the same way that the messenger from God does, not when I’ve seen changes that can’t be explained in those girls.”

“Not from God, SJ. Above. That’s not semantics or wordplay. It’s the truth. As for the Wall ... it surprised the hell out of me, too, when that happened. I knew it was possible, I’ve known that my whole life. But experiencing it like that, well, it was all I could do to not cry myself.”

“Thank you, for being honest with me.” He sighed. “I knew I wasn’t going crazy. You knew too much about what was going on. Don’t take this the wrong way. I love my sister, but there’s no way in less than a year that she’s gone from being an average student to someone with an IQ of over 200. Once is happenstance, twice could be a coincidence. Three times is by enemy action.”

“The word is intentional, not enemy action. I’m not your enemy. You’re the reason there IS a Messenger from Above.”

He rocked backwards. “I am? How can you say that? I don’t have any powers.”

“Like you said, you’re my brother. You’re a member of my family, my extended family. Under the rules of the culture where I was raised, you protect family, no matter what. If a member of your family is hurt, then you respond. When you got hurt in Beirut, I HAD to do something. I couldn’t not act. If they’d actually declared war on the United States, then, not to be blunt, you could have been blown to bits and I’d have done nothing. I have my OWN code of honor, my OWN code of conduct. Do you understand?”

We sat there for several minutes, a cool breeze blowing through the truck. Finally, he started nodding. “I think I do. Damn, you’d make one hell of a Marine, that’s for sure. Now I know for sure why the only time you messed with anyone was that one dumb ass, why you asked for a Gunny. You respect the Corps, what we stand for, what we do. You understand us, too. But ... what are you going to do to me?”

“Why would I do anything? Like I said, you’re my brother. You don’t think that you’re the only one that knows who the messenger is, do you?”

“Who are you, though? That’s what I don’t understand,” he said.

“I’m an orphan that needed a home. Harry, Beth, Elroy, Emily, Dora, and Eve helped give me a home, helped me by becoming my family. I couldn’t go home, back to my original home, if I wanted to. It’s not there any more. Literally, not figuratively. Think Alderaan and the Death Star, although it was natural. This is now my home. I’ve done, I’m doing, for Hutchinson, for Reno County, what Elroy did when he came home from the war. There’s really only two differences. One, I’m not bragging when I say that I was a genius beforehand. The other is that I’ve got people that love me, to help support me. Elroy couldn’t even trust his own wife; she’d cheated on him, neither of his daughters are actually his.”

“So, what do I do now? My convalescent leave was extended for two more weeks. Thing is, my actual term is up soon. I’d planned on going career. I don’t think I could do that, now. Not with Dad being ... well, now that I know the truth, I almost wish you’d killed him. Bastard. But I’m not smart. Could you make me smart, like whatever it is you’ve done for Eve?”

I laughed. “Politely, you’re wired the wrong way.” At his look of puzzlement, I laughed even harder. “I’m sorry, SJ. Margie and Marcia already were super-geniuses, before I found them. Beth, Dora, and Eve? You’re right, not so much. I don’t think you’d like taking part in ... um ... how we’ve figured out they’ve changed, though.”

“You said your mother was a world class biologist, from whatever world you’re from. I assumed you’d come up with some chemical concoction, given them an injection.”

That made me laugh again. “The joke in the locker room would be that it’s a hot meat injection. Having sex with them ... my semen ... and then them either swallowing it or absorbing it after sex, is what’s caused this in them.”

He got a horrified look on his face. “You’re kidding me.”

“Not in the least. Harry is actually the one that figured this out. Semen is mostly all protein. Well, my semen is super strong, super proteins. What’d you say before, about not taking something the wrong way? I have no desire to have sex with you, either oral or anal, SJ.”

“Yeah ... that makes two of us. Well, shit. What am I going to do, if I get out of the Corps?”

“Um, you don’t think that I’ve had sex with Harry or Emily, do you? I’m going to be in California for two years. There’s going to be a LOT of things that need to be done around here. You’ve already proven to me that you’re smart, you know. You’re brave, too, even if you did forget to duck. The rest of it can be learned or trained.”

“You sure about that?”

“Like I said, you’re my brother. You’re a part of my family, just like Eve, just like Toby, just like Jennifer. And the reason I didn’t kill your Dad was because he is, or was, family. He got himself into his own mess, though, and he’s out of the family now.”

SJ deeply sighed. “You’re right about that. I’ve heard Mom crying at night, because of how betrayed she feels. She’s wondering how we’re going to make it, on just her pay.”

“That’s not an issue. It’s not charity, you’re family. You need anything ... anything at all, whether it’s your mortgage paid off, or a new house if your Mom wants to get out of that one, just let me, Eve, or anyone of us know. SJ, I’m rich. Not just well off, I’m talking two billion in income per year rich. And I can’t do it all on my own; I’d rather NOT do it all, there’s just too much to do, now. My offer of a job to you isn’t charity. I’m going to need help, need people I can trust, absolutely, with things. Roll your window up, we’re going for a short drive.”

I started the truck again, went back up to 50. “You see where they’ve started working on the land, between here and the cemetery?”

“Yeah. I’ve been helping with research. I know you’re developing the land for a factory going in there.”

“You did the research. I own this, now, from here to the next road north, for the next four miles. This is going to be a wind turbine factory.” I got back on the road and kept driving. “This is going to be a Microsoft research park. This is going to be a factory for making routers and other computer electronics. You know how this is two lane, now? It’s going to be four lane, all the way to Newton, to I-135. I’m paying for all of it. Hutchinson is my home.”

“Damned straight it is. Okay, I’m in. I’ll get out, and come home. This is going to be fun, isn’t it?”

“Hope so. Um, one minor detail.”

“Don’t tell anyone. Yeah, I figured that out on my own. And ... thank you.”

I was puzzled. “For what?”

He had a sad smile on his face. “One reason I wanted privacy. In case you ... turned out to not take my discovery very well, it’d make it easier for you to dispose of me.”

I pulled into his driveway. “I could see where you’d think that. I’d like, at some point in the future, to not have to hide. At the same time ... well, ask Harry how many times I’ve offered to leave, to avoid causing trouble. That I’m ... someone else, as well ... well, I’d like to think that this, the me that is Cal Lewis, is the real me, and the other guy is my secret identity.”

He chuckled. “That’s a bit different from the comic books; other than the Fantastic Four, where everyone knows who they are.”

“Well, this isn’t a comic book. This is ... well, Toto, you’re in Kansas.” He was laughing as he got out of my truck.

“Thanks, brother. For everything.” He held out his hand, shaking mine. He went into his house. I drove to Margie’s office.

Walking in, there was a young man sitting at a desk. “Good afternoon, Sir. How can we at Edward Jones be of assistance to you today?”

“I saw that Margie and Marcia were here, from their cars being outside. I need to chat with one or both of them.”

“One moment, sir.” He picked up a phone. “Ma’am, Mister Lewis is here, if you’re available.” He hung up. “Go on back, they’re in the first office on the right.”

“Thank you.” I walked down the hallway, where there was a closed door. I knocked on it, then opened it. Margie was behind a desk, Marcia was sitting at one end of the desk.

“What brings you out this time of day, sweetie? I thought you had school this afternoon,” Marcia said.

“I sort of don’t have school for the rest of the semester, after this morning.” I quickly caught the girls up on what had been going on this morning.

“I’m a little surprised that things happened that quickly,” Margie mentioned.

Marcia nodded, a look of surprise on her face as well. “At least we’re all close together. I had a 1600 SAT and 36 ACT.”

“Me, too,” Margie said. “Right now, nothing surprises me too much about our family.” She put her hand on her belly, with a slight smile.

“Good. I don’t know if you’ve made arrangements yet for us to fly to California or not, but I had a thought earlier today,” I said. “Oh, and before I forget, SJ is smarter than he looks. His familiarity with Eve brought it about.”

Marcia smiled. “Good. I was hoping that we’d have someone else we could trust. He’s done a lot of running around, and been a big help. Based upon your phone call last night, I gathered we’d all be moving out west for a couple of years. Harry and Emily are going to need all the help they can get here.”

Margie nodded. “Emily has already started making plans to leave the bank before too long. You just met Hank, he’s my new receptionist and advisor in training. I’ve already got Monica, as another advisor here. That way, I can be out and still own the office, as long as I show up every so often. And, of course, make sure they’re doing right by our clients. As for arrangements for the trip, it’s simple. There’s going to be six of us, with luggage for a weekend. For less than the price of tickets, I’ve made arrangements for us to leave Thursday from here in Hutchinson, in a Gulfstream.”

I blinked. “So much for my thought.”

At the expression on my face, the mother of my unborn child laughed. “Cal, you’re too easy. To a certain extent, it WAS your thought. I had this idea pop into my head from out of nowhere that we ought to fly via private jet. So, I made arrangements for us to have one. We’ll fly out Thursday to San Francisco, spend Friday and Saturday there, then fly down to Los Angeles Saturday evening, see Marcia’s houses Sunday and Monday, fly back here Monday evening.”

“I thought we were going to drive down?”

Marcia snorted. “Not if we can help it. Margie and I are the only ones that can rent vehicles, and we can’t even let you drive them. It’s about a 6 hour drive, too.”

“Oh. Sorry. I’m still not used to how slow surface vehicles are. Flying it is.” I had another thought. “If it’s that convenient, and we’ll be out there for two years ... what about our own jet?”

“That’s actually under discussion. We’d have to hire a pilot or two, but that won’t be an issue. I called Lamar Hunt about the usefulness of a private jet for what we do, especially as we’re going to end up going to Europe and the Orient as well. His brothers got into a lot of trouble with their attempt to corner the silver market a couple of years ago. He was sort of a part of it, but not like they were, so he’s not as hurt as they are. Anyway, to make a long story short, they have a couple of Gulfstream IIs that they don’t need and are just money pits for them because of the maintenance that’s due,” Margie explained.

“Where are they located?”

“Down in Dallas, Texas.”

“I’m certain that you know someone at the airport, or if you don’t, I’m sure your Dad does up in Kansas City. See if Lamar is open to having them get checked out by an expert or two this weekend. Have SJ go down as our agent, with the experts, and do a check on the aircraft. If they’re good, and the price is reasonable, buy them. We’ll need one for us, anyway. I’m sure that not having to go through Kansas City will make Bill and Sandy happier, and we can pick people up from Siemens in New York, as well.”

Marcia was smiling like a kid in a candy shop. “I’m going to get my pilot’s license. I’ve always wanted to fly a plane.”

“Tentatively, we’ll have two years at Stanford. I figured the two of you might like to get some additional learning in whatever interested you.”

“Damn straight,” Margie said. “I’m so damned excited about the way things are going, I’m half tempted to lock my office door, clean my desk off, and fuck you right here!”

“How about I just give both of you a kiss for now. We can do the rest at home, tonight.” I gave them both big kisses, then left them to finish up their afternoon of work. I went back to the house, got into the garage, and started working on the full-size generator for the wind turbine.

I’d been working on it for an hour when Harry came running into the garage. “Good, I thought I saw you come home. There’s a problem overseas.”

I went into our house, turning on the television. “ ... vessels from mainland China that are launching missiles at Taiwan.” I turned the TV off.

“Mike, what’s going on over there?”

“China has decided that since they’ve always considered the island of Taiwan to be a part of their country, that they can freely move in now, as the messenger has said that what a nation does in its own territories is up to it. United States forces are moving down from Japan and up from Australia, and there is a small United States naval force visiting Taiwan that is attempting to help defend Taiwan from missile attack. While the United States has not formally recognized Taiwan independence, they also do not recognize Chinese sovereignty over Taiwan. In addition, there are 11 nations that do recognize Taiwan as a sovereign nation, plus the Vatican does as well.”

That was all I needed to hear. I put my outfit on. I went outside, quickly checking where the guards were, and took off, so they couldn’t see me. Once I was out of local sight, I headed up, quickly. At 10 miles up, as I was headed for the west coast and had plenty of sunlight to power me, I went massively supersonic on the way to 100 miles up. I made a small mistake, in that I was going so fast while still in the atmosphere, the friction from my acceleration created one hell of a shockwave. That meant that during the few seconds I was still over the United States, it was quite obvious to anyone looking that something resembling a missile had just launched.

Of course, the fireball that came down from the sky about 20 seconds later in the space between Taiwan and the Chinese mainland really got the attention of everyone in the vicinity. I’d been scanning ahead as far as I could. There were jets taking off from airfields on the mainland and firing missiles towards the island. There were also more than two dozen naval craft of various sizes that were about halfway to the island as well. Near the island, there were two ships firing missiles up into the sky, to try to intercept the ones coming from the mainland. In addition, there were more than a dozen jets up, trying to provide air cover for those two ships.

I slowed down a bit, and used my laser vision to destroy all of the missiles coming from the mainland. I cut a hard turn, reversing so that I was now between the island and the mainland. I stopped in mid-air, about half a mile in front of the lead Chinese naval ship. I used my vision to literally draw a line in the sea, boiling the water in front of them. I could see them slowing, but still maintaining course. I shook my head, then flew to the bridge of the main ship.

“Stand down your ships, now, and return to shore. That includes the three submarines you have leading your forces.”

“No! You do not give the People’s Liberation Army Navy orders! You have said that we may deal with internal matters on our own. There is a rebellion on the island that is ours, and we will deal with it!”

“The people that live on that island do not recognize your authority over them, and in fact, they have been recognized as a legitimate nation by other nations, just as Israel is a legitimate nation. Care to change your tune, now?”

“My orders from Beijing are clear! You are not a god! You do not...” He didn’t get to say much else, since I grabbed him by the arm and threw him into the sea.

“Anyone else...” The bridge crew pulled their weapons and started shooting at me. “Okay, we do this the hard way, then.”

I jumped off the ship, hearing them cheer. Their cheers turned to screams when I picked their ship up, flew it the 20 miles back to the Chinese coast and then another 2 miles inland, and dropped it from 30 feet up right into the middle of the runway of the main airport. Several of the jets had been following me, and once I dropped the ship, they started shooting their guns and missiles at me. Five seconds later, they were falling to the ground. With those pests dealt with, I flew back to the Chinese fleet. Their ships all started shooting at me, even the three ships that I could tell were troop transports.

I dove into the water. Coming up behind each of them, I ripped their propellers off. I stayed underwater, catching up to the submarines. I got underneath the first one, shooting it up and to the surface. Once it broke the surface, I ripped the propeller off. I quickly did the same to the other two. I rose up to a couple of miles, looking around. I saw two other submarines in the water, closer to the island. I dove down to them. On one conning tower, I could clearly see the number 695. On the other it said 699.

I scanned my memory, then went back up to the surface, getting a big breath of air. I went back down to in front of them. “Birmingham, Jacksonville, return to Taiwan. I’ve got this under control.” I went back up to the surface, and flew to the first American surface ship. “How you doing, Captain? This is the Ticonderoga, isn’t she?”

“Uh, yes, sir. That’s right. I’m guessing you’re the cause of that noise that almost blew my sonar system?”

“Sorry about that. You shouldn’t need those two submarines that were on picket duty in front of you, I’ve got this. I was just letting them know that. I’d appreciate it if you’d get on your radio to Ronald, so I can tell him no other forces are needed.”

“Sir, the Chinese are madder than a hornet’s nest you’ve hit with a stick. They’re calling on us to kick you off, and to get out of their way, this is an internal matter.”

I sighed. “They’ve got part of it right, it’s inter ... but that’s international. See, it’s little stuff like this is why I’ve said the United Nations is worthless. This planet has a lot to offer. I was just getting ready to sit down and eat a wonderful steak, and I saw this stuff on the news. I’ll probably not be allowed back in that Pappas Brothers steakhouse again.” I paused at his look. “Don’t look so shocked. I take this uniform off, I could walk right by you on the street ... wearing clothes unless I’m on a beach in southern France, of course ... and you wouldn’t know it. A couple of nights ago, I was sampling wines in Spain, while enjoying some good food. This is a great little planet you have here, and I don’t want to see it fucked up.”

I learned then how well the crew liked their commanding officer. “Sir, I have President Reagan on the radio,” the executive officer said.

“Very good. The sign of a trained crew. Hello, Ronald.”

The XO said, “Sir, you have to take the microphone and push on this button to talk, let go of it to listen.”

“Oh. How ... quaint.” I took the microphone. “Hello, Ronald. Can you hear me?”

“Um ... hello. I’m guessing this is the same man I met in Washington?”

“Of course it is, Ronald. I watched your press conference on television. Very nice. I didn’t know your microphone would pick up the comments, but that’s okay. In any event, I’m just letting you know that you won’t need to send any more ships out here, unless they’re salvage tugs. Seems that the Chinese Navy ... and who had the idiotic idea to call it the People’s Liberation Army Navy, that’s just ridiculous ... has several ships in the water without propellers, for some reason. Except for the one that’s sitting in the middle of a runway, a couple of miles inland. The Birmingham and Jacksonville shouldn’t be needed.”

“I see. Thank you for helping our sailors, and the people of Taiwan.”

“Of course. They were actually doing the right thing, which is defending another nation. I know the United States has its reasons, of course. I’ll have to figure something out, maybe talk to you, and since I suspect Chairman Chernenko won’t be able to travel, to Andrei and Viktor in his stead, and whoever is in charge of China, about this.”

“Um, I was under the impression that Li Xiannian is the President of China.”

“I don’t wear a portable time-keeping device ... a watch, I believe you call them ... but if I did, I’d look at it and say something like, only for about the next fifteen minutes or so. I’m very disappointed in them, and you can tell your media that I said so. I had made an assumption that a culture like theirs would listen to me, without my doing ... what I’m about to do. I was wrong.”

With that, I handed the microphone back to the Captain of the Ticonderoga, stepped out, and took off. Less than 20 seconds later, I landed in Beijing. I had stayed at 1,000 feet up, which limited the direct destruction swath from the overpressure of my flight at Mach 400 to right about 1,500 feet wide. Of course, with an overpressure of just under 14 pounds per square inch, basically everything in that nearly 1,100 mile long path was destroyed.

I didn’t slow down when I hit the outskirts of Beijing, either. I finally slowed and stopped over Mao’s tomb, letting the shockwave destroy it. Workers were fleeing from where they were working on rebuilding the monument I’d destroyed. I landed, walking through it, blasting it to rubble. Turning left, I walked up to the Hall of the People.

Soldiers were shooting at me, to no avail. I don’t know how much it unnerved them, that they were obviously hitting me with hundreds of bullets, and nothing was happening to me. I stopped, shaking my head, and yelling, “Stop firing and wasting your time!”

About half of them did. The half that didn’t, found out what happened with a quarter second burst of heat. Two more came running up with heavier weapons. One had a rocket propelled grenade, firing it. It hit me in the chest, exploding in a huge ball of flame. They cheered, then stopped when I stepped forward, unharmed. The other one had a flamethrower. He opened up with it, coating me in flame from head to toe.

Just for effect, I started screaming, waving my arms around. They started cheering again. I stopped, falling over to the ground. They cheered even louder. Then I started doing push ups. “Come on, soldiers. You need to get into shape! Everyone, down, drop and give me twenty!” They quit cheering. “What, you’re not listening?” I got back up, and continued walking. The flamethrower ran out of fuel.

“Wow, that has a really rancid odor.” I ran up to the operator, grabbing him in my arms. He began screaming. My outfit was still hot, which set his uniform on fire. “You play with fire, you’re liable to get your fingers burned.” I let him go, then ran into the building.

There were now more than 4,000 men inside the building, including Li Xiannian. He was standing in front, by a podium. As I entered the chamber, he saw me and began berating me for being a two-faced liar. He had the audio system of the chamber backing him up.

My lung power was stronger. “SILENCE!” The force of my voice blew him backwards from his microphone. I calmly walked through the middle, to the stage, each step I made deliberate. Li Xiannian was helped to his feet by two other men that had rushed out to help him.

“See how you are! A tool of the west! A liar!”

I walked up the steps to the stage, where he was standing now. “How? Explain to me how I have lied?”

“You said that we can deal with our own country! Yet you have interfered with that!”

I laughed. “A child who has made his own home somewhere else is no longer under your roof, or under your control.”

“A child should always respect and honor his parents,” he replied.

“Respecting and honoring a parent does not give a parent the right to order around a child that has left his home.”

“A child’s home should always be open to his parents.”

“A child who is successful in his own right should be revered and honored by his parents, inviting them to visit, but not to take control of his life. The parents have lived their own lives; it is time for the child to explore upon his own.”

“Enough of this! You have interfered with our legal and legitimate operations!”

“I thought you liked parables. Only when it suits you, I see. As for the rest? How?”

“You dare question how? You said for us to deal with our country! We were doing so!”

I shook my head. “No. It’d be nice if you were, but your own history shows that you’re not. The Republic of China in Taiwan was recognized as an independent nation by other nations of the world before the People’s Republic of China was formed here on the mainland. In addition, there is a legally binding agreement between the two nations and their governing parties. Therefore, your actions today are no more than a continuation of your activities involving North Korea in the past.”

“The United Nations does not recognize there is a separate government there!”

“Who cares? I don’t recognize the United Nations as a valid and legitimate organization. I’ve already said it needs to be disbanded.”

“You do not have the right to...”

I picked him up. “That is where you are wrong. I am the Messenger from Above. You are not. You are no more, or less, than a spoiled child who is used to getting his own way, by bluster, threat, and the occasional use of violence. Each nation on this planet is equal to each and every other nation. You seem to have thought I was giving you some suggestions, not some orders. You were wrong. End the fighting. Destroy the drugs. Live in peace. You’ve decided to ignore two of my messages. How many of your people have suffered and died today, due to your selfishness, your greediness? I have given your nation a lesson. Now it is time for you to get a lesson as well.”

With that, I turned my heat vision on, incinerating everyone on the lower level in the hall. I’d noticed that nearly everyone on the lower level was older, while younger people were mostly on the top. Before they could run, I used my breath to extinguish the fire. “STOP! There is no danger from fire, now.”

At least half of them listened. One of them yelled out, “What have you done?”

“Empowered you to be the change and the future of your country. End the fighting. Destroy the drugs. Live in peace. They were the past. You are the future. Don’t mess things up.” With that, I started walking out.

“Put me down!”

“Oh, I’m sorry. I forgot you were up there. You’ve proven yourself to be insignificant. Come, let me show you something.” I roughly slung him under my arm. Once I was outside the building, I jumped into the air. At approximately a mile up, I was flying south, rapidly. “Do you see that path? That’s what you’ve caused. Aren’t you proud of yourself? I figure that at least 10 million people have died today, because of you.”

“You are not a god! You do not have the right...”

“I’ve never claimed to be a god. But I have a mission, and my orders give me the right. Now, I hope you feel okay, it’s going to get rather cold.” With that, I increased my altitude a bit, as well as my speed, up to 600 miles an hour. Once I was over Seoul, I dropped down and landed just outside the building holding the BBC studio. One of their reporters and cameraman were just walking out of the building.